This put an end
to their pretensions, and they never heard the last of it from the
rest of the men. On the night of the entertainment at the Rosa's
house, I saw old Schmidt, (that was the Austrian's name) standing up
by a hogshead, holding on by both hands, and calling out to
himself- "Hold on, Schmidt! hold on, my good fellow, or you'll be on
your back!" Still, he was an intelligent, good-natured old fellow, and
had a chest-full of books, which he willingly lent me to read. In
the same house with him was a Frenchman and an Englishman; the
latter a regular-built "man-of-war Jack;" a thorough seaman; a hearty,
generous fellow; and, at the same time, a drunken, dissolute dog. He
made it a point to get drunk once a fortnight, (when he always managed
to sleep on the road, and have his money stolen from him,) and to
battle the Frenchman once a week. These, with a Chilian, and a half
a dozen Kanakas, formed the addition to our company.
In about six weeks from the time when the Pilgrim sailed, we had got
all the hides which she left us cured and stowed away; and having
cleared up the ground, and emptied the vats, and set everything in
order, had nothing more to do until she should come down again, but to
supply ourselves with wood.
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