He was well qualified for the business, having
been clerk in a counting-house in Boston. He had been troubled for
some time with the rheumatism, which unfitted him for the wet and
exposed duty of a sailor on the coast. For a week or ten days all
was life on board. The people came off to look and to buy- men,
women, and children; and we were continually going in the boats,
carrying goods and passengers,- for they have no boats of their own.
Everything must dress itself and come aboard and see the new vessel,
if it were only to buy a paper of pins. The agent and his clerk
managed the sales, while we were busy in the hold or in the boats. Our
cargo was an assorted one; that is, it consisted of everything under
the sun. We had spirits of all kinds, (sold by the cask,) teas,
coffee, sugars, spices, raisins, molasses, hardware, crockery-ware,
tinware, cutlery, clothing of all kinds, boots and shoes from Lynn,
calicoes and cottons from Lowell, crepes, silks; also shawls,
scarfs, necklaces, jewelry, and combs for the ladies; furniture; and
in fact, everything that can be imagined, from Chinese fire-works to
English cart-wheels- of which we had a dozen pairs with their iron
rims on.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136