In the afternoon we went off to the ship, got our onions and potatoes aboard, and carried with us two Portuguese boys, about seventeen years of age—one of whom goes into the forecastle to do duty as a foremast hand, the other, into the steerage as steerage boy. Great numbers of young men are carried off from these islands annually, by American whaleships, the government demanding of each young man, born in the islands, a certain amount of military duty in Europe. To emancipate themselves from this irksome service they join whalers, as after an absence on the part of one, during which he has acquired the English language, he is exempted from military duty. Whether the government does this to encourage the development of knowledge, or that, after a tarry on his part amongst the republican Americans, they think him too liberal in sentiment to mingle with other servants of their despotic rule, I cannot say. When these people first come aboard the ship they are indifferently dressed, and invariably barefooted; when those we shipped were supplied with an outfit of sea clothes, they were greatly astonished and delighted. They are a very economical people, and by dint of washing for others, patching, at which in a short time they become adepts, and other little jobs, they soon become possessed of a large amount of clothing, which they hoard up and gloat over as a miser would his gold. They are shipped for little or nothing as regards remuneration, scarcely anything being said about a lay on either side; but the captain, if generous, will always make them a liberal allowance on the ship’s arriving at New Bedford. They are generally strong and able-bodied, and make good working-hands to pull and haul, but, except in rare instances, do not rise in position above steering a boat; although there are several ships at present sailing out of New Bedford whose masters are Portuguese by birth, yet in each instance, I am informed by good authority, they were taken from the islands at a very early age, and sent to school in America between voyages. When they first come aboard they look thin and cadaverous, probably from their almost entire diet being vegetable; but in a short time, from prodigious indulgence of their appetites for flesh, they become round and sleek. Their attenuated appearance has led to the standing joke amongst sailors, that if you want a Portuguese crew, all you have to do is to run close in to one of the Western Islands, heave a hook and line overboard baited with fat pork, and in a few minutes you will catch as many as you want. To tell the Portuguese this is considered by them as a bitter affront, they always magnifying their position ashore, I do not know how many times, making everything grand, as they express it. To illustrate their passion for meat, I shall not go into figures as regards the consumption, as few, if any, would credit my bare assertion; but I will state that one of the boys gained sixty pounds in weight during the first five months he was with us.
If there be only one or two of this race aboard, and they are separated in different parts of the ship, and not allowed too frequently to converse with each other, they soon acquire English and become useful; but if there are half a dozen together in the forecastle, they jabber and chatter their unmusical jargon from morning until night, and will go a three years’ voyage, knowing at the end of it little more English than is embraced in the technical terms of the service, which, being impressed on their memory with a kick or blow by way of injunction, they are apt to retain.
These people are, or profess to be, devoted to their padres or fathers in the church, and from my light observation of them and their peculiarities, I should be inclined to give it as my opinion that they are totally under the sway of their Jesuitical advisers; but I must about ship and resume the thread of my narrative.
Whilst lying here off and on shore we gammoned the ship E. L. Jones, of New Bedford; the barque Sea Flower, of same port, and schooner Antarctic, of Provincetown. This is an excellent whaling-ground—numbers of large and small craft are continually cruising here, and in the course of a voyage generally do well. Gammoning at sea is the term for an interchange of civilities between two or more ships, and is much in vogue amongst whalemen, who have so much time that hangs heavy on their hands, and are glad to vary the monotony by the sight of a stranger, or, if a later arrival, receiving intelligence from home. When a ship wishes to gammon another, or, as it is pronounced at sea, gam’, the second syllable being dispensed with, the lee ship hauls aback her mainyard, or sets a signal signifying her wish, the weather craft squares her yards, puts her helm up, runs across the other’s stern and speaks her. Then the captain of one lowers away and boards the other, the mate returns in the boat with a fresh crew, the officers resort to the cabin, the boatsteerers to the steerage, and the crew to the forecastle. As soon as breathing time is allowed to the visitors they are beset by a dozen querists, who, all at once, want to know how long they are from home, what success they have had, and the birth-place, or place of residence of each. For instance, here one steps up and inquires, “Any New Yorkers here,” or “Any Philadelphia, New Bedford, or Boston chaps,” whichever place to him is best known; and if, perchance, he finds a townsman, in a few minutes they are as thick as lovers, and as far advanced in friendship as an acquaintance of twenty years ashore would warrant; and ere they part chests are thrown open, with the injunction to help yourself added, and do not be backward about it either. Soon after some one calls for a song, and in a short time, after some pressing and coaxing, which is as necessary here as in more select circles, the time-worn, but sweet melodies of the sea are sung, if not with artistic correctness, with spirit—all hands joining in the chorus, till the old ship rings again. Meantime, the officers in the cabin are rehearsing old memories of whaling, telling of the largest, wickedest and quietest whales which they have borne a hand at taking; dire and wonderful are the fish stories that in this manner receive birth. These relations, assisted by the genial influence of the bottle and the pipe, soon while away the time, and ere one would have thought it, the signal is up for returning. The boatsteerers are killing time in much the same manner, lacking only the ardent; whilst the crew, if a merry set of fellows, have, ere this, got the fiddle or accordeon player, if one is aboard, on deck (providing that it is good weather, and the ship on an even keel), and are breaking down in the waist at a rate that would set a French dancing-master crazy; but it is all the same to them—they enjoy, and are bound to make sport of it. The signal for returning being set, books are exchanged, tobacco, pipes, and in cases of need, articles of clothing are freely presented, and the visitors go over the rail into their boats, with “God bless you. Greasy luck to you. Take care of yourself, my hearties,” or some other equally expressive and kindly wish following them; and the two ships resume their courses in different directions to different quarters of the globe.
