| 800 barrels of sperm oil = 80 tons, at £100 = | |||
| $500 per ton | £8,000 | = | $40,000 |
| 550 barrels of black oil = 55 tons, at £20 = | |||
| $100 per ton | £1,100 | = | $5,500 |
| 2½ tons, bone at £1,500 = | |||
| $7,500 per ton | £3,750 | = | $17,750 |
| £12,850 | = | $63,250 |
An ideal trip so far, and yielding even to the poor holder of the 250th lay, a comfortable sum of £51 8s. = $256·50, of course subject to deduction for slops, tobacco, advance, &c.
CHAPTER XIX
A GREAT BLOW
Many and terrible are the temptations which await the striving Christian, whatever his or her spiritual age may be. It is a moot point whether they (the temptations) are felt more severely by the babe in Christ in the first fervour of the new life, or by the mature Christian who is insensibly led to feel that he or she has attained unto a firm standing in the Faith. But one thing is, or should be, beyond controversy, and that is that no fiercer temptations assail any man than those which await the newly converted sailor, who has begun, in the solitude of the ocean and its sweet freedom from the allurements of shore vices, the upward way. He has been born, and has grown up to a certain Christian stature in a state of peaceful freedom from the evils of shore life, and has almost come to regard them as belonging to a previous state of existence to which he can never return. Then, when he is suddenly plunged headlong into them again he is in great, very great, danger of a relapse that may give him an agonising season of remorse. But I must not carry this digression too far. I only wish, in beginning this chapter, to point out how dire were the perils awaiting the crew of the Xiphias, many of whom were only, in the imitative way common to the majority of human beings, behaving as they saw the general sense of their little community would have them behave, and not at all from any conviction as to the necessity of such behaviour to their peace or from any inward urging whatever.
It is, however, safe to say that such considerations troubled no one on board the ship at all. Every man was in an overflowing state of happiness at again anchoring in a civilised port after the long and weary cruise and the many hardships and dangers encountered. Every man, too, with the exception of Rube, was half-intoxicated with a quite lawful pride in his achievements during the past two months. All remembered how helplessly, ignorantly, and painfully they had begun the voyage, traced easily the educational way they had come, mentally visualised vividly each heroic detail, and gradually lost sight of the great central fact of it all, the Fatherly care of God. Therefore, when, the next day after arrival, the rescued passengers returned on board with urgent requests to the Captain that he would allow them the privilege of entertaining the crew ashore as a slight return for benefits received, all who could be spared on that day, except Rube, joyfully availed themselves of the permission readily given and went ashore.
They were royally welcomed at one of the principal hotels by the rescued ones, some of whom had wired home and received in reply advices enabling them to draw upon the local banks for all moneys needed. They were entertained far too well, for two-thirds of them returned on board drunk and quarrelsome, and for the first time that voyage the foc’s’le was the scene of a riotous conflict, in the midst of which Rube moved like a strong apostle of peace, able, as well as eager, to enforce quietude upon the most unruly, even though it involved a considerable amount of what some weak-minded people might call brutality. The lesson taught by this episode was not without its valuable effect upon those who had remained on board. With a self-sacrifice entirely laudable, they refused to go ashore at all. This may not, probably will not, be assessed by my readers at its proper value; but, oh, if landsfolk could only realise the intense longing for a run ashore which seizes upon sailors after being cooped up on board ship for seven or eight months, it would be understood. Truly, Reuben and the skipper had done their best to give the ship-keeping crew such amusement as was possible, and the best shore food, fresh beef, mutton, and vegetables that could be procured had been provided.
Table Bay swarms, or did swarm, with a splendid species of crustacean known as ‘craw-fish,’ many of which grow to a huge size, weighing several pounds, and have a flavour in no way inferior to that of a lobster. There was great sport in catching these in impromptu nets made of rope-yarn meshed upon hoops and baited with bones, and even greater satisfaction in knowing that they would live for months in tanks of salt water frequently renewed. Then there was ordinary fishing, or, perhaps, I should say extraordinary fishing, of the schnapper, the cod, and other fish which swarm around the southern extremity of Africa almost unmolested. And sailors love fishing, though scarcely any class of men living within reach of fishable waters get less of it.
So quite pleasantly the time passed away—the four days during which Captain Hampden found it possible to sell his baleen and tranship it, and to expend a liberal sum in fresh food, vegetables, and live-stock. On the fifth morning, at daybreak, the cry of ‘Man the windlass!’ rang along the deck of the Xiphias, and all hands responded. But, unhappily, most of those who had been ashore did so very unwillingly. The memory of their spree was secretly most alluring; they had tasted illicit delights again, and were lamenting the deprivation of them. Thus they were sullen, unwilling, and miserable. Vainly did Rube exert all his simple arts to rouse them out of themselves, to cheer them. They would not be cheered; they hugged their misery and almost infected several of their shipmates.
But the work was going on, all unconsciously the best cure was being applied, and by nightfall, with their fine old ship heading northward for the Mozambique Channel before a fine following breeze, they had gone much farther than they were aware of on the road to repentance and recovery. By repentance I do not mean that spurious sentiment which is really sorrow for one’s inability to go and repeat former sins or excesses, disgust and annoyance at being compelled to reap what one has sown, but a comprehensive change of mind with reference to one’s former behaviour, a distrust of one’s own powers of resistance to the drawings of evil, and a determination to trust for deliverance from them to Almighty God. A simple definition, perhaps, but one that I know is far too often neglected or wilfully misunderstood.