Jack in the Forecastle | Page 8

not without the aid of his jackknife.
I was greatly troubled during this passage by the impure character of
the water. I had been taught to place a high value on water as a
beverage; but when we had been three weeks at sea, and had entered
the warm latitudes, on knocking a bung from one of the water casks on
the quarter-deck, there issued an odor of "an ancient and fish-like"
nature, which gave offence to my olfactories. On tasting the water, I
found to my disgust that it was impregnated with a flavor of a like
character, and after it was swallowed this flavor would cling to the
palate with provoking tenacity for several minutes. The sailors smacked
their lips over it once or twice, and pronounced it "from fair to
middling." When boiled, and drank under the name of tea or coffee, it
might have deserved that character; but when taken directly from the
cask, and quaffed in hot weather, as a pleasant and refreshing beverage
it was a signal failure.
To the inmates of the cabin, myself excepted, the peculiar flavor of the
water served as an excuse, if any were required, for drawing liberally
on the brandy kegs and liquor cases. A little "dash of spirit" removed
the unpleasant taste by adding another, which, to my unsophisticated
palate, was equally offensive. The water in every cask proved of a
similar character; and I could hardly imagine how use, or even
necessity, could reconcile a person to such water as that. The problem
was solved, but not entirely to my satisfaction, on my next voyage.
The duties of cabin boy were of a nature different from my occupations
in previous years. They engrossed a considerable portion of my time;
and though they were not the kind of duties I most loved to perform, I
endeavored to accommodate my feelings to my situation, comforting
myself with the belief that the voyage would not be of long duration,
and that I was now taking the first step in the rugged path which led to
fame and fortune.
I devoted the hours which I could spare from my appropriate duties to
the acquisition of a knowledge of seamanship, and developing its

mysteries. I was fond of going aloft when the vessel was rolling or
pitching in a strong breeze. I loved to mount upon the top-gallant yard,
and from that proud eminence, while rocking to and fro, look down
upon the sails and spars of the brig, take a bird's eye view of the deck,
and scan the various operations; look at the foam beneath the bows, or
at the smooth, eddying, serpentine track left far behind. I also loved to
gaze from this elevated position upon the broad ocean, bounded on
every side by the clear and distant horizon a grand and sublime sight.
And then I indulged in daydreams of the most pleasing description, and
built gay and fantastic castles in the air, which my reason told me the
next moment would never be realized.
Chapter III
MANNING THE WOODEN WALLS OF OLD ENGLAND
One morning, soon after daybreak, as I was lying asleep in my berth, I
was awakened by a trampling on deck and loud shouts. Aware that
something unusual had occurred, I lost no time in hastening to the
scene of action. Ere I reached the deck, I heard the word "porpoises"
uttered in a loud key by one of the sailors, which explained the cause of
the excitement.
The mate, with sparkling eye and rigid features, in which determination
was strongly stamped, as if resolved "to do or die," was busily engaged
in fitting a line to the harpoon, which had been sharpened and prepared
for use some days before. I cast my eye to windward, and saw the
ocean alive with fish. Hundreds of porpoises were swimming around
the brig, crossing the bows, or following in the wake, or leaping out of
water and snuffing the air, and racing with each other as if for a wager;
passing so rapidly through the liquid element that it wearied the eye to
follow them.
The mate was soon ready with the harpoon, and took his station on the
bowsprit, within six feet of the water. The line, one end of which was
fastened to the harpoon, was rove through a block attached to the
main-topmast stay; and the cook, one of the sailors, and myself firmly
grasped the rope, and stood ready, whenever the word might be given,
to bowse the unsuspecting and deluded victim out of his native element
and introduce him to the ship's company.
Mr. Thompson stood on the bowsprit, poising the death-dealing

instrument, and with a keen eye watched the gambols of the fish. He
looked as formidable and fierce as a