The sun comes out once more, hotter than
ever, dries up the decks and the sailors' clothes; the hatches are
taken off; the sail got up and spread on the quarter-deck; spun-yarn
winch set a whirling again; rigging coiled up; captain goes below; and
every sign of an interruption is removed.
These scenes, with occasional dead calms, lasting for hours, and
sometimes for days, are fair specimens of the Atlantic tropics. The
nights were fine; and as we had all hands all day, the watch were
allowed to sleep on deck at night, except the man at the wheel, and
one look-out on the forecastle. This was not so much expressly
allowed, as winked at. We could do it if we did not ask leave. If
the look-out was caught napping, the whole watch was kept awake. We
made the most of this permission, and stowed ourselves away upon the
rigging, under the weather rail, on the spars, under the windlass, and
in all the snug corners; and frequently slept out the watch, unless we
had a wheel or a look-out. And we were glad enough to get this rest;
for under the "all hands" system, out of every other thirty-six hours,
we had only four below; and even an hour's sleep was a gain not to
be neglected.
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