Dana, Richard Henry, 1815-1882; Sailors; Seafaring life; Voyages and travels
The greater part of the crews of the vessels came ashore every evening,
and we passed the time in going about from one house to another, and
listening to all manner of languages. The Spanish was the common
ground upon which we all met; for every one knew more or less of that.
We had now, out of forty or fifty, representatives from almost every
nation under the sun: two Englishmen, three Yankees, two Scotchmen, two
Welshmen, one Irishman, three Frenchmen (two of whom were Normans, and
the third from Gascony,) one Dutchman, one Austrian, two or three
Spaniards, (from old Spain,) half a dozen Spanish-Americans and
half-breeds, two native Indians from Chili and the Island of Chiloe,
one Negro, one Mulatto, about twenty Italians, from all parts of Italy,
as many more Sandwich Islanders, one Otaheitan, and one Kanaka from the
Marquesas Islands.
The night before the vessels were ready to sail, all the Europeans
united and had an entertainment at the Rosa's hide-house, and we had
songs of every nation and tongue. A German gave us "Och! mein lieber
Augustin!" the three Frenchmen roared through the Marseilles Hymn; the
English and Scotchmen gave us "Rule Britannia," and "Wha'll be King but
Charlie?" the Italians and Spaniards screamed through some national
affairs, for which I was none the wiser; and we three Yankees made an
attempt at the "Star-spangled Banner." After these national tributes
had been paid, the Austrian gave us a very pretty little love-song, and
the Frenchmen sang a spirited thing called "Sentinelle! O prenez garde
a vous!" and then followed the melange which might have been expected.
When I left them, the aguardiente and annisou was pretty well in their
heads, and they were all singing and talking at once, and their
peculiar national oaths were getting as plenty as pronouns.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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