At every watch, when we came below, before
turning-in, the bread barge and beef kid were overhauled. Each man
drank his quart of hot tea night and morning; and glad enough we
were to get it, for no nectar and ambrosia were sweeter to the lazy
immortals, than was a pot of hot tea, a hard biscuit, and a slice of
cold salt beef, to us after a watch on deck. To be sure, we were
mere animals and had this life lasted a year instead of a month we
should have been little better than the ropes in the ship. Not a
razor, nor a brush, nor a drop of water, except the rain and the
spray, had come near us all the time; for we were on an allowance of
fresh water; and who would strip and wash himself in salt water on
deck, in the snow and ice, with the thermometer at zero?
After about eight days of constant easterly gales, the wind hauled
occasionally a little to the southward, and blew hard, which, as we
were well to the southward, allowed us to brace in a little and
stand on, under all the sail we could carry. These turns lasted but
a short while, and sooner or later it set again from the old
quarter; yet each time we made something, and were gradually edging
along to the eastward.
Pages:
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579