Our captain had been married only a few weeks before he left Boston, and, after an absence of over two years, it may be supposed he was not slow in carrying sail. The mate, too, was not to be beaten by anybody; and the second mate, though he was afraid to press sail, was still more afraid of the captain, and, being between two fears, sometimes carried on longer than any of them. We snapped off three flying-jib-booms in twenty-four hours, as fast as they could be fitted and rigged out; sprung the spritsail yard, and made nothing of studding-sail booms. Beside the natural desire to get home, we had another reason for urging the ship on. The scurvy28 had begun to show itself on board. One man had it so badly as to be disabled and off duty, and the English lad, Ben, was in a dreadful state, and was daily growing worse. His legs swelled29 and pained him so that he could not walk; his flesh lost its elasticity30, so that if pressed in it would not return to its shape; and his gums swelled until he could not open his mouth. His breath, too, became very offensive; he lost all strength and spirit; could eat nothing; grew worse every day; and, in fact, unless something was done for him, would be a dead man in a week, at the rate at which he was sinking. The medicines were all, or nearly all, gone, and if we had had a chest-full, they would have been of no use, for nothing but fresh provisions and terra firma has any effect upon the scurvy. This disease is not so common now as formerly31, and is attributed generally to salt provisions, want of cleanliness, the free use of grease and fat (which is the reason of its prevalence among whalemen), and, last of all, to laziness. It never could have been from the last cause on board our ship; nor from the second, for we were a very cleanly crew, kept our forecastle in neat order, and were more particular about washing and changing clothes than many better-dressed people on shore. It was probably from having none but salt provisions, and possibly from our having run very rapidly into hot weather, after our having been so long in the extremest cold.
Depending upon the westerly winds which prevail off the coast in the autumn, the captain stood well to the westward32, to run inside of the Bermudas, and in the hope of falling in with some vessel33 bound to the West Indies or the Southern States. The scurvy had spread no further among the crew, but there was danger that it might; and these cases were bad ones.
Sunday, September 11th. Lat. 30° 04’ N., lon. 63° 23’ W.; the Bermudas bearing north-northwest, distant one hundred and fifty miles. The next morning about ten o’clock, “Sail ho!” was cried on deck; and all hands turned up to see the stranger. As she drew nearer, she proved to be an ordinary-looking hermaphrodite brig, standing south-southeast, and probably bound out from the Northern States to the West Indies, and was just the thing we wished to see. She hove-to for us, seeing that we wished to speak her, and we ran down to her, boom-ended our studding-sails, backed our main topsail, and hailed her: “Brig ahoy!” “Hallo!” “Where are you from, pray?” “From New York, bound to Cura?oa.” “Have you any fresh provisions to spare?” “Aye, aye! plenty of them!” We lowered away the quarter-boat instantly, and the captain and four hands sprang in, and were soon dancing over the water and alongside the brig. In about half an hour they returned with half a boat-load of potatoes and onions, and each vessel filled away and kept on her course. She proved to be the brig Solon, of Plymouth, from the Connecticut River, and last from New York, bound to the Spanish Main, with a cargo34 of fresh provisions, mules35, tin bake-pans, and other notions. The onions were fresh; and the mate of the brig told the men in the boat, as he passed the bunches over the side, that the girls had strung them on purpose for us the day he sailed. We had made the mistake, on board, of supposing that a new President had been chosen the last winter, and, as we filled away, the captain hailed and asked who was President of the United States. They answered, Andrew Jackson; but, thinking that the old General could not have been elected for a third time, we hailed again, and they answered, Jack20 Downing, and left us to correct the mistake at our leisure.
Our boat’s crew had a laugh upon one of our number, Joe, who was vain and made the best show of everything. The style and gentility of a ship and her crew depend upon the length and character of the voyage. An India or China voyage always is the thing, and a voyage to the Northwest coast (the Columbia River or Russian America) for furs is romantic and mysterious, and if it takes the ship round the world, by way of the Islands and China, it out-ranks them all. The grave, slab-sided mate of the schooner36 leaned over the rail, and spoke37 to the men in our boat: “Where are you from?” Joe answered up quick, “From the Nor’west coast.” “What’s your cargo?” This was a poser; but Joe was ready with an equivoke. “Skins,” said he. “Here and there a horn?” asked the mate, in the dryest manner. The boat’s crew laughed out, and Joe’s glory faded. Apropos38 of this, a man named Sam, on board the Pilgrim, used to tell a story of a mean little captain in a mean little brig, in which he sailed from Liverpool to New York, who insisted on speaking a great, homeward-bound Indiaman, with her studding-sails out on both sides, sunburnt men in wide-brimmed hats on her decks, and a monkey and paroquet in her rigging, “rolling down from St. Helena.” There was no need of his stopping her to speak her, but his vanity led him to do it, and then his meanness made him so awestruck that he seemed to quail39. He called out, in a small, lisping voice, “What ship is that, pray?” A deep-toned voice roared through the trumpet40, “The Bashaw, from Canton, bound to Boston. Hundred and ten days out! Where are you from?” “Only from Liverpool, sir,” he lisped, in the most apologetic and subservient41 voice. But the humor will be felt by those only who know the ritual of hailing at sea. No one says “sir,” and the “only” was wonderfully expressive42.
