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When we got upon the yard , my hands were so numb that I could not have cast off the knot of the gasket to have saved my life . The difficulty lies rather in the administration of the laws ; and this is certainly a matter that deserves great consideration , and one of no little embarrassment . This settled the matter , and sent a thrill of pleasure through the heart of every one in the boat . and two days more ( to our no small joy ) gave us our last view of that place , which was universally called the hell of California , and seemed designed , in every way , for the wear and tear of sailors . Shirts , frocks , drawers , trowsers , jackets , stockings , of every shape and color , wet and dirty - many of them mouldy from having been lying a long time wet in a foul corner - these were all washed and scrubbed out , and finally towed overboard for half an hour ; and then made fast in the rigging to dry . All our spare spars were taken on board and lashed ; our water-casks secured ; and our live stock , consisting of four bullocks , a dozen sheep , a dozen or more pigs , and three or four dozen of poultry , were all stowed away in their different quarters : the bullocks in the long-boat , the sheep in a pen on the fore-hatch , and the pigs in a sty under the bows of the long-boat , and the poultry in their proper coop ; and the jolly-boat was full of hay for the sheep and bullocks . So close is the channel to some of these islands , that we ran the end of our flying-jib-boom over one of the out-works of the fortifications on George 's Island ; and had had an opportunity of seeing the advantages of that point as a fortified place ; for , in working up the channel , we presented a fair stem and stern , for raking , from the batteries , three or four times . The carpenter , who was an intelligent man , and a thorough seaman , and had great influence with the crew , came down into the forecastle , and tried to induce the crew to go aft and ask the captain why he did not run , or request him , in the name of all hands , to make sail . The medicines were all , or nearly all , gone ; and if we had had a chest-full , they would have been of no use ; for nothing but fresh provisions and terra firma has any effect upon the scurvy . It was an interesting sight , too , to see our noble ship , dismantled of all her top-hamper of long tapering masts and yards , and boom pointed with spear-head , which ornamented her in port ; and all that canvas , which a few days before had covered her like a cloud , from the truck to the water 's edge , spreading far out beyond her hull on either side , now gone ; and she , stripped , like a wrestler for the fight . He is thrown among landlords , and sharks of all descriptions ; is often led to drink freely ; and comes upon the stand unaided , and under a certain cloud of suspicion as to his character and veracity . The carpenter , very prematurely , and without any authority from the crew , had sounded the mate as to whether he would take command of the ship , and intimated an intention to displace the captain ; and the mate , as in duty bound , had told the whole to the captain , who immediately sent for all hands aft . His father had been governor of the province , and having amassed a large property , settled at San Diego , where he built a large house with a court-yard in front , kept a great retinue of Indians , and set up for the grandee of that part of the country . This kind of ice is much more dangerous than the large islands , for those can be seen at a distance , and kept away from ; but the field-ice , floating in great quantities , and covering the ocean for miles and miles , in pieces of every size-large , flat , and broken cakes , with here and there an island rising twenty and thirty feet , and as large as the ship 's hull ; - this , it is very difficult to sheer clear of . " Forsan et haec olim , " thought I , and took my last look of that place too . It has been said , that the greatest curse to each of the South Sea islands , was the first man who discovered it ; and every one who knows anything of the history of our commerce in those parts , knows how much truth there is in this ; and that the white men , with their vices , have brought in diseases before unknown to the islanders , and which are now sweeping off the native population of the Sandwich Islands , at the rate of one fortieth of the entire population annually . Eight hours of the night , our watch was on deck , and during the whole of that time we kept a bright look-out : one man on each bow , another in the bunt of the fore yard , the third mate on the scuttle , one on each quarter , and a man always standing by the wheel . The sea was as still as an inland lake ; the light trade-wind was gently and steadily breathing from astern ; the dark blue sky was studded with the tropical stars ; there was no sound but the rippling of the water under the stem ; and the sails were spread out , wide and high ; - the two lower studding-sails stretching , on each side , far beyond the deck ; the topmast studding-sails , like wings to the topsails ; the top-gallant studding-sails spreading fearlessly out above them ; still higher , the two royal studding-sails , looking like two kites flying from the same string ; and , highest of all , the little skysail , the apex of the pyramid , seeming actually to touch the stars , and to be out of reach of human hand . This disease is not so common now as formerly ; and is attributed generally to salt provisions , want of cleanliness , the free use of grease and fat ( which is the reason of its prevalence among whalemen , ) and , last of all , to laziness . By the loss of the sailmaker , our watch was reduced to five , of whom two were boys , who never steered but in fine weather , so that the other two and myself had to stand at the wheel four hours apiece out of every twenty-four ; and the other watch had only four helmsmen . And we were glad enough to get this rest ; for under the " all hands " system , out of every other thirty-six hours , we had only four below ; and even an hour 's sleep was a gain not to be neglected .