But the most disagreeable of all is, to be compelled to stand on these crazy elevations, when half dead with sea-sickness. Some suppose that sailors are never sea-sick after the first time they go to sea. This is a mistake; it is very much with them as it is with landsmen, in respect to being sick in a coach. Those who are of bilious temperaments, are always affected, more or less, when they ride in a stage or sleigh; while others are never sick on these occasions. So with seamen; some are never sea-sick, others are sick only when going out of port, while some are so in every gale of wind. Mr. Dana mentions some of the crew in his ship, who were sick, after being at sea two years, as they came to Boston. I was usually sick after laying some time in port, and have often stood at the mast-head when so sick that any landsman on shore, in a similar state, would think it hard if he could not lie abed. For a sailor, there is no allowance made for sea-sickness; he must remain at his post until it is time to be relieved.
When we entered Havana, we came to anchor near the Spanish fort, and fired a salute, which was courteously returned by the Spaniards. We had been here but a short time, before an Irishman, named Dougherty, who had formerly deserted from the Spanish garrison, took it into his head to run away from our brig. This he accomplished by the assistance of some Spaniards, to whom he made himself known. Several others also left us, in this port, among whom was our swearing sailing-master; and a great deal was said about running away throughout the ship. The man who was flogged on suspicion at New Orleans, now endeavored to get off in reality. He strayed from the boat, but the officer, meeting him, endeavored to force him back. He resisted; a struggle ensued; the officer fell to the ground, and the man called to the Spaniards to assist him. They left him, however, to fight his own battles; and the officer, having succeeded in getting the advantage, presented a pistol to his breast, and he surrendered. For this offence, he was flogged most fearfully. In the British service, he would have been hung! It is certain death with them, to strike an officer.
Hearing so much said about running away, and feeling almost as unhappy as when in the Macedonian, I began to think of it myself. Sometimes I thought of trying to get into the Spanish garrison as a soldier; at others, of joining some of the numerous slavers that lay there, and in which our men said a good chance could be had. Sad chances, as they now appear, especially the latter; but I was young and ignorant. My feelings and the advice and opinion of my shipmates influenced me more than the dictates of an enlightened understanding. Resolving to make a trial, if opportunity offered, I one day put on an extra shirt and drew on a second pair of pantaloons. When thus prepared, the officer of the deck happened to discover the two waistbands of my trousers; he questioned me with a suspicious curiosity. I told him as specious a tale as I could invent on the spot; which was, that I had been mending my trousers, and, before they were finished, was called to go ashore in the boat, and not having time to put them away, had slipped them on. Fortunately, a needle and some thread which I had about me, confirmed my story and saved me from difficulty. It was pretty obvious, however, that the officer, though silenced, was not satisfied; for I was so closely watched, after that day, I gave up the idea of escape as utterly futile and hopeless.
From Havana we returned to the mouth of the Mississippi, where we captured the Comet, a patriot schooner, on suspicion that the patriotism of her crew had degenerated into something less respectable. Harsh as it must have sounded in the ears of her officers, we charged them with piracy; took possession of the vessel, and brought her hands, as prisoners, on board our brig. Her master’s name was Mitchell; his crew were all stout, fierce-looking blacks, having all sorts of odd names, such as Monday, Friday, &c. She had a rich cargo, and contained large sums of money. It was reported that they had attacked an island somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, and murdered its governor. We put them in irons, with sentries over them, who were charged to cut off their heads if they dared to lift them above the hatchway. I performed this duty a part of the time, parading round the hatch with a drawn cutlass; but they showed no symptoms of resistance, and were sent in their vessel to New Orleans. Their fate I never ascertained.
This adventure cost one of our own crew, an Irishman, by the name of Tom Smith, a severe flogging. Smith was quite a moral philosopher in his way; though it is to be regretted that his philosophy was a little infected with lunacy. Its premises were certainly sound, but, unfortunately, its conclusions bore but little relation to the parent of whom they boasted. He taught that man was born to do good; that his chief good was the promotion of his own interests; and that, per consequence, he should help himself to whatever he could lay his hands on, without regard to the rights of others. With these views, Tom earnestly defended the rightfulness of piracy, and could he have managed to get on board a pirate vessel, or even have contrived to wrest our own ship from the hands of her officers, and hoist the black flag, he would have cheerfully done so. But somehow, although he had made a number of disciples among his shipmates, our captain paid no manner of respect to his theories; for, when Tom, in consistency with his often declared principles, deliberately carried off a large sum of money from our capture, to his own quarters, the captain, who perceived the theft himself, ordered him to the gangway, and administered as many hard lashes, as if Tom had had no philosophy at all.
But, although Tom Smith’s philosophy did not save its unlucky advocate from the unphilosophic punishment of the whip, it nevertheless exerted a baneful influence on the morals of our crew. Many of them were doubtless bad enough when they came on board; but a more complete school for the practise of iniquity never existed, than that on board our brig. Profanity, blasphemy, lying, licentious conversation, and even a system of petty stealing, were practised on a large scale. Many of the men were ripe for any crime within the power of depraved humanity to commit, and I have often thought that even the decks of a privateer or a pirate, could not lead one faster and deeper into the extremes of wickedness, than did the influence of our main deck.
With what a voice do such pictures of sailor immorality, call for exertion on the part of an enlightened Christian community, in behalf of seamen? Where is the presence of the meek spirit of Christianity more needed, than on the decks of our merchant and naval vessels? Where would missionaries and Bibles accomplish more than here? There is no sphere of Christian usefulness so important, so promising as this. Every vessel in the navy should have its chaplain. Not one of your proud, fun-loving, graceless wine-bibbers, but a humble, devoted man, who would not think it beneath his dignity to mingle with the common sailors, as a pastor among the flock of his affections, moulding their rough, but susceptible natures into the image of virtue, by the force of his pious example, and the influence of his effectual prayers. Then, in the merchant service, a species of itinerant missionary might be indefinitely useful. He might be sent out by a society, pledged for his support; and, by permission of the owners, sail in a ship on her outward passage. Arrived at her port, he might sail to another place, in a different ship, and then return home in a third. In this way, a score of devoted men of the right stamp, could exert an unparalleled influence on the character of sailors. Vice, irreligion, profanity, and insubordination, would presently flee away before the beautiful purity of religion, and our ships, instead of being designated as floating hells, would become houses of God, arks of holiness, consecrated Bethels! Pray, Christian, that this desirable consummation may be speedily attained; and be not satisfied with merely praying; add action to your prayers. Stir up your church to the claims of seamen! Give your money to assist in supporting sailors’ missionaries, Bethels, and the like. Make it the settled purpose of your heart, not to rest until you behold the sailor elevated to his proper position, which is that of a Christian man!
