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of the people, but we did not like to work a ship of five hundred tons with so
few hands, one-third of whom were boys, so great a distance. The crew,
moreover, had a good deal of right on their side, the articles stipulating
that they should have the water, and this water was to be had a short distance
to windward.
The captain yielded to our reasoning, and we beat up to Port Jackson, where
we arrived in three or four days. The people were then sent to prison, as
mutineers, and we watered the ship. We were in port a fortnight, thus
occupied. All this time the men were in gaol. No men were to be had, and then
arose the question about trusting the old crew. There was no choice, and, the
ship being ready to sail, we received the people on board again, and turned
them all to duty. We had no further trouble with them, however, the fellows
behaving perfectly well, as men commonly will, who have been once put down. No
mutiny is dangerous when the officers are apprized of its existence, and are
fairly ready to meet it. The king's name is a tower of strength.
We arrived at Canton in due time, and found our cargo ready for us. We took
it in, and sailed again, for the Texel, in three weeks. Our passage to Europe
was two hundred and eleven days, but we met with no accident. At the Texel I
found two letters from New York, one being from Sarah, and the other from a
female friend. Sarah was married to the very silversmith who had engraven our
names on the thimble! This man saw her for the first time, when she carried
that miserable thimble to him, fell in love with her, and, being in good
circumstances, her friends prevailed on her to have him. Her letter to me
admitted her error, and confessed her unhappiness; but there was no remedy. I
did not like the idea of returning to New York, under the circumstances, and
resolved to quit the ship. I got my discharge, therefore, from the William and
Jane, and left her, never seeing the vessel afterwards.
There was a small Baltimore ship, called the Wabash, at the Texel, getting
ready for Canton, and I entered on board her, as a foremast Jack, again. My
plan was to quit her in China, and to remain beyond the Capes for ever. The
disappointment in my matrimonial plans had soured me, and I wanted to get as
far from America as I could. This was the turning point of my life, and was to
settle my position in my calling. I was now twenty-seven, and when a man gets
stern-way on him, at that age, he must sail a good craft ever to work his way
into his proper berth again.
The Wabash had a good passage out, without any unusual occurrence. On her
arrival at Canton, I told the captain my views, and he allowed me to go. I was
now adrift in the Imperial Empire, with a couple of hundred dollars in my
pocket, and a chest full of good clothes. So far all was well, and I began to
look about me for a berth. We had found an English country ship lying at
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Whampao, smuggling opium, and I got on board of her, as third-mate, a few days
after I quitted the Wabash. This was the first and only time I ever sailed
under the English flag, for I do not call my other passages in English
vessels, sailingunder the flag, though it was waving over my head. My new ship
was the Hope, of Calcutta, commanded by Captain Kid, or Kyd, I forget which.
The vessel was built of teak, and had been a frigate in the Portuguese
service. She was so old no one knew exactly when she was built, but sailed
like a witch. Her crew consisted principally of Lascars, with a few Europeans
and negroes, as is usual in those craft. My wages did not amount to much in
dollars, but everything was so cheap, they counted up in the long run. I had
perquisites, too, which amounted to something handsome. They kept a very good
table.
The Hope had a good deal of opium, when I joined her, and it was all to be
smuggled before we sailed. As this trade has made a great deal of noise,
latterly, I will relate the manner in which we disposed of the drug. Of the
morality of this species of commerce, I have no more to say in its defence,
than I had of the tobacco voyage, unless it be to aver that were I compelled,
now, to embark in one of the two, it should be to give the countrymen of my
honest fisherman cheap tobacco, in preference to making the Chinese drunk on
opium.
Our opium was packed in wooden boxes of forty cylinders, weighing about ten
pounds each cylinder. Of course each box weighed about four hundred pounds.
The main cargo was cotton, and salt-petre, and ebony; but there were four
hundred boxes of this opium.
The sales of the article were made by the captain, up at the factory. They
seldom exceeded six or eight boxes at a time, and were oftener two or three.
The purchaser then brought, or sent, an order on board the ship, for the
delivery of the opium. He also provided bags. The custom-house officers did
not remain in the ship, as in other countries, but were on board a large armed
boat, hanging astern. These crafts are called Hoppoo boats. This arrangement
left us tolerably free to do as we pleased, on board. If an officer happened
to come on board, however, we had early notice of it, of course. As
third-mate, it was my duty to see the boxes taken out of the hold, and the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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