20.J NIMROD OF THE SEA; OS, 



would be modified could they have witnessed scenes in our 

 forecastle in the calm nights on our cruising-ground, when 

 the watch gathered about the windlass or main-hatch. Un- 

 der the starry sky hard, worn faces were upturned, as a 

 young comrade recited the stories, stranger than fiction, 

 about science. Let me say that a copy of St. Pierre's " Stud- 

 ies of Nature" was to us a book of religion; two old vol- 

 umes of the " New England Farmer " were a popular fund 

 of instruction; works on natural history, especially those 

 illustrated, were in great demand ; so were " Delano's Voy- 

 ages," and all works, not forgetting the Bible, which shed 

 positive light on the path of life. The biographies of strong, 

 self-made men had a great attraction, and the best novels 

 were appreciated. Such works as these should fill seamen's 

 libraries. 



At 1 P.M. we raised a large breach to leeward, and we ran 

 off for it; but as we came up the tall spout revealed the 

 finback. We then resumed our course south-west, with a 

 stiff breeze, and at sundown shortened sail and stood on 

 the wind. 



Sept. 23. The last two days the " C was ruf," as old Chips, 

 the carpenter, has 'it. He^is the only one on board besides 

 myself who keeps a journal, and he is writing for the amuse- 

 ment of his " old woman." He says she delights in the beau- 

 ties of his. spelling and language, and he swears that my 

 way lacks originality, as I always spell the same words the 

 same way, while he never spells it twice alike. Chips is a 

 remnant of the last war, having been in the very early part 

 of the battle of Plattsburg, but he retired soon after firing 

 commenced, badly wounded — in his feelings. He had his 

 trained' eye placed on the back-sight of a battery gun, aim- 

 ing at one of the British ships, when a shot from another 

 struck somewhere on the breech of his gun, within, he says, 

 " an inch of my nose, and, you see, the crash sounded as if 



