>\^'^:zj^.^> .0 o .^^ ^'^. \0 o. .0 o^ ^ ■%.^' . V ^ * V s • » r ,-}.'' c^-V '=^^ '*., Q * i; I \ ' -J^"^ ■ i * i. y * « '^t^ "b Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by EDWARD S. GOULD, in the Clerk's Office of the District Coxirt for the Southern District of New-York. -V^*' ECATCHBRD AMD ADAMS, PMNTBRS. ^^ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. John W. Gould, seventh son of the late Judge Gould, of Litchfield, Connecticut, was born on Saturday, the 5th day of November, 1814. He was christened John Gould ; but he took the initial Win 1835, while residing in New-York, to escape the inconvenience of being mistaken and addressed for other John Goulds of that city. John's health, from childhood, was feeble ; and, by reason of indisposition, he was prevented from giving ordinary atten- tion to his duties at school. When he became old enough to understand the disadvantage of this inability to study, he de- termined, for the purpose of acquiring health, to undertake the labor, privations, and hardships of a farmer's boy ; and with this view, at the age of fifteen, he left the ease and comforts of his father's house, and faithfully and industriously devoted two successive summers to the experiment. It partially suc- ceeded, and he returned home somewhat benefited by the sa- crifice and exertion he had made. In the early part of the year next following he became seriously impressed with the importance of rehgion ; and in September of that year (1831), being then not quite seventeen, he made a public profession of his faith in Christ by uniting: himself to the Episcopal Church in Litchfield, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Mr. Lucas. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. John now became anxious to study for the ministry ; and, to select a mode of education best adapted to his precarious health, he went to the Oneida Institute, in the state of New- York, where manual labor formed a part of the scholars' re- gular duty. This experiment failed entirely : and, at length, discouraged by continued indisposition and repeated disap- pointment, he, with an energy and decision of character some- what remarkable, resolved to attempt the trials and perils of a sea-voyage as a sailor-boy before-the-mast — ^that humble capa- city being considered as, on the whole, best fitted to furnish a decisive remedy for his disease. Great pains were taken by himself and his friends to select a suitable vessel, a proper voyage, and a competent and ki/td captain : and, the choice having been made, he embarked at New- York, May 22d, 1833, on board the ship Commerce, Capt. C. H. Christianson, bound to Canton, via Cape Horn and Valparaiso. On this voyage he was again destirjed to disap- pointment — but of a different character from what had pre- viously befallen him. Notwithstanding the precautions taken, and the particular inquiry and investigation made as to the character and disposition of the captain — notwithstanding the captain's personal and reiterated assurances to John's friends that he should be used and dealt with as his situation required — notwithstanding, also, the fact that several of tlie passengers knew John's social position at home, and understood his mo- tives in going to sea — notwithstanding all this, thecaptam and mates treated — and, in presence of these passengers, were svf. fared to treat — John with such personal indigu'ty and cruelty, that, but for the encouragement and kindness of the carpenter of the ship, a hearty sailor by the name of Rinedollar, it is possible that he might never have returned alive. Note. We interrupt the narrative here, in order to state in the most ap- propriate connexion, that Capt. Christianson, on his return to New-York, was prosecuted and held to bail in the U. S. Court. While the suit was in progress, a friend of the captain remon- strated with John about pushing the matter to extremes, and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. O asked why he would not be satisfied with receiving a. venj am- ple apology from Christianson ? John replied, " Because, sir, I wish sea-captains to learn, from the example of Christianson, that they cannot with impunity treat their people like dogs : and because I wish the poor, desolate sailor-boy, abroad and friendless on the ocean, to know from my example that the majesty of The Law will protect even his poor rights, and pu- nish the scoundrel who tramples on them." The trial came on before the Judge of the Court (at our choice, without a jury); and although the case in a moral sense was fully made out, yet, from some t3chnical disconnection of evidence, the Judge fdit bound to award only nominal damages — one hundred dol- lars : from which decision, however, he himself anticipated an appeal. But as we found, on inquiry, that the captain was pos essed of no property, and ihe various expenses of the trial had now involved him in a debt of more than iivelve hundred dollars, we stayed further proceedings. To return from this digression. When John arrived at Val- pnraiso, he determined, if possible, to quit the ship. As he had declined taking letters to merchants and others of high-stand- ing abroad — being determined, from the commencement of liis voyage, to be, for the time, nothing but a sailor — this was like- ly to prove a difficult undertaking : but, fortunately, he hap- pened to have a line from George A. Wasson, Esq. to Robert H. O'Neal, boatswain of the U. S. ship Falmoulh ; and, through the intervention of that officer, he was enabled to obtain a dis- charge from Capt. Christianson, and also to ship as a " lands- man " aboard the Falmouth. Here he was in every respect well provided for. He sailed from Valparaiso, on his return home, on the 5th October, ISSii, touched at Rio de Janeiro, and arrived at New-York on the 1st February, 1834, perfect- ly restored in health and spirits. Having now nearly attained the age of twenty, it seemed, on the whole, advisable that he should abandon his long che- rished plans of study, and seek employment in some mercan- tile pursuit. With this view he chose New- York as his future 6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. home. Here his health continued for some years tolerably- good : but for various reasons beyond his control, his change- able destiny seemed to clin^ to him and his purposes ; and in every instance when he seemed to be well and advantageous- ly and permanently established, some unforeseen occurrence destroyed his prospects, and compelled a change of situation. During these years he employed some of his leisure hours in composing miscellaneous sea-sketches and stories ; and the se- veral pieces that he thus wrote and published, which all ap- pear in the following pages, evince a remarkable talent for that kind of composition, — it being always borne in mind that he was deprived by illness of the advantages of a regular educa- tion, and that he wrote, what he did write, between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two. At length John's ill health began to return ; and in the lat- ter part of 1837 and former part of 1838, he became so dis- tressed with dyspepsia, that he was almost constantly under the physician's charge ; and it was found necessary that, tem- porarily at least, some radical change should be adopted in his occupation and mode of life. Various expedients were sug- gested : but his predilections for the sea were so strong, and the previous experiment had proved so eminently successful, that the sea was again decided on as his remedy. An eligible berth (that of supercargo) was obtained according- ly, on board the barque Iwatioiona, Captain Dyer, bound for Rio de Janeiro : in which capacity John was not only sure to escape his former ill-treatment, but to enjoy the pleasures of the voyage as a passenger ; while, at the same time, he combined with these the satisfaction and advantage of a regular and pro- fitable vocation. He embarked, in high spirits, on the 25th June, 1838, with a moral assurance (in which all his friends partici- pated) that he would return with renewed health. It is proper here to state, that John's physician had men- tioned to us, though not to John, that his lungs were some- what affected ; but the disease was, as yet, inert ; and pro- bably would for many years remain so, unless irritated and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 7 aggravated by improper treatment or exposure. So that, on the whole, as the voyage was regarded by all of us as a specific for his dyspepsia, the intimation of disease in the lungs did not at all shake our confidence that, with God's blessing, John would assuredly return to us in all respects improved by his journey. And we may add, that if a different result had been imagined by us, we should never have allowed him to go to sea without a full provision of medicine ; full directions as to their use ; and, above all, the personal attendance of some one of his relatives or friends. It pleased God, however, to disappoint our hopes ; and with broken spirits we are left to say, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : blessed bo the name of the Lord ! In concluding this brief sketch, we deem it incumbent on us to certify to the peculiar traits of John's character, for the introduction of which there seems to have been no appropri- ate place in. the preceding narrative of events. He was from infancy uniformly and singularly obedient and affectionate to his parents ; his integrity was remarkable ; as were also his ge- nerosity and kindness of disposition, and his active and en- terprising spirit. The remainder of John's biography will be found in the fol- lowing pages, and chiefly in his own words : and in the hum- ble hope and confident belief that its perusal will interest, edi- fy and instruct all who are called to mourn his loss, his diary is now placed before his surviving friends and relatives in a permanent form. January, 1839. Before commencing John's Journal, it is deemed best to pre- sent some extracts from letters written by him to his mother shortly before sailing ; that his own views with regard to the voyage may be preserved. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS, From John to his Mother. ******** I am not competent, my dearest mother, to give you advice or consolation under your (iimd our) present grievous affliction : but I can and do pray to God — who tempers the wind to tlie shora lamb — that you may be enabled to bear it, and find that His rod, as well as His staff, comforts you. Though our dear father is taken from us, there are eight of us children remaining; and I bless God that there are so many of us, because we all love you dearly, and will do all we can to lighten your affliction, that you may live long in the land to watch over us. Dear motlier, you have been every thing to me, all my life ; not only a parent, but a gentle, kind adviser and dear friend : and while I know I can never repay you, I will endeavour all my life to show that I am not unmindful of my obligations ; and while I strive to honour you in all my ways, I will ever as now, pray God to bless you. I have left my employers because my health, so long feeble, has now become such that active occupation is deemed un- wise for the present. I have, very unexpectedly, obtained the berth of supercargo to a barque bound to Rio de Janeiro, which vessel is to sail on 2 10 LETTERS. Sunday next, June 17th. I had intended to go home next week, for a few days, but we all think this opportunity is one not to be neglected : and as this is the last vessel for Rio this season, there is no time to be lost, A gentleman here, just from Rio, speaks very favourably of the cruise ; while the same God is over all, and will watch over us. * # # ♦ Simdaij morning, June 17 th. My Dearest Mother, I have, at last, a little leisure ; and I devote the first of it to my best and dearest employment — writing to you. I wished much to see you all previous to sailing, but it is perfectly impossible, and we all thought that the opportunity was too good to be lost ; so go 1 n)ust, but I hope you will not feel grieved at this, for we are all under the guiding hand of God. I hope that I have sought advice and assistance from the best of all sources : and, confident in His strength and sup- port, 1 go fearing and doubting nothing. I know that you were not willing I should go to sea before (in the Commerce) : but now that I go in a superior capaci- ty (supercargo), 1 hope you will regard it ditferently. My vessel is new and staunch ; most ably commanded and man- ned ; and the God we serve will, I trust, hear your prayers and mine, that I may be safely restored to you in due time. Tlie captain of the barque is most highly spoken of as a man of religious principle : while he is, also, a perfect master of his business, and a most agreeable and pleasant companion. Cir- cumstances thus look favourable, and I think we need fear no- thing. I have letters from several of the first mercantile houses in New-York ; also a very strong and excellent one from the Hon, J. K. Paulding, Secretary of, the Navj'-, to Commodore .Nicholson, commanding our squadron on the coast of Brazil; so that I shall be well cared for in Rio ; besides, there are two Protestant chapels there, so that I shall not be deprived of the LETTERS. 11 means of grace. Also, in Rio I shall have the good fortune to find several English and American physicians ; so that, if sick, I shall be well taken care of in that respect. Through Edward's kindness — may God bless him for all he has done for me ! — I am well provided with every thing I shall need for comfort and convenience ; so that, as far as we can see, every thing looks bright and promising for the expe- dition, I commence my voyage under auspices the most fa- vourable ; and, with God's blessing, may reasonably hope for success. And now, my dearest mother, I pray our God to have you in his most holy keeping, and that he will bless you and watch over you in all things ; and, whether I again see your face on earth or not, may we live forever in heaven ! Dearest mo- ther, farewell ; and may God bless you ! Your very affectionate son, JOHN W. GOULD. My dear sister Julia, I would write you ; but, even on this day of rest, I have no time. God bless you, dear sister ! As the Sunday on the morning of which the foregoing let- ter was written, is ascertained to have been the last day John ever attended church, (being also just preceding his sailing,) it is interesting to know that the following were the Psalm and Hymn sung at the afternoon service of that day ; and opposite each he has written in his prayer-book, in pencil, " I7th June, 1838, Evening Prayer, Ascension," — the church of the Ascension, in New- York, under the charge of the Rev. Dr. Eastburn, being the one of which he was a member. The Psalm was the 3d and the Hymn the 156th, and both being (very singularly) applicable to his situation, they are here quoted. 12 PSALM AND HYMN. Psalm 3d. Thott, gracious God, art my defence ; On thee my hopes rely : Thou art my glory, and shall yet Lift up my head on high. Since whensoe'er, in my distress, To God I made my prayer, He heard me from his holy hill ; Why should I now despair 1 Guarded by him, I lay me down, My sweet repose to take ; For I through him securely sleep, Through him in safety wake. Salvation to the Lord belongs, He, only, can defend; His blessings he extends to all That on his power depend. Hymn 156th. Father, whate'er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies, Accepted at thy throne, let this, My humble prayer arise ; Give me a calm and thankful heart, From every murmur free ; The blessings of thy grace impart, And make me live to thee. Let the sweet hope that thou art mine My life and death attend ; Thy presence through my journey shine, And crown my journey's end! REMARKS. 13 Blessed be God, we have the best evidence that the prayer of this hymn, and especially of its last two lines, was most gra- ciously, most fully answered ! John's Journal shows conclu- sively that God's "presence shone through his journey" — and the letters following his journal (that of Lieut Noland in particular) abundantly testify that the same benign influ- ence " crowned his journey's end." John's Journal now follows ; and we state, in regard to it, that it was written up day by day, as it appears, and with pen and ink : yet, notwithstanding the occasional rolling and pitching of the vessel, which of course rendered it difficult to write at all ; notwithstanding, also, his extreme illness on board, which might well have rendered writing irksome, if not impossible — but one single and small blot of ink occurs through- out the whole, and but two or three words in the whole are changed or erased. The latter fact will be regarded as the most remarkable when we state, further, that the Journal is printed exactly as it was written, without the alteration or addition, of a word : a few remarks, and a very few names, are omitted^ but nothing is altered : and, that even the most experienced and polished writer of our language should be able, under such disadvantage, to compose, without premeditation or re- writing, a diary of such length, so faultless in style, so correct and elegant in expression, is almost incredible. PRIVATE JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO RIO DE JANEIRO FROM NEW-YORK. Saturday, June 23d., 1838. — Having been detained frou. Monday, the 18th inst. (at which time the bowsprit was {knock- ed off by a blundering brig, named Oceana) we this morning began to think of putting the Barque Iwanowna, John Dyer master, and John W. Gould supercargo, under way for Rio de Janeiro. So, lying in the East River, off the foot of Old Slip, at high water, half past ten o'clock A. M., began to heave away at the anchor. It, however, stuck fast, and heaving away thereat in vain, the captain determined to send ashore for more beef. So I went ashore, and got six beefs and the morning papers ; but by the time we got back to the barque, she was under way with wind at N. E., and stood down the East River. Now came the romance of real life : for the cook's wife, having been on board for a week, wanted to go too ; but this was impossible, as she was not upon the articles, and had no passport. So, in a storm of grief, her petticoats glanced over the gangway, and thus parted husband and wife. Just, however, as I was taking a parting glance at the Bat- PRIVATE JOURNAL. 15 tery, the wind died away, and we came to anchor among the shad -stakes off Bedloe's Island, to wit, at half past eleven A. M. At a quarter before one o'clock, meridian, got underway again, with wind at E. and stood down the bay; but, it haul- ing to S. E. we again came to anchor at half past two P. M. a mile below Quarantine. Then captain, pilot and I went ashore at Quarantine, rambled about and smoked cigars. At six P. M. saw J S and A S just from town, with nephews and neices, for fresh air. Gave J a cigar. Grew cold, went aboard, ate supper with a great appetite, and bunked on the transom. Couldn't sleep in my berth, because of the " animals." Sunday, June 24th. — Still at anchor at duarantine. Wind S. E. and rain. Went ashore with Capt. Dyer, and up to town per ferry : saw Bob just arrived from the South and West ; went down at evening, in all the rain, to Quarantine. Monday, June 25th.^Cleared off in the night, so at three A. M. with wind at West we weighed, and stood down the bay. At seven o'clock A. M. the pilot left us to the Northward of the Black Buoy, much to my surprise and disappointment, as I had time to write only four lines to Bob. Passed the Hook at half past eight, and at half past nine fell calm, with here and there a puff. Fired off and cleaned pistols, and while so doing felt most deadly sea-sick. Put them up quicker. Took some lime-water, and felt better. Took old wrapper and lay down on lee quarter-deck, and had a fine nap. Rose and felt better : and, as Fanny dear, says, " wrote Journal." Boxed about off the Hook in fine style until one P. M., when a breeze sprung up from W. S. W., which increased to a sneezer, and with fore and main top-mast and top-gallant studding-sails, we put off S. E. by E. course. No particular appetite for supper, though not regularly sea-sick. Only felt a little disagreeably. At evening grew squally and rainy, so I bunked on cabin lockers, and heard the dash of the rain, and the thunder and 16 PRIVATE JOURNAL. lightning, and the creaking of the ship, and the tramp of feet, and the quick, loud orders of the captain, without fearing the ship would fall overboard, and hugging myself with the consciousness that all that was none of my business. Let the old boat burn : I'm a passenger. So, as aforesaid, I lay at my ease and listened, and thought about home and the family, and repeated poetry, and sung psalms, and finally went to sleep carelessly. Awoke at 12 P. M. Went on deck. Rain was over ; sky was clear ; and around lay old Ocean in majesty ; no land in sight. Seemed like old times, so having moralized and ruralized, went below and turned in. Couldn't sleep for the " animals," so I rose, put on trowsers, stockings, and shoes, and with a lump of cam- phor for bouquet at my nose, went to sleep. Lat. 40° 27' N., Long. 74° W.* Tuesday, June 26th. — Hang all nautical time : my log goes on civil time. Rose at half past seven, washed, brushed and combed, and felt better. Fair weather, dead calm, and the barky rolled like the mischiefs. Breakfast set me right, and a cig'ar finished the busi- ness; and having admired my unshaven face and flowing locks in my cracked mirror, I " wrote Journal." Didn't " work on nighl-cap," though, a la Fanny. Then I " loafed " on the quarter-deck, and learned the song " O'er the green sea." Bravo : pas encore. Admired the blue sea, but felt queerly about the appearance of the Battery. Wonder if I am home-sick'? cut off my whiskers if I thought so. Don't see the steam-ship Great Western yet, though we have kept a bright look-out for her. After dinner broke out, and overhauled trunk and box. Got out the doctor's mixture, and took a pull. Yery agreeable. Set the doctor at work in my berth, hunting " animals." Re made slaying work of some of the biggest ones. At supper, our cat and our boy made their appearance, recovered from sea-sick- * These observations of latitude and longitude are made at noon on each day. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 17 ness.' I smoked a cigar ; chatted with the skipper ; thought how Broadway would look by this moon ; sung songs ; grew sen- timental ; thought about the girls ; and then bunked on the cabin transom, "afeard of toads" if I entered the berth. By the by, at two P. M. smart breeze sprung up from the West, and we have headed our course ever since at five or six knots. Lat. 39° 57' N. Long. 71° 56' W. Wednesday, June 27th.— Turned out at 7 o'clock. Per- formed my toilet greatly to my satisfaction. Breakfasted and smoked, ditto — ditto. — Fair weather; bright sun, and wind at North ; on larboard tack, standing S. E. by E. course. At ten A. M. fell nearly calm. At twelve a brig, which had been boxing about ahead of us all the morning, drifted near us, on the larboard beam, and hove to. He then chalked his lon- gitude on his larboard quarter, thus 72° 00', while we, in return, chalked ours 70° ; thus showing quite a difference : where- upon he rubbed out his 72, and braced up : and now, three P. M., is under our stern, busy in reading our name. We have our boat on deck, or I would board him and send home a let- ter ; but so it is, and no " tisser." Note. The letter here referred to was written, and no other opportunity occurring to send it, it was brought to the U. S. in the brig Tweed to Baltimore, and by mail to New- York ; the following is a copy : — " 27 June, Wednesday noon : Barque Iwanowna. '- Dear Bob. — Brig ahead appears inclined speak us : if yea, shall send this letter by her. We have had charming weather since we sailed, and I flourish charmingly ; though we have had calms about half the time, which a'n't agreeable. As touching Lat. and Lon., I neither know nor care. Believe, how- ever, lat. is 37°, lon. 69°. My love to all the family : Mother and Julia in especial. If the Pilot had not left us much too soon, I should have written you quite a letter by him. Old 3 18 PRIVATE JOURNAL. Ocean looks well, and like old times. Every thing is very comfortable aboard, and goes on well. " Your brother-in-sea,* "JOHN W. G." It is still dead calm (eight P. M.), and the sea is as smooth and tranquil as possible ; but "the gathering cLouds around I view," and looks like a breeze from the North'ard and East'ard. Saw this afternoon several Portuguese men-of-war and some other small fry. But, oh ! the sen, in silent grandeur, lies outspread in mnjesty before me, and 1 now have leisure to contemplate his beauties, and lay my hand on his ■ tail ! Got out sundry books and other "small stores" this P.M., and am now luxuriating in an old coat. Wonder what " the folks " are doing-, about now? However, I am here, and shall turn in on the transom again, for fear of those " animals." So, good night, dear girls. Though I can't see you, I shall dream about you. Lat. 39° 12' N. Lon. 70° W. All ashore that a'n't going! Thursday, June 28th.