196 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



"The few that returned from the prison ships gave 

 the most melancholy accounts of the sufferings of the 

 prisoners. . . . 



" These startling and horrid truths wrought so forcibly 

 on the minds of those whose necessities impelled them 

 to follow the sea for a subsistence, and so disquieted the 

 hearts of their wives and children, who must be left in 

 anxious uncertainty both in regard to their future 

 means of subsistence and the fate of their near rela- 

 tives, as to bring a gloom over the face of society too 

 deep and too heartfelt to be described. . . . 



" Many perished at sea, in consequence of venturing 

 in vessels constructed with a view to fast sailing. 

 These vessels were long and sharp, were built of frail 

 materials, and purposely made weak in order that by 

 degrees of pliability they might pass more easily through 

 the water. When pursued by an enemy they were 

 sometimes subjected to so heavy a press of sail as to 

 run under and never rise again." 



The idea of making a vessel weak so that she will be 

 pliable, in order that she may sail faster, will doubtless 

 "be a new one to persons unacquainted with the sea. 

 The compiler is informed by one of our " old salts " 

 that Mr. Macy is correct, and he relates the following 

 incidents in support of Mr. Macy's assertions. He 

 says: — 



" It may be doubted by an inexperienced person, who 

 knows nothing of the whys and wherefores, that a 

 vessel weakened by service or otherwise will sail more 

 rapidly than a new and strong ship. That such is the 

 fact is evidenced in the case of the ' Ann McKim ' of 

 Baltimore. This vessel was ■ hogged ' and wrung out of 



