CHAPTER XXIII
NEW SHIP AND SHIPMATES--MY WATCHMATE
Tuesday, Sept. 8th. This was my first day's duty on board the
ship; and though a sailor's life is a sailor's life wherever it may
be, yet I found everything very different here from the customs of the
brig Pilgrim. After all hands were called, at daybreak, three
minutes and a half were allowed for every man to dress and come on
deck, and if any were longer than that, they were sure to be
overhauled by the mate, who was always on deck, and making himself
heard all over the ship. The head-pump was then rigged, and the
decks washed down by the second and third mates; the chief mate
walking the quarter-deck and keeping a general supervision, but not
deigning to touch a bucket or a brush. Inside and out, fore and aft,
upper deck and between decks, steerage and forecastle, rail, bulwarks,
and water-ways, were washed, scrubbed and scraped with brooms and
canvas, and the decks were wet and sanded all over, and then
holystoned. The holystone is a large, soft stone, smooth on the
bottom, with long ropes attached to each end, by which the crew keep
it sliding fore and aft, over the wet, sanded decks.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321