 CHAPTER 15. IN THE BRIG The brig was a small space about six feet square. Its four sides were made of iron plate in which holes about the size of a man's little finger were perforated. Through these the cell was ventilated. As the birth deck had not an overabundance of light, it was impossible for light enough to penetrate through the holes for a prisoner to read. In fact, the prisoner in the brig was not allowed a book. The only pastime was to walk around the four mast in the center of the brig and to peep through the holes, interesting himself in what was taking place on the birth deck. Every four hours during the day, beginning at seven in the morning, the prisoners were taken on deck and the hand irons removed while we were allowed to wash ourselves. Then we were marched back, taking the step the short chain on the feet irons would allow, to our places on the birth deck. The hardest part of the punishment was the restriction in the use of tobacco. As there was no way to obtain a smoke, we were forced to resort to chewing the weed. To a prisoner who has no friends on board, bread and water for thirty days is a severe punishment, for a hard biscuit and a tin pot of water are not very palatable. I had helped other unfortunates confined in the brig, and now the kindness was returned. Occasionally I would hear a whisper on the side opposite the sentry, King, take hold of this. Then through the hole in the iron partition strips of meat, bananas, figs, and other dainties were passed into me by my shipmates. An apprentice took a condensed milk can, bored a hole in the side near the bottom, and soldered the end of a tin flute to the hole. This unique funnel was kept hidden and was used only by certain ones when they were endurance vile. The third day a whispering voice called me to the holes in the forward partition. King, I want you to swear that if we let you into our secret you will not reveal it when released. Never, old fellow. Good enough I will be here while the wrestling match is taking place. This lad arranged it so that during the evening hours before piped down all the men's attention was devoted to singing, boxing, wrestling, or some amusement on the spar deck near the fore hatch. While this fun was going on the tube of the funnel was inserted into one of the holes in my cell and I was given all the coffee or tea I wanted. Long thin sausages were purchased from the bum boat men and the end of a boiled one would occasionally be pointed through a hole to me. Hand over hand I would haul it in. One evening the sentry saw the tail end of a sausage disappearing. He thought it a snake and made a cut for it with his bayonet. To his surprise he had a few inches of sausage. The joke was so immense he was convulsed with laughter. He was a good-natured fellow and knew he was observed by only a few of us so that he was in no danger of being detected in not reporting us. Sometimes the sentries were lenient for they, like us, might be incarcerated for some slight misconduct. A man is not a criminal because he is confined in chains or in the brig on a man of war. For a slight offense that would go unnoticed in civil life and enlisted man is sentenced to such punishment. I have seen a chained gang of fourteen men on the birth deck. Some were the best men in the ship but had overstayed liberty or committed some petty misdemeanor. The coffee funnel was always in demand. It did service for fully two years. Then one of our crowd was made master at arms and revealed our secret or it would not have been brought to light. The commanding officer was surprised when it was taken af for his inspection. I rather suspect he thought it mean of the master at arms to expose the instrument that had served him when, as a blue shirt, he had been a prisoner in the brig. We had sailed from Malta and were in the harbor of Port Said before my sentence expired. Again reduced to the fifth class conduct list, my liberty was restricted. Through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea we steered for Aden where we expected to spend a week at least. Liberty was given all classes and as stroke oarsmen in the whale boat I had an opportunity of seeing as much of Aden as I desired. From this place we proceeded to Zanzibar. As we came to anchor near a fleet of German warships we were called to get our scrapers and remove the flying fish scales and brains from our black painted sides. The fish must have made a target of the ship for she was the color of a speckled hen. For three hours we worked in the hot sun scraping off scales and painting her. It is only a couple of hours work to cover the outside of a man of war with black paint. Each part takes its allotted space and rigging a stage over the side we quickly dod the surface with woollen rags smothered in paint. Only in places where there is gingerbread work is a brush used. We had sail and spar drill every morning and evening. The executive officer delighted to show the Germans how quickly we could