— (Ten A. M.) Turned out this A. M., at seven bells, half past seven o'clock, having had a glorious snooze, in which I dreamed of sundry women bright and fair : singular, that such critters should so fill up my hin- nocent mind. Fine, stiff breeze, though not quite fair, we have ; it being S. S. E., and we head of course, close hauled, due East. The breeze, however, is hauling to the Westward, and will be fair before night. The air is cool, but delightful, while the sky is clouded, and so — " O'er the blue sea Our gallant barque glides merrily." Have begun this morning to pull away at the French, ♦ This expression, jocosely used, proved prophetic: for befi)re this letter reached its destination, poor John was too truly " in the sea," never to emerge until the trump of God calls him forth ! PRIVATE JOURNAL. 19 though I cannot yet decide whether to take Le Brethon's book, or go on with Manesca. Shall soon make up my mind what course to steer, and then stand by for squalls. Broke out also sundry books, and have made a beginning in my Russia-bound friend, Townsend,* No place so fitting for the perusal of the word of God, as upon this noblest of his works, the sea. For he alone spreads out the heavens and rules the raging of the sea^ and has com/passed the waters lulth hounds mitil day and night come to an end ; and, there- fore, whether I again see my native land or not, may the lan- guage of my heart ever be. Praise the Lord, oh my soid ; and forget not all his bejiefits. Four P. M. Oar wind has hauled more to the Westward, and is now fair. It is also increasing rapidly, and toe shall have a gale ; never mind, have seen such cattle before. Lat. 39= 3' N. Long. 69= 17' W. Belay all ! Saturday, June 30th.— Yesterday was a regular ban- yan day ; for, with a fresh top-gallant breeze, we had a sea which would have done honor to double-reefed topsails. How- ever, we were in the Gulf Stream, and some allowance must be made for that. So I was considerably sea-sick, and could not eat, and could not get New- York and Litchfield out of my head, and was altogether very miserable. To-day, I feel some- what better ; and the terrible, dry, church-yard cough,t which has torn me to pieces all this week, having ceased entirely, I am better ; though the unceasing agony in which I am night and day from those same bed-bugs' (beg pardon) bites, which cover me from top to toe, is enough to call for all the patience of Job. Upon my honor, I have suffered more this week from these two things alone, than I have from every cause in fonr years : and shall begin soon to protest. To-day, the breeze has somewhat diminished, and the sea • A Chronological Bible, edited by George Townsend. + This is John's first reference to his cough, and the first intimation that his friends are aware of, of his having a serious cough. 20 PRIVATE JOURNAL. also ; but the ship rolls so much that I cannot write with any comfort ; nor is remaining below very comfortable ; and if this is a sample of the next six weeks, why, I wish I was in New- York again, it being three P. M. However, I'll take a pull at friend Townsend, and presume I shall feel better. Lat. 37° 20' N. Long. 62^ 10' W.- Sunday, July 1st. — Three P. M. So, then, this is the Sabbath ; it brings me no rest, however, for ray bites kept me awake all night, save here and there a nap of fifteen minutes, covering hideous dreams^ from which I waked to find myself scratching away at those things which, like the horse leech, said continually, give ! I haven't got a Walker and Johnson at hand, but believe I now understand what the word agony means. Lucky for me Lnever swear ; for I should, in that case, have astonished the Devil and all his angels.* Can it be that this situation, which we all looked upon as a good one, is to be the scene of such torments all the way to Rio ? If so, God be merciful to me a sinner ! For the idea of recovering health, in circumstances which would kill an Arab, is amusing. Look at my little den, called, in mockery, a state-room. It is a state-room for fleas, bed-bugs, (pardon my plainness of speech,) and a most abominable stench. It was just so in * There are two reasons for allowing this remark to be published: 1. It is best, as far as at all proper, to present John's Journal exactly as he wrote it. This plan will, of course, in some instances, develope his character- istic hastiness of expression : but the Journal, as a record of himself, will not be the less valuable on that account; and it is certain that no friend can read the whole, and at all appreciate John's singularly trying and desolate situation, without making the just and proper allowance for what, in another person dif- ferently situiite 1, would at least be extiavagaiit. But, 2. This particular re- mark is deemed not only admissible, but valuable ; because it shows the impa- tience with which he tasted the cup of bitterness (afterwards drained to the very dregs) — while the mercy of God and the power of Grace are, by the force of contrast, more triumphantly illustrated than they otherwise could be, in the sub- sequent record of his child-like submission to his Father's will. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 21 New-York ; but I was told it would be clean and sweet as soon as we g:ot to sea ; and, like a fool, I believed it. And is it in that space, " cabined, cribbed, confined," with no room to turn over without hitting: the deck over-head with knees or back ; with many multitudes for bed fellows, and with body and limbs scored with bites of every kind, which give me no rest day or night ; amid most villainous per- fumes, — is it there that my fifteen descents, six feet education, and gray hairs must sleep ? Well, it might have been worse ! Well, at any rate, I brewed some great punch last night for " sweethearts and wives" accordinof to usage ; and as it was hot and strong, and I sat on one side of the cabin, and Capt. Dyer on the other, in a fine draught, smoking, I really forgot my miseries, and for a time felt happy. However, I paid for it as soon as I turned in. N. B. Gave the-man-at-the-wheel a real stiff one. This morning being clear and warm, though dead calm, (which still remains,) I had a fine scrubbing match ; but after long argument concluded that, as I had not shaved for a week, I would not for another. The way I appear is a cau- tion : however, there are no ladies here to be shocked. Took two of the Doctor's pills, No. 2, this morning, and now feel better ; and now am about to try salt and vinegar for ray bites. Lat. 36° 49 N. Long. 60' 25' W. Monday, July 2nd. — N. B. Last night I slept all night undisturbed by bites, for the salt and vinegar cured them al- most entirely. To day is mild and pleasantly cloudy, but the wind is dead ahead, to wit : E. S. E. So that, after standing N. E. by E. till we were tired, we tacked this morning ; and are now, 3i P. M., standing South by West. Found myself very weak to-day ; suppose 'twas because I had omitted the brandy for a con pie of days ; so I took some whiskey with dinner, because, for some reason, brandy has become nauseous to my taste. But the whiskey made me fe- 22 PRIVATE JOURNAL. verish and parched, and made my head ache ; so I swallowed some of the Doctor's mixture and some soda-water, and lay- down to sleep. This did no good, so I " rose up to play," and scanapered up the main -rigging, and felt much better therefor ; whereupon, I wrote •'Journal," Was looking just now at our two young pigs, snoozing in a horizontal barrel, forward of the long-boat, " Last v'yage," quoth Oapt. Dyer, " I had three pigs. When they got so large that one barrel wouldn't hold them, [ killed one ; when the two grew so that they were too big for the barrel, I killed another ; and wlien the last one lay head and shoulders out of the barrel, why, I killed him. There was the end of my three pigs, and I shall serve these fellows in the same way." Alas ! poor pigs ! Haul in your snouts, and bite off you tails ; otherwise you'll soon get too big for the barrel, and then, my eyes ! how your throats will suffer, Lat, 38° N, Long, 59° 26' W. Tuesday, July 3d, — Cool weather and head wind to-day ; but it makes very little difference, for I have been miserable all day. Was kept awake great part of last night with my dry cough, which seems as if it would tear my lungs out, and have suffered from it all day. Was so weak at dmner-time, that I could scarcely move ; so I took a very little brandy, say one third of a wine-glass. This threw me into a high fever, with head-ache, and parched skin, and increased my cough greatly. I am entirely at a loss what to do, but shall dismiss stimu- lants of all kinds, tea and coffee, miserable as they are here, and drink water, and try to keep soul and body together until I reach Rio for there I can get advice. It seems hard that I should have been sent away from home .to suffer so, alone and comfortless at sea ; but I do not intend to murmur, and will put my trust in God. This cough of mine, Doctor, is very painful to the chest, and PRIVATE JOURNAL. 23 causes pain, also, lower down, and is accompanied with some expectoration of " lamb's wool." Lat. 38^ 5' N. Lon. 58° 56' W. Wednesday, July 4th. — To-day is mild, cloudy, and pleasant ; a fresh breeze, smooth sea. and we head our course. In health I feel much to-day as yesterday ; that -is, I feel very weak, somewhat feverish, and my cough continues, espe- cially when I lie down. However, I have some hopes from my new regimen. The captain and mates treat me with great kindness, and have slung a cot for me in the cabin, which, as the cabin is small, is much in their way ; but in reply to my apologies they say it's no kind of matter. Lat. 37° 40' N. Lon. 57° 28' W. Thursday, July 5th. Lat. 37° 18' N. Lon. 54° 36' W. Friday, July 6th. — Was too unwell to write log yester- day, having been kept awake a large portion of the night be- fore with my cough. I also felt most severely that awful pain in the heart of which I have made mention to the Doctor, and the possibility of its return made me fear coming to sea, be- cause I could get here no advice. Last night, however, I slept better, having found that by lying on my i^ght side, I escaped the cough almost entirely. To day I feel exceedingly weak and heavy. My state-room was scrubbed out yesterday, and the berth lowered, and to- night I take possession. Hope to escape, thereby, the cold, which makes me cough. Lat. 36° 34' N. Lon. 52° 04' W. Saturday, July 7th. — To-day I feel a little better than yesterday, though I am exceedingly troubled with acid, and have nothing but charcoal to check it. Three bottles of the Doctor's mixture fermented, one burst, and the rest were spoiled : while the one bottle which was good I have used up : and the apothecary in New- York, instead of putting up for me two quart-bottles of lime-water, as my order said, 24 PRIVATE JOURNAL. put up one pint-bottle only, and that's all gone. I don't know what I shall do when my charcoal is used up. We have had for three days past delightful weather, and a smacking, fair breeze, and are off on our course S. E. by S. at nine knots. Found my state-room quite fair last night, and slept tolera- bly : and if I can succeed in my hourly endeavour of laying myself, cares and all, in the hands of God, the voyage, with all its trials, will prove a great blessing to me. Lat. 35= 09' N. Lon. 49° 18' W. Sunday, July 8lh. — Another of the days of the Son of Man. but constant suffering gives me little opportunity to enjoy it. I had a most miserable night, last night ; was awakened often by my tearing cough, and also by my bites : was insufferably hot and exceedingly cold at the different times at which I waked, and when asleep, dreamed most horribly. Oh! that God would grant me in my sleep forgetfulness ! I am still very weak to-day, my stomach is very acid ; and when the little charcoal I have, is gone, 1 shall have no means to look to, and cannot expect God to work a miracle.* How happy a lump of unslacked lime, as big as my fist, would make me ! But there is none on board, and no shells to make any of. The breakfast-table this morning, having all the breakfast upon it, being imperfectly lashed, capsized with a tremendous crash, breaking almost every thing, and making fine lobscouse of all sorts of eatables ; but I'm not in the vein. The weather is delightful, the breeze fair and fresh, and we log nine and ten often. Made 200 miles by log in the last twenty-four hours. Have distributed some tracts to-day, and read in my Bible much to my comfort. What should I do without it? I am also reading every day the " Visitation of the sick," and try to * That John ehould have been so poorly provided with suitable medicine is equally sad and surprising ; and nothing can account for it but the fact that we all looked on the voyage as a specific in itself, superseding the necessity of all medicine. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 25 feel that ray present affliction is direct from God. And may God sanctify all his dealings to me, that I may become more humble and meek ; I know that 1 deserve far more than this. Lat. 33^ 26' N. Lon. 46° W. Monday, July 9th. — A change has come o'er the spirit of my dream, for which thanks be to God. An old-fashipned me- dicine from the ship's chest, yesterday P. M., did what the doc- tor's preparations failed in. I slept soundly and sweetly, and without a dream, all night ; and to-day, save weakness and some cough, I feel loell. Praise the Lord^ oh my soul ! P/'ehaps I have not been lying for the last three hours (now five P. M.) on an old sail on the lee quarter-deck, with a beau- tiful draught out of the mainsail right in my face and open bosom ; and there, half asleep and half awake, dreaming away about my dear, dear mother and Julia, and all friends in the United States. Oh, it was delicious ! It was something- like going to sea passenger, idler, loafer, what you please. The day is fine, the breeze fresh and fair ; and though the sun is somewhat hot, that does not trouble a 'passenger, while the breeze tempers down the whole. In short, now that I feel ivell, I enjoy every thing and feel comfortable : though the breeze is so fresh, and the sea so high, that the barky rolls and pitches beautiful, and so mars my penmanship. By the bye, speaking of fresh breezes, some years since Capt. . of the ship of and for Boston, came out of Liverpool with a nor'east gale, drunk ; and drunk he re- mained all the way to Boston ; carried whole top-sails, scud- ding, when the main with four reefs would have been sail enough. Mates and passengers besought him to shorten sail, but 'twas no use. One day, on the Grand Banks, he came on deck after dinner — " Fresh, Mr. So and So," quoth he to the mate ; " rig out fore and main-topmast stun'sails." " Can't set them in this gale, Sir," said the mate. 4 26 PRIVATE JOURNAL, " Yery good, Sir ; d— n the odds !" quoth the Captain, " give her the booms, Sir ; rig out the booms, Sir." The booms were rigged out, and the ship reached Boston in fourteen days. Then there was the Jacob Jones, Benson master, out of Boston, in the late war, privateering. Ship of 700 tons : eighteen guns : and ninety-five men. Went into the Indian Ocean, took two rich prizes, and fought with an East India Company's ship for four hours, off Cape of Good Hope. Orders were sent out to Canton in advance, and pilots, with the J. J's signal, had been cruising off Macao for two months before her arrival. Prom them Capt. B. learned there were two English frigates in Macao roads ; one af which came down every night, and, having cruised about, returned in the morning. The pilots having informed him that tlie frigates usually came out the East side of the Island, he went up at night on the West, and, in the narrow channel, met the frigate, courses hauled up and decks lighted: whereupon he put about quid%er, and the frigate gave chase. But at nine o'clock, being vdry dark, he (Benson) tacked and stood in, unperceived by the chaser, passed the other frigate in the roads, and came to an- chor below Whampoa, where, with the English watching him, he lay six months. Having accoutred himself in Chinese dress, cue, etc., Benson sounded all the waters of Macao, and found one place where he could get out with a foot water to spare, where no channel was known. So, one dark night, he slipped out, and reached Boston in safety. And then to hear our second dickey (an old man) talk about the Nor'west coast, and the first ditto (not old) about the custom-house regulations in Russia ! Lots of Portuguese men-of-wai* I've seen for some days past, and the bright moonlight at night sets me to singing, and thinking about the folks in the U. S. Shall be glad to get back again in due time, and kiss the dear little snakes. * Sailors' name for a small sailing; fish. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 27 Lat. 31° 53' N. Lon. 42° 49' W. Tuesday, July 10th. — I continue to get rid of all my troubles, save my cough, and am getting strong rapidly, and feel now at home. This is a fine, delightful day ; fair wind, though light, and every thing looks bright and pleasant. Moreover, I gave the cook to-day some brown-stoat to make yeast of; for his soft tack, thus far, has been rather ponderous. If I could but re- collect some of my cooking, it would come into play ; howev- er there's those receipts mother sent me when I was at 254 (Broadway) which, if any will suit this meridian, will bind on. N. B. Our hoy is picking over potatoes on deck : remembers me of the ship Commerce. Lat. 30° 59' N. Lon. 40° 52' W. Wednesday, July 11th. — Very warm, clear sky, and half "a fair wind ; i. e. dead calm. What have you got to say about it? Am getting along well, save my awful cough. Don't know what to make of it. Have mended my leather trunk, too : but it's too hot : so be- lay. Lat. 30° 59' N. Lon. 39° 46' W. Thursday, July 12th. — This P. M. we have a slight breeze, which sprung up about eleven A. M., until which time 'twas dead calm. Nothing, however, of moment has happened, except that I have overhauled my hair-trunk, and taken out all my unfiled letters to read and file. Melancholy satisfaction to read 'em over ! Boy, bring me a towel to wipe my eyes. Also, the cook has made soft-tack with my porter yeast, quite respsctably, and makes some more this P. M. The fleas hit me all up last night ; and as my cough and shortness of breath become more and more severe, I don't know what to do : and, what makes me feel desolate, is the fact that I must wait six weeks before I can get medical advice. Who would not sell a farm and go to sea 1 28 PRIVATE JOURNAL. Lat. 30° 53' N. Lon. 39° 30' W. Friday, July 13th. — Fair weather ; cloudy ; not too warm, and fair breeze, and we head our course S. E. by S. at very good speed. In health, I don't feel well. Had a coughing-match last night, which ended in a nose-bleeding : so I've knocked off brandy and coffee to-day ; and therefore feel weak, etc. Was hailed just now (four P. M.) by an English sloop-of- war, told them where from and where bound, etc. and did not take the trouble to ask her anything." Her crowded poop, of- ficers and several ladies, looked like old times. However, let her go ; my head aches. Lat. 29° 39' N. Lon. 38° 57' W. Saturday, July 14th.— Fine, clear day, with occasional clouds to keep off the sun. Wind moderate from E., and we head our course, S. S. E. very comfortably. Nothing of mo- ment has occurred, and we jog quietly along towards the Equator. In health, I feel better. Think the omission of the brandy has diminished the cough, though it has also brought on the acid again. However, we'll see. Lat. 28° 14' N. Lon. 37° 29' W. Sunday, July 15th. — Fair, mild, shady, delightful weath- er, and with a fair breeze we are ploughing our way S. S. E., expecting soon to cross the Northern tropic. To-day has been quiet and still ; and going over the ser- vice for the day, I have endeavored to ftincy myself in one of the earthly temples of our God. No one can appreciate, save through experience, the amount of this deprivation of religious privilege ; and I renewedly declare how prompt I will be to avail myself of those privi- leges, if God, in great mercy, will restore them to me. If I could hear that old Brick-Church bell qiow, 1 believe it .would set me crazy. * Here was an opportunity to get both medicine and medical advice: but John does not seem to have thought of it. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 29 May God bless my dear mother, too. I hope she is better ; And may all my friends be blessed, and may I return to them in peace soon ! Lat. 26° 37' N. Lon. S6° W. Monday, July 16th. — Fair, mild, " shady," weather ; and the wind, save occasional calms, has been the N. E. Trade. Now, two P. M., a squall of rain has come on, and the breeze, of course, freshens, and we plough along finely. In health, I feel not very well. The cough continues, and to-day the acid has become so severe that I took a table-spoon- ful of brandy at dinner, since which I feel better. Our potatoes are all gone, and our cook is a blockhead ; and our provisions having been selected, and laid in with true down-east economy, we begin to suffer in the way of eatables. However, it's no matter. Lat. 25° 29' N. Lon. 35° 22' W. Tuesday, July 17th. — Pleasant weather, but baffling winds, or calms in agreeable profusion, whereat the rest fret ; and I lake it easy, as I usually do. Feel like a white man to-day, fiaving shaved : the first time in a fortnight, and the second since leaving New- York. — There's laziness for you. My cough continues, — pain in the heart also : but the brandy (which aggravates the two former) has driven away the acid. So, there I have my choice. A barque passed to windward (E.) of us this morning, and another is now in sight to windward. Lat. 24° 40' N. Lon. 35° 11' W. Wednesday, July 18th. — Clear, shady, mild weather, and a smacking breeze from East ; so we head S. S. E., and are rolling and pitching towards the Line in fine style, as wit- ness my penmanship. N. B. Have worn woollen clothes entirely ever since we sailed, and even here a thin dress would be cool. Had a terrible fit of acid last night ; have become more strict in diet in consequence, and have knocked off cigars for 30 PRIVATE JOURNAL. the experiment. My cough is terrible, and the pain in the heart also. Don't know which way to turn. Lat. 23° 5' N. I.on. 34° 25' W. Thursday, July 19th. — Chilly; sky overcast; gloomy weather ; and a fresh breeze, and a rough sea ; and so we pitch and roll. We are now under the sun. Ill health I am badly off. Cough continues, and I am try- ing a touch of the starving system ; so I am quite weak. The acid does not trouble me to-day ; can't write — so, belay. Lat. 20° 54' N. Lon. 33° 20' W. Friday, July 20th. — Weather same as yesterday. Health, etc. somewhat worse. Lat. 19= 25' K Lon. 32° 19' W.* Saturday, July 2lst — Weather pleasanter than yester- day, and the wind fairer, and we head our course, S. E. In health, I feel somewhat better, as now, giving up all lazi- ness and weakness, I walk decks nearly all day. It is hard, but will do me good. Cough continues : pain in the heart, ditto. N. B. Killed pig yesterday, and had (mock) turtle soup with the aid of my brandy, and sea-pie for dinner, to-day. Can't write for the swell. " Lat. IS- N. Lon. 31° 11' W. Sunday, July 22d. — Another of the days our Lord calls his own ; but, except being more quiet than other days, it is little sanctified in over seven-fathom water. However, I have endeavored to be in the spirit on the Lord's Day, though I cannot be in his house, and hope I have to some extent succeeded. I think I never felt my own lit- tleness, and the necessity of entire dependence on God, so thoroughly as now ; and if J now learn to trust all to Him, and remember it in more prosperous days (should I see them), this voyage will be time well spent. * These words terminate page 22 of John's Journal, after which he has not numbered the pages. