Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/322

 taken all aback when he saw that all hands were going ashore with their chests. He coaxed and pleaded with us to remain on board, told us that we were a good  set of men and that we should have "watch and watch,"  and was even foolish enough to say that we should have  plum duff twice a week. But we didn’t feel inclined to accept his flattering offers, and it was several months  before he succeeded in shipping a new crew.

The following morning I shipped as a deck hand on board the big Sultanea, a Mississippi steamboat. While on this steamboat, I recollect that on one trip we ran  alongside a large emigrant ship from Amsterdam, and  took on board between six and seven hundred high and  low Dutch emigrants. They were short, stout, and thickset, with round, full faces and rosy cheeks. They took deck passage to St. Louis. Their baggage consisted of chests, which were very heavy, being built of teak. The only bedding they brought with them was feather beds. They would lie down upon one of these and use the other for a covering. They drank the river water, ate green vegetables and other food which they purchased at the  different landings. This unwholesome manner of living caused a great deal of sickness among them. I remained on this steamboat about six months, when I  shipped in the brig Thomas Jefferson, for Boston, and  received twelve dollars in payment for the run. We made the passage in eight days. As usual, my friends gave me a cordial welcome home. Shortly after my return I resumed work at painting, but soon abandoned  it and shipped in the ship Charles Carrol, receiving  eight dollars for the run to New Orleans. We lay in