cross our yards and make all sail. As main to gallant yard man I did my best at my station and so pleased the first lieutenant. I was tired of being in the main top and wanted to change to some other part of the ship. I made my desire known to the first luff. To my delight he told me he wanted me on the main to gallant yard and if I behave myself he intended to give me the first vacant seamen's rate. Nowhere have I seen the water as clear and transparent as in Zanzibar. Looking over the side we could see the stones and sand at the bottom in six or seven fathoms of water. From Zanzibar we continued our search for the whaling schooner. We sighted the comorow islands and came to anchor on the lee side of Johanna, close to a cluster of huts which was the seaport of the place. The natives were ignorant of the value of money. They brought off fruit, chicken, eggs, and turtles in their canoes and were better satisfied with a polished copper scent. A brass button from a marine's coat or an old piece of clothing than they were with money. The marines lost several buttons and two apprentices served five days bread and water for robbing the sea soldiers of their uniform ornaments. One morning a list of names to man the first and second cutters was posted on the bulletin board. To my surprise I was listed for the first cutter with nine others who were considered hard cases. After breakfast the cutters were called away and word passed for the men whose names were on the bulletin board to man them. In the second cutter were men who seemingly could be trusted to give strong drink a wide berth. Away we started for the shore in charge of the executive and two junior officers. When we made a landing the first luff took the second cutter's men and an officer with him in search of Dr. Wilson's plantation. He left the crew of the first cutter in charge of Ensign Sukfen with orders not to allow us to leave his site. It was long after dinnertime. We were hungry. One after another we walked a little way from the boat as though gathering shells. At a given signal when Mr. Sukfen's back was turned we bolted for the bushes and kept on running till we were some distance away. We met a native boy who understood when we said Dr. Wilson and motioned us to climb the hill. We compelled him to guide us for fully three miles over hills and through bushes till we came in sight of the plantation. We could see some of the second cutter's crew and beckoning to them we were soon together. Away from the sight of the officers we secreted ourselves in a banana grove and with an abundant supply of liquor purchased from the natives of the plantation began our feast. I do not know what happened next but about midnight I found myself with five unfortunate shipmates in the berth deck under the Sentry's charge. Next day we were sentenced to ten days double irons on the berth deck and to pay six rupees each which money the first lieutenant had paid the natives for conveying us from the plantation to the boats. My comrades told me the first left was greatly annoyed when he discovered that besides the tripods and wailing implements of the schooner which he had confiscated on the plantation he had to care for a helpless crew. After calling at Mayotte and other Comero islands we headed for Mauritius and here found our prize. Halled up a creek her seams wide open dried by the hot sun and beaten by every storm she was a wreck unfit for sea in so much that the captain decided to let the useless hulk remain where it was. I had made a close friend of Coleman one of the marines in fact he was my chum as no liberty was given in Mauritius and there was but little intercourse with the shore I was surprised to find Coleman under the influence of liquor. Finding me on the folksle head he took my hand saying King old boy I'm going to desert. Before I could dissuade him he threw a rope's end over the side and let himself slide into the sea as he struck the water I was by his side. We were moored head and stern up an inlet which was perhaps a half mile wide. From a mooring place it was quite 200 yards to the nearest shore. It was raining and the awnings were housed which prevented the sentry seeing the phosphorescent wake we made as we struck out for the beach. I knew that sharks had been caught in this anchorage but all fears of such enemies were forgotten when Coleman cried oh King I'm sinking. Now is the time for me to exercise the skill of my early boyhood training in the water. No no old fellow put your hands on my shoulders and rest yourself. He held on a few moments a heavy drag on me. Take off your shoes Coleman. I can't they are too tightly laced. Taking my knife from the lanyard around my neck I dove for his feet and released him from his heavy soldier's shoes. Then hauling off his trousers and blouse I rolled them with my blue uniform into a bundle and tied them into my sail cankerchief. With Coleman holding the bundle in one hand while with the other he rested himself on my