28 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



hardly dares think of them ! Amid the perils 

 and dangers of the deep, how long will the 

 ship's company remain unbroken? Will the 

 ship ever return, and reenter her port again? 

 Will those who have just released themselves 

 from the embraces of friends, and wiped away 

 the falling tear, and barred their hearts to the 

 separation, will they ever return ? or, if they 

 should, will they ever see again those whom 

 they are now leaving? These inquiries and 

 reflections find expression only in painful emo- 

 tions, sadness, and sorrow. Time will make 

 changes, and leave its ineffaceable footprints with 

 every passing year. 



The land was lost sight of in the evening of 

 the day upon which we sailed, with a strong 

 south-west wind. We were accompanied out 

 of the bay by two other outward bound whale 

 ships — the Columbus, of Fairhaven, Captain 

 Crowell, and the Hunter, of New Bedford, Cap- 

 tain Holt. 



After the usual passage, with variable winds, 

 and no particular incident of marked importance, 

 except the ordinary and certain amount of sea- 

 sickness on board, which generally attends the 

 uninitiated in their first interviews with "old 

 Neptune," Cape Verd Islands were made on the 

 4th of December. 