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 31 Had a bad night, last. Slept little ; coughed that dry, tear- ing congh, much ; and that awful pain in the heart once or twice made the current of life stand still. The weather is delightfully coo!, the wind fair, the sea rough ; and the sea at night blazes : (phosphorescent.) Lat. 16° 30' N. Lon. 29" 15' W. Monday, July 23d. — Clear, comfortable weather j fair breeze, and we head S. S. E. The weather here is remarka- ble for the Tropics, being actually chilly at night and morning ; while in the day it is cool and comfortable. Had fine lots of conghing last night ; and it keeps on to-day, being very troublesome : pain in the heart is missing to-day ; but the acid has driven me to brandy. Since I came to sea, brandy tastes horribly to me, and I put ofi' its use as long as possible. Sea is rough, and the barky rolls "just so." Lat. 15° 6' N. Lon. 27° 47' W. Tuesday, July 24th. — Delightful weather, and a glorious breeze from N. N. E., and we, with all weather studding-sails, head S. E. ; but my cough and the pain in my heart are both terrible. So, belay. Lat. 13° 36' N. Lon. 26° 10' W. Wednesday, July 25th. — Weather pleasant, though some- what warm ; yet far from hot. Wind this P. M. has hauled ahead again, and we head S. by W. Did six hours of de- lightful sleeping last night, and to-day feel much better; the pain in the heart and the cough having nearly ceased for the day, though at night they will reign lord of the ascendant. Weather is very mild for the latitude, though tlie clear sun is pretty hot; but we have clouds and a breeze from Africa to make it easy. The wind, blowing so constantly from the Eastward, has covered our rigging and sails with the yellow sand of the Great Desert ! Think of that—SAHARA ! Lat. 12° 13' N. Lon. 25° W. Thursday, July 26th.— Dead calm — that's fiat, upon ho- 32 PRIVATE JOURNAL. nor. However, the sea is no flat ; but has a cross swell, which tosses we about in every direction. The friendly clouds keep off the most of the sun, but when he does get a pull at us, it is like the blaze of the tropics, hot : and yet not hotter than in New- York before we sailed. N. B. Tell Alexander Twining that the shooting of the stars was seen, in great splendour, off Cape Hotn, Nov. I4th, 1836, on board ship Swan ; and at Havana, Nov. 14th, 1833. Turned in last night at 12, for I find it is of no avail to do so earlier, and slept gloriously till six, this A. M., and dream- ed of home and dear mother. The cough is not so bad to-day, but the heart is very pain- ful. Acid not much ; though the beef here is so perfectly in- tolerable, gristle and shanks, that I can't eat it, and the seamen growl famously. I don't understand that kind of economy, but these sunrise downeasters make money that Avay. Lat. 11° 27' N. Lon. 24° 33' W.* Friday, July 27th. — Calm all the morning, and warm : so I mounted a pair of nankins ; found great comfort there- from. At noon a breeze sprung up from the Westward, and we head our course at S. E. Clouds keep us much in the shade, or the heat would be oppressive. Have had several fine showers this P. M., and the air feels fresh. Have been trying Madeira for a few days, but found it did not suit ; so to-day I tried a little gin. This was all sour, and cascaded every thing. The cough is easy : the heart w?ieasy, very. * On the first blank leaf of the book in which John's Journal is written, is the followino; note in pencil : " Private Journal from New- York towards Rio ; which, should I not be spar- ed to return home, I wish handed to my dear mother, and sister Julia. If they wish, they can peruse it. At Sea, July 26th, 1838. Lat. 11° 27' N. \ JOHN W. GOULD." Lon. 24° 33' W. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 33 Lat. 11° 04' N. Lon. 23- 58' W. Saturday, July 28th. — Save an occasional cat's-paw, this day has been dead calm : and, save an occasional cloud, oh ! how hot ! This A. M., at ten o'clock, two of the crew caught a shark, eight feet long, in a bow-line. I saw the feat, and certainly John Shark looks beautifully in the water. How- ever, he was caught and hauled aboard, his liver taken out, the " tail-steaks" and the end of the nose cut off, and the rest was thrown overboard. This P. M. we were boarded by a boat from the ship Asia, Coles master, 28 days from Boston for Canton ; she having been lying becalmed all day about three miles off. They thought we might be from Cape de Verd Islands, and wished to get vegetables, but we were out long ago ; so Capt. Coles' lady will be disappointed, I asked if he had any lime or shells on board, but he had none ; so, after a civil chat, he withdrew. My cough to-day is quite severe ; the pain in the heart con- stant, and also very severe ; insomuch that I took ten drops of laudanum this A. M. with no effect ; while the acid is over- whelming, and charcoal seems to do wo good. '' Judge not the Lord by feeble sense." Lat. 10° 44' N. Lon. 23° 16' W. Sunday, July 29th. — Again the day returns, but where are the privileges of the gospel 1 Fine breeze last night : light ones to-day. Rained all night and most of to-day : very like the Line. Pain in the heart, to-day, terrible : took fifteen drops of lau- danum this morning. Did some good, and shut up the cough altogether. Lat. 10° 1 N. Lon. 22"= W. Monday, July 30th. — Fair, shady, pleasant weather ; fine breeze, though not quite fair, being from S. W. However, it is better than a calm, and we head S. S. E., and get along with the dusty travelling. As to health ; the laudanum, five drops at nine this A. M., 5 34 PRIVATE JOURNAL. five at four P. M., and eighteen last night at nine, seems to have nearly quelled the cough, and mollified the pain in the heart greatly. The acid is in abeyance. Nothing has occurred to-day, save that I have shaved my- self, and feel better. Lat. 9°15'N. Lon. 21° 22' W. Tuesday, July 31sl. — Fine, cool ! shady, pleasant weather ; but this S. W. trade-wind is not what we want, and with a strong Easterly current, lee-way, variation of the compass, &c. we are drifting bodily on to the coast of Africa; Senegambia being only four degrees further East than we. Laudanum last night at eight, fifteen drops, and at nine this A. M. ten drops, keeps down the cough and eases the pain in the heart, save one spasm on rising this morning, in which I thought I should die. God have mercy upon me, and let me see Home before I die ! Lat. 8= 7' N. Lon. 19° 50' W. Wednesday, August .st. — Fine, mild, shady weather ; but this S. W. trade is inconvenient; and, it having hauled to S. S. W. at two this P. M., we tacked ship, and are now standing W. on the larboard tack. Laudanum last night, fifteen drops, and ten drops this A. M. at nine, keeps down the cough, and eases the heart, so that I can just live, but that is all ; for any exertion, even talking, starts the cough, and I have to puff ten minutes to prevent it, and occasional spasms in the heart double me up. Good Lord, deliver me ! Lat. 7° 26' N. Lon. 18° 20' W. Thursday, August 2d. — Fine weather, rather warm, but shady. This S. W. wind bothers us. Tacked at four this A. M., and stood S. and E. ; and at noon were within two or three miles of where we were yesterday ; so that's sLoio. Lnudanum last night at nine, twenty drops, and this A. M. at nine, ten drops, has kept me, save occasional spasms, com- fortable. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 35 Ara supplied with charcoal from the galley, which, being pounded m a rag, keeps down the acid wonderfully. Tacked to Westward this P. M. at four. Lat. 7° 28' N. Lon. 18° 20' W. Friday, August 3d. — Five years ago, Saturday, 3d Au- gust, 1833, I saw and doubled Cape Horn, in the ship Com- merce. Fine weather, shady and comfortable ; and we are heading from W. by N. to W. S. W. on our variable S. W. trade ; but, with variation and current, we find this leg much better than the other. Laudanum at nine last evening, twenty drops, and this A. M. at ten, five drops, keeps me pretty comfortable, though I feel the laudanum in other ways, feverishness, drowshiess, etc. not pleasant. Oh ! for Rio ! and then oh ! for Home ! — for I made a great mistake in coming to sea, and yet it seemed marked out by Providence. Lat. 6° 53' N. Lon. 19° 34' W. Saturday, August 4th. — Fine, shady, though rather hot. The nio-hts are cool, however, and "that's a blessin'.'' Our variable S. S. W. trade continues, and we head as yesterday, at about five knots. Laudanum last night at nine, fifteen drops, and none to-day, has kept me so so. I am trying to dispense with it in the day- time, but we shall see. I am very weak, and can scarcely crawl upon deck and down again, and have very little appe- tite. My only hope, now, is in the mercy of God, or I shall never see Rio. Lat. 6° 12' N. Lon. 21° 1' W. Sunday, August 5th. — The holy Sabbath again, but these Sabbaths have made me think of those at home, and then I feel very sad. Will God ever restore me to those privileges again ? I feel so sick and weak to-day, that I have no men- tal energy ; and my mind wanders every where, and I cannot 36 PRIVATE JOURNAL. control it. Home — home — is always in my thoughts ; but alas ! I am far away, and sickness has laid its hand upon me heavi- ly. I try to put all my trust in God, and to leave my cares and troubles at His feet ; but the Devil is very busy with me. Laudanumjlast night, fifteen drops, this A. M. at ten, seven drops, has not been enough to keep me quiet. I have coughed that single dry hack more or less all day, while the pain in the heart, thus provoked, is very severe at times. I am very weak, often very dizzj^, have very little appetite, and am so thin that every one on board observes it. 1 cannot live so, long ; and, as the winds are contrary and our progress slow, I must begin seriously to prepare for death. Oh, God! must it be so? here at sea? far away from home and mother ? Thy will he done ! Lat. 5° 51' N. Lon. 20° 31' W. Monday, August 6th. — Fine, comfortable weather, and quite cool at night ; while all to-day the sky has been over- cast, and every thing looks dark, and my soul is dark, and my heart is heavy, and my spirits begin to fail, and the wind and current, and every thing is against us, and we go slow enough. Would to God I were now in Litchfield ! Last year I com- plained of being obliged to stay there,* surrounded with com- forts ; and this Spring refused to go there again.f and now God has punished my ingratitude by making me suffer pain, weak- ness, and (in some respects) want, far away at sea. I never will complain of any situation in the United States again, if God will only spare my life that I may return thither. Have been reading Doddridge's chapter (in " Rise and Pro- gress,") addressed to those under afiliction ; it has comforted me much. Laudanum, last night twenty drops, has not kept me quiet. I ate some Bonito (fish, caught alongside) last night at tea, and it made me sick, and 1 cascaded all my supper and about a * Because out of employment. •(• His objection was, that going there seemed to be a svistilute for going to sea, on which he was bent. PRITATE JOURNAL. 37 gallon of acid. I have coughed all day, and feel weak, and sore, and bad. Lat. 5°6'N. Lon. 19°12' W. Tuesday, August 7th, — Fine, cool, pleasant, shady- weather, and (but) head wind. Tacked at four this A. M., and are now heading from W. to W. S. W. Breeze very fresh, sea quite rough ; ship rolls famously. Five sail (one ship — the Asia — two brigs and two schooners) in sight this morning, all beating, as we are, to the Southward. Misery loves company. Laudanum last night twenty drops : slept deliciously : dream- ed of home and mother. Have coughed all day ; and after dinner (at which I ate nothing — no appetite) " threw ray bread upon the waters " a la Niagara. Terrible fit of acid, and yet I take a peck of char- coal per diem, Lat. 4° 21' N. Lon. 18° 45' W. Wednesday, August 8th, — Lat. 3° 30' N. Lon. 20° W. ' Thursday, August 9th. — Was too sick yesterday to write log. Cascaded all my breakfast about ten A. M., and also every medicine 1 took to keep things easy. Was very sick and weak all day. Ate a biscuit soaked in wwsweetened tea for supper, and the same in coffee, sans sugar, with a small bit of lean ham this A, M, for breakfast. I am convinced that the acid of my stomach is caused by some other disease, I am^very weak, and so thin, really my cheek-bones almost pierce the skin. Have coughed all day, which tears me to pieces. Head wind and light ; we don't go at all. Laudanum twenty drops last night, as usual. Lat. 3° 8' N. Lon. 21° 11' W. Friday, August 10th. — Went on allowance of water — one gallon per man per diem, day before yesterday, and such wa- ter ! It has been eighteen months in the hold, having been " reserve stock," which they never happened to want, and was 38 PRIVATE JOURNAL. not changed in port because it would have cost about six dol- lars ! Oh, this down-east economy ! And here, too, we are all alike. Equality is the order of the day ; and, from captain to cook, all have the same. The water is opaque with mud^ and has a perfume which knocks me down. I began again yesterday the use of brandy as a tonic, in very small doses. But these are past and passing. Now, this morning, thanks be to God, the wind hauled aft, and we have headed all day S. W. by S. i S. Now that's nearly a fair wind, so clap your hands. The weather to-day is delightful, and the sea is smooth, and all so pretty. Am continuing the brandy and laudanum. Had another acid fit, cast up, etc. before dinner. Have begun upon baked biscuit and weak brandy and water : think that can't sour. Oh, for home ! Just at this time (three o'clock P. M.) next year, if I am there, drink a tumbler of water from N. W. cor- ner of that well, and then bless God for his mercy. Lat. 2° 44' N. Lon. 22° 45' W. Saturday, August 11th. — Fine, pleasant weather, cool and comfortable ; wind, first half of the day, fair : last half, not so much so. Bat, 'cos of a Westerly current, we get South slowly, and Rio seems as distant as Jerusalem. Smooth sea and fine sailing. Laudanum last night twenty drops, did not have its usual ef- fect. I have continued today the baked biscuit and brandy, with charcoal, and up to this time (four P. M.) have felt no acid. But I have coughed all day, and it tears me to pieces, and I feel very weak still. Took two doses of salts on account of brandy. Read five or six chapters in Doddridge (" Rise and Progress"), and feel refreshed and restored thereby. Lat. V 58' N. Lon. 24= 18' W. Sunday, August 12th. — Fine, delightful weather, cool and pleasant ; and a fine, fair breeze, for we head S. W. by S. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 39 which, with the variation, is a S. S. W. course, due. The breeze is fresh and the sea well and handsomely " ruffled ;" so that this is just the beau-ideal of sailing, if a body only had health to enjoy it. However, the change of wind has raised my spirits, and I begin to hope once more. N. B. Thermometer on deck at this time (three P. M.) in the shade and wind, stands at 80 ; yet it is fairly cool to the feelings, because of the perfect draught, which is nowhere so perfect as at sea. However, we are now "within one" of the Line. Touching health. I found, two days ago, that the brandy and laudctnum together were getting " very expensive ;" so yesterday I took, at intervals, two doses of Epsom salts. So, I am sick and weak to-day. Some liquorice paste, which Capt. D. gave me to ease my cough, has turned sour regularly with- in ten minutes of swallowing, and come up again. Economi- cal that, very. Have been trying for two days past to make lime out of beef bones ; but, for some reason, we fail. While the char- coal from the galley, which the boy pounds for me, is seldom clean, and tastes horribly. I diet upon coffee without sugar and baked biscuit soaked therein, with a small bit of lean fried ham for breakfast, with a quarter wine-glass of brandy after- wards. For dinner, cold water, and baked biscuit soaked, and brandy, ditto, afterwards ; and ditto, ditto, for tea ; for their Bo- hea, without sugar, is too much. How different this from the nice, fresh bread and butter my dear mother makes, and that noble water, too ! Oh God ! bring me there again in thine own good time ! My cough continues, and grows somewhat worse, as does the pain in the heart ; for these retchings and stretchings make every tiling sore. The cough is that single, consumptive, dry hack, but which seems to increase with the increase of acid. Don't quite und.rstand it for that reason.* ♦ In a pencil note referring to this remark, and dated the next day, August 40 PRIVATE JOURNAL. I have had rest and quietness to-day, and some pleasant mo- ments in, as I humbly hope, communion with God. But the great interruption to rehgious thought and prayer is the thought of Home, which rushes into the mind of the poor, weak, sick man far away at sea, like a thunderbolt, driving all thought of religion and prayer from the lips, unless it be to pray that God would restore me to the green pastures and still waters of my native land, soon and well, Gh ! those who live at home at ease don't know how deso- late and forsaken I feel ; for I am sick, and the medicines I have are not the right ones, and (save the liquids) are not good. And all this I suffer because I took advice. The doc- tor told me Sup. Garb. Soda and Lime-Water were no use :* and yet. with either, I would be very comfortable. Lat. 0° 42' N. Lon. 25° 44' W. Monday, August 13th. — Fine, delightful, cool weather : the breeze we had yesterday has freshened very much ; and, being still sharp-braced, we roll and pitch famously — hence my penmanship. We crossed the Equator (by computation) at twelve o'clock midnight, last night, or this morning, which you please. Laudanum last night, twenty-five drops, didn't keep the cough still — I believe nothing will. Brandy and charcoal (diet as before) keep back acid ; and I am now waiting for Rio and for God, How I live ! How I sleep ! I, that was a perfect old ba- chelor in the regularity of my toilet, now have to turn out at seven bells, and dressing first (horrors !) go on deck, and wash and brush in the wind and sun. Stop, my tears ! Lat. 0° 56' S. Lon. 26° 57' W. Tuesday, August 14th. — Pine, pleasant weather ; cool and comfortable ; rough sea, and we head, close hauled, from 13th, John says — " Begin to doubt whether this cough has any thing to do with the acid. Is it not consumptive entirely "?" * Of no use in reference to a cure, is what was meant. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 41 S. W/to S. by W. and roll and plunge much — still, we go ahead. Saw, last night, bright lights to leeward ; whalers trying out oil : very picturesque. The pain in the heart became so severe yesterday, that I dropped brandy, and took at bed-time thirty drops of lauda- num. This kept the pain and cough more down, though the former troubled me much on rising. Lying down aggravates it, as it did in my dear father's case : for this is the same disease he had. I know it as well as any body.* Have been thinking to-day what a fool I am. I believe I am really given over to work folly. Now, the doctor at first evidently wanted me to try land ex- ercise through the summer, when alone it is possible ; and then, if that failed, to go to sea in the winter. This was rea- son and wisdom. But I, headlong as ever, knowing better than any body else, was bent and determined to go to sea.t And it must be done immediately, on the shirt-tearing principle. There was no place like Rio ; no salt water like that between Rio and New- York ; and this was the last vessel (N. B. It is the very last) ; and there was no time for chat, and the doctor was hurried, and Edward, my dear, good brother Edward, he was hurried, and I was hurried, and half ready, with a disease in the heart which might be fatal at any moment, and with, besides, an- other disease, either liver complaint or consumption, from which the doctor had expressed his opinion the acid sprung, and with no medicine for either of the first three above-named diseases, and a few alkalies, I came a sixty day voyage " for to cure " — what ? — " sour stomach .'" Now, either I am a perfect /oo/f, or else (and I pray it may • John was mistakep in this opinion, of course, t He had once been perfectly cured of what we all supposed to be the same complaint by going to sea, and there was nothing strange or unreasonable in his now preferring to repeat the experiment. 6 42 PRITATE JOURNAL. prove so) the whole has been ordained of God for wise reasons, for His glory and my own best good. At that, then, dearest Hiother, I'll leave it. I know I have your prayers, and that is consolation. Lat. 2° 46' S. Long. 27° 10' W. Wednesday, August 15th. — Clear, fine weather, cool and comfortable ; wind, same as yesterday, save less : course the same, sea smoother, and I shaved this A. M. Find my burnt biscuit very costive : have taken three wines of salts to-day. Have stopped coffee, and find heart and cough much easier ; thirty drops of laudanum last night ; coughed all night ; had an awful time. Wheat-gruel for dinner to-day, all lumps, half cooked. Had my boots blacked, to " go ashore " in. Lat. 4° 9' S. Lon. 27° 54' W. Thursday, August 16th. — Fine, pheasant weather, cool and comfortable ; wind fair, as usual, only too light, and the sea quite smooth. Think it grows somewhat warmer as we near the coast, parallel to which we are now sailing, at a dis- tance of about four hundred miles. Getting every thing ready for Rio, where we hope to be, with God's blessing, in ten days at the farthest. Hope our troubles and delays are now over, for we shall make a long passage of it, any how. I find the wheat water-porridge, salted, nutmeg'd and " the least bit" sweetened, very good ; and I eat it solely, save a piece of lean ham at breakfast. Took, last night, thirty drops of laudanum, and though the heart was at first quiet, I coughed for an hour, expectorating much — as I do now whenever I cough. This tore me to pieces, but I slept comfortably the rest of the night. Can't bear lying down. I take my " home- made" charcoal, three teaspoonsful before each meal, and one midway between each two, except the evening dose, which is at eight o'clock ; and yet, in ray coughing fits 1 expectorate acid. I fear the coal does no good — and fear to leave it off. Never mind, we'll trust in God's mercy yet. PRIVATE JOURNAL. 43 Lat. 5° 32 S. Long. 28° 46' W. Friday, August 17th. — Fine, pleasant, shady weather, though rather warmer than it has been. The wind is, as usual, variable : but, by being close-hauled, we make good course, heading from S. W. to S. by W. Laudanum last night, thirty drops, which kept the heart quiet, and having had a severe coughing and expectorating fit before I turned in, was very quiet after. Porridge and ham, as usual. Feel much better than I did five days ago, though still very weak, and all inside very sore. Lat. 6° 58' S. Lon. 29° 38' W: Saturday, August 18th. — Weather same as yesterday, save a little warmer ; though the nights are really cold. The wind is also the same ; very good what there is of it, and we trot along toiuards Rio. Had my coughing fit last night before turning in. Took thirty drops laudanum, but was disturbed by the cough seve- ral times. Miserable night of it. However, feel tolerably to- day. Diet as usual, and I use a little liquorice 'cos the bene- fit is greater than the evil. Oh, that I could fix my thoughts more on God ! — but home is ever uppermost. Is it wrong to think of home — abroad — sick — weak 1 Lat. 8° 34' S. Long. 30° 35' W. Sunday, August 19th. — Weather, same as yesterday. Wind, S. E. trade, and fresh, and the sea is very rough, and our " deep " barky rolls and pitches so I can hardly keep my seat. N. B. What d'ye think of my dropping laudanum, in such a swell, by a dim lamp ? Laudanum, thirty drops last night : the heart was quiet, and the cough, (having had its previous frolic, which has become regular !) behaved pretty well. I have not much enjoyed the day, for I am very weak, and for the above cause feel feverish, and sick, and my head aches, and all trains of religious thought are broken in upon by the 44 PRIVATE JOURNAL. thoughts of mother, Julia, and home. God bless them, and all the rest on this holy day ! Lat. 10° 38' S. Lon. 31° 39' W. Monday, August 20th. — Wind very firesh : weather, sea, &c. the same as yesterday. Laudanum, Iwenty-five drops last night, did very well. Cough moderate. Night, " all standing," comfortable. Have marked a dozen shirt collars J. W. G. with indelible ink. Feel some better to-day, though weak. Diet as usual. Lat. 12° 38' S. Lon. 32° 12' W. Tuesday, August 21st. — Weather cool, and warm again, wind light, and we don't head our course, and the sea rolls. Laudanum last night, twenty-five drops. Heart was easy ; cough was tmeasy last night ; and to-day — oh, it tears my life out : the heart seems drawn up into a bunch with every cough, and then expands with a snaj). I pray God we may soon get to Rio, for the clock of my life seems worn out, and just ticks along through His sustain- ing mercy. I am tired — weak — sick — and almost despond- ing. Lat. 14° 10' S. Lon. 33° 8' W. Wednesday, August 22d, — Weather to-day very chilly, with S. E. wind, no wonder. Put on my only pair of draw- ers, (how could! come to sea without flannel-shirts and draw- ers ? and yet I did so ; and, among secondary causes, what may I not attribute to this want ?) and felt more comfortable. The ship heads her course, and "goes it " merrily. Laudanum and diet as usual. Feel much more weak on account of a little salts. Have to use them each alternate day. So I feel weak, sick, and sad ; and think about home and mo- ther. Hope to be in Rio in four or five days. Lat. 15° 21' S. Lon. 33° 47' W. Course, S. S. W. i W. Rio lies in Lat. 22° 52' S. Lon. 43° 18' W. Thursday, August 23d. — Weather, wind, sea, etc., same as yesterday. Laudanum and diet as usual. Heart to-day very painful ; something appears to be running down on it, if PRIVATE JOURNAL. 