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- 1297
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- 2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z
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- start_line
- 1229
- text
- and “slush down the main-top mast.”
This was all Greek to me, and after receiving the order, I stood
staring about me, wondering what it was that was to be done. But the
mate had turned on his heel, and made no explanations. At length I
followed after him, and asked what I must do.
“Didn’t I tell you to slush down the main-top mast?” he shouted.
“You did,” said I, “but I don’t know what that means.”
“Green as grass! a regular cabbage-head!” he exclaimed to himself. “A
fine time I’ll have with such a greenhorn aboard. Look you, youngster.
Look up to that long pole there—d’ye see it? that piece of a tree
there, you timber-head—well—take this bucket here, and go up the
rigging—that rope-ladder there—do you understand?—and dab this slush
all over the mast, and look out for your head if one drop falls on
deck. Be off now, Buttons.”
The eventful hour had arrived; for the first time in my life I was to
ascend a ship’s mast. Had I been well and hearty, perhaps I should have
felt a little shaky at the thought; but as I was then, weak and faint,
the bare thought appalled me.
But there was no hanging back; it would look like cowardice, and I
could not bring myself to confess that I was suffering for want of
food; so rallying again, I took up the bucket.
It was a heavy bucket, with strong iron hoops, and might have held
perhaps two gallons. But it was only half full now of a sort of thick
lobbered gravy, which I afterward learned was boiled out of the salt
beef used by the sailors. Upon getting into the rigging, I found it was
no easy job to carry this heavy bucket up with me. The rope handle of
it was so slippery with grease, that although I twisted it several
times about my wrist, it would be still twirling round and round, and
slipping off. Spite of this, however, I managed to mount as far as the
“top,” the clumsy bucket half the time straddling and swinging about
between my legs, and in momentary danger of capsizing. Arrived at the
“top,” I came to a dead halt, and looked up. How to surmount that
overhanging impediment completely posed me for the time. But at last,
with much straining, I contrived to place my bucket in the “top;” and
then, trusting to Providence, swung myself up after it. The rest of the
road was comparatively easy; though whenever I incautiously looked down
toward the deck, my head spun round so from weakness, that I was
obliged to shut my eyes to recover myself. I do not remember much more.
I only recollect my safe return to the deck.
In a short time the bustle of the ship increased; the trunks of cabin
passengers arrived, and the chests and boxes of the steerage
passengers, besides baskets of wine and fruit for the captain.
At last we cast loose, and swinging out into the stream, came to
anchor, and hoisted the signal for sailing. Every thing, it seemed, was
on board but the crew; who in a few hours after, came off, one by one,
in Whitehall boats, their chests in the bow, and themselves lying back
in the stem like lords; and showing very plainly the complacency they
felt in keeping the whole ship waiting for their lordships.
“Ay, ay,” muttered the chief mate, as they rolled out of then-boats and
swaggered on deck, “it’s your turn now, but it will be mine before
long. Yaw about while you may, my hearties, I’ll do the yawing after
the anchor’s up.”
Several of the sailors were very drunk, and one of them was lifted on
board insensible by his landlord, who carried him down below and dumped
him into a bunk. And two other sailors, as soon as they made their
appearance, immediately went below to sleep off the fumes of their
drink.
- title
- Chunk 3