Volume I Part 5 (1/2)
About this ti opened his y occurred, as, jacknife in hand, he was bending over the midshi+p oar; on the loo a notch for every set sun For soht and variable It wasus northward
Now, ht, that thecalm came on, of which there was some prospect, we had better take to our oars
Take to our oars! as if ere crossing a ferry, and no ocean leagues to traverse The idea indirectly suggested all possible horrors To be rid of thebetter than bolting so down on top of theet dyspepsia; and the dyspepsia the blues
But what of our store of provisions? So far as enough to eat was concerned, we felt not the slightest apprehension; our supplies proving more abundant than we had anticipated But, curious to tell, we felt but little inclination for food It ater, bright water, cool, sparkling water, alone, that we craved And of this, also, our store at first seethened, and breezes blew faint, and cal deprived of the precious fluid grew into so little short of a mono- mania; especially with Jarl
Every hour or tith the ha, he tinkered away at the invaluable breaker; driving down the hoops, till in his over solicitude, I thought he would burst thee, in the middle of the boat, where more or less sea-water always collected And ever and anon, dipping his finger therein, ht, that this sea-water tasted less brackish than that alongside Of course the breakerSo, he would turn it over, till its wet side came uppermost; when it would quickly becoently probe the joints of the staves; shake his head; look up; look down; taste of the water in the bottom of the boat; then that of the sea; then lift one end of the breaker; going through with every test of leakage he could dream of Nor was he ever fully satisfied, that the breaker was in all respects sound
But in reality it was tight as the drum-heads that beat at Cerro- Gordo Oh! Jarl, Jarl: toat one time and the same, thou and thy breaker were a study
Besides the breaker, we had, full of water, the two boat-kegs, previously alluded to These were first used We drank from them by their leaden spouts; sono otheran allowance But e cah a very large one, dog- like, it was so many laps apiece; jealously counted by the observer
This plan, however, was only good for a single day; the water then getting beyond the reach of the tongue We therefore daily poured fros; and drank from its spout But to obviate the absorption inseparable fro better,--my comrade's shoe, which, deprived of its quarters, narrowed at the heel, and diligently rinsed out in the sea, was converted into a handy but rather li-hole of the breaker, that it ht never twice absorb the water
Noter imparts flavor to ale; a Meerschaulasses are dee of Hock What then shall be said of a leathern goblet for water? Try it, ye ht, Jarl fished up in his ladle a deceased insect; sos, only more corpulent Its fate? A sea-toss? Believe it not; with all those precious drops clinging to its lengthy legs It was held over the ladle till the last globule dribbled; and even then, being moist, honest Jarl was but loth to drop it overboard
For our larder, we could not endure the salt beef; it was raw as a live Abyssinian steak, and salt as Cracow Besides, the Feegee siood with respect to it It was far fro ”tender as a dead man” The biscuit only could we eat; not to be wondered at; for even on shi+pboard, sea feeders
And here let not, a suggestion be omitted, most valuable to any future castaway or sailaway as the case may be Eat not your biscuit dry; but dip it in the sea: whichmeal times it was soak and sip with Jarl andour biscuit in the brine This plan obviated finger-glasses at the conclusion of our repast Upon the whole, dwelling upon the water is not so bad after all The Chinese are no fools In the operation ofyour toilet, how handy to float in your ewer!
CHAPTER XV A Stitch In Time Saves Nine
Likewas a pattern of industry When in the boats after whales, I have known hi a roll of sinnate to stitch into a hat And the boats lyingof the chase, his fingers would be plying at their task, like an old lady knitting
Like an experienced old-wife too, his digits had become so expert and conscientious, that his eyes left the optic supervision unnecessary And on this trip of ours, when not otherwise engaged, he was quite as busy with his fingers as ever: unraveling old Cape Horn hose, for yarn ith to darn our woolen frocks; with great patches fro the seats of our ”ducks;” in short, veneering our broken garments with all manner of choice old broadcloths
With the true forethought of an old tar, he had brought along wish him nearly the whole contents of his chest His precious ”Ditty Bag,”
containing his sewing utensils, had been carefully packed away in the bottom of one of his bundles; of which he had as many as an old maid on her travels In truth, an old salt is very , far fro that misdeemed appellative Better be an old maid, a woman with herself for a husband, than the wife of a fool; and Solomon more than hints that all men are fools; and every wisethe seular little platfor the driest and most elevated part of the boat, was best adapted to his purpose Here for hours and hours together the honest old tailor would sit darning and sewing away, heedless of the wide ocean around; while forever, his slouched Guayaquil hat kept bobbing up and down against the horizon before us
It was a most solemn avocation with him Silently he nodded like the still statue in the opera of Don Juan Indeed he never spoke, unless to give pithy utterance to the wisdo at ti,in the steed at the other end of the boat Jarl laid down patch upon patch, and at long intervals precept upon precept; here several saws, and there innumerable stitches
CHAPTER XVI They Are Becalhth day there was a cal at daybreak, and folding unwale, I looked out upon a scene very hard to describe