shoulder we struggled for the shore. Now and again he would ease up on me and do some paddling for himself. Oh the relief when he said I'm on the bottom. Shorter than he I could not touch bottom with my feet. Exhausted and bleeding at the nostrils and ears I held on to my friend while he waded into the beach. For fully an hour we remained quiet till we had strength enough to ring the water from our clothes. The place was barren with not a sign of a house or any habitation. For two miles we trudged along the country road on our way to town. I tried to persuade my chum to return to the ship but to no purpose. He disliked his duties on shipboard and wanted a change. As we drew near the landing where the boats were moored I bade Coleman goodbye and bargained with a boatman to row me to the ship offering him my blue uniform suit for his trouble. But he was afraid of being detected and therefore hesitated. The only agreement we could reach was for him to pass by the ship at a safe distance while I swam the rest of the way. As we came near the alliance the sentry hailed us. Boat ahoy! The boatman made no reply but rode on as if he had some business in the bay. I lowered myself over the stern sheets leaving my clothes with the boatman and in about midnight was alone in the sea. Cautiously I swam for the bow, reached the mooring chains, climbed to the haws pipe and lifting myself up by the headstays clambered into the head. The sentry saw me. What are you doing there? Having a salt water bath. Well, go below. You can't bathe this time of night. Very good, Sam. I sneaked under the folksal head awoke one of the men on an anchor watch and had him bring me some clothing. Once dressed I turned into my hammock. I almost wished I had remained with my chum. But of all things, desertion was abominable to me. I could not bring myself to think at anything but dishonorable to relinquish voluntarily my rights as an American citizen by deserting from my adopted country's flag. We had not been missed. The next morning the Master at Arms reported Coleman missing and he was booked as a deserter. After a stay of a couple weeks in Mauritius we exhibited the stars and stripes to the natives of Madagascar and along the east coast of Africa, calling into many of their numerous seaports for a short stay. At most of these places we remained less than twenty-four hours. The day came when we moored our ship at the wharf in Cape Town at the foot of Table Mountain. It was delightful to mingle with people who could converse with us. Everybody spoke English. Again I had reached the first class conduct list and should have obtained liberty with my shipmates had I kept in different company. As it was my friends were men who drank whenever they could get liquor and made every effort to obtain it. It was now June in the year 1887. Every preparation was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. Some of Her Majesty's soldiers visited the Alliance and brought a supply of Cape Smoke, a vile liquor. We indulged freely. That night when I became conscious I found myself and four others chained to the stanchions on the birth deck. For this offense we were court-martialed and sentenced to thirty days' bread and water, a month's extra police duty, and the loss of a month's pay. But we were thankful to be let off so easily as we were told that under the influence of the Cape Smoke we had struck the master at arms and used abusive language to the first lieutenant. Had all these charges been brought against us we would have been kept prisoners till we reached the flagship and then have had sentence of a general court-martial. At the expiration of our sentences we were near the coast of Brazil. One clear morning we made the land and steamed through the narrow entrance to the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. We passed the conical peak Sugarloaf, its extreme apex, two thousand feet above the earth, and came to anchor in the magnificent bay, studded with small islands and as smooth as a lake. Here we found the old paddle-wield Talapusa in company with the Lancaster. The three ships comprised the whole fleet. Because of sickness in Rio the crews were not allowed liberty. While with the flagship we were kept busy not only with the admiral's inspection but every day we were exercising at something. We would be tuckered out from hauling on the smooth-board guns at Big Gun Drill when a signal from the Lancaster would call away all boats armed and equipped for distant service, or perhaps make all sail. In order that we might land and form the three ships' companies into line for Battalion Drill the fleet got underway and steamed outside the harbor to St. Catarina, a quarantine station. At a given signal from the flagship the crews manned their boats, armed and equipped for heavy marching we rode for the beach and landed in the surf near the old hospital. We only landed twice, for on the third morning a yellow flag was run up on a four-truck. The signal