Wild oats sowings, or, The autobiography of an adventurer...

Contents

Preface, . . . . 15

CHAPTER I. — Introduction — Birth — Parentage— Early training — Education — My roving cousins — Early inclination to the sea — Mrs. Barnes — School-boy tricks — The old school system — The new school system — Difference in favor of the latter — Evil tendency of indiscriminate flogging in schools — Seamen's boarding-houses — My inclination to frequent them — Pernicious results — Present condition of the sailor compared with the past — The result of Christian benevolence, 17

CHAPTER II. — Introduction to grammar-school — Rapid progress — Satisfaction of friends — Reveal my inclination for the sea — Opposition — Means to produce a revolution in feelings — Fail — — Compromise — A damper — My mother's determination — Capt. A. — The Swiftsure — Nautical pride — Under way — Delight — Sea-sickness — Tricks upon travelers — Biter bit — W — Cape Cod

Preface

No one undertakes the task of getting up a book without an idea, in the first place, of bettering himself, or herself, pecuniarily; and in the second, place, of conferring the benefit of his experience upon those around, who have not had so extended an acquaintance with the world.

These were the grand motives that impelled the author to the labor of which this work is the result ; and in presenting it to the public, he would simply express the hope that its perusal may serve to gladden the hearts and brighten the hopes of those whose eyes are straining oceanward for the loved one, long absent but still unforgotten, for whose safe return the throne of Heaven is daily importuned. To such as these the pictures of life at sea and in foreign lands are always welcome, and to such this work is the more especially dedicated by

The Authoe.

Boston, May 1857.

OR

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ADVENTURER.

Chapter I

Introduction — Birth — Parentage — Early training — Education— My roving cousins — Early inclination to the sea — Mrs. Barnes — School-boy tricks — The old school system — The new school system — Difference in favor of the latter — Evil tendency of indiscriminate flogging in schools — Seamen's boarding-houses — My inclination to frequent them — Pernicious results — Present condition of the sailor compared with the past — The result of Christian benevolence.

In these clays, when book-writing has become the ordinary occupation of a large proportion of our countrymen, as well as women, it requires no ordinary sacrifice of diffidence in the amateur, to venture even upon the record of an " owek true tale." By far the greatest stumbling-block in his way, is the glowing language, innate in some 5 in which the hero or heroine of the modern novelette is portrayed, and which appears at the present day to be the standard most commonly accepted by the people and aimed at by the author. But this standard will not do for the relator of sober facts of actual life, who is obliged to place ideality beyond his reach, that he may the better follow the course of events in his history.

Truth is stranger than fiction. This, though strictly true, appears to be forgotten. Among other and like sands of gold, it has been voted obsolete ; and the youthful mind, instead of being instructed as well as amused by the recorp of actual

2* occurrences, is left at times to exult, admire, or sigh over the achievements or tribulations of some creation of the scribbler's brain. The consequences may be seen daily in the thousand-and-one false notions of life and human character betrayed by the young of both sexes, on their advent upon the stage of the world, who have made their debut with expectations never to be realized, because in most cases impossible.

The aim in life will correspond with the character and tastes of the individual. Many will desire to become rich, yet very few, comparatively speaking, will succeed ; and not a few of those who reach the goal of their desires, will do so to the ruin of both soul and body ; and " what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Many, again, will aspire to celebrity, fame ; but none of this class may hope to reach the pinnacle to which their ambition spurs them. They may, it is true, follow in the track of their instructors, and enjoy for a brief space the eclat of the same class in which they themselves graduated ; but it will be evanescent as the summer cloud, which dissolves and is lost for ever. Many, again, will become imbued with the spirit of adventure : these, for the most part, become mere rovers, without home, or any settled object in view. They are cosmopolitan ; their home is the world. Thousands of these are lost to their kindred and homes annually, who under a different course of reading and instruction would have remained to gladden the social circle of many an estimable family, who now mourn the absence of a wanderer. How many, infatuated by the daring exploits of pirates and highwaymen, as portrayed by the brilliant pens of the last ten years, have become the inmates of our prisons ! how many have expiated a life of crime upon the gallows ! It is universally admitted, that the first and paramount desire of mankind, in whatever way it is sought, is notoriety, or to become an object of mark to their fellow-men; and it is. equally certain, that all are not alike strong-minded. How easy, then, — and I may say, not inconsistent, when we consider the depravity of human nature, — for the weak-minded youth, upon finding the avenues to distinction closed to him from lack of natural abilities, to turn into that broad and soul-destroying road, where all the gifted, alas ! yes, the gifted and the groveling, are alike competitors.

