On Board the "Rocket"

by Robert C. Adams

The ship leaked a good deal even in port, and by the captain's orders another man and myself had to pump her out, involving half an hour's work morning and night on a straight wooden pump handle. After the trouble we had on the last passage, I was astonished that new pumps had not been procured, and as I was in correspondence with the bookkeeper in the owner's office, in the course of a friendly letter I slipped in a word about the pumps. By return mail a letter came from the owner, telling the captain to get the best pumps that could be obtained. He told me this without suspicion of my agency in the matter, but remarked: "The owner is very ready to say get this or that, but when the bills come in he would find fault about the heavy disbursements." The ship went to sea without them and I felt very loth to go in her, for the only explanation that occurred to me was, that the captain wanted to get the ship into a port of distress, and have an underwriter's job, which would give him a chance to enrich his pockets with percentages.

The person, who came to undertake the mate's duties for the voyage, was a young man of twenty-five years, named Wright, a native of Baltimore. He had received a liberal share of his education in the streets, and was familiar with the peculiarities of "Blood-tubs" and "Plug-uglies." But besides these questionable accomplishments he possessed a tall, manly form, a handsome, expressive face, and a clear eye, which, while it impressed one with its determination, also implied a nature that despised meanness. His manners were quite gentlemanly, and after a short intercourse with him I felt convinced that he was superior in natural gifts to any man I had yet sailed with; and I was much pleased with the change of mates.

The ship had loaded a full cargo of Maryland tobacco, which comes in smaller casks than the Virginia, though still of good size, weighing upwards of nine hundred pounds. Several thousand staves had also been stowed away, to fill up all the spare room, and the ship's stores and water having been taken on board, she was ready for sea, and accordingly received the crew, and proceeded down the Chesapeake towards the sea.

The crew, as usual upon the commencement of a voyage, were for the most part under the influence of liquor. The mate was very reserved in talking about sailors, and told no fighting stories, which I thought must be evidence that he was a peaceable man, and as they came over the rail and staggered into the forecastle, he had remarked to me; "We'll have 'em all straight in a day or two. I don't like a drunken row, and we must shut our eyes to some things the first day."

He carried out these precepts, except upon finding a young Irishman sitting on his chest in the forecastle while all the other sailors were at work, when the answer that was given to the order to come out on deck was the brandishing of a sheath-knife and the declaration that he wasn't going to work "on board the bloody hooker." The mate settled this question by snatching away the knife, hauling the man on deck, and hitting him two or three cracks with a belaying pin, and the captain seeing it showed some signs of reform by shouting: "That'll do, Mr. Wright, that'll do till we get outside."

Leaving the pilot off the Capes of Virginia, the voyage was fairly begun, with a fresh S.W. wind, which increasing to a strong breeze blew after us for seven days, and took us half way across the Atlantic.

I now stood watch alone for the first time, and it seemed a tremendous responsibility to be left in charge of the ship on a dark, squally night. How a person could become so unconcerned as to fall asleep, as I knew Mr. Howard had sometimes done, was more than I could understand. I found a great difference between a second and third mate's position. When I was in the latter, I had only to obey orders and see to the execution of work designed by my superiors. But now I had to decide upon such matters for myself, and it sometimes set me at my wits' ends to find work to keep my eight men constantly employed, particularly in wet weather when sails and rigging could not be worked on. It had seemed easy enough when third mate, for whenever at a loss I could fall back on the mate for a job. But now when the watches were changed the mate would start me with some work and going below would leave me to get along as well as I could.

It is customary, as a general thing, for the mate to take special charge of the foremast and jib-boom, and the second mate of the mainmast and mizzen-mast, as far as keeping them in order is concerned. But the mate keeps the general supervision of the work, and the second mate would not make any changes of consequence without the mate's approval. This obliges him to resort to small jobs to keep his men employed when more extensive work fails, and they are apt to be of the character denominated "humbugging" by sailors, and of which the exponent is sawing wood with a hammer. It must be admitted that a great deal of work is done on board ship, which will hardly bear the test of necessity. But the men must be constantly employed, and if other things fail the chain-cable will always have rust enough on it to admit of cleaning, as a last resort; and if some who wonder "what they find to do on board ship," could have spent a day in one of the flash California clippers of a few years' ago, they would have seen a large crew busied not only in the day-time, but through the night, scraping eye-bolts and iron belaying-pins till they shone like silver, smoothing off the paint work by rubbing with stones, scraping other parts bright, as also the masts and yards, and wearing away the deck with holystones, as well as the more legitimate work of making and taking in sail, bracing yards and repairing sails and rigging.

The rule of labor in such vessels is comprised in the sailor's "Philadelphia Catechism:"