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The Olu Sailor's Story, |

i —OR A SHORT ACCOUNT OF— THE LIFE, ADVENTURES AND VOYAGES oO b= aid CAPT GURDON L. ALLYN. As \ ~— Including Three Trips Around the World. ‘ WRITTEN BY HIMSELF, \- In the Seventy-ninth and Eightieth Years of his Age. i | A! ey ee eny ee Y | j NORWICH, CONN; [ PRINTED BY GORDON WILCOX, 134 MAIN ST, a 1879. , ; ¢

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Withdrawn trom thie: lames Blackstane Memoria! Library

PR ok aC Te,

Many who know comparatively little of sailing a ship can write a book, and many who are propictent in seamanship and navigation are far front being proficient ina literary point of aew,

Bui every intelligent officer of a vessel which makes long vovages has his journals and memoranda from which an ac- count of his meanderings can be compiled.

Every person's life has tts experiences which are of gen- eval interest, and this ts especially true of those who have wan- dered much tn different parts of the world.

This humble narrative ts a statement of facts and tnet dents unembellished by fiction and wide stretches of imagtna- tion, Tf tthas no particular moral, we believe that tt contains nothing tmmoral, and as people are differently constituted, some being able to find ‘sermons in stones,” and others stones en sermons, and hatlstones at that, so let cach one read for pleasure, profit, amusement or tnstructton, and deduce a moral to sutt himself tf he can.

THE AUTHOR.

5 i a

q ‘ 4 | i a § } P a ; A 4 j 5

COPYRIGHTED BY GURDON L. ALLYN, OF GALES FERR *, CONN, IN) THE

YEAR OF OUR LORD 1879,

on a ecm retin Wet may

I was born in the village of Gales Ferry, which is pleas- antly located on the left bank of the Thames River, in the County of New London and State of Connecticut, Decembe 23d, A. D. 17y9. My educational advantages were limited and none too well improved. I thought more of boats than of books, and preferred sailing, fishing and swimming to reading, writing and arithmetic.

My father, a sea-captain, was, in consequence of the Non-Intercourse Act, English Orders in Council, and Bona- parte’s Milan Decrees, detained from his wonted avocation, and turned his attention to fishing and oystering, in which business my older brother and myself were early initiated and soon became proficient.

My first trip of note was with my father to Newport, R. I.,in May, A. D. 1809, in an inferior two-masted, half-decked sail-boat. A lad a little older than myself accompanied us. HeandI were cold and wet and sea-sick, and sick of the sea, for we were out over night and had a very rough passage, and the other chap said he would not be so sea-sick again for five hundred thousand dollars. But boys, and sometimes men, make extravagant remarks.

Daylight, smooth water and safe arrival at our destined

6 The Old Sailor's Story.

port banished all thoughts of peril and sca-sickness, and my mind was diverted by the sights and scenes which greeted my vision.

We were in Newport at the time of the annual election, and the election day was “a high day;” fights were com- mon, and there seemed to be an antagonistic feeling between the white and colored population.

I saw one of the sable sons of Ham, faultlessly arrayed, standing on one of the wharves at low water. He had white pants and a consequential air. A boatman approached him and without leave, license, warning or ceremony, pitched him of the white pants and consequential air into the soft, slimy, oozy, vicious mud of Newport harbor.

oe Penne i at O what a fall was that, my countrymen !

In the spring of A, D. 1811 my father purchased a sloop of twenty tons burthen to ply between home and New York. This suited me for I was anxious to see the great city of which I had heard so much.

We started on the eleventh of April with a fresh gale from E. N. E., intending to reach New Haven before night ; but after we had passed Faulkner's Island the gale increased, snow fiNed the air, and, when we hauled up for New Haven, the sails being old and filled with snow, burst and blew away, leaving us in the trough of a heavy sea, at the mercy of the winds and waves, in a truly perilous condition.

My father, apparently undaunted, headed her for Long Island, and told my brother to build a fire and draw some cider; but the sloop gave a heavy roll and down came the

The Old Sazlor’s Slory, 7

brick chimney with a crash, partly filling the little cabin with bricks and mortar, at which my fortitude deserted me and I bellowed well, but my father laughed at my fears, and in the blackness of night, with the sea raging and the wind howl- ing, we drifted helplessly.

At two o'clock the next morning we were almost ashore on Crane Neck, but father wore the sloop around, and barely escaping Eaton's Neck at daylight, by means of a new boat sail set in the pump, we arrived in Loyd’s Har- bor, one of the snuggest harbors in the world, where we found two large vessels had dragged their anchors and gone ashore high and dry.

The sloop Heroine, of Norwich, nearly new, was wrecked on Eaton’s Neck early in the night and broke.to pieces, the crew saving themselves, with one exception, b¥swinging out the main boom and crawling from its end into the high bank, where they dug a hole with their hands, into which they huddled together for shelter from the severity of the elements.

The unfortunate exception was an Indian who stead- fastly refused to desert the three hogsheads of rum which formed a part of the sloop’s cargo. He was one of the mul- titudinous army which have lost their lives in consequence of their devotion to rum,

My father bought the sails of the Heroine, which he altered to suit our sloop, and we proceeded to New York, and from thence to the vicinity of Staten Island, where he procured a cargo of oysters, which he brought home and

planted in the ‘Thames.

8 The Old Sailor's Story.

James Madison was then President of the United States, There was a strong feeling of animosity between the Ameri- cans and English. Many of the Revolutionary patriots were then living and England maintained the right of searching American vessels and taking therefrom those who appeared to be British subjects. By this means the mind of the pub- lic was constantly kept excited, and an incident occurred in May of this year which increased this feeling,

Commodore Rogers, in the United States frigate Presi- dent, off the coast of Virginia, on the evening of May 11th, fell in with a vessel and hailed her with, ‘* What ship is that ? What ship is that ?’ and a shot which struck the main-mast of the President was the reply.

Commodore Rogers ordered a broadside, which silenced her guns and killed and sounded many of her men,

Hailing again, the commodore received a courteous an- swer, that the ship was the “ Little Belt,” a British man-of- war brig.

This was the first check the proud British Lion received from the American Eagle on the high seas, but by no means the last.

Proudly declining proffered assistance, the Englishman bore away for Bermuda, and Commodore Rogers and the frigate President were the theme of every tongue and made a strong impression on my boyish imagination.

This also tended to fire the British heart and the proud English boasted that they could sweep our feeble navy from the ocean in a very short time.

sut the sequel proved to the contrary, as every boy

The Old Sailor's Story.

who has read the history of the second war of the Ameri- cans with England knows full well. No reading is more in- teresting to brave and manly boys than the captures of the “ Guerriere” by the “ Constitution,” of the “ Frolic” by the “Wasp,” of the “ Macedonian” by the “ United States,” of the “ Java” by the “ Constitution,” of the “ Boxer” by the “Enterprise,” of the “Cyane”’ and the “ Levant” by ‘ Old Ironsides,” of the “ Penguia” by the “ Hornet,” and the gal- lant victories of Perry on Lake Erie and McDonough on Lake Champlain. The news, incidents and comments of these glorious victories are among the most vivid recollec- tions of my boyhood.

In December, A. D. 1811, occurred the “ Great Christ- mas Snow Storm,” the most severe I have ever known, the snow drifts being ten and fifteen feet in height. Many ves- sels were wrecked and their crews perished.

In June, A. D. 1812, war was declared against Great Britain by the Congress of the United States, and from that time until the cessation of hostilities in A. D. 1815, I fol- lowed fishing and boating in summer and attended school in winter.

I accompanied my father and brother in the little sloop, and after the war was over and the blockade was raised we launched out as far as Chesapeake Bay, taking out produce and returning with oysters for the New York market.

In the summer of A. D. 1817 I staid at home and stud- ied arithmetic and navigation under the tuition of Norman B. Brown, an excellent teacher, very proficient in penman-

ship, who was ever pleased to instruct me.

a

a

10 Lhe Old Satlor’s Story.

In A. D. 18191 shipped mate of the sloop Thames, of for- ty-eight tons burthen, Captain Christopher Allyn, master, bound to Charleston, S. C.

We inade two trips. On the second passage out we had

a very boisterous time, gale succeeding gale, but the sloop was a good sea-boat and we arrived at Charleston after fif- teen days, where we loaded with eotton and rice which we safely conveyed to New York.

In January, A. D. 1820, we started from Gales Ferry for New York with a load of cord-wood. The day was pleasant but at about nine o'clock in the evening it, hazed up and commenced snowing, with the wind from the east, and we hauled up for New Haven, but meeting with floating ice we anchored at the mouth of the harbor.

The wind increased and we let go our second anchor, but the wind veered to the south, and having the whole rake of the sound we parted one cable and cut the other, and

-went head first, at very full tide, away above common high

water mark on West Haven beach, where she bilged.

Being insured we abandoned her to the underwriters, who got her off and repaired her.

In the first half of this year 1 made two trips in the sloop ‘* Romeo,” Captain Alexander Allyn, one to Baltimore, Md., and one to Richmond, Va., taking,out an assorted cargo, from New f.ondon, of cheese, potatoes, coffee-mills, shoes, leather, gridirons, etc., and returning with flour,

On the 23d of June, A. D. 1820, I was master of the sloop Thames, bound to the West Indies with an assorted — cargo of flour, bread, beef, pork, lard, butter, ete,

The Old Sazlor's Story. 11

I had a long passage of about a month, being becalmed in the horse latitudes, but in course of time I disposed of my cargo at the island of St. Eustatia, and loading, partly there and partly at the island of St. Bartholomew, with sugar, proceeded safely to the port of New London.

At the conclusion of this voyage the sloop was sold to Mr. Amasa Hyde, of Norwich, who retained my services as commander, and, with his brother Lewis as supercargo, we sailed for Charleston, S. C., in the iatter part of September, with a cargo of produce.

Arriving there safely, we continued in Carolina waters through the winter, conveying cotton from the plantations to the port of Charleston and carrying back loads of brick.

In May we loaded with tar at Georgetown, which we carried to New York and discharged. I then inade a trip from Norwich to the West Indies, with Captain Jonathan Lester as supercargo, and having disposed of the cargo to good advantage, we took in a quantity of rum which we con- veyed to Boston.

Mr. Hyde, the owner, was well pleased with this year’s

transactions, for the sloop had paid him, in one year’s time, more money than she cost him, the price he paid for her be- ing $1,275.

In the winter of A, D. iS21 and A. D, 1822 1 was en- gaged in the coasting trade in Carolina waters, and in the spring | returned with a mixed cargo to New York.

On the 13th of October, A. D. 1822, | was married to Miss Sally S. Bradford, of Gales Ferry. We celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of our marriage in A, D. 1872, and at

12 The Old Sailor's Story.

the present writing we have lived together as man and wife a little more than fifty-six years.

In the winter of A, D. 1822 and A. D. 1823 my father was with me. We coasted in southern waters and bought a schooner of seventy-five tons burthen. Father took charge of her, and in the spring we loaded at Savannah for New York, where we arrived the same day although I sailed sever- al days in advance.

I made a trip in the spring and early summer of A. D. 1823 to Norfolk and Baltimore, carrying out potatoes and oats and returning with a full cargo of staves.

In the summer of this year my brother Nathan and my- self loaded the sloop with a cargo of wood for New York. We took our wives along to see the wonders of the great metropolis and we had a very enjoyable time.

Disposing of the wood we proceeded to South Amboy where we loaded with potter’s-clay for Norwich.

My brother sailed with an old friend of ours, in Sep- tember, for Savannah, but alas! he never reached his pro- posed destination, He died of a fever on the passage and was buried where so many rest until the time when the ‘sea shall give up its dead.”

My father having overhauled our schooner, the ‘ Three Sisters,” and his health being poor, he wished me to sail with him this fall which I accordingly did. We took a cargo to Baltimore; thence a cargo of flour and oats to Charleston, Finding business dull in those parts we proceeded to Eliza- beth City where we loaded with staves, shingles and corn for

the West Indies. We stopped at Barbadoes and finding no

The Old Sattor's Story. 13

market for our cargo we proceeded to’St. Vincent's where we found a good market.

Here my father’s health failed, and in spite of medical assistance he grew worse instead of better. I desired that he should have rooms on shore. To this he objected, but desired to be taken on deck for purer air. We had a thick sail-cloth awning overhead. Under this he laid and took his medicine and drinks regularly.

On Friday he was able to go ashore and seemed quite cheerful. Saturday he appeared more feeble ; and between Sunday night and Monday morning he died without a strug- vle in the fifty-ninth year of his age.

This was in April, A. D, 1824, and of our family of five, death had taken two in less than eight months, leaving my | widowed mother, my only sister and myself.

Mr. Newbold, our consignee, made proper and suitable arrangements for my father’s burial; and having attended to this solemn duty I, with a sad heart, turned my attention to my vessel and cargo.

[ took in about fifty puncheons of molasses and_pro- ceeded to North Carolina where | discharged the same, and finding freight dull for the north, | made a bargain with Shaw & Co., of Elizabeth City, to take another cargo of staves and shingles to the West Indies.

I intended to have gone to Antigua but easterly winds prevailing I put into Port Antone, Jamaica, where I made a rap for the whole cargo-—shingles, invoiced at $2.25, bringing $14 per M.; red oak staves, invoiced at $8, worth $65 per

14 The Old Satlor’s Story.

M.; and white oak staves and heading, invoiced at $18, worth $75 per M.

But here I was stricken with the yellow bilious fever ; and although I was taken ashore and had good care, for ten days or more my life was despaired of, and in the mean time my mate died of the same dreadful scourge.

As soon as my fever left me and I had gained a little strength I became very nervous and at times delirious, At such times I had gloomy forebodings and imagined all sorts of evil.

One morning I thought | heard my landlady cay : ‘That fellow is alive yet. I will have a grave dug and bury him alive.” The window was open and the schooner was in sight. Out of the window I went, fourteen feet from the ground, into a pile of ballast-stones and broken bottles. Sus- taining no material injury (1 believe I barked one of my shins) I dove from the wharf and swam for the schooner. The boat belonging to her being on its way ashore, the sail- ors took me in and conveyed me on_ board.

The captain of a Newfoundland brig, which lay near us, came on board, and by his advice and assistance I had a warm bath and was put to bed, where I had a short nap which somewhat refreshed me. But the hypo taking pos- session of my brain, | dove from the cabin window with an insane desire to end my existence. But the water had a cooling, soothing effect on my nerves and brain, and being taken on board and carefully watched I gradually recovered.

sy the advice and assistance of a gentleman of the

place, RK. Sherwood, [ese

i my vessel was loaded and I sailed

The Old Sazlor’s Story. 15

for home by the windward passage. But after five or six days of pleasant weather, owing to some miscalculation, in- stead of safely entering Crooked Island passage we struck, in the night, on the Hogsties, a collection of reets and islets situated to the south and east of our proposed passage ; and the wind increasing the vessel was wrecked, that is, she pounded a hole in her bottom but did not break up.

We landed on a little island about two miles from the wreck, where we continued in camp for sixteen days, making occasional trips to the wreck for what we most needed. At the expiration of that time a ship hove in sight and seeing our signal came to our relief.

The ship was bound from St. Domingo for New York

with a valuable cargo of coffee. “The captain generously of- fered to take us and our dunnage, but refused to have any- thing to do with the wreck or cargo, thinking it would affect his insurance, which was probably correct on his part. Hoping to realize something from the wreck and wrecked cargo, I re- fused to abandon the same, and requesting him to report us and our condition at Crooked Island, after putting one boy in his care, we saw him sail away and we felt more lone- some and melancholy than before.

Be it remembered we were far from home and in a deso- late, uninhabited region, with poor accommodations, in what is known and feared as the hurricane season, on a little island perhaps ten feet above the sea-level, which in case of a hur- ricane would probably be submerged.

Hut after weary, anxious days of waiting, a sloop from Crooked Island came to our relief, and after securing all

i i ' ; | BF

16 The Old Satltor's Slory.

available cargo and stripping the wreck, she took us on board and conveyed us to the port of Nassau.

About the time of my arrival there 1 was taken sick with intermittent fever; but I survived, and after settling with the wreckers and paying my crew I had less than forty dollars.

I took passage in a small schooner to Charleston, S. C., where | arrived in low spirits on the first of September, A. D. 1824,in the height of a yellow fever scourge, and found that my friends of that place were absent in the country.

With only about five dollars that I could call my own, utterly broken down in mind and body, I procured a permit and went to the Marine Hospital, where for six weeks I was very sick and very kindly cared for.

When I had somewhat recovered, the doctor, or chief surgeon, Campbell, pointed me out to the visiting commit- tee as his “ resurrection man.”

One morning in November I read in the paper of the arrival of the schooner Arkansas, Captain Wood, and sloop Humbird, Captain Satterlee, both from the north and both captains particular friends of mine.

This was cheering intelligence and I soon rallied. Cap- tain Wood offered me a free passage to New York, which | gladly accepted and arrived there safely.

Captain Charles Davidson, of the little steamer Fanny, gave mea free passage through the sound and landed me at Gales Ferry, where I found my friends in usual health and my wife witn a fine boy, four months of age, in her arms,

By hook or by crook I weathered the winter, and in

on

The Old Sailor's Story, 17

April, A. D, 1825, went mate of the sloop Favorite, at $14 per month, with Captain Sanford Stoddard, to Norfolk with potatoes. Here I received a satisfactory letter from John A, Shaw & Co., of North Carolina.

They owed me about $300 on my two West India car- goes. They paid me $100 and promised to pay the remain- der, but now, after the lapse of fifty-three years, the remain- der is still unpaid.

Arriving home, via Providence, about the first of May, I made a short trip to New York, and on my return I was recommended by an old friend, Captain John Wood, to Mr. Joseph Lawrence, as sailing-master of a new schooner called the Spark, Captain Lebbeus Gardner being captain and half owner.

I continued with Captain Gardner until about Thanks- giving, in the New York and Baltimore trade, and my fami- ly being sick staid at home afew weeks and then made six trips in the sloop Thames, carrying cord-wood to New York, which brings me to March, A. D. 1826.

