Prentice Mulford's story: life by land and seaMulford, Prentice
History
Prentice Mulford's story: life by land and sea
Mulford, Prentice
California -- Biography; California -- Description and travel; California -- Gold discoveries; Mulford, Prentice, 1834-1891
No solicitous stewards with basins and tenders of broth and champagne
attended us. We were not cabin passengers on an ocean steamer. Barely
had the next morning’s dawn appeared when our door was flung open. In it
stood that dreadful second mate of the greenish eyes, hard, brick-red
complexion, horny fists and raspy voice--a hard, rough, rude, unfeeling
man, who cried: “Come out of that! Oh, you’re young bears--your troubles
ain’t commenced yet!” Then his long, bony arm gripped us one after the
other and tore us from our bunks. How unlike getting up at home on a
cold winter’s morning, as, snuggling in our warm feather beds, we heard
our mothers call time after time at the foot of the stairs: “Come now,
get up! Breakfast is ready!” And with the delay prone to over-indulged
youth, we still lay abed until the aroma of buckwheat cakes and coffee
stealing to our bedrooms developed an appetite and induced us to rise.
Out, this dreadful morning, we tumbled, in the wet clothes wherein we
had lain all night, weak, sick, staggering, giddy. A long iron hook was
put in my hand and I was desired to go forward and assist in hauling
along length after length of the cable preparatory to stowing it away.
Sky and sea were all of dull, monotonous gray; the ship was still
clambering one great wave after an another with tiresome and laborious
monotony. All the canvas of the preceding day had disappeared, save a
much-diminished foretop-sail and storm staysail. The mates on duty were
alert and swearing. The men, not all fully recovered from their last
shore debauch, were grumbling and swearing also. The cook, a dark-hued
tropical mongrel, with glittering eyes, was swearing at something amiss
in his department. It was a miserable time. But a cure was quickly
effected. In thirty-six hours all seasickness had departed. With the
delicate petting process in vogue with wealthy cabin-passengers it would
have required a week. But we had no time in which to be seasick.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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