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Having washed down decks and got our breakfast , the two vessels lay side by side , in complete readiness for sea , our ensigns hanging from the peaks , and our tall spars reflected from the glassy surface of the river , which , since sunrise , had been unbroken by a ripple . They were as much puzzled as our old sailmaker was with the captain 's instruments in the cabin . In addition to these , they had picked up at the theatres and other places a few songs of a little more genteel cast , which they were very proud of ; and I shall never forget hearing an old salt , who had broken his voice by hard drinking on shore , and bellowing from the mast-head in a hundred north-westers , with all manner of ungovernable trills and quavers - in the high notes , breaking into a rough falsetto - and in the low ones , growling along like the dying away of the boatswain 's " all hands ahoy ! The next night , which was the last , we went ashore in the same manner , until we got almost tired of the monotonous twang of the instruments , the drawling sounds which the women kept up , as an accompaniment , and the slapping of the hands in time with the music , in place of castanets . Once or twice , when our bullocks failed and we were obliged to make a meal upon dry bread and water , it seemed like feeding upon shavings . American merchantmen ) were , a pint of tea , and a pint and a half of molasses , to about three gallons of water . They had many of the latest sailor songs , which had not yet got about among our merchantmen , and which they were very choice of .