45 I may say so. Cough very quiet, which is a great mercy. Stomach easy, but I feel very weak. Have been trying to lay my cares at the foot of the Cross. Capt. Dyer has been very kind to me all the passage, and should I not live to return, I hope this fact will be remem- bered. Lat. 17° 20' S. Lon. 35° 9' W. Friday, August 24th, — Weather, warmer than yesterday. Breeze fairer, though lighter ; sea smoother. Laudanum and diet as usual, save a cup of coffee at break- fast to strengthen me a little, which did harm instead of good. Feel very weak and somewhat feverish. Heart, uneasy all day : new and strange sensations : drawing, expanding, and a running from it, as of some liquid. Pain in chest and left arm also, severe. Cough more quiet, which I desire to be thankful for. Oh, how much more do I deserve than God has put upon me ! Lat. 19° 17' S. Lon. 36° 5' W. Saturday, August 25th. — Weather mild ; wind N., mo- derate ; sea smooth, sky clear, and all that. Laudanum and diet as usual. Cast up a small account just now, half past two P. M. ; but that's becoming a regular thing. This day I have salted : accordingly I feel weak and mi- serable. When shall I get home ? Lat. 20° 18' S. Lon. 37° 3' W. Sunday, August 26th. — Every thing as usual. Had a " coup de soleil,^^ (stroke of the sun,) this noon, which has prostrated me. Oh, God, have mercy upon me ! Lat. 21° 56 S. Lon. 38° 33' W. Monday, August 27th. — Weather, wind, etc. as usual. As to health, I have three regular vomiting bouts a day, and how can I be well ? — If we don't arrive at Rio soon, I shall ! 46 PRIVATE JOURNAL. These bouts are at 10^ A. M., at 3^P. M., and 7i P. M. Oh, God ! my punishment, just as it is, bears hard upon me. Oh, for that shady hill. South of our house, and a roll upon that grass ! Shall I ever see it again ? Lat. 22° 39' S. Lon. 40° 13' W. Tuesday, August 28th.— Wind, variable ; weather, pretty warm; we have doubled Cape Frio, and are now standing N. W. for Sugar Loaf. But, though sailing parallel to the Cape Frio shore, we cannot see it, (but can hear the surf break very plainly) on account of the thick haze. Laudanum, diet, cascading as usual ; which latter almost tears me to pieces : accordingly, I am very weak. I have, however, packed two trunks, cleaned go-ashore clothes, and done a world of work ; and am now debating about shaving. By Lat. made Cape Frio at 7 A. M. i^ixty-four days from New- York ! LETTERS WRITTEN BY JOHN W. GOULD AFTER HIS ARRIVAL. Rio, August 29ik, 1838. Wednesday/, P. M. Pr. Louisiana. Dear Edward, I have just time to say that we arrived here this afternoon, after sixty-tive days' passage. My health is, I think, no better ;* but I have no time to spe- cify. I will write more at large by a ship which sails on Sunday. I am received here with much kindness by every body, and am now at the counting-house of Mr. Brown, to whom I had a letter. Give my love to dear mother and Julia ; your wife, and all the family. Your aff't. brother. (Signature omitted.) Rio de Janeiro, \st Sept. 1838. Dear Edward, I came to sea for health, I believe ; and for the last six weeks at sea (of a nhie weeks' passage) I suffered more pain and agony than in all my life besides. A constant cough, which for that time ceased not day or night, roused the disease in the heart, and the spasms were terrible and the * As, at the time this letter was received, we knew nothing of John's fate or his Journal, this expression lo us was a mere comparison between the time of hi a sailing and arriving. . 48 LETTERS. pain constant : for six weeks and no medicine ! The cough was caught and refreshed nightly, because the draught down the companion-way blew right into my berth. I tried curtains ; they were suffocating. For all this, I had no medi- cine. Three bottles of the Doctor's mixture burst, the first week out; and for the last five or six weeks, all the alkali I had was the charcoal of the galley pounded by the cabin-boy in a rag ; and consequently, my stomach was floating acid all the time. For the last fourteen or twenty days, soon or immediately after each meal, I would vomit half of it right up, and all this time was so weak, that I went on all-fours up and down the companion-way. On account of the cough and pain in my heart, I have been able for two months to lie only on my right side. This is a rough sketch ; I do not consider it accidental, but the just punishment for my sins, inflicted by my God and my Father ; and I endeavor to kiss the rod, and hope the aflSLic- tion will be blest to me. On landing here, I was received with great kindness ; was shown to Johnson's Hotel, the best in Rio, where I have fine accommodations • and a landlord and lady and waiters, who are all attention. I have consulted Dr. Coates, the best physician here, and he has prescribed for me, and I think I feel some benefit al- ready. He says my diseases are complicated, but not serious ; and he hopes to have me ready for sea in a month. Don't think I shall go home in the Iwanowna. I have offers of advances of cash to any amount, if I wish ; so you need not send me any : and I shall come crawling along home some of these days. Give my love to all the family : dear Mother in especial. My eyes, affected by my disease, are very weak. Shall write again soon. Your brother, Truly and affectionately, JOHN W. GOULD. JOURNAL RESUMED. 49 The next communication from John, was a letter of advice of a draft on E. S. G. for one hundred and fifty dollars : written in the customary business form, in a strange (i. e. a third per- son's) hand, dated Rio de Janeiro, Sept. I3th, 1838^ and sign- ed, merely, by John. On that day he embarked (as appears by subsequent com- munications) on board the Brig Tweed, Capt, Robinson, in company with (as fellow-passengers) Isaac Mayo, Esq., Com. U. S. Navy, Wm. Henry Noland, Esq., Lieut. U. S. Navy, and Clement W. Bennet, Midshipman U. S. Navy. The Brig sailed on the day following, viz : Sept. 14th, 1838. John's Journal is now resumed and Jl?iished, as follows : September 20th, 1838. — I embarked on board the Brig Tweed, Capt. Robinson, on the 13th, and we left Rio the next morning, and now I am bound home, to my beloved mother's and sister's embraces. But oh, my mother, I fear I shall never see HOME again. Perhaps this may be the last I shall ever write. I have every comfort on board this vessel, and Capt. R. is so kind to me ! and Lieut. Noland of the Navy, who is a passenger, is very kind indeed. I am quite weak : my cough is terrible ; and the pain in the heart at times se- vere. September 24th. — Farewell dear mother, and sisters, and brothers. My end is approaching ; I can scarcely write. My head is dizzy. Bring me a light, George :* let me seal this. Oh, if God would only spare me to get home, I would always bless his name. (Signed) JOHN W. GOULD. * The Steward. 7 50 LETTERS, ETC. The leaf on which this was written, was doubled and seal- ed ; and on the other side, was directed, " Mrs. Sally McC. Gould, Litchfield, Conn." On the 28th of September, John was informed by the passengers (which it is manifest he already knew) that he could not long survive. He then indited the following, from the tenour of which it is obvious that his mind weis fast failing :— " The American Brig Tweed, of Balti- more — at sea, Rowland Robinson, master. Latitude, by observation, 12^ ^ 18' South. Longitude, by chronome- ter, 33^^ 20' West. Sept. 28th, 1838. In the name of God, amen ! I, John W. Gould, bom Nov. 5th, 1814, Litchfield, Connec- ticut, do ordain and make this my last will and testament, thereby revoking all others. Item 1st. — I give and bequeath to my dearly beloved sis- ter in the Lord, Julia Gould, the sum of five thousand dollars, on deposite in the Merchants' Bank, New-York, or in such other banks as I may have funds. Item 2nd.- — I give and bequeath to the American Bible So- ciety, Tract Society, and Foreign Mission Society, each, the sum of fifty dollars. Item 3rd. — To Sally McCurdy Gould, my beloved mother, I give and bequeath a nation's blessing, and my best love and affection.* Item Ath. — To Edward S. Gould and Roger M. Sher- man, I give in trust to them any or all amounts that I may have inherited, recently, up to my demise." * This sentence from John, dying, and partially unconscious what he was saying, is very affecting. LETTERS, ETC. 51 " When the above was noted down, Mr. G. became exhaust- ed, and said he would finish it when he recovered a little ; but he rapidly grew worse ; and there was no connexion of words from that time, though he frequently called for his mother ; and 'tis my belief, as well as that of the undersigned gentlemen, that the property to be left in trust to Messrs. E. S. Gould and Roger M. Sherman was for the benefit of his mother. (Signed) I. MAYO, Commander, U. S. Navy. WM. HENRY NOLAND, Lieut. Do. CLEMENT W. BENNET, Mid. Do. R. ROBINSON, Master, Brig Tweed." As John was an entire stranger to these gentlemen pre- viously to their meeting on board the Tweed, or at Rio de Janeiro, they could not, of course, know that the sum of money specified in the Will was not possessed by him — and they were not therefore aware, it would seem, that the whole of that document was indited while his mind was unsettled and his senses wandering. Perhaps it is needless to say, that to each of these gentle- men (excepting midshipman Bennet, whose residence we are unable to ascertain) we have addressed letters expressive of our thanks and our gratitude. And, in doing so, we found — as all who read this will readily see — the total inadequacy of language to convey our feelings ; the total inadequacy of ani/ thing to repay our obligation. The letters and remarks that now follow comprise all thsit can be added to John's brief memoirs. 62 LETTERS, ETC. " American Brig Tweed, at sea : Lat. 4° 41' S. Lon. 35° 50' W. October 1st, 1838. Dear Madam, Your son, John W. Gould, embarked in the Tweed at Rio, on the 13th Sept. : the next day she sailed for the United States. He was then very feeble ; and at the time he came on board, his recovery was despaired of by Dr. Coates, the most eminent physician at Rio. Mr. Gould gradually sunk till Sept. 28th, when it became evident that he could not survive many days. His fellow- passengers thought it proper that he should be made acquaint- ed with his situation, when he dictated the enclosed document, (the Will, on page 50.) He said he was " a member of the Episcopal Church, and, he hoped, a good one." He kept his bible and prayer-book in his berth with him, and frequently read them. He received every attention and kindness from all in the cabin. He continued to sink till October 1st, when he expired at eight o'clock A, M. respected and regretted by all on board. The v/eather being extremely hot, his body was committed to the deep — and our American flag half-masted — at one P. M. of the same day. I read the Episcopal (sea-burial) service. It will afford me much pleasure to answer any inquiries di' rected to me at my residence, Gresham, near Annapolis, Ma- ryland. I am, dear Madam, with sincere respect. Your obedient servant, I. MAYO, Commander U. S. Navy. To Mrs. S. M. a Gould, LETTERS, ETC. 53 Washington {City), Dec. 2d, 1838. My Dear Sir, I received your very kind letter when on the eve of de- parture from ray sister's residence in Ya. for this place, and hasten to answer it. You say that your late brother made mention, in his Jour- nal, of my kindness to him. I can only say that I was not as attentive as I could have wished, for my own very indifferent health rendered me at times indolent and careless. While your brother was in Rio, he staid at Mr. Johnson's hotel, and there he had every kindness and attention shown him that could have been rendered to an invalid. The Gard- ners were constantly with him, and many of our officers call- ed to see him. Our Commodore* was also very kind to him, and it was through him that I first learned that he was to be a passenger home in the Brig Tweed. The Commodore had a cot made for him, and sent his barge, with Passed Midshipman Hunter, to bring him and his baggage on board. I learned daily of his health through my friends, the Hun- ters ; and Mr. Hunter told me, previous to my seeing your brother, that Dr. Coates, his physician, had given it as his opinion that your brother could not possibly live to reach home, as his lungs were entirely gone : but I was agreeably surprised to find him looking so much better than I had been led to suppose ; and his chance of reaching home was, I thought, at least equal to my own. We left Rio on the morning of the 14th of September, when your dear brother and myself were first made acquainted ; an acquaintance which I enjoyed as much as any I had ever made previously : and would to God, it could have continued ! His amiable temper and kind manners rendered him dear to all in the vessel ; and I really believe that there was not an in- dividual on board who would not willingly have sacrificed all he had for your brother's recovery. * Commodore J. B. Nicolson, U. S. Navy. 54 LETTERS, ETC. For a few days previous to his death, he became at times very delirious ; and he died under the belief that his mother was dead, and near him. In his intervals of reason he would say to me, " Oh, Noland ! I cannot live long : but I hope God will spare me to reach home, that I may die in my dear mo- ther's arms." He talked incessantly of his dear mother, and of each of his family, calling them by name ; and the words "dear Edward," — "dear Julia," — were constantly on his lips ; and you may have the consolation of knowing that he died happy, for I believe he was a true Christian. He would fre- quently get me to read to him portions of Scripture, and he was often in prayer ; and he seemed to take great delight in trying to sing from his prayer-book (which was constantly at his side) even when his voice became too weak to be heard. I attended to laying him out after death, and we had him buried with the honors of war. The steward was a most faithful, kind and efficient nurse : indeed, 1 never witnessed anything like it before ; for, after attending to his day's duty, he would sit and watch by your brother all night, and could not be persuaded to take any rest. I have endeavored, my dear Sir, to give you a faithful re- cital of all that transpired previous to your brother's demise : but, could I see you, other things would probably occur to my mind that I in vain endeavor to summon up at this time ; and should I again be permitted to visit your city, I will with plea- sure avail myself of your very polite invitation to visit you. In the mean time accept, dear Sir, my kind regards for yourself and family, and believe me to be, Very respectfully and sincerely, Your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. NOLAND. To Edioard S. Gould, Esq. N. Y. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 55 Since the foregoing letter fi-om Lieut. Noland was receiv- ed, the Iwanowjia has returned to New- York. Captain Dyer informs us that John was not in any instance known to have raised or expectorated blood. He fully corroborates all that has been said about the very great attention and kindness that John received at Rio : Commodore Nicolson, in particular,' and many other gentlemen there, of wealth and distinction, visited him daily. John walked out two or three times ; but, by the advice of Dr. Coates, took very little exercise : he therefore confined himself principally to the Hotel where he lodged ; but was about the house most of the time, and appear- ed to be in good spirits, and gradually improving in health. Capt. Dyer accompanied him to the Brig when he embarked ; and as they came alongside, John, without assistance, seized the ladder-ropes, and mounted over the rail as if he were well. He little thought that when he ?iea;t crossed that rail he would be swathed in his v/inding-sheet ! for his manner was so ii'ee, and his whole deportment so cheerful, that Capt. D. says it was evident, so far as sickness was concerned, John had no doubt about reaching home. Of course, Dr. Coates, with the best intentions, but with, nevertheless, mistaken kindness, de- ceived him entirely as to his actual situation. It was, how- ever, perfectly natural for the Doctor to pursue that course : he could know little of John's character, and probably supposed that the truth would have a prejudicial effect even on his health, bad as it was. This misapprehension of the true state of the case, on John's part, is plainly the reason of our having nothing/rom him relative to his short residence at Rio ; and nothing further from him in regard to his last wishes and feelings, than is found in the few sad lines written on the 20th and 24th of September. Had he been earlier aware of his danger, he would not have left his thoughts at the approach of death, and his confident hope in the Redeemer's mercy, to be conjectured by his friends, or recorded by the hand of stran- gers. Those records are, indeed, most gratifying — those strangers were most kind : may God bless them for it ! — but 56 CONCLUDING REMARKS. how different to us would be John's own words, penned on the threshold of eternity, and reaching us, at this distance of time and space, as from the courts of Heaven ; telling us not to mourn his sufferings or his fate, but to rejoice, rather, in his exceeding joy ! reminding us that his conflict is over — his vic- tory won ! pointing out to us the loved ones who have gone before him, and, in the two-fold capacity of a dying brother and an ascending spirit, conjuring us not to neglect so great salvation ! ■P • OCCASIONAL WRITINGS THE HAUNTED BRIG PUBLISHED IN THE NEW- YORK MIRROR, MAY 17tH, 1834. It was on a beautiful moonlight nighf, when we were in the tropics, as I was hard and fast in the lee of the launch, very busy sleeping, that my person was saluted, and my nap cut short by a kick from old Harry Wilson, one of our quar- termasters. " Haul your wind out of this," said he, " you've watched the cable about long enough ; heave and weigh. I don't care if I come to an anchor ;" and so saying, he took possession of my moorings ; but as he carried too many guns for me, there was nothing to be said, and I quietly submitted, and prevailed on him to spin a yarn. The scene was in complete keeping with the subject : the full, beautiful, tropical moon, shone in unclouded splendour, and old Ocean lay outstretched, basking in her effulgence, lulling himself to sleep with his own eternal anthem, " the moonlight music of the waves." Our ship, as beautiful a sloop-of-war as ever carried the stars and stripes to be worshipped and feared by distant lands, was quietly ploughing her way through the almost unruffled surface of the deep. The wind was fair, though light, and our immense folds of spotless canvass were spread before it, glistening in the moon-beams, and ever and anon crimsoned with the phosphoretic illumination of the ocean, so common in the tropics. Our decks were nearly silent ; the sailors lay around in 60 THE HAUNTED BRIG. groups, dreaming, either sleeping or waking, of that happy home and all its endearments, to which we were rapidly has- tening; for, delightful truth, the sloop-of-war was "homeward bound." Those " who live at home at ease," can form no es- timate of the delicious sensations caused by those two words, in the bosom of the poor sailor, far away on the deep. In cold or heat, in storm and tempest, " homeward bound" is the soother of all afflictions, the watchword of joy. The man at the wheel, when relieved, would say, " her course is North, Jack; homeward bound." Such was the state of things on our decks, when old Wilson, having taken a fresh quid, and worked up his reckoning, began his yarn. " It's now going on thirty odd years since I one day drifted along down to Pine-street wharf, in New- York, and saw there a Baltimore-built brig, called the ' Rising Sun.' She was as neat and pretty a craft as an old tar would wish to clap eyes on — clinker built, black hull and painted ports, with long, heavy, raking masts and black yards — she looked like a real clipper : thinks I, that's the stuff for trowsers, so I shipped aboard of her, and the next day we were at sea. " For the first week we had fair winds^ and every thing went on regular, but after that there began to be the de- vil to pay, and no pitch hot. One night, when we were sailing along with just wind enough to give her steerage- way, crash went something aloft, and a man in the top hailed the first-mate ; ' main-yard's carried away in the slings, sir.' ' Main-yard carried away V growled the mate, ' why, damn it, there is not a cap-full of wind aloft.' ' Main-yard carried away?' said the old man, sticking his head up the companion- way ; ' why, the devil's in the brig !' He was right ! the devil was in the brig, as we found to our sorrow. " We turned-to and slung the yard again, and got every thing snug, and went on our course, but we didn't feel easy ; and one fellow begun to tell how he had heard in Philadel- phia of a brig called the Rising Sun, which was haunted ; but he didn't think, in New- York, that this was the one, and THE HAUNTED BRIG. 61 SO had said nothing. Well, we were talking and guessing about it, when this same fellow, Starboard Tom, sung out so f sudden, that we all jumped up as if the brig was a-fire. 