Sometimes earlier and
sometimes later, the captain came down; when, after a good drenching
in the surf, we went aboard, changed our clothes, and turned in for
the night- yet not for all the night, for there was the anchor watch
to stand.
This leads me to speak of my watchmate for nine months- and, taking
him all in all, the most remarkable man I have ever seen- Tom
Harris. An hour, every night, while lying in port, Harris and myself
had the deck to ourselves, and walking fore and aft, night after
night, for months, I learned his whole character and history, and more
about foreign nations, the habits of different people, and
especially the secrets of sailors' lives and hardships, and also of
practical seamanship, (in which he was abundantly capable of
instructing me,) than I could ever have learned elsewhere. But the
most remarkable thing about him, was the power of his mind. His memory
was perfect; seeming to form a regular chain, reaching from his
earliest childhood up to the time I knew him, without one link
wanting. His power of calculation, too, was remarkable. I called
myself pretty quick at figures, and had been through a course of
mathematical studies; but, working by my head, I was unable to keep
within sight of this man, who had never been beyond his arithmetic: so
rapid was his calculation.
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