oon
afterwards, the captain came very quietly on deck, and stood by me for
some time looking at the compass. The officer at length became aware
of the captain's presence, but pretending not to know it, began humming
and whistling to himself, to show that he was not asleep, and went
forward, without looking behind him, and ordered the main royal to be
loosed. On turning round to come aft, he pretended surprise at seeing
the master on deck. This would not do. The captain was too "wide
awake" for him, and beginning upon him at once, gave him a grand
blow-up, in true nautical style--"You're a lazy, good-for-nothing
rascal; you're neither man, boy, soger, nor sailor! you're no more than
a thing aboard a vessel! you don't earn your salt! you're worse than a
Mahon soger!" and other still more choice extracts from the sailor's
vocabulary. After the poor fellow had taken the harangue, he was sent
into his state-room, and the captain stood the rest of the watch
himself.

At seven bells in the morning, all hands were called aft and told that
F---- was no longer an officer on board, and that we might choose one
of our own number for second mate. It is usual for the captain to make
this offer, and it is very good policy, for the crew think themselves
the choosers and are flattered by it, but have to obey, nevertheless.
Our crew, as is usual, refused to take the responsibility of choosing a
man of whom we would never be able to complain, and left it to the
captain. He picked out an active and intelligent young sailor, born
near the Kennebee, who had been several Canton voyages, and proclaimed
him in the following manner: "I choose Jim Hall--he's your second mate.
All you've got to do is, to obey him as you would me; and remember that
he is Mr. Hall." F---- went forward into the forecastle as a common
sailor, and lost the handle to his name, while young fore-mast Jim
became Mr. Hall, and took up his quarters in the land of knives and
forks and tea-cups.

Sunday, October 5th. It was our morning watch; when, soon after the
day began to break, a man on the forecastle called out, "Land ho!" I
had never heard the cry before, and did not know what it meant, (and
few would suspect what the words were, when hearing the strange sound
for the first time,) but I soon found, by the direction of all eyes,
that there was land stretching along our weather beam. We immediately
took in studding-sails and hauled our wind, running in for the la