Our cabins were beautifully fitted up with every convenience and comfort that we could have on shore. The saloon, or after-cabin, was finished in bird's-eye maple and satin wood veneering. Wilton carpets and furnishings of raw silk made a homelike and attractive room. Our stateroom, with large double bed, and our own private bath opening from the stateroom, left us nothing to wish for in the line of comfort. The second cabin, or dining quarters for the Captain and First Officer, was finished like the after-cabin, while forward of the two was the mess room for the Second and petty officers.
At last the day came on which we were to sail, and, realizing that I was not a born sailor, I made up my mind that I must make myself over into one, though the making over process proved to be nearly the death of me. For the first ten days I can recall but little outside of a promiscuous tumbling about of movable objects and, though urged strongly to go on deck I refused to do so, caring little whether I lived or died. However, one day I was literally taken up, carried on deck, and placed in a steamer chair, and from that time I recovered rapidly.
So many people have asked me if the time at sea did not hang heavily on my hands. What did I do? Was I not lonesome, homesick, and innumerable other like questions to which I have honestly replied that I was not lonesome or homesick. We purchased books by the hundred before sailing, and with a piano and flute, passed many pleasant hours. So much fancy work was always on hand that I have cared but little for it since. Whenever the weather permitted I walked two or three miles up and down the quarter deck, so many times up and back making a mile. Occasionally we took with us as passenger some young man whom we knew very well and who wished to take such a voyage. At one time a brother of mine, also one of the Captain's were our companions; two other times, young men from our own state proved to be excellent company, and to this day we enjoy nothing more than talking over our odd experiences in the different countries to which we traveled. Though I was the only lady on board I did not feel the lack of companionship of other women. A queer life it was! No one to come and no one to go, with nothing but the sky and water to be seen.
In two weeks time we had the N.E. Trade Winds and fairly flew along. Each day brought its own particular work aboard the ship, for a sailor is never idle. There is always something for him to do. Chafing gear, of which there is a large amount, is always being worn out and has to be renewed, sails made and repaired, work on rigging, tarring, painting, etc.
Perhaps the most interesting part of each day was the marking off of the chart at noon. At that time the Captain would work out his latitude and longitude, mark our position for the last twenty-four hours, and shape our course for the next twenty-four. We often towed lines for dolphin, and it was curious to see their change of color as they were hauled in. We had them baked occasionally and found them very fair eating. On opening one, at one time, it was found to be packed with flying fish which had been swallowed whole and which some of the sailors took out and had cooked for themselves, though for my part I should have preferred having the first eating of them. The flying fish which came aboard were usually served to me as they were considered a great delicacy. We caught many jelly fish or Portuguese men of war as they are sometimes called, and they were very curious to look at. They are of a jelly-like substance, with apparently no eyes or mouth, and are bluish in color. They have a pink crest and when the wind strikes them, as they float on the water, they rock and sway like a boat. Dangling from the lower part are many small feelers, some of which are short and thick, and others of great length, which they turn and twist rapidly about.
A shade of homesickness came over me as I saw the North Star for the last time but I was soon interested in the Southern Cross of which I had heard so much. I wish I could describe some of the beautiful colorings shown in the tropical sunsets. I missed the twilight effects as seen at home, for as quickly as the sun goes down, darkness closes in. As I was enjoying my evening walk with the Captain at one time, a small boy who had been sent to sea apparently with the idea of getting him out of the way, came to me and said, "Wouldn't you like some Youth's Companions to read? I have lots of them." At that time I had more of a juvenile than a matronly air and I presume he thought they would furnish me with appreciative reading matter. He had not then learned that he should not speak unless spoken to. One day on being told to make a rope fast he replied, "I did hitch it." An order to let go a brace was answered by the question, "Which string do you mean?" At one time he was placed on duty to open and close shutters during squally weather and the officer told him to use a good application of soap and water before coming aft. When the novelty of his new duty had worn off and he had rather forgotten why he had been placed there the officer called to him and said, "What did I tell you to do?" "Wash myself, sir," was the reply. It was a long while before he could obey an order without replying and at the same time to remember his "Sir" when a reply was necessary.
As we approached the equator it could be seen that some special interest in the voyage was being taken among the sailors and we learned that three of them had never crossed the line before and that an initiation of so doing was about to take place. The crew assembled at the bow of the ship and at the blowing of a trumpet by one of their number, Neptune appeared inquiring the name of the ship, where she was bound, etc., and announced that he would like to pay her a visit. Before his apparent arrival a staysail had been fastened to the rigging and filled with water. A bucket had been filled with a mixture of lamp black and grease with a few other combinations, while a razor, a foot or more in length, had been made by the carpenter. As soon as Neptune and Amphitrite—two sailors fantastically dressed—appeared, the candidate for crossing the line was blindfolded and brought before them. A number of absurd questions were asked the candidate and he was finally ordered to be shaved, which was done by applying the mixture with an old paint brush and shaving it off with the razor. He was then thrown backwards into the sail of water and I was much surprised to see how good naturedly the men took so many surprises—for we had an excellent view from the quarter deck, of the whole entertainment. We heard afterwards that it was considered a great success, also that one of the men had been watching through a glass for the equator, seeming to think that a straight line passing through the center of the earth should certainly be seen. He thought he surely saw it when a hair was drawn tightly across a spy glass without his seeing it and the glass then given to him.