was made to the admiral that we had a case of smallpox on board. As soon as this was known three blue jackets and one marine joined Togerson's religious circle. I must do justice to the marine and say he proved to be a strong Christian fellow even though he began his new life through fear of death by smallpox. We steamed back to Rio where within a week five men were sent to the hospital with smallpox. Two of these died. To check the spread of the disease we were ordered to proceed to Bahia and their fumigate. We had just passed out of the entrance to Rio Harbor when Mr. Tyler, the officer of the deck, shouted to me in the main top, come down from aloft. I can't come down now, sir. I'm coiling the Tagallant Yard rope in the top, and if I let it go it will run back over the top of the deck. Come down, I say. Aye, aye, sir. I let go the Yard rope. The weight hanging from the top to the deck hauled the portion of the Yard rope I had coiled into the top over the top netting. Snake-like it twisted itself around Mr. Tyler who was on deck under the main top and tumbled him over and over. For this I was put on the report and next morning brought before the commanding officer. I told my story and claimed that I had obeyed orders. It was of no avail. Commander McGregor sentenced me to five days' bread and water in the brig. I was pleased when the ship's rider told me that for laughing at Mr. Tyler when I saw him twisted about in the falling coils of the Yard rope I had not been lowered on the conduct list. In a few days we steamed into the harbor of Bahaya and anchored in front of the city which is beautifully situated partly on a series of hills and partly at their base. We were now ordered to spread all our clothes and bedding on lines on the berth deck. Large iron markets used for hoisting ashes from the fire room were placed here and in them sulfur was burned while the hatches and ports were kept closely fastened. We lived on deck under the awnings during these two days we were fumigating and then proceeded to Pernambuco to give liberty to the crew. In Pernambuco we moored the alliance inside the long reef which affords excellent anchorage for small ships. The large steamers anchor outside and transfer their cargoes by means of lighters. This coral reef is connected with the city by an old bridge. The upper end is joined to the land by a sand pit. All the crew whether on the first or fifth conduct list were allowed 24 hours on shore. There is plenty of amusement for seamen in this place. The streets and sidewalks are wide and clean and the public edifices would be creditable anywhere. After every man had enjoyed a run on shore we filled our coal bunkers and steamed back to the flagship at Rio. Hagen, the captain of the foretop, had been ill and was growing worse every day. He was liked by all of us. Anxiously we watched by his bedside and hoped for his recovery. But he failed rapidly and while in Rio passed away. The paymaster negotiated with a Rio undertaker to furnish a coffin. When it was brought on board it received all attention. It was the greatest curiosity of the crews. When Hagen was placed in it it was so shallow that the body lying in it was distinctly visible above the sides. The lid was shaped like the roof of a house made of two sloping boards meeting and forming a ridge. This cover worked on hinges like the lid of a trunk. Our departed shipmate had professed the Roman Catholic faith. Therefore the services of a priest were engaged. Four boats filled with men towed by the steam launch went with the body to the shore near the cemetery. We formed into line and marched to the grave. Of all the testable places none could equal this cemetery in filth. The people were buried in quick lime and at the end of two years the graves were opened for the use of other bodies. We passed rows of opened graves. The soil thrown up on the embankment was filled with bones and skulls and partly decayed human bodies. We were glad when the service was ended. As soon as the priest had read the prayers for the dead and sprinkled the strange coffin with holy water we beat a retreat to the gate formed into line and marched to the boats. Before we left Rio we raised money enough to purchase the grave for forty years and erected a stone to the memory of our beloved shipmate. I was glad that in the funeral party I was not in the whale boat. The boat keeper had in some way filled the boat's water breaker with native liquor and by the time we reached the ship several men were put below under the cemetery. Again the fleet was together. The trip southward was uneventful. The ocean was calm and we kept well out to sea till we sighted Maldonado and headed up the river Rio de la Plata. In a few hours we were at anchor in Montevideo Bay. For seven months we remained here. The harbor had a warlike appearance as an imposing number of warships of almost every nation was anchored near us. For a little diversion we would steam outside the river and exercise