n seemed to quite transform
them. Hitherto they had been very moody and exclusive, never associating
with us on the white side, or attempting to be at all familiar. A mutual
atmosphere of suspicion, in fact, seemed to pervade our quarters, making
things already uncomfortable enough, still more so. Now, however, they
fraternized with us, and in a variety of uncouth ways made havoc of the
English tongue, as they tried to impress us with the beauty, fertility
and general incomparability of their beloved Cape Verds. Of the eleven
white men besides myself in the forecastle, there were a middle-aged
German baker, who had bolted from Buffalo; two Hungarians, who looked
like noblemen disguised--in dirt; two slab-sided Yankees of about 22
from farms in Vermont; a drayman from New York; a French Canadian
from the neighbourhood of Quebec; two Italians from Genoa; and two
nondescripts that I never found out the origin of. Imagine, then, the
babel of sound, and think--but no, it is impossible to think, what sort
of a jargon was compounded of all these varying elements of language.

One fortunate thing, there was peace below. Indeed, the spirit seemed
completely taken out of all of them, and by some devilish ingenuity
the afterguard had been able to sow distrust between them all, while
treating them like dogs, so that the miseries of their life were
never openly discussed. My position among them gave me at times some
uneasiness. Though I tried to be helpful to all, and was full of
sympathy for their undeserved sufferings, I could not but feel that they
would have been more than human had they not envied me my immunity from
the kicks and blows they all shared so impartially. However, there was
no help for it, so I went on as cheerily as I could.

A peculiarity of all these vessels, as I afterwards learned, was that no
stated allowance of anything was made. Even the water was not served out
to us, but was kept in a great scuttle-butt by the cabin door, to which
every one who needed a drink had to go, and from which none might be
carried away. No water was allowed for washing except from the sea; and
every one knows, or should know, that neither flesh nor clothes can be
cleansed with that. But a cask with a perforated top was lashed by the
bowsprit and kept filled with urine, which I was solemnly assured by
Goliath was the finest dirt-extractor in the world for clothes. The
officers did not avail themselves of its virtues though, but we