At this time Messrs. Bangs & Kilburn, of Hartford, of- fered me a mate’s berth on the brig Merchant, Captain John King, which | accepted.

Captain King was none too well versed in navigation, and made stupid calculations, for after getting, according to my calculations, at least six degrees to the castward of the Hole- in-the-Wall, he was afraid of the land and ran three days and hove to three nights before sighting the same ; and after

getting on to the Bahama banks, he ran ashore to find out which side of the channel he was on, and if we had not

_ —

18 The Old Sailor's Story.

kedged off as we did we should have been wrecked then and there. As it was he broke one of the rudder gudgeons which made steering hard work.

After a deal of miscalculation we ran by the port of Matanzas, to which we were bound, so far that it took us nearly all of one day to beat back.

But after a time we arrived and spent five weeks in discharging and loading, all by means of our long boat, which carried five hogsheads, conveying articles from and to the vessel, a distance of two miles each way.

About the first of June, A. D. 1826 we sailed for New London, where we arrived and discharged part of our cargo, proceeding to Hartford with the remainder.

When we unloaded we smoked her out and killed up- wards of two hundred rats.

The remainder of the summer I spent in overhauling vessels for Bangs & Kilburn. Most of the time I was at-

tending to the brig Sea Island, unloading, overhauling and

reloading her, the brig Merchant in the meantime making a voyage to Demerara with bricks, flour, leaf tobacco, segars and horses.

The Merchant returned in November and I had orders

to repair on board of her; and after discharging she was

loaded with provisions and produce, with ten horses and one

hundred and fifty swine on deck.

Captain Henry Barnard was to command, but the pa- pers were made out in my name as Captain Barnard was to remain in Cuba to procure cargoes for other vessels, while | was to bring the brig home. Our destination was Matan-

The Old Satlor’s Story. 19

zas, and after waiting for a favorable time we sailed from New London December roth, A. D. 1826,

We sailed with the wind northwest, in hopes of having a quick passage, but the next day the wind veered to south- west, with a heavy head beat sea, and the swine were not only well washed, but, with the exception of seven, like the swine into which the devils entered, they perished in the wa- ter ; and of the seven that escaped, five were afterwards con- fiscated by the Cubans, Captain Barnard neglecting to put them on the manifest, intending them for slaughtering on board. We had constant gales during the entire passage of twenty-three days, the brig leaking badly, requiring con- stant pumping.

We arrived at Cuba in January, A. D. 1827, and sailed for home in February.

Had pleasant weather for the first few days and made good progress, but, in latitude thirty-four degrees north, took a strong breeze from the south, and shortened down to close reefed top-sails, and after judging myself past Cape Hatteras hauled up north, having heavy squalls from the southwest and the pumps constantly going,

We were in the Gulf Stream, bowling along at the rate of eleven knots, when the wind suddenly shifted to the north- ward, and in two hours’ time our climate seemed changed

from summer's heat to winter’s cold, and our rigging was

covered with ice.

The wind veered to the northeast, and for three days we were close hauled on both tacks, and on the fourth morn- ing one of the sheathing planks floated off, and the leak in-

The Old Satlor’s Slory.

creased fearfully, so that both pumps constantly working could not keep her free.

Being north of the Gulf Stream, off the coast of Delaware, in twenty fathoms of water, I bore off for the capes of Vir- ginia, but the weather became as thick as burgoo, and after standing in to five fathoms on the Virginia coast, hove to, head off shore,with one top-sail aback, and all hands and the cook pumped for their lives.

After pumping for a day and a night, without decreas- ing the depth of water in the hold, we stove the heads of the twenty hogsheads of molasses which formed the deck- load, which seemed to ease her a little.

About this time the wind changed to the west, and, af-

ter making all sail and heading to the north, we made a search for the leak ; staving three hogsheads of molasses in the port wing, and cutting away the ceiling plank, found a fearful leak just below the loaded water-line, in the vicinity of the port fore chains.

With much difficulty we succeeded in stopping it par- tially, so that after a hard day’s work all round, the men gave the cheering intelligence that the pumps sucked.

But the danger was not over, for it required constant : pumping to keep her free.

But after a few more days of blowy, rough weather we arrived safely in New London on about the eighth of March, | A; Dy 1827,

The work of pumping was confided to other hands, and I started for Gales Ferry on foot, where I found my wife with a fine, plump boy of five months in her arms.

ant

we rch,

and vife

The Old Satlor’s Story. a1

And so ended this wearisome and dangerous voyage.

After discharging sufficient cargo to bring the leak out of water, proceeded to Hartford with the residue. The Con- necticut River being twenty-one feet higher than at common low water, we discharged into the second story of Morgan's warchouse, the lower story being submerged.

Here the old brig narrowly escaped taking fire fror> the burning of a negro house in the immediate vicinity, bur the sails being wet, and we letting her swing off into the stream with great haste, she escaped the conflagration.

After being overhauled and thoroughly calked and _ re- fastened the ‘“ Merchant” was again loaded with a general cargo, and another deck-load of those animals waich the Jews abhor, and leaving Saybrook bar April 29th, after a fine, quick passage, arrived at Matanzas May rith, A. D. 1827, and commenced discharging, with the hogs on deck, as the man to whom they were consigned was absent in the country. They were much in our way, as they remained until our in-board cargo was unloaded and our ground tier of molasses for return cargo was stowed. We loaded and started for home June 23d, Captain Barnard, before men- tioned, taking passage with us.

The northeast trades being strong we had a pretty rough passage between the Bahamas and the Florida coast, but nothing worthy of note occurring until we arrived in the latitude of Cape Fear. Captain Barnard, being an old West India skipper, and part owner of the cargo, ..vuld often dic- tate to the mate concerning the course of the vessel. In the mate’s watch, on July 3d, he changed the course which I had

The Old Sailor’s Story.

ordered from northeast to north-northeast. When I found this. out I remonstrated with him, but he vowed that we could steer north and then pass one hundred and fifty miles to the east of Cape Hatteras.

Being self-willed he declared that he was right, and I let him have his way, although I felt convinced that he was wrong, which he was as the sequel proved, for at eleven o'clock we made a light, and sounding found we had but nine fathoms inside of the dangerous shoals of Cape Look- out, part of which are dry at low water. He gave orders to stand to the southeast, which would most certainly have brought us to grief, but I told him to keep quiet and I would stand boss awhile, and by stretching to the west, then to the southeast, and repeating this maneuver, we succeeded in weathering the outer shoais, the most dangerous on the whole coast.

The next day being Independence Day the old chap re- marked, while nipping his champagne, that we were more independent than he expected to have been one spell last night.

‘: ill he would continue to alter the course, and when we m. le Cape Hatteras, which is no place for fooling as many ell know, at certain seasons of the year, we were headir » inside of the light and had to braee up and haul otf for a long distance.

But after rounding the cape we proceeded safely past Montauk, and again the old skipper was determined to have his way, and instead of stopping at New London to lighten,

The Old Satlor’s Story. 23

as was customary, he said steer for Saybrook and proceed to Hartford.

This was a good move for the river was high, and al- though drawing fourteen feet of water, we proceeded as far as Log bar without lightening, thereby saving detention and expense to the owners.

Another voyage was already planned by our enterpris- ing firm to Surinam, Dutch Guiana, with assorted in-board cargu and a deck-load of horses, and Captain Douglass was to command and I was to be his mate.

We had a very good run until we had reached the lati- tude of twenty-seven degrees north, longitude fifty-five de- grees west, which was the meridian of the port to which we were bound, when we were caught in one of those violent hurricanes to which this part of the ocean is subject, com- mencing on the morning of the twenty-third of August. It blew a strong breeze the previous night, but about three o'clock A. M. the wind increased fearfully and the seas ran terribly high.

Not being able to lay to we scud under a very little sail. That blowing away we continued under bare poles, yawing much, until a heavy sea striking her port quarter she broached to and fell over on her beam ends with the horses flounder- ing in the water.

We cut the main rigging and the main-mast fell with a crash, and she righted and fell off before the wind.

After this the captain took an extra nipper and stowed himself away, while the wind roared like steam from an

escape valve, and I steered the entire night, my endeavor

24 The Old Satlor's Story.

being to keep her directly before the wind and sea. It was

no easy matter, for being deeply laden she labored fearfully and the steering apparatus was only the old fashioned tiller and tackles. Sometimes my fatigue was so great that I was tempted to abandon my post, but knowing that certain de- struction would inevitably ensue I determined to hold out as long as I could. Daylight brought no relief to our shattered bark. The gale raging no less fiercely great gloom was upon us.

The next morning our supercargo decided to throw the horses, fifty-six in number, into the raging deep, an opera- tion which was performed with great difficulty.

It was sad to see the poor brutes struggling in the sea with their heads thrown frantically out of water, but our hay was washed away and the salvation of our lives seemed to demand the sacrifice of theirs.

Freed of their weight the brig labored less heavily, and the wind subsiding a little I was relieved from the helm,

The captain then called on me to fix one of the cabin windows, the dead-light being broken and a sea-bed jammed into it,

I had been at the helm over twenty-four hours and felt exhausted, and thought the drunken captain might fix his own window; but as we had no second mate I crawled for- ward through the manger and obtained a piece of board, but a gust struck me on my way back, and instead of blowing away with the board I let the board blow away without my company, I steered, after a few hours’ relief, until about

sea hay to

and

ibin

ned

felt his for- but ing my out

The Old Sailor's Story.

midnight, the brig steering badly and shipping a great deal of water. I then went below for dry clothing and some refresh-

ment. Captain Lester informed me that the wind had

blown from all points of the compass, it being a regular cy-

clone and a tremendous one.

At nine o'clock the next morning the gale broke and the sea smoothed down almost immediately, and we turned our attention to clearing up the wreck.

The brig Betsey Dole, of Middletown, which we had spoken three days before the gale, was one of many vessels that were lost with all hands, and never heard of more.

We rigged a jury-mast and in acrippled condition made our way back to the American coast.

One night we were run into by a ship which gave us a glancing blow, breaking top timbers and cat-head and rob- bing us of one anchor ; but in just one month from the time we sailec we re-entered the harbor of New London Septem- ber 13th, A. D. 1827, having survived one of the most se- vere gales on record, and making while absent a circuit of more than two thousand five hundred miles.

‘The enterprising owners wishing to prosecute this voy- ave bought the brig Governor Griswold, to which our in- board cargo was transferred with additions, and taking sixty horses on deck we had a fair passage to the mouth of the Surinam River.

The captain and superecargo proceeded to the town, about twenty miles, and made arrangements for the transfer

26 The Old Savlor’s Story.

of our cargo to Demerara, which port at this time was closed to American vessels.

A part of their arrangements was for us to proceed to the little river which forms the boundary between the Eng- lish and Dutch colonies, forty miles nearer Demerara than the mouth of the Surinam, To that place we proceeded and our cargo was taken from us in small vessels. We con- tinued there about three weeks and suffered untold agerava- tion and inconvenience on account of the mosquitoes which were very large, very numerous and very blood-thirsty.

One night our cabin-boy went into the cabin to set the ta- ble for tea, but the stern windows being open the mosqui- toes had literally taken possession, and the poor lad, with howls of rage, beat an inglorious retreat, leaving all the in- sects which could not possibly fasten to every exposed part of his person.

That night we drank our tea on deck under the awn- ing.

After unloading we proceeded to the Rio de la Hatche, where flour at that time was worth fifty dollars per barrel, but unfortunately we had none to sell. We loaded there with dye-woods, which were brought to us in the night, and setting sail for home January roth, A. D, 1828, we proceeded until detained by fog in the vicinity of somewhere.

When the fog lighted we sighted Gay Head, and hav- ing strong westerly winds we took a pilot and put into Tar- paulin cove.

After being detained three or four days we proceeded

to New London, arriving there about the twelfth of February,

The o sixty-fi

W March, Matan

the du the ne? being t long ps tions te satisfac After t rived a TI where Sailing tholom bulk of place, \ zuela, from tl zag roi A sure-fo he anc of bee

below,

The Old Sazlor’s Story.

The operation of taking the pilot cost the owners about sixty-five dollars.

We then loaded for Cuba with hogs on deck, sailing in March, and after a common kind of passage we arrived at Matanzas where we took in a full cargo of sugar and molas- ses, with which we returned after a remarkably quick passage.

Congress had recently enacted a new tariff law doubling the duties on foreign imports, to take effect on the first of the next July. So we took in a light cargo for Cuba, and it being the middle of May we were in a hurry, but we had a long passage. However, the agent loaded us, with instruc- tions to hasten to the nearest American port, and we had the satisfaction of arriving at Charleston June 30th, A. D, 1828. After unloading we proceeded to New London where we ar- rived about the twentieth of July.

The next voyage was to the windward West Indies where we discharged cargo for trans-shipment to Demerara. Sailing about the middle of August we arrived at St. Bar- tholomew’s about the middle of September. Shipping the bulk of our cargo and selling what suited the market in that place, we proceeded with the balance to La Guayra in Vene- zuela, at the foot of the Caraccas mountains, the distance

from the seaport to the capital being twelve miles by a zig-

zag road,

All merchandise has to be conveyed on the backs of sure-footed mules, and if the mule should lose his foothold, he and his rider and his lading, which is sometimes a barrel

of beef, would be dashed on the rocks many hundred feet

below.

28 The Old Sarlor’s Story,

La Guayra has an open roadstead, being only a long bend in the land and the swell from the north rolls in heavily. We were there in September, with the sun at meridian, al- most directly overhead, and to say the least it was hot. The reflection of the sun from the mountain side could be sensi- bly felt through two thicknesses of sail-cloth awning.

After disposing of all that we could sell to advantage we proceeded to Porto Cabello where we found a good har- bor but no market for our dry goods, It took us seven hours to weigh our anchor at this place, for an old rusty ship’s an- chor, which would weigh three thousand pounds, was. at- tached to ours, looking old enough to have been left there by Columbus on his third voyage, when he discovered the continent near this place.

We touched at Curacoa where we found no market for our goods, and as a last resort we proceeded to Port Hatche, where we sold what we could and loaded with dye-wood for home, where we arrived in November, about the time of the election of General Jackson as President of the United States,

Bangs & Kilburn had failed and I was out of employ- ment, but 1 purchased a small interest in a sloop called the Juno, and took a load of potatoes to Philadelphia in De- cember.,

Returning home in January, A. D. 1829, I laid by a spell, but in the latter part of Iebruary took in a quantity of ice, hacked out in all shapes, and started for Savannah, Ga. The ice melted considerably and sold to poor advan- tage, there being no ice-house in the place to store it in ex-

ceptir lized

and f cottol! tain ¢ cargo ton w

/

dull 1. | Mr. | sloop, turne Lond 3) Spark to the of Ste fred

and Strot capta

Islan bury, of H man nen

De \

an-

at- here the

for

che,

for the ited

loy- the De-

by a tity nah, van-

CX-

The Old Savlor's Story. 29

cepting one belonging to a Boston ice company who monopo- lized the trade. 1 made a short river trip; thence a trip to and from Norfolk with corn; thence to Philadelphia with cotton and rice in company with the schooner Spark, Cap- tain Charles Poole ; thence a cargo to New York; thence a cargo to New London ; and from there I proceeded to Bos- ton with a load of oil.

Arriving home I overhauled the sloop, and times being dull laid up for a while

I had an offer to take charge of a brig to Demerara, but Mr. Lawrence and Major Williams, who owned part of the sloop, made me out a freight for Philadelphia, and [ re- turned with the second cargo of coal ever discharged at New London, and this was in August, A. D, 182.

On the twenty-fifth of October I was master of the schooner Spark, of eighty tons burthen, bound on a sealing voyage to the South Atlantic. My officers were Edward P. Dewy, of Stonington, first mate ; George Brewster, second mate; Al- fred Allyn, of Ledyard, third mate. One Chase, cooper, and Samuel Cooley, steward. Among the seamen were Strong Holt, of New London, afterwards a successful whaling captain, who was drowned from a pleasure boat in Fisher's Island Sound ; Samuel Hart, William Hanks, George Kings- bury, and William Elall, who afterwards became a lawyer, all of Hartford, and five others, making a total of sixteen to man a little schooner which could be easily managed by two men and a boy in ordinary weather,

After twenty-three days we arrived at one of the Cape De Verde Islands where we found two sealing vessels, the

30 The Old Satlor’s Story.

brig Seraph, of Stonington, and the schooner General Put- nam, of Newburyport.

Procuring three hundred bushels of salt we mated with the Putnam and proceeded for sealing grounds, Crossing’ the equator in the longitude of eighteen degrees west, we proceeded with more or less celerity and arrived on the barren coast of Africa, in the latitude of twenty-six degrees south, on January 14th, A. D. 1830.

At that place is a small island, a mile or more from the coast, on the inside of which there is a fair anchorage. This island, called Ichabo, is the rendezvous of millions of sea- birds, which there lay their eggs and hatch their young ; and we obtained at this time and afterwards quantities of eggs, many of which are excellent for food. The birds were so thick as to prevent our traveang on shore without first beat- ing a pacsage way with our seal-clubs, and yet we endeavored not to hurt them, although they regarded us as intruders and attacked us with ferocity, scratching and biting with such effect as to draw blood through the legs of our panta- loons.

We were plentifully supplied with eges during the fif- teen months that we were on this coast, our men eating gulls’ and penguins’ eggs without much distinction, although the former are much superior.

We had arrived at this island too late for this season,

for an examination of the shore revealed about a thousand

carcasses of seal which had been deprived of their skins by

those who had arrived there on a similar errand to ours,

A amiss

T and w T pound of age

T and 1: coast ¢ breedi from t the m rious 1

place.

A throug man’s unwar merou twent:

| few fr

S and a: ren, s put ol patch

The Old Sattor’s Story.

A few words descriptive of seal and sealing may not be amiss in this connection.

