JONATHAN FINDS A BERTH 43 



by the shipbuilder who, in the final stages of his task, 

 was suddenly reminded of the necessity of providing a 

 place of shelter for the men who were to man the ship. 

 It was only a little bigger than the officers' cabin in which 

 they had just signed their articles and Jonathan realised 

 that the custom of providing each officer with about four 

 times the space allotted to each seaman was in itself 

 sufficient incentive to a greenish cabin boy to aim at 

 attaining in the vague and distant future a place of 

 authority upon the poop-deck. 



The lads made a quick survey of the galley which 

 adjoined the forecastle and in which Jonathan was to 

 receive from an old Basque cook his initiation into the 

 mysterious craft of preparing shipboard meals on the 

 rolling seas, a prospect over which Jonathan was unable 

 to muster much enthusiasm but which he knew must face 

 every boy embarking on his first whaling voyage. 



In the afternoon, having completed the purchasing of 

 their outfits the boys loaded their kitbags on to a hand- 

 cart and upon the bags Jonathan placed an iron-bound 

 wooden box, a present from Mr. Mather. It contained 

 a jar of ink, a supply of paper and quills, a copy of John 

 Bunyan's Country Rhimes for Boys and Girls and a small 

 brass crucifix given by Mrs. Mather. 



The good lady stood at the door of the inn and watched 

 with moist eyes the youthful figures disappearing towards 

 the wharf. 



As soon as they had stowed their kit they joined the 

 others in helping to bring on board the last of the stores 

 and equipment and by dusk the Pilgrim was in all respects 

 ready to proceed to sea; except for one very important 

 item — her crew. 



Four of the fourteen forecastle hands had apparently 

 deserted. At the dawn roll call they were still missing 

 and two of the mates spent the day in a fruitless search 

 of the island. After dark the captain himself went aishore 



