In order to launch my story fairly it is necessary to go back a little. On my return to London from my last voyage, with a pay-day of some £20, I had done two important things, though with the easy confidence of youth, and especially seafaring youth, their gravity had not impressed me. I got married and “passed” for chief mate. Neither my wife nor myself had a friend in the world, any certain employment or a stick of “plenishing.” And after a honeymoon4 of a day or two the tiny group of sovereigns nestling at the bottom of my right-hand[61] trousers pocket dwindled5 so that I could hardly jingle6 them. There were plenty of ships in London at the time, but although I walked the soles fairly off my boots around the dreary7 docks never a one could I find where a second mate even was wanted. I found a good many where the officers were foreigners; Germans or Scandinavians; still more “where they didn’t keep the officers by the ship in dock,” and one day I was offered a chance to go first mate of a 1500 ton tramp to the Baltic at £5 a month! In spite of the shameful8 inadequacy9 of the salary I rushed off to the Surrey Commercial Docks after the berth10, and arrived on board of her breathless, only to find that another man had got to windward of me, having earlier information. Sadly I trudged11 back again and recommenced my search, my funds all but gone and no credit obtainable. But now I couldn’t even get a ship before the mast! Gangs of ruffianly dock-wallopers fought like tigers at the “chain-locker,” whenever a skipper seeking a hand or two poked12 his head out of one of the doors, flourishing their discharges (?) in the air as they surged around the half-scared man. Anxious and indeed almost despairing as I was, I could not compete with that crowd, and I don’t believe I should ever have got a ship, but that one day a stalwart, pleasant-faced man opened the door. When the gang began to mob him he roared, “I don’ want navvies—I want a sailor-man: git t’ hell out o’ that, and let one o’ them behind ye come here.” Instantly I flung myself into the crowd and thrust my way up to him. He took my proffered[62] discharge, but handed it back at once saying, “I don’t want no steamboat sailors.” He didn’t understand the thing, being a Nova Scotiaman. I screamed back the truth at him, and pushed my way past him into the office, my heart fairly thumping13 with excitement at the prospect14 of £3 a month to go to Nova Scotia in the middle of winter. I winced15 a little when I found that she was only a brigantine, but the advance note for £3 was such a godsend that I could only be thankful.
Of the passage across in the Wanderer I need say nothing here except that the sea kindliness16 of the little craft (the smallest I had ever sailed in) amazed me, while, except for a disaster in the shape of a cook, the general conditions of life on board were most comfortable. After twenty days we arrived at Sydney, Cape17 Breton, and upon entering the harbour noticed a vessel18 lying disconsolately19 apart from the little fleet at anchor there. She was a brig belonging to Workington, exactly like an exaggerated barge20 as to her hull21, and bearing all over unmistakable evidences of utter neglect. In fact her general appearance suggested nothing so much to me as the nondescript craft common on the Indian coast, and called by sailors “country-wallahs.” She provided us with plenty of material for our evening chat, but in the morning other matters claimed our attention and we soon forgot all about her. As we had come over in ballast our stay was to be short, and on the second day after our arrival news came that we were to proceed to Lingan, a small port down the coast, in the morning, and there load soft coal for St. John,[63] New Brunswick. But, much to my surprise, just after supper, as I was leaning over the rail enjoying my pipe, the mate approached me mysteriously and beckoned22 me aft. As soon as we were out of hearing of the other men, he told me that if I liked to put my dunnage over into the boat, he would pull me ashore23, the skipper having intimated his willingness to let me go, although unable to discharge me in the regular way. He had heard that there was a vessel in the harbour in want of a mate, and hoped that thus I might be able to better myself. Being quite accustomed to all vicissitudes24 of fortune I at once closed with the offer, and presently found myself on the beach of this strange place without one cent in my pocket, in utter darkness and a loneliness like that of some desert island.