The males, called wigs, are much larger than the females, and weigh, when full grown, from fifty tu eighty pounds.

The females, called clapmatches, weigh from four to ten pounds, and commence breeding when they are three years of age.

The males come on shore about the first of November and land short distances from each other all along the coast of the uninhabited islands or regions which form their breeding grounds. A few days after this the females emerge

from the water and are escorted, after a fierce battle among

the males who are stationed in the vicinity, by the victo- rious male who escorts the newly-arrived female to a secure place.

At this time the males are very savage and will bite through each others napes which are of the thickness of a man’s hand. Some are killed in the contlicts, which seems unwarrantable, for the females instead of being few are nu- merous in comparison with the males, and average about twenty of the former to one of the latter.

The coast was well sealed and we could only glean a few from the roughest rocks.

Six days passed and our consort, the Putnam, arrived; and as we were likely to fall short of water, this being a bar- ren, sandy coast, without rain oftener than once a year, we put our water-casks and our mate on board of her and des- patched her south to Saldana Bay, while her captain came

32 The Old Satlor’s Story.

on board of our vessel and proceeded with us to seal alung the coast.

We found a few seal at each landing, but as our con- sort did not arrive in due time we beat towards Saldana Bay, the wind constantly prevailing from the south, and on our arrival there found the Putnam had left, and the whale ship Dauphin, Captain Huzzey, of Nantucket, lying in the harbor with the captain on shore recruiting his health.

At night, in a sudden squall from the southwest, the old Dauphin parted her cable and before the second anchor could be cast out she was nearly in the breakers ; the second cable parted and in less than an hour she was a complete wreck, with her masts all gone and deck uptorn, for being an old ship with a new top, the new part left the old and parted company in a hurry.

The captain rode down the next day and viewing the wreck, quite coolly remarked that if he pulled out his hair and threw it into the fire that would not mend the matter. So he returned to his quarters after giving some directions to Mr. Russell his mate.

The next day I called on Mr. Marsh, the magistrate and chief man of this English out-post, who entertained me very civilly, and having procured some wood from the wreck, and filled our spare casks with water of a poor quality, pro- ceeded to Angra Pequena harbor, where we found our con sort and obtained from her our casks of water on March 18th, A. D. 1830.

It being between season, I concluded toreturn to Saldana

Bay, if possible, before the auction of the effects saved from

the D with n along the D main-s

B tediou memo of less

O came 1 Angra powde

\\ junk | apiece

C word date,

I

Suppo

less n it to

I

joinec

skins, ficers

( five h

The Old Sailor's Story. 33 the Dauphin, being in want of an anchor; and the Putnam, with my second mate and boat’s crew, proceeded to seal along the coast. We procured an anchor from the wreck of the Dauphin, also a main-top-sail, which we altered into a main-sail for our schooner.

But minute account of any voyage are too prolix and tedious for general reading, so I will give a few extracts from memoranda which possibly may be interesting to some and of less interest to others.

On the fifth of April, A. D. 1830, natives or Hottentots came twelve days’ journey from the interior to the harbor of Angra where we were, with cattle and sheep to barter for powder and ball for hunting purposes.

We bought five neat cattle and two sheep, paying two junk bottles of powder each for the former and one bottle apiece for the latter.

On the sixth of May the captain of the Putnam sent word that he should dissolve partnership with us-.from that date,

He had discovered, as we afterwards learned, what he supposed was a gold mine, but which proved to be a worth- less mineral substance, as he found after taking a quantity of it to Cape Town to have it tested.

From this time until September 6th, when we again joined in partnership, we took from five to six hundred se... skins, no part of which belonged to the Putnam and_ her of- ficers and crew.

On the thirteenth we obtained one hundred and seventy- five heavy fur seal-skins,

The Old Satlor's Story.

The whole coast of this region is a sandy desert, and the natives who wander to and along shore, coming several days’ journey from the interior, are the most miserable speci- mens of humanity I have ever seen. They like tobacco and will barter anything they possess to procure it. They are nearly or quite naked, oil themselves from head to foot, and eat birds’ eggs, offal, or anything they can procure to sustain their miserable existence.

They offer in trade ostrich egg-shells, from which they have extracted the inside through a hole in one end, and also feathers of the largest known bird; but the feathers, like themselves, are in a dirty, greasy and unpresentable condi- tion.

On November 21st we took two hundred and thirty-four prime seal-skins; December 29th, two hundred and thirty seal-skins ; December 31st, two hundred and fifty skins. So ends the year of our Lord 1830.

January ist, A. D, 1831, took five hundred skins ; March 2d we took seven hundred and forty skins, which was a good days work and attended with great labor and excitement.

On March 2tst, at four o’clock P. M., we bore away for

North America with all sail set and all hands in the best of

humor. We were glad to bid adieu to the wearisome em- ployments and enjoyments of African life, and with a fair

wind we were soon going at the rate of nine knots.

The sailing from the coast of Africa, in latitude twenty- five degrees south, to the equator, in good weather and with 8 | g a fair wind for three thousand miles, is the most pleasant sailing I have ever experienced.

On the only kindly 1 William and obt on shor a visit t hands o until th had spe. southea a new d

Fre of one | winds u winds it ceeded

Wi

tions, a

nearly { the hea

O ter holc

from C rially f three c

The Old Sailor's Story. 38

On the twenty-ninth of March we stopped at Jamestown,

the only port of the island of St. Helena, where I was very kindly received and entertained by the American vice-consul, William Carroll, Esq. Here I sold three casks of bread and obtained fresh vegetables for the crew, who had liberty

on shore and a dollar apiece for spending money. I made

a visit to Bonaparte’s tomb ; and the next day, having got all hands on board, who were inclined to be wild and mutinous until they recovered from the effects of that for which they had spent their dollars, at twelve o'clock noon St. Helena bore southeast by south, five leagues distant, from which we took a new departure.

From March 30th to April 12th we averaged upwards of one hundred and fifty miles per day, then baffling, variable winds until the nineteenth, when we took the northeast trade winds in latitude six degrees fourteen minutes north, and pro- ceeded on our way rejoicing.

We navigated by dead reckoning and lunar observa- tions, and proceeded towards our destination at the rate of nearly two hundred miles a day. On the twenty-fifth found the head of the main-mast sprung and reefed the main-sail.

On the twenty-sixth found the skins heating in the af- ter hold and overhauled them.

On the third of May we passed the Bermudas about forty miles to the west of us.

On the sixth spoke the schooner Amanda Malvina from Charleston for Boston. His longitude differed mate- rially from mine. He was only five days out of port and three degrees east of his reckoning, having been swept along

30 The Old Satlor's Story.

by the Gulf Stream for which he had not made due allow-

ance, while I, not having had no new departure since leaving

St. Helena, was not ten miles from my reckoning,

So much for lunar observations when correctly taken.

On May roth, at daylight, we had the joyful sight and sound of “Land Ho!” and Block Island bore north about fifteen miles distant.

At three P. M. Samuel Hart was washed overboard from the jib-boom,in the Race-rip, but with the assistance of Strong Holt, who seized the end of a line and swam to him, he was soon rescued.

We anchored in New London May roth, A. D. 1831, after an absence of more thana year and a half, having made a satisfactory voyage to the owners and all concerned.

After recruiting a while, my friend Captain John Poole, of New London, who had _ built a schooner of about eighty tons, called the Talma, induced me to go in her with his son, Charles Poole, in the southern coasting trade. We started in July, carried cheese to Norfolk and Baltimore, and returned home with pine wood aad watermelons.

Our next trip was to Philadelphia, whence we conveyed coal to New York, and arrived at New London early in Sep- tember.

We next took seven hundred bushels of potatoes and twenty-six tons of cheese for the late Captain Acors Barnes, of New London, from Norwich to Norfolk and Baltimore, Captain Barnes taking passage with us.

Arriving at Norfolk we left a part of the cheese with Anderson & Goodrich and proceeded to Baltimore.

'

1).

find Iw Jos

pre

first wer mat Stor

ond

leng islar ant | on t

The Old Sarlor’ s Story,

After selling the remainder of our cargo there we loaded with flour for New York. We next sailed on December oth, with an assorted cargo and a few 1 assengers, from New York to Havana, and had a nine days passage. We were detained in Havana some time, owing partly to the Cuban's observance of the holiday season, and then went to New Orleans with a load of coffee and sugar. In February, 1832, we made a short trip up the river for molasses for a New Orleans distillery ; and business being duil we purchased, at Bayou Lalouche, a full cargo of molasses on the vessel's ac- count, and after being detained a long time in loading, after along passage arrived at New London about June ist, A. by 832,

I had three applications to go sealing, and Captain !’oole finding he could dispose of the Talma to good advantage if [ would go in her, which I consented to do, sold her to Mr. Joseph Lawrence with whom [| made arrangements for a pretty good lay and bonus.

We sailed in the latter part of July, at the height of the first cholera in New York, and although most of my crew were from that city we had no cases of it on board. My mates were Stephen Perkins, of Gales Ferry ; John Hill, of Stonington ; and Orlando Bolles, of New London, first, see- ond and third respectively.

We arrived at the Cape De Verde Islands after quite a lengthy passage, where we obtained salt. Leaving the islands we had constant southerly winds and much unpleas-

ant weather until near the equator, which I think we crossed

on the twentieth of September, with the syn vertical. We

38 The Old Sailor's Story.

had adverse winds and hcavy weather much of the time un- til we had passed the mouth of the La Plata, when the weather became more mild, it being then past the middle of October.

We sighted Cape Corrientes, and with a fresh north- erly wind ran down the coast of Patagonia to St. Joseph's Peninsula and sent the boats in shore to explore.

The boats returned, having seen only a few hair lions on the beaches.

We proceeded south, anchored in St. Helena harbor, with the wind northeast, where the bottom is hard and flinty, and went on shore but made no discovery of seals.

The next day we left this harbor and went south, ex- amining rocks and islands, but found no seals.

We stood in for Oven Bay, a narrow creek, where we found the schooner Union, Captain Clark, of Boston,

We anchored in this harbor, which is snug and has ex- cellent holding grounds.

Leaving here we continued south, across St. George's Bay, with the wind from northwest, where the tides rise from twenty to thirty feet, and the current sets north and south at the rate of three or four miles an hour,

We rounded Cape Blanco and went to Staten Land, where we arrived about November 1st.

This island is along ridge of mountain peaks, thirty miles in length, with three good harbors, viz.: East harbor, West harbor, and Port Hatche.

The practice of sealing this ‘sland is to leave the vessel

in one of the harbors and work the beaches with the boats,

ne

The Old Sattor’s Story, 39

3 1. Our boats fitted out and fell in with a boat's crew left here . : 1e by schooner Telegraph, of Bristol, and they proceeded to of seal in company, but obtained but few skins. In January we crossed the Straits of LeMar, which h- separate Staten Land from Terra del Fuego, a dangerous 1's passage on account of its heavy tide-rip, where Commodore Porter nearly foundered the frigate Essex. N on Captain Cutler, in the sloop Only Son, of Stonington, found himself one day drifting into this dangerous rip in a or, calm. He closed his hatches and all places where water ty, could find ingress, and leaving his dog on deck went below with his crew. The little craft came out of the peril, but the exs dog was missing and everything on deck that was not firmly i secured ; and if a dog could not survive the peril how could we a man ? On the third day from Staten Land we anchored in ex- Wood harbor, a fine harbor in one of the numerous groups of the Terra del Fuego archipelago. The islands are high, ge's rocky ani well wooded, having a plentiful supply of the rise most refreshing water | evertasted. Where the fresh water and empties into the salt water a sort of oil rises to the surface. The inhabitants of this region are a degraded race, des- and, titute of all civilization, easily intimidated, subsisting on fish b and mussels, and spending much of their time in canoes iirty made of bark, in which they carry a heap of sand, dirt and “bor, stones, on which they keep a fire constantly burning, This population inhabits a region of mountainous island- essel land which extends some four hundred miles on the South oats, Atlantic and South Pacific coasts, They are as sadly in need

j

4o The Old Satlor’s Slory,

of missionaries as any people on the face of this terrestrial ball, but the field would be neither lucrative nor self-sustaining. They express no desire to leave their country ; and two young fellows who appeared to be eighteen or twenty years of age, who came on board our schooner one day, and who were baffled in their attempts to find the monkeys which ap- peared to them to lurk in the mirror when they stoo. ) it, when made to think we sought their abduction, how!ed so piteously that we were glad to free them from our company,

The number of these human beings, who fare worse than the brutes of most parts of the world, is hundreds and perhaps thousands. A mission was once started for their benefit, under the auspices of the English Episcopalians, but the missionaries, unable to procure supplics needful to life and health, sickened and died, for aught I know of starvation.

On one of the Diego Islands I lost a valuable boy named B. F. Hussey. He went with the mate and myself on to a steep, rocky island to procure fowl, while the boat's crew laid off at a short distance waiting for us. The last I saw of him he was on a pinnacle of rock waving a wounded bird, Proba- bly the rock on which he stood crumbled with his weight, and he fell into the water and was killed or severely stunned by the fall. He was a Sandwich Islander by birth and an adept at diving and swimming, but he suddenly disappeare: and although we searched diligently for his body we did ie: succeed in finding: it, We examined the rocks and vslands in this region,

a easy

to of

ned to a laid him yba- ght, ined lan Wes

ra

rion,

The Old Satlor’s Story. qi

culled by Captain Cook, Desolation coast, and occasionally

found a few seal.

We generally anchored at night, for the bays, coves, and islands in this region form many excellent harbors, and cruising in the night is perilous, on account of sudden squalls, which are of frequent occurrence and by no means pleasant.

We procured some provisions in Gregory’s Bay, Straits of Magellan, of the Patagonian Indians, a gigantic race, far superior in size and strength to the natives of Terra del Fuego. These Indians have a very hardy breed of horses

that will stand much fatigue; and after taking a.party of

them on board, among whom was a native queen, and feast- ing them on rice and molasses, of which they were very fond, they agreed to furnish us with deer meat, and they kept their word, bartering this luscious commodity for red woolen shirts.

After replenishing our stock of provisions, we proceeded from the Straits of Magellan in May, A. D. 1833, for the Falkland Islands. We found plenty of wild geese on these islands and easily procured, by shooting, all the goose flesh we wanted,

We obtained but few seal-skins, and what we had we shipped home in the schooner Sun, Captain Trott. Then we went to work to get more; and as time wore away and the sealing season came on, we succeeded in getting a fair cargo. We visited the South Shetlands, whose summits, tow- ering high, are always covered with snow. We had some op- position, for several vessels were sealing in these regions. Sometimes we consorted with one or more vessels and

pein aise enh hte RES Nc ON ME ARERR EMMA N IN

s

42 The Old Sarlor’s Story.

worked together for a time ; sometimes we left a boat's crew with camping utensils and provisions to seal some inhospit- able, barren or uninhabited island, while we continued search olsewhere ; sometimes we remained in a harbor for several d it atime; again we were busy in procuring fuel, water and game; and so the days, weeks and months passed away, and on March oth, A. 1. 1834, we were home- ward bound.

We called at Pernambuco for fruits and vegetables. We crossed the equator about the middle of April and arrived home early in May, having a speedy, safe passage. I found my family well, and the voyage was profitable, for seal-skins brought a high price. Thus ends a tedious twenty-two months’ voyage.

On the twenty-eighth of July I sailed on another voy- ave in the schooner Betsey, of New London, with a comple- ment of twenty-one men, bound on a sealing and whaling voyage.

We stopped at the Cape De Verde's for salt, and found that the people had been preserved from famine by the provi- dential supply of large numbers of small fish.

Their crops failed, and had it not been for this miraci- lous supply of food the common people would have been Without sustenance,

The same Divine Power that sent food by the ravens to the prophet Elijah sent fish to these islanders, and have we not witnessed the workings of the same power in this coun-

try? For when wood was getting scarce very rapidly, be-

hold the discovery and utilizing of our immense coal mines }

ra

a

CG

S¢

rew pit- ued

for ring’ ths

ime-

We ved und kins

-two

voy- 1ple-

ling

yund

rovi-

Pac j-

been

ns to e we ‘;Oun- 1, be-

ines:

The Old Sazlor’s Story.

and when whales were few and far between, then bubbles and spouts from mother earth a seemingly inexhaustible sup- ply of petroleum.

These islands belong to Portugal and are inhabited by a mixed race, of Portuguese and African descent or consent. Governo, Martinez and his family were the only full-blooded Portuguese which I saw on these islands and some of his sons had a decidedly Hamish appearance.

He was quite extensively engaged in the salt trade, owning several vessels ; one of them was the old brig Boxer, taken by the Enterprise in the war of 1812, And these ves sels conveyed cargoes of salt to Portugal and Brazil.

While we were here the brig Tampico, Captain Holmes, of Mystic, arrived, and after procuring a sufficient quantity of salt, we sailed in company with her, she being bound on the same errand as ourselves, for the southwest coast of Africa. We crossed the equator about the middle of Sep- tember, and after sighting the island of Ascension, an unu- sual occurrence on this passage, we took the southeast trade winds, which blew remarkably strong, causing us to make rapid headway, and we arrived on the coast in the vicinity of Whale’s Bay, after a passage of sixty-five days, on or about October 5th, A. D. 1834. We stopped at Elizabeth Bay, where we procured a supply of birds and egys, and pro- ceeded to Angra Pequena Bay, the best harbor on the whole coast, to which I have formerly alluded in this work.

Here we landed surplus provisions, shooks, ete., and sent down yards and prepared for cruising generally,

44 The Old Satlor’s Story.

On the third or fourth day we started northward, ex- amining rocks and islands on our way with little success.

We proceeded to Ichabo Island where we found plenty of eggs, and crawfish, a sort of lobster with no large claws. We went to Mercury Island, thence to Bird Island, seventy miles further, the farthest off-shore island on this part of the coast, where the anchorage is bad on account of rocky bot- tom, and the surf oftentimes renders landing difficult and dangerous. Here we procured a few seal; then skirted the coast back to Angra, where we set up cask and made gener- al preparations for both whaling and sealing.

