OUECREW. 47 



some small New England towns, one Boston school 

 boy, one canal-boat man, six farm boys from 

 various parts of New England, and western New 

 York, the four Portuguese before mentioned, who 

 were whalemen, and the writer hereof, who wrote 

 himself seawom. 



Of the four professional men, as they called 

 themselves, all, including the gambler, were the 

 possessors of a tolerable education, and a fair 

 share of general information. As for the rest, 

 leaving out the school boy, who knew everything, 

 and was therefore unbearable, they were as 

 wretchedly ignorant a set as ever I met. But one 

 of the factory hands could read, with any degree 

 of ease, and he was if anything, more stupid than 

 his fellow laborers. As for the farmer boys they 

 possessed the latent elements of smartness, but 

 were unfortunately so largely endued with ere. 

 dulity as to be the victims of never-failing prac- 

 tical jokes. 



We sailed with a fine and favoring top-gallant 

 breeze, and long before night were well clear of 

 the land, and making a straight wake for Fayal, 

 which, to the great joy of our Portuguese ship- 

 mates, was to be our first port. As the sun sank 

 below the horizon, the breeze freshened and the 

 4well increased, so that by the time the first watch 

 commenced, at eight o'clock, the top-gallant sails 

 were taken in by the few hands who had been 

 at sea before the green hands wisely declining tc 



