The Sea Lions; Or, The Lost SealersCooper, James Fenimore
General
The Sea Lions; Or, The Lost Sealers
Cooper, James Fenimore
Sea stories; Sealers (Persons) -- Fiction
which, it was possible to turn the highest point of the pass, that which
formed the southern protection of the building, and come out on the side
of the cove at another shelf, that was not more than fifty feet above the
level of the vessel's decks. Down this last declivity, Roswell proposed to
lower his casks by means of a projecting derrick, the rock being
sufficiently precipitous to admit of this arrangement, while his spare
spars furnished him with the necessary means. Thus was every preparation
made with judgment and foresight.
In this manner did the first ten days pass, every man and boy being as
busy as bees. To own the truth, no attention was paid to the Sabbath,
which would seem to have been left behind them by the people, among the
descendants of those Puritans who were so rigid in their observance of
that festival. At the end of the time just mentioned, a great deal had
been done. The house, such as it was, was completed. To be sure, it was
nothing but an old storehouse re-vamped, but it was found to be of
infinite service, and greatly did all hands felicitate themselves at
having brought its materials along with them. Even those who had most
complained of the labour of getting the timbers on board, had the most
often cursed them for being in the way, during the passage, and had
continued the loudest to deride the idea of 'sealers turning carpenters,'
were shortly willing to allow that the possession of this dwelling was of
the greatest value to them, and that, so far from the extra work's causing
them to fall behind in their main operations, the comfort they found, in
having a home like this to go to, after a long day's toil, refreshed them
to a degree which enabled every man to return to his labour, with a zeal
and an energy that might otherwise have been wanting. Although it was in
the warmest season of the year, and the nights could scarcely be called
nights at all, yet the sun never got very low without leaving a chilliness
in the air that would have rendered sleeping without a cover and a
protection from the winds, not only excessively uncomfortable, but
somewhat dangerous. Indeed, it was often found necessary to light a fire
in the old ware-house. This was done by means of a capacious box-stove,
that was almost as old as the building itself, and which had also been
brought along as an article of great necessity in that climate. Fuel could
not be wanting, as long as the 'scraps' from the try-works abounded, and
there were many more of these than were needed to 'try out' the
sea-elephant oil. The schooner, however, had a very ample supply of wood
to burn, that being an article which abounded on Shelter Island, and which
the deacon had consented to lay in, in some abundance. Gardiner got this
concession out of the miserly temperament of the old man, by persuading
him that a sealer could not work to any advantage, unless he had the means
of occasionally warming himself. The miserly propensities of the deacon
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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