The usual time of the seals coming on shore is from the tenth to the twenty-fifth of November, where they re- main, if undisturbed, several months, or until the young, which are ushered into existence soon after the landing, are able to take care of themselves.

They generally shed their coats of hairin February, and the pups become silver-gray and pass as yearlings at about eight months of age.

During the season which now followed we found the seal scarce and shy, but by diligence we managed to secure some eight hundred skins, which was asim season's work, as we had the whole coast to ourselves.

Some time in February the ship Bingham, of New Lon- don, Captain James Smith, arrived in our vicinity seeking

for whales; and the brig Tampico, previously mentioned, also arrived, with whom we consorted fora time, as there was but little chance of success with any opposition.

As we were likely to become short of water I left two

rom y re- ung,

are

and bout

the cure k, as

Lon- king ned, here

two

The Old Satlor’s Story. 45

boat's crews in charge of my second and third mates to seal in company with the Tampico, while I prepared to beat to Cape Town, a distance of six hundred miles, with the wind dead ahead. What do you think, my city friend, with water faucets at every crook and turn, of having to sail so far, with a head wind, to get something to drink ?

Some of the men whom I was about to leave grumbled and desired to go in the ship, their object being to desert ; but I left them, ordering the mates to stop their allowance if they rebelled, and promising them a jollification in case of good behavior on my return. We made the trip to Cape Town where we procured water, fruits and vegetables, and on our return found affairs all straight.

We landed our water on Penguin Island where we found the brig Roscoe, of New Bedford, waiting for whale to only just make their appearance.

The Tampico, being a short distance to the northward, arrived two days after; and the ships Commodore Perry, Captain Hobron ; Afronaut, Captain Mallory; Atlas, Cap- tain Fuller; and the Bingham, Captain Smith, soon after came in.

It was now about June ist, A, D. 1835, and we con- sorted for a while with the Bingham, exchanging our first mates with their boat’s crews, and cruised up and down the coast seeking whales and finding none. After a month and a half, during which time the Bingham secured one whale and we one less, we concluded whaling was rather slim ; so I started on a cruise to the southward, doubled the Cape of

Good Hope and landed on Dyer’s Island, where we pro-

46 The Old Sailor's Story.

cured seven hundred prime. seal-skins, which somewhat re- vived our drooping spirits.

We returned to Angra, having procured wood at Cape Voltas on our way, and found the Tampico absent on a cruise to the northward, and a Boston sealing schooner, Captain Clark, in the harbor.

It was September, and as no seal were to be taken, we overhauled and painted the brig, waiting for the seal to come up, occasionally examining the rocks but with little suc- cess.

The seal having been harrassed so much the prospect was slim for the next season; but by putting men on the small rocks to shoot them, and by great diligence, we man- aged to secure about a thousand skins to both vessels, which was a slim season’s work.

After visiting St. Helena Bay, in Cape Colony, we skirted along the coast to Walwich Bay, procured a bullock

of the natives, also a few ostrich feathers and empty egg-

shells, and proceeded on to Tiger Peninsula, in latitude four- teen degrees south, but finding nothing we bore away for St. Helena in January, A. 1D. 1836.

We arrived there in about eight days after leaving the coast, where I found William Carroll, Esq., American consul, in good health ; and after procuring water and d'sposing of surplus provisions, took our departure from this noted island for home about the twentieth of January, and arrived safely at New London early in March,

The sealing business had ceased to be remunerative, on account of a decline in the price of furs, so Mr, Lawrence

it re-

Sape ona ner,

1, we il to SUC-

spect

the nan- Thich

land afely

eB, on

ence

The Old Satlor’s Story.

loaded the brig for the West Indies with horned cattle on deck, and I sailed in her for Martinico on the eighth of April.

We sailed with the wind west-southwest, but it hauled

to the south and increased to a gale and we had a pretty

rough time for live stock. They kept sprawling and falling, and required constant care and management.

After crossing the raging gulf we had a moderate pas- sage to St. Pierre, Martinico, where we found no market for our cargo and were advised to go to Gaudaloupe, which we accordingly did.

There we found a dull market, especially for cattle; and as several vessels were waiting to procure cargoes of mo- lasses, the article with which we wished: to load, we had wearisome detention, but finally obtained a lading, and after a quick passage of eleven days arrived at New London on June 30th, A. D. 1836.

Not wishing to go sealing again immediacely, the owner, with my consent and according to my advice, sent the vessel to the coast of Chili, under command of Captain William Noyes.

I stopped ashore until the latter part of August; then made a trip to Norfolk after a cargo of corn, and in October purchased an interest in the schooner Callao, and procured a freight in New York for Apalachicola, where I arrived and discharged after a lengthy passage.

I went from there to New Orleans in ballast; and find- ing freighting good, formed a line of packets, with two other vessels, between that port and Apalachicola, After making

4s The Old Satlor's Story. three good trips, which took me until January, A. D. 1 the business became dull; and after lying idle and being sick with a fever for some time, I helped wreck a schooner near the mouth of the Mississippi, then procured a freight for Apalachicola, and from thence proceeded to New York and thence home.

In June we had the vessel newly coppered, intending to have gone to the Azores for a cargo of potatoes and onions,

but failing in this, laid by until October, and then took a

freight from Hartford to Savannah. There we loaded, partly on the vessel’s account, for Mobile, and thence we proceeded to New Orleans, where we loaded with bale-rope and bag- ging for Savannah, arriving at the latter porton January rst, A. D, 1838.

Here we loaded with lumber for Havana, and leaving Tybee February rst, in the evening, arrived at our destina- tion February 4th, in the morning ; and after unloading we took a cargo of coffee, sugar and oranges to New Orleans.

Thence we went to Apalachicola and obtained a freight of cotton for New Orleans, receiving one and one-quarter and one and one-eighth cents per pound freight for under- deck and deck-load respectively.

Back to Apalachicola with a load of sugar and ayain to New Orleans in ballast ; and from thence a freight for Bos- ton, leaving the Balize about the first of July and arriving in Boston the 12th. Then we went home and laid by until October.

My next move was to Bath, Me., for a cargo of pota- toes, which, owing to a drouth, were scarce. After scouring

The Old Sailor's Story. 49

about that section for two or three weeks, I procured part of a cargo and started for New London for orders. After pass- ing through the Vineyard Sound I put into Newport on ac- count of a southeast gale and storm ; and as the wind shifted suddenly to the westward and blew hard I was detained there several days.

I arrived at New London November tst; sailed the second for Charleston, where I found no market. Thence | had a rough passage to Key West where the market was equally dull.

I stopped at Tampa Bay and at Apalachicola, and at both places found no sale; and after taking them to New Orleans I was obliged to peddle them out in small quan- tities.

After getting through with the potatoes I went to the Atchafalaya River, and with much exertion obtained a cargo of sugar from different plantations for New Orleans.

The navigation of this part of the country is intricate and difficult, the land being very low and marshy ; the shoals or oyster banks extend off shore, out of sight of land, and the river is very narrow and crooked.

Arriving at Franklin, La., I took horse and rode to dif- ferent plantations, being well received and hospitably enter- tained by the gentlemanly planters, many of whom, with their slaves, had emigrated from Virginia and Kentucky,

preferring to raise sugar-cane in this fertile region to the

cultivation of corn on their soil-impoverished homesteads. Late one stormy day in January I called at the sugar plantation of a Mr. Wilkes, an old Virginia planter, who

50 The Old Sartor’ s Story,

gave me an epitome of his history ; and as he was a very in- telligent man his conversation was highly entertaining. He predicted, at that early day, that the largest city in the world

would eventually spring up on the Pacific side of this conti-

nent; that there would be a shipeanal across the Isthmus ; and that this future city wouldgbe a great commercial empo- rium, a sort of central depot for the world.

Since the development of the resources of California and the rapid rise and growth of San Francisco, I have often thought of the old gentleman's prophecy on tha — ormy January evening.

The next morning, after a sumptuous breakfast, my new-found friend accompanied me on horseback to several plantations ; and never in my life did I have more disinter- ested kindness shown me by a stranger. My recollections of him are a bright spot in my memory.

I also made the acquaintance of a Dr. Field, in Frank- lin, who, with his wife, an accomplished New York lady, very hospitably entertained my wife, who accompanied me this winter, and rendered me kindly assistance in procuring cargo.

After taking in different lots of sugar, we dropped down the river, near the mouth of which | purchased some corn from the slaves of two different plantations, (with their own- er's consent, otherwise I should have been subject to impris- onment), and we made our way to New Orleans, where we arrived about the twentieth of January.

I found freights very dull; but after getting what I could and purchasing considerable on the vessel's account,

I dropped down the river on March ist, and was very un-

The Old Sailor's Story,

fortunate, for on the evening of that day our vessel was run down and sunk by a tow-boat with a heavy teow, called the Tiger, ;

The pilot of the tug, mjstaking our light for a shore light, put his wheel the wr yay, and the result was a col- lision, which caused our ves, with a cargo valued at up- wards of twelve thousand dollars, to sink in less time than it takes to write an account of the occurrence. The captain of the tug was a northern man and a gentleman, so casting off his tow he hitched on to the sunken craft and succeeded in vetting her near the shore, where he left her lying on one side,

I took passage with him to New Orleans, where I pro- cured the assistance of the schooner Rob Roy, Captain John W. Miner, of New London, with whom I proceeded to the wreck ; and with his and other assistance we hauled out the cargo, much of which was badly damaged.

The schooner was then floated, and both she and the cargo were sold at auction in New Orleans, the former to Bailey & Marcy, shipwrights, who afterwards repaired and used her to good advantage.

Being now, as Jack says, adrift, but naving some funds, I made an agreement with Captain Miner for a passage north; and a part freight offering for Savannah I made him out the balance, and after discharging and loading at that port we took a load of yellow pine to New London, where we arrived ip June, A. D. 1839.

Having been unfortunate I concluded to try my fortune

on the land, so 1 purchased a farm of sixty acres, with a

“,

The Old Sarlor’s Story. saw and grist-mill thercon, in the town of Salem, Ct, and moved there from Gales Ferry in October.

I put the mills in repair and ground and sawed, working nights some of the time as well as by day ; but farming and milling interfered with each other, and the repairs on the mills were as destructive to the profits as Pharaoh’s lean kine were to the well-favored ones, and it was a hard matter at the end of a year to make both ends meet, which was quite discouraging.

Another drawback to my success was a depreciation in the price of stock and produce. When I purchased my farm grain was worth seven shillings per bushel, and in one year’s time it could be bought for four shillings, and other pro- ducts fell off in value in proportion, ‘This was another “ up and down” in my experience, by no means profitable to me.

After nearly three years’ hard toiling, with aforemen- tioned results, I was cffered a chance to go to sea on a

whaling and sea-elephanting voyage to the Crozette Islands,

Indian Ocean ; and accepting the offer I sailed for the firm of Perkins & Smith, in the schooner Franklin, on August rath, A. D. 1842.

We had a lengthy passage to the Cape De Verde’s, where we stopped for salt ; then made our way to the Tris- tine Islands, and stood in under Nightingale Island October 26th, and giving the mate orders to keep as near shore as was prudent, 1 took the second mate and boat's crew and went in-shore to prospect.

Discovering seme fur seal in a cave at the north end of the island, | made preparations toTJand, but looking to the

ind

ing ind the ean tter

Was

} in arm ars pro- up me, nen- mnoa nds,

firm ust

The Old Sailor's Story.

53 westward [I saw a tremendous squall coming up from that quarter and we hastened for the schooner.

The squall struck her with vreat force, laying her near- ly on her beam-ends before the sails could be taken in ; but fortunately for us the shifting of the wind brought her di-

rectly to the leeward of us, otherwise we could not possibly

have boarded her.

With much difficulty we got alongside and hoisted in our boat, and putting the vessel under very short sail we laid to till night, heading to the southwest,

The weather moderating and clearing a little I con- cluded to abandon this land; aid we bore away with a stiff, fair gale and a boisterous sea for the Prince Edward Is- lands, a distance of nearly three thousand miles, where we arrived November 18th.

A brief description of this far off ocean land may not be amiss.

The south of Marion’s Island lies in latitude forty-six degrees fifty minutes south and longitude thirty-seven de- vrees forty-six minutes east,

It is of a triangular shape and has a coast line of about fifty miles. Running through the centre, in a southeasterly direction from the north part, is a ridge of high mountains whose peaks »re thousands of feet in height, covered with perpetual snow.

The margins and sides of thése mountains are com- posed of volcanic cinders called clampers, the walking upon which will thoroughly demoralize a new pair of boots in one day’s time, In some places this island can be approached

The Old Sarlor’s Story.

within a short distance, in other places dangerous reefs ex- tend off shore.

In several places are strips of beaches which are more or less frequented by sea-elephant ; in other places large masses of irregular shaped rocks renders walking along the shore impossible. There is one poor harbor, called Uxor, on account of a vessel by that name having been wrecked there by dragging ashore.

The North Island is considerably smaller, and the best anchorage # in asmall bay or roadstead at the extreme southeast point. Here we found the holding ground good and rode out several severe gales in safety. The land of Loth islands is similar. Probably both are of volcanic ori- gin, and they are a sterile, desolate region, unfitted for the abode of humanity. Here we found the schooner Emme- line, of Mystic, on the same errand as ourselves, and we anchored near her.

It being late in the season the elephants were poor, yield- ing only a few gallons apiece.

We consorted with the Emmeline and worked the

beaches together. We also found a gang of men here from

the Cape of Good Hope taking oil for a schooner which the,

expected at a stated time. We worked the beaches of both islands and obtained about one hundred and seventy-five barrels of oil, and left on the seventh of January, A. D. 1843, for the Crozette Islands.

This group is about five hundred miles further east, and it took us about a week to get there, find an anchorage ana get to work—both vessels still in company.

eld-

the rom he, oth -five

«

and and

The Old Satlor’s Story.

We anchored in American Bay, Possession Island, and found the elephant plenty.

The men worked along the beaches killing and skin- ning the animals ; and we boated off the blubber as circum- stances permitted ; much of the time being so stormy as to prevent communication between the vessel and the shore.

On heaving up our anchor on the third of February, the chain choked in the hawse-pipe ; and on ascertaining the cause found the key to the shackle-pin had worked out and the pin had partly worked out of thelink. In this condition we had been riding, with a heavy sea rolling in and heavy byeakers but a few fathoms astern.

The Emmeline’s chain was in a similar condition; the shackle came around the windlass and the pin dropped out on deck,

Had our chains completely unshackled we should have lost not only our vessels but our lives. 1 would caution all who use chain cables in dangerous places never to trust to iron keys for shackle-pins. However rusty and hard to start, they are liable to work loose ; while white oak keys will swell and grow tighter instead of looser, and they are easily bored out when it is necessary to unshackle the chain.

In the following year I knew of sixty vessels which un-

shackled their chains by trusting to iron keys while riding at

the island of Ichabo, off the southwest coast of Africa.

The sea-elephant, like the seal, come on shore for breed- ing, and when they first land their blubber or fat, which lies next to the skin, is thick and oily, but they grow poorer rap-

idly, ‘The females stay on shore with their young until the

56 The Old Satlor’s Story.

latter are able to take to the water. They then go off shore and feed until shedding time, or brown cow season, when they are fat again.

Some of the males when they first land will yield from three to five barrels of oil. On the seventeenth of February we went over to East [sland, and in one day got off blubber enough for fifty barrels of oil, although the weather was very blowy.

Leaving men on shore at different places to work the beaches, we laid off and on or anchored at times, as circum- stances permitted, improving the time to such advantage as wind and weather permitted.

One night my mate and I had a similar dream. We dreamed of seeing a span of black horses rearing furiously and standing on their hind feet. This was an evil omen, for the next day the second mate’s boat, in attempting to com- municate with the shore, was stoven by the combers and three of my best men, viz.: Joseph Durfey, Richard Cad- well and Ernest Hanz, found a watery grave.

We had a continual succession of squalls and gales from this time until the twenty-first of March, when, having taken our men on board, and having also procured a supply of fresh water, we took our departure for some inhabitable land.

I will relate here one circumstance, to give an idea of the pleasures of sea-elephanting at the Prince Edward Islands.

Having been informed that there were some fur seal on

a certain beach on the side of the island opposite to where

we sels ficu line par vide too ear!

ber clar the whi

rec fur abo of ¢

cul

lan

clat anc COV ave

cou the pie

the

Ire

en

Om ary ber vas

the 1m- as

Ve sly for »m- ind ad-

iles ing

ply

ble

: Of

ard

lon

The Old Sailor's Story, 57

we were ; and as there was no anchorage there for our ves- sels, and as going around and landing in boats was both dif- ficult and dangerous ; the captain and mate of the Emme- line, together with my mate, six men and myself, formed a party togo across lots, which proved no easy task. We pro- vided ourselves with penguin-skin moccasins, as boots were too cumbersome and would soon cut through, and started early one morning.

First, we waded through the fussock-bogs, then clam- bered up the sides of the mountain, over the loose, rough clampers, to an altitude of three or four thousand feet, where the snow capped the summit, and down the other side, which was much steeper and equally jagged and uneven.

The man who acted as guide made a mistake in his reckoning, and no wonder, for it snowed and blowed like fury let loose; and behold, when we descended we were about one-half of a mile from our beach, and no way had we of getting to it but by ascending and descending in another eulch, for the mountain-wall between us and our intended landing place was perpendicular and impassable. Up we clambered to the very top, where the wind blew a tornado, and down we scrambled nearly half way when the guide dis- covered he was again on the wrong track. Up we went again, and being fatigued I asked the guide if he thought he could find this spot again when he returned. He replied in the affirmative, so I stuck the breech of my trusty fowling- piece in the snow crust, aid for aught I know it remains there till this day, for when we did return we encountered

‘4 t

58 The Old Satlor's Story.

another tornado and were glad to get back in any way we could.