'I say, shipmates,' says he, ' I'll tell you how we'll know if this is the same craft. That Philadelphia brig had a red spot on the deck of her fo'castle, as big as a man's head, close by the stanchion, amidships,' We all run down into the fo'castle, and there, sure enough, at the foot of the amidships-stanchion, was a dark-red spot — a spot of blood ! ' Tom,' says we, ' how came that there ?' ' Why,' says he, ' I was told in Philadel- phia, that the crew mutinized at sea, two or three years ago, and when the captain came down into the fo'castle to see a sick man, one of the ringleaders killed him with an axe, and that spot is where his head struck when he fell. The crew robbed the brig and left her, and she was picked up by a States man-of-war and taken into Philadelphia, and lay a long time at the wharf, and nobody would ship in her. And I 'spose, when the owners found they couldn't get any hands for her there, they sent her round to New- York, to man her, and so we're all sucked in !' I shall never forget how I felt that night. I a'n't afraid of any thing as long as I can see it ; but to be aboard a vessel that's haunted ! I can't stand that. " We went on for two or three days, expecting that some- thing more would happen, when one day, about dusk. Car- penter went down into the fo'castle, to get something out of his chest. He was a big, brave fellow, who didn't care for anything ; and had said all along, that he did not believe the brig was haunted at all. He had been down there but about five minutes, when we heard a little noise, as if a man was strangling and trying to call for help ; and the next thing, we heard a yell of agony, and Carpenter burst up the hatch ; his face all black, his throat black-and-blue, his mouth wide open, and his eyes starting out of his head ; and looking back, as if something was chasing him, he screamed out — ' Oh, God ! he's choking me,' and fell senseless on deck. Well, some run for one thing, and some for another ; and after 62 THE HAUKTKD BRIG. working at him a long time, he came-to. When he was a little better, we asked him what was the matter. ' Why,' says he, trembling all over, ' when I had got what I wanted out of my chest, I turned into my berth, and, as 1 rolled over, I thought I heard something moving in the fo'castle, so I turned round to see who it was, when I was knocked back into my bunk, and I feli two hands choking me, though I could not see anything, and I tried to get away, but I could not stir ; but, just as I begun to give up, I felt something on my cheek, like a man's cold breath, and then the hands let go, and I sung out, and run on deck.' That was enough for us ; we all felt as if we were in hell. That night no one went into the fo'castle, but we all lay on deck, in the lee of the long boat. Starboard Tom had the first wheel, in the raid-watch, and all the rest of us lay asleep, forra'd. The second-mate had the deck, and was leaning over the weather-rail asleep, and the captain was below in the cabin. About three bells, Tom thought he saw something moving on the weather- gangway, walking fore and aft, like a man on watch ; but as it was dark, he could not make out what it was ; so he stood watching it, and as it grew plainer, it looked like a man dressed in white, and he was so scared, that when it was four bells, he did not dare to call his relief, but stood looking to see what would happen. About five bells, it disappeared, and Tom was getting ready to hail for his relief, when up came a man out of the cabin, dressed in white flannel-drawers and shirt, and a white nightcap, and Tom thought it was the skipper. It went to the weather-rail, and looked into the face of the second-mate, who was leaning there asleep, and stood so for five minutes. " ' Now,' thought Tom, ' stand by for squalls ; the old man is going to blow up the second-dickey, for being asleep on watch.' " Just as he thought so, the figure turned round, and walk- ed forra'd, and Tom stood looking after it, when suddenly the THE HAUNTED BRIG. 63 real captain stuck his head up the companionway, and sung out, " ' Tom, how do you head, there V " ' Oh ! the ghost !' cried Tom, and fell down in a fit ; and we had to work at him a long time to bring him to. But things got quiet again, and the night passed oif without any more disturbance. " The next day, about four bells in the forenoon watch, the captain called for Carpenter to bring a small chisel into the cabin, and ordered him to make two little holes in the pan- nels over the head of his berth. Now, I believe he had spo- ken to the ghost, and he had told him there was money hid there, and that was what he haunted the brig for. At any rate we had no more trouble with the ghost j and as the cap- tain was a wide-awake devil for carrying sail, he cracked away on her, so that we made the river Plate in a fortnight. We discharged our cargo in Monte Video, and loaded again with hides and horns, and the fore-hold was stowed with horns. " We had been at Monte about six weeks, and were to sail in a day or two, when one day, towards dusk, I was down in the fo'castle, and as I lay in my bunk, I heard the horns in the hold rattle as if some one was tossing them about at a great rate. Now we had stowed them as tight as they would wedge^ and I thought the devil himself could not make them fetch away ; so I determined to see what the matter was. The next morning, when the hatches were taken off, I looked into the fore-hold, and there the horns were wedged just as we left them ! " That was enough for me, and 1 run away that day, and went a board a ship bound for New- York. Two days after, the Rising Sun sailed, and in a week we followed her. We had been out to sea about three weeks, and were just north of the line, when, one morning, a lookout aloft sung out, ' Sail ho !' We bore down on the craft, and about noon we got within speaking distance. She was a brig, standing the same way 64 THE HAUNTED BRIG. m we were, with all sail set, stun'sails on both sides, yet she did not make much way. " We hailed her, but she said nothing; we hailed again, but still she said not a word ; and we then saw that there were no men on her decks. So our captain spoke ; says he, ' They are all fast, keeping watch below ; we'll turn them out, before the brig falls overboard.' And he sent a boat to board her, and I was one of her crevv. As coon as I got on her deck, I knew her. She was the Rising Sun ! Every thing on deck looked right, and she was going regular enough before the wind, but there was no living thing to be seen. Jackets and shoes lay knocking about decks, as they always do. The people's chests were "all in the fo'castle ; and the captain's dunnage was in the cabin, as if he had just been writing. Nothing was taken away, nor any thing left adrift ; every rope was belayed right, and coiled up regular, and the decks were clear. The log-book lay open in the first-mate's state- room, and a pen, with ink in it, lay athwart it, and at the end of the last day's work (about a week before) was this — -A strange man seen on the forecastle' — and then a mark, as if he had begun to write something else. " That was enough for us. We hauled off as quick as we could, and got aboard our own ship, and made sail to get away ; when suddenly, a tall, black man appeared on the fo'castle of the Rising Sun, walked slowly aft, and then went down into the cabin. The brig gave a heavy lurch to port, and went down head-fo'most : and so ended the voyages of the Haunted Brig. What became of her men, nobody knew ; they were never heard of to this day." OFF CAPE-HORN. PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK MIRROR, JUNE 7tH, 1834. It was about six bells in the first watch, one night, when we were off the pitch of the Horn, in the Pacific ocean, bound home, that the first-luff came on deck to look at the weather ; and, having taken his squint, he thought it was getting thick to windward. He consulted with the skipper, and between the pair of them they thought best to shorten sail. Nothing above to'gallant sails were standing, as we had sent down our royal-masts, to come round the Horn ; so they were clewed up, and the order given — - Lay aloft, fore-and- maintopmen of the watch, reef the foretopsail." As it was nearly a dead calm, and the ship had scarcely steerageway on her, I thought this was one way to do business ; but, as I knew very well that I had no business to thirtk, because Cap- tain Frank was paid for doing the thinking for all hands of us, I clewed up my thinking-tacks, and stood at my station, the lee-wheel, to see that the ship did not fall overboard, Fore-and-maintopmen went aloft, and reefed the fore-topsail accordingly, and were laying down when Sam Stanley, in fleeting on the futtock-shroud, took hold of a ratlin, like a lubber; it parted, and he came down by the run; and as James Wilson, one of the fo'castlemen, was standino- on the hammock-netting, he knocked him down upon deck, and him- self fell overboard. I heard, as being aft I could see nothing, a heavy fall on deck, and a plash in the water : and the next 9 66 OFF CAPE-HORK. instant came the startling cry, " man overboard !" The first- lieutenant was luckily on deck, and instantly taking command, his coolness did the necessary, handsomely. '• Life-buoy, there !" said he; and before the words were out of his mouth, both the buoys, and fifty pounds of ward- room beef, which hung at the same davit, were in the water ; and so Sam Stanley had board and washing, and lodging into the bargain. "Lower awixy the larboard-quarter-boat!'' he continued, as calmly as if he had been setting a studding-sail. " Man weather-main and maintopsail braces ! Lower away third cutter !" The maintopsail was backed instantly, and the two boats manned and lowered ; but before they reached the water, a new trouble presented itself— the plugs could not be found, and without them the boats, of course, could not leave the ship, as they would fill and sink ; so there was an agonizing delay to search for them, which at this moment seemed an age. They were found in two or three minutes, and the boats at last left the ship, each having a midshipman and a lantern — the former /or a bother, the latter /or use — and as it was dark, so that nothing could be seen, we waited anxiously to hear. In a minute or two we heard the officer of one of the boats sing out, " There he is, men ; pull away !" In an instant af- ter, he added, " D it, it's only a buoy !" And soil worked for more than an hour. At one moment, the mid would sing out that he had found him, and the next contradict himself; and on board, every thing was in an uproar; for a "man overboard," and that alone, will bring the watch below on deck without orders ; and we stood about in anxious suspense, our hopes being dashed as often as raised. At length, the search proving entirely fruitless, the boats were reluctantly recalled, and all the comfort they could give us was, that they had found one buoy. Wilson had, in the meantime, been picked up and placed under the surgeon's care, who now made report to the captain that his V ead was seriously injured by striking on a ring-bolt OFF CAPE-HORN. 67 when he fell on deck, but that he was doing well. As it was nearly a calm, we lay with our maintopsail aback all night, hoping, that as one buoy was missing. Stanley might be on ii, and that when daylight came we might see something of him or it, to change this dreadful uncertainty to a certainty of some kind ; and, in order that he, if alive, might be aware of it, signal-lanterns were sent up to the mast-heads, and guns were fired every few minutes. Daylight at length began to appear, and it was hailed by us with an intensity of joy which, homeward-bound as we were, the sight of the highlands of Neversink would not have equalled. Look-outs were sent aloft by the dozen, to see if they could make out any thing. After a long and anxious survey of the ocean in every direction, the look-outs answered the oft-repeated hail of the first-lieu- tenant with the chilling declaration that nothing was in sight ! He turned away with an emotion which he did not attempt to conceal, and which did him honor ; and for an instant there was a dead silence fore-and-aft. The order was then reluct- antly given — " Lay down from aloft ; man the lee-braces" — and we braced up again and went on our course, giving Stan- ley up for lost. Just as the sun rose, the look-out on the foretopsail-yard hailed the officer of the deck, saying that he could see the other life-buoy in the sun's wake, and he believed there was something on it ! This news spread new life, and two boats were instantly lowered, to pull in that direction. Lono- and anxiously we watched them, and when they reached the buoy, anxiety amounted almost to agony, for Stanley was a first-rate sailor, and universally liked. When the boats came near enough for us to see their motions, the crews rose and waved their hats, as if giving three cheers ; and in spite of the disci- pline of a man-of-war, the cheers were repeated by all hands, so heartily that the sloop-of-war trembled to her centre. They came alongside, and Stanley was brought over the gangway, evidently exhausted, but still alive ! As soon as he had been 68 OFF CAPE-HORN. overhauled by the surgeon, and had freshened the nip with a stiif glass of grog, he came on deck to tell us about it. He said he got on the life-buoy the instant it struck the wa- ter, but being stunned by the fall, he could not hail the boats to show where he was, although they were sometimes so near as almost to touch the buoy with their oars. He said he heard every thing that was said and done, Saw the lights we sent up, and knew that we were lying-to for him — that gave him some comfort ; and the wind being right aft, he had drift- ed the same way we had, and was a little ahead of us, "be- cause,"' said he, " while you were hove-to I was under wjiy." Now, Sam was, like most tars, given to making mistakes on the subject of property, and had " fisted" a good lot of other fellows' dunnage. So one of the luffs asked him — " Well, Stanley, what was you thinking about while you was on the buoy last nighty expecting to be used up by John Whale ?" ■" Why, sir," says Sam, giving the tafferel of his trowsers a hoist, " I was thinking who would pin the frocks and trow- sers I had stowed away aboard." It was now a dead calm, and the ocean exhibited a singu- lar phenomenon. There had been no gale recently, nor any- thing else to cause a swell, and yet there was a tremendous sea on, and the ship rolled as if she would pitch the sticks out of her. The explanation of this circumstance is, that we were not above forty miles from Gape-Horn, and all this com- iDotion was caused by the meeting of the Atlantic and Pacific ; the contrary currents of these two mighty oceans were at war, and therefore " the deep lifted his hands on high." About four bells in the forenoon watch, the wind began to blow again from the north-west, and we made sail for the Horn ; and at seven bells the surgeon reported to the captain, that in consequence of some internal bruise, Wilson was much worse, and could not live the day out. This intelligence took very little hold of us, for it was a common thing, and no trick at all for men to die on board ^ and accordingly it was little minded, and the conversation which followed tiiis announce- OFF CAPE-HORN. 69 ment in the mess-room of the forward officers, may be taken as a fair sample of sailors' feelino^ on the subject. " There, Sails," said the boatswain to the sail-malcer, point- ing to the sick-bay, " there will be a job for you, something to take the turns out of your fingers. Get your palm and nee- dle, and stand-by to sew that man up in his hammock, and tell the gunner you want a couple of round shot for the use of the dispensary, to ballast one of the doctor's chickens, and send him to Davy's locker, feet-foremost." " What's to pay. Pipes?"' answered the sail-maker, coolly, " has the doctor hulled one of the poor fellows at last ? or have his life-halliards parted at the tie ? Send him some ratlinstuff, so that he can set up brace-backstays abaft, and cross his roy- al yards, and call all hands up anchor." " We sha'n't have to man the capstan for him," interposed the gunner, as he mixed a pannikin of grog, stiff enough to float grape-shot ; " we shall man the lee-gangway, and Old Pipes will call 'all hands to bury the dead.' " "1 say, Mac," said the master's-mate to the purser's-steward, "how does Wilson's name stand on the books? You'll have to foot up his account shortly, and give him his discharge from the State's service ; he's going to ship under Commodore Da- vid Jones, aboard the ship Pacific, ten thousand guns, besides stern and bow-chasers. His time is about out — he's done with rations and grog" "Well, I'll bed ," says Dandy- Jack the carpenter, "if you don't take it easy. Here's a man dying, and you make no more of it than I would of plugging a shot liole in the ship's upper works."' " After action's over, Chips means," said the boatswain, " he'd take the best of d good care not to sling himself in a bowline over the ship's side to plug a shot-hole in time of ac- tion, for fear his own upperv/orks would get knocked in with a round shot; for that would spoil the looks of his figure- head, and perhaps carry away his cutwater." " There, Chips," says the purser's steward, " you'd belter 70 OFF CAPE-HORN. haul off, and repair damages. Old Pipes carries too many guns for you." "You bed ," said the carpenter, as he kicked over his camp-stool, and made a straight wake for the deck. And while these thoughtless men laughed, and made a mock of death and all its horrors, the poor object of their mirth lay in his cot, surrounded by the noise and confusion of a man- of-war ; silent and sad, knowing that he was beyond mortal aid ; reflecting that now the last scene of life was to be acted ; that nothing remained but to die. Come, when it may, the hour of death is one of awful trial, of deep, overwhelming solemnity; and nowhere is it more awful, more agonizing, than on board ship at sea, far away from home and friends, destitute of the arm of support, the word of consolation, and the voice of prayer : where the only mention of the name of God is in oaths and blasphemies. Would any one, accustomed to the quiet of the apartment of the sick on shore, have thought, from the scenes presented to his view on the berth-deck of our ship, that a fellow-creature lay there at the point of death, and that every one was aware of it ? Although there was, in the immediate vicinity of the sick- bay, some little attention paid by the sailors to the feelings of their sick shipmate, by lowering the voice and avoiding to touch his cot ; yet, in the crowded limits of the ship, none were so far distant that the sensitive ear of sickness could avoid hearing their loud, thoughtless discourse. In one place two men v/ere fighting, and their fearful curses and violent blows grated harshly on his ear, who was so soon to stand in the presence of that God whose name they profaned and whose wrath they invoked ; while he, with his fast-failiny breath, besought His mercy. Others were laughing, and tell- ing stories, and enlarging upon the delights of home. That word had, but yesterday, been the theme of A is joyful medita- tions. In health his joy, in sickness his consolation ; but both were now about to fail him ; and here, ten thousand miles OFF CAPE-HORN. 71 from home, his life was to end. Three years before, in the ardour of youth, he left his happy home and dear friends, to enter the service of the United States ; and having now near- ly circumnavigated the world, he was returning on the wings of hope, to taste the sweets of a mother's and sister's love. But that bUss was not in store for him ; he was ftist falling into the cold embrace of death, and was soon to he committed to the deep, and find his place of repose in the vast Pacific. Although amidst a multitude, he felt that he was alone, and recalling his thoughts from home, and all external objects, and commending himself, and all who were dear, to the care of Him who made the sea, and prepared the dry land, he waited patiently for death. Its coming was not long de- layed ; and at noon, in the heartless formalities of a man-of- war, the surgeon made his report to the captain, that "at twelve o'clock, meridian, died, in consequence of an internal contu- sion, caused by falling from the hammock-nettings upon the deck, James Wilson, seaman." The captain's reply was, as it always is, to all messages — '• Very good, sir ;" and then the sail- maker, in presence of the assistant-surgeon and the master- at-arms, proceeded to sew him up in his hammock, and put- ting in two round shot at the feet to sink him, report was made that "the dead was ready for burial." It is not customary, however, to bury the dead at noon ; and therefore the body was brought on deck, laid on the lee-gang- way-board, and covered with a jack, (a blue flag, with white stars,) there to lie, until the rules of naval etiquette would al- low of its interment. Cape Horn was now in sight, and as we rapidly neared it, the wind, North-west, increased so much, that at seven bells, in the afternoon watch, all hands were call- ed to reef the topsails ; and, immediately after, the legal time, eight bells, having arrived, came the solemn call, "all hands to bury the dead." Every soul on board appeared on the lee- gangway, according to rule, and all standing uncovered, the lieutenant, acting as chaplain, commenced reading the solemn burial service of the Episcopal Church, appointed to be used 72 OFF CAPE-HORN. at sea ; and the gangway-board being placed on the rail, and the lashmgs cast off, and the jack withdrawn, it was ready to be cast into the sea. The wind had increased to such a de- gree that it drowned the voice of the reader, so that only here and there a word was audible, and the first-lieutenant waved his hand at the proper place in the service, and the corpse was launched overboard, and the sullen plash fell impressively on every ear, announcing that another was gone to his long home. We were now abreast of the Horn, about a mile distant ; and although the wmd was North-west, the waves dashed against those eternal rocks, in defiance of it, throwing the foam moun- tains high ; and the loud roar of those conflicting oceans was a fitting requiem for the soul of him who slept beneath their troubled waters. The sun went down in the pride of his strength, and the full effulgence of his glory, and his depart- ing rays illumuied three of the noblest of the works of God : — the Atlantic ocean in front, the Pacific ocean on the riffht, and on the left, the bold promontory. Cape Horn, the " last of the Andes." A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK MIRROR, JULY 5th, 1834. A PoRTUGUE breakfast ! it is an awful thing ! it is a terri- ble trial ! in short, it is a foretaste of starvation. Breakfast ! there is somethinsf magical in the very word. It arouses onr imaginations : it sends our fancy abroad to feast on buckwheat-cakes and molasses. With that word we associate all that is most dear in the fair (edible) creation 1 Ham and eggs ; beefsteak, toast and butter, slapjacks and , but stop ; my lips grow moist at the thought, {vulgice, my mouth waters,) so I rein up and use the napkin. Break- fast, then, in the abstract, is sweet ; in theory, deHcious ; in the reality, transcendant ; but a Portugue breakfast — Oh ! that is the devil. In a Yankee breakfast, there is a certain wherewithal — a something tangible — a quid pro quo ; but in a Portugue breakfast, there is neither " quid " nor any thing else. A Yankee breakfast is a solace to the soul, refreshing to the mind, invigorating to the physical frame ; in short, 'lis some- thing ; but a Portugue breakfast is teasing to the imagination, wounding to the heart, inconvenient to the inner man, trou- blesome to ourselves, bothersome to our neighbors ; briefly, 'tis nothing, or rather 'tis worse than nothing; 'tis " all talk and no cider :" a " — — of a fuss, and nothing to eat." Calmly sunk old Ocean to rest, one sweet evening in Octo- 10 74 A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. ber, 18—, when we were in latitude 50° South, longitude 84° West, in the Pacific ocean. '' Sweet," saith the preaclier, "is the sleep of the labourer :" argal, old Ocean took his comfort that night, anyhow. And 'twas fair he should, for, apart from former labours, he was to witness new troubles with the com- ing day. I say nothing of the gale that was to blow, for that's a trifle— nor of the sea that rolled, for that's nothing (it did not breakover the fore-to'-gallan' yard); but in storui ?nd tempest, he was to produce a t^ Portugue breakfast ,^ — to melt our hearts within us — to raise our hopes only to dash tliem down ; to make us [viilgice] lick our chops, all for nothing. And yet, although such was the fearful future, no portents announced its coming. Sweetly did the vast Pacific glide into slumber — faintly came its evening hymn of praise upon my delighted ear, as I lay at length on deck, gazing in mute admi- ration upon its placid bosom ; the fountains of the deep rested from their labour ; the sea for once was caught napping. What a field was here offered for the imagination to range free and unconstrained — that vast sub-aqueous world lay open and inviting : here's at you, thinks I, and made a dive, (not literally, but figuratively,) and lying, as aforesaid, njy thoughts instinctively recurred to former times, — to " 3'ears beyond the flood:' In that beautiful mirror of the Naiads, imagination traced the outlines of scenes and forms most dear ; the forms and faces of the loved ones upon earth — and as the illusion be- came stronger and more vivid, the heavy swell of the ocean imparted motion and life to those dear objects, and in the spirit, I was once more in my own land — the vast Pacific changed to a sweet lake of New-England, and those creations of fancy, to the reality — the wooded vales and delicious girls of old Connecticut. How blissful these dreams, and how agonizing- to awake from such slumbers; but, alas ! for the frailty of things hu- man. While I was capering away to old Connecticut in ima-* gination, I was suddenly taken ail-aback, and my air-castles A PORTUGUK BREAKFAST. 