After They Had Got Through With The Hides, They Laid Hold Of The
Bags Of Tallow, (The Bags Are Made
Of hide, and are about the size
of a common meal bag,) and lifting each upon the shoulders of two
Men, one at each end, walked off with them to the boat, and prepared
to go aboard. Here, too, was something for us to learn. The man
who steered, shipped his oar and stood up in the stern, and those
that pulled the after oars sat upon their benches, with their oars
shipped, ready to strike out as soon as she was afloat. The two
men at the bows kept their places; and when, at length, a large
sea came in and floated her, seized hold of the gunwale, and ran
out with her till they were up to their armpits, and then tumbled
over the gunwale into the bows, dripping with water. The men at
the oars struck out, but it wouldn't do; the sea swept back and
left them nearly high and dry. The two fellows jumped out again;
and the next time they succeeded better, and, with the help of
a deal of outlandish hallooing and bawling, got her well off.
We watched them till they were out of the breakers, and saw them
steering for their vessel, which was now hidden in the darkness.
The sand of the beach began to be cold to our bare feet; the frogs
set up their croaking in the marshes, and one solitary owl, from the
end of the distant point, gave out his melancholy note, mellowed by
the distance, and we began to think that it was high time for
"the old man," as the captain is generally called, to come down.
In a few minutes we heard something coming towards us.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 92 of 618
Words from 24999 to 25301
of 170236