I sat quite still for some little time, trying to sum up the situation, but the night being very cold, I had to move or get benumbed. Leaving my bag and bed where it was I groped my way into the town, and after about a quarter of an hour’s stumbling along what I afterwards found was the main street, I saw a feeble light. Making for it at once I discovered a man standing25 at the door of a lowly shanty26 smoking, the light I had seen proceeding27 from a tallow candle flickering28 in the interior. Receiving my salutation with gruff heartiness29 the man bade me welcome to such shelter as he had, so I lugged30 my dunnage up and entered. He showed me an ancient squab whereon I might lie, and closing the street door bade me good night, disappearing into some mysterious recess31 in a far corner. I composed myself for sleep,[64] but the place was simply alive with fleas32, which, tasting fresh stranger, gave me a lively time. Before morning I was bitterly envious33 of the other occupant of the room, who lay on the bare floor in a drunken stupor34, impervious35 to either cold or vermin. At the first gleam of dawn I left, taking a brisk walk until somebody was astir in the place, when I soon got quarters in a boarding-house. Then as early as possible I made for the shipping36 office, finding to my surprise that the vessel in want of a mate was the ancient relic37 that had so much amused us as we entered the harbour. After a good deal of searching, the commander of her was found—a bluff38, red-faced man with a watery39, wandering eye, whose first words betrayed him for a Welshman. He was as anxious to get a mate as I was to get a ship, so we were not long coming to terms—£6 per month. Her name I found was the Amulet40, last from Santos, and now awaiting a cargo41 of coal for St. John, New Brunswick. No sooner had I signed articles than the skipper invited me to drink with him, and instantly became confidential42. But as he had already been drinking pretty freely, and even his sober English was no great things, I was not much the wiser for our conference. However, bidding him good day, I went on board and took charge, finding the old rattletrap in a most miserable43 condition, the second mate in a state of mutiny, and the crew doing just whatever they pleased. I had not been on board an hour before I was in possession of the history of their adventures since leaving England eighteen months before. I found too that I was the fourth mate that voyage, and[65] judging from appearances I thought it unlikely that I should be the last. As soon as he had finished unburdening himself to me, the second mate, who seemed a decent fellow enough, started to pack up, swearing in both Welsh and English that he was finished with her. Of course I had no means of preventing him from going even if I had wished to do so, and away he went. Then I turned my attention to the ship, finding the small crew (seven all told) desperately44 sullen45, but still willing to obey my orders. Oh, but she was a wreck46, and so dirty that I hardly knew whether it was worth while attempting to cleanse47 her. There was abundance of good fresh food though, and one of the men helped the grimy muttering Welsh lad who was supposed to be the cook, so that the meals were at least eatable. According to my orders I was to report progress to the skipper every morning at his hotel, and next morning I paid him a visit. I found him in bed, although it was eleven o’clock, with a bottle of brandy sticking out from under his pillow and quite comfortably drunk. He received my remarks with great gravity, graciously approving of what I had done, and assuring me that he was very ill indeed. I left him so, thinking deeply over my queer position, and returned on board to find the second mate back again in a furious rage at not being able to get at the “old man,” but resigned to going with us to St. John as a passenger. Well, as time went on I managed to get her in some sort of trim, received the cargo on board, bent48 the sails, and made all ready for sea, the second mate lolling at his ease all day long or in his bunk49 asleep. Every morning I[66] saw the skipper, always in bed and always drunk. Thus three weeks passed away. When the vessel had been a week ready for sea, during most of which time a steady fair wind for our departure had been blowing, I had a visitor. After a few civil questions he told me he was the agent, and proposed giving the captain one day longer in which to clear out, failing which he would on his own responsibility send the vessel to sea without him. I of course raised no objection, but seized the opportunity to get a few pounds advance of wages which I at once despatched home to my wife. The agent’s threat was effectual, for at noon the next day my commander came on board accompanied by a tugboat which towed us out to sea, although a fair wind was blowing. No sooner had the pilot left us to our own devices than Captain Jones retired51 to his bunk, and there he remained, his cabin no bad representation of a miniature Malebolge. Details impossible.
Unfortunately I had so severely52 injured my left hand that I could not use it at all, and the second mate, though perfectly53 friendly with me, would do nothing but just keep a look-out while I got some sleep; he wouldn’t even trim sail. The first day out I took sights for longitude54 by the chronometer55, which I had kept regularly wound since I had been on board, but I found to my horror that it had been tampered56 with, and was utterly57 useless. It was now the latter end of November, fogs and gales58 were of everyday occurrence, the currents were very strong and variable, and I was on an utterly strange coast in command for the first time in my life. When I saw the sun, which was seldom, I thought myself lucky[67] to get the latitude59, and Sable60 Island under my lee with its diabolical61 death-traps haunted me waking and sleeping. My only hope of escaping disaster was in the cod-schooners, which, as much at home in those gloomy, stormy waters as a cabman in London streets, could always be relied on to give one a fairly accurate position. Then the rotten gear aloft kept giving out, and there was nothing to repair it with, while the half-frozen men could hardly be kept out of their little dog-hole at all. Only one man in the ship was having a good time, and that was the skipper. Hugging a huge jar of “chain lightning” brandy he never wanted anything else, and no one ever went near him except the poor little scalawag of a cook, who used to rate him in Welsh until the discord62 was almost deafening63. But if I were to tell fairly the story of that trip round Nova Scotia it would take a hundred pages. So I must hurry on to say that we did reach St. John by God’s especial mercy, and laid her alongside the wharf64.