75 demolished from " turret to foundation-stone," by the hoarse summons of the boatswain, calling;', "All the starboard watch, 'hoy." There ! the bubble was burst, and I was once more lying on the forecastle of the sloop-of war in the Pacific ocean, latitude and longitude as aforesaid. The Pacific ! what a volume of thought is comprised in that word ! tlie Pacific ! it covers one third of the globe, and embosoms thousands of islands ; it washes the coast of Japan, gently kisses the spicy shores of the eastern Archipelago, mur- murs along the snowy beach of Panama, and breaks in thun- der as^ainst the iron-bound coast of Patajjonia. Bearing upon its bosom every variety of vessel, from the frail canoe of the savage to the line-of-batt!e-ship of the " queen of the seas ;" rippled by the light trade-winds of the tropics, and lashed into fury by the wild hurricanes of the polar cir- cles ; it is an ocean — ay, every inch of it. Blessed, also, are they who traverse its vast surface ; for, with the exception of now and then a norther, it is pacific ; else why this delightful calm in 50^ South latitude? It is a lovely ocean, it is the "calm summer's sea" of young ladies' albums, to a T ; it is a genuine personification of[ aqueous per- fection ; so tame is it, that old women could sail, a ship upon it, with the help of a few marines ; in short, the Pacific is plciisanter with "all hands ahoy," than the Atlantic, with two watches in and duff for dinner. I say, shipmate, hast ever doubled the Horn ? if not, bring not thy petty experience of the pleasures of the indigo-blue of the Atlantic, into contest with the delights of the lio-ht bkie Pacific. No matter how oft thou hast been nearly "chawed up" in the chops of the Channel ; no matter what may have been thy voyages up the Straits, or on the coast of Africa ; unless thou hast been round the Horn, lo ! and behold, again I write thee down an ass. Heave, and weigh. Top youT booms, and be off. Losing my way in these imaginings, I turn my thoughts towards the land I have just left, I hope for ever ; for grant, 76 A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. ohj ye salt-water deities, that I may never again double the Horn, and tread the soil of the republic of Chili ! Oh ! Valparaiso, thou art the "Vale of Parodise" — to those who like thee, but not to me. Thy " Tops" I abhor ; thy " PiiUaperees" I despise. True, thy damsels are beauteous, but then they are shy as partridges. The Andes, covered with eternal snow and glistening in the morning sun, are splendid, but that is all I can say for Valpa ; so, as Peter Peebles would say, " Macer, call another cause." PioUing over at this junc- ture, my head came somewhat violently in contact with the fluke of the starboard anchor, my dreams were dispelled, and, as I gathered myself up, the quartermaster of the watch struck two bells. " Ah !" thought I, " 'tis time to turn in ; or, as ladies ashore would say, time to retire." So with a long look to wind- ward, a yawn, and a stretch, this idle idler went below, and r-oUed into his hammock, stowing jacket in the after clue, hat and shoes in the forward one, and was fast, in the tossing of a marlin-spike. " Sweet," as aforesaid, " is the sleep of the laborer." I had been very busy, (sitting down ;) argal, I was a laborer ; argal-, my sleep was sweet. Q,. E. D. My dreams were, as all sailors' dreams are, about '' sweet- hearts and wives." True it is that grog and soft tack came in too, but they were only accompaniments, or side-dishes in the feast. But, alas for the instability of dreams; they uni- versally stop in the wrong place. And so it was in this in- stance ; for, as I had almost reached the kissing part, my bliss was prevented by the call of the master-at-arms ; it being four bells in the morning watch. " On deck, on deck, all you idlers, turn out ; d'ye hear." "Oh !" says I, " I wish you were in five hundred fathom blue water, for your pains. Why couldn't you wait five mi- nutes, till I had finished the kissing, and then I would have turned out, satisfied." But all this grumbling was of no avail ; the mischief was done ; and, hoping " better times," I awoke to my present situation. A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. • 77 When my eyes were thoroughly rubbed, and my senses col- /ectedj I perceived, by the roll of the ship and the noise on deck, that we had a gale of wind to comfort us withal ; and, rolling carelessly out of my hammock, I soused into some- thing less than a fathom of water, with which moist fluid I found the berth-deck was all afloat; ('twas about time to find it out when 1 was half drowned !) so I jumped upon a mess- chest, to finish my toilet ; for we sea-dogs have, after all, no especial desire for the personal acquaintance of salt water, and are as careful about a ducking as any lady in the States. This job was worse than slushing a royal-mast in a topsail-breeze, for I had to hold my clothes with one hand, myself with anor ther, and put on my traps with the third ; so 1 had to work all sorts of traverses, from Tom Cox's down to Jemniy Duck's; and, when the ship rr lied heavily, it was no fool of a trick to avoid fetching away to leeward, let alone dressing ; so I puff- ed and blew like a grampus in the North Sea, and after knocking about a long time, succeeded in arraying my lovely person. Now, the next move was to get on deck ; and that, too, required all my skill in navigation. First, I was to avoid getting my pretty feet wet. Secondly, I was to mind the '• weather-roll," test I should fetch away to leeward, and break all my bones, and get well soused into the bargain. Thirdly, and especially, 1 was to avoid running afoul of any fellow's hammock, and awaking him; for one sleeping Jack roused, is worse to deal with than half a dozen lions rampant. "You son of a gun," he would say, suiting the gesture to the word, and forthwith 1 should be among the " killed, wounded, and missing." So I took an observation, and made sail according; to Gun- ter, and after lots of trouble and a dozen hair-breadth escapes, I fitlally reached the deck. Here the prospect was quite charm- ing. Close-reefed fore and raaintopsails, foresail, and storm and middle staysails, and fbre-and-main-spencers, were all the sail we could show, and the water walked over decks fore and /S A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. aft, and the wind blew — whew — w — w — w ! how it blew ; 'twould tak : two men to hold the officer of the deck's jacket on. " This is rare sport," thinks I, as I hove to under the lee of the launch, to consider the probabilities of a ducking. "Come, you bloody soger," says an old maintop-man, "you bone-polisher, you dog's enemy, slue yourself, take a round turn and belay. Be off with yourself ! What are you doing on deck here ? Show leg, or I'll capsize you down the hatch by the run." As nothing makes old tars so angry as to see an idler on deck in a gale, I concluded to haul my wind while the play was good ; so I prudently made my descent by the walk, in- stead of the run. Alas ! what a scene the berth-deck then presented to view. In the lee-scuppers the water was about two feet deep, and the " master-at arms," and his gang, with trowsers rolled up, shoes and jackets off, were baling it up in buckets, and passing them up the main-hatch. A number of fellows had turned in, on deck, the night before, it heing so pleasant that they did not expect any bother ; now, their beds were floating jollily about, well soaked, while thsy lay on their nif ss-chosts, wa(ching the " winding-way" of their " sleeping-bags ;" wet and shivering, and swearing to keep themselves warm. How they must have felt, on awakening, to find themselves sailing about the berth-deck at ten knots an hour ! 'Twould have made a saint laugh to take one look at them. At any rate I laughed till I cried, and came near getting my top- lights stove-in for my ill-timed merriment. But I laughed out of the other corner when I came to see the state of the mess-room, in which I was steward's deputy. It was all afloat, books and instruments knocking about the deck, camp-stools adrift : hats, shoes, jackets, candlesticks and candles lying about in "most admired disorder," and all well moistene i. The first ■ ound I heard from those dej ths pro- found, as I rolled aft, was a good fat expletive from the lips of A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. 79 my master Tom, the steward, as he surveyed the state of the nation ; and next, by way of accompaniment obligato, came a grunt from the steerage. Now, Shutty, our dandy carpenter, had managed to be on the "list," ever since leaving Valparaiso, rightly judging, that as he was good for nothing aboard, (only live lumber,) he might be sick as well as not, and so he had hung himself up in his cot in the steerage, for all the world like an " entire swine ;" therefore a grunt especially beseemed him, and as his cot brought up every moment in mid- volley against the mess- room bulkhead, he gave utterance to a direful one. He got but little pity from us, however, for we all knew he was not burdened with understanding; the only thing in his favour being his personal appearance, which, with the extra care he took of it and his whiskers, obtained for him the sig- nificant appellation of "dandy Jack." Tom and I turned to, to clear up the mess, picked up the dunnage and baled out the water, and then overhauled the lockers to get some grub for breakfast ; and while we were thus engaged, it came into Shutty's little head that he wanted a little attendance ; so he hailed — " Tom !" — no answer. "Tom!!" — no answer; we were too busy to mind him. " Jack !" in strain da-capo. I was deaf all of a sudden. " Tom ! Jack ! !" he roared, out of all patience ; we made a great clat- ter, and gave no reply. " D n the pair of you," he added with emphasis, " I'll report you to the officer of the deck if you don't answer. Tom, here !" " Speak to me, Mr. S. ?" said Tom, lifting up his head, as if he had just awakened. " Yes, d n you," he gasped in reply, " come here." " Ay, ay, sir," says Tom ; but took the best of good care not to ffo near him. After a while, when I got ready, I v^^ent to him, and asked very innocently—" Want me, Mr. S. ?" " Yes, you scoundrel, why didn't you come half an hour ago ?" 80 A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. " Did you call, sir ? I'm a little deaf in my starboard ear." " Yes, you know I did," he said, sinking back exhausted ; " are all Yankees such d d fools as you are ?" " Yes, sir," says I, "every man of them just such fellows as I am. We don't keep any Staten Islanders, (Chips was from Staten Island.) in old Connecticut, they don't know enough," and leaving him thunderstruck at my impudence, I went whistling off " for lack of thought." At seven bells, having cleared decks for action, I proceeded to place the " equipage " on the table for the breakfast. As nothing could stand in safety on the table, it was, of course, no place for crockery, so our "service" consisted of five tin cups, and an equal number of knives ; forks being entirely out of the question in a gale of wind. We then opened the pro- vision-locker, made the door fast, and brought down the coffee, with which, and soft tack, they might make their breakfast as best they could ; and, being errand-boy, I made report to the caterer, -breakfast ready, sir." One by one the mess rolled along in, and came to anchor, some on the lockers and some on camp-stools. " What's allow- ance ?" hailed the sailmaker, as he stood outside, debating whether to venture in. Ratlines fried in tar," answered the boatswain, "stewed cat-harpen legs, andiron-bound biscuit." "That isn't solid enough," replied Sails, "I want some salt-pork, to put next my kelson, so that I can carry sail." " Make a strait wake for the harness-cask, then," says old Pipes, " and take a couple of fathom of salt-junk for ballast, and batten it down with hard tack." " Here, Jack," said the gunner, holding out his tin pot, " capsize some of that coffee in here." I took up the tea-kettle containing the boiling hot coffee, and bracing myself with one foot against the bulkhead, and the other against the lockers, I began to pour ; and after spil- ling less than a quart, I succeeded in getting the spout into the cup, and was going on well, when the ship pitched bows un- A PORTtraUE BREAKFAST. 81 der, and the gunner, campstool and cup rolled down to leeward, the boiling coffee making a clear breach over him. "There," sung ont Shutty, "you might have known that d d Yankee would catch a crab. Try Tom, he knows a little something." " He's got the weather-gage of you, then," thhiks I. " Pretty well done, gunner," said the boatswain, "for you to be rolling about decks before grog-time; you'd better work that traverse over again." " Well," said the gunner, as he gathered himself np, " I was hove keel-out that time, anyhow." " Here's luck to all of us," said the purser's steward, as he raised his cup of coffee to his mouth : the ship pitched heavily, and the hot fluid dashed over his face and bosom. " There," says the gunner, delighted, " you've got some luck, anyhow. Hope you'll grow fat on it ; that comes of laughing at other people when they are taken aback." " The gunner can't get his back out of his head, since his capsize," said the master's mate ; " I guess it chafed a little, when he followed the plank." " If he once got it stowed there," said the boatswain, " I should think it would be hard to break bulk, without breaking back ; I don't wonder it fetches him up with a round turn. I say, gunner, call all hands, clear launch, and shift yourself end for end." " Look here. Pipes," said the gunner, " didn't you swallow a marlinspike this morning? you are getting as sharp as a down-east fore-and-after. Which way does the ship head in an Irishman's hurricane, with the helm hard amidships, and jib-sheet's the tiller ?" " Why," says the boatswain, " if the wind's abeam, she'll head between the night-heads; and if it's right aft, South-WcSt by North, a little Easterly." As all hands of us were now pretty jolly, Tom thought he'd play Chips a pliskie, so he carried him a cup of coffee, and giving it, he held the cot up to windward, till the ship was 11 82 A PORTUGUE BREAKFAST. nearly on her beam-ends, then suddenly letting go, it swung down, and brought up against the bulkhead with such vim, that the carpenter, coffee and all, underwent a regular cap- size. " D— — n !" said Chips, throwing the empty cup at his head, amid the laughter of the whole mess ; for they thought, as we did, that all Shutty was good for, was to do the grunt- ing, and " keep bread from spoiling ;" so he was fair game. But why enlarge upon this break/as^, which broke bones also ? Let it suffice, thee, shipmate, it was a regular-built, Portugue breakfast : " a of a fuss, and nothing to eat !" THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK MIRROR, AUGUST 9th, 1834. The jawing-bell of the mid-watch was out, the lieutenant of the deck was half asleep, and the reefers of the watch alto- gether so, stowed away snugly. The wind was on the star- board quarter, blowing six knots ; fore and maintopmast stu'n'- sails on her, the last inch of the weather-braces hauled in and belayed, and every thing snug. For lack of better employment, I was cruising about decks on a wind, when I fell in with a knot of old tars on the to'- gallan'fo'-castle. " Yo, hoy, fo'-castlemen," says I, as I came to anchor on the heel of the bowsprit ; " how do you fight your guns l Bob O'Neal, you are boatswain's-mate-of-the- watch, slue yourself, and spin a yarn." Bob wanted no better fun, so, without wasting breath in lubberly parley, he began : ^, " On the 15th of January, 1815, at four bells in the fore- noon-watch the boatswain called, 'AH hands, up anchor,' on board the President frigate, Commodore Decatur, then lying in New- York harbor, off the Battery. " We walked it up in the turning of an hour-glass, and dropped down, the bay, the wind at Nor'- west, and came to an anchor in the Horse-shoe. 84 THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. "Now, it was high water on the bar, at a quarter past nine that evening; but Decatur, for some reason u'hich nobody ever knew, called all hands, up anchor, at four bells, in the first dog-watch. As soon as the pilot heard the order, he went to Decatur; ' Commodore,' says he, ' the ship cannot go over the bar till high- water.' " ' She must go. Sir,' says Decatur. " ' It's impossible. Sir,' says the pilot. " ' Drive her over,' says the commodore. " That settled the business, and we weighed anchor ; but it blew such a gale o' wind, that the only sail we set was a double-reefed foretopsail, and so stood out for the Hook. " When the ship was about twice her length from the bar, the pilot went to Decatur again. ^Commodore Decatur,' says he, ' the ship cannot go over the bar ; it's an impossibility. She'll strike, and thump, to pieces.' " ' Well, Sir,' says Decatur, 'if that's the case, let go the an- chor.' " So we let go the larboard-bower, and veered away cable enough to bring her to. The ship swung round by the an- chor, and her stern struck on the bar. "■ ' Cut away the cable !' says Decatur. " We had hemp-cables in those days, and a few blows with an axe cut it away, and we swung round, and struck broad- side on the bar, and there she thumped. " Then it was ' Down topgallant and royal yards !' and, as I was captain of the maintop, I was expected to show a lead. "So we lay alolt, but could not get any higher than the tops ; for when the ship struck, which she did every minute, it was all we could do to hold on, let alone sending- down yards ; and, for the same reason, the foretopsail had not been furled, and so it was flapping as if it would carry away the yard. So we lay and thumped on the bar till high water, and then she floated. "'Now, Sir,' says Decatur to the pilot, 'take me back to New- York.' THE CAPTURE OP THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. 85 " ^It is impossible, Sir,' says the pilot, 'it is blowing a gale o' wind from the North-West, and no ship that ever floated could beat up aga nst it.' " So there was nothing to be done but to go to sea ; and, as the wind had moderated a little, we made sail on her and stood out, and as we knew the English fleet was watching for ns, we doused every light, except the binnacle-lamps, and kept very still ; for, as it was very dark, we did not know how near we might be to them, and so, with every thing she could stagger under, we were off, South-East-by-East. ^ " About seven bells, in the mid- watch, a blue light was buiTit by the English admiral's ship, and was repeated by all the ships of his squadron, to show him where tliey were. " They were all around us, and, to avoid them, we hauled close on the wind, boarded our larboard-tacks, and stood in for the Long-Island shore. " When dayhght came, we found the English fleet still all around us. The Tenedos, frigate, was on our starboard- bow ; the Pomone, frigate, on the larboard-bow ; the Endy- mion, frigate, right ahead ; the Despatch, brig, clear out to sea, ahead, and the Majestic, seventy-four, astern. " We could not stand all that ; so we up helm, and bore away to the South'ardand E: st'ard, and, setting a foretopmast stu'n'-sail, although it blew a gale of wind, we left Johnny Bull to take care of himself; and, in two hours, the Endymion was the only ship witijin ten miles of u"s. "But then the wind began to ease off, and, though we crowded all sail, the Endymion began to gain upon us. She . was the fastest sailer in the English fleet, and was kept light and in complete sailing trim. She drSw her provisions from the other ships, and was, of course, only in'ballast ; while we had on board six months and thirteen days' provision, beside stores of all kinds, and were very heavy with shot, and to add to all this weight, we had knocked our false-keel to pieces on 'the bar ; some of it was gone, and the rest stood ath wart-ships, and hindered our sailing very much. 86 THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. "Well, the Endymion kept on, gaining on us, and came on hand-over-fist ; so, the Commodore gave orders to lighten the ship. First and foremost we threw over all the provision, except ten days' allowance, but the wind still easing off, the Endymion still gained on us ; so we threw over the boats, spare rigging and spars, then the anchors, and cutting the ca- bles into lengths of five or six fathoms, so that they would be of no use to any one, we sent them overboard too, and every thing else, except our fighting-traps. In spite of all we could do, the Endymion still gained on us, and it was very plain she would overtake us. So, at six bells, in the afternoon watch, when she was about four miles astern, Commodore Decatur called all hands aft. " ' Now, my lads,' says he, ' the Endymion will overtake us, and we can't help it; but when she comes alongside, I want you to give her one broadt'ide. double-shotted, and then every man and boy in the ship must board her; and we will take her, and go off in her, (for she is the fastest ship in the En- glish squadron.) and leave the President where she is. No man must leave the ship till you see me mount the hammock- nettings, and then will you follow me?' "'Ay, ay, Sir, we will do that,' says we, and gave him three cheers. " By this time the Endymion was within three miles of us and, training one of her bow-chafers on us, she let drive; but the shot fell short, about twice the ship's length ; so we tried her with our stern-chasers, to do her some hurt, if possible, and help us along ; but our shot fell short, too. " At two bells, in the first dog-watch, the Endymion's shot overreached us, (she was within a mile of us,) and shot told well on both sides ; but the Tenedos and Pomone came up so fast, that we saw we could not get away. " ' Now, my boys,' said Decatur, ' we must surrender ; but I want you to unrig the Endymion, for me, first. Will you doit?' " ' Ay, ay, Sir,' says we, and cheered him again. THE CAPTURE OP THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. 87 "Just at this minute a shot from the Endymion carried a-.vay our wheel, and killed the quartermaster-at-the-cun and three men. The ship broached-to, and then the drums beat to quarters, we manned our starboard-battery, and in seventeen nibuites the Endymion was a wreck ; the only spar standing was about eighteen feet of her foremast. " All this time, Decatur stood on the spar-deck with his speaking-trumpet, singing out, ' Don't overshot your guns, my brave boys ; don't overshot your guns.' "He was afraid the guns would burst, as they grew hot, if we overshoited them ; but his advice did no good. We put three round shot into each gun, and as the Endymion was only about fifty feet from us, you may know how the shot told. The Endymion, of course, would not strike to us when the rest of their squadron was so near, and so we continued the battle ; but as it was now too dark to fight by the Q.ixg, we sent up a light, and they did the same. About this time our sailing-master went to Commodore Decatur, and told him he was wounded, and must go below. " 'Where's your wound, Sir?" says Decatur. " So he showed him the middle finger of his left hand, which was a little cut. " ' For heaven's sake. Sir,' says Decatur^ ' don't mind that. Look at that deck. Sir,' (the first, fourth, and fifth lieutenants were dead, or mortally wounded, and thirty men lay on deck in the same condition ;) 'don't think of going below now. Sir.' " ' Well, Sir,' says he, ' I'll go below and get it dressed, and come on deck again ; but, when he got below, he somehow forgot to come back. " So Decatur sung out for Lieutenant Gallagher, (the third lieutenant,) to take the trumpet ; but Robinson, a volunteer, who is now in the Havre line, hearing his hail, came up from the gun-deck. ' Commodore Decatur,' says he, ' I am only a volunteer, but if I can be of any use to you, you may com- mand my services,' 88 THK CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. " ' Much oblio^ed to you, Sir,' says Decatur ; ' take the trum- pet, Sir.' " So Robinson took the deck. By this time the Endymion had dropped astern, but the Tenedos was on our larboard- bow, and the Pomone on our starboard-quarter. " ' Now, Commodore Decatur,' says Robinson, 'I wish you would sink that Tenedos, and then the Majestic will sink us, and we'll all go down together ; for our larboard-guns are shotted, and one broadside will send her straight to the bot- tom.' " ' No, Sir,' says Decatur, ' I will not throw away the lives of my brave fellows so. Now, go below, my lads, we must surrender ; and you want refreshment ; so, go below.' " We turned-to, and threw all our muskets, pistols, cutlass- es, boarding-spikes, and every thing overboard ; and cutting loose both batteries, we went down to the berth-deck to get something to eat and drink, for we had touched nothing since we left the Hook, and had not slept a minute, eith u'. 