University of Virginia Library

14. CHAPTER XIV.

Notwithstanding my comparative insignificance, there
was no real security in remaining long in Charleston, and
it was my strong desire to quit the place. As “beggars
cannot be choosers,” I was glad to get on board the schooner
Carpenter, bound to St. Mary's and Philadelphia, for, and
with, ship-timber, as a foremast hand. I got on board undetected,
and we sailed the same day. Nothing occurred until
after we left St. Mary's, when we met with a singular accident.
A few days out, it blowing heavy at the time, our
deck-load pressed so hard upon the beams as to loosen them,
and the schooner filled as far as her cargo—yellow pine—
would allow. This calamity proceeded from the fact, that
the negroes who stowed the craft neglected to wedge up the
beams; a precaution that should never be forgotten, with a
heavy weight on deck. No very serious consequences followed,
however, as we managed to drive the craft ahead,
and finally got her into Philadelphia, with all her cargo on
board. We did not lose a stick, which showed that our
captain was game, and did not like to let go when he had
once got hold. This person was a down-easter, and was
well acquainted with the Johnstons and Wiscasset. He
tried hard to persuade me to continue in the schooner as
mate, with a view to carrying me back to my old friends;
but I turned a deaf ear to his advice. To own the truth, I
was afraid to go back to Wiscassett. My own desertion
could not well be excused, and then I was apprehensive the
family might attribute to me the desertion and death of
young Swett. He had been my senior, it is true, and was
as able to influence me as I was to influence him; but conscience
is a thing so sensitive, that, when we do wrong, it is
apt to throw the whole error into our faces.

Quitting the Carpenter in Philadelphia, therefore, I went
to live in a respectable boarding-house, and engaged to go
out in a brig called the Margaret, working on board as a
rigger and stevedore, until she should be ready to sail. My
berth was to be that of mate. The owner of this brig was
as notorious, in his way, as the ship's husband in Charleston.

I had heard his character, and was determined, if he attempted
to ride me, as he was said to do many of his mates,
and even captains, he should find himself mounted on a
hard-going animal. One day, things came to a crisis. The
owner was on the wharf, with me, and such a string of abuse
as he launched out upon me, I never before listened to. A
crowd collected, and my blood got up. I seized the man,
and dropped him off the wharf into the water, alongside of
some hoop-poles, that I knew must prevent any accident.
In this last respect, I was sufficiently careful, though the
ducking was very thorough. The crowd gave three cheers,
which I considered as a proof I was not so very wrong.
Nothing was said of any suit on this occasion; but I walked
off, and went directly on board a ship called the Coromandel,
on which I had had an eye, as a lee, for several days.
In this vessel I shipped as second-mate; carrying with me
all the better character for the ducking given to the notorious
— —.

The Coromandel was bound to Cadiz, and thence round
the Horn. The outward bound cargo was flour, but to which
ports we were going in South America, I was ignorant. Our
crew were all blacks, the officers excepted. We had a good
passage, until we got off Cape Trafalgar, when it came on
to blow heavily, directly on end. We lay-to off the Cape
two days, and then ran into Gibraltar, and anchored. Here
we lay about a fortnight, when there came on a gale from
the south-west, which sent a tremendous sea in from the Atlantic.
This gale commenced in the afternoon, and blew
very heavily all that night. The force of the wind increased,
little by little, until it began to tell seriously among the shipping,
of which a great number were lying in front of the
Rock. The second day of the gale, our ship was pitching
bows under, sending the water aft to the taffrail, while many
other craft struck adrift, or foundered at their anchors. The
Coromandel had one chain cable, and this was out. It was
the only cable we used for the first twenty-four hours. As
the gale increased, however, it was thought necessary to let
go the sheet-anchor, which had a hempen cable bent to it.
Our chain, indeed, was said to be the first that was ever used
out of Philadelphia, though it had then been in the ship for
sometime, and had proved itself a faithful servant the voyage

before. Unfortunately, most of the chain was out before we
let go the sheet-anchor, and there was no possibility of getting
out a scope of the hempen cable. Dragging on shore,
where we lay, was pretty much out of the question, as the
bottom shelved inward, and the anchor, to come home, must
have gone up hill.[1]

In this manner the Coromandel rode for two nights and
two days, the sea getting worse and worse, and the wind, if
anything, rather increasing. We took the weight of the
last in squalls, some of which were terrific. By this time
the bay was well cleared of craft, nearly everything having
sunk, or gone ashore. An English packet lay directly ahead
of us, rather more than a cable's length distant, and she held
on like ourselves. The Governor Brooks, of Boston, lay
over nearer to Algesiras, where the sea and wind were a little
broken, and, of course, she made better weather than ourselves.

