THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 275 



forever. Oh, how lonesome I will be here ! If it was on 

 the offshore, I'd find the company of a thousand who have 

 gone before. But no ships ever come here." 



Thus for hours the poor boy raved, and I sat helpless, 

 trying to soothe and aid him. All I could do was to hold 

 him from rolling from his narrow bed ; and as I sat and min- 

 istered according to my means, in that dark, noisome closet, 

 I almost cursed the inhumanity which could consign a man 

 to such a sick-bed. It was the same coarse tow-cloth bag 

 filled with rye-straw in New London fifteen months ago. 

 The air we breathed was laden with the effluvia of the dy- 

 ing man, and the stench of bilge-water, tarred cordage, and 

 refuse food. A tin plate holding an untempting, untasted 

 meal, and a quart cup from which the patient was drinking, 

 completed the hard, cruel picture. As I looked into the poor 

 boy's eyes a feeling of savage, unutterable hardness came 

 over me. I thought that in all animated nature a pervading 

 fellow-feeling leads to sympathy and concern for the suffer- 

 ing. Man alone seemed indifferent outside his own little 

 class. At times in the lone night a fearful impulse stirred 

 me, and I wondered if it would not be merciful to take the 

 poor suffering boy in my arms and restore him to peace by 

 dropping him, from the filth of his surroundings, into the 

 pure, healthful sea. In his place, I should have prayed for 

 such release. But such an act would be misunderstood. 

 Hours passed until the dim light, when the solitude and the 

 surroundings became more than I could bear; I hailed the 

 deck and demanded relief. It came, and I devoutly thanked 

 God for his pure air, as I went to the bows and sat in the 

 sweet wind. From this time out death in the whale-boat 

 will be endurable. 



At 2 P.M. we raised whales on the weather bow ; lowered 

 the boats, and after a very hard pull, found that the school 

 were as distant as when we lowered. Much disappointed, 