Many voices have been raised latterly against the evil tendency of the modern novelette, but as yet the tide is unchecked ; and worse than all, the theatres, once the temples of propriety and reason, have lent their aid in the great work of demoralization, by enacting the actions of criminals, carefully bringing forward to the light whatever real, or in most cases imaginary good traits, they possessed, as if in extenuation of the most daring and revolting crimes that ever disgraced the earth. In this country, the rush to witness the performance of such plays as " Jack Sheppard," "Dick Turpin," " Martin the Highwayman," etc., is truly astonishing. Who are they who go to witness these representations? StejW) the doors of our cheap places of amusement. As crowd after crowd of the youth of our land disappear beneath the portals, you will there find the ragged and scantily clad news-boy, and the well-dressed and well- car ecl'-for apprentice, elbowing, jostling, crowding with loafers, blacklegs and drunkards ; and above the mass rises in strange unison the ribald jest and profane oath, indicative of the presence of the debauchee and the ruffian. , Will any one wonder, that such schools and examples as these turn out bad citizens 1 I think they will not. But the subject of wonder is, that people whose eyes are opened to these facts, should remain quiet and suffer them to exist. They are by some, and should be by all, felt as an outrage upon society. In this respect we are behind our neighbors upon the other side of the Atlantic. There the public exhibition of such plays were found to have so pernicious an influence upon the morals of the lower orders, that the public authorities were obliged to forbid their representation; and yet it was carried no farther there than it is here. But a careful inspection of the prisons, and examination of prisoners, instituted by order of the British Government, developed these facts beyond gainsaying. In regard to public exhibitions the law may suffice ; but in that of reading, nothing will avail but parental authority. Books are plentiful and cheap, and the world furnishes bona-fide subjects enough to swell their number to infinity. The only object, then, is to create a desire for solid and useful information: this, when once effected, is seldom lost. History, voyages, and travels, in most cases beguile the youthful mind ; and if parents would take the trouble to explain the difference between a work of veracity and one of fiction, many would be drawn away from the vortex which is ever open to receive its votaries.

There are many men and women moving around us in our e very-day walk in life, whose history, if properly written out, would afford more instruction and amusement, even to the young, than the massive piles of paper and ink which load the counters of me literary depot. The history of one of these persons I am about to portray, hoping that it may be found sufficiently entertaining to repay the reader for the trouble of perusing it ; and if any one should be benefited by the conclusions which they may be enabled to form upon the various subjects of which I shall treat, I shall not consider as useless my efforts to please them.

The whole contents of this work is a narrative of facts which have transpired in the life of the writer, who has undertaken the work by the solicitation of many friends, for the gratification of their laudable curiosity, and the hope that it may remunerate him for the labor of its compilation. While I shall give a detail of stirring adventure, the work will possess some interest in a historical point of view ; as all of the events described, in which the Author participated, have occurred within the last twenty years. Another feature will be the description of men, manners, and customs, as I saw them, in different parts of the world, with the scenery, natural history, and

Wild 6a?s sowings. 21

Incidents ; all of which I shall submit without comment to the judgment of the reader. I shall endeavor to be as concise as the nature of the subjects will admit of; and with this introduction^ relying upon the indulgence of the courteous reader for whatever grammatical or logical errors he may find in the composition of the work, I shall enter at oiice upon its details, hoping that it may servo, to afford instruction, as well as beguile the tedious^ ness of idle hours, too often thrown away upon the novelette* " Train tri* a child in the way he should go, and when he is old HE WILL NOT depart from IT.*' So said Solomon ; and the like has been said by every wise man from time immemorial* It is acted upon by many judicious parents and guardians, who take the trouble to observe and carefully study the dispositions and inclinations of their children. But with the mass it is different : the great difficulty appears to be 111 deciding what is to be the way in which he should go. With the first, the wishes of the parent in regard to the child will be governed by £he knowledge of its character, which must be to a great extent <the creation, under God, of the parents ; while the infant mind <of the child,, under their guiding and fostering influence, may faave all its capacities developed and variously turned into their proper courses. With the last, an overweening desire to have their children considered prodigies of smartness and aptitude lead them to neglect their necessary early training, and the consideration of the great question as to the way in which they are to go, of should go, is of course dropped : the golden moments have passed ; the child has assumed the right of governing himself; and it is soon found that nothing but strong coercive measures will avail to keep him within bounds. It is now that the worst traits of our nature develop themselves and commence their growth, and each succeeding year witnesses a decline in parental authority. Many will yield to persuasion ; but it is not until they verge upon maturity, and consequently have been the occasion of much needless anxiety, and too often of suffering, to fond parents.