at target practice. A trio of doomed barrels were lashed together and cast overboard. At a distance of a mile we would pour shot and shell with profusion and rapidity to resemble an engagement. We indulged in these demonstrations once in three months till our quarterly allowance of ammunition was exhausted. The men on the first class list obtained liberty every other day. We became tired of the city, a clean well built place of one story flat roofed houses. Montevideo has its sailors district. The men from the merchant ships and war vessels were welcomed in the numerous dance halls on Calais Saint Teresa and at the rum shops which were kept by English and American broken down seamen. Occasionally a bullfight on a Sunday afternoon would create a diversion and at times while at anchor a lively pampereau would stir up the shipping creating a change in our humdrum existence for a few days at least. Once we weighed anchor and steamed about a hundred miles up the river to an island where we were exercised in rifle and pistol target practice. We must have been on the station about two years when the alliance was ordered to Rio on special service. The Talapusa was detailed to survey the entrance of the river Platte. To complete the compliment of men so that the surveying work could be accomplished twenty men from the alliance were transferred to her. I asked to be sent to the Talapusa believing that if I could be away from my old associates and among strangers I might then gain a reputation for good behavior. I was stationed on the running boat making several trips to shore daily. For two weeks there was no report against me and I was beginning to flatter myself that I should have a splendid report to take to my old ship on her return. One afternoon we had to wait at the wharf for the mail orderly. The coxswain of the boat allowed one of his crew to purchase a bottle of gin from Dirty Dick's Saloon near the landing. Dirty Dick was an American who kept open account for any man of war's man as he knew he would receive his money when we were paid. The bottle of gin was quickly emptied and more was purchased. I only remember receiving a stunning blow on the head while engaged in an all-round rumpus in the boat and falling over the side into the bay. When I came to myself I, with others of the boat's crew, was a prisoner on the berth deck. The mail orderly told me that in the scuffle alongside the wharf I was knocked on the head with the tiller and falling overboard sunk to the bottom. The crew of a Brazilian warship's boat came to our assistance or we should have all been drowned. I was court-martialed and sentenced to thirty days double irons on bread and water full ration every fifth day. This time I lost no pay but felt hungry while in the brig. When my sentence was served the talipusa was steaming from one end of the mouth of the river to the other taking soundings. Here I had every chance to gain perfection in casting the hand-led. All day on deck we were in the canvas apron taking soundings and as our reports were to be put on record we were forced to be accurate. At the end of three months the ships were together again and we transferred back to the alliance. I felt mortified and ashamed as I mustered on the quarter-deck with my bag and hammock. My life seemed to amount to very little. While waiting for the first luff to say what part of the ship we were to be stationed in, Lieutenant Alan C. Kelton, USMC, came on deck from the ward room. Noticing me he walked over and shook hands with me saying, King, I'm glad to see you back with us. We have missed you. This handshake and kind greeting from Mr. Kelton did me lots of good. I felt I still had the respect of one man and would do my best to behave myself. I kept away from several old associates and although I could not join Toggerson's religious band, I stayed much in his company and with others like him and during the rest of the cruise I remained on the good conduct list. End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 of Dog Watches at Sea This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Dog Watches at Sea by Stanton H. King. Chapter 16 Homeward Bound Our carpenters mate won the capital prize in the month of Hideo Lottery and for once this old shellback had all the money he wanted. In Montevideo the gambling houses conducted their nefarious business openly. The roulette table and lottery were in full swing using almost every store and every policeman and soldier to aid them in their villainous trade. At every corner the boys sold lottery tickets and the bumboat man supplied the ships. The first liberty that was given the carpenter he remained on shore eight days and then was brought back by the shore authorities. The master at arms coveted the money which this man had and clandestinely sold him liquor charging him an exorbitant price for every skin of liquor he obtained. I heard of this fraudulent transaction and watched for an opportunity to catch our chief