PASSAGE TO NEW-YORK. 



467 



captain, much to his surprise and astonishment, of his 

 position, not more than two hundred miles from Sisal, 

 and bade all hands farewell. They were not sorry to 

 get rid of us, for the absence of two mouths was an 

 object; and though, perhaps, in their hearts they thought 

 their bad luck was on account of the heretics, it was 

 pleasant, that with all our vexations, parting thus on the 

 wide ocean, we shook hands with captain, passengers, 

 sailors, cook, and cabin-boy, having no unkind feeling 

 with any one on board. How long they were out I do 

 not know, but I heard that they arrived at Havana in 

 wretched condition, having eaten up the last morsel on 

 board. 



Our new vessel had a full cargo of logwood, the deck 

 being loaded even with the quarter, and stowed so close 

 that the cabin-door was taken off, and the descent was 

 over a water-cask ; but the change from the Spanish to 

 the American vessel was a strange transition. The 

 former had a captain, two mates, and eight sailors ; the 

 latter one mate and three sailors, with plank over the 

 deck-load for sailors to run on, an enormous boom main- 

 sail, and a tiller instead of a wheel, sweeping the whole 

 quarter-deck, and at times requiring two men to hold it. 

 In the evening we had two or three hours of calm ; we 

 were used to it, but the captain was annoyed ; he de- 

 tested a calm ; he had not had one since he left Tobas- 

 co ; he could bear anything but a calm. In the evening 

 the charm was broken by a squall. The captain hated 

 to take in sail, held on till the last moment, and then, 

 springing from the tiller, hauled on the ropes himself, 

 and was back again at the rudder, all in a flash. Mr. 

 C. and I were so well pleased with the change that we 

 were in no hurry ; and, noticing the shortness of hands, 

 and stumbling over logwood, we suggested to the cap- 