The subject of this narrative was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, — that most staid and moral of American cities, whose fame has gone forth to the uttermost bounds of the earth, where enterprize, intelligence, and industry are appreciated, — upon the first day of September, 1818, of a good and highly respectable family, Among my earliest recollections, and inseparably connected with them, is the old wooden church which whilom stood at the corner of Stillman and Salem-streets, where I first heard the word of God preached by the venerable Dr. Wayland, the late President of Brown University. There I also attended Sabbath-school and received my first religious instruction ; and how often in after-life has my mind reverted to the kindly admonitions and religious precepts which were there instilled into it by the kind and faithful servants of God! — precepts which, though sown by the wayside, where the weeds sprang up and choked them for a season, were destined at last, through his mercy, to produce the fruits of righteousness, to his honor and glory.

The youngest of five children, I was the petted, and I may almost say "idolized" object of our family circle, whose utmost care seems to have been to gratify my every wish, without any consideration as to its propriety. This course, continued in until I had attained my sixth year, at which time my father died, found me a wayward ; and spoiled child. Bent upon having my own way in everything, at this age I experienced much sickness, which was undoubtedly the reason of much of the neglect of my early training 5 and my dear mother, who immediately after the death of her husband broke up housekeeping and went out to board, taking me with her, was so occupied with her own bereavements, that much of the care of me devolved upon an invalid aunt of mine, a sister of my mother, who, although a very estimable lady, possessed the same overweening fondness for me; the consequence was, that I did not improve under her tuition.

I had early learned to read, and the condition of my health being such as to keep me confined within doors, and never taking much pleasure in toys, my mind naturally turned to books. Nature had done much in bestowing upon me a good understanding and a retentive memory, and I could at an early age appreciate and understand readily the writings upon most subjects which fell in my way. Added to this, at my aunt's I frequently saw two young gentlemen, distant relatives of our family, who were attached to the United States Navy. In their company I took much delight; and I often laugh, when I think of my childish wonder at the strange stories which they would tell of what they had seen upon the ocean and in foreign lands ; and at my childish glee, not unmixed with tertor, at their hoarse imitations of the commands usually given upon shipboard, and of the various calls of the boatswains and their mates. These, added* to their descriptions of the wealth of foreign countries, backed by a profuse display of gold and silver, which, according to their assertion, was lightly won, irrevocably fixed in my mind the determination to be a sailor. -• My course of reading, or rather the larger part of it,*which, up to the advent of these roving cousins of mine, had been geography and history, of which I had been very fond, now took (though nearly allied to the two former) a new direction. Books of voyages and travels, of whatever kind, whether of fact or fiction, were eagerly sought after and read with avidity; and those writings which treated of their subjects in the most marvelous light, were invariably prized the most. Having a relative who kept a large bookstore in the city, I had no difficulty in procuring whatever I wanted in that line, as all my friends ever gave me every encouragement in whatever pertained to the acquisition of knowledge.

At eight years of age, my health having become restored, I was sent to school. This, which was of the primary order, was kept by a Mrs, Barnes. The building stood upon the site now occupied by the church of the Eev. B. Stow, in Salem-street, or rather in the court leading from Salem-street, the name of which I cannot now recall to memory. Mrs. Barnes was an austere woman and a rigid disciplinarian, as I soon found to my cost. Just turned loose from the kindly atmosphere of a home, where I had been accustomed to naught but gentle words and the smiles of affection from infancy, it will not be wondered at that the cold, and as I thought unfeeling, glances of the school-mistress sent a chill through every vein in my body. Everything appeared strange and even repulsive. My temper was not bad, but there was a natural buoyancy, almost amounting to volatility, about me, which was ever seeking for some object to prey upon. This my new preceptress was not slow in discovering ; and as a natural consequence, after having been twice forgiven, I received a tremendous Whipping, for making such uncouth faces at the school-mistress behind her back as set the whole school in a roar, in spite of all their terrors of the birchj which there outstripped even knowledge in its thrift. Such was my first introduction to King Solomon's method of instilling instruction into the hide (I had almost said mind) of the refractory. This was my first * day at school. I returned from it with my back striped like the Sides of a hyena.