of police. One evening I saw the master at arms take a skin of liquor from one of the crew of the captain's gig. Two other men and myself saw him pass the liquor to the carpenter's mate and receive the money. Pouncing upon him we took the liquor and carried it to the officer of the deck making a report against the master at arms. He was tried by a summary court-martial and sentenced to be disrated to a landsman. This was all spite on our part. The master at arms had been hateful to us. While he overlooked the petty faults of others he was ever on the alert to find some charge against us. No longer chief of police or a petty officer stripped of his brass buttons and in the same uniform as myself we met one dark night on the folksle head and had it not been for the interposition of the new master at arms we would have badly crippled each other. As it was we were both unfit for duty for some days. At this stage of the cruise we had changed our captaincy. Commander George W. Pigman had taken command of our ship. Next morning we were brought before him. After looking us over he said, You seem to have punished each other enough. I am told it's an old sore between you two men. Don't let me hear of any more trouble between you. Go forward. The ex-master at arms was disgraced. He felt humiliated and having asked for his discharge it was granted him. On account of some disturbance regarding a lumber-laden schooner in the Straits of Magellan we were ordered to proceed there in the dead of winter. Every mess laid in a stock of sea-stores. Pea-coats were issued to those who had done and away we sailed to the southward. Every day it grew colder and continued so till the coast of Patagonia was sited near the entrance to the Straits. We entered against a heavy current past Elizabeth Island covered with numerous birds of many kinds mostly penguins and gulls and about a hundred miles from the Atlantic came in sight of Punta Arenas Sandy Point as it is best known to English people. We dropped anchor about a mile from the shore. I do not know how the trouble regarding the schooner was settled. We remained in Sandy Point several days. We were allowed to visit the shore. We sat on a beach at the foot of a hill consisting of a fort, a church, some old government barracks and one or two public buildings. These with several one-story houses built so as to form streets comprised the whole of Punta Arenas. While here one of the large Pacific male steamers grounded father up the Straits and after discharging much of her cargo it took the united efforts and steam power of another of the company steamers and our ship to haul her from the beach. We steamed back to Montevideo and after taking a run up the Plata called at Rosario and Assuncion and a few minor places we returned to our old anchorage to await the arrival of the Cursage which was on her way to Montevideo with relief crews for the Alliance and Talapusa. One afternoon the quartermaster reported a warship steaming into harbor. Signals were exchanged and the news went over the fleet that the incoming vessel was the Cursage. My three years enlistment had expired. Now I rejoiced to know that in a very few days I would be homeward bound once more. Although there was not a single person whom I felt would be glad of my return to the United States no one to greet me there still I felt it good to be returning to an American port which would end my enlistment. Our accounts were signed and with bags and hammocks we were transferred to the Cursage. At the command all hands up anchor for home the quartermaster hoisted to the breeze our homeward bound pennant three hundred feet long with a gilded ball at the end trailing far astern. Amid the cheers of all the men on the warships in the harbor and the sweet sound of the flagship's bands playing home sweet home we bade farewell to the Spanish Maine. No sooner were we clear of land than the mooring chains were unbent and stowed below. The jackasses were taken from the manger and with haws pipes plugged we headed for home. A few days out we sighted the uninhabited Brazilian island Trinidad. Here we had a splendid opportunity to try our hands at big gun target practice. We opened fire on the hills and plowed the soil with our shot and shell. We crossed the equator and in another week were in sight of land. As we drew near this island we passed many flying fish boats with masts unstepped. The Negro fishermen were catching fish. We could see the windmills on shore and everything seemed to resemble Barbados. Meeting the first lieutenant I dared to question him. Is that Barbados, Mr. Belknap? Yes, King, it is. Are we going to stop there? Yes, only for a few days, to call up. During my three years' cruise my shipmates had looked forward with keen pleasure to the arrival of the male to hear from their friends at home. I had not received a word from anyone. In places where I had seen good women on the street the thought of my mother had come to me and I dashed it