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Few words were spoken between the watches as they shifted , the wheel was relieved , the mate took his place on the quarter-deck , the look-outs in the bows ; and each man had his narrow space to walk fore and aft in , or , rather , to swing himself forward and back in , from one belaying pin to another , - for the decks were too slippery with ice and water to allow of much walking . A man , too , can have nothing peculiar or sacred on board ship ; for all the nicer feelings they take pride in disregarding , both in themselves and others . Not a ripple upon the surface of the canvas ; not even a quivering of the extreme edges of the sail - so perfectly were they distended by the breeze . In about a week , they had cut enough to last us a year , and the third mate , with myself and three others , were sent over in a large , schooner-rigged , open launch , which we had hired of the mission , to take in the wood , and bring it to the ship . When beaten , they were taken from this pole by two more , and placed upon a platform of boards ; and ten or a dozen men , with their trowsers rolled up , were constantly going , back and forth , from the platform to the boat , which was kept off where she would just float , with the hides upon their heads . On Sunday morning , as soon as the decks were washed , and we had got breakfast , those who had obtained liberty began to clean themselves , as it is called , to go ashore . The first day of " all hands , " one of those little incidents occurred , which are nothing in themselves , but are great matters in the eyes of a ship 's company , as they serve to break the monotony of a voyage , and afford conversation to the crew for days afterwards . By these means , they were soon induced to give it up , for the present , though they said they would not lie where they were much longer without knowing the reason . Not a razor , nor a brush , nor a drop of water , except the rain and the spray , had come near us all the time ; for we were on an allowance of fresh water ; and who would strip and wash himself in salt water on deck , in the snow and ice , with the thermometer at zero ? We made the most of this permission , and stowed ourselves away upon the rigging , under the weather rail , on the spars , under the windlass , and in all the snug corners ; and frequently slept out the watch , unless we had a wheel or a look-out . He gave me a strong gripe with his hand ; and I told him , if he came to Boston again , not to fail to find me out , and let me see an old watchmate . A sailor knows too well that his life hangs upon a thread , to wish to be always reminded of it ; so , if a man has an escape , he keeps it to himself , or makes a joke of it . Then , by-and-by , somebody else will go after some more , and if they beat him , he 'll have to go again , or else give up his berth . It just struck five bells when we went up , and eight were struck soon after we came down . We pulled him on board the Ayacucho , and when he left the boat he gave each of its crew a piece of money , except myself , and shook hands with me , nodding his head , as much as to say , - " We understand one another . The third mate remained on board the launch , two more men staid in the skiff , to load and manage it , and all the water-work , as usual , fell upon the two youngest of us ; and there we were , with frost on the ground , wading forward and back , from the beach to the boat , with armsfull of wood , barefooted , and our trowsers rolled up . After we had been here some time , he started off one morning , in fine spirits , well dressed , to carry the clothes which he had been making to the pueblo , and saying he would bring back his money and some fresh orders the next day . It required men to lie over the yard to pass each turn of the gaskets , and when they were passed , it was almost impossible to knot them so that they would hold . 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 . Yet I knew that he must die without them . We had evidently made great progress , and had good hope of being soon up with the Cape , if we were not there already . The curse of a people calling themselves Christian , seems to follow them everywhere ; and even here , in this obscure place , lay two young islanders , whom I had left strong , active young men , in the vigor of health , wasting away under a disease , which they would never have known but for their intercourse with Christianized Mexico and people from Christian America . One of them was not so ill ; and was moving about , smoking his pipe , and talking , and trying to keep up his spirits ; but the other , who was my friend , and Aikane - Hope , was the most dreadful object I had ever seen in my life : his eyes sunken and dead , his cheeks fallen in against his teeth , his hands looking like claws ; a dreadful cough , which seemed to rack his whole shattered system , a hollow whispering voice , and an entire inability to move himself . Those who had no south-wester caps , made them , and several of the crew made themselves tarpaulin jackets and trowsers , lined on the inside with flannel . Friday , and a part of Saturday , we were engaged in this work , until we had thrown out all but what we wanted under our cargo on the passage home ; when , as the next day was Sunday , and a good day for smoking ship , we cleared everything out of the cabin and forecastle , made a slow fire of charcoal , birch bark , brimstone , and other matters , on the ballast in the bottom of the hold , calked up the hatches and every open seam , and pasted over the cracks of the windows , and the slides of the scuttles , and companionway .