I did not fret much at my disgrace, after the immediate smarting of the flagellation had subsided, as I had an indistinct notion that I deserved the punishment; but my dear mother was much distressed, and had I not remonstrated against it, she would have kept me from school altogether. A note of gentle remonstrance from my parent produced a sort of compromise between Mrs. Brown and myself, in which the promise of sundry (visionary as they afterwards proved) presents were to exchange ownership, thus inducing me to promise amendment, and I was installed into a seat conspicuously placed, where from under my contracted brow I could clearly discern the Argus eyes of my instructress continually directed. During that and the three succeeding days my behavior was all that the lady could have wished ; but as yet no lesson had been assigned me. The object seemed to be, that I was to get an idea of the difference between home and a public-school into my head, and to understand its attendant pains and penalties. With the remark that I was a good boy, on the fifth day of my term I was placed in a class and commanded to get a lesson. But, unfortunately for me, the form upon which I was seated breaking down, although truly without any agency of mine in producing the disaster, led me to wish that I had been in Jericho. The established order of the school had been violated ; and I, though innocent of any wrong whatever, was marched out into the centre of the schoolroom, where, in spite of my most solemn protestations of innocence and promises to behave myself, I received flogging number two ; which exceeded the first in this respect, that the former was administered in birch, and the latter with a heavy rattan. I did not recover from its effects for a week. I made no complaints, not even to my mother or aunt; but, young as I was, I understood perfectly well the injustice which had been done me, and secretly vowed to revenge myself by doing all the mischief I could. But the season when I joined the school being near the end of the term, prevented my playing any tricks for a time.

Upon examining me in regard to my acquirements, she pronounced me sufficiently versed in the rudiments to enter one of the grammar-schools, and I left her charge, my last act being to enter the school-house through one of the windows, (which I did from the shoulders of another boy,) and breaking every rattan and ferule in the room, after tearing up two shawls and a hood which I found behind the rostrum. I never had another chance to annoy her myself; but a larger boy, at my instigation, ran her down as she was crossing Salem, at its intersection with Prince-street, in the following winter. In those days the boys frequently made the public streets their coasting-ground. The accident resulted, I am happy to say, in only frightening the lady a little.

I do not relate those incidents of boyish mischief from any feeling of exultation, but rather to show by what untoward circumstances a youthful mind may be led astray, and to seek its own pleasure and revenge, contrary to the rules of government established by the pedagogue. The entire school system has changed, and happily, too. Thirty, and even twenty years ago, the schoolmasters and mistresses were as imperious in asserting their prerogative to govern the children committed to their charge, as are the despots of the world in dictating to their meanest subjects ; and in this they were upheld by public authority. Now that the system is more under the supervision of the parents of the children who are being instructed, its effects are visible in the decline of the soul-hardening flogging system, and the substitution of gentle admonition and encouragement. There are many, it is true, who cannot be reached even by this course ; but they may never be bettered by the floggings, however severe, which they may receive, the tendency of which will only be to bring out and foster the growth of all the worst features of our nature.

As I was too young to enter the grammar-school, — the law specifying that none under ten years of age should be admitted to their privileges, — I entered the school of the North Square District. This was likewise a primary establishment. Here, although I learned nothing from my studies, they being merely rudimental, I read a great many books ; and the school-house being very near a number of boarding-houses kept for the accommodation of seafaring men, I had every opportunity for indulging my penchant for listening to their "yarns," as they in nautical phraseology termed them. With them I also frequently visited the wharves, going on board of many of the vessels and climbing into their rigging, but as yet keeping in close proximity to the deck. These excursions, of course, were utterly unknown to my mother, who, although I often expressed to her my admiration for everything which pertained to ships and sailors, never for a moment dreamed that I should ever wish to try the hard and perilous life of those who "go down to the sea in ships, and do business upon the great waters."

It may readily be supposed that my intercourse with thesa people did not improve my morals. The sympathies of the benevolent had not been extended as yet to the moral condition of the sailor; but thank heaven, a brighter day has dawned, and already its cheering beams are felt and appreciated. No longer looked upon as outcasts, our gallant tars, under the guiding influence of Christian benevolence and instruction, have risen to a position in society, whose influence tends in itself to keep alive the spirit of improvement and progress. May the tide still roll on, for it is written, " the abundance of the seas shall be his."