It was just dinner-time when we filled away, and the steward43, taking a few bunches of onions for the cabin, gave the rest to us, with a bottle of vinegar. We carried them forward, stowed them away in the forecastle, refusing to have them cooked, and ate them raw, with our beef and bread. And a glorious treat they were. The freshness and crispness of the raw onion, with the earthy taste, give it a great relish44 to one who has been a long time on salt provisions. We were ravenous45 after them. It was like a scent46 of blood to a hound. We ate them at every meal, by the dozen, and filled our pockets with them, to eat in our watch on deck; and the bunches, rising in the form of a cone47, from the largest at the bottom, to the smallest, no larger than a strawberry, at the top, soon disappeared. The chief use, however, of the fresh provisions, was for the men with the scurvy. One of them was able to eat, and he soon brought himself to, by gnawing48 upon raw potatoes and onions; but the other, by this time, was hardly able to open his mouth, and the cook took the potatoes raw, pounded them in a mortar49, and gave him the juice to drink. This he swallowed, by the teaspoonful50 at a time, and rinsed51 it about his gums and throat. The strong earthy taste and smell of this extract of the raw potato at first produced a shuddering52 through his whole frame, and, after drinking it, an acute pain, which ran through all parts of his body; but knowing by this that it was taking strong hold, he persevered53, drinking a spoonful every hour or so, and holding it a long time in his mouth, until, by the effect of this drink, and of his own restored hope (for he had nearly given up in despair), he became so well as to be able to move about, and open his mouth enough to eat the raw potatoes and onions pounded into a soft pulp54. This course soon restored his appetite and strength, and in ten days after we spoke the Solon, so rapid was his recovery that, from lying helpless and almost hopeless in his berth19, he was at the mast-head, furling a royal.
With a fine southwest wind we passed inside of the Bermudas, and, notwithstanding the old couplet, which was quoted again and again by those who thought we should have one more touch of a storm before our long absence —
“If the Bermudas let you pass,
You must beware of Hatteras,”—
we were to the northward55 of Hatteras, with good weather, and beginning to count, not the days, but the hours, to the time when we should be at anchor in Boston harbor.
Our ship was in fine order, all hands having been hard at work upon her, from daylight to dark, every day but Sunday from the time we got into warm weather on this side the Cape56.
It is a common notion with landsmen that a ship is in her finest condition when she leaves port to enter upon her voyage, and that she comes home, after a long absence —
“With over-weathered ribs57 and ragged58 sails;
Lean, rent, and beggared by the strumpet wind.”
But so far from that, unless a ship meets with some accident, or comes upon the coast in the dead of winter, when work cannot be done upon the rigging, she is in her finest order at the end of the voyage. When she sails from port, her rigging is generally slack; the masts need staying; the decks and sides are black and dirty from taking in cargo; riggers’ seizings and overhand knots in place of nice seamanlike59 work; and everything, to a sailor’s eye, adrift. But on the passage home the fine weather between the tropics is spent in putting the ship in the neatest order. No merchant vessel looks better than an Indiaman, or a Cape Horn-er, after a long voyage, and captains and mates stake their reputation for seamanship upon the appearance of their ships when they haul into the dock. All our standing rigging, fore and aft, was set up and tarred, the masts stayed, the lower and topmast rigging rattled60 down (or up, as the fashion now is); and so careful were our officers to keep the ratlines taut and straight, that we were obliged to go aloft upon the ropes and shearpoles with which the rigging was swifted in; and these were used as jury ratlines until we got close upon the coast. After this, the ship was scraped, inside and out, decks, masts, booms, and all; a stage being rigged outside, upon which we scraped her down to the water-line, pounding the rust61 off the chains, bolts, and fastenings. Then, taking two days of calm under the line, we painted her on the outside, giving her open ports in her streak62, and finishing off the nice work upon the stern, where sat Neptune63 in his car, holding his trident, drawn by sea horses; and retouched the gilding64 and coloring of the cornucopia65 which ornamented66 her billet-head. The inside was then painted, from the skysail truck to the waterways — the yards, black; mast-heads and tops, white; monkey-rail, black, white, and yellow; bulwarks67, green; plank-shear, white; waterways, lead-color, &c., &c. The anchors and ring-bolts, and other iron work, were blackened with coal-tar24; and the steward was kept at work, polishing the brass68 of the wheel, bell, capstan, &c. The cabin, too, was scraped, varnished70, and painted; and the forecastle scraped and scrubbed, there being no need of paint and varnish69 for Jack’s quarters. The decks were then scraped and varnished, and everything useless thrown overboard; among which, the empty tar barrels were set on fire and thrown overboard, of a dark night, and left blazing astern, lighting71 up the ocean for miles. Add to all this labor72 the neat work upon the rigging — the knots, flemish-eyes, splices73, seizings, coverings, pointings, and graffings which show a ship in crack order. The last preparation, and which looked still more like coming into port, was getting the anchors over the bows, bending the cables, rowsing the hawsers74 up from between decks, and overhauling75 the deep-sea lead-line.
