In this way, with an occasional
break by relieving the wheel, heaving the log, and going to the
scuttle-butt for a drink of water, the longest watch was passed
away; and I was so regular in my silent recitations, that if there was
no interruption by ship's duty, I could tell very nearly the number of
bells by my progress.
Our watches below were no more varied than the watch on deck. All
washing, sewing, and reading was given up; and we did nothing but eat,
sleep, and stand our watch, leading what might be called a Cape Horn
life. The forecastle was too uncomfortable to sit up in; and
whenever we were below, we were in our berths. To prevent the rain,
and the sea-water which broke over the bows, from washing down, we
were obliged to keep the scuttle closed, so that the forecastle was
nearly air-tight. In this little, wet, leaky hole, we were all
quartered, in an atmosphere so bad that our lamp, which swung in the
middle from the beams, sometimes actually burned blue, with a large
circle of foul air about it. Still I was never in better health than
after three weeks of this life. I gained a great deal of flesh, and we
all ate like horses.
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