Naushon, Nonamesset,
Onkatonka and Wepecket,
Nashawena, Pasquinese,
Cuttyhunk and Penikese.
CHAPTER II
AT SEA
When we were well out at sea the vessel began to pitch and roll so that I found it difficult to keep on my feet. I would find myself in the lee scuppers only to be thrown back again like a piece of rubber. I noticed how the old sailors tipped their bodies to avoid disaster, and I tried to get my sea legs on and partially succeeded. Even then I slid at times, and at last I got hold of a pin and held on. The man who had come to my help in the boat, when the sailors were making fun of me, came up and said:
“You greenies are not much use until you have learned the ropes. We don’t look to you at all the first day out. Now, boy, let me tell you that the chances are you are going to get sick before long, and, if you go down into the close, stuffy forecastle, you’ll be a great deal worse. I’m the first mate, and there’s no objection to your sleeping on deck the first night out. If you do, you may sleep off the sickness and be all right in the morning.”
So he pointed out a place, and I knew then that my friend was Coster Lakeum. Pretty soon I began to feel a little sick. It was a don’t-care feeling, and it made the other sickness—the longing for home—all the more intense. Why did I ever leave my father’s house? Why did I abandon my mother’s love and care? I kept back the tears and I kept out of the way. When night came I stretched out in the place which had been pointed out and began to feel a little better. The air was bracing and the thought of home did quite as much to keep me from sleeping as the tossing of the ship. There was no one now to see the tears which ran down my cheeks. Sleep stole on, and, when morning came, I felt somewhat restored. I looked about for a place to wash in, and for a basin, but saw none. I came to the conclusion that sailors didn’t wash unless they let themselves down into the sea. It was not long before I found out that water at sea was a luxury. It was kept in a scuttle butt by the cabin door, where a drink might be taken, but there was none for washing. The sailors had to depend on rain and the sea. The cook, who was at the galley, called to me, “Come here, Sonny.”
I started, but the ship gave a lurch and down I went. He gave a loud laugh, but there was something in the tone which showed that he wasn’t making fun of me. I picked myself up, steadied my body, and at the right moment covered the distance without further mishap.
“Look here, boy,” he said, “you’re startin’ out rather young, but you must be twenty.”