1 was going along forrard on the berth-deck, when I stumbled over a dead marine, and as I was getting up, I found two bottles of devilish fine wine; for the Commodore had ordered his stores to be given to the sailors, and that was the reason I found this wine knocking about the deck. Just as I got upon ray feet, one of the topmen, named Harry Brown, came along, whose scalp had been torn up by a musket ball, and hung over his face, so that he could not see. So I gave him one bottle of the wine, and it did him a great deal of good; but he was down-hearted, and thought he should die ; so he told me to take a large gold chain, which he wore, and give it to his wife, when I got home ; and I did so, and kept it in spite of the English thieves, and gave it to her according to orders. When we went below, Decatur took his trumpet, and went forward on the fo'castle, and standing on the larboard cathead, he hailed the Tenedos. " ' I have surrendered, Sir ;' they pretended not to hear him, and let drive a whole broadside into us. THE CAPTURE OP THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. 89 " ' I have surrendered, Sir ;' says Decatur, again. " ' To whom V says the Tenedos. " ',,To the squadron, Sir,' says Decatur ; for he was too proud to say he had surrendered to any one ship. "Bang ! came another broadside from the Tenedos. Now, when they fired this second broadside, the first lieutenant, with other officers and a boat's crew, had just boarded us from the Pomone, whieh lay on our starboard-quarter, close aboard of us ; and the shot from the Tenedos killed two offi- cers and five men on board the Pomone. So the first-lieu- tenant of the Pomone run forrard, and hailed the Tenedos : '•' ' Cease firing, Sir !' says he ; ' his Britannic majesty's offi- cers are aboard, Sir.' _^ "Then the Tenedos stopped firing, and the Englishmen boarded us by the hundred, and in five minutes there were four hundred of them aboard, in spite of the tremendous sea and the gale of wind. Then they had their hands full, for all our guns were cruising about decks, rolling with the roll of the ship in every direction. It was as much as a man's life was worth to be on our main-gundeck then ; for if a long thirty-two pounder had rolled over a fellow, he would be about used-up ; and so the Englishmen danced and swore a good deal, when they came to secure the batteries again, and wanted us to lend them a hand, but devil a bit would we do ; so they had the fun all to themselves. After they had got every thing snug again, they took half of us, and sent us aboard the Te- nedos ; and as it was now near four bells, in the first watch, they stowed us away in the fore-hold, in double irons, to keep us safe till raornuig. " Then it was, • down all boats, and search for the Endy- mion ;' for she had dropped so far a-stern that they did not know where she was ; but at last they found her, and towed her up as the wind lulled, and when we were taken out of the hold in the morning, she was alongside, " Well, they took us on deck, and stowed us away on the 12 90 THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. booms, amidships, in double-irons ; and the whole guard of marines under arms, standing sentry over us. " Now, we had had but little to eat or drink for nearly two days, and were almost dead with hunger and thirst, and I determined to ask for something, come what would ] so I spoke to the sergeant of the guard. " ' Sergeant,' says I, ' will you allow a prisoner to speak to you V " ' It is contrary to orders,' says he, ' but say on.' " So I told him how it was with us, and begged him to ask the officer of the deck for something for us. He went to the lieutenant, and told him that the prisoners wanted some wa- ter. " ' Who asked you V says the lieutenant. " * One of the men. Sir,' says the sergeant. " ' Seod him to me,' says the lieutenant. " The sergeant came forrard : ' Where's the man who spoke to me for water V " ' I'm the man,' says I. '•' So he knocked oif my feet-irons, and I went aft to the lieutenant. He was the only officer aboard, all the rest being aboard the President, and a devilish smart fellow he was, too. So I told him how it was, that we were suffering for water, and begged him to give us a little. " ' What's your name V says he. '"Robert O'Neal, Sir,' says I. " ' An Irishman !' says he, ' by heaven, I'll hang you !' " ' Well, Sir,' says I, 'will you please to give us a little water ?' " So he sung out for the master's-mate of the hold, and told him to give me four ten-gallon casks of water, and a couple of bags of bread. I took it, and served it out to our men, but they jumped at it as if they were mad. and acted more like wild beasts than men ; and drank all the water, and took all the bread so quick, that I could not get any myself. Then the lieutenant sent for me. " ' Well,' says he, ' how did you make out ?' THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. 91 " ' But poorly myself, Sir/ says I, ' the men took it all, and ■ I had none left.' " ' Well,' says he, ' sit down on that carronade-slide, my man, and I'll see what I can do for you.' " It was now about his dinner-time, three-bells in the after- noon watch, and he went down to his dinner, and sent up to me a piece of fresh beef and potatoes, and every thing I want- ed, and I made a devihsh good dinner. Pretty soon he came up from below. " ' Well, my lad,' says he, ' how did you make out V " ' Very well. Sir, and much obliged to you, Sir,' says I j ' there's only one thing wanting.' " ' What's that V says he. " ' A little grog, if you pleatse. Sir,' says I. " ' Well,' says he, ' I'll be d — if you are not a whdle-souled fellow. You shall have some grog, anyhow.' " So he wrote an order on the purser's steward for half-a-pint of grog, and gave it to me, and told me to go and get it ; and I went below and got it, and then 1 was all right. When I came on deck, he made me come aft to him, and talked to me a long while. " Well, that afternoon they sent all hands of us aboard of the Endymion ; and stowed half of us in the fore-hold and the rest on the main-gundeck, amidships, in irons ; and, as she had jury-masts rigged, they all bore away for Bermuda. " Now the Endymion was still the fastest ship in the squad- ron, and not being very full manned, we agreed to rise and take her, and bear away for some port in the States ; and we had it all arranged, and in three minutes more the ship would have been our own, when the main-jurymast went by the board and dished all our plans. In a couple of days we made Bermuda, and there we were landed and marched through the town ; and a set of such looking fellows no man ever saw. We had not been shaved for so long a time that we looked like bears ; water was no shipmate of ours j and, as the Eng- lish thieves had stolen every thing we had, the clothes thai 92 THE CAPTURE OF THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT. we wore were both few and small ; for example, my thumb- nail is as well clothed as we were ; and, as we went along with our hands behind our backs, two and two, the boys pelted us with mud, eggs, dead cats, and such-like. Then they put us aboard the Ardent, sixty-four, commanded by a mean old hunks. Sir William Barnaby, or ' Captain Bill,' as we used to call him ; and we lay in port, aboard of her, till the peace. The ladies of Bermuda gave us clothing and nick-nacks, and tried to make us comfortable ; but, under ' Captain Bill,' that was an impossibility. So, when the peace came, they shipped us to New- York, and we arrived there in June, safe and sound, and now I hail hereabouts. Now hand over the grog. I say, Jack, you mouldy-headed rascality, pay the fid- dler ; you spoke for him." " Ay, ay, Bob," says I, " so I will ; half in fair words and the rest in promises." CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. PUBLISHED IN THE NEW-YORK MIRROR, SEPTEMBER 20tH, 1834. " I SAY, Jack Dennison," I continued, addressing an old weather-beaten tar as broad as he was long, and so heavily sparred, that he looked, for all the world, like a line-o'-battle cut down : " now^s your turn ; come, answer to your muster, and relieve the wheel. Bob has spun us a yarn as long as the fore-to'-bowline, spliced onto the jib-downhaul, so, now, try your hand at the bellows. Tip us a real, regular- built bloody one ; none of your seven-water-grog, and give it to us hand-over-fist, right off the reel ; and be alive about it, so that Bob won't be obliged to pipe ' All hands open toplights, ahoy,' before you get it half reeled." " Who made you commodore, and be d d to you, you long-splice of a land-lubber ?" says Jack, as he hauled up his courses, and cleared decks for action. "I can spin yarns, without asking any odds of you, you bone-polisher, so clap a stopper on the running part of that long tongue of ^''ours, or I'll get Bob to seize you up in the weather-rigging, and heave a dozen into you, to make you clew up your jawing-tacks." " Jack," says I, discreetly rolling out of striking distance, " your chat is like a reefer's, orders ; big words on a weak sto- mach : come, bear a hand, and pay out the slack, and, mind 94 CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. you don't choke us : small-helm, my boy, keep her full-and- by, if she'll go it." " You are a pretty fellow," says Jack, " to talk about small- helm. I don't believe you ever spoke the truth but once in your life, and that was when you said you did like duff-and-molas- ses, and didnH like a flogging." " Avast Jack," says I, " I'll haul-off, and repair damages." So Jack stowed away the old-soger in the North-East corner of his tarpaulin, took a fresh bite of purser 's-plug, and tying an over-haul-knot with his fists, athwart his bread-bag, and mooring himself snugly, he began his yarn, as he did every thing, butt-end-foremost. " Sail, ho !" sung out the look-out on the fore-topsail-yard of the Constitution frigate, Commodore Stewart, about four bells in the forenoon watcli, of the twentieth of February, 1815, Madeira bearing South-East by East, distant two hundred miles. " * Where-away f hailed the officer of the deck. "' Right-ahead, Sir,' replied the look-out. "' Gen tleman-of-the- watch !' hailed the Heutenant. ^report to the Commodore, Sir, a strange sail right-ahead.' '•'The middy made his report, and came up again, with or- ders to make all sail in chase. " ' Aha !' thought we, as we set stu'n'-sails alow and aloft, though the breeze was rather too stiff for them, ' now for some fun.' " Old Ironsides took the hint, and gathering way, we were off in no time at all, South-and-by-East, at ten knots an hour. " The look-out hailed again in five minutes, ' Another sail, right ahead. Sir ; close aboard the first one.' " This was reported to the Commodore, and he repeated the order to pull a heel after them ; and after them we went, at a great rate, right before the wind, which was so strong that the stu'n'-sail-booms bent like nothing ; but the old man did not care lor that. ' What she can't carry, let her drag,' was his rule, and he stuck to it well. CAPTURE OP THE CYANE AND LEVANT. 95 " After we had been spanking along about an hour, the offi- cer-of-the-deck hailed : " ' Fore-topsail-yard, there ! What do you make them out to be?' " ' Men-o'-war, sir, going large, stu'n'-sails set,' says the look- out. " This report, ' two men-o'-war ahead,' spread through the ship in less than no time, and all the idlers, watch-below, and every body came on deck to have a squint at them ; and the Commodore took a devil of a shot at them, through his long spy-glass, to make out where they hailed from. They were so far ahead that we couldn't make out anything, so we watched old Stewart, to see what he thought. " He stood on the starboard-cathead, squinting, and squint- ing, till we thought he never would knock-oflf. After a long spell at it, he shut up the glass, and went along aft, talking to himself, as if he was working up his dead-reckoning, and came-to, at the horse-block, all in a bight. All of a sudden he brightened up, went down into the cabin, and was on deck again in no time at all, in full uniform. " ' There,' says we, ' the old man has got his fighting-traps rigged, swabs and all. Now, then, look out for hard knocks and prize-money,' " The officers took the hint, and in ten minutes all hands of them were in fighting-togs, and things began to look a little man -o'- war fashion. " Well, we cracked on her, ring-tail, sky-scraper, jibbe-jib, and the d — 1 knows what not, and went spanking off at twelve knots an hour ; but the fellows ahead did their prettiest, too ; so that it was three bells, in the first dog-watch, before we got near enough to make out much. " We could then see, very plainly, that one of them was a cravatte and t'other a sloop-of-war, and they looked like John- ny Bull's craft ; so the old man ordered a bow-chaser to be fir- ed, just to make them look at us, for they were a long way put of shot ; an4 when he had waked them so, he sent up the 96 CAPTURE OP THE CYANE AND LEVANT. old gridiron at the fore-skysail-mast-head, so that they could see it plain. They answered a minute after, each a gun, and sent up British colours ! " 'Now, boys,' says we, 'for a brush ;' but Johnny Bull did not think so, but pulled heel all the harder ; but we gained on him, and 'twas very plain we should overhaufhim ; so the word was passed, " ' Fore-and-aft, both sides, and amid-ships, all hands ! Turn-to and clean yourselves, white frocks and trowsers, to muster,' " " Avast, Jack Dennison," says I, " what did you put on your muster-clothes to fight in. for 1 Get them spoiled and dirty, and some ugly holes drilled in them,/jrehaps." " Short yarns, youngster," growled Jack, " we were going to meeting, as you Yankees say ; and so we rigged ourselves to put Johnny Bull's eyes out, if he looked our way. " Well, we cleared up decks, and got every thing in fight- ing trim ; arm-chests on deck, cutlass-racks at the capstan, and forrard, put on the gratings, rove preventer-sheets and braces, slung the yards in chains, lashed the topsails, sanded down decks, and got every thing ready in regular-built style. When we were within about four miles of the Englishmen, we train- ed one of our bow-chasers on them, and let drive, just by way of opening the conversation, as my sweetheart used to say : but that did not do much ; but Johnny Bull, as if he had just thought what we wanted of him, began to shorten sail, as if he was coming-to for us. " We were glad enough to see that motion, and began to think he might be a clever fellow after all, and so shortened sail ourselves. But Johnny was playing us a trick ; for, when we got under fighting canvass, and had lost some headway, he threw his men aloft, and his sails being only stopped-up, and not half stowed, he was under all sail again in a minute. But old Stewart saw what they were at, and they found that Yan- kees could loose sail too, upon a pinch, for we were under all ^ail almost as soon as they were, and after them we went. CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. 97 " The cravatte (we afterwards found she was the Cyane, and t'other the Levant, and I'll call them so 'cause it's shorter) began to blaze away at us with her stern-chasers, but we told her nothing", for firing bow-chasers deadens a ship's way, and we determined to put off that part of the business till we got them alongside. So we went oHj gaining on them at every plunge, when, all of a sudden, they began to shorten sail again. " We began to take in sail too, for stu'n'-sails are no things to go into action with, keeping an eye on them, for fear they would trick us again. And, sure enough, so it was ; for, when we had got under topsails, topgallan'-sails, and courses, they both came up into the wind, gave us each a broadside, and then made all sail to get away. " That did not please us much, and we swore some pretty tough ones at them, and then gave chase. This time we gained on them the same as before, and coming nearer and nearer, they saw they could not get away, and then they shortened sail ; and like true English bull-dogs, got ready for whatever we chose to give them, and to do their best to be Scotch prizes to us, after all. " We shortened sail, stowing every thing snug, for we saw they meant to fight it out this time, and then sent up ensigns at the fore, main, and mizen, at the peak, and on the bowsprit; so that if some were shot away, we should have something to fight under still. But Commodore Stewart, knowing the spunk of us fellows, gave particular orders not to nail them to the tnast ; for he knew, as any one with brains would, that that way of doiug business was all folly. It was, he knew, an im- possibility for Johnny Bull to beat us in fair fighting, yard arm to yard-arm ; but then some accident might happen, and we should be in a bight, if the signal-halyards would not render. "The order was obeyed by all except Pat Flanagan, an Irish fore-topman, who was sent aloft to set the ensign at the fore. He took up some nails, and a marlin-spike for a ham- mer, and nailed the ensign to the flag-pole in three places. 13 98 CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. " ' There,' says Pat, as he came down into the fore-top, ' I'll be d — d if that flag shall be struck, unless the mast goes by the board.' " Then the drums beat to quarters, and as soon as they had done, the saucy Englishmen repeated the call with a full band, and rolled off with ' Rule Britannia;' and, both luffing suddenly in the last strain, the music was drowned with the thuiider of two broadsides fired all together, plump at us. I never heard such music before, and I hope I never shall again, especially in a moonlight night. "Then came the orders for bringing ship to action. Both batteries were cast loose, tompions out, aprons off, and loaded with each a round shot, a stand of grape and cannister. " 'Man both batteries !' sung out the first-luff; they were manned. " ' Depress your guns for a close fire ; wait for the. word of command ; silence, fore-and-aft !' " He stopped, and we hardly breathed ; our decks were as still as death ; and as I was only about eighteen years old, and had never been in action, I began to feel a little streaked. I was stationed at one of the quarter-deck guns, and of course could see every thing; and standing still alongside my gun, I had nothing to think of, but the question whether the flat-fish wouldn't be dubbing their ugly noses into my carcase, at the bottom of the sea, before long ; and, I can tell you, I felt a little queer as the shot from the Englishmen flew around us : pi didn't like standing still to be shot at. " Right ahead, about a mile off", were the Cyane and Levant, under easy sail. The Levant was a little ahead of the Cyane, and as it was bright moonlight, we could see everything as plain as day, and they blazed away at us with stern-chasers and quarter-deck guns all the time, but we took no notice of it. " ' Wait for the word of command,' says the first-lufi", again ; ' not a shot must be thrown away.' " As we neared them, their fire grew hotter and hotter, till, CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. 99 when we were on the Cyane's larboard quarter, the sea was all in a blaze. "'Port!' hailed the first-lnff, in a voice so loud, that we heard it plain in spite of the Englishmen's broadsides. Their game was to keep both on our larboard-side, so that we should be obliged to divide our larboard-battery between them ; but Commodore Stewart knew better than that. " We passed the starboard side of the Cyane, and luifed-up between her and the Levant ; they luffed too, so that we should not rake them, and then the first lieutenant hailed again, '"Mind the weather-roll fire !' " Every gun aboard was fired the minute the word passed his lips ; the larboard-battery into the Cyane ; and the star- board, into the Levant ; and as the kick of one battery met the kick of the other, the ship didn't heel an inch, but trembled like a leaf from the kelson to the trucks. 1 never shall for- get how I felt then : the noise of our batteries was enough to split a man's head open ; but the most awful sound to me was the crashing our shot made aboard the Englishmen ; it was as if every mast had gone by the board ; every shot told ; and the yells of the wounded ! it makes my blood run cold to think of it! " They gave us as good as we sent, and tried to rake us, but they found we could fight both batteries and work ship too ; so at it we went, hammer and tongs ; and shot and splinters flew well, fore-and-aft. " I was first-loader of my gun, and as it was in the larboard battery, my mark was the Cyane. After we had been at it a little while, a round-shot took the man next me in the head, and dashed his blood and brains all over me ; but all my skit- tishness was gone after the first broadside, and I did not mind this trifle at all. " The next minute, as I had finished loading her, and was stepping back, my left arm dropped numb by my side. I felt of it, but there was no skin broken, nor so much as the sleeve of my frock singed, but still I could not lift it; and I 'spose 'twas the wind of a shot passing close to it. 100 CAPTURE OF THE CYANE AND LEVANT. " The lieutenant of my division, seeing something was foul, told me to go below to the doctor. '"If I do, I'm d— d,' says I, touching my hat, so that he needn't call it insolence; but I took my station at the train- tackle, for I could haul-in and run-out the gun with one hand as well as a dozen ; and the man I relieved took my post as loader, and a minute after a round shot cut him in two ; so, there was my luck. "Well, after a while the enemy's fire began to slack alittle, and that made us work away all the harder, and pretty soon the Cyane hauled down her ensign, (guess 'twasn't nailed to the mast !) but the Levant made sail to get away ; so old Iron- sides fell off from the wind, to bring her larboard-broadside to bear on her, and gave it to her so solidly, that she, too, hauled down her flag. " We gave them three cheers, and then, boats being lowered, the Commodore sent a lieutenant and a prize crew aboard each of them, to take possession of them and receive their surren- der; for neither of them had a boat that would float to send their captains aboard of us. "Well, we bore away towards Madeira, sailing along easy, repairing damages; and, when that was done, we spliced the main-brace, and if grog ever tasted well, it did then, " About six bells, in the first watch, the lieutenant in charge of the Cyane hailed, to say that he wanted the carpenter and his gang, for the ship was sinking, "Commodore Stewart answered the hail himself: 'Tack ship, Sir, and crowd all sail.' " This was just the thing. She had fought her starboard battery, and that was the side cut up with our shot ; tacking, and crowding all sail, threw it clear out of water, so that the carpenter had a fair chance at it, and old Nipton no chance at all. In an hour, the lieutenant made report that every thing was snug again, and we sailed along quietly till morning ; and then took out half of their men, and brought them aboard the Constitution, and manned them with our own. We didn't CAPTURE OP THE CYANE AND LEVANT. 