The third time we reached the desired beach, where we camped for the night in a dismal den or cave, through the fissures of which water was constantly dripping. Three of our men, disgusted with the guide, were separated from our company and camped all night in the open air, and these men had the bread which we needed for provision.

But although we were tired and foot-sore we secured a sea-elephant; and making a fire of his blubber and some sticks which we carried for staffs, we fried his liver in an old broken camp-kettle which we found in the cave; and after boiling some sea-water for salt with which to season it, we ate it with better relish than many have for better viands, In two days’ time we obtained sixteen seal-skins, and made our way back to our vessels, which we were very glad to reach.

Another incident on this voyage was our dragging off soundings ina heavy gale with a long scope of chain out. With our ordinary windlass it was impossible to heave in a single link ; and thus we drifted and pitched the whole night, the chain surging heavily in the hawse-pipe and jarring everything from truck to keelson. It took us the whole of the next day, with falls and tackles, to heave up the anchor, it being a very fatiguing and laborious job, especially in a gale of wind with a heavy sea.

On March atst, A. D. 18.43, we left the Crozettes; on

April 13th we doubled the Cape of Good Hope; on the

15t thre

ble: lant Jan and Inve lent mat

ano and the

ble fer the fed

the

hav

we

CO% for

Isl

The Old Sailor's Story. 59

15th we anchored in Saldana Bay to obtain water, and here three of our crew deserted.

Having obtained water, wood, fresh meat and vegeta- bles, we left the African coast and crossing the South At- lantic arrived in the safe and commodious harbor of Rio Janerio on May 26th. Here I disposed of our four hundred and fifty barrels of oil at twenty-nine cents per gallon, and invested the funds in three hundred and fifty bags of excel- lent coffee, which I shipped home, where it found a good market and brought the oil up to fifty cents a gallon.

Having refitted with second-hand casks and stores for another season’s cruise, we left port on the ninth of June ; and after wooding and watering at Isle Le Grande, we left the South American coast on June 16th, A. D. 1843.

For a description of Brazil, its vast resources and valua- ble productions, animal, vegetable and mineral, I would re- fer the reader to more able writers, and will only speak of the poor slaves, who toiled early and late, as being poorly fed, hard-worked and scantily clad.

We made the land on the southwest coast of Africa, in the vicinity of Whale’s Bay, on the twenty-third of July, having seen three sperm whales on the passage which we were unable to procure,

From this time until August 4th we cruised along the coast searching for whales and seals; finding none of the former and but few of the latter.

On landing at the latter date on Ichabo or Round

Island, I was surprised at finding planks, wheel-barrows,

60 Zhe Old Sarlor's Story.

pick-axes and bags of guano, apparently left without cer- emony.

I afterwards learned that the brig Ann, of Bristol, had been here for the purpose of obtaining this fertilizer. She had been sent here by a merchant of Bristol; but being unacquainted with this part of the coast, and poorly provided with ground tackle, the captain, having parted his chains, was obliged to put to sea, leaving his implements in the manner in which I found them. He went to St. Helena for the purpose of obtaining anchors, thinking he would return and finish loading ; but changing his mind he proceeded to England with part of a cargo, and there gave information respecting the great amount of this valuable commodity.

When I touched here on my way home from the Cro- zettes, in the February following, | found eighty ships and brigs loading at this island for the English market.

We proceeded to the Crozettes; had much squally and blowy weather ; but we found the elephant plenty and suc- ceeded in obtaining a full cargo of oil, filling up every cask ; and after touching at Cape Colony for supplies, | proceeded down the coast, where I found the guano fleet before men- tioned, from which I obtained information in relation to the value of the article and mentally resolved to make a voyage here after having finished the one in which I was engaged.

weaving Africa 1 proceeded to St. Helena, where | found the ship Columbia, Captain James Smith, and his tender the sloop Shaw Perkins, Captain Stroud, both ves- sels loaded with sea-elephant oil from Desolation Island,

On the following day a pary of us tock horse and went

and

and suc- isk ; ded 1en- the age ad. e | his ves-

vent

The Old Satlor's Story. 61

up the mountain to Longwood, and visited the last earthly dwelling place of the great Napoleon. Here he was incar- cerated asa prisoner of war; here he lived for nearly six years, and here he died and was buried. or nineteen years his remains were entombed on this lonely island ; and on this account St. Helena will occupy a prominent mention in the world’s history until the end of time.

We sailed for home in company with the vessels last mentioned, and kept together for a great part of the pas- sage.

We arrived in New London early in April, A. D. 1844, after a cruise of some cwenty months, making a voyage which was profitable to the owners, paying the best per- centage on her outfit of any voyage she had ever made.

Having a mind to make a guano voyage, Mr. Elias Per- kins, head of the firm, together with Captains James and B. F. Smith, went with me to Boston, where we bought a burthensome ship called the Brookline.

After some delay, I sailed from New London June 2oth, A. D. 1844, bound to the island of Ichabo, on the southwest coast of Africas My wife and little daughter, five years of

aye, accompanied me on this voyage. We had a quick pas-

sage of twenty days to the Cape De Verdes, where we touched for recruits ; then a continuation of head winds and calms to the equator, which we crossed in about longitude twenty-five degrees west. We arrived at our destination September toth, where, to my great surprise, | founda fleet of three hundred English ships, with a working force of two thousand men.

The Old Sailor's Story.

The masters of these vessels had chosen a committee of twelve of their number for the regulation of affairs ; and at a meeting of this committee, with Sir John Marshall, of Her Britannic Majesty’s navy, as chairman, it was voted that, as the island was occupied by British subjects, no for- eign vessels should be allowed to load guano until all of the English vessels were loaded.

I received a letter and a copy of this resolution from the committee, and immediately wrote to the American con- sul at Cape Town, informing him of the state of affairs, and dispatched the same by a brig bound there for supplies.

The brig had a quick passage, and Mr. Chase, the con- sul, laid the matter before Lord Percy, high admiral on that station, who sent instructions to the committee, dispatching a steamer called the Thunderbolt for that purpose, to let all

foreign vessels load on the same terms, with the same rights and privileges as English vessels. Sir John Marshall was also recalled.

This action was not only beneficial to me but also to the ship Shakespeare, of New York, and two French ships which the committee had refused to allow to load on any terms.

This roadstead was completely filled with vessels, vary- ing in capacity from two hundred to twelve hundred tons.

When the heavy rollers came in the situation can be more easily imagined than described; bumping, thumping, dragging, pounding, chafing and breaking were the inevitable results,

Fourteen bowsprits were carried away at one time. One

ship ing’ ¢ in ve ton

dred obta from

A. I

cros: pass calm one

of C crow the s Lon

pre dC Wwe [ were AULT ry,

on }

repa Nev afte

The Old Sailor's Story.

ship was totally dismasted and one sunk. I assisted in load- ing one ship and obtained assistance in return. I succeeded in getting my cargo of six hundred tons and started for Bos- ton in December. We ran down the coast somé two hun- dred and fifty miles to Walwich Bay, where we stopped to obtain fresh beef; and after recruiting our larder we sailed from this place on my forty-fifth birthday, December 23d, A. D. 1844.

We called at St. Helena for water and vegetables; crossed the equator in the longitude of thirty degrees west, passing near St. Paul’s rock; and after the usual routine of calms, trade-winds and variables, together with squalls, in one of which we blew away our jib, we made the highlands of Cape Cod on Washington's birthday, A. D. 1845; and crowding sail we were enabled to secure a Boston pilot as the shades of evening settled around us, and we anchored off Long Wharf at midnight after an eight months’ cruise.

After making arrangements for discharging the cargo, I proceeded, with my family, on the cars homeward, and when we passed through Worcester on March 4th, the Democrats were firing a hundred guns in honor of James K. Polk’s in- auguration, We stopped at Greeneville and Gales Fer- ry, visiting relatives, and arrived at our home in Salem on March 12th,

This was Wednesday, and on the following Monday I

repaired to Boston with a crew to bring the ship around to New London, which we accomplished in about thirty hours after starting.

About the middle of July I sailed for Perkins & Smith

The Old Satlor's Story. on a whaling voyage, in the ship Charles Henry, bound to the North Pacific via the Indian Ocean. John Nimbail, Charles Smith, and Allyn Harris were my first, second and third mates. My wife and daughter accompanied me on this voyage for the benefit of their health, to which the own- ers made no objection.

We stopped at the Azores, where we obtained, potatoes; touched at the Cape De Verdes, where we procured a lot of pigs, poultry and tropical fruits. It was customary for whalers to stop at these islands to obtain the articles named, and also to ship young men on a lay represented by a frac- tion whose denominator was much larger than its numerator.

We crossed the equator in the vicinity of the Brazilian coast; crossed the South Atlantic; proceeded to Prince [d- ward Islands, where we obtained some sea-elephant oil.

Here we had the luck to drag off the bank with ninety fathoms of chain out, and every time the ship pitched it seemed almost as though she would be rent in twain; but

after great effort we succeeded in getting the anchor, having

broken the hawse-pipe and incurred other damage in the at- tempt.

Think of a ship pitching and diving in a heavy sea, with a large anchor and ninety fathoms of heavy chain dangling from her bow. Description cannot make the situation intel- ligible to a landsman, and no one can fully appreciate it who has not had similar experience.

We captured a lone whale; went to the Crozettes, where by the terms of insurance we were not permitted to anchor ; communicated with a shore gang; obtained cggs and fish,

1 to ball, and

ilian

I d-

nety ad it

but ving 2 at-

with ling ntel- who

here hor: fish,

The Old Sarlor's Story. 65

and bore away for Desolation Island or Kergulen’s Land. We arrived off the north end some time in January, A. D. 1846; and after getting moderate weather succeeded in get-

ting two whales, one of which proved a dry skin, not yield-

ing much oil.

Having tempestuous weather much of the time we were unable to lower our boats with safety; and after killing two more whales, both of which sunk, we proceeded, with con- stant gales from all quarters, to Van Dieman’s Land or Tas- mania, and we arrived at Hobart Town early in March, 1846. There we disposed of what oil we had taken at about thirty cents per gallon.

As this place had been an English penal colony for many years, there was no lack of dissolute characters of both sexes; but English law is rigid and offenders are often se- verely punished, especially old offenders. To take away a convict was a heinous offence, punishable with fine, impris- onment and confiscation.

This land produces the finest grains, fruits and vege- tables, the people are friendly and hospitable, and there is no finer country in the world for the abode of man. Many who were sent here as convicts had reformed, and by indus- try had succeeded in obtaining good homes and becoming more or less wealthy.

After disposing of our oil and recruiting on the produc- tions of this land, we took a good supply of potatoes; and proceeding to New Zealand, about a thousand miles further, we rounded the South Cape and had the whole Pacific Ocean before us in which to cruise. We stopped at one of

66 The Ola Sarlor’s Story.

the Society Islands, where we procured oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits.

Here we learned of the injustice of the French, who had overawed this weak nation, compelling the queen to cede those islands to France; an injustice which should never have been permitted by other nations. But they have been taught humility by the Franco-Prussian war, and the Empe- ror William has been a school-master that France will long remember.

We took our departure; made a straight line for the North Pacific; crossed the equator, and proceeded to the forty-sixth degree of north latitude.

It was now the latter part of May, and we were on good whaling ground.

Spoke ship Chandler Price, Captain Pease, who in- formed me of the loss of the ship Columbia, belonging to our firm, on one of the King Mill group, with twenty-seven hundred barrels of oil.

On the following day took a large whale which made over two hundred barrels.

While cutting in, spoke the Isaac Hicks, Captain Rice, who observed he had been on the ground many days and had obtained less oil than our whale would make,

One evening, after six o'clock, we fastened to three whales, two of which we saved but one sunk. ‘Two days af- ter we fastened to three more, but the iron drawed out from one--a common occurrence—the other two we secured,

Whales being scarce we cruised and made the land ot

ane

in

s and

o had cede lever been mpe- long

r the » the

vood 0 in- yy to even

nade

Rice,

and three vs af-

from

ad ot

The Old Satlor's Story,

an “I

Kamtschatka, and secured a whale which yielded one hun- dred and sixty barrels.

We stood along to the latitude of fifty-four degrees north, where we found ships boiling out, and there we got another large whale.

On the seventeenth of August we secured one more, ana then we cruised up and down the coast without success.

About the twentieth of September we put into St. Peter- Paulaski to procure wood, water and vegetables, This ts a Russian outpost for the collection of valuable furs. The distance from St. Petersburgh overland, at that time, was a year's journey of some seven thousand miles; and the Rus- sian officers who were stationed here were relieved once in live years, others taking their places at the expiration of that time,

I found here two American residents, who had taken na- tive wives and reared large families. One of them named Talman had come to Canton with a Captain Mather, of New London, during the war of A, D, 1812, and taking French leave had come here in an English trader, and hav- inv learned the native tongue he was useful as an inter- preter,

Through him I became acquainted with the heutenant- vovernor, who lived near, a very affable gentleman, whose wife was a fair German lady. We were invited to their residence and hospitably treated and entertained,

The people here follow fishing in summer and hunting

in winter, They belong to the Greek Church and are very zealous,

68 The Old Sattor’s Story.

They travel in winter by means of dog teams, with which the licutenant-governor informetl me he was obliged to make

long journeys on government business connected with the

fur trade. The dogs are chained up in summer along the sides of the brooks and have the appearance of being seantily fed.

We procured wood and vegetables and proceeded south to a more genial climate, as it was now October and winter was fast approaching. We continued along across the equa- tor without seeing any sperm whales, which we were anxious to find. We finally captured three in the vicinity of the Navigator Islands; and as the ship was somewhat leaky | concluded to put into some port and stop the leak.

So I put into a fine lagoon with a heathenish name, where | found an English missionary station, under the charge of a Mr. Murray. Although missionary work is by many lightly spoken of a striking example of its good was here plainly seen,

When the missionaries first came here they were landed under the protection of an English man-of-war, The natives were of the wildest and most savage kind; now scores and hundreds were engaged in learning and practicing the great truths of the word of life.

While here I witnessed the dedication of a new house, The friends and relatives of the family assembled, and after prayer and singing a feast of good things followed,

Their method of cooking is somewhat peculiar. They dig a hole some two or three feet deep in the ground, into

which they place a quantity of small sized stones. Having

heat they kind the

with claps vore ly to

COCO.

and | Capt rel Vavc

ping

ishin and

to tl

ple, not boo:

and

vhick make

south inter equa- xious f the aky |

name, r the is by d was

anded atives s and

great

wuse, | after

They l, into Javing

The Old Satlor’s Story. 69

heated these stones very hot by building a fire on them, they wrap the pigs or fowls which they wish to cook ina kind of large leaves called tarra-leaves, and place them on the heated stones. Closing the mouth of the excavation with earth to retain the heat; when a sufficient time has elapsed they produce the most nicely roasted and finely fla- vored meat which I ever tasted. The flavor is owing part- ly to the stuffing, which consists largely of bread-fruit and cocoa-nut milk.

We were kindly treated, and having obtained food, fuel and water, we proceeded to the Friendly Isles, so named by Captain Cook, on our way to which we obtained a forty bar- rel sperm-whale. We went into an excellent harbor called Vavou, where by careening the ship we succeeded in stop- ping the leak.

Here we also found a missionary station in a very flour- ishing condition, and an abundance of pigs, poultry, yams and sweet potatoes, of which we obtained a good supply.

The missionaries, Messrs. ‘Turner and West, invited us

to their houses and treated us very hospitably and kindly.

Here was a church capable of holding five thousand peo- ple, in the building of which the sound of the hammer was not heard. The roof was thatched; the rafters were of bam- boo; the sides and flooring were curiously constructed mats; and the lashings or fastenings were made of grass. Every particle of the wood-work was concealed by braided or woven work of fibrous material, and the edifice was a monument of native industry and ingenuity,

We were here at the time of the annual examination of

70 The Old Savlor’s Story.

the different schools; and the exercises, which were of no mean order, were conducted with the utmost propriety and decorum, Some five hundred canoes, capable of holding from seventy to eighty persons apiece, arrived while we were here; in fact the whole population seemed desirous to wit- ness and participate in these anniversary exercises.

The native king or governor invited us to his house; treated us to water-melons; and entertained us with an intel- ligent ease and refinement which many of the prominent men of the Caucasian race would do well to imitate. I never had a more pleasant stay at any port. The climate was venial; the people friendly; the fare was excellent; and the welkin rang with the melody of spiritual songs, and the sounds of praise were heard in every nook and corner of this happy little town.

On leaving this place on the twenty-third of December, A, D. 1846, my forty-seventh birthday, we proceeded to- wards Cape Horn, which we doubled in January, taking one whale on the passage, which owing to boisterous weather we were unable to finish cutting in, and lost him when he was only partially stripped of his blubber.

Being short of wood I put into Wood harbor in the night, which my previous knowledge of this part of the world enabled me to do; and next morning my officers were greatly surprised at finding themselves in a good harbor, completely land-locked, where good wood and water were te be had by the taking.

This part of the coast should be better understood by

those who double the cape, as it abounds in excellent: har-

bors, treat to KF; urday

aroul

June But 3

vicls: The

soun

in ne ing, The vet

past

CONS

f no

and Iding were

) wit-

use; ntel- inent ever » was

the l the er of

nber, cl. tO. r one er we

> Was

. the ~ the were rbor,

re te

d by har-

The Old Sailor's Story. 71

bors, where ships in stress of weather might have safe re- treat from the angry elements. Irom here we proceeded to Falkland Islands for beef; and arrived there on their Sat- urday and our Sunday, as we had gained a day by going around the world.

And so we knocked about, in and out, off and on, until June 2oth, 1847, when, having filled up, we started tor home. But the old Charles Henry never reached New London,

On the tenth of August, after the usual pleasures and vicissitudes of a long ocean passage, we sighted Long Island. The weather became moderate and foggy, and guided by soundings we proceeded to feel our way along the shore,

Leaving the ship to my mate, with directions not to get in nearer than fifteen fathoms, | lopped down ‘all a stand ing,’ and contrary to my expectations fell soundly asleep. The mate, wishing to be extra smart and being in a hurry to vet home, disregarded my orders, and supposing himself past MLontauk undertook to haul up for the “ Race,” and the consequence was the ship was cast away on the south side of Long Island, a few miles to the west of its eastern ex- tremity.

