392 NIMBOD OF THE SEA; OR, 



paint was renewed. We felt in a degree more decent as the 

 Chelsea put on new clothes, and stronger morally as we 

 sci'aped the fouling shells and grass from her bottom. Then, 

 having a good supply of the fine fruits and vegetables of Chili 

 on board, we hove the anchor and stood to sea, minus five of 

 the crew, who, having nothing to draw at the end of the voy- 

 age, deserted. The two Spaniards shipped in Callao were 

 discharged. We were still strong enough, as a crew merely, 

 to navigate the ship ; and as we were passing the Cape from 

 the westward, and in midsummer, we had no concern. 



We doubled the stormy point, with the rocky, mountain- 

 ous cape in sight. A brisk southerly breeze, in twenty-four 

 hours, wafted us from a degree north of the Cape in the Pacific 

 to the same distance north of it in the Altantic. Running 

 down the coast, and experiencing a La Plata thunder-storm, 

 we touched the Brazilian coast, sending a boat into Per- 

 nambuco to procure a few supplies and some tobacco. We 

 then bore away to the north, giving a wide berth to the 

 West India Islands, and met inhospitable welcome in a three- 

 days' gale, north of the Bermudas. We lost our flying jib 

 and boom, with foretop-gallant-mast ; and our decks were 

 swept, and bulwarks and cook's galley washed overboard. 

 Two of our boats were smashed on the cranes. This was, 

 by odds, the severest gale experienced in the voyage, and 

 served to stir the stagnating blood of all hands. Having 

 something to fight, gave them a new interest in living, and 

 made existence worth the struggle. As we neared our north- 

 ern coast, we boarded several coasting-vessels, and obtained 

 scant supplies of beans, tobacco, and other necessaries of life; 

 Off the coast of Long Island we were for several days en- 

 veloped in fogs, and had to feel our way cautiously, by sound- 

 ing, for the mud which marks the bottom off Montauk Light. 



These were the most miserable days of the voyage. It 

 was in the latter part of March ; the weather was cold, and 