In one of his rambles about the decks, on a moonlight night, one of our passengers told me of some of the tattooes he had seen on the arms of different sailors. One had his mother's gravestone, with a weeping willow over it; another had the Goddess of Liberty remarkably well done. The large number of different sketches was really quite an entertainment. That reminds me of an engraved whale's tooth which I have in my possession and which was given to my grandfather in Nantucket many years ago. A full rigged ship with every rope, even to the smallest one, is carved upon it, with the engraver's name and the name of the ship. It is now nearly a hundred years old and among my most prized possessions.
We soon sighted the Island of Fernando Norouha which is a penal settlement for the convicts of Brazil. This island is about six miles in circumference and two thousand and twenty feet high. It had a rocky barren appearance with nothing to be seen but a few birds around it. About thirty miles from this island are the Martin Van Rocks, three hundred feet high. In the south Atlantic we sighted the group of Tristan Da Cunha Islands which had a very gloomy, foggy look. Tristan is inhabited by English people and I have been told that the women are particularly handsome there. In this region it is very chilly and damp and though the thermometer stood at fifty-five degrees it seemed much colder. At this time we began to prepare for the heavy weather of our Easting, as the run across the Indian Ocean is called. New sails were bent and everything battened down. The days were very short, the sun rising at about half past seven and setting at five o'clock. We usually made the run about forty degrees south in order to get better winds. What a dreary outlook it was! Nothing but sky and water with waves which were mountains high. The only bit of life outside of our ship's company was a number of birds of a different nature from any I had ever seen and they followed the ship day after day. Cape pigeons and albatross were in large numbers. We caught many of the latter and measured them. I remember one weighing thirty pounds and measuring fifteen feet from tip to tip of the wings. Cape hens about as large as good sized turkeys, ice birds, and many other small birds. I enjoyed feeding them and it was very funny to watch them tumble over each other in their efforts to get something to eat. Such a noise as they did make with their squabblings! Many sharks were caught and I never knew a sailor to have any compunctions about disposing of these man-eating creatures. A shark line was towed astern at different times and one day it took the combined efforts of five men to haul one in. Whales, all of ninety feet in length, stayed about the ship several days at a time. We saw many sun-fish which are a light gray in color. They have one large fin out of the water and are very hard to harpoon.
Once in a while another ship would come in view and if near enough we always spoke to one another by our flag code. This was always an interesting event. Certain sentences given in the code book would be represented by certain flags, each flag representing a letter of the alphabet. The questions usually asked were, "Where are you from?" "Where bound?" "How many days out?" and then a wish for a pleasant passage. My experience in running down the Easting has always been the same and I have made the trip a number of times. I have heard of ships running across the Indian Ocean with royals set but whenever I have been, we have had a succession of heavy gales. In thirty-six degrees fifty minutes south and Lon. twenty-nine degrees fifty-nine minutes east a heavy gale sprung up which gradually turned into a hurricane. The barometer was falling fast when I retired and at eleven o'clock it stood at 28.50. I have merely to close my eyes now and I can hear the wind as it shrieked and roared about us. We ran before those mountainous seas with but one thought and that to keep them from breaking over the ship. All hands were on deck all night, each one lashed, with the exception of those who were between decks passing out oil cases which were broken open and thrown overboard by those on deck. Fifteen hundred cases were used that night with good effect. The seas were as high but the oil prevented them from breaking over the ship. During the worst of the gale one man was washed overboard but his loss was not discovered for nearly twenty minutes, and even if it had been, nothing could have been done to save him in such tremendous seas. Clark Russell says that the grandeur and sublimity of the ocean can be best seen on a yard arm during a gale of wind, but somehow I have not been able to make those words applicable to the gales through which I have passed. Through our ninety degrees of Easting I had but little exercise. The lee side of the cabin usually found me with my books, work and numerous small articles for ready use. I think the most exercise I had during those days was when I tried to dress, as it was almost impossible to stand in one spot any length of time on account of the rolling and pitching of the ship. With a firm stand I would place myself in front of my mirror, only to gradually slide away across the room to a lounge where I would sit down, then I would climb back, and with as much speed as possible do what I could before disappearing again. In a length of time I was able to make my toilet, and when made it was not changed during the day in those latitudes.