After sailing around the world, and cruising among coral reefs and rocky islands, weathering gales and surviving the perils of different oceans, lands and climes of both hemis- pheres, having obtained a full ship, and almost arrived at home, to be cast away in moderate weather by carelessness

on the part of one who should have been more cautious was,

to say the least, very annoying to my feelings. But the ship

was insured and the cargo was saved; and while it was being

The Old Satlor’s Story.

discharged the price of oil advanced several cents on a gal- lon, so the owners lost nothing by the transaction; and the voyage, barring the disgrace of losing the old box, was a suc- cessful one.

We were cast away in front of an ancient house; and while we were getting the oil and appurtenances of the wreck on shore I took board in the said house, the landlady of which appeared to be one of the most avaricious speci- mens of feminine humanity which I have ever met. Some of the beach-combers had buried a tierce of sperm oil in the sand, and when her little serving maid informed me of the fact she scolded her severely and threatened her with severe punishment if she committed a like offence.

The underwriters hired the farmers in the vicinity to transport the oil and effects of the ship across the beach, about a mile, to Napeag Bay, whence it was conveyed in sloops to New London.

The man who had rented my place had died during my absence, and the mills were somewhat out of tune; but I fixed them up and, putting them in charge of my oldest son,

_I started, in November of the same year, on a guano voyage to the coast of Patagonia, in a ship called the Palladium. After stopping at the Cape De Verdes, | deviated from the usual course and instead of making a southeast track to the fifteenth degree of west longitude, I set all sail and cteered south-southwest, crossed the equator near St. Paul's

rock, and by this means’‘I shortened my passage several days.

I arrived on the coast of Patagonia in January; found a

who this

sion vide mod

tain driec at s¢ adrif whe it. time

haps etc., arri don

and the lady eCI- ome the the vere

y to ‘ach,

rom . to and ul’s

eral

ida

The Old Satlor's Story.

guano island near Watchman’s Cape, in the latitude of forty- eight degrees south, where was a man named Henry Powell, who had been wrecked on this coast two years previous to this time. Being a man of enterprise he had taken posses- sion of the island, obtained a working force from Monte- video, and was engaged in digging and curing the com- modity for the loading of vessels.

By making arrangements with him I was enabled to ob- tain a cargo of excellent quality. It had to be dug, spread, dried, bagged and boated to the ship, which was anchored at some distance from theshore. At one time my ship broke adrift in a heavy gale while I was on shore at work, and when it blows in this region there is no half-way work about it. I felt no little anxiety for her safety, but in course of time she made her appearance; and after more or less mis- haps and vicissitudes, occasioned by the severity of the winds, ete, we succeeded in getting loaded, and leaving in March, arrived, after a quick passage of forty-six days, in New Lon- don, on or about the tenth of May, A. D. 1848.

The owners, finding a good market for the cargo, wished me to make another voyage to the same place; and as the inducements were tempting I consented to go, and sailed with the same ship and nearly the same crew in July, A. D. 1848.

We stopped at the Cape De Verdes for recruits, and leaving the ship in charge of my mate I went on shore to trade. The sea was heaving in and it was calm under the lea of the island. The mate beceme intoxicated, and in-

stead of keeping far enough to have a working breeze, he

The Old Sazlor’s Story.

neglected his duty, allowed her to drift into the calm space under the high land, and the consequence was we had to an- chor to prevent drifting ashore, and had .a full weeks’ de- tention.

After leaving these islands we had a succession of southerly winds and a lengthy passage, but we arrived at our destination in October; and being well provided with chains, anchors and boats, I succeeded in getting loaded on the twentieth of December; and after more boisterous weather than was comfortable or desirable, we made the Vir- ginia coast in February, and after several more days of disa- greeable wintry weather and gales of wind, we arrived in New London in March, A. D. 1849, after an eight months’ voyage.

At this date the California gold fever was raging, and the Palladium changed owners in part and was sent to San Francisco in charge of Captain McLane, who took his family with him and sought his fortune in that El Dorado; but alas! for his human hopes, he made bad investments and had reverses, which so wrought on his physical organization that he soon went the way of all the earth.

I purchased his interest in the bark Iris, and sailed in her on a guano voyage on the twelfth of November.

I found the stock pretty well exhausted, but succeeded in procuring an inferior cargo and sailed for home in March, A. D. 1850, and arrived at home about the middle of May.

This cargo meeting with ready sale the owners wished me to try another voyage, and I again sailed for Patagonia on September 23d, 1850. | found that my friend Powell had

chang pairec

; eexcur Falkl sylva by th and aban Walc

scutt.

write

coast fifty

after over 1857

whal no si per | and late

plen

stee

The Old Sailor's Story. 75

changed his quarters to Sea Bear Bay, and thither I re- paired, where I had to boat my cargo a distance of four miles. While loading, in company with other vessels, | made an excursion, in a schooner belonging to Mr. Powell, to the Falkland Islands for the purpose of obtaining fresh beef.

At this time two large ships laden with coal, from Penn-

sylvania bound to San Francisco, in this vicinity took fire by the combustion of the coal, caused by the violent rolling and shaking of the vessels, and one, the Nonantum, was abandoned and never heard from. The other, called the Waldram, was taken into Port Stanley, where, after being scuttled to extinguish the fire, she was sold on the under- writers’ account at about one-tenth of her original value.

We got about fifteen beeves, which we carried to the coast, which was a cause of rejoicing to the one hundred and fifty men there employed.

After completing my cargo I proceeded homeward; and after an ordinary passage, so similar to others that I pass it over without note, arrived in New London in May, A. D. 1857.

Messrs. Perkins & Smith wished me to prosecute a whaling and sealing voyage in their employment; and having no suitable vessel they contracted for the building of a clip- per bark of three hundred tons, in which I took an interest, and she was christened the N.S. Perkins, in honor of the late Dr. Perkins, of New London.

hed I sailed in her September 23d, A. D. 1852, with a com- nla plement of officers and a crew of twenty-one men and boat- had ; steerers, forthe Indian and North Pacific Oceans, and my

76 The Old Sailor's Story.

wife and Mrs, Pinkham, the wife of my mate, bore us com- pany.

After getting fairly started we found that our new ves- sel was a very fast sailer; she could easily beat the pilot- boat which accompanied us out to Montauk. She was not only very fast but also the wettest craft of her size in which I ever sailed; but in pleasant weather she would skim along like a bird.

We made a quick passage of twenty-one days to the Cape De Verdes, where we made a call to obtain such arti-

cles as these poor islanders have to dispose of, such as pigs,

goats and poultry, which they willingly barter for cheap

clothes and tobacco.

On the eighteenth of October we bore away for more distant parts; on the twenty-third spoke the bark Dolphin, from New York for Australia, with mining emigrants; on the thirtieth we had crossed the equator; on the third of No- vember spoke an English bark, from Liverpool for Calcutta; on the fifteenth made the Tristine Islands; on the seven- teenth sent the boats in shore and caught some fish; on the eighteenth, with a strong breeze, let her slide for the Indian Ocean.

On the twenty-first of November we had crossed the meridian of Greenwich; on the third of December made the Prince Edward group, where we tarried some days and suc- ceeded in obtaining a small quantity of sea-elephant oil. But the prospect was slim, the animals were scarce and poor, and we bore away for other grounds.

On January roth, A. D, 1853, we spoke the ship Prince

IS com-

ew ves- > pilot- ‘as not 1 which

along

to the ch arti- as pigs,

cheap

r more lolphin, nts; on of No- alcutta; seven- on the Indian

ed the ide the nd suc-

il, But

or, and

Prince

The Old Sazlor’s Story. 7

of Wales, from Aberdeen for Adelaide, from whom I ob-

tained the correct longitude, my chronometer being faulty, having stopped twice in winding.

On the eighteenth we made the extraordinary run of three hundred and thirty-six miles; on the twentieth we had thick fog, with the wind northwest; and this foggy spell con- tinued some four or five days, and as we were in the vicinity of New Zealand, our situation was not the most pleasant, for our precise location was not known, and we had a calm, foggy time, with a heavy swell, which is much worse than a gale of wind in clear weather and plenty of sea-room.

On the twenty-seventh we crossed the opposite me- ridian of Greenwich; on the twenty-eighth raised sperm- whale and lowered for them, but they went so fast we could not fasten to them.

So we continued on our course to the eastward. On the twenty-ninth we raised spouts which proved to be killers. After this, till February 20th, we experienced a succession of baffling, variable winds, with occasional squalls and showers of rain, and as we had a heavy, rolling sea, we nearly wore out a suit of sails.

On the twenty-second we made Saunders Island, one of the Society group,and spoke the ship Alexander, from Hono- lulu, of and for New London.

On the twenty-third we raised sperm whales and took one, cut him in and proceeded.

On the twenty-fifth a boat with natives came off solicit- ing trade,

On the fourth of March crossed the equator in longi-

78 The Oat Sailor's Story.

tude one hundred and fifty-three degrees fifteen minutes west.

On the fifteenth made Owyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands.

On the eighteenth, at seven bells in the morning, while at breakfast, we were struck by a combing sea, which filled the decks to the top of the rails, and rushed with great force into the cabin, nearly drowning us out.

On the nineteenth by our own time and the eighteenth by the shore time, we crossed the bar, with the assistance of a pilot, and hauled alongside of the government wharf at Honolulu.

Here we landed oil, shooks, and surplus provisions, and taking in salt and fresh water we remained until April 4th. Then we left, and after obtaining wood and vegetables at Attowy we proceeded on our way to the Japan Sea,

On the fifteenth we crossed the one hundred and eightieth meridian in latitude eighteen degrees forty-five minutes north,

On the twenty-fifth we made the Ladrone Islands. We sent in our boats and obtained cocoa-nuts and bananas.

On the eighth of May we made Long Island of the Liu Kiu group.

We saw two Japanese junks and found an island in our track not laid down on the chart. These islands are very compact, with numerous small straits between them. On the ninth we passed three rocks, called the ass’ ears, which resemble such ears in shape.

And so we proceeded northerly, seeing occasionally fish-

ing boats, which appeared to be shy of us. On the four-

teent could

sixte

the ¢ by w but

mad of Jr

Pero

on; islan of Ju

OUP §

arriv

went

Seas who

bacc

and ther mot ask trai

emy

and 4th. S at

and

-five We Liu

our very

On hich

fish-

our-

The Old Sailor's Story. 79

teenth saw hump-backed whales. Lowered and chased, but could not fasten, and also made the island of Corea. On the sixteenth we were through the straits of Corea and in the sea of Japan.

And then we proceeded north, looking for whales in the day and lying to at night. When this sea was first visited by whalers, in A. D. 1845, it was literally alive with them; but a large fleet pursuing soon broke up the shoals and made the remnant difficult to approach. On the seventeenth of June we entered the ‘schotsk Sea by the straits of La Perouse.

We cruised to the north; encountered ice; laid off and on; had much disagreeable weather, but we found a seal- island and went to work with a will, and on the nineteenth of July we had taken eight thousand skins and wet most of our salt. These skins we conveyed to Honolulu, where we arrived on the sixteenth of October, A. D. 1853. We then went to Owyhee, where we overhauled and painted the ship.

The next season we proceeded to the Japan and Ochotsk Seas, stopping at different islands to trade with the natives, who readily exchange fruits and vegetables for cloth and to- hacco,

The islands of the Pacific are innumerable; the climate and productions of thousands of them are excellent; most of them are inhabited; and the question, ‘* Whence came these motley tribes, these denizens of ocean land ?” is more easily asked than answered. A description of their physiognomy,

traits, peculiarities, rites, ceremonies, habits, laws, customs,

employments, etc., is subject matter for unwritten volumes,

The Old Sailor's Story, Our second season's cruise was successful, and we ob- tained about thirteen thousand fur seal-skins and six hundred barrels of oil, which we landed at Honolulu for transhipment.

o, we cruised to the

Then, after overhauling and refitting, southward to while away the time and searched for whales; and again, in the spring of A. D. 1855, we proceeded to the Ochotsk, but this season we had less success and the result was about seven thousand skins and three hundred barrels of oil.

On the first of July, A. D. 1855, I had a ni ow eseape. We were on shore killing seal and I struck at a savage sea- lion with a lance. He wrung the lance from my grasp and broke the pole. Being without means of defense, I en- deavored to back out of the contest; but stumbling over a dead seal I fell, and if the cooper, who was near, had not rapped him as he did some other person would have related the consequences. I soon rallied and had the satisfaction

of putting a rifle ball through the monster’s cranium. He

was thirteen feet in length and well proportioned, capable of

taking any man’s head at a single mouthful.

We arrived, after our third season’s cruise, at Hono- lulu in October, A. D. 1855, and among our letters was one conveying the mournful intelligence of the decease of our youngest son, aged twenty-five, on the Isthmus of Panama, on his way from Callao to San Francisco.

Not wishing to go on another season’s cruise, | made arrangements with Mr. Elias Perkins, the agent of our firm, whereby the command of the N.S. Perkins was transferred to Captain Asa Fish,a New London man, and I agreed to

take charge of and proceed to New London with the ship

Brool dred | \ with was a I nov brief ( twent south tertal a rou by a mate intell

all at

CCHILS

of ot

dovh

lanti

3 rth San

and

and en- rer a not lated ction He le of

The Old Saclor’s Story. 81 Brookline; my remuneration for the same was to be one hun- dred dollars per month.

We sailed from the Sandwich Islands in November with a full cargo of oil and seal-skins; and as the Brookline was a slow sailer, or what seamen call a good monthly packet, I now come to a long passage of which I will give a few brief details.

On December oth we crossed the equator. On the twenty-second we stopped at Oratonyva, which lies near the southern tropic. Here we were hospitably received and en- tertained by the missionary, the Rev. Mr. Bussecot. “Vhis is around, high island, one of the Harvey group, surrounded by a coral reef some thirty miles in circumference. The cli- mate is mild, the soi! fertile, and the natives appeared to be intelligent and honest.

fiere we obtained fruits, vegetables, wood and water, all at cheap rates, for which we paid in calico at twenty-five CCHLS yard,

We then made good progress, considering the dullness

of our ship, and on the first of February, A. D. 1856, we

doubled the perilous Joeality of Cape Horn and had the At-

lantic Ov van before us

We had a long, tedious passage to the equator, which we crossed on the first of April; but after that time we made better progress and we arrived at New London on April 30th, after one hundred and eighty days’ passage from the Sandwich Islands

We had been al ( from home forty-four months

and had sailed dus hat fime, secording to a rough

o

82 The Old Satlor’s Story.

calculation, a distance of some seventy-five thousand miles. For the benefit of those boys who learn from their ge-

ographies that the distance around the world is about twenty-

five thousand miles, we will say that sailing around the world requires the accomplishing of a much greater distance, as any intelligent lad can easily perceive by giving attention to the form of the continents, as represented on an artificial globe, or a map of the hemispheres.

The following is the table of straight line di which I sailed on this voyage in the circumnavigation of world, and does not include my three cruises from wich Islands to the Japan and Ochotsk Seas, nor my m« derings between seasons in cruising for whales, nor dé

tions on account of adverse winds.

From New London to Teneriff Teneriffe to Cape De Verdes, Cape De Verdes to the equator, equator to Tristine Islands, Tristines to Prince Edwards, Prince Edwards to Crozettes, Crozettes to Desolation, . Desolation to S. Cape, New Zealand, New Zealand to Society Islands, Society Islands to Sandwich !sland Sandwich Islands to Cape Ho Cape Horn to New Lor

‘otal

I around

| the lar | thou

A tle bet

This s

The Old Savlor’s Story 83

‘

I will now commence a narrative of my last voyage around the world,

[ had been at home a whole year, and finding it dull on the land after having spent so much of my life on the ocean, | thought I would try my luck again.

A Quaker once told me that we must try to grow a lit- tle better and a little richer every year, especially the latter. [his seems to be a general propensity of the human race.

| fell in with aspeculative acquaintance who, as I after-

ids found out, was tinctured with aberration of mind, who iced me to go in for the purchase of a vessel with him,

r he possessed means enough to purchase a vessel, and

d do so if I would consent to take charge of the same.

o we bought a new bark in Boston, called the Tem- lor $11,500, supposed by competent judges to he a rvain, But my friend, through the influence of his induced the firm of Frink & Prentis to take the bulk of

r off his hands and act as agents.

Soon after the arrival of the bark at New London my

vecame so furious that his friends were obliged to oO an insi isylum, and I was left the responsible transs mn of A. D. 1856; and as freivht- laid her up for a spell, coppering 1 in hopes that business would re- pects continuing the same, we con- a woaling and sealing voyage. fHuence of the late Hon. “Thomas

one remembered as a successful

84 The Old Sarlor’s Story.

whaling agent and man of business, we were persuaded to dispatch the Tempest to the Spitzbergen regions, and I was furnished with Scoresby’s journals and information which

Major Williams obtained by correspondence with whaling

agents in Scotland, setting forth the frequent appearance of

whales in the region of ocean north of Russia.

{ sailed in May 21st, A. D. 1857, and made a straight course for the grand banks of Newfoundland.

The bark was a fast sailer, and on the thirteenth of June we made some small islands at the south of Iceland.

On the nineteenth we were in latitude sixty-six degrees north and had the sun above the horizon the whole twenty- four hours.

We continued on our way to the north and cast, and on the twenty-second the sun was twelve degrees above the horizon at midnight and the thermometer indicated zero.

On the twenty-third we crossed the meridian of Green- wich.

On the twenty-sixth we made the snow-capped moun- tains of Bear Island and our latitude was seventy-four de- grees fourteen minutes north.

Walrus were taken in large numbers, in days of yore, from this island by the Dutch and Russians.