away and thought of other things. As we anchored in Carlisle Bay I did not then allow myself to think she was gone forever. With the longing to see my father and sisters and to be in the old home once more I approached the officer of the deck and asked for liberty. Commander Alan D. Brown granted me forty-eight hours on shore and told the paymaster to give me ten dollars. On reaching the wharf I engaged a carriage and told the driver to hasten to Paynes Bay. We passed the old schoolhouse and the chapel with its small burying-ground. At last the old home hove in sight. Instead of the wide open shutters and the evidence of human life, blinds and doors were shut and no sign of human beings was there. We drove up the gap. I sprang from my carriage, my heart breaking in its loneliness and wrenching the front door open I passed through the vacant front rooms and entered my mother's bedroom. Of all places this was the most desolate to me. Here in this room I had knelt with my brothers and sisters at the foot of her bed every morning and repeating with her our daily prayer we gave thanks to God. Now not a piece of furniture remained, not a soul to welcome me home. In my grief I cried, Mother, Mother, where are you? I think I hear the echo mocking me as it sounded, where are you? The natives heard that I had returned and as I reached the front door intending to make inquiries as to the whereabouts of my father, one of our old Negro servants threw her arms about my neck and sobbing with me cried, Massa Harry, you mammy is dead. I know it, Sarah, where is Papa? He's at Carrington's house on the hill. Afflicted with blindness in his old age my father had been turned from his home while it and all he owned were sold to the highest bidder. Renting a small house not far from the old home his youngest daughter in Barbados was doing her best to make his pension, provide food and shelter for him. I spent forty-eight hours in his company and when I left him it was a sad farewell. We both believed it was the last time we would meet on earth. It was so, for he has since passed beyond all trouble and care. I reported on board the cursage and in about ten days we were at Hampton Roads awaiting orders from Washington. Word came for us to proceed to New York and there discharged the crew. There were men who had never been in the brig. In fact, they had been considered good conduct men the whole of the crews. I was astonished when I saw them given small discharges. My question was, what will my discharge be? When Mr. Belknap handed me my parchment he said, King, if it was in my power to change your discharge I would do it. I don't understand how you were recommended for a continuous service certificate by the Executive Officer of the Alliance, but here it is, take it. Sure enough my discharge was written on the face and titled to an Honorable Discharge. I looked it over carefully. Was it possible that after three court marshals and the sentences I had served in the brig I could be so honorably discharged? On reading the conduct record I was pleased to see, seamanship, excellent, gunnery, very good, industry, excellent, obedience, good, cleanliness, very good. Average standing for term of enlistment, very good. Yes, I had always kept neat and clean. Was implicitly obedient when in my sober mind active and quick in movement. I gave satisfaction at my stations both aloft and on deck and manifested an interest in every drill and exercise. Although the mark for obedience was only three, the other qualifications entitled me to twenty out of a possible twenty-five. No longer an enlisted man I purchased a suit of clothes. With some of my shipmates I squandered my money in New York. Within three weeks appeared on the deck of the old Vermont ready to enlist again. I passed the doctor's examination and was considered sound and body, but when the apothecary emptied a small cardboard box of wool on the table for me to put the different colors in heaps by themselves, my hopes were blasted. Although I knew it was impossible for me to do it, I made the attempt. My effort was a fearful mixture of colors. The doctor declared me colorblind and rejected me. There was one chance left. My discharge had not been tampered with, so before word of my rejection could be sent to Washington, I borrowed a few dollars of an old shipmate and started for Boston. I had hopes of bluffing the old apothecary on the Wabash again. Here I encountered the same difficulty. The box of wool was passed me to separate the skeins and place all of one color in heaps by themselves. The red, green and brown were more than mixed, though I did my best, so for the second time I was rejected. What was I to do? I had wasted my earnings and had not a cent of my own. The only thing was to find a sailing ship and continue my days on a windjammer. Reaching the spar deck, I met Mr. Farnholt, the executive officer of the Wabash, who said, King, I have a vacancy for a landsman in the ship's company. Will you