The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1854-06-24

pinnacle, crossed his arms, and glarcd rouiiol
at every soul Of us Gre he spoke.
Now, men, cried he at length, between
his teeth, "all I've got to say is, that you are
mistaken if You think you arc going to get
the upper hand ofmc. | am your captain,
and the law gives me powtrto do what like.
You didn't ship to bully me. Go fo'aru to
your daily, and the first man that hcsitatcs,
or gives me any jaw, I'll shoot him as would
a pigeon"
We tumblcd to the forccastle in body.
and for hours after, the captain walked the
deck biz with his achievement
We had light battling winds for many days
and the temper of the captain grew perfectly
savage. By-and bye came calm. and he
was complete mailman. He stor,ned und
sworc from morning TO night, and ..hazed" us
all, from the cabin boy up to the mate. Oul.
allowance of meat was worse than ever, and
he stopped grog altogether, and put us on half
allowance of water, under prctcncc that he
feared TO run short if the calm lasted. But
when u breeze sprarg up at the expiration of
, four days, ocr allowance remained the same
half meat, half water, no g,os. The sail
orS grew half desperate, and curses both loud
ali deep were banded from mouth to mouth
ana indi>inct mcnarcs uttered.
I Byar1 by il grew whispered in the slip
/ hat the captain had had corp dc-*oitl OF
sun stroke, before leaving Havana AMI that
nc bad drank frccly Of brandy ever since and
was consequently really insane toa certain
eNtent.-Ths would explain his cond ,ct,
and We all were inclined to accept it as the
proper solution: but the captain had certainly
never yet committed any act which would lc-
ga!ly he held proof of insanity: for all that he
/ did, although highly cruel and tyra,ical, was
/ within ;l,e bounds Of that fearful amount of
almost irresponsible power that the law al
! lows to sea captains.
We had been three weeks out. when il was
/ my morning watch on deck. Six bells tscy-
! en- o'clock) had just struck, and was ,nga-
gcd cuing away the line of the log, which
had been hove by order Of the mate, then in
charge Of the deck, when Captain L. UNI
cNpcctcdly came out Of the cabin. ! noticed
| that he had a wild nervous look, for he CLAN
cod around and aloft, just as man might do
when suddenly aroused from dream.
"What'stI the coursc!" he abruptly dcinan
/ dcd Of the man at the wheel.
South cast by east. sir
The captain then stepped up to The binna-
Gle and looked at the compass. Turning
round with an GATH he struck the man a
blow in the mouth that knocked him