101 steal their dunnage, though, nor abuse them, as Bob says they did in the Endymion, but let each man have his bag and ham- mock, the same as in his own ship. " We made Madeira in a couple of days, and came to an an- chor in Porto Prava and began to refit, and manned the Cy- ane and Levant as well as we could, and still have men enough for old Ironsides. In a week, we were ready for sea, and were lying quietly at anchor, when, one foggy morning, a small craft arrived, and reported an English fleet outside, coming in. We knew, well enough, that the English would not care a straw for the Spanish neutrality, so we cut our cables ; and, as the English prisoners would be in the way in a fight, we sent them all ashore, and then stood out. Now, there was an old Spanish battery ashore, which commanded the whole bay ; and as soon as we had landed the prisoners, the d — d rascals ran to that battery, manned it, and opened upon us in fine style. That didn't please old Stewart over well, and he swore some pretty tough ones, that if he got clear of the English fleet outside, he would come back and blow those fellows into the air. " Now, the harbor of Porto Prava has a small, but high island at its mouth, so that there are two channels of entrance ; and, as the fog was very thick, the English fleet came in at one, as we walked out at the other ; but they soon found their mistake, and came out again, before we could get any kind of start, and gave chase. They were five sail ; two seventy- fours, one razee, and two fifty-gun frigates. We could not stand all that; they carried too many guns for us, and we crowded all sail to get away. We soon found that if our prizes could keep up with us, wecould run the English squad- ron hull-down in two hours; but there was the pinch ; they were both heavy sailers, especially the Levant, and no match for old Ironsides, or the English fleet either; so we had to shorten sail, to allow them to keep in company, and going so, Johnny Bull gained on us. Now, the Commodore showed them a Yankee trick. He ordered the Cyane and Levant to carry on every thing they could show, and then coolly drop- 102 CAPTURE OP THE CYANE AND LEVANT. ped astern of them, and backed his main-topsail, to make the Eno-lislmien think he intended to fio;ht the whole bunch of them, so that they would shorten sail, and the Cyane and Le- vant could get away ; and then he would brace up again, and walk rio-ht away from them ; for he knew that none of their ships could begin to sail with the Constitution. " That was a pretty saucy trick, I'm thinking ; one frigate heave-to, for two seventy-fours, a razee, and two frigates as bio- as herself! whew — w ! But, after all, this trick didn't do much good, for the English followed on, crowding all sail ; so the Commodore braced up again, and then hove out a signal to the Levant, which was falling astern of the Cyane every minute, tD tack ship and stand back for Porto Prava, to take shelter under the Spanish neutrality, while we and the Cyane went on. She tacked accordingly, and the English admiral detached tioo frigates, (the Newcastle and Acasta, forty-fours,) to give her chase, while he and the rest of the squadron bore down after us. "Now, Commodore Stewart knew well enough, that if the Newcastle and Acasta kept on after the Levant, they would probably catch her ; so he shortened sail again, backed his maintopsail, and fired a gun to windward, hoping that the English admiral would then recall his frig-ates to take the Constitution, and so the Levant would escape ; but there he was mistaken. The admiral knew that his seventy-fours and razee were enough to take us ; so he let the Acasta and New- castle go on, while he crowded on after us. When Commo- dore Stewart saw that the trick had failed, he hove a signal to the Gyane to shift for herself, and then bracing up again, he made all sail, and in an hour the English hauled off, finding they could not catch us. " When we came into New- York, in April, the Cyanewas at anchor off the Battery ; but the Levant took rehige in Por- to Prava, and the English broke the Spanish neutrality, as we knew they would, and managed, with two fifty-gun frigates, to take a sloop-of-war, of twenty-two guns, with thirty men to man her." THE MUTINY, PUBLISHED IN THE KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE, OCTOBER, 1834. The anchor was weighed, catted, and fished ; top-sails sheeted home, top-gallant-sails loosed, and courses hauled aboard ; and the stout whaler, Amazon, of and from N B , David Jones, Master, was under way once more in the harbor of Valparaiso, on a fine day in November, 183 — , bound for the light blue sea, and the home of John Whale. We had lain at anchor in Valparaiso just long enough. We had enjoyed ourselves to the full extent of physical felicity : spent all our money ; broken our full allowance of heads and hearts ; and now with light heads and heels, we were ' out- ward bound.' But, although we were leaving Valparaiso, it was not in our hearts as men, (much less as sailors,) to quit it without some emotions of regret. Certain it is, that when I looked at this most picturesque of the abodes of man, ' distance lending enchantment,' and hiding its blemishes, — as it lay before me, in all the splendor of the noon -day sun, terrace above terrace of white walls and red roofs, the lofty spires of cathedrals standing forth in bold relief from the cloudless sky, pointing the faithful to heaven, — the delicious sensations caused by its surpassing beauty, were mixed with sadness at the thought that I was leaving it all for a long time, and, perhaps, forever. 104 THE MUTINY. It was now past sunset, and daylight and the Chilian coast were leaving us together. Point Angels, — the Western cape of the Bay of Valparaiso, more angelic in name than appear- ance, (being a rocky, dangerous promontory.) was astern ; and the matchless green of the coast, and the majestic blue and white of the Andes, grew more and more indistinct, until at length no part of them was visible, save one high peak, which proudly threw its cloud-capped crest into the heavens, as if to show the sea-worn mariner that it watched over his weal, though all earth beside left him to perish. That peak, though the mighty Pacific lashed its shores in wrath, and roll- ed its angry waves mountains high — far above the war of wind and wave, calmly reared its hoary head, undisturbed by the commotion of the elements, — a majestic land-mark from the creation to the end of time. At length that, also, faded from our view. The bell struck eight ; the watch was set, and it being my watch below, I went down into the forecastle to do the rest of my dreaming asleep. Sleep ! — how delicious it is, people on shore never know. The sailor, who sleeps by the minute, liable to be roused at any time, on a second's warning — he sleeps. Land-lubbers only doze. At this time, I was a foremast-hand aboard the Amazon, having joined her in Valparaiso, for the romance of the thing — to learn how to catch whales and eat blubber ; and my curio- sity was in a fair way of being satisfied, for we were bound for the Pacific South Cruising-ground, where whales can be had for the catching, 'provided always,' as the statutes have it, you can find them. For the benefit of the ' untravelled,' I would remark, that the South Cruising-ground is that part of the Pacific ocean off the coast of Chili and Patagonia, between 40° and 50° South latitude, which, for some reason, is a favorite resort of whales, and, of course, of whale-ships ; for ' where the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.' It is one of the loveliest spots in the whole South Sea : and I ask any tar, THE MUTINY. 105 who has served there, if he ever was happier in his Hfe than, when standing off-and-on for whales, on the South Cruising- ground. Life aboard a whaler, is life. There can be no harder ser- vice than catching whale, and, probably, none more danger- ous. But, with all its dangers and hardships, there is a fasci- nation in it, which only those who have felt it, can conceive. There is something noble and inspiring in capturing this monster of the deep. This taming of Leviathan is a grand exemplification of the universality of the dominion of man. And when the toils of the chase are over, and John Whale is fairly " tried" into oil ; then, in the depths profound of the fore- castle, we sailor-men take our ease, smoke cigars, drink grog, and fight our battles over again, and sometimes fight new ones among ourselves. In the Amazon, we had a good share of the comforts of nautical life. She was a stout ship of five hundred tons bur- then, and carried thirty men: enough " beef," one would think, to work ship and fight her too, if need should be. Captain Jones was a good sailor, and an honest, kind-hearted man ; but nature never meant him for the commander of a ship. He was too easy with his men ; and nothing but the fear of a flogging will keep old sailors in order. The second mate, named Field, was a wide-awake Yankee ; but the first mate, Brown, was a devil incarnate. He was a large, powerful man — much more so than either the Captain or Field ; and although he had been aboard but a week, (he joined us in Valparaiso,) he had begun to show that he intended to rule the ship himself, and I did not like the cut of his jib at all. There were some rumors in Valparaiso that he had been a pirate, and his every look and action bore testimony to their truth ; and before we had been out two days, he began to alter his conduct towards the Captain, and seemed waiting for some pretext to quarrel with him openly. He went on, growing 14 106 THE MUTINY. shorter and shorter with him, 'till one day, when we were four days out, he fairly showed his colors. There were eight fellows aboard, all suspicious looking craft, who shipped aboard of us at the same time that Brown did, and all the morning of this day he had been whispering with one and another of them. I could not help thinking that there would be the devil to pay before long ; but as he was very sly about it, his conduct was not generally observed. About two bells in the first dog-watch that afternoon, Brown having the deck, Captain Jones stepped to the binnacle, and stooped to look at the compass. I was standing near at the time, and happening to look at Brown, was taken ail-aback by the expression of his face. He looked at the Captain just as if he was about to kill him. So satanic a look I never saw on the face of mortal man. When the Captain had satisfied himself that the ship was heading her course, he spoke to the first mate ; — "How many is she going, Mr. Brown?" " /know," said Brown, " and that's enough." " Mr. Brown," replied the Captain, "what do you mean, Sir? I command this ship." "I'm d d if you do !" said Brown ; and snatching up a heaver, that lay near, he struck him on the head with all his strength. Being bare-headed, and having nothing to break the force of the blow, the Captain fell upon the deck, and never moved a finger. He was dead ! " Come aft here, Antonio," said Brown to one of his men, " and toss this thing overboard." Having turned his pockets inside out, Antonio very coolly did as he was commanded. " Now then," continued Brown, " call all hands." All hands came on deck, and Brown, having his loaded pis- tols lying by him on the capstan, very deliberately told them that Captain Jones had been insolent to him, and he had thrown him overboard ; that he was now master of the ship, and would kill any man who dared to say a word. " Do you hear that, Mr. Field ?" said he to the second mate. THE MUTINY. 107 " Mind that you behave well, or I will serve you in the same manner." Field was as brave as most men, and looked, for a minute, as if he would show fio:ht ; but as he did not know who he could depend upon, he merely answered, " Yes, Sir," and went about his business. As he submitted, all hands did the same, and thinofs went on as if nothinsr was the matter. But after dusk, in the second dog-watch, Field having the deck, I thought there was some unusual stir among five or six fellows, whom I knew were friends and " townies " of his. I watched them closer, and thought they were busy with a boat which hung on the lee-quarter. One would toss something in, and then another — and I wondered what they were driving at : but in a few minutes all was quiet again, and, soon after, the bell struck eight, and the first mate came on deck to stand his watch as usual. He looked pretty hard at Field as he made his report of courses, wind, etc., but he was so very respectful, that Brown's suspicions were effectually lulled. " Mr. Field," said he, " we shall have fine times now that that old fool is out of the way ; and when we get more Southing, I mean to keep her away for the Cuachos Island, and there we'll take our comfort." '• That's a fact, Mr. Brown," said Field, " there will be some fun in that ;" and he went below, as if he and the first mate were the best friends in the world. The first watch passed off quietly enough ; but I was too busy thinking to sleep, and was wide-awake when we were called at eight bells. As soon as the wheel was relieved, and Brown had gone below, Field spoke to us : " My lads, she goes well. There won't be any thing to do, this watch ; and you may cork on the forecastle, if you like." This was a common custom with the second mate, in fair weather, and all the watch went forward accordingly, leaving only himself and the man-at4he-wheel, aft. Still, I thought 108 THE MUTINY. it meant something this time, and I lay down under the wea- ther-bulwarks, amid-ships, to see what was coming. In about ten minutes, six fellows came along aft, one by one. They went first to the wheel and lashed it amid-ships. Putting some things into the lee-quarter boat, they slushed the tackles and lowered it, and then all getting in, they let her drop astern ; and, as it was very dark, I saw no more of them, and quietly moored myself under the lee of the long-boat. I knew that the second mate and his men were safe enough now, for we were not far from the coast of Chili, and a whale- boat will live in almost any breeze. With their sail and six oars, they could run away from us at any time ; and it now occurred to me what they had been about in the evening : namely, putting provision and water aboard ; and so they were right enough. But the next question was, — What would Brown do when he found it out ? That remained to be seen, and I lay in very uneasy expectancy. About six bells, he came on deck : — " How do you head there ?" said he to the man who was (not) at the wheel. Receiving no reply, he damned the fellow as asleep ; but on going aft to wake him, he found that he and the second mate were among the missing, and the wheel lash- ed. Nothing ever took him by surprise, and he hailed instant- ly:- " For'ard there !" " Sir ?" sung out one fellow from the forecastle, who hap- pened to be awake. " Come aft here, you d d rascal," said Brown : " where's all the watch ?" " Mr. Field told us to cork on the forecastle. Sir," said the trembling sailor. " The devil he did !" said Brown ; " and where is he ?" " I don't know. Sir," said the man. THE MUTINY. 109 "Well, who does know?" continued Brown. '* Come aft here all of you." We went aft, but no one could tell him where the second mate was, and, on mustering the watch, he found that six men were missing. He jumped to leeward, and sung out that the quarter-boat was gone. A moment after, the man at the wheel reported that one compass was gone from the binna- cle. " He is off in a boat," said Brown, "but I'll catch him before morning. Call all hands — 'bout ship — ready, ready !" We were standing at this time, South-East-bySouth, on a South- West wind, and the most natural conjecture was, that Field had made for the land ; but, for that very reason, Brown thought it was not the fact ; and tacking the ship, he put her head due West, and crowded all sail. There was so much promptness in Brown's manner, that I was afraid he was right in his supposition ; and as he swore he would run them down if he caught them, I waited anx- iously for day. Satan always favors his children ; and so he did this time, — for when day-light came, the boat was in sight, about four miles distant, on our weather-bow ! I thought, now, that we should see some murder done ; — for Brown loaded his musket and pistols, and ordered to clear away a twelve-pounder, which was forward, and loaded it with grape-shot, nails, glass, etc. But my fears were ground- less ; for, as soon as Field saw us, he struck his mast, and taking to the oars, pulled dead to windward, at ten knots an hour. That manoeuvre was his salvation ; for he had too much start to be chased by a boat, and the ship could not conveni- ently sail in the wind's eye. So Brown, after swearing 'till he was black in the face, tacked ship again, and giving up all hope of catching Field, stood South-East for Cuachos. But he was too regularly mad, to go off so ; and since Field had escaped him, he vented his rage against the men of our watch. He shot one with his musket, and two more with his 110 THE MUTINY. pistols ; and, being somewhat appeased by the sight of blood, he then grew more good-natured : ordered them overboard with a jest, and called all hands to splice the mai ii -brace. But his good-nature soon evaporated, and he became as snappish as a hungry oyster. The three days we were mak- ing Cnachos, he was abusing all whom he thought unfriendly to him, and threatening to kill them if they did not behave ; and, what with al] this abuse and uncertainty, I never spent three days so miserably in my life, and never was more rejoiced at the sight of land, than when Cuachos hove in sight. Cuachos is a small uninhabited island, lying about five hundred miles West-North-West from Chiloe. It has a very fine soil, producing fruit and vegetables in profusion, and droves of wild-hogs are running about, to be had for the killing. We came to anchor in the harbor, and Brown gave all hands a run ashore, to take the turns out of their legs, he said ; but in reality, it was that he could search the ship. When we had been there about a week, Brown began to take the spare spars and plank from the ship, to build a house ashore ; and said he intended to strip her, and take her to pieces, and that we would all live there, and he would be governor. There was one thing about his plan of operations which I couldn't get along with ; namely, his population were all men, and 1 very soon determined not to stay, and be governed by that old devil on such terms. I found one other fellow. Bill Stevens by name, who had come to the same conclusion. But the question was, how could we get away ? — for all hands were with Brown, and we alone could do nothing. But after knock- ing our heads together a while, we formed our plan. A pretty stiff one it was, too ; but it was our only hope — and we stood by for an opportunity to put it in execution. It was now summer, (December,) and as the wind in those seas blows steadily from the Southward in Xha summer months, we concluded we could sail the ship into Valparaiso, alone, if we could once get her to sea ; and as the harbor opened to- THE MUTINY. Ill vvar(is the North-East, we thought we could accomplish that too, if luck favored us. One morning, a few days after this, Brown ordered all the sails to be loosed to dry, and then went ashore with all hands, leaving Bill Stevens and myself aboard, as ship-keepers ; re- marking, as he went over the side into his boat, that he should run the ship ashore the next day, high and dry, and then knock her to pieces. " Now, Bill Stevens," said I, " it's our last chance. We must go to sea to-day, or never." " Ay, ay," said Bill, coolly ; " we'll do that thing." We lay at this time about half a mile from the shore, moor- ed head and stern, with her head towards the sea ; and as the yards were square, the wind filled the sails that hung loose ; and by some unaccountable piece of good fortune, they had all been hoisted, after they were loosed to dry. Bill and I turned to, and, after belaying the braces, very quietly sheeted home the royals ; and as these filled, we found that the ship moved a litile, and was getting over her anchor. That discovery made our hearts beat thick, but we had too much to do, to give way to any emotion. The anchor out ahead had a chain-cable, but the kedge astern was fast to a hawser that was belayed round the capstan ; which, as the ship forged ahead, was gradually tightening. We unshackled the chain- cable, and putting mats in the iron hause-holes to prevent any noise, let it run out, slowly and carefully ; and then cutting the hawser astern — we were free ! We lashed the helm amid-ships ; sheeted home to'gallan' sails ; then^ topsails, one sheet at a time. That was the de- cisive move ; and the wind freshening at the moment, the ship gathered way, and began rapidly to leave the land. We were not yet observed from the shore, and went on, sheeting home one sail after another as well as we could ; and, belaying the fore-tack and sheet, left the mainsail alone, in order that the foresail might draw. When we were about a mile from the shore, and under so 112 THE MUTINY. much way that we thought it was impossible for them to over- take uSj we trained the twelve-pounder on the place where they were at work, and, having hoisted the national ensign at the peak, we fired the gun, and sent the grape-shot, which Brown had intended for Field, whistling about his own ears ; and thus, in cavalier fashion, bade them " Good-bye." This made some dancing and swearing among them, but they immediately put off in boats and gave chase. " Now then, Bill," says I, " mind your eye, for here comes a tussle." " Ay, ay," said he very coolly, as he swabbed out the old twelve ; " lend a hand here, and we'll sweeten them high." We loaded her again with grape, nails, slugs, glass, and every thing we could lay our hands on, filling her to the muzzle ; and then loaded all the muskets aboard, of which, by good luck, there were more than a dozen. We went on mak- ing sail as well as we could, for we knew that if we were overtaken, " death, or worse punishment," as the laws of war have it, was the best we had to expect. They came on after us very fast, and as the wind had most unfortunately lulled considerably, they made two feet to our one, and it was very plain that unless we could increase our speed, they would certainly overtake us. We hauled the twelve-pounder aft, and running its muzzle over the taffrail, " depressed it for a close fire," and getting our muskets aft also, we took our stand ; determined to beat them off, or die in the attempt. There were now four boats hotly pursuing us ; but the foremost one. which Brown commanded, was the only one that seemed likely to overtake us ; and it did seem impossible for us to escape him, for he gained on us every minute. But when he was just within musket-shot of us, the wind fresh- ened suddenly, and for a moment we were slipping right away from him. It was but momentary, however, for the wind lulled again, and he came on faster than ever. Brown was standing in the bow of his boat, his musket in THE MUTINY. 113 his hand, and as he was to windward of us, we could plainly hear him, as he swore roundly that he would " kill every d d mother's son of us." "Perhaps you will, friend Brown," thought I — "but that's a game that tioo can play at ;" and, asking pardon for the mur- der, I coolly took aim at him with a musket, and let drive. I never missed my aim before, but he was under the especial protection of the devil. My ball did not touch him, while his, in return, grazed my cheek, — ^just drawing blood. As he was loading, I fired at him again, and, although I never had a fairer shot, again missed him. But the ball was not wasted this time. It passed through the head of his bow- oars-man ; and as Brown rose to fire at me again, his stroke- oars-man fell dead from the same cause, while Brown's ball passed through my hat — doing no mischief whatever. I had now found the way to gain upon hi;r, and that was, to kill his men ; and I put my knowledge in practice so effectually, that in five minutes he had only two oars-men left. At this juncture the wind freshened very much, for we were clear of the harbor, and in the open sea, and there could be no question of our final escape. So we gave him the pepper-and-salt mixture from the twelve-pounder, which dis- abled the rest of his oars. We then cheered him, and left him to found as many empires in the South Seas as he felt inclined. But our work was only begun. We were standing out to sea, under a press of canvass, in a ship of five hundred tons, to work which properly, at least eighteen men were requisite. We were nearly a thousand miles from Valparaiso, and four hundred from the nearest port, Valdivia ; and " we two fellows" were to work and navigate this ship into port, as we best could. That we were safe from Brown, was an undeniable and most joyous fact ; but I must confess that we felt rather sad 15 # 114 THE MUTINY. when we looked around at sunset, and saw nothing but sky and water. We felt that we were indeed alone. However, we plucked up courage, determined to do all that men miglit, before we gave it up. The wind was, fortunately, perfectly fair. We had plenty of provisions and water : the ship's quadrants, chronometers, charts, and compasses were all aboard, and we both under- stood naviofation. We knew we could get on well enou