take it? Yes, sir, I quickly replied, glad indeed to take any rate, even though it was at the bottom round of the ladder. Very well, stay on board till I get permission from Washington to wave your color blindness. In a few days a favorable answer was received, and as a landsman I was enrolled on the Wabash, a special service man on that ship for the period of one year. I thereby lost the three months' pay to which my honorable discharge entitled me had I again enlisted for general service. I held my rate as landsman for six weeks, at which time the captain of the folksal was discharged and I was given his rate. The year passed quickly and I enlisted for another year and was shortly after rated quarter gunner. My duties consisted of caring for the arms and ammunition, drilling the recruits and training them in the different exercises for sea service. Although I was not reported at any time I deserved to be, for with others I yielded to the temptation of supplying the money big discharge men, the old timers with liquor. We ran great risks to smuggle it on board that we might have money to squander in the dives outside the Navy Yard gate and in the north end of Boston. In the summer of 1890 I had just passed my 23rd birthday. Although so young I had lived many years of recklessness and wrongdoing. My associates were of the worst kind. I did not care for anything different. Perfectly satisfied I lived only for the day. Of the future and what it had in store for me I cared nothing. I expected the only termination of a man of war man's life, a pension in old age. I had no plans or ambitions, a mere animal. Worse off than some animals, for they at least had someone who bestowed affection on them. Still I was not unhappy. Only when my mother's face came to my mind and I allowed myself to think of her did a trace of good thought or a longing for something better enter my life. At this stage of my experience a large company of young women came on board the Wabash. It was Sunday afternoon. Old Bob Wilkes was on liberty and I was acting Boson's mate in his place. In a little while the officer of the deck shouted, Boson's mate, pass the word. Any men who wish to attend a temperance meeting lay aft on the gun deck. The rest of the men keep silence around the decks. These good women were members of the Charlestown Young Women's Christian Temperance Union and had asked permission to hold a meeting thinking they might be of help to some of the men. I kept away from their company. The very sight of these women brought thoughts of my mother and my sisters. Home and fond recollections filled my mind. To banish such thoughts I became enraged and as I blew my whistle and passed the word the officer of the deck had given me I whistled again and shouted, Get forward everybody and fill the scuttle-butt. It did not require all the men to do this work. Some went aft to the meeting but I kept many of them jerking on the freshwater pump handle and did my best to forget the gathering aft. Standing forward on the gun deck by the scuttle-butt watching that it did not overflow I could see the gathering of people aft. Presently a sound, the sweetest of my life, reached my ears. Two young women were singing a hymn. The gospel bells are ringing. As I listened my mind travelled back to my boyhood days when Sanky's hymns had just been introduced into Barbados. I thought of the days when, with my younger brother and sisters, we sang that very hymn at my father's side. I no longer desired to fight against the inrushing thoughts of home and loved ones but allowed every remembrance of my mother's face and life to enter my being. At any other time I should have dreaded the ridicule of my shipmates and given these Christian people a wide berth. Shouting to the men below, that'll do the pump. I walked aft and seated myself on a bench in front of the singers. Safe in the arms of Jesus, they sang, and then the sweet by and by. I sobbed as though my heart would break. I was a boy, again in the presence of my mother, and seemed to be telling her of my wasted life. It was as though her voice talked to me and reasoned with me. I decided then and there to sever myself from every evil association and to be what she would have me. Now I have finished these experiences of my Bohemian life. I have confined myself to incidents on board ship and to a few happenings on shore as a sailor. The temptation to tell of other places and people has been strong but I have refrained. My hardest task has been to discriminate between things worth relating and those that are not, but I feel as far as my memory permits I have set forth the truth. If no good is done or no pleasure derived from reading the vicissitudes of a youthful sailor, cast the book away and say, at its best it is only what most sailors would call a poor, hard traveling purchase, a rope yarn over a nail. End of Chapter 16 Recording by Peter Kelleher Eastport Midway, Nova Scotia End of Dog Watches at Sea by Stanton H. King