The onions were genuine and fresh;
and the mate of the brig told the men in the boat, as he passed the
bunches over the side, that the girls had strung them on purpose for
us the day he sailed. We had supposed, on board, that a new president
had been chosen, the last winter, and, just as we filled away, the
captain hailed and asked who was president of the United States. They
answered, Andrew Jackson; but thinking that the old General could
not have been elected for a third time, we hailed again, and they
answered- Jack Downing; and left us to correct the mistake at our
leisure.
It was just dinner-time when we filled away; and the steward, taking
a few bunches of onions for the cabin, gave the rest to us, with a
bottle of vinegar. We carried them forward, stowed them away in the
forecastle, refusing to have them cooked, and ate them raw, with our
beef and bread. And a glorious treat they were. The freshness and
crispness of the raw onion, with the earthy taste, give it a great
relish to one who has been a long time on salt provisions. We were
perfectly ravenous after them. It was like a scent of blood to a
hound.
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