Mark Seaworth | Page 4

invalids,
and the children--even horses were on board, valuable racers or
chargers, belonging to some of the military officers; there were several
head of sheep penned up in the long-boat; and there were pigsties full
of grunting occupants, who seemed to be more happy and to have made
themselves far more at home than any of their four-footed
fellow-voyagers. Ranging at liberty were several dogs of high and low
degree, from the colonel's thorough-bred greyhound to the cook's cur, a
very turnspit in appearance; nor must I forget Quacko, the monkey, the
merriest and most active of two-legged or four-legged beings on board.
It might have puzzled many to determine to which he belonged, as he
was seen dressed in a blue jacket and white trousers, sitting up on the
break of the forecastle, his usual playground in fine weather, cracking
nuts, or peeling an orange like a human being, while his tongue was
chattering away, as if he had a vast amount of information to
communicate.

Then there were poultry of every description: ducks and geese, and
turkeys and cocks and hens, quacking, and cackling, and gobbling, and
crowing in concert: indeed, to shut one's eyes, it was difficult not to
suppose that one was in a well-stocked farm-yard; but on opening them
again, one found one's self surrounded by objects of a very different
character, to what one would there have seen. Instead of the trees, there
were the tall masts, the rigging, and sails above one's head, the
bulwarks instead of the walls of the barns, the black and white seamen
with thick beards instead of the ploughmen and milk-maids, and the
wide glittering ocean instead of the muddy horse-pond.
This was the scene on the upper deck: below, it was stranger still. There
were two decks, one beneath the other, both with occupants; there were
cooks at the galley fire, whose complexion no soot could make blacker,
and servants in white dresses and embroidered shawls, running
backwards and forwards with their masters' tiffins, as luncheons are
called in India.
There were numerous cabins, many occupied by persons whose sole
employment was to kill time, forgetting how soon time would kill them
in return, and they would have to sum up the account of how they had
spent their days on earth.
In the lower deck there were soldiers with their wives and children, and
seamen, some sleeping out their watch below, and others mending their
clothes, while a few were reading--a very few, I fear, such books as
were calculated to afford them much instruction. Below, again, in the
dark recesses of the hold, there were seamen with lanterns getting up
stores and provisions of various sorts. In one place were seen three
men--it was the gunner and his two mates. They had carefully-closed
lanterns and list shoes on their feet. They were visiting the magazine, to
see that the powder was dry. They were from habit careful, but custom
had made them thoughtless of danger; yet one spark from the lantern
would in a moment have sent every one of the many hundred living
beings on board that ship into eternity. The flannel bags containing the
powder were removed to be carried up on deck to dry, the door was
carefully closed and locked, and the gunner and his mates went about

their other avocations.
From long habit, people are apt to forget the dangers which surround
them, though they are far greater than those in which the passengers of
the good ship Governor Harcourt were placed at the moment the
magazine was opened; and I am very certain that not one of them
contemplated the possibility of being blown up, without an instant
warning, into the air.
I have indulged in a somewhat long description of this little world in
miniature, although I was not one of its inhabitants; but it was a scene
not without interest, and I have had many opportunities of judging of
the correctness of the picture which was given me by a friend then on
board the Governor Harcourt. We will now return to the more refined
groups sitting and lying about listlessly on the poop deck.
As among the party were several people who exercised a considerable
influence over my career, a description of them is necessary. The
person of most consideration, on account of his wealth and position, as
well as his high character, was a gentleman verging upon sixty years of
age. In stature and figure he was not what would be called dignified;
but there was that in the expression of his countenance which made
persons of discernment who studied his features feel inclined to love
and respect him. The broad forehead, the full mild eye, and the well-set
mouth, told of intellect, kindness, and firmness.
The