This was not quite so bad, yet was no small
cause of anxiety. But we cared very little about the matter ourselves.
"Happy go lucky" with Jack! We did not believe that a French prison
would be much worse than "hide-droghing" on the coast of California;
and no one who has not been on a long, dull voyage, shut up in one
ship, can conceive of the effect of monotony upon one's thoughts and
wishes. The prospect of a change is like a green spot in a desert, and
the remotest probability of great events and exciting scenes gives a
feeling of delight, and sets life in motion, so as to give a pleasure,
which any one not in the same state would be entirely unable to
account for. In fact, a more jovial night we had not passed in the
forecastle for months. Every one seemed in unaccountably high spirits.
An undefined anticipation of radical changes, of new scenes, and great
doings, seemed to have possessed every one, and the common drudgery of
the vessel appeared contemptible. Here was a new vein opened; a
grand theme of conversation, and a topic for all sorts of discussions.
National feeling was wrought up.
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