There was no foolish
gilding and gingerbread work, to take the eye of landsmen and
passengers, but everything was "ship-shape and Bristol fashion." There
was no rust, no dirt, no rigging hanging slack, no fag ends of ropes
and "Irish pendants" aloft, and the yards were squared "to a t" by
lifts and braces.
The mate was a fine, hearty, noisy fellow, with a voice like a lion,
and always wide awake. He was "a man, every inch of him," as the
sailors said; and though "a bit of a horse," and "a hard customer,"
yet he was generally liked by the crew. There was also a second and
third mate, a carpenter, sailmaker, steward, cook, etc., and twelve,
including boys, before the mast. She had, on board, seven thousand
hides, which she had collected at the windward, and also horns and
tallow. All these we began discharging, from both gangways at once,
into the two boats, the second mate having charge of the launch, and
the third mate of the pinnace. For several days, we were employed in
this way, until all the hides were taken out, when the crew began
taking in ballast, and we returned to our old work, hide-curing.
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