The Three Men At The
House On Shore, Who Had Formerly Been A Part Of Her Crew, Now
Joined Her, And Seemed Glad Enough At The Prospect Of Getting Off
The Coast.
On board our own vessel, things went on in the common monotonous
way.
The excitement which immediately followed the flogging scene
had passed off, but the effect of it upon the crew, and especially
upon the two men themselves, remained. The different manner in
which these men were affected, corresponding to their different
characters, was not a little remarkable. John was a foreigner
and high-tempered, and, though mortified, as any one would be at
having had the worst of an encounter, yet his chief feeling seemed
to be anger; and he talked much of satisfaction and revenge, if he
ever got back to Boston. But with the other, it was very different.
He was an American, and had had some education; and this thing coming
upon him, seemed completely to break him down. He had a feeling
of the degradation that had been inflicted upon him, which the
other man was incapable of. Before that, he had a good deal of
fun, and mused us often with queer negro stories, - (he was from
a slave state); but afterwards he seldom smiled; seemed to lose
all life and elasticity; and appeared to have but one wish,
and that was for the voyage to be at an end. I have often known
him to draw a long sigh when he was alone, and he took but little
part or interest in John's plans of satisfaction and retaliation.
After a stay of about a fortnight, during which we slipped for
one south-easter, and were at sea two days, we got under weigh for
Santa Barbara. It was now the middle of April, and the south-easter
season was nearly over; and the light, regular trade-winds, which blow
down the coast, began to set steadily in, during the latter part of
each day. Against these, we beat slowly up to Santa Barbara - a
distance of about ninety miles - in three days. There we found,
lying at anchor, the large Genoese ship which we saw in the same
place, on the first day of our coming upon the coast. She had been
up to San Francisco, or, as it is called, "chock up to windward,"
had stopped at Monterey on her way down, and was shortly to proceed
to San Pedro and San Diego, and thence, taking in her cargo, to sail
for Valparaiso and Cadiz. She was a large, clumsy ship, and with
her topmasts stayed forward, and high poop-deck, looked like an
old woman with a crippled back. It was now the close of Lent,
and on Good Friday she had all her yards a'cock-bill, which is
customary among Catholic vessels. Some also have an effigy of
Judas, which the crew amuse themselves with keel-hauling and
hanging by the neck from the yard-arms.
CHAPTER XVIII
EASTER SUNDAY - "SAIL HO!" - WHALES - SAN JUAN - ROMANCE OF
HIDE-DROGHING - SAN DIEGO AGAIN
The next Sunday was Easter Sunday, and as there had been no
liberty at San Pedro, it was our turn to go ashore and misspend
another Sabbath. Soon after breakfast, a large boat, filled with
men in blue jackets, scarlet caps, and various colored under-clothes,
bound ashore on liberty, left the Italian ship, and passed under
our stern; the men singing beautiful Italian boat-songs, all the way,
in fine, full chorus. Among the songs I recognized the favorite
"O Pescator dell' onda." It brought back to my mind pianofortes,
drawing-rooms, young ladies singing, and a thousand other things
which as little befitted me, in my situation, to be thinking upon.
Supposing that the whole day would be too long a time to spend
ashore, as there was no place to which we could take a ride,
we remained quietly on board until after dinner. We were then
pulled ashore in the stern of the boat, and, with orders to be on
the beach at sundown, we took our way for the town. There,
everything wore the appearance of a holyday. The people were
all dressed in their best; the men riding about on horseback among
the houses, and the women sitting on carpets before the doors.
Under the piazza of a "pulperia," two men were seated, decked out
with knots of ribbons and bouquets, and playing the violin and
the Spanish guitar. These are the only instruments, with the
exception of the drums and trumpets at Monterey that I ever heard in
California; and I suspect they play upon no others, for at a great
fandango at which I was afterwards present, and where they mustered
all the music they could find, there were three violins and two
guitars, and no other instrument. As it was now too near the middle
of the day to see any dancing and hearing that a bull was expected
down from the country, to be baited in the presidio square, in the
course of an hour or two we took a stroll among the houses.
Inquiring for an American who, we had been told, had married in the
place, and kept a shop, we were directed to a long, low building,
at the end of which was a door, with a sign over it, in Spanish.
Entering the shop, we found no one in it, and the whole had an
empty, deserted appearance. In a few minutes the man made his
appearance, and apologized for having nothing to entertain us with,
saying that he had had a fandango at his house the night before,
and the people had eaten and drunk up everything.
"Oh yes!" said I, "Easter holydays?"
"No!" said he, with a singular expression to his face; "I had a
little daughter die the other day, and that's the custom of the
country."
Here I felt a little strangely, not knowing what to say, or whether
to offer consolation or no, and was beginning to retire, when he
opened a side door and told us to walk in.
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