About eight o'clock, the third night, I was in the cabin,
when the men on deck sung out that the chain had gone.
At this time the ship had been pitching her spritsail-yard
under water, and it blew a little hurricane. We were on
deck in a moment, all hands paying out sheet. We brought
the ship up with this cable, but not until she got it nearly to
the better end. Unfortunately, we had got into shoal water,
or what became shoal water by the depth of the troughs. It
was said, afterwards, we were in five fathoms water at this
time, but for this I will not vouch. It seems too much water
for what happened. Our anchor, however, did actually lie
in sixteen fathoms.

We had hardly paid out the cable, before the ship came
down upon the bottom, on an even keel, apparently, with a
force that almost threw those on deck off their feet. These
blows were repeated, from time to time, at intervals of several
minutes, some of the thumps being much heavier than

others. The English packet must have struck adrift at the
same time with ourselves, for she came down upon us, letting
go an anchor in a way to overlay our cable. I suppose
the rocks and this sawing together, parted our hempen cable,
and away we went towards the shore, broadside-to. As
the ship drifted in, she continued to thump; but, luckily for
us, the sea made no breaches over her. The old Coromandel
was a very strong ship, and she continued working her
way in shore, until she lay in a good substantial berth, without
any motion. We manned the pumps, and kept the ship
tolerably free of water, though she lay over considerably.
The English packet followed us in, going ashore more towards
the Spanish lines. This vessel bilged, and lost some
of her crew. As for ourselves, we had a comfortable berth,
considering the manner in which we had got into it. No
apprehension was felt for our personal safety, and perfect
order was observed on board. The men worked as usual,
nor was there any extra liquor drunk.

That night the gale broke, and before morning it had
materially moderated. Lighters were brought alongside,
and we began to discharge our flour into them. The cargo
was all discharged, and all in good order, so far as the water
was concerned; though several of the keelson bolts were
driven into the ground tier of barrels. I am almost afraid
to tell this story, but I know it to be true, as I released the
barrels with my own hands. As soon as clear, the ship was
hove off into deep water, on the top of a high tide, and was
found to leak so much as to need a shore-gang at the pumps
to keep her afloat. She was accordingly sold for the benefit
of the underwriters. She was subsequently docked and
sent to sea.

Of course, this broke up our voyage. The captain advised
me to take a second-mate's berth in the Governor
Brooks, the only American that escaped the gale, and I did
so. This vessel was a brig, bound round the Horn, also,
and a large, new craft. I know of no other vessel, that lay
in front of the Rock that rode out this gale; and she did it
with two hempen cables out, partly protected, however, by
a good berth. There was a Swede that came back next day
to her anchorage, which was said to have got back-strapped,
behind the Rock, by some legerdemain, and so escaped

also. I do not know how many lives were lost on this occasion;
but the destruction of property must have been very
great.

Three weeks after the gale, the Governor Brooks sailed.
We had a hard time in doubling the Cape, being a fortnight
knocking about between Falkland and the Main. We were
one hundred and forty-four days out, touching nowhere, until
we anchored at Callao. We found flour, of which our
cargo was composed, at seven dollars a barrel, with seven
dollar duty. The Franklin 74, was lying here, with the
Aurora English frigate, the castle being at war with the people
inland. Our flour was landed, and what became of it
is more than I can tell.

We now took in ballast, and ran down to Guayaquil.
Here an affair occurred that might very well have given me
the most serious cause of regret, all the days of my life.
Our steward was a Portuguese negro, of the most vicious
and surly temper. Most of the people and officers were
really afraid of him. One evening, the captain and chief
mate being both ashore, I was sitting on deck, idle, and I
took a fancy to a glass of grog. I ordered the steward,
accordingly, to pour me out one, and bring it up. The man
pretended that the captain had carried off the keys, and no
rum was to be had. I thought this a little extraordinary;
and, as one would be very apt to be, felt much hurt at the
circumstance. I had never been drunk in the craft, and
was not a drunkard in one sense of the term, at all; seldom
drinking so as to affect me, except when on a frolic,
ashore.

As I sat brooding over this fancied insult, however, I
smelt rum; and looking down the sky-light, saw this same
steward passing forward with a pot filled with the liquor. I
was fairly blinded with passion. Running down, I met the
fellow, just as he was coming out of the cabin, and brought
him up all standing. The man carried a knife along his
leg, a weapon that had caused a good deal of uneasiness in
the brig, and he now reached down to get it. Seeing there
was no time to parley, I raised him from the floor, and threw
him down with great force, his head coming under. There
he lay like a log, and all my efforts with vinegar and water
had no visible effect.

