My Watch Began At Eleven O'clock At Night, And I
Received Orders To Call The Captain If The Wind Came Out From The
Westward.
About midnight the wind became fair, and having called
the captain, I was ordered to call all hands.
How I accomplished
this I do not know, but I am quite sure I did not give the true
hoarse, boatswain call of "A-a-ll ha-a-a-nds! up anchor, a-ho-oy!"
In a short time every one was in motion, the sails loosed, the yards
braced, and we began to heave up the anchor, which was our last hold
upon Yankee land. I could take but little part in all these preparations.
My little knowledge of a vessel was all at fault. Unintelligible orders
were so rapidly given and so immediately executed; there was such a
hurrying about, and such an intermingling of strange cries and stranger
actions, that I was completely bewildered. There is not so helpless
and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor's
life. At length those peculiar, long-drawn sounds, which denote that
the crew are heaving the windlass, began, and in a few moments we were
under weigh. The noise of the water thrown from the bows began to be
heard, the vessel leaned over from the damp night breeze, and rolled
with the heavy ground swell, and we had actually begun our long, long
journey. This was literally bidding "good night" to my native land.
CHAPTER II
FIRST IMPRESSIONS - "SAIL HO!"
The first day we passed at sea was the Sabbath. As we were just from
port, and there was a great deal to be done on board, we were kept at
work all day, and at night the watches were set, and everything put
into sea order. When we were called aft to be divided into watches,
I had a good specimen of the manner of a sea captain. After the
division had been made, he gave a short characteristic speech,
walking the quarter deck with a cigar in his mouth, and dropping
the words out between the puffs.
"Now, my men, we have begun a long voyage. If we get along well
together, we shall have a comfortable time; if we don't, we shall
have hell afloat. - All you've got to do is to obey your orders and
do your duty like men, - then you'll fare well enough; - if you don't,
you'll fare hard enough, - I can tell you. If we pull together, you'll
find me a clever fellow; if we don't, you'll find me a bloody rascal.
- That's all I've got to say. - Go below, the larboard watch!"
I being in the starboard or second mate's watch, had the opportunity
of keeping the first watch at sea. S - - -, a young man, making, like
myself, his first voyage, was in the same watch, and as he was the
son of a professional man, and had been in a counting-room in Boston,
we found that we had many friends and topics in common. We talked
these matters over, - Boston, what our friends were probably doing,
our voyage, etc., until he went to take his turn at the look-out,
and left me to myself. I had now a fine time for reflection. I felt
for the first time the perfect silence of the sea. The officer was
walking the quarter deck, where I had no right to go, one or two men
were talking on the forecastle, whom I had little inclination to join,
so that I was left open to the full impression of everything about me.
However much I was affected by the beauty of the sea, the bright stars,
and the clouds driven swiftly over them, I could not but remember that
I was separating myself from all the social and intellectual enjoyments
of life. Yet, strange as it may seem, I did then and afterwards take
pleasure in these reflections, hoping by them to prevent my becoming
insensible to the value of what I was leaving.
But all my dreams were soon put to flight by an order from the
officer to trim the yards, as the wind was getting ahead; and I
could plainly see by the looks the sailors occasionally cast to
windward, and by the dark clouds that were fast coming up, that we
had bad weather to prepare for, and had heard the captain say that
he expected to be in the Gulf Stream by twelve o'clock. In a few
minutes eight bells were struck, the watch called, and we went below.
I now began to feel the first discomforts of a sailor's life.
The steerage in which I lived was filled with coils of rigging,
spare sails, old junk and ship stores, which had not been stowed
away. Moreover, there had been no berths built for us to sleep in,
and we were not allowed to drive nails to hang our clothes upon.
The sea, too, had risen, the vessel was rolling heavily, and
everything was pitched about in grand confusion. There was a
complete "hurrah's nest," as the sailors say, "everything on top
and nothing at hand." A large hawser had been coiled away upon
my chest; my hats, boots, mattress and blankets had all fetched
away and gone over to leeward, and were jammed and broken under
the boxes and coils of rigging. To crown all, we were allowed
no light to find anything with, and I was just beginning to feel
strong symptoms of sea-sickness, and that listlessness and
inactivity which accompany it. Giving up all attempts to collect
my things together, I lay down upon the sails, expecting every moment
to hear the cry of "all hands, ahoy," which the approaching storm would
soon make necessary. I shortly heard the rain-drops falling on deck,
thick and fast, and the watch evidently had their hands full of work,
for I could hear the loud and repeated orders of the mate, the trampling
of feet, the creaking of blocks, and all the accompaniments of a coming
storm.
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