Chapter 28

EDGING AWAY.

Right before the wind! Ay, blow, blow, ye breezes; so long as ye
stay fair, and we are homeward bound, what care the jolly crew?

It is worth mentioning here that, in nineteen cases out of
twenty, a passage from the Pacific round the Cape is almost sure
to be much shorter, and attended with less hardship, than a
passage undertaken from the Atlantic. The reason is, that the
gales are mostly from the westward, also the currents.

But, after all, going before the wind in a frigate, in such a
tempest, has its annoyances and drawbacks, as well as many other
blessings. The disproportionate weight of metal upon the spar and
gun decks induces a violent rolling, unknown to merchant ships.
We rolled and rolled on our way, like the world in its orbit,
shipping green seas on both sides, until the old frigate dipped
and went into it like a diving-bell.

The hatchways of some armed vessels are but poorly secured in bad
weather. This was peculiarly the ease with those of the Neversink.
They were merely spread over with an old tarpaulin, cracked and
rent in every direction.

In fair weather, the ship's company messed on the gun-deck; but
as this was now flooded almost continually, we were obliged to
take our meals upon the berth-deck, the next one below. One day,
the messes of the starboard-watch were seated here at dinner;
forming little groups, twelve or fifteen men in each, reclining
about the beef-kids and their pots and pans; when all of a sudden
the ship was seized with such a paroxysm of rolling that, in a
single instant, everything on the berth-deck--pots, kids,
sailors, pieces of beef, bread-bags, clothes-bags, and barges--
were tossed indiscriminately from side to side. It was impossible
to stay one's self; there was nothing but the bare deck to cling
to, which was slippery with the contents of the kids, and heaving
under us as if there were a volcano in the frigate's hold. While
we were yet sliding in uproarious crowds--all seated--the windows
of the deck opened, and floods of brine descended, simultaneously
with a violent lee-roll. The shower was hailed by the reckless
tars with a hurricane of yells; although, for an instant, I
really imagined we were about being swamped in the sea, such
volumes of water came cascading down.

A day or two after, we had made sufficient Easting to stand to
the northward, which we did, with the wind astern; thus fairly
turning the corner without abating our rate of progress. Though
we had seen no land since leaving Callao, Cape Horn was said to
be somewhere to the west of us; and though there was no positive
evidence of the fact, the weather encountered might be accounted
pretty good presumptive proof.

The land