TKE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 97 



voice of Captain B was heard shouting, " Put up that 



lance, and surrender the boat." 



The capture of the boat and the detention of the captain 

 necessitated the anchorage of the ship, much to the content- 

 ment of the writer and all the rest. How the captain set- 

 tled with the authorities was none of our business. We 

 were too busy for a fortnight in repairing ship to trouble 

 ourselves with international difficulties and treaties. At the 

 end of this time, with hull new painted, rigging set up and 

 tarred down, masts scraped, and yards squared by the lifts, 

 man-of-war fashion, the Chelsea rode at anchor again in all 

 her yacht-like beauty. The port of Payta is a favorite re- 

 sort of the offshore cruisers, as the harbor is good, the sup- 

 plies of vegetables reasonably abundant, and not high-priced. 

 We took in a large supply of sweet-potatoes, onions, yams, 

 and pumpkins, and fruits for immediate use. After this we 

 were allowed liberty on shore, and had an opportunity, as 

 far as a few dollars advance-money would go, to realize the 

 fleas, dirt, discomfort, and vice which characterize a Spanish 

 refuge for recruiting whalemen. The women are homely, 

 the men beneath contempt ; and what more could a captain 

 desire for the safety and enjoyment of thirty-two free and 

 enlightened citizens a-pleasuf ing in the Pacific ? Perhaps I 

 ought to draw a pen through this page of the journal, but 

 honesty and truth require the confession that the first day's 

 liberty of the starboard watch was a little given to riot. 



May 8th my journal reads : " Got up with a swimming 

 in. the head. It seems to me that the smooth water of the 

 harbor produces sea-sickness in all deep-water fellows. As 

 I don't feel like writing, my Hinglish friend, Charlie, volun- 

 teers to write up my day's work. Thus runs his entry: 

 ' Starboard watch on liberty. Tip to four bells last night, 

 Bill was right as a trivet, when the boys at the " mizzen- 

 top" toasted the "Philadelphia bar, where choice spirits do 



5 



