Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1854-06-15

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and for hours after The captain walked the
deck big with his achievement
We had light battling winds for many
days, and the temper Of the captain grew
savage. By-and-bye came the calm, end
he was complete madman. He s,ormed
and swore from morning till night, and
i"hazed" us all, from the cabin boy up 10
the mate Our allowance Of meat was
worse than ever, and he stopped grog ALTO
ge.her, and pu, US on half allowance of
waller, under pretence that he feared TO run
| short if the calm lasted. But when breeze
sprang up a, The expiration of four days, our
allowance remained the same-half meat,
half water, no grng The sailors grew
balf desperate, and curses both loud and
deep were banded from mouth to mouth,
and ndislinct menaces mut,ered.
By.and-bye il-was whispered in the ship
tha, The captain bad had 'coup-de soleH,
or sun stroke, before leaving Havana, and
tha, he had drank freely of brandy ever
since, and was consequently really insane
TO certain extent. This would explain
his conduct, and we all were inclined to
accep, il as the proper solution +; bu, the
captain had certainly never yet committed
any &C, which would legally be held proof
of insanity for all that he did, although
highly cruel and tyrannical, was within
The bounds Of that fearful amount of al
mos, irresponsible power that lhe law al
lows 10 sea captains.
We had bsen three weeks oUt when il
was my morning wa,chf on deck Six
bells (seven o'clock) had just struck, and
was engaged coiling away the line Of the
log, which bad been hove by order of the
mate, then in charge of the deck, when
Captain l. une xpeciedly came out
of lhe cabin. noticed that he had wild
nervous look, for he glanced around and a.
loft, jus, as a man mig ght do when suddenly
aroused from dream.
"What's the course - he abrub.ly de-
manded Of the man at the wheel.
"S0uTiI EAST ty east, sir.
The captain then stepped up TO the bin
nice and looked at the compass. Turning
round with an oath, he struck the man
blow in the mouth that knocked him away
from The heel, and Numbered
You take the smokes in hand! You
know no more about steering than your
mother -
(Such were the exact words, for ] dis
tinctlv remember them.)
The poor fellow who was one ofthe best
helsmen in the ship took hold Of the spokes
again, The blood lrickling down his chin, and
mulered-
81 was steering to hairs s-bresdlh."
"What's that you say ;"
81 say wss steering as we'll as any man
The captains face grew black with pas.
sion, and the light foam flew from his lips,
as he screamed
"Mr. Jackson, clap this fellow in irons
No seize him up-make a spread-eagle of
him I'Il teach him to toe The mark !"
The mate, Jackson. IN vain attempted to
sooth the mailman, who compelled his Of
ficer 10 '.seize up" The unfortunate sailor
that is, TO lash bis wrists to the shrouds.
with his back bare for punishment. This
is called making "spread eagle" dare not
dlate on the slckening scene that ensued
Suffice it that the captain with his own
hand Aogged the man most brulally in pre-
sence of all hands, and not soul of US
dared to speak.
Thai night we oil signed "round robin,'
that is, paper stating grievance, or Fe-
lition, with the names of The men written ir
circle, that not one can be pitched upor
as The ring ngleader-addressed to the chic
mate, stating that we all felt tha, our live!
were not safe in The hands Of the captain, a.
he was obviously insane, and requesting tht
mate 10 take the command of the ship, ant
place tbe captain in confinement. We sen
this to Mr.. Jacks son by one of the boys
and in quarter of an hour the mate came
forward.
"Men," said he, edo you know what yo'
are about? You are in open mu,iny-an'
you know what The penalty for tha. is
For Gods sake let US have no more of This
Captain LIS captain, and his will j
law. We must all submit TO it. Were l.
do my duty strictly, should show this,
pointing to the round-robin, ''lo The captain
but dom. want 10 make matters worse
Let US get 10 port, and then complain o
! y ou please. Blu, for your own sakes-an
e for my sake-donI muliny.'
: We all respected the male, and his word
g made grea. impression. We consulted tc
a a gelher, and the prudence Of the major,
n overcame the fierce impulse of the bolds
# spirits. il was, however, taci.ly unders.oo,
}, iha! if matters grew much worse, we wonl
y tThe ssmorning watch'' is from four A. NJ
IS eight, A. M. The first night watch is from eig
is P. NJ TO twelve P NJ The middle watch
n from twelve P. NJ. to four A. M. ''Bells'' a
st struck every half hour. thus, when eight bel