100 CLEANING SHIP. 



were pressed into the service, a fire made, the pots 

 filled with salt water, and, whilst it was heating, the 

 chests, herth furniture, bed-clothes, and every other 

 movable article, were removed on deck, and buckets 

 of boiling hot water dashed all over it. Then the 

 whitewash was mixed, and with a piece of canvass, 

 the ship not being able to boast the possession of a 

 whitewash brush, a thorough coat was daubed over 

 everything, and things made to wear a clean and 

 cheerful appearance. 



The old duds assembled on deck formed a curious 

 collection, and as I noticed them I fancied that I 

 could read the character of the owner by the appear- 

 ance of each, and the circumstances under which he 

 left home. The neatly painted chest, comfortable 

 mattrass and quilt, prepared by the careful hands of 

 some fond mother or sister, fully proved that their 

 owner was a New Bedford bo}^, whose friends knew 

 precisely what would conduce to his comfort when 

 separated from them by thousands of miles of ocean 

 waste ; whilst the common straw bed, rude pine box, 

 outfit quilt, with the padding run into one corner, 

 and coarse blankets, testified that their owner was a 

 reckless, careless fellow, who, at the time he shipped, 

 cared little for outfit or anything else, except getting 

 to sea, and, having fallen into the hands of the sharks, 

 had been shoved aboard and sent afloat with the 

 merest necessaries. 



In the pile, too, may be noticed an assemblage 

 of hats and caps that would make a hatter stare. 

 During the first six months, all the hats and caps 

 brought from home, without, perhaps one may have 

 been saved to wear ashore, were blown overboard, for 



