My mother gave me her blessing
and a small Bible; and her last request was that I would never forget
to read a chapter every day, and say my prayers; which I promised, with
tears in my eyes, that I would certainly do.
Soon afterwards, I went on board the _Arrow_, which was a fine
large ship, and set sail for the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Chapter II
The departure--The sea--My companions--Some account of the
wonderful sights we saw on the great deep--A dreadful storm and a
frightful wreck.
It was a bright, beautiful, warm day when our ship spread her canvas to
the breeze, and sailed for the regions of the south. Oh, how my heart
bounded with delight as I listened to the merry chorus of the sailors,
while they hauled at the ropes and got in the anchor! The captain
shouted; the men ran to obey; the noble ship bent over to the breeze,
and the shore gradually faded from my view, while I stood looking on
with a kind of feeling that the whole was a delightful dream.
The first thing that struck me as being different from anything I had
yet seen during my short career on the sea, was the hoisting of the
anchor on deck and lashing it firmly down with ropes, as if we had now
bid adieu to the land for ever, and would require its services no more.
"There, lass," cried a broad-shouldered jack-tar, giving the fluke of
the anchor a hearty slap with his hand after the housing was completed
--"there, lass, take a good nap now, for we shan't ask you to kiss the
mud again for many a long day to come!"
And so it was.
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