CHAPTER II.
The next day after leaving Flores we passed within sight of Fayal. This island presented a gorgeous appearance; the many vineyards on the sloping side of the mountains, looking to us like so many squares in a quilt of the most luxurious green, forming a patchwork of Dame Nature’s handiwork, in inimitable colors. An hour after, we saw the Peak of Pico, rearing its cone-shaped pinnacle high in the clouds. At its extreme summit, I noticed an appearance resembling a chimney, into which, I was informed, steps were hewn for the convenience of those whom curiosity led to ascend or descend the acclivity.
About this time, I recollect, we had our first experience of bending on to a sleeper. It is customary in good weather (particularly whilst running down the trades, when, from the regularity of the winds, there is scarce any working ship to be done) for the members of the watch, with the exception of the man at the wheel and another on the look-out, to come on deck, provided with two or three coats, for the purpose of indulging in a caulk or sleep on deck. As soon as the watch is all out, and the officer has had a look to assure himself of the fact, a soft plank in the deck is selected on which one spreads himself, covering up snug with the coats; an example religiously followed by the others. Soon they are as soundly asleep as if in a comfortable bed at home, unmindful of the noise made by the creaking of the yards and rigging, or the hissing of the sea. This practice is winked at by the officer of the deck, so long as all are at hand on a call; but on the night to which I now have reference, all the comfortable places under the lee of the weather rail being occupied, the unlucky wight whose dilatoriness in turning out when the watch was called, had excluded him from forming one of the caulkers, attracted by the inviting appearance of the forecastle, and thinking himself unnoticed, slipped down, deposited himself on the chests, and was soon fast asleep. The man on the look-out having seen him descend the ladder, waited in vain for his exit, and after allowing him sufficient time to get into a deep slumber, went down, assured himself of the fact, and then woke up two or three of the sleepers who were noted for their indulgence in practical jokes, and who at any time would forego a good nap to enjoy a hearty laugh. Having informed them of his intentions, the mischievous trio lashed a tail-block to a barricade of spars over the forecastle, rove a spare piece of rope through it, and attached one end to the sleeper’s leg. When all was in readiness they awoke the remainder of the watch, and having manned the fall strong, with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, the poor fellow was jerked half way up the companion-way before he was fully awake. Discovering his position, he grasped the ladder to retard his ascent, and, like the Knight of Snowdon, bade them—
“Come one, come all, this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.”
For a minute the jokers were non-plussed; their victim having the laugh on his side; but this was soon remedied by the fastenings of the ladder giving away, and the pendant caulker was whipped up on deck amid the jeers of his companions. This remedy is generally effectual; but I have seen a case of persistency in this, to a seaman, odious habit, which after everything else had failed, was eradicated by tying the caulker’s leg fast to a large pig, which, upon being roused up by the tormentors, travelled fore and aft the deck with Kedge Anchor in tow. Previous to this he had been repeatedly soused with water, bent on to, made fast to the bell, getting a reprimand for the peal he unwittingly rang, and lashed to the studding-sails on the forecastle, where, at times, he would remain the greater part of the night; but all to no purpose, until a humorous genius one night, when nothing else was on the carpet, proposed uniting Kedge to the porker, and, as I before stated, the remedy was effectual.
Our cook, a German, who had been to sea before, having an eye to creature comforts, purchased, whilst at Flores, a number of jackass cheeses. These he had carefully saved, intending to make them last as long as he possibly could, and for this purpose he locked them up in his chest; but, unfortunately, during the night some person or persons went clandestinely to his chest and feloniously appropriated the cheeses therein to his or their benefit. The cook, on the whole, was a good-natured fellow, but losing his cheeses soured his disposition, and he swore vengeance. His Dutch oaths soon attracted attention, and old Jack, as the oldest man in the forecastle, was appointed inquisitor, to find out the perpetrator or perpetrators of the heinous crime; sailors viewing theft from a shipmate, even of the slightest article, as an offence second in enormity only to murder; and woe betide the poor wretch who is detected in the act, as he can never recover an intimate footing with his shipmates.