TEN OP OUR CREW DISCHARGED. 333 



lessness — their indolence preventing their acquiring 

 sufficient insio;ht into a seaman's duties to render 

 them a useful part of the ship's company ; and our 

 captain was anxious to get rid of them. On the first 

 liberty-day, two, whom we shipped at Vasse, overstaid 

 their liberty, and were informed by the captain that 

 he would not receive them aboard again. On the same 

 day, one, whom we shipped in Hobartown, was dis- 

 charged for inability to do duty. W. B. Wood, whom 

 we brought from New Bedford, was also discharged 

 sick. Joseph A. Lewis and John Cunningham, dis- 

 charged sick, and sent to the hospital. Wood and 

 Cunningham were both of our original crew; the 

 remaining one, whom we shipped at Vasse, deserted. 

 A seaman, shipped in Hobartown, was discharged 

 with the consent of the contracting parties; one, 

 shipped in Vasse, in January, 1857, and who, during 

 the time he has been aboard, has been acting as 

 fourth mate, was discharged with his own consent ; 

 and one, whom we got in Hobartown, is in jail — so 

 that we are ten less in number than when we dropped 

 anchor on the day of our entering the harbor. In 

 their places we have shipped five men, all of whom 

 are Americans, and have been whaling before. 

 I said that we had shipped five, but two of the 

 five came aboard without any agreement with the 

 captain. These two were policemen, who had be- 

 come disgusted with wearing her majesty's button, 

 and on their hinting their wish to get afloat again, 

 our boys readily offered to assist them. Besides 

 these, we shipped a lad of fifteen as steerage-boy. 



Although we had thus replaced the ten with but 

 five men, we found, as soon as we got into blue 