Thursday, September 15th. This morning the temperature and peculiar76 appearance of the water, the quantities of gulf77-weed floating about, and a bank of clouds lying directly before us, showed that we were on the border of the Gulf Stream. This remarkable78 current, running northeast, nearly across the ocean, is almost constantly shrouded79 in clouds and is the region of storms and heavy seas. Vessels80 often run from a clear sky and light wind, with all sail, at once into a heavy sea and cloudy sky, with double-reefed topsails. A sailor told me that, on a passage from Gibraltar to Boston, his vessel neared the Gulf Stream with a light breeze, clear sky, and studding-sails out, alow and aloft; while before it was a long line of heavy, black clouds, lying like a bank upon the water, and a vessel coming out of it, under double-reefed topsails, and with royal yards sent down. As they drew near, they began to take in sail after sail, until they were reduced to the same condition; and, after twelve or fourteen hours of rolling and pitching in a heavy sea, before a smart gale, they ran out of the bank on the other side, and were in fine weather again, and under their royals and skysails. As we drew into it, the sky became cloudy, the sea high, and everything had the appearance of the going off, or the coming on, of a storm. It was blowing no more than a stiff breeze; yet the wind being northeast, which is directly against the course of the current, made an ugly, chopping sea, which heaved and pitched the vessel about, so that we were obliged to send down the royal yards, and to take in our light sails. At noon, the thermometer, which had been repeatedly lowered into the water, showed the temperature to be seventy; which was considerably above that of the air — as is always the case in the centre of the Stream. A lad who had been at work at the royal-mast-head came down upon deck, and took a turn round the long-boat; and, looking pale, said he was so sick that he could stay aloft no longer, but was ashamed to acknowledge it to the officer. He went up again, but soon gave out and came down, and leaned over the rail, “as sick as a lady passenger.” He had been to sea several years, and had, he said, never been sick before. He was made so by the irregular pitching motion of the vessel, increased by the height to which he had been above the hull81, which is like the fulcrum82 of the lever. An old sailor, who was at work on the top-gallant yard, said he felt disagreeably all the time, and was glad, when his job was done, to get down into the top, or upon deck. Another hand was sent to the royal-mast-head, who stayed nearly an hour, but gave up. The work must be done, and the mate sent me. I did very well for some time, but began at length to feel very unpleasantly, though I never had been sick since the first two days from Boston, and had been in all sorts of weather and situations. Still, I kept my place, and did not come down, until I had got through my work, which was more than two hours. The ship certainly never acted so before. She was pitched and jerked about in all manner of ways; the sails seeming to have no steadying power over her. The tapering83 points of the masts made various curves against the sky overhead, and sometimes, in one sweep of an instant, described an arc of more than forty-five degrees, bringing up with a sudden jerk, which made it necessary to hold on with both hands, and then sweeping84 off in another long, irregular curve. I was not positively85 sick, and came down with a look of indifference86, yet was not unwilling87 to get upon the comparative terra firma of the deck. A few hours more carried us through, and when we saw the sun go down, upon our larboard beam, in the direction of the continent of North America, we had left the banks of dark, stormy clouds astern, in the twilight88.
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1
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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3
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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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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groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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15
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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17
scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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berths
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| n.（船、列车等的）卧铺( berth的名词复数 )；（船舶的）停泊位或锚位；差事；船台vt.v.停泊( berth的第三人称单数 )；占铺位 | |
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19
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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20
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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hyena
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| n.土狼，鬣狗 | |
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smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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hoisting
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| 起重，提升 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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scurvy
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| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
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29
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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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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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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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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apropos
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| adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于 | |
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quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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40
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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41
subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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42
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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43
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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44
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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45
ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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46
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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47
cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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48
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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49
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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50
teaspoonful
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| n.一茶匙的量；一茶匙容量 | |
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51
rinsed
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| v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉 | |
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52
shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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53
persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
pulp
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| n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆 | |
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55
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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56
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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57
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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seamanlike
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| 海员般的，熟练水手似的 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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61
rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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62
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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63
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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cornucopia
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| n.象征丰收的羊角 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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splices
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| v.绞接( splice的第三人称单数 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等） | |
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hawsers
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| n.（供系船或下锚用的）缆索，锚链( hawser的名词复数 ) | |
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overhauling
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| n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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fulcrum
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| n.杠杆支点 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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