ard, we were kept at
work all day, and at night the watches were set, and everything put
into sea order. When we were called aft to be divided into watches, I
had a good specimen of the manner of a sea captain. After the division
had been made, he gave a short characteristic speech, walking the
quarter deck with a cigar in his mouth, and dropping the words out
between the puffs.

"Now, my men, we have begun a long voyage. If we get along well
together, we shall have a comfortable time; if we don't, we shall have
hell afloat.--All you've got to do is to obey your orders and do your
duty like men,--then you'll fare well enough;--if you don't, you'll
fare hard enough,--I can tell you. If we pull together, you'll find me
a clever fellow; if we don't, you'll find me a bloody rascal.--That's
all I've got to say.--Go below, the larboard watch!"

I being in the starboard or second mate's watch, had the opportunity of
keeping the first watch at sea. S----, a young man, making, like
myself, his first voyage, was in the same watch, and as he was the son
of a professional man, and had been in a counting-room in Boston, we
found that we had many friends and topics in common. We talked these
matters over,--Boston, what our friends were probably doing, our
voyage, etc., until he went to take his turn at the look-out, and left
me to myself. I had now a fine time for reflection. I felt for the
first time the perfect silence of the sea. The officer was walking the
quarter deck, where I had no right to go, one or two men were talking
on the forecastle, whom I had little inclination to join, so that I was
left open to the full impression of everything about me. However much I
was affected by the beauty of the sea, the bright stars, and the clouds
driven swiftly over them, I could not but remember that I was
separating myself from all the social and intellectual enjoyments of
life. Yet, strange as it may seem, I did then and afterwards take
pleasure in these reflections, hoping by them to prevent my becoming
insensible to the value of what I was leaving.

But all my dreams were soon put to flight by an order from the officer
to trim the yards, as the wind was getting ahead; and I could plainly
see by the looks the sailors occasionally cast to windward, and by the
dark clouds that were fast coming up, that we had bad weather to
prepare for, and had heard the captain say that he expected to be in
the Gulf Stream by twelve o'clock