ptain's
eyes prevented him from seeing who was his assailant; but, he
immediately ordered Tom, as well as Weeks and I, all up into the cross-
trees, Tom at the fore, Sam at the main, and I on the mizzen-mast, to
"look out for land," instead of having our breakfast.

As we were some hundreds of miles off the nearest coast, our task of
looking out for land was entirely a work of supererogation; still, we
did not realise this, and strained our eyes vainly until we were called
down from aloft at "two bells," after the hands had all had their
breakfast and there was nothing left for us. This was "Jock's"
satisfaction in return for the shower bath he had been treated to so
unceremoniously. Tom Jerrold afterwards said that he did not notice
Jock coming up the companion way, and that of course he would never have
dreamt of treating the captain so disrespectfully; but, as Master Tom
invariably grinned whenever he made this declaration, Weeks and I, as
well as Tim Rooney, who somehow or other got hold of the yarn, all had
our suspicions on the point.

However, this is a digression from the description of our daily duties.

After scrubbing decks, each watch alternately had breakfast; and then,
as now, when the wind was fair and hardly a brace or rope required to be
handed from morning till night or from night till morning, we and the
rest of the crew were set to work unravelling ends of junk and picking
oakum, like convicts.

After being thus disintegrated, the tow was spun into sennit or fine
twine and yarn which is always of use on board, quantities of it being
used in "serving" and "parcelling" for chafing gear.

At noon, the crew had their dinner, watch in and watch out, but we
apprentices had to wait till the captain and mates had theirs; although,
as I've already mentioned, we saw little of the delicacies of the cabin
table except occasionally of a Sunday, on which day, sometimes, Captain
Gillespie's heart was more benevolently inclined towards us apparently.
During the afternoon watch on week-days we were allowed to amuse
ourselves as we liked, and I frequently took advantage of this
opportunity to learn all that Tim Rooney and Adams could teach me
forward--the two being great cronies, and busying themselves at this
period of the day, if there were nothing to call their attention
elsewhere, in doing odd jobs on the forecastle, the one in the
sailmaking line and the other attending to his legitimate occupation of
loo