TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 
47 
height and importance was “Yankee Tom;” the second 
a pair of English renegadoes, from the royal navy or else¬ 
where ; next came a number of old tars, who hailed from 
the earth generally; then several Hawaiians, and last of 
all, the cook; as dark a piece of flesh as ever wore wool, 
and as independent a gentleman as ever wrestled with a 
soup pot. Thus we were all manned fore and aft. The 
extremes of cursing and prayer, of authority and subservi¬ 
ency, law, divinity, and merchandize, were there. 
Indeed, we had a piece of everything in the way of 
thought, feeling, taste and form, requisite to furnish a very 
respectable human menagerie. And if the shade of our 
friend Cuvier had leisure on his hands to look in upon us, 
and observe the paws of our lions, the teeth of our tigers, 
the grins of our apes, the wool of our lambs, and the men¬ 
tal and physical qualities of each species, I doubt not he 
was satisfied with the diversity of their powers and the 
completeness of the collection. 
When leaving the latitude of the islands, we had a dis¬ 
tant view of the Taui. It was studded with mountains of 
moderate elevation, clothed with evergreen forests. It ap¬ 
peared beautiful enough to be the island of Indian Mytho¬ 
logy under the setting sun, where the good will find eternal 
hunting, fishing, and women of unfading beauty. But our 
ship stood away under a strong breeze, and we soon lost 
sight of the island in the mist and shades of night. 
While making our northing we experienced a great va¬ 
riety of weather. On the first two or three degrees it was 
comparatively mild, and the generous breezes appeared to 
push us on with a right good will. But on reaching the lati¬ 
tude beyond the Trades, the winds from the northwest over¬ 
took us. These currents of air in the winter and spring are 
exceedingly rough, gusty and cold; and being often alternat¬ 
ed with the warm breezes from the torrid zone, produce con¬ 
ditions of the atmosphere, which, in more senses than one, 
may be termed ce variables.” The balmy breath of one day 
