tongue, and be less bumptious to cap'en. He's
terrible, cap'en is, once he takes a spite, and
already you've roused his grit. I see by your
eye you're riled, but jest you consider this; 'tis
better to go ashore at San Francisco, alive, than
mebbe to be food for the fishes, atween this and
the Gulf. I'm hard, myself, but not like cap'en.
I'm hickory, but he's flint."

For all my righteous rage, for all my natural
repugnance to submit to so unjustifiable an
outrage, I felt that Dan Coffin gave good advice.
I also felt sure that he spoke truth; he had
taken a "sort of fancy" to me, although he had
been the original decoy-duck concerned in my
capture. I had heard queer stories and read
strange paragraphs, respecting the doings on
board American vessels, even while in British
waters. What then was to bridle the imperious
will of Captain Hodgson, on the long voyage
that was just begun: a voyage round the great
western continent, from lax New York to lawless
San Francisco? Entrapped as I had been,
it was still necessary that I should obey and
toil, until a chance of escape should present
itself. I consented to work as a foremast man.
The actual labour was the least part of what I
had to undergo, for I was vigorous enough to
get through my "duty" with comparative ease.

The voyages I had previously made, had seasoned
me against sea-sickness, and I could tread
the deck with tolerable firmness; whereas many
of the kidnapped men were in agonies of nausea,
and slipped and tumbled as they went about
their work. But the cockroaches and vermin in
the forecastle, the foul air, the noise, the broken
slumbers, the grease, dirt, and squalor, and the
many disgusts of such a life! Nor was it agreeable
to be the only educated man among companions
who often jeered at me for not drinking
rum and chewing tobacco like the rest—for
being so "mealy-mouthed" when oaths were in
question—and the like. But here, too, my robust
constitution stood me in good stead, for nobody
ventured on practical jokes or personal rudeness,
whereas a more slightly made man would probably
have had to endure a good deal of annoyance.
Of my enforced messmates the majority were
rather well-disposed fellows, although ignorant
and fond of drink, and as impressionable as
schoolboys. Half a dozen of them were sad
ruffians, quarrelsome evil-eyed scamps, who
were the bullies of the forecastle, and whose
ordinary talk was full of blasphemy and threats.
Among these, I have heard proposals for a
mutiny broached twenty times, but nothing ever
came of them. When once the ship's officers
came hectoring in among the crew, to distribute
the daily dole of cuffs and curses, the ruffians
were always utterly cowed, and would bear any
amount of beating.

But while it was needful to keep a tight
hand on this portion of the ship's company,
nothing could excuse the capricious severity
of those in authority. Captain, mates, and
boatswain, were never without revolvers, and
seldom, without a cutlass or hanger, which latter
they would fetch and buckle on at the slightest
murmur or remonstrance from the sailors. The
boatswain always carried a thick rattan, and
was unsparing in its use; the mates had knotted
ropes-ends, or "colts," in their pockets, and
mercilessly applied them to every laggard. But
what the crew most feared, was the free use of
the "brass knuckles," or "knuckle dusters,"
which our taskmasters wore six times out of
seven. These are brass finger-guards, not
unlike what the Roman gladiators called the
cestus; they constitute a regular portion of the
equipment of an officer of the American
mercantile marine, and they convert the fist into a
metal mace for cutting and gashing the face
which it strikes. The punishment was unsparing
and continual. The crew was an incongruous
one, with its incapables, its skulkers, and its
sick men—real and feigned. Picked up as it had
been, it was certainly a very indifferent ship's
company, and would have tried the patience of,
even a good-humoured commander. But in our
case pity and patience were put out of court at
once. Sick or well, lazy or willing, stupid or
shrewd, every man must work, and every man
must obey any order, smartly and well, or bear
the penalty. And the weather was exactly that
least suited to a display of the clipper's qualities.
Baffling winds, rough seas, and adverse currents,
made the Bird of Freedom beat about in a most
unsatisfactory style, and soured the temper of skipper
and subalterns. If there came a fine sunny day,
with favouring wind and moderate sea, the
passengers would appear on the poop, basking like
butterflies; but soon the cloudy sky and increasing
sea sent them all out of sight again. It was
curious on these occasions for me to look from
my post forward at the gay groups in silk and
broadcloth, and the fluttering muslins, with
spyglasses and parasols and books, to hear the
silvery peals of ladies' laughter, and the voices of
educated men, from whose society I was shut
out. And it was curious to see the captain a.
prime favourite among them, amusing, courteous,
and kind, and then to see how the same captain
came among us, swearing, black-browed and
cruel as Nero.

Four men died, before we were off Cape
Hatteras, every one of whom might have lived
but for the brutal usage and neglect on
board. The surgeon only attended to the
passengers. He declared the sick seamen were
shamming; they were driven to quarters, and
buffeted while they could stand. They died
like dogs, and had dogs' burial. A worn out
hammock, a round-shot sewn up in it, a grating
tilted over the gangway, and a sullen plunge in
the sea, without prayer or blessing—and they
were gone. By this time, many others had
received severe injuries, few or none were without
cuts and bruises, for the mates thought nothing
of felling a seaman with their brass knuckle-
dusters, every blow of which broke the skin.
As little did they think of a knock-down blow
with a marlinspike or belaying-pin, and the
canes and knotted colts were always in full
play. I cannot say that the more deadly
weapons were much used. I have certainly seen