They were, however, willing to work on
shore, and four of them were hired and put with Mr. Russell to cure
the hides.
After landing our hides, we next sent ashore all our spare spars and
rigging; all the stores which we did not want to use in the course
of one trip to windward; and, in fact, everything which we could
spare, so as to make room for hides: among other things, the
pig-sty, and with it "old Bess." This was an old sow that we had
brought from Boston, and which lived to get around Cape Horn, where
all the other pigs died from cold and wet. Report said that she had
been a Canton voyage before. She had been the pet of the cook during
the whole passage, and he had fed her with the best of everything, and
taught her to know his voice, and to do a number of strange tricks for
his amusement. Tom Cringle says that no one can fathom a negro's
affection for a pig; and I believe he is right, for it almost broke
our poor darky's heart when he heard that Bess was to be taken ashore,
and that he was to have the care of her no more during the whole
voyage. He had depended upon her as a solace, during the long trips up
and down the coast.
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