On the fifth of July we were embayed in the ice, and our situation in case of a gale of wind would have been ex- tremely perilous, but the weather continued moderate.

On the sixth we succeeded in gaining open water by keeping under slow headway and sheering clear of the large

ice,

@ the ne bound Ay pointr fe Zemb!

conclt

westw

J J away of ice east C for Wl ninth clima’ Azore we pr that t endut \ islane we fo ter to tinue twent

prees

don the Zero,

‘een-

Oun-

- de-

ore,

and

Cx

The Old Satlor’s Story.

On the eighth we saw three small vessels standing to the northeast; probably fishing vessels from the White Sea bound to Nova Zembla.

July oth. Saw plenty of ice and no whales. Disap- pointment is the common lot of mortals.

July rith, We were now about fifty miles from Nova Zembla and came to compact ice with no channel-ways, so |] concluded to back out.

July 13th. Thick and hazy; making progress to the westward.

July rath. Cold, freezing weather; saw heavy icebergs.

July 28th. Saw Spitzbergen ‘lountains; and so wore away the summer days. We made :.ow progress on account of ice and fog; we recrossed the first meridian; sighted the east coast of Greenland; but although we sought diligently for whales our search was totally unsuccessful, and on the ninth of August we concluded to proceed to a more genial climate. So we made the best progress we could to the Azores, where we arrived on the eighth of September, where we procured fruits and fresh meat, potatoes, ete., and learned that the sperm-whale fleet had been successful, while we had endured the hardships of the frigid zone and all for naught.

We cruised for several days in the vicinity of these islands in hopes of obtaining one or more sperm whales, but we found none; and so we proceede | for other parts, and at. ter touching at the Cape De Verdes to land letters, we cor tinued to the southwest and crossed the equator on the twenty-fifth of October, in the longitude of seventeen

vrees ten minutes west.

The Old Sarlor’s Story.

On the twenty-sixth we took the southeast trades strong and braced up sharp on the wind to the south-southwest, and our position on the thirty-first of October was latitude sixteen degrees fifty-eight minutes south, longitude twenty- six degrees sixteen minutes west.

On the seventh of November we were in latitude twenty- seven degrees thirty-five minutes south, and longitude twenty- three degrees thirty-four minutes west; and here we took the wind from the southwest and sailed southeast to the best of our ability.

On the fourteenth we sighted Inaccessible Island, of the Tristine De-Acuna group; and taking in the main-sail and reefing the top-sails we wore round to the northwest, cruising for whales,

November 17th. Strong breezes from north-northwest.

Bore away to the eastward. Saw fin-backs. Lay to at night.

November 18th. Raised a right whale, the first seen, but he was bound to the windward and we lost sight of him. Saw a ship running before the wind.

November 25th. Continuing on an easterly course, keeping a vigorous look-out for whales, crossed the meridian of Greenwich in latitude thirty-seven degrees nineteen min- utes seuth.

December 5th. longitude nineteen degrees forty-five minutes east. Had a strong gale from west-northwest, with a very ugly cross sea and rips. Stove the starboard quarter boat; and as the sea boarded us badly fore and aft, we

thoweht it advisable to heave to in order to save the boats.

trong west, itude enty-

venty-

of the

| and

ulsing

hwest. night. seen,

f him.

ourse, ridian

2 min- by-five , with

arte!

boats.

The Old Sailor's Story.

e

We supposed ourselves on the edge of the Agulhas bank, whick is a horrid place with a heavy westerly gale.

December 6th. Commences with heavy gale from west- northwest, with a heavy combing sea. Lay up northwest by north. At two o'clock P. M. bore off to running, but soon came into. a very ugly cross sea, and hove to to save our boats. A heavy comber struck the jib-boom, a_thirteen- inch spar, and broke it in the cap; but on the recoil, the stays being taught brought it back to its place, and nothing more troubled it during the night, which was a very fortunate oc currence, for had it gone under the bows we should have lost two jibs, for the sea was heaving in all directions.

But we survived this peril; and when the wind became more moderate repaired damages and proceeded towards the east in company with the bark Union, of Say Harbor.

December 20th. We were on the eastern ground, where whole cargoes of oil have been easily procured; but now, with the finest weather, not a spout was to be seen.

December 25th. Made Pig Island, of the Crozette group, bearing southeast by east; distant by estimation about twenty-five miles,

December 31st. The last day of another year. Saw four sail, all whalers, but no whales. Clear, pleasant weather.

January 6th, Killea one whale near Possession (sland; lashed him and towed him off shore. This whale -vielded only thirty-five barrels of oil.

January oth. Bore away for Desolation.

January 16th. Stiff breezes from the northwest; at five

A. M. shipped a heavy sea, nearly burying us.

The Old Sailor's Story.

At ten A. M. spoke the ship Abram Parker, of New Bedford, clean. Saw a ship to leeward; bore off and spoke the Abigail, of New Bedford, with no oil.

January 17th. Not finding whales, concluded to pro- ceed eastward towards New Zealand.

February gth. Doubled the southeast cape of New Zealand; and being on old whaling grounds slackened our progress by laying to at night.

February 14th. Crossed the one hundredth and eightieth meridian; and being in the vicinity of Lord Chat- ham's Island lay to for daylight.

February 15th. At seven A. M. made Chatham Island ahead; stocd down its south side, between it and Pitts’ Island. At two P. M. anchored in Hanson’s Bay, in four fathoms, to procure vegetables. The natives came off and said they had plenty, which they would exchange for tobacco and clothing.

We obtained three boat-loads of potatoes of an excel-

lent quality. One plug of tobacco paid for one hamper of

potatoes. We obtained about two hundred bushels of po- tatoes, a raft of water, a lot of wood and five hogs,

This island I should judge to be about one hundred miles in length, and from fifteen to twenty-five miles in breadth.

The chief town, which has a good harbor and a number of foreign residents, is near the north end.

The soil, especially in the southern part, is excellent, producing

crirs 2 ote

ins, grass and vegetables of a superior quality.

S} erat

land Zeal

Hoe

nati a re the:

the) ors. lots ing in { SOL

mo

litt alc an

The Old Sailor's Story.

The natives are a sort of mixed race, and many of them speak the English language fluently,

At one time the peaceful inhabitants of this lovely land were attacked by the fierce and warlike tribes of New Zealand, savages and cannibals, who came in their war ca- noes over a boisterous region of occan, a distance of twelve degrees; and making war upon this innocent and unsus- pecting population, they massacred large numbers of the males and reduced the remnant of the people to a condition of servitude.

Four of my crew deserted here, being induced by the natives, who stowed them away for the purpose of receiving a reward for their apprehension, Such ts the duplicity of these semi-barbarians that they will fleece the men of all they have to spare to pay them for concealing the poor sail- ors; and then they endeavor to make the captains pay them lots of tobacco for delivering up the runaways. But accord- ing to my experience Chatham's Island is not the only place in this wilderness world where fraud and double-dealing are sometimes practiced. We obtained our men by paying money, tobacco and clothing, and proceeded on our cruise.

February 28th. Clear, pleasant weather. We are a little to the north of the tropic of capricorn, tioating lazily along on the vast Pacific. Who can deseribe the grandeur and sublimity of a night in this locality, when the moon is full, the air invigorating, the sea tranquil, and the mind of man is in harmony with the whole? So glide along, little bark, towards those northern regions, where the leviathans of

the deep are sporting among the floating, icy mountains,

99 The Old Sarlor’s Story.

little thinking that we are coming with barbed and mur- derous implements for their destruction.

From this date, for many days, we had moderate breezes and sultry weather. On the seventeenth of March we raised a large sperm-whale; put he went too fact for our benefit, and after chasing him a good twelve miles we were obliged to give up the chase, which was quite discouraging.

March roth. At ten A. M. made a small, low island surrounded by a reef and covered with cocoa-nut trees. This island, called the Duke of York, we supposed to be unin- habited, but on our approach we were surprised to see six ca- noes come booming out over the reef with cocoa-nuts to sell.

One of these canoe-fellows, a fine looking lad, stowed himself away in the hold of our vessel unbeknown to his chief; and his absence was not discovered by the chief until the canoes left the ship and were some distance off. We filled away; and as the fellow made signs to me that they would kill him if I suffered them to retake him. I stood away from the canoes; the men in which, after discovering the de-

sertion of this lad, had headed for us avain and were exert-

o

ing their arms and voices to the utmost. But the race was of short duration for we soon left them far in the rear, and the young fellow, who was sprightly and intelligent, became a general favorite; and months after, when he sickened and died with consumption ina high northern latitude, we sin- cerely mourned his decease.

March 22d. At two A. M. discovered a reef half a mile in length, spoken of on the chart as having an ‘ existence

doubtfs!’ ~=But it would be a hard customer to strike on in

the ni

minut

orees rom n

Mill

with and ¢ (suar and { to gC

Apri

and smok still feet.

degr

bow and saw near

heig

The Old Sailor's Story. gI

the night. Position of this reef, latitude five degrees twenty

minutes south, longitude one hundred and seventy-four de- vrees twenty-seven minutes west.

March 24th. Heading to northwest passed the King Mill group; the wind was light and we made slow progress.

After the first of Aprilwe had more wind and proceeded with more celerity towards our destination, viz.: the Japan and Ochotsk Seas.

April rith. Filled three hundred barrels of water at Guam, one of the Ladrone Islands. We also obtained wood and fresh provisions; painted ship and gave the crew liberty to go on shore, one watch at atime. We remained until April 23d at this place.

On the twenty-sixth landed on a small volcanic island and obtained a few fish. From the crater of this island smoke was constantly issuing and the air was very hot and stifling. The rocks were too hot to be endurable to naked feet. This is the island of Paxaros and its latitude is twenty degrees thirty minutes north.

May 2d. At five A. M. made an island on the weather bow and passed it. At ten A. M. made a cluster of rocks and a high island ahead. We passed close under its lee and saw that it was well wooded and inhabited. Its sides were nearly perpendicalar and ros? apparently*a thousand feet in height. These islands belong to the Japanese dominions,

May 4th. Calm, and a rolling sea. Took in sails to save them from flopping to pieces. Latitude thirty-four de- grees north, longitude one hundred and forty degrees east.

May 13th. Entered the Ochotsk Sea, between the Ja-

23 WEST MAIN STREET TER, N.Y. 145

all Si Sil ll |

1h

1.25

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2.

qs

5

ar

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=

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The Old Sailor's Story. pan and the NKurile Islands, and proceeded north until we came to ice,

May 26th. Having worked to the northwest, raised a ject of fourteen ships searching for whales and observed that three were boiling out.

May 28th. Thirty ships in sight; cight boiling out.

May 29th. Found a dead whale; hauled him along- side and commenced cutting in; found him rather tender

une ist. binished boiling, The whale yielded seventy- five barrels,

June sth. Saw whales in the ice but could not get to then.

June rith. Struck a whale; ran him into the ice and had to cut toose

Jane oth. Weighed anchor, which we had previously

let go to keep from drifting ashore, and found the stock

gone and the anchor scoured brightly by dragging four miles

on rocky bottom. Captain Norton, of the ship South Sea- man, came on board and informed me that he had found a whale with my line and irons, the one my third mate lost on the eleventh. Went on board with him and got the line. And so we cruised and searched and drifted; and as the weather was cool and foggy much of the time, inasicuch that ice would make on the rigging at times two inches in thickness, our cruising does not altogether partake of the nature of a pleasure excursion; and as whales were few and shy, and ships were plenty, our cruising was not only un- pleasurable but also unprofitable, [tis true we had com- pany, and ‘misery loves company” is an old saw, but be the

com

to ¢

Wes Ik. | in si cam ust bott NAC the thor and vers

usly tock niles Sea- ida st on e,

, the

uch

sin the and un- ‘om- the

The Old Satlor's Story. company more or less, I always liked when I went fishing to vet some fish,

July r4th. Commenced with breezes from the north- west. At three A. M. the ice came up and took the schooners IX, L. Frost and Alice Frazier adrift. 1 sent my second mate in search of the third mate. At the turn of the tide the ice came afoul of us, taking us adrift down the bay and grinding us terribly, cutting the stem nearly to the wood-ends. The bottom was rocky and the anchor dragging over the rocks made a big, ambling noise; and how our little bark endured the strain the Lord knoweth, for she jarred all through as though she would start every joint. We were close in shore and expected momentarily to strike rocks, and the fog was very thick at the time. At eleven A. M. we emerged from the fog; and at twelve M., when the tide turned, we weighed anchor and retraced our lost ground.

We stood up the bay and at five P. M. raised our boats lying fast toa whale. We took him alongside and towed him in shore for fear of the ice. To give the uninitiated some idea of whaling in the bays of the Ochotsk Sea, I will state that two of our boats, with six men in each, had been fastened to this whale for three days, in a dense fog, with no fire and no protection from the weather except their cloth- ing. The bay was partially filled with junks of floating ice, four, six, and eight feet above the surface of the water, va- rying in size from half an acre to the size of a ship; and these pieces were constantly floating and grinding together, — It is not necessary for me to state that we cut in this whale and

The Old Sailor's Story.

sent the boats to search for another, and thus the time wore away.

July 20th, More than a hundred vessels were search- ing for oil in this region, lying around and in the ice; and when the fog was thick, sound supplied the place of sight, and the tooting of fog-horns was simply tremendous. And then we began to be ill in consequence of dampness and ex- posure, .

August 12th, The mate took a whale near the ship, killing him instantly with a bomb-lance. Spoke the Corea, of New London.

August 13th. Fog, fog, plenty of fog. The mate and fourth mate returned and reported the second mate off. in the bay fast to a whale. Went in search of him, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. On the seventeenth the second mate returned, having fastened his whale to the ship Navy, of New Bedford. On the eighteenth we got the whale but he was badly blasted.

August roth. The mate, Mr, Gibson, killed a whale in- stantly with a bomb-lance.

August 24th, Spanker caught fire from the stove-pipe

and was nearly consumed with the rigging attached. The weather cleared up for the first time in many weeks.

August 25th. Dropped down the bay and came to an- chor near the ship Rapid, of New Bedford, Captain D. P. West, an old friend of mine. From him I obtained a storm- spanker and a bolt of duck, with which to head it up and re- place the sail we had lost by fire.

August 27th, Anchored, with twenty other ships, in El-

bow

the b tom i formi provi miser rated ing i crews provi

Hiftee

one 1 toget

of wi

to Ww clud early Perc mide

triot worl is W bucl sout smit

seel

The Old Sailor's Story.

bow Island roads. Boats away. I will mention that when the boat’s crews are whaling near the shore it is their cus- tom io camp out over night on the shore, the upturned boats forming a shelter; and with a camp fire, cooking utensils and provisions, they make themselves as comfortable as their miserable circumstances will admit. Boats have been sepa- rated from their ships for a month at a time, the ship search- ing in one direction and the boats in another. Two boat's crews from the ship General Williams once boarded us for provisions, having been absent from their vessel more than fifteen days; and such cases were of frequent occurrence,

But to be more brief. We took one whale in Shanter bay, one in Mercury bay; and after taking one more we gathered toyvether as a fleet, under Mercury Head, and held a council of war, the question being, ‘* Where next 2”

Captain West had wintered in Hakodadi and intended to winter there again. So we and the Chandler Price con- cluded to keep him company; and we bore away for that port early in October, and after a rough passage through the La Perouse Straits we reached Hakodadi in safety about the middle of October.

The Japanese are a peculiar people. They are indus- trious, but the women do the hardest and most disagreeable work, ‘Their land is divided into small farms or plantations, is well cultivated and yields abundantly. Potatoes, beans, buckwheat and rice are the staple products. Tea is grown south of the parallel of thirty-five degrees north, Our black- smith pronounced their iron the best he ever worked, They

seemed to prefer Mexican dollars to any other money, Their

96 The Old Satlor’s Story’.

silk goods and lackered wares are too extensively known to need any description.

The American consul wishing to go to Simoda, | agreed to carry him; and leaving Hakodadi a little before the middle of November we had a very pleasant passage to Simoda, a distance of six hundred miles.

I found the harbor not very commodious and the an- chorage bad; but we laid the bark ashore in a small creek, where we patched the copper and repaired the stem, and

getting a good supply of tea, sugar, rice and sweet potatoes, we left on the fourth of December for Nangaski, to meet our consorts, the Rapid and Chandler Price, with whom we in- tended to whale in the southern bays of Niphon.

We started with the wind from the northwest and lead- ing; but on getting to sea found the wind broad from the west and dead ahead, and a strong current setting to the northeast. After making several tacks and losing ground, we stood into the mouth of Jedo Gulf and lay off and on,

December 5th. Stood to southward. Came on squally from west-southwest and increased toa gale. Put her down to close reefed main-top-sail and fcve-stay-sail, with winged fore-sail, “The sea rose fearfully and at two P.M. we lost our waist-boat. Soon after our fore-top-mast-stay-sail, which was our main dependence, blew away, leaving us in great peril. We were on a lee-shore, in a heavy gale, and at five P. M. we saw an island on our lee-beam, not over three miles distant, and the sea was making a clean breach over it, and we had no head-sail to depend upon.

I went to the wheel, and by raising it a few spokes got

her t the | ship wou to tl unk the our

to ¢ to spe wel fro Bo

lat

M

and

The Old Satlor’s Story. 97

her under a little headway; and by the help of Him who rules the wind and the waves we were preserved from a horrid shipwreck on an iron-bound coast, where escape from death

would have been miraculous. The wind veered two points

to the northward, and instead of being broken to pieces on unknown rocks,.the wext morning we were fifteen miles to the windward of the land and we felt like thanking God for our deliverance.

The wind continuing strong from the west, we concluded to give up whaling on the coast of Japan, and we bore away to the east-southeast, with a strong, fair wind, to look for sperm whales in the vicinity of the Muleraves. By keeping well to the south we ran out of the gale and took the wind from the northeast. Then by keeping close-hauled we made Boston Islands, belonging to the Ralick group, situated in latitude five degrees fifteen minutes south.

