Part 28 (1/2)
”Bedad, sorr, it sames I'm dhramin', sure,” observed Tiether on the forecastle, looking out over the hows ”It's hty loike the ould river; an' I'd a''in, an' not in Chainee at all at all!”
”You're not far wrong, bosun,” replied Mr Mackay, s at his remark, or rather at the quaint way in which it wasstrangely like that of the Tha their conversation, thought the sah, of course, there was no dome of Saint Paul's in the distance, nor forests ofto and fro, nor all that bustle of business and din and dense black suishes the hich forreat heart artery of London, still there were many points of rese opposite Shanghai, where we lay, being almost as fair as that which is to be seen sometimes at the mouth of the Thames on a fine day, when it blows froet down Channel
The sa about hither and thither in shoals, sos and paddle stea on the former stream, albeit there was no deficiency here either of Fulton's invention, steaularly a distance of ; and, as for houses and the signs of a nuh different to the bricks and land, with the peaks of paGodas doing duty for church spires, while the paddy fields planted with rice on either hand offered a very good ireatthe Essex shore
”Aye, it's the very ie, an' as loike as two pays,” reiterated Ti the two ”Don't ye think so, too, Misther Gray- ham?”
”I wish you would leave the 'ha, but a bit vexed all the sa quite a stale joke”
”Faix, I dunno what yeto be puzzled, but the wink in his eye showing clearly that this density of his mental powers on the point was only assuue, ye know, if ye manes that?”
”nobody says you can,” said I rather shortly; for one or two of the hands by the windlass bitts were grinning, as well as Sa made fun of before the else but a Paddy all the world over!”
”Begorra, an' I'm proud av that very same, Misther Gray-hained he would be
”If other folks had as little to be ashamed av, it's a blissid worrld sure this'd be, an' we'd be all havin' our wings sproutin' an' sailin'
aloft, loike the swate little cheroob, they says, looks arter poor Jack!”
A general laugh followed this; and the captain just then co all his papers and bills of lading together, and ordering the jolly-boat to be lowered to pull him ashore, Tim turned away to see to the job--so, he had the best of ood friends afterwards
In the afternoon, Captain Gillespie ca of coolies under a native coe the cargo into a lot of sside; but the China their ith that of our stalwart able-bodied tars, one of who crate as it was hoisted out of the hold which it took ten of the others merely to look at
Fortunately, only a few boxes of the Manchester stuffs that were stowed in our fore cooods being in good condition, and the cargo generally as sound as when it came on board in the docks; a result which afforded ”Old Jock” much satisfaction, as he had feared the worst The only loss, therefore, the owners would have to suffer would be the sht that had been jettisoned when the shi+p first went ashore on the Pratas, the cargo that had subsequently been taken out to lighten her before getting her off the shoal having been carefully preserved
”'All's well that ends well,'” cried he, rubbing his hands and sniffing and snorting, when the people ashore reported this after a systematic examination of all the bales and stuff ”I told ye so, Mackay, I told ye so; and when I say a thing, ye know, Ihas turned out right,” replied the first h, at ”Jock's” assertion of having prognosticated this favourable issue, the contrary being the case; for, he'd been grue to be paid, and coo, besides perhaps dehai more than a month beyond her time ”'All's well that ends well,' as you say, sir; and I only hope we'll soon have a freight back which will recoup any loss the owners e out”
But, hoping for a thing, and having it, are two very different things
It was the hai, and it took us, with the sloay of going to work of the Chinese coolies and their coood three weeks to unload our cargo; so that, by the tiot ready below for the reception of a freight of tea promised the captain, lo and behold we found ere too late, for the consignment intended for us was noell on its way home in another vessel This latter, however, ere told in excuse for our disappoint been lying in the river since May, and only starting off as we coh, by the hope of having a cargo of the second season tea, which the shore folk said was expected in the town from up country shortly; which ”shortly” proved to be of theSeptember before we received authoritative inforhai and ready for shi+ph, we did not loseit on board and stowed, even Toorra, we'll show the hiusto as he buckled to the job, setting the hands a worthy example to follow ”Aye, we'll jist show them e calls worruk in our counthry, me darlints
Won't we, boys?”
”Aye, aye,” roared out the ain; sailors being generally the most restlessin one place ”Aye, aye, bo, ill!”
And they did, too, ”Old Jock” rubbing his hands and snorting and sniffing in fine glee as the tea-chests were rattled up out of the junks alongside and lowered into the hold, where they underwent even a greater ao out, the process of co helped on by the aid of the jack-screws and the port watch under Mr Mackay--who now superintended the stowage of the cargo, in place of poor Mr Saunders No one, apparently, save the faithful Ti in his quiet tomb in Happy Valley!
”Bedad, we miss our ould sickond mate, sorr,” I heard hie to the job, having had nothing to do in the stowing line for so ation of the shi+p ”He wor a powerful man to ate, sure; but he knew his way about the howld av a vissil, sorr, that same”
”That hing as the tea-dust caught his breath, ”that I don't--eh?”
”Be jabers, no, sorr,” protested Tiht it But poor ould Misther Saunders samed, sorr, to take koindly to this sort av worruk, betther nor navigatin'; which he weren't a patch on alongside av you, sorr, as ivery hand aboard knows”