After this, came shaving, and combing, and brushing; and
when, having spent the first part of the day in this way, we sat
down on the forecastle, in the afternoon, with clean duck trowsers,
and shirts on, washed, shaved, and combed, and looking a dozen
shades lighter for it, reading, sewing, and talking at our ease,
with a clear sky and warm sun over our heads, a steady breeze over the
larboard quarter, studding-sails out alow and aloft, and all the
flying kites aboard;- we felt that we had got back into the
pleasantest part of a sailor's life. At sundown the clothes were all
taken down from the rigging- clean and dry- and stowed neatly away in
our chests; and our southwesters, thick boots, guernsey frocks, and
other accompaniments of bad weather, put out of the way, we hoped, for
the rest of the voyage, as we expected to come upon the coast early in
the autumn.
Notwithstanding all that has been said about the beauty of a ship
under full sail, there are very few who have ever seen a ship,
literally, under all her sail. A ship coming in or going out of
port, with her ordinary sails, and perhaps two of three
studding-sails, is commonly said to be under full sail; but a ship
never has all her sail upon her, except when she has a light, steady
breeze, very nearly, but not quite, dead aft, and so regular that it
can be trusted, and is likely to last for some time.
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