. Recollections of a sea wanderer's life; an autobiography of an old-time seaman who has sailed in almost every capacity before and abaft the mast, in nearly every quarter of the globe, and under the flags of four of the principal maritime nations. led east. Some got treasure, and otherswere fleeced, so there can be no objection to giving themthe name. Their story has been told many times, and well,and I could add very little to the books already printed,but still it may be interesting to know how much it cost ussailors to resist the temptation to desert and rush to themines. We were told that
. Recollections of a sea wanderer's life; an autobiography of an old-time seaman who has sailed in almost every capacity before and abaft the mast, in nearly every quarter of the globe, and under the flags of four of the principal maritime nations. led east. Some got treasure, and otherswere fleeced, so there can be no objection to giving themthe name. Their story has been told many times, and well,and I could add very little to the books already printed,but still it may be interesting to know how much it cost ussailors to resist the temptation to desert and rush to themines. We were told that nearly three thousand sailorshad deserted in the year just past (1849), and that a richharvest was sure for those who had nerve and had both, but reflected that my desires had always beenmoderate, and there was no reason why I should changemy plans and run into dangers and exposure that were un-known, but were certainly very great, and so I held on tothe ship, and so did nearly all of the other sailors. Thediscussions were lively, and occupied us every momentwhile in the focastle, or at work, or it may be said all thetime, for our very dreams run to mining, and were coloredby the tales of adventures and successes that we SAN FRANCISCO. 363 Our captain and officers were very uneasy, and seemed ina feverish haste about everything going on, I suppose ex-pecting something like a wholesale desertion of the crew,and when Sam Mack left us for the mines they called usaft for consultation, and they talked very rationally con-sidering the danger they thought they were in, for, as Ihave written before, the question had been settled beforeby the men, but the officers did not know that. They weregreatly puzzled at our quiet manners and silence, for veryfew words were spoken by any of us, except by an oldsalt, Dave King, of Nantucket, who said, Captain, wesailors have heard much of this new city, and the goings onthere,,and have seen nothing, and, for one, I would likele
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectseafari, bookyear1887
