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We took the loss of our beef very easily , consoling ourselves with the recollection that the cabin had more to lose than we ; and chuckled not a little at seeing the remains of the chicken-pie and pan-cakes floating in the scuppers . He was a Fin , but spoke English very well , and gave me long accounts of his country ; - the customs , the trade , the towns , what little he knew of the government , ( I found he was no friend of Russia ) , his voyages , his first arrival in America , his marriage and courtship ; - he had married a countrywoman of his , a dress-maker , whom he met with in Boston . Bad weather and hard work at sea can be borne up against very well , if one only has spirit and health ; but there is nothing brings a man down , at such a time , like bodily pain and want of sleep . you 'll see her work herself loose in a week or two , and then she 'll walk up to Cape Horn like a race-horse . As soon as supper was over and the kids cleared away , and each one had taken his smoke , we seated ourselves on our chests round the lamp , which swung from a beam , and each one went to work in his own way , some making hats , others trowsers , others jackets , etc ., etc .; and no one was idle . We could now see how much she was cramped and deadened by her cargo ; for with a good breeze on her quarter , and every stitch of canvas spread , we could not get more than six knots out of her . Booms were rigged out , tacks and halyards rove , sail after sail packed upon her , until every available inch of canvas was spread , that we might not lose a breath of the fair wind . He made a sign to the mate , who came forward , took his station , deliberately between the knight-heads , cast a glance aloft , and called out , " All hands , lay aloft and loose the sails ! It was not easy to sleep , lying , as I did , with my head directly against the bows , which might be dashed in by an island of ice , brought down by the very next sea that struck her . In addition to this , she had been steeved so thoroughly , and was so bound by the compression of her cargo , forced into her by so powerful machinery , that she was like a man in a straight-jacket , and would be but a dull sailer , until she had worked herself loose . The last night they kept it up in great style , and were getting into a high-go , when the captain called us off to go aboard , for , it being south-easter season , he was afraid to remain on shore long ; and it was well he did not , for that very night , we slipped our cables , as a crowner to our fun ashore , and stood off before a south-easter , which lasted twelve hours , and returned to our anchorage the next day . We had long ago run through all our dry clothes , and as sailors have no other way of drying them than by the sun , we had nothing to do but to put on those which were the least wet . We had hardly patience with her , but the older sailors said - " Stand by ! I still remained in my berth , fast recovering , yet still not well enough to go safely on deck . To keep ourselves warm , and the ship out of the ice , was as much as we could do . When the last luff was hooked on , all hands were called to the rope - cook , steward , and all - and ranging ourselves at the falls , one behind the other , sitting down on the hides , with our heads just even with the beams , we set taught upon the tackles , and striking up a song , and all lying back at the chorus , we bowsed the tackles home , and drove the large books chock in out of sight . If I had her in your trim , she would have been out of sight by this time . At night , after we had knocked off , and were sitting round in the forecastle , smoking and talking and taking sailor 's pleasure , we congratulated ourselves upon being in that situation in which we had wished ourselves every time we had come into San Diego . We made a joke of the matter and we could well laugh , for our minds were not a little relieved by its ridiculous termination . It was a contrast to much that we had lately seen , and a spectacle not only of beauty , but of life ; for it required but little fancy to imagine these islands to be animate masses which had broken loose from the " thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice , " and were working their way , by wind and current , some alone , and some in fleets , to milder climes .