I now thought the man dead. He gave no sign of life
that I could detect, and fear of the consequences came over
me. The devil put it into my head to throw the body overboard,
as the most effectual means of concealing what I had
done. The steward had threatened to run, by swimming,
more than once, and I believe had been detected in making
such an attempt; and I fancied if I could get the body
through one of the cabin-windows, it would seem as if he
had been drowned in carrying his project into execution. I
tried all I could first to restore the steward to life; but failing
of this, I actually began to drag him aft, in order to force
his body out of a cabin-window. The transom was high,
and the man very heavy; so I was a good while in dragging
the load up to the necessary height. Just as I got it
there, the fellow gave a groan, and I felt a relief that I had
never before experienced. It seemed to me like a reprieve
from the gallows.

I now took the steward down, upon one of the lower transoms,
where he sat rubbing his head a few minutes, I watching
him closely the whole time. At length he got up, and
staggered out of the cabin. He went and turned in, and I
saw no more of him until next day. As it turned out, good,
instead of harm, resulted from this affair; the black being
ever afterwards greatly afraid of me. If I did not break his
neck, I broke his temper; and the captain used to threaten
to set me at him, whenever he behaved amiss. I owned the
whole affair to the captain and mate, both of whom laughed
heartily at what had happened, though I rejoiced, in my
inmost heart, that it was no worse.

The brig loaded with cocao, in bulk, at Guayaquil, and
sailed for Cadiz. The passage was a fine one, as we doubled
the Horn at midsummer. On this occasion we beat
round the cape, under top-gallant-sails. The weather was
so fine, we stood close in to get the benefit of the currents,
after tacking, as it seemed to me, within a league of the
land. Our passage to Cadiz lasted one hundred and forty-one,
or two, days, being nearly the same length as that out,
though much smoother.

The French had just got possession of Cadiz, as we got
in, and we found the white flag flying. We lay here a
month, and then went round to the Rock. After passing a

week at Gibraltar, to take in some dollars, we sailed for
New Orleans, in ballast. As I had been on twenty-two
dollars a month, there was a pretty good whack coming to
me, as soon as we reached an American port, and I felt a
desire to spend it, before I went to sea again. They wished
me to stick by the brig, which was going the very same
voyage over; but I could not make up my mind to travel
so long a road, with a pocket full of money. I had passed
so many years at sea, that a short land cruise was getting
to be grateful, as a novelty.

The only craft I could get on board of, to come round
into my own latitude, in order to enjoy myself in the old
way, was an eastern schooner, called the James. On board
this vessel I shipped as mate, bound to Philadelphia. She
was the most meagre craft, in the way of outfit, I ever put
to sea in. Her boat would not swim, and she had not a
spare spar on board her. In this style, we went jogging
along north, until we were met by a north-west gale, between
Bermuda and Cape Hatteras, which forced us to
heave-to. During this gale, I had a proof of the truth that
“where the treasure is, there will the heart be also.”

I was standing leaning on the rail, and looking over the
schooner's quarter, when I saw what I supposed to be a
plank come up alongside! The idea of sailing in a craft of
which the bottom was literally dropping out, was not very
pleasant, and I thought all was lost. I cannot explain the
folly of my conduct, except by supposing that my many
escapes at sea, had brought me to imagine I was to be
saved, myself, let what would happen to all the rest on
board. Without stopping to reflect, I ran below and socured
my dollars. Tearing up a blanket, I made a belt,
and lashed about twenty-five pounds weight of silver to my
body, with the prospect before me of swimming two or
three hundred miles with it, before I could get ashore. As
for boat, or spars, the former would not float, and of the
last there was not one. I now look back on my acts of this
day with wonder, for I had forgotten all my habitual knowledge
of vessels, in the desire to save the paltry dollars.
For the first and only time in my life I felt avaricious, and
lost sight of everything in money!

It was my duty to sound the pumps, but this I did not

deem necessary. No sooner were the dollars secure, or,
rather, ready to anchor me in the bottom of the ocean, than
I remembered the captain. He was asleep, and waking
him up, I told him what had happened. The old man, a
dry, drawling, cool, downeaster, laughed in my face for my
pains, telling me I had seen one of the sheeting-boards, with
which he had had the bottom of the schooner covered, to
protect it from the worms, at Campeachy, and that I need
be under no concern about the schooner's bottom. This
was the simple truth, and I cast off the dollars, again, with
a sneaking consciousness of not having done my duty. I
suppose all men have moments when they are not exactly
themselves, in which they act very differently from what it
has been their practice to act. On this occasion, I was not
alarmed for myself, but I thought the course I took was necessary
to save that dross which lures so many to perdition.
Avarice blinded me to the secrets of my own trade.

