There’s nothing for Jack11 to do but to obey orders, and I went up upon the yard; and there was a worse mess, if possible, than I had left below. The braces12 had been let go, and the yard was swinging about like a turnpike gate, and the whole sail, having blown out to leeward13, the lee leach14 was over the yard-arm, and the skysail was all adrift and flying about my head. I looked down, but it was in vain to attempt to make myself heard, for every one was busy below, and the wind roared, and sails were flapping in all directions. Fortunately, it was noon and broad daylight, and the man at the wheel, who had his eyes aloft, soon saw my difficulty, and after numberless signs and gestures got some one to haul the necessary ropes taut15. During this interval16 I took a look below. Everything was in confusion on deck; the little vessel was tearing through the water as if she had lost her wits, the seas flying over her, and the masts leaning over at a wide angle from the vertical17. At the other royal-mast-head was Stimson, working away at the sail, which was blowing from him as fast as he could gather it in. The top-gallant sail below me was soon clewed up, which relieved the mast, and in a short time I got my sail furled, and went below; but I lost overboard a new tarpaulin18 hat, which troubled me more than anything else. We worked for about half an hour with might and main; and in an hour from the time the squall struck us, from having all our flying kites abroad, we came down to double-reefed topsails and the storm-sails.
The wind had hauled ahead during the squall, and we were standing19 directly in for the point. So, as soon as we had got all snug20, we wore round and stood off again, and had the pleasant prospect21 of beating up to Monterey, a distance of a hundred miles, against a violent head wind. Before night it began to rain; and we had five days of rainy, stormy weather, under close sail all the time, and were blown several hundred miles off the coast. In the midst of this, we discovered that our fore1 topmast was sprung (which no doubt happened in the squall), and were obliged to send down the fore top-gallant-mast and carry as little sail as possible forward. Our four passengers were dreadfully sea-sick, so that we saw little or nothing of them during the five days. On the sixth day it cleared off, and the sun came out bright, but the wind and sea were still very high. It was quite like being in mid-ocean again; no land for hundreds of miles, and the captain taking the sun every day at noon. Our passengers now made their appearance, and I had for the first time the opportunity of seeing what a miserable23 and forlorn creature a sea-sick passenger is. Since I had got over my own sickness, the third day from Boston, I had seen nothing but hale, hearty24 men, with their sea legs on, and able to go anywhere (for we had no passengers on our voyage out); and I will own there was a pleasant feeling of superiority in being able to walk the deck, and eat, and go aloft, and compare one’s self with two poor, miserable, pale creatures, staggering and shuffling25 about decks, or holding on and looking up with giddy heads, to see us climbing to the mast-heads, or sitting quietly at work on the ends of the lofty yards. A well man at sea has little sympathy with one who is sea-sick; he is apt to be too conscious of a comparison which seems favorable to his own manhood.
After a few days we made the land at Point Pinos, which is the headland at the entrance of the bay of Monterey. As we drew in and ran down the shore, we could distinguish well the face of the country, and found it better wooded than that to the southward of Point Conception. In fact, as I afterwards discovered, Point Conception may be made the dividing-line between two different faces of the country. As you go to the northward26 of the point, the country becomes more wooded, has a richer appearance, and is better supplied with water. This is the case with Monterey, and still more so with San Francisco; while to the southward of the point, as at Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and particularly San Diego, there is very little wood, and the country has a naked, level appearance, though it is still fertile.
The bay of Monterey is wide at the entrance, being about twenty-four miles between the two points, A?o Nuevo at the north, and Pinos at the south, but narrows gradually as you approach the town, which is situated27 in a bend, or large cove22, at the southeastern extremity28, and from the points about eighteen miles, which is the whole depth of the bay. The shores are extremely well wooded (the pine abounding29 upon them), and as it was now the rainy season, everything was as green as nature could make it — the grass, the leaves, and all; the birds were singing in the woods, and great numbers of wild fowl30 were flying over our heads. Here we could lie safe from the southeasters. We came to anchor within two cable lengths of the shore, and the town lay directly before us, making a very pretty appearance; its houses being of whitewashed31 adobe32, which gives a much better effect than those of Santa Barbara, which are mostly left of a mud color. The red tiles, too, on the roofs, contrasted well with the white sides, and with the extreme greenness of the lawn upon which the houses — about a hundred in number — were dotted about, here and there, irregularly. There are in this place, and in every other town which I saw in California, no streets nor fences (except that here and there a small patch might be fenced in for a garden), so that the houses are placed at random33 upon the green. This, as they are of one story, and of the cottage form, gives them a pretty effect when seen from a little distance.
It was a fine Saturday afternoon that we came to anchor, the sun about an hour high, and everything looking pleasantly. The Mexican flag was flying from the little square Presidio, and the drums and trumpets34 of the soldiers, who were out on parade, sounded over the water, and gave great life to the scene. Every one was delighted with the appearance of things. We felt as though we had got into a Christian35 (which in the sailor’s vocabulary means civilized) country. The first impression which California had made upon us was very disagreeable — the open roadstead of Santa Barbara; anchoring three miles from the shore; running out to sea before every southeaster; landing in a high surf; with a little dark-looking town, a mile from the beach; and not a sound to be heard, nor anything to be seen, but Kanakas, hides, and tallow-bags. Add to this the gale off Point Conception, and no one can be at a loss to account for our agreeable disappointment in Monterey. Besides, we soon learned, which was of no small importance to us, that there was little or no surf here, and this afternoon the beach was as smooth as a pond.
We landed the agent and passengers, and found several persons waiting for them on the beach, among whom were some who, though dressed in the costume of the country, spoke36 English, and who, we afterwards learned, were English and Americans who had married and settled here.
I also connected with our arrival here another circumstance which more nearly concerns myself; viz., my first act of what the sailors will allow to be seamanship — sending down a royal-yard. I had seen it done once or twice at sea; and an old sailor, whose favor I had taken some pains to gain, had taught me carefully everything which was necessary to be done, and in its proper order, and advised me to take the first opportunity when we were in port, and try it. I told the second mate, with whom I had been pretty thick when he was before the mast, that I could do it, and got him to ask the mate to send me up the first time the royal-yards were struck. Accordingly, I was called upon, and went aloft, repeating the operations over in my mind, taking care to get each thing in its order, for the slightest mistake spoils the whole. Fortunately, I got through without any word from the officer, and heard the “well done” of the mate, when the yard reached the deck, with as much satisfaction as I ever felt at Cambridge on seeing a “bene” at the foot of a Latin exercise.
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1
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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doused
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| v.浇水在…上( douse的过去式和过去分词 )；熄灯[火] | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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buckling
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| 扣住 | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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braces
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| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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leach
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| v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器 | |
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taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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26
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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34
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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