2 THE CRUISE OF THE "CACHALOT.'' 



hailed me one afternoon at the street corner, I answered 

 very promptly, scenting a berth. ** Lookin' fer a ship, 

 stranger ? " said he. ** Yes ; do you want a hand ? " 

 said I, anxiously. He made a funny little sound some- 

 thing like a pony's whinny, then answered, *' Wall, I 

 should surmise that I want between fifty and sixty 

 hands, ef yew kin lay me onto 'em ; but, kem along, 

 every dreep's a drop, an' yew seem likely enough." 

 With that he turned and led the way until we reached 

 a building, around which were gathered one of the 

 most nondescript crowds I had ever seen. There cer- 

 tainly did not appear to be a sailor among them. Not 

 so much by their rig, though that is not a great deal 

 to go by, but by their actions and speech. One thing 

 they all had in common, tobacco chewing ; but as nearly 

 every male I met with in America did that, it was not 

 much to be noticed. I had hardly done reckoning them 

 up when two or three bustling men came out and 

 shepherded us all energetically into a long, low room, 

 where some form of agreement was read out to us. 

 Sailors are naturally and usually careless about the 

 nature of the " articles " they sign, their chief anxiety 

 being to get to sea, and under somebody's charge. But 

 had I been ever so anxious to know what I was going 

 to sign this time, I could not, for the language might 

 as well have been Chinese for all I understood of it. 

 However, I signed and passed on, engaged to go 1 knew 

 not where, in some ship I did not know even the name 

 of, in which I was to receive I did not know how much, 

 or how little, for my labour, nor how long I was going 

 to be away. " What a young fool ! " I hear somebody 

 say. I quite agree, but there were a good many more 

 in that ship, as in most ships that I have ever sailed in. 