I had come all the way from New Orleans to Philadelphia,
to spend my four hundred dollars to my satisfaction.
For two months I lived respectably, and actually began to
go to church. I did not live in a boarding-house, but in a
private family. My landlady was a pious woman, and a
member of the Dutch Reformed Church, but her husband
was a Universalist. I must say, I liked the doctrine of the
last the best, as it made smooth water for the whole cruise.
I usually went with the man to church of a morning, which
was falling among shoals, as a poor fellow was striving to
get into port. I received a great deal of good advice from
my landlady, however, and it made so much impression on
me as to influence my conduct; though I cannot say it really
touched my heart. I became more considerate, and better
mannered, if I were not truly repentant for my sins. These
two months were passed more rationally than any time of
mine on shore, since the hour when I ran from the Sterling.

The James was still lying in Philadelphia, undergoing
repairs, and waiting for freight; but being now ready for
sea, I shipped in her again, on a voyage to St. Thomas,
with a cargo of flour. When we sailed, I left near a hundred
dollars behind me, besides carrying some money to sea;
the good effects of good company. At St. Thomas we
discharged, and took in ballast for Turk's Island, where we

got a cargo of salt, returning with it to Philadelphia. My
conduct had been such on board this schooner, that her
commander, who was her owner, and very old, having determined
to knock off going to sea, tried to persuade me to
stick by the craft, promising to make me her captain as soon
as he could carry her down east, where she belonged. I
now think I made a great mistake in not accepting this offer,
though I was honestly diffident about my knowledge of navigation.
I never had a clear understanding of the lunars,
though I worked hard to master them. It is true, chronometers
were coming into general use, in large vessels, and I
could work the time; but a chronometer was a thing never
heard of on board the James. Attachment to the larger
towns, and a dislike for little voyages, had as much influence
on me as anything else. I declined the offer; the only
direct one ever made me to command any sort of craft, and
remained what I am. I had a little contempt, too, for vessels
of such a rig and outfit, which probably had its influence.
I liked rich owners.

On my return to Philadelphia, I found the family in which
I had last lived much deranged by illness. I got my money,
but was obliged to look for new lodgings. The respectable
people with whom I had been before, did not keep lodgers, I
being their only boarder; but I now went to a regular sailor's
boarding-house. There was a little aristocracy, it is
true, in my new lodgings, to which none but mates, dickies,
and thorough salts came; but this was getting into the hurricane
latitudes as to morals. I returned to all my old
habits, throwing the dollars right and left, and forgetting all
about even a Universalist church.

A month cleaned me out, in such company. I spent
every cent I had, with the exception of about fifteen dollars,
that I had laid by as nest-eggs. I then shipped as second-mate,
in the Rebecca Simms, a ship bound to St. Jago de
Cuba, with flour. The voyage lasted four months; producing
nothing of moment, but a little affair that was personal
to myself, and which cost me nearly all my wages.
The steward was a saucy black; and, on one occasion, in
bad weather, he neglected to give me anything warm for
breakfast. I took an opportunity to give him a taste of the
end of the main-clew-garnet, as an admonisher; and there

the matter ended, so long as I remained in the ship. It
seemed quite right, to all on board, but the steward. He
bore the matter in mind, and set a whole pack of quakers on
me, as soon as we got in. The suit was tried; and it cost
me sixty dollars, in damages, beside legal charges. I dare
say it was all right, according to law and evidence; but I
feel certain, just such a rubbing down, once a week, would
have been very useful to that same steward. Well-meaning
men often do quite as much harm, in this world, as the evil-disposed.
Philanthropists of this school should not forget,
that, if colour is no sufficient reason why a man should be
always wrong, it is no sufficient reason why he should be
always right.

The lawsuit drove me to sea, again, in a very short time.
Finding no better berth; and feeling very savage at the
blindness of justice, I shipped before the mast, in the Superior,
an Indiaman, of quite eight hundred tons, bound to
Canton. This was the pleasantest voyage I ever made to
sea, in a merchantman, so far as the weather, and, I may
say, usage, were concerned. We lost our top-gallant-masts,
homeward bound; but this was the only accident that occurred.
The ship was gone nine months; the passage from
Whampao to the capes having been made in ninety-four
days. When we got in, the owners had failed, and there
was no money forthcoming, at the moment. To remain,
and libel the ship, was dull business; so, leaving a power of
attorney behind me, I went on board a schooner, called the
Sophia, bound to Vera Cruz, as foremast Jack.

