Page:The White Slave, or Memoirs of a Fugitive.djvu/245

 

favorable breezes, with which we had set out, did not last long. The weather soon became tempestuous, and we were involved in fogs, and driven about by contrary winds. Our labors and hardships were very great ; but still I found a sort of pleasure in them. It was for myself that I toiled and suffered; and that thought gave me strength and vigor.

I applied myself with the greatest zeal and good-will to learn the business of my profession. At first, my companions laughed at my ignorance and awkwardness, and were full of their jokes and tricks upon me. But though rude and thoughtless, they were generous and good-natured. In the very first week of our voyage, I had a fair fight with the bully of the ship. I whipped him soundly; and the crew all agreed, that there was something in me.

{ was strong and active; and as I made it a point to imitate whatever I saw done by any of the crew, I was surprised to find in how short a time I was able to run over the rigging, and venture upon the yards. ‘The maze of ropes and sea-terms that at first perplexed me, soon grew clear. Before we were across the ocean, I could hand, reef, and steer with any man on board; and the crew swore with one consent, that I was born to be a sailor.

But I was not, satisfied with setting sails and handling ropes. I wished to understand the art of navigation. One of our crew was a young man of good education, who served before the mast, as is common with New Englanders, in expectation of presently commanding a ship himself. He had his books and his instruments; and as he had already been one or two voyages, he understood pretty well, how to apply them, and used to keep a reckoning of the ship’s course. This same young sailor, Tom Turner by name, was a fine, free-hearted fellow as ever lived; but he was of a slight make, and his strength was not equal to his spirit. I had gained his good-will by standing by him in some of our forecastle frolics ; and seeing how anxious I was to learn,