- end_line
- 1008
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 966
- text
- several years, a dog before the mast, and now he had thrown it up for
ever.
And for the most part, it is just this sort of men—so many of whom are
found among sailors—uncared for by a single soul, without ties,
reckless, and impatient of the restraints of civilization, who are
occasionally found quite at home upon the savage islands of the
Pacific. And, glancing at their hard lot in their own country, what
marvel at their choice?
According to the renegado, there was no other white man on the island;
and as the captain could have no reason to suppose that Hardy intended
to deceive us, he concluded that the Frenchmen were in some way or
other mistaken in what they had told us. However, when our errand was
made known to the rest of our visitors, one of them, a fine, stalwart
fellow, his face all eyes and expression, volunteered for a cruise. All
the wages he asked was a red shirt, a pair of trousers, and a hat,
which were to be put on there and then; besides a plug of tobacco and a
pipe. The bargain was struck directly; but Wymontoo afterward came in
with a codicil, to the effect that a friend of his, who had come along
with him, should be given ten whole sea-biscuits, without crack or
flaw, twenty perfectly new and symmetrically straight nails, and one
jack-knife. This being agreed to, the articles were at once handed
over; the native receiving them with great avidity, and in the absence
of clothing, using his mouth as a pocket to put the nails in. Two of
them, however, were first made to take the place of a pair of
ear-ornaments, curiously fashioned out of bits of whitened wood.
It now began breezing strongly from seaward, and no time was to be lost
in getting away from the land; so after an affecting rubbing of noses
between our new shipmate and his countrymen, we sailed away with him.
To our surprise, the farewell shouts from the canoe, as we dashed along
under bellied royals, were heard unmoved by our islander; but it was
not long thus. That very evening, when the dark blue of his native
hills sunk in the horizon, the poor savage leaned over the bulwarks,
dropped his head upon his chest, and gave way to irrepressible
emotions. The ship was plunging hard, and Wymontoo, sad to tell, in
addition to his other pangs, was terribly sea-sick.
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