. 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. been to sea forty-eight hours when I be-came very sick, my body having the appearance of beingattacked with both smallpox and measles at the same was caused by my sudden immersion while heated andsweating in the water strongly impregnated with copper fromthe bottoms of so many vessels, when I jumped overboardat Marseilles. And here I would
. 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. been to sea forty-eight hours when I be-came very sick, my body having the appearance of beingattacked with both smallpox and measles at the same was caused by my sudden immersion while heated andsweating in the water strongly impregnated with copper fromthe bottoms of so many vessels, when I jumped overboardat Marseilles. And here I would draw attention to another virtue orqualification requisite and most often faithfully and evenaffectionately carried out by the real seaman (one of thegood old sort), and that is in the quality of nurse and physi-cian, not separately, but together. In my case on board theAigle Captain Avril had me removed from my bunk in thefocastle and placed in his berth, and at once became myphysician and nurse till I had recovered. Sailors, when sick, often become romantic and fanciful, atother times they have too much to do to think of suchthings; and I, as I lay thinking that I was about to kickthe bucket, upbraided myself with having invoked the just. GIBRALTAR. 201 vengeance of Cupid (the God of Love), in having neg-lected his admonitions when he brought me alongside mypretty Julie, and taken her to have and to hold for betteror for worse. The morning when we had our last breakfasttogether she hung on to my neck and sobbed as if her littleheart would have broken. I had no thought of marryingthen, otherwise I might have had a good, snug berth for life. Idare say she afterwards married some staid citizen of creditif not of renown. As we neared the Straits of Gibraltar and the broad At-lantic I rapidly improved in health, until I became conva-lescent, and took my trick at the wheel, and able to standmy watch, but not yet strong enough to go aloft. Out in the Atlantic we shaped our course b
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectseafari, bookyear1887