Chapter II

Introduction to grammar school — Rapid progress — Satisfaction of friends — Reveal my inclination for the sea — Opposition — Means to produce a revolution in feelings — Fail — Compromise — A damper — My mother's determination — Capt. A. — TheSwiftsure — Nautical pride — Under way

— Delight — Sea-sickness — Tricks upon travelers — Biter bit — W

— Cape Cod — New scenery — Smell a rat — Capt. A.'s advice — Introduction to my new friends — Mrs. H. — Mrs. R. — Miss P. — Miss N. — Instructions — Duties — My new designation — My first regrets— Too late to repent — Determine to run away.

My pursuit of pleasure was at length interrupted, in this direction, by my entering the Hancock School, in Hanoverstreet, in which I commenced my studies in grammar and arithmetic. In these I made rapid progress, to the great satisfaction of my teachers and friends, who were profuse in their encomiums at my steady advancement. I continued at school for the greater part of three years, during which time I acquired what is usually considered a good English education ;

WILD OATS SOWINGS.

was well read, even remarkably so for a boy of my age, upon most subjects; and, as is generally the case with school-boys, imbibed a notion that I was perfectly qualified to commence life upon my own account. It was about this time that I first spoke to my mother of my inclination for a life upon the ocean. As may well be supposed, my mother was at once surprised and frightened. She pictured in saddened tones the dangers and hardships of those who sought a livelihood upon the great deep, and deprecated strongly my intercourse with the sailors, an account of which I gave her. She perceived that the mania had taken a firm hold of me, and had too much good sense to deny my wishes altogether ; therefore in conclusion I was told, that if after I had thought the matter over well, and had got a little older, I still continued in the same mind, she would try to gratify me. This concession was not made without many tears. She bade me remember that I was her only son, (my brother having died some time before my father,) and that I was the sole comfort she had, who she hoped was destined to grow up and be her support through life. How often have I since regretted that I had not acceded to her wishes ! But childhood, and even youth, is most often selfish, for the reason that they cannot understand the depth of a mother's affection for her offspring. Everything was now brought to bear upon me which was calculated in the least to overthrow my determination. My sisters united their efforts to those of my mother. Accounts of awful shipwrecks, pirates, and of the sufferings of shipwrecked seamen, which they put into my hands and strongly commented upon, instead of producing the desired effect, only served to confirm me in the course which I had laid out for myself. I remember that there was one thing which they dwelt strongly upon, which for a little time acted as a slight damper upon my aspirations ; this was, their account of the punishment of seamen by flogging with the " cat-o'-nine-tails," which they were certain I would encounter frequently ; but the effect of this wore off, upon some of my nautical friends

WIID OATS SOWINGS. 29

assuring me that the " cat " was used only upon the refractory, and that a well-behaved man or boy was seldom punished.

Thus everything conspiring to confirm me in my hobby, my mother determined to send me a short trip upon the water, in hopes that the usual sea-sickness attendant upon a first seavoyage would have the effect which she desired. Accordingly, the necessary preparations having been made, and the day having arrived, after a leave-taking which was purposely made very affecting, I was confided to the charge of Capt.

A d, of the good schooner Swiftsure, which ran as a packet

between B and W , upon Gape Cod, where I was to

be consigned to the charge of a friend of my mother, a Mr, H k, who had already received special directions concerning me. Many were the tears which were shed on both sides, for this was the first parting from my dear mother and sisters, and I almost repented that I had ever wished to leave my home. But the glowing accounts which I had read and heard of a life upon the ocean wave passed in rapid succession before my mental vision, and I tore myself away, and still sobbing, ran by the side of my conductor, who with long strides led the way to the dock, where his trim craft was moored ready for sea.

Captain A was an old and weather-beaten sailor of the

old school, of a rather rough appearance as regarded his exterior, but of a kindly nature, and in cheering tones he sought to draw my mind from the thoughts of home, which still distressed me. " So, boy, you wish to be a sailor, do ye ? Well, it's no bad wish neither, though I say it. True, it's hard to part from home and friends, but what then ? They '11 be so much the more glad to see ye when ye return. Ye '11 take a trip with me down to the Cape. But mind, boy, that will not be going to sea, by a long shot ; no, that will only be a smell of the salt water for the benefit of your health, as 'twere ; ye '11 find old ocean a different affair."