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It being now mid-winter and in high latitude , the nights were very long , so that we were not turned-to until seven in the morning , and were obliged to knock off at five in the evening , when we got supper ; which gave us nearly three hours before eight bells , at which time the watch was set . Besides S - - - and myself , there were only five in the forecastle ; who , together with four boys in the steerage , the sailmaker , carpenter , etc ., composed the whole crew . Having gone through this , the next thing was to get into the head , - one on each side - with a bucket apiece , and duck one another , by drawing up water and heaving over each other , while we were stripped to a pair of trowsers . This being all done with , we gave one day to bending our sails ; and at night , every sail , from the courses to the skysails , was bent , and every studding-sail ready for setting . We left the ship about noon , but , owing to a strong head wind , and a tide , which here runs four or five knots , did not get into the harbor , formed by two points of the island , where the boats lie , until sundown . In our first attempt to double the Cape , when we came up to the latitude of it , we were nearly seventeen hundred miles to the westward , but , in running for the straits of Magellan , we stood so far to the eastward , that we made our second attempt at a distance of not more than four or five hundred miles ; and we had great hopes , by this means , to run clear of the ice ; thinking that the easterly gales , which had prevailed for a long time , would have driven it to the westward . The otter are very numerous among these islands , and being of great value , the government require a heavy sum for a license to hunt them , and lay a high duty upon every one shot or carried out of the country . When the last hide was stowed away , and the hatches calked down , the tarpaulins battened on to them , the longboat hoisted in and secured , and the decks swept down for the night , - the chief mate sprang upon the top of the long-boat , called all hands into the waist , and giving us a signal by swinging his cap over his head , - we gave three long , loud cheers , which came from the bottom of our hearts , and made the hills and valleys ring again . Several times , in the course of the night , I got up , determined to go on deck ; but the silence which showed that there was nothing doing , and the knowledge that I might make myself seriously ill , for nothing , kept me back . " The next four hours below were but little relief to me , for I lay awake in my berth , the whole time , from the pain in my face , and heard every bell strike , and , at four o'clock , turned out with the watch , feeling little spirit for the hard duties of the day . Our unusually large cargo , together with the stores for a five months ' voyage , brought the ship channels down into the water . 27 ' S ., and long . 85 deg . Every man had his station , and was not allowed to leave it ; and nothing happened to break the monotony of the night , except once setting the main topsails to run clear of a large island to leeward , which they were drifting fast upon . " The yard-arm and bunt gaskets were cast off ; and each sail hung by the jigger , with one man standing by the tie to let it go . This is a specimen of the life of half of the Americans and English who are adrift over the whole of California . Fortunately , I needed no help from any one , and no medicine ; and if I had needed help , I do n't know where I should have found it .