The natives came aboard; and learning that the Rev. Mr. Doane, with whom I was acquainted, was stationed there as a missionary, I sent him a note requesting him to come off, which he did the next day ina native boat. [le invited me ashore and I accepted his invitation, and was well entertained by him and_ his estimable lady, a daughter of Robert Wilbur, of Mystic Conn,

He had a comfortable dwelling, picketed enclosure, and he and his family were seemingly contented. Under his charge were some two hundred and fifty stalwart, fierce look- ing, savage men, besides women and children, all of whom lived on two sandy cocoa-nut islands, neither of which would make a good sized farm.

98 The Old Satlor's Story.

Mr. Doane informed me that these natives were quite adventurous; would fit out and voyage in open boats a dis- tance of hi.ndreds of miles, and after an absence of months would return safely. Their canoes are large and they are very expert in their management.

We found a canoe and crew of these natives, who had been blown away from home, at Wellington Island, which is over four hundred miles west of the Boston Islands.

We supplied this missionary with tea and sugar, and re- ceived in return all the cocoa-nuts we wanted, for he had thousands stacked in his yard.

Leaving our mission friends to their lonesome fate, we stood to the south to cruise for whales; but as the custom of northern whalers for years had been to proceed to the Sand- wich Islands to recruit, my crew, instigated in part by my third mate, whom I had taken from the ship Chandler Price, began to show tokens of dissatisfaction, and finally sent me a note, saying that they should consider theinseives pressed men if I took them to the Ochotsk another season without visiting the Sandwich Islands. But as I had already been in two ports of Japan, I did not feel like going so great a distance thus late in the season to gratify them,

This brings me to January, A. D. 1859, and as our cruising was unsuccessful, | was not in the most happy frame of mind, with the prospect of making a broken voyage and having a dissatisfied crow,

We touched at Ascension Island for wood and water; had a splendid-chance for killing a large sperm = whale, which would probably have made us a hundred barrels, But

juite

clis- nths ’ are

had ch is

l re-

had

we m of and- y my rice, r me ssed hout een

at a

our ame and

iter; vale, But

The Old Satlor's Story. 99

the big lubber of a boat-steerer was galliard, and although the whale was in an iron pole’s length of the boat, the boat- steerer missed his mark; and this was very unfortunate, for such chances seldom occur. If we had killed one we should probably have found another, for whales seldom roam singly. The capturing of this whale would probably have been as vood as two thousand dollars to me, for | was the owner of one-quarter of the bark and was sailing her on a twelfth lay

We entered the Japan Sea about the first of April; fell in with the Rapid, Captain West, who had wintered in Ja- pan and like ourselves had taken nothing. Cruised for days; saw few whales and they were unapproachable. So we pro- ceeded north into the Ochotsk again, and endured a repeti- tion of last year’s experience; saw many whalers and few whales, and after much exertion succeeded in obtaining only five. The whales were very shy; the fleet numerous; and although we tried hard we succeeded poorly. It is needless for me to speak of ice, fog, gales of wind, peril and expo- sure, for I have dwelt on those sufficiently in relation to last year’s cruise.

To shorten the narrative, I proceeded in the fall to, Honolulu; shipped my oil to New London by the bark Siam, Captain Rice, and having refitted the bark, made arrange- ments to deliver her into the charge of Captain Asa Fitch, of New London, who had been a successful whaling captain, in hopes that he would do better with her than I had done. But the whole affair was ruinous to me ina financial point of view, for I ultimately realized a loss of seven thousand

dollars cash, and three years’ valuable time, by my dealings

The Old Satlor's Story.

and doings in the bark ‘Tempest, which I delivered to Cap- tain Fish in the harbor of San Francisco, he having agreed to take a vessel to that place from the Sandwich Islands.

I took passage in the Golden Age Pacific mail steamer to Panama, and crossing the isthmus to Aspinwall, was trans- ferred to the steamer Baltic, which conveyed me safely to New York, and I arrived home in January, after an absence of two years and eight months.

Some may ask: * How could you lose so much by such a transaction ?”

J will, by way of reply, mention a few items and the reader may draw his own inferences. Cost of vessel; in- terest on the same; outfits; interest on outfits; provisions for

a large crew; advance to crew; desertion of men; shipping

new hands; advances to new hands; repairs on vessel; wear and tear; staving boats; clothing for men; new sails; few whales; insurance; commission; leakage; gauging; commis- sion; wharfage; port charges; taxes; more leakage; outgoes; freight; fog; thunder.

Add these items carefully, and make due allowance for lee-way, and remember one minute makes fifteen miles in longitude, and see where you will fetch up, especially if you do not start right and have no true departure.

After stopping at home sixteen months I obtained a commission as Acting Master and Coast Pilot in the United States Navy, with orders to report for duty immediately at the navy yard in Philadelphia, Bear in mind that this was in May, A. D. 1861, in the beginning of that war between

such

the

wear

few WMis- xOeS;

e for Ss In

you

ed a ited ly at

was

veen

The Old Satlor's Story. the northern and southern states, known in history as “ The Great Rebell‘on.”

My appointment bore the date of May 25th, and I ar- rived in Philadelphia about the first of June; and after wait- ing somewhat impatiently for several days, I received an or- der from Commodore (afterwards Admiral) Samuel F. Du- pont to report for duty on board the United States frigate St. Lawrence.

The southern ports were ordered to be blockaded, and this vessel was to be one of the biockading fleet.

We left the navy yard June 29th and towed down the river and came to anchor off the powder-house.

July rst. Took in thirteen hundred shell and two boat loads of powder. |

July 2d. Finished taking in powder.

July 4th. Fired a national salute of twenty-one guns and the men had an extra allowance of grog.

July 6th. Towed down to Chester and anchored.

July 7th. Steamer towed us down. Came to anchor off ‘Joe Flogger.”

July 8th. Towed out past Cape Henlopen; made sail and stood out to sea.

July roth. At sea. Loaded all the guns.

July rith. Came to anchor off Fortress Monroe.

July rq4th. Put out to sea.

July 16th. Captured the brig Herod, from Windsor, North Carolina, for Liverpool, with resin. Put prize crew on board and ordered her to Fortress Monroe.

The Old Satlor’s Story,

July 26th. Off Charleston harbor. Spoke the United States frigate Wabash. Stood off to southeast.

July 28th. At six A. M. made a sail standing towards us which put around to avoid us, We put chase to her and found her to be a fore and aft schooner. We gained on her fast and at nine A. M. were in. point-blank range. Fired an unshotted gun asa signal for her to heave to, which he did not heed. We then fired a shot which fell short of her. He boldly hoisted the Secession flag and sent us a shot from his long-tom, which struck our main yard slings harmlessly. We gave him a taste of our calibre, and down she went head first to the bottom, carrying six of her crew as we supposed by her muster roll.

Lowered our boats and picked up thirty-seven men, in-

cluding the Captain, and then we stood for the flag-ship Wabash. The vessel so unceremoniously sent to ‘“ Davy Jones’ locker” was the pilot boat Petrel, of and from Charles- ton.

July 29th. Stood in and reported to the flag-ship. Re- ceived orders to keep the prisoners on board.

August 2d. Anchored off Tybee light. Transferred prisoners to steamer ‘lag, bound to Hampton roads.

August 5th. Received fresh beef, vegetables, ice, let- ters and papers from United States supply steamer Rhode Island, from New York. Weighed anchor. One of the fore- castle men had his arm so badly jammed by the anchor that amputation Was neccessary.

From this date till September roth, we were blockading

de

The Old Sailor's Story. 103

off Tybee, when the sloop of war Vandalia came to our sta- tion and we left for Chesapeake Bay,

September 15th. Anchored in Hampton roads in com- pany with United States frigates Minnesota and Cum- berland.

September 1oth. Took in a lot of stores out of a steamer from New York.

September 23d. “Took in five thousand gallons of fresh water from water-boat.

September 24th. Took in two hundred barrels of wa- ter from a water-boat. United States frigate Sabine arrived from Portsmouth to join the blockade squadron.

September 25th. Took in eighteen thousand gallons of fresh water.

gallons of

September 28th. Took in eight thousand water and a quantity of provisions. Vessels constantly ar- riving and departing.

October 5th. Put out to sea. Irom this date till No- vember 6th, we were engaged in overhauling vessels, exam- ining their papers and letting them proceed; but on this day we took a prize, viz.: the schooner Fanny Lee, from Darien for Nassau, and put a prize crew on board of her.

November 7th. Sent off the prize with Acting Master Bogart in charge.

November oth. Received news of the capture of Port Royal, South Carolina, by United States gunboats.

November 20th. Commenced with a light air from the north. At six thirty A. M. raised a sail to the windward. Made her out to be a bark standing to the northwest. We

104 The Old Sarlor's Story.

hove short but the wind fell off, so we manned two boats and sent them to her, a distance of ten miles. At four P.M. one boat returned and reported her to be the Neptune, from Glasgow, Scotland, for Quebec, with a load of coal. On ac- count of her being so far out of her track it seemed evident that she intended to run the blockade. At six P. M. the boat in charge of our second lieutenant returned with the Nep- tune’s captain, who gave a somewhat confused account of his proceedings. So we put a guard on board of her to take her in charge, and they brought her to anchor astern of us, and her officers were lodged on our ship for the night.

November 21st. Boarded and searched the bark, and finding nothing contraband of war, endorsed her papers and ordered her off the coast. She stood off to the northeast and was soon out of sight.

Probably as soon as she was clear of us she retarded her progress and waited for a chance to get into some south-

ern port; for our search was not sufficiently thorough, and

we heard of her subsequent capture by officers who gave her a closer scrutiny. They obtained prize-money which might have fallen to us.

December 1st. Received orders to proceed to Port Royal, which we willingly obeyed, and we arrived and an- chored in that harbor December 5th, where we found an English frigate and a large fleet of United States gunboats, supply vessels, ete.

About this time the stone-fleet arrived from the north. This fleet consisted mainly of old whaling ships which were purchased of their owners by the United States Government,

The Old Satlor’s Story. 105 loaded with stones, and sent south for the purpose of being sunk in the entrance of Charleston, Savannah, and perhaps ° other southern harbors; for the rebels, notwithstanding the blockade, were constantly receiving aid and encouragement in the shape of hospital stores, munitions of war and what they needed; and cotton was scarce and high, consequently the temptation to run the blockade was great.

We remained at Port Royal from the fifth till the twenty-sixth; painted ship, obtained wood, water and mails; anda large number of vessels with troops, supplies and mails were constantly arriving and departing. At the last mentioned date we put out to sea and stood off to the south- east,

December 29th. Came to anchor in fifteen fathoms, with Cumberland Island in sight from aloft.

The next day we weighed anchor and cruised off and on for several days.

January 8th, 1862. A seaman fell from his hammock and fractured his skull, from which injury he soon died and we buried him in the deep the following day.

January 12th. Spoke the packet steamer Columbia, from New York for Havana. Boarded her and obtained pa- pers of the ninth instant.

January 16th. Anchored in latitude thirty-one degrees forty-nine minutes north, longitude eighty degrees thirty-six minutes west.

January 19th. Got under way and stood into Port Royal, where we anchored in nine fathoms, outside of the bar, with the light-shin bearing north by west.

106 The Old Saclor’s Story.

January 25th, Sailed into the harbor, crossing the bar in four and one-half fathoms.

We remained in port till January 31st, and then towed out over the bar and stood off to the southeast.

We then proceeded to New York, took a pilot off Bar- nagat, and arrived at Brooklyn Navy Yard February 8th, at eight o'clock P. M. Cold and stormy.

We obtained stores, ammunition and water, and the men had liberty on shore. We towed round into the North River on the twenty-second and fired a salute of twenty-one guns in honor of Washington’s birthday.

February 28th. Received a draft of sixty-five men, six mates and some ordnance from the navy yard.

March 2d. ‘Towed down the bay and over the bar. A seaman fell overboard and came near being drowned. A boat put off from the ship Ocean Monarch and rescued him be- fore our boat could be lowered.

March 6th. Made Cape Henry and stood directly in. Took a pilot aboard and stood up the bay. Came to an- chor off Lynn Haven Bay in six and one-half fathoms. This day ends with a strong breeze and snow from the northeast.

March 8th. Commences with strong breeze from the northwest; clear and cold. In the morning a large fleet came down the bay. At two P. M. the steamer Cambridge came alongside to tow us in and informed us that the rebel iron-clad infernal machine Merrimac was coming down from Norfolk to attack the United States frigates Cumberland and @ongress, which were lying at Newport News. We

The Old Sailor's Story. 107

soon heard the report of canon and weighed anchor and towed up for the roads.

At four P. M. we were up abreast of Fortress Monroe, and we proceeded directly for Newport News, where the

Minnesota, Roanoke and Congress were engaged with the

Merrimac. When off Sewall’s Point the rebel battery opened fire on us, throwing both shot and shell completely over us. We returned the fire as we passed; and only two of the rebel shot took effect on us, one cut away one of the bowsprit shrouds, and the other struck the quarter-block under the fore-yard and cut off the fore-top-sail sheet

We spoke the Roanoke retiring from action, and found on opening the point that the Cumberland had been sunk by the Merrimac and that the Congress had surrendered to her, She was then engaged with the Minnesota, the latter vessel being aground, We towed close up to the Minnesota and the Merrimac gave us a volley of projectiles from her thirteen-inch gun, one of which took effect on our star- board quarter, above water, making a large hole. It passed through the pantry with a demoralizing effect on the dishes, entered the cabin, cut off two legs from a table, struck a timber on the opposite side of the ship, and rolled down within a few feet of the magazine scuttle, where it lay harm- lessly. The missile was a shell but it did not explode. Had it exploded in the vicinity of our magazine the consequences would have been otherwise from what they were. We pep- pered the machine until she ceased firing and withdrew,, We then dropped down and came to anchor off Fortress Mon- roe, ‘The Erricson water battery Monitor arrived from

108 The Old Sarlor’s Story.

New York and proceeded up the roads to Newport News, the seat of action.

March oth, 1862. ‘This day, world renowned in the his- tory of naval warfare, commenced clear and calm. All hands called to quarters and guns made ready for immediate ac- tion. We discovered the Merrimac and three rebel gun- boats getting up steam off Sewall’s Point, and moving slowly: towards the Minnesota which was stillaground. The Moni- tor boldly advanced and attacked the Merrimac, which en- deavored to run over the comparatively small and insignifi- cant looking invention of the now famous Erricson. In this sue was foiled by the dexterous maneuverings of the Moni- tor, and soon withdrew in an apparently crippled condition, keeled over and seemingly sinking. After a while she righted up and moved off up the Elizabeth River, where her consorts had previously fled.

Thus ended one of the most important engagements re- corded in the annals of naval warfare; for the success of the Monitor was not only the salvation of the American Navy, but demonstrated the practical utility of another great American invention.

After this memorable action we proceeded to Philadel- phia Navy Yard where our damages were repaired. We then returned to Fortress Monroe, where our commander, Captain Purviance, was relieved from active service and

Captain J. F. Schencks sticceeded him as commander of the St. Lawrence.

We proceeded to blockade duty on the North Atlantic coast; went as far south as Key West, where, in course of

at

WwW

The Old Sazlor's Story. 109 °

time our frigate was made the flag-ship of Commodore Lardner’s squadron; he having dispatched his frigate, the San Jacinto, north on account of the yellow fever which ex- tensively prevailed amongst his crew. Our men were soon attacked with the scourge; the weather was very hot and many died with the disease. Some died on board, others were sent to the hospital; some recovered and returned to the ship, and others died in the hospital.

Thus the months wore away and on the tenth of Octo- ber I received orders to report on board the United States gun-boat Young Rover, for a passage north. Congress had passed a law that naval men over sixty years of age should be dismissed from active service; and as I was but a volun- teer this act was equivalent to my discharge.

We arrived at Philadelphia October 26th, and on No- vember 4th I took passage on the cars to New York. From thence I went to Saybrook on the steamer Granite State; visited an old acquaintance, Captain Dolbeare, who made me welcome, and the following Monday he conveyed me in his sail-boat to Old Hamburgh, from which place I traveled to my home in Salem, Ct., where I found my wife and family in comfortable health.

This is a very brief sketch of my sixteen months in the United States Navy. The remainder of my narrative is quickly told.

In A. D. 1863 I removed from Salem to Gales Ferry,

my birth-place, where I still reside. In A, D, 1864 1 made a trading voyage to Ney West,

The Old Satlor's Story.

Pensacola, and the Bahamas, which proved not only unre- munerative but a losing affair. Being short of funds at the Bahamas, having remitted proceeds of sales from Key West, I borrowed $500 to pay for pine-apples, agreeing to trans- mit the same amount in gold from New York. I arrived safely with a well preserved cargo of pine-apples; but im- agine my feelings when I found on my arrival gold stood at 32.80 in greenbacks. ‘This trip was in the schooner Actor, then belonging to Captain Chapman, of Groton.

In A. D. 1865 I went with Captain Pettigrew, in the schooner Sun, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence mackerel fishing; but that season’s work was not very lucrative.

From that time until A. D. 1877 I did a small coasting business, being employed a considerable portion of the time by Johnson & Co., dye-wood and dye-wood extracts manu- facturers and dealers, of Montville, Ct. And now in A, D. 1879, in the eightieth year of my life, I have compiled from memory and journals this abbreviated sketch of my past life, in accordance with the wishes of my friends; and being as- sured by the infirmities of my body that my time on earth is short, I launch my narrative on the tide of public opinion, craving that charity from an intelligent public which suffereth long and is kind, and which moreover covereth a multitude of sins.

Sensible am I that this little work has its deficiencies and blunders, also that it partakes of the nature of the “short and simple annals of the poor;’ but time changes

men and things, and perhaps when you write an account of

@

The Old Satlor’s Story.

your adventures at my time of age, considerate reader, it

may be more interesting and perhaps not. Every person's history has its lessons for others, for

“ Tives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime;”’

And on the other tack,

“ By others’ faults wise men correct their own.”