We were not
mistaken in the coldness of the weather, for a white frost was on
the ground, a thing we had never seen before in California, and one or
two little puddles of fresh water were skimmed over with a thin coat
of ice. In this state of the weather and before sunrise, in the grey
of the morning, we had to wade off, nearly up to our hips in water, to
load the skiff with the wood by armsfull. The third mate remained on
board the launch, two more men staid in the skiff, to load and
manage it, and all the water-work, as usual, fell upon the two
youngest of us; and there we were, with frost on the ground, wading
forward and back, from the beach to the boat, with armsfull of wood,
barefooted, and our trowsers rolled up. When the skiff went off with
her load, we could only keep our feet from freezing by racing up and
down the beach on the hard sand, as fast as we could go. We were all
day at this work, and towards sundown, having loaded the vessel as
deep as she would bear, we hove up our anchor, and made sail,
beating out the bay. No sooner had we got into the large bay, than
we found a strong tide setting us out to seaward, a thick fog which
prevented our seeing the ship, and a breeze too light to set us
against the tide; for we were as deep as a sand-barge.
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