Two or three songs would be tried, one after the other, with no
effect;- not an inch could be got upon the tackles- when a new song,
struck up, seemed to hit the humor of the moment, and drove the
tackles "two blocks" at once. "Heave round hearty!" "Heave round
hearty!" "Captain gone ashore!" and the like, might do for common
pulls, but in an emergency, when we wanted a heavy, "raise-the-dead"
pull, which should start the beams of the ship, there was nothing like
"Time for us to go!" "Round the corner," or "Hurrah! hurrah! my hearty
bullies!"
This was the most lively part of our work. A little boating and
beach work in the morning; then twenty or thirty men down in a close
hold, where we were obliged to sit down and slide about, passing
hides, and rowsing about the great steeves, tackles, and dogs, singing
out at the falls, and seeing the ship filling up every day. The work
was as hard as it could well be. There was not a moment's cessation
from Monday morning till Saturday night, when we were generally beaten
out, and glad to have a full night's rest, a wash and shift of
clothes, and a quiet Sunday.
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