. 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. for upwards of two months before shecould muster a crew. When at last we did get one, or rathera make-shift for one, old father Neptune would have beenstruck with astonishment and laughed to have seen such amotley gathering. Our new crew consisted of returningminers, who had been moderately successful in digging gold,and as we were bound to China th
. 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. for upwards of two months before shecould muster a crew. When at last we did get one, or rathera make-shift for one, old father Neptune would have beenstruck with astonishment and laughed to have seen such amotley gathering. Our new crew consisted of returningminers, who had been moderately successful in digging gold,and as we were bound to China they had conceived the ideathat by making a detour by the way of the Celestial Em-pire, they might invest their treasure advantageously in thefabrics of the East, and thus augment their wealth. They were a rough-looking crowd, swarthy as Arabs; ren-dered so through constant exposure to the elements, and mostindependent in their bearing and manner, so much so thatthe utmost caution and forbearance on the part of the oldcrew, and more especially the officers, had to be exercisedin order to make matters work smoothly, and at the sametime maintain that discipline and obedience to orders sonecessary to the safety of a ship at sea. HWj& JIM BARNEY. 367 We were laden with a selected cargo suitable for theChinese market, as well as some for the Sandwich Islands. We had, on finishing our lading, hauled off from thewharf, and dropped anchor in the bay a cables length fromshore, for the double purpose of bending sails, etc., anddoing such work as was required preparatory to weighinganchor and receiving our new crew, and thus removingthem from shore influences and the effects of whisky drink-ing. In a few days they became more docile and tractable.
Size: 1224px × 2041px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectseafari, bookyear1887
