Of Course
Adverse Winds Or Currents Sometimes Carry Them Away, But They
Soon Fall In With Some Island, And There Are Always Some Old
Sailors On Board Who Know It, And Thence Take A New Course.
Last
night a shark about five feet long was caught, and this morning
it was cut up and cooked.
In the afternoon they got another, and
I had a little fried, and found it firm and dry, but very
palatable. In the evening the sun set in a heavy bank of clouds,
which, as darkness came on, assumed a fearfully black appearance.
According to custom, when strong wind or rain is expected, our
large sails -were furled, and with their yards let down on deck,
and a small square foresail alone kept up. The great mat sails
are most awkward things to manage in rough weather. The yards
which support them are seventy feet long, and of course very
heavy, and the only way to furl them being to roll up the sail on
the boom, it is a very dangerous thing to have them standing when
overtaken by a squall. Our crew; though numerous enough for a
vessel of 700 instead of one of 70 tons, have it very much their
own way, and there seems to be seldom more than a dozen at work
at a time. When anything important is to be done, however, all
start up willingly enough, but then all think themselves at
liberty to give their opinion, and half a dozen voices are heard
giving orders, and there is such a shrieking and confusion that
it seems wonderful anything gets done at all.
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