Captain John Crane, 1800-1815

by Thomas Wallace Knox

Word had been passed around that everybody would be paid off at the owners' office on the following morning; and you may be sure that officers and crew were on hand to receive their pay. Several of the sailors came back to the ship at night to sleep, as they had no money wherewith to pay for their lodging on shore. When they obtained their pay on the following morning, the majority of the men started out to enjoy it; and it is safe to say that within a week their pockets were empty, and they were compelled to ship for another voyage.

I kept a small portion of my money and sent the rest to my parents, to whom I wrote a description of a sailor's life as I had found it. The fact is, I began that letter soon after we passed the Straits of Gibraltar on our homeward voyage. I was only able to write a few lines on the first day, but I kept adding to it whenever I had an opportunity; so that by the time I reached Boston the letter covered several pages of foolscap. David had been doing the same thing, and our letters went away together.

We found some letters awaiting us at the owners' office, one of them of quite recent date. Everybody in both the families was well; and in every letter they told us how much we were missed. We were half inclined to make a visit to Pembroke, but finally concluded not to do so, as the journey would be expensive for us in case we traveled by stage-coach, and fatiguing if we made it on foot. We decided to remain in Boston and look out for berths on the first good ship that was leaving port. We thought it quite possible that we might sail on the Washington; but after calling two or three times at the ship, and also at her owners' office, we concluded that she would be delayed too long in port to suit us.

The third day after our arrival, we heard of a fine new ship, the "Aurora," which was up for China. Her cargo was nearly all on board, and she would sail in a few days. We went on board of her; and then we went to her agents and found that what we had heard was true. Bill Haines and Joe Herne accompanied us, or rather we accompanied them, as it was Haines who first heard of the Aurora, and advised our visiting her. The four of us had stuck together, going to the same boarding-house to live, and going about together on sight-seeing excursions.

The result of our investigation was that we signed articles for the Aurora; and when she sailed out of Boston on her way to China we trod her deck with a good deal of satisfaction. None of us cared to go to the Mediterranean again and run the risk of becoming an Algerine slave; and, furthermore, we thought it was a good chance to see the world by taking the course we did.

At that time not many American ships had visited China, the trade of the United States being principally with the West Indies, the west coast of Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the ports of Great Britain and Europe. The United States had about one and a quarter million tons of commercial shipping, and it was evident that in the course of time a voyage to China would be almost as common as a trip to any of the West Indian ports.

Our voyage to China was not very eventful; we had no severe gales at all on the way out, though we had several heavy blows which might have troubled a landsman if he had been caught in one of them a day or two after going to sea for the first time. When we reached the region of the equator we were caught in the calm belt, which is well known to sailors, and had an exasperating delay under the rays of a tropical sun that beat down pitilessly upon us, while we lay with sails hanging loose from the yards, and with scarcely a sign of motion anywhere. When we crossed the equator, the greenhorns (all those who had never before been in the southern hemisphere) were treated to a visit by Neptune. This is an invariable custom on shipboard, and sometimes the victims are severely handled.

In our case the morning after we crossed the line all the greenhorns were locked up in the forecastle and not allowed to come on deck until the preparations were complete. One of the older sailors was dressed to resemble Neptune, with beard and hair made of rope-yarn, and carrying in his right hand a trident with a small fish impaled on one of its prongs. He slipped quietly over the bows, then hailed the ship, and came on board. After a short parley with the captain, he said he wished to see those who had recently entered his service.

Neptune was attended by two Tritons, who were dressed in much the same grotesque fashion that he was. When he asked for his new servants, one of the greenhorns was let out from the forecastle and taken in hand by the Tritons. It was my fortune or misfortune to be the first victim. I was blindfolded and led before Neptune, who questioned me in a loud and imperious tone as to my name and birthplace. Then he asked if I'd been to school, and whether I'd learned anything.