The Sophia was a clipper; and made the run out in a few
days. We went into Vera Cruz; but found it nearly deserted.
Our cargo went ashore a little irregularly; sometimes
by day, and sometimes by night; being assorted, and
suited to all classes of customers. As soon as ready, we
sailed for Philadelphia, again; where we arrived, after an
absence of only two months.

I now got my wages for the Canton voyage; but they
lasted me only a fortnight! It was necessary to go to sea,
again; and I went on board the Caledonia; once more
bound to Canton. This voyage lasted eleven months; but,
like most China voyages, produced no event of importance.
We lost our top-gallant-masts, this time, too; but that is

nothing unusual, off Good Hope. I can say but little, in
favour of the ship, or the treatment.

On getting back to Philadelphia, the money went in the
old way. I occasionally walked round to see my good religious
friends, with whom I had once lived, but they ceased
to have any great influence over my conduct. As soon as
necessary, I shipped in the Delaware, a vessel bound to Savannah
and Liverpool. Southern fashion, I ran from this
vessel in Savannah, owing her nothing, however, but was
obliged to leave my protection behind, as it was in the captain's
hands. I cannot give any reason but caprice for
quitting this ship. The usage was excellent, and the wages
high; yet run I did. As long as the Delaware remained in
port, I kept stowed away; but, as soon as she sailed, I
came out into the world, and walked about the wharves as
big as an owner.

I now went on board a ship called the Tobacco Plant,
bound to Liverpool and Philadelphia, for two dollars a month
less wages, worse treatment, and no grog. So much for
following the fashion. The voyage produced nothing to be
mentioned.

On my return to Philadelphia, I resolved to shift my
ground, and try a new tack. I was now thirty-four, and
began to give up all thoughts of getting a lift in my profession.
I had got so many stern-boards on me, every time I
was going ahead, and was so completely alone in the world,
that I had become indifferent, and had made up my mind to
take things as they offered. As for money, my rule had
come to be, to spend it as I got it, and go to sea for more.
“If I tumbled overboard,” I said to myself, “there is none
to cry over me;” therefore let things jog on their own
course. All the disposition to morality that had been
aroused within me, at Philadelphia, was completely gone,
and I thought as little of church and of religion, as ever.
It is true I had bought a Bible on board the Superior, and
I was in the practice of reading in it, from time to time,
though it was only the narratives, such as those of Sampson
and Goliah, that formed any interest for me. The history
of Jonah and the whale, I read at least twenty times. I
cannot remember that the morality, or thought, or devotion
of a single passage ever struck me on these occasions. In

word, I read this sacred book for amusement, and not for
light.

I now wanted change, and began to think of going back
to the navy, by way of novelty. I had been round the
world once, had been to Canton five times, doubling the
Cape, round the Horn twice, to Batavia once, the West-Indies,
on the Spanish main, and had crossed the Atlantic
so often, that I thought I knew all the mile-stones. I had
seen but little of the Mediterranean, and fancied a man-of-war's
cruise would show me those seas. Most of the Tobacco
Plants had shipped in Philadelphia, and I determined to go
with them, to go in the navy. There is a fashion in all
things, and just then it was the fashion to enter in the service.

I was shipped by Lieutenant M'Kean, now Commander
M'Kean, a grandson of the old Governor of Pennsylvania,
as they tell me. All hands of us were sent on board the
Cyane, an English prize twenty-gun ship, where we remained
about six weeks. A draft was then made, and more
than a hundred of us were sent round to Norfolk, in a sloop,
to join the Delaware, 80, then fitting out for the Mediterranean.
We found the ship lying alongside the Navy-yard
wharf, and after passing one night in the receiving-ship,
were sent on board the two-decker. The Delaware soon
hauled out, and was turned over to Captain Downes, the
very officer who had almost persuaded me to go in that ill-fated
brig, the Epervier.

I was stationed on the Delaware's forecastle, and was
soon ordered to do second captain's duty. We had for
lieutenants on board, Mr. Ramage, first, Messrs. Williamson,
Ten Eick, Shubrick, Byrne, Chauncey, Harris, and
several whose names I have forgotten. Mr. Ramage has
since been cashiered, I understand; and Messrs. Ten Eick,
Shubrick, Chauncey, Harris, and Byrne, are now all commanders.

The ship sailed in the winter of 1828, in the month of
January I think, having on board the Prince of Musignano,
and his family, who were going to Italy. This gentleman
was Charles Bonaparte, eldest son of Lucien, Prince of
Canino, they tell me, and is now Prince of Canino himself.
He had been living some time in America, and got a passage
in our ship, on account of the difficulty of travelling in

Europe, for one of his name and family. He was the first,
and only Prince I ever had for a shipmate.