Two Years Before the Mast
and interest which the loading and unloading of four vessels gave to
that scene. In a few days the hides began to come slowly down, and we
got into the old business of rolling goods up the hill, pitching hides
down, and pulling our long league off and on. Nothing of note occurred
while we were lying here, except that an attempt was made to repair the
small Mexican brig which had been cast away in a south-easter, and
which now lay up, high and dry, over one reef of rocks and two
sand-banks. Our carpenter surveyed her, and pronounced her capable of
refitting, and in a few days the owners came down from the Pueblo, and,
waiting for the high spring tides, with the help of our cables, kedges,
and crew, got her off and afloat, after several trials. The three men
at the house on shore, who had formerly been a part of her crew, now
joined her, and seemed glad enough at the prospect of getting off the
coast.
On board our own vessel, things went on in the common monotonous way.
The excitement which immediately followed the flogging scene had passed
off, but the effect of it upon the crew, and especially upon the two
men themselves, remained. The different manner in which these men were
affected, corresponding to their different characters, was not a little
remarkable. John was a foreigner and high-tempered, and, though
mortified, as any one would be at having had the worst of an encounter,
yet his chief feeling seemed to be anger; and he talked much of
satisfaction and revenge, if he ever got back to Boston. But with the
other, it was very different. He was an American, and had had some
education; and this thing coming upon him, seemed completely to break
him down. He had a feeling of the degradation that had been inflicted
upon him, which the other man was incapable of. Before that, he had a
good deal of fun, and mused us often with queer negro stories,--(he was
from a slave state); but afterwards he seldom smiled; seemed to lose
all life and elasticity; and appeared to have but one wish, and that
was for the voyage to be at an end. I have often known him to draw a
long sigh when he was alone, and he took but little part or interest in
John's plans of satisfaction and retaliation.
After a stay of about a fortnight, during which we slipped for one
south-easter, and were at sea two days, we got under weigh for Santa
Barbara. It was now the middle of April, and the south-easter season
was nearly over; and the light, regular trade-winds, which blow down
the coast, began to set steadily in, during the latter part of each
day. Against these, we beat slowly up to Santa Barbara--a distance of
about ninety miles--in three days. There we found, lying at anchor,
the large Genoese ship which we saw in the same place, on the first day
of our coming upon the coast. She had been up to San Francisco, or, as
it is called, "chock up to windward," had stopped at Monterey on her
way down, and was shortly to proceed to San Pedro and San Diego, and
thence, taking in her cargo, to sail for Valparaiso and Cadiz. She was
a large, clumsy ship, and with her topmasts stayed forward, and high
poop-deck, looked like an old woman with a crippled back. It was now
the close of Lent, and on Good Friday she had all her yards
a'cock-bill, which is customary among Catholic vessels. Some also have
an effigy of Judas, which the crew amuse themselves with keel-hauling
and hanging by the neck from the yard-arms.
[1] Soger (soldier) is the worst term of reproach that can be applied
to a sailor. It signifies a skulk, a sherk,--one who is always trying
to get clear of work, and is out of the way, or hanging back, when duty
is to be done. "Marine" is the term applied more particularly to a man
who is ignorant and clumsy about seaman's work--a green-horn--a
land-lubber. To make a sailor shoulder a handspike, and walk fore and
aft the deck, like a sentry, is the most ignominious punishment that
could be put upon him. Such a punishment inflicted upon an able seaman
in a vessel of war, would break his spirit down more than a flogging.
CHAPTER XVIII
EASTER SUNDAY--"SAIL HO!"--WHALES--SAN JUAN--ROMANCE OF
HIDE-DROGHING--SAN DIEGO AGAIN
The next Sunday was Easter Sunday, and as there had been no liberty at
San Pedro, it was our turn to go ashore and misspend another Sabbath.
Soon after breakfast, a large boat, filled with men in blue jackets,
scarlet caps, and various colored under-clothes, bound ashore on
liberty, left the Italian ship, and passed under our stern; the men
singing beautiful Italian boat-songs, all the way, in fine, full
chorus. Among the songs I recognized the favorite "O Pescator dell'
onda." It brought back to my mind pianofortes, drawing-rooms, young
ladies singing, and a thousand other things which as little befitted
me, in my situation, to be thinking upon. Supposing that the whole day
would be too long a time to spend ashore, as there was no place to
which we could take a ride, we remained quietly on board until after
dinner. We were then pulled ashore in the stern of the boat, and, with
orders to be on the beach at sundown, we took our way for the town.
There, everything wore the appearance of a holyday. The people were
all dressed in their best; the men riding about on horseback among the
houses, and the women sitting on carpets before the doors. Under the
piazza of a "pulperia," two men were seated, decked out with knots of
ribbons and bouquets, and playing the violin and the Spanish guitar.
These are the only instruments, with the exception of the drums and
trumpets at Monterey that I ever heard in California; and I suspect
they play upon no others, for at a great fandango at which I was
afterwards present, and where they mustered all the music they could
find, there were three violins and two guitars, and no other
instrument. As it was now too near the middle of the day to see any
dancing and hearing that a bull was expected down from the country, to
be baited in the presidio square, in the course of an hour or two we
took a stroll among the houses. Inquiring for an American who, we had
been told, had married in the place, and kept a shop, we were directed
to a long, low building, at the end of which was a door, with a sign
over it, in Spanish. Entering the shop, we found no one in it, and the
whole had an empty, deserted appearance. In a few minutes the man made
his appearance, and apologized for having nothing to entertain us with,
saying that he had had a fandango at his house the night before, and
the people had eaten and drunk up everything.
"Oh yes!" said I, "Easter holydays?"
"No!" said he, with a singular expression to his face; "I had a little
daughter die the other day, and that's the custom of the country."
Here I felt a little strangely, not knowing what to say, or whether to
offer consolation or no, and was beginning to retire, when he opened a
side door and told us to walk in. Here I was no less astonished; for I
found a large room, filled with young girls, from three or four years
of age up to fifteen and sixteen, dressed all in white, with wreaths of
flowers on their heads, and bouquets in their hands. Following our
conductor through all these girls, who were playing about in high
spirits, we came to a table, at the end of the room, covered with a
white cloth, on which lay a coffin, about three feet long, with the
body of his child. The coffin was lined on the outside with white
cloth, and on the inside with white satin, and was strewed with
flowers. Through an open door we saw, in another room, a few elderly
people in common dresses; while the benches and tables thrown up in a
corner, and the stained walls, gave evident signs of the last night's
"high go." Feeling, like Garrick, between tragedy and comedy, an
uncertainty of purpose and a little awkwardness, I asked the man when
the funeral would take place, and being told that it would move toward
the mission in about an hour, took my leave.
To pass away the time, we took horses and rode down to the beach, and
there found three or four Italian sailors, mounted, and riding up and
down, on the hard sand, at a furious rate. We joined them, and found
it fine sport. The beach gave us a stretch of a mile or more, and the
horses flew over the smooth, hard sand, apparently invigorated and
excited by the salt sea-breeze, and by the continual roar and dashing
of the breakers. From the beach we returned to the town, and finding
that the funeral procession had moved, rode on and overtook it, about
half-way to the mission. Here was as peculiar a sight as we had seen
before in the house; the one looking as much like a funeral procession
as the other did like a house of mourning. The little coffin was borne
by eight girls, who were continually relieved by others, running
forward from the procession and taking their places. Behind it came a
straggling company of girls, dressed as before, in white and flowers,
and including, I should suppose by their numbers, nearly all the girls
between five and fifteen in the place. They played along on the way,
frequently stopping and running all together to talk to some one, or to
pick up a flower, and then running on again to overtake the coffin.
There were a few elderly women in common colors; and a herd of young
men and boys, some on foot and others mounted, followed them, or walked
or rode by their side, frequently interrupting them by jokes and
questions. But the most singular thing of all was, that two men walked,
one on each side of the coffin, carrying muskets in their hands, which
they continually loaded, and fired into the air. Whether this was to
keep off the evil spirits or not, I do not know. It was the only
interpretation that I could put upon it.
As we drew near the mission, we saw the great gate thrown open, and the
pádre standing on the steps, with a crucifix in hand. The mission is a
large and deserted-looking place, the out-buildings going to ruin, and
everything giving one the impression of decayed grandeur. A large
stone fountain threw out pure water, from four mouths, into a basin,
before the church door; and we were on the point of riding up to let
our horses drink, when it occurred to us that it might be consecrated,
and we forbore. Just at this moment, the bells set up their harsh,
discordant clang; and the procession moved into the court. I was
anxious to follow, and see the ceremony, but the horse of one of my
companions had become frightened, and was tearing off toward the town;
and having thrown his rider, and got one of his feet caught in the
saddle, which had slipped, was fast dragging and ripping it to pieces.
Knowing that my shipmate could not speak a word of Spanish, and fearing
that he would get into difficulty, I was obliged to leave the ceremony
and ride after him. I soon overtook him, trudging along, swearing at
the horse, and carrying the remains of the saddle, which he had picked
up on the road. Going to the owner of the horse, we made a settlement
with him, and found him surprisingly liberal. All parts of the saddle
were brought back, and, being capable of repair, he was satisfied with
six reáls. We thought it would have been a few dollars. We pointed to
the horse, which was now half way up one of the mountains; but he shook
his head, saying, "No importe!" and giving us to understand that he had
plenty more.
Having returned to the town, we saw a great crowd collected in the
square before the principal pulperia, and riding up, found that all
these people--men, women, and children--had been drawn together by a
couple of bantam cocks. The cocks were in full tilt, springing into
one another, and the people were as eager, laughing and shouting, as
though the combatants had been men. There had been a disappointment