SHIP JAMES ALLEN. 89 



half ail hour later than lie, and in the course of two 

 hours had both the Crapo and James Allen on our 

 lee quarter. As we passed the latter, our captain 

 facetiousl}' desired them to let go that hawser. They 

 were too badly beaten to answer without displaying 

 their chagrin ; they therefore were discreet, and said 

 not a word. As this sliip was our consort from this 

 time until July, 1857, I shall describe her and her 

 appointments. Like us, she was built from an old 

 fashioned model, but was a much younger ship. Her 

 captain was of a diminutive person, and strove to 

 atone for his small size by blustering ; bis first officer, 

 who, from all accounts, governed the ship, delighted 

 in a display of pugilistic powers, and kicked, cuffed, 

 and boxed the men on the slightest provocation. 

 She was two months longer from home than we, and 

 up to this time had taken no oil. One circumstance 

 that I omitted, in my remarks on Vasse, was the fact 

 of a collation and a ball, held on board this ship 

 whilst we lay there. Invitations were issued, and the 

 elite of the vicinity, for miles around, accepted them, 

 and at about 3 o'clock P. M. were conveyed aboard the 

 Allen by the boats of the vessels in the harbor. All 

 the vessels had their colors hoisted ; the captains and 

 cliief mates were the only guests from the vessels. 

 When the boats with their freif^ht arrived alonorside, 

 a chair that had a whip attached to it was lowered, 

 the ladies, singly, placed in it, and, reposing on 

 the American flag, hoisted aboard. Here a can- 

 vass screen was extended across the quarter-deck, just 

 abaft the mainmast, and, after a hearty repast, a 

 negro fiddler, who is an American by birth, and 

 the principal headsman at the bay whale-fishery, was 

 8* 