I am afraid I shall hardly be believed when I say that Captain Jones reappeared on deck at once and went ashore, promising65 to return by six o’clock. Now the tide rises and falls in St. John’s over thirty feet, so when night came the Amulet was resting on the mud, and the edge of the wharf was very nearly level with our main-top. I had prepared a secure gangway with a bright lantern for my superior’s return, but about eleven o’clock that night he strolled down and walked calmly over the edge of the wharf where the gangway was not. All hands were aroused by his frantic66 cries of “Misser[68] Bewlon, Misser Bewlon, for Gaw’ sake safe my lyve!” After much search we found him and hoisted67 him on board out of the mud in which he was embedded68 to the armpits. No bones were broken, and next day he was well enough to climb ashore and get into a conveyance69 which took him up town to another “hotel.” A repetition of the tactics of Sydney now set in, except that I did not visit him so frequently. The second mate and one of the men got their discharge out of him and left us, in great glee at their escape. Then I think some one must have remonstrated70 with him whose words were not to be made light of, for one day he came on board and tried to get all hands to sign a paper that he had got drawn71 up, certifying72 that he was a strictly73 sober man! He was so hurt at their refusal. Finally he re-embarked, bringing a tugboat and pilot with him as before, and the startling news that we were to tow right across the Bay of Fundy and up the Basin of Minas to Parrsboro’, but no sooner were we abreast74 of Partridge Island than again my commander disappeared below. All through the night the panting tug50 toiled75 onward76 with us, the pilot remaining at his post till dawn. Fortunately for my peace of mind I knew little about the perilous77 navigation of this great bay, the home of the fiercest tides in the world. But when, drawing near Cape Blomidon, I saw the rate at which we were being hurled78 along by the fury of the inrushing flood, I felt profoundly thankful that the responsibility for our safety was not upon me. However, we arrived intact that afternoon and proceeded up the river,[69] which was as crooked79 as a ram’s horn, and only began to have any water in its bed when it was half flood outside. As we neared the village the pilot asked me to what wharf we were going, as we could not lay in the dry river bed. I knew no more than he did, and neither of us could shake any sense into the unconscious skipper. So we tied her up to the first jetty we came to, and pilot and tugboat took their departure. There was a fine to-do when the wharfinger heard of our arrival, and I had to go up to the village and ask all round for information as to where we were to lie. I got instructions at last, and shifted to a berth where we were allowed to remain. Next day the old man went ashore again, saying nothing to me, and I remained in ignorance of his whereabouts for ten days. Meanwhile lumber80 began to arrive for us, and a scoundrelly stevedore81 came on board with the skipper’s authority to stow the cargo. He and I quickly came to loggerheads, for I did not at all fancy the way he was “blowing her up,” and the dread82 of our winter passage to Europe lay heavy upon me. But I found that all power to interfere83 with him was taken out of my hands, and I just had to stand by and see potential murder being done.
At last one day at dinner-time the old man paid us a visit, characteristically announcing himself by falling between the vessel and the wharf into the ice-laden water. Of course he wasn’t hurt—didn’t even get a chill, but he was taken back to his “hotel,” and came no more to see us. With the completion of our deck-load my patience was exhausted84, and as[70] soon as she was ready for sea, I hunted him up and demanded my discharge. I felt prepared to take all reasonable risks, but to cross the Atlantic in December with a vessel like a top-heavy bladder under me, and myself the sole officer, was hardly good enough. Of course he wouldn’t release me, and the upshot was, to cut my yarn85 short, that I remained ashore penniless, while he towed back to St. John, engaged another unfortunate mate, and after a week’s final spree, sailed for home. As I had expected, she got no farther than the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. There her old bones were finally broken up in a howling snowstorm, in which several of the crew were frozen to death, but he escaped to worry better men again.
Two years after in the Court of Queen’s Bench we met again, when I arose, the one essential witness to his misdoings, and made him feel as if my turn had come at last.
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1
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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inadequacy
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| n.无法胜任，信心不足 | |
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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13
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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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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disconsolately
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| adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸 | |
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barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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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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beckoned
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| v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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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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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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lugged
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| vt.用力拖拉（lug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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amulet
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| n.护身符 | |
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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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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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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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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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46
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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47
cleanse
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| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
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48
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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49
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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50
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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51
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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52
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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53
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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54
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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chronometer
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| n.精密的计时器 | |
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56
tampered
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| v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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57
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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59
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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60
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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62
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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63
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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64
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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65
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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66
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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67
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
embedded
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| a.扎牢的 | |
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69
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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70
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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71
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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72
certifying
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| （尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书 | |
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73
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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74
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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75
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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76
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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77
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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78
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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79
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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80
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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81
stevedore
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| n.码头工人；v.装载货物 | |
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82
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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83
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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84
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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85
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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