The foremast hands, eighteen in number, of whom but four had ever been to sea before, were a youthful, reckless, merry set, from all over the Union. We had but two foreigners, Germans, in the ship--the cook, and one of the crew. Many of the youngsters were New Bedford boys, performing this voyage as apprentices. With the exception of the Captain and old Jack Miller, as hardy an old tar as ever stepped a ratline, and who could spin a yarn to order that would put Baron Munchausen to the blush, there was not a married man, or one who was over twenty-six years of age aboard the ship. To attempt, with the exception of the Massachusetts men, to assign a reason for any of our shipmates’ choosing whaling as a profession, would be mere conjecture. Any one could see at a glance they were neither poverty-stricken nor indolent; but on examining their features, a roving unsettled expression might be detected by a close observer, on the lineaments of each--a certain love of change, so all-absorbing with most young men; nor were they on the whole ignorant, as I found by conversation--all being thoroughly conversant with the leading topics of the day, and each, like every true American, had his individual opinion of the merits of newspaper notorieties, politics, and other matters that engross the American mind; but we left them fast asleep, and as I, in the interim, have spun a long yarn, it is time to conclude, as the helmsman sings out “Eight bells.” A hoarse call is now heard at the forecastle of “Starbowlines, ahoy!” and as the breeze has freshened and the vessel is gently pitching, we will step into the forecastle and criticise the appearance of our green hands. Part of them are out of their bunks indulging in the most lachrymose expressions, scarce able to dress, for fear the vessel’s motion will destroy their equilibrium--and “I wish I was at home,” is the general cry; some cannot muster resolution enough to get out of their berths, others have thus far succeeded, but only to resume a recumbent position on their chests, whilst a few with set teeth and praiseworthy resolution, manage to get upon deck, and grasp the rigging on the fife rail enclosing the foremast; there they stand, incapable of altering their position, hanging on with a pertinacity worthy of a better cause, staring in stupid vacancy at all around them, and when receiving an officer’s order, acknowledging it by a sickly, unmeaning grin, to express their willingness, but inability to perform. Officers are required to exercise the utmost patience and forbearance in the management of such a crew; instead of an active, able ship’s company, such as they have been accustomed to sail with, here they have an assortment of men, ignorant of a single rope in the ship, who are just as much acquainted with the rigging as with Greek and Hebrew, knowing as much about the cook’s leg as the cook’s nose, and more about the boy than the buoy,