ON BOARD THE "ROCKET."
CHAPTER I.
In Lloyds Register is recorded:—"Rocket, Bk. 384, 135, 25, 16.5, 1851, Medford, W.O., icf.," which being interpreted means, Bark Rocket, 384 tons, 135 feet long, 25 feet beam, 16½ feet depth of hold, built in 1851, at Medford, of white oak, with iron and copper fastenings. To which may be added, that she was a well known trader to the East Indies, being called in those ports "the green bark," on account of being painted a dark green, or what the painters style tea color. She was a good looking vessel, neatly finished about the decks, and the masts and yards were all scraped bright. The chief peculiarity was that she was narrow in proportion to her length, being compared by an old sailor to "a plank set on edge." This caused her to be reputed, and not undeservedly, a crank vessel, and many a gloomy croaker has uttered the foreboding that like her sister ship, the "Dauntless," she would go to sea sometime—never to return. Yet for many years she had gone and come, and though occasionally threatening to capsize, she had never really performed this undesirable manœuvre. The builder and the subsequent owner were two of the most practical merchants of Boston. She must therefore have been well put together and properly cared for, as there was truth in the remark made, that "what Nat G——, and Dick B—— didn't know about a ship wasn't worth knowing."
The Rocket was lying at Central Wharf in Boston, loading a cargo for the East Indies. Barrels of beef, pork, tar and pitch were stowed in the bottom; then followed in miscellaneous order, lumber, sewing machines, kerosene oil, flour, biscuits, preserves, ice pitchers, carriages, oars and many other articles.
As the sailing day drew near, the important matter of choosing officers and crew had to be considered. The first person who applied was an aspirant to the mate's berth.
"How long have you been to sea?" was asked.
"Thirty years."
"Why! how old are you?"