Dana, Richard Henry, 1815-1882; Sailors; Seafaring life; Voyages and travels
After we had been a few weeks on shore, and had begun to feel
broken into the regularity of our life, its monotony was
interrupted by the arrival of two vessels from the windward. We
were sitting at dinner in our little room, when we heard the cry
of ``Sail ho!'' This, we had learned, did not always signify a
vessel, but was raised whenever a woman was seen coming down from
the town, or an ox-cart, or anything unusual, hove in sight upon
the road; so we took no notice of it. But it soon became so loud
and general from all parts of the beach that we were led to go to
the door; and there, sure enough, were two sails coming round the
point, and leaning over from the strong northwest wind, which
blows down the coast every afternoon. The headmost was a ship, and
the other a brig. Everybody was alive on the beach, and all manner
of conjectures were abroad. Some said it was the Pilgrim, with the
Boston ship, which we were expecting; but we soon saw that the
brig was not the Pilgrim, and the ship, with her stump
top-gallant-masts and rusty sides, could not be a dandy Boston
Indiaman. As they drew nearer, we discovered the high poop, and
top-gallant forecastle, and other marks of the Italian ship Rosa,
and the brig proved to be the Catalina, which we saw at Santa
Barbara, just arrived from Valparaiso. They came to anchor, moored
ship, and began discharging hides and tallow. The Rosa had
purchased the house occupied by the Lagoda, and the Catalina took
the other spare one between ours and the Ayacucho's, so that now
each house was occupied, and the beach, for several days, was all
animation. The Catalina had several Kanakas on board, who were
immediately laid hold of by the others, and carried up to the
oven, where they had a long pow-wow and a smoke. Two Frenchmen,
who belonged to the Rosa's crew, came in every evening to see
Nicholas; and from them we learned that the Pilgrim was at San
Pedro, and was the only vessel from the United States now on the
coast. Several of the Italians slept on shore at their hide-house;
and there, and at the tent in which the Fazio's crew lived, we had
some singing almost every evening. The Italians sang a variety of
songs,-- barcarollas, provincial airs, &c.; in several of which I
recognized parts of our favorite operas and sentimental songs.
They often joined in a song, taking the different parts, which
produced a fine effect, as many of them had good voices, and all
sang with spirit. One young man, in particular, had a falsetto as
clear as a clarionet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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