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And so irritated and impatient had the crew become , that even this proposition , which was open mutiny , punishable with state prison , was entertained , and the carpenter went to his berth , leaving it tacitly understood that something serious would be done , if things remained as they were many hours longer . The captain had broken through a custom , which is a part of the common-law of a ship , and without reason ; for he knew that his mate was a sailor , and needed no help from him ; and the mate was excusable for being angry . Then came all manner of calculations and conjectures as to the continuance of the wind , the weather under the line , the south-east trades , etc ., and rough guesses as to the time the ship would be up with the Horn ; and some , more venturous , gave her so many days to Boston light , and offered to bet that she would not exceed it . If I could only have been on deck with the rest , where something was to be done , and seen , and heard ; where there were fellow-beings for companions in duty and danger - but to be cooped up alone in a black hole , in equal danger , but without the power to do , was the hardest trial . The only variety was the monotonous voice of the look-out forward - " Another island ! The determination of our captain had at least this good effect ; it gave every one something to think and talk about , made a break in our life , and diverted our minds from the monotonous dreariness of the prospect before us . Old " Mr. Bingham " and " King Mannini " went down to the boat with me , shook me heartily by the hand , wished us a good voyage , and went back to the oven , chanting one of their deep monotonous songs , the burden of which I gathered to be about us and our voyage . It is almost equal to clairvoyance . One at a time , ( for it was a long piece of work and required many hands , ) we furled the courses , mizen topsail , and fore-topmast staysail , and close-reefed the fore and main topsails , and hove the ship to under the fore , with the main hauled up by the clewlines and buntlines , and ready to be sheeted home , if we found it necessary to make sail to get to windward of an ice island . This filled up the measure of the agent 's unpopularity , and never after this could he get anything done by any of the crew ; and many a delay and vexation , and many a good ducking in the surf , did he get to pay up old scores , or " square the yards with the bloody quill-driver . Even a letter , in many respects , is nothing , in comparison with it .