The Autobiography of a Super-TrampDavies, W. H. (William Henry)
General
The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp
Davies, W. H. (William Henry)
Davies, W. H. (William Henry), 1871-1940; Poets, English -- 20th century -- Biography; Tramps -- Biography
What soon breaks the spirit of these wild animals is the continual
motion of the vessel. There is always plenty of trouble at first, when
they slip forward and backward, but in a few days they get their
sea-legs, and sway their bodies easily to the ship's motion. The wild
terror leaves their eyes, and, when they can no more smell their
native land, they cease bellowing, and settle calmly down. This
restlessness breaks out afresh when nearing shore on the other side,
and again they bellow loud and often, long before the mariner on the
look-out has sighted land.
We also had on this trip two thousand head of sheep, quartered on the
hurricane deck. When we were six days out there came a heavy storm,
and the starboard side was made clean, as far as pens and sheep were
concerned, one wave bearing them all away. This happened at night, and
on the following morning the sheep men were elated at having less work
to do during the remainder of the voyage. The cattle, being protected
on the main deck, and between decks, and their breath filling the air
with warmth, make the cattleman's lot far more comfortable than that
of the sheep-men. The condition of the cattle can be seen without
difficulty, but ten or fifteen sheep lying or standing in the front of
a crowded pen, may be concealing the dead or dying that are lying in
the background. For this reason it is every morning necessary to crawl
through the pens, far back, in quest of the sick and the dead, and it
is nothing unusual to find half a dozen dead ones. The voyage would
not be considered bad if thirty sheep only died out of two thousand.
What a strange assortment of men were these cattlemen and sheepmen.
One man, called Blacky, a bully without being a coward, fell in love
with a small white cat, which we had found in the forecastle. His
ruffianism at once disappeared, and every time he was at liberty,
instead of looking for trouble with his fellow-men, he could be seen
peacefully nursing this cat, at the same time addressing it
endearingly as "Little White Dolly," and such simple language as a
child might use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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