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He made a sign to the mate , who came forward , took his station , deliberately between the knight-heads , cast a glance aloft , and called out , " All hands , lay aloft and loose the sails ! As far as the eye could reach , the sea in every direction was of a deep blue color , the waves running high and fresh , and sparkling in the light , and in the midst lay this immense mountain-island , its cavities and valleys thrown into deep shade , and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun . Though we had now the same wind , and were in the same latitude with the Pilgrim on her passage out , yet we were nearly twelve hundred miles to the westward of her course ; for the captain , depending upon the strong south-west winds which prevail in high southern latitudes during the winter months , took the full advantage of the trades , and stood well to the westward , so far that we passed within about two hundred miles of Ducie 's Island . Two of our men went up to Santa Clara in one of these boats , and were gone three days , during all which time they had a constant rain , and did not sleep a wink , but passed three long nights , walking fore and aft the boat , in the open air . Toward night the wind hauled to the southward , and headed us off our course a little , and blew a tremendous gale ; but this we did not mind , as there was no rain nor snow , and we were already under close sail . On deck , all was as dark as a pocket , and either a dead calm , with the rain pouring steadily down , or , more generally , a violent gale dead ahead , with rain pelting horizontally , and occasional variations of hail and sleet ; - decks afloat with water swashing from side to side , and constantly wet feet ; for boots could not be wrung out like drawers , and no composition could stand the constant soaking . The head sails were backed , the windlass came round " slip - slap " to the cry of the sailors ; - " Hove short , sir , " said the mate ; - " Up with him ! I slept on till all hands were called in the morning ; for , fortunately for me , the Indians , intentionally , or from mistaking their orders , had gone off alone in the night , and were far out of sight . The California had got under weigh at the same moment ; and we sailed down the narrow bay abreast and were just off the mouth , and finding ourselves gradually shooting ahead of her , were on the point of giving her three parting cheers , when , suddenly , we found ourselves stopped short , and the California ranging fast ahead of us . I went forward with a light heart , but feeling as angry , and as much contempt as I could well contain between my teeth . He added a few words about their duty in their present situation , and sent them forward , saying that he should take no further notice of the matter ; but , at the same time , told the carpenter to recollect whose power he was in , and that if he heard another word from him he would have cause to remember him to the day of his death . The shippingmaster answered him in a way which the boy did not understand , and advised him to ship . Wherever smoke was seen coming out , we calked and pasted , and , so far as we could , made the ship smoke tight . Sandwich Islanders ; but it was far from being the usual noisy , laughing time . This was set off against the account of the A. J. Donelson , and led us to look forward with less confidence to the passage , especially as no one on board had ever been through , and the captain had no very perfect charts . Captain Holmes endeavored to get him a passage back , but there being no vessel to sail for some time , the boy left him , and went to board at a common sailor 's boarding-house , in Ann street , where he supported himself for a few weeks by selling some of his valuables . In about ten minutes they came forward again , and the whole affair had been blown . There was , however , too much to do to allow time to think ; for the gale of yesterday , and the heavy seas we met with a few days before , while we had yet ten degrees more southing to make , had convinced the captain that we had something before us which was not to be trifled with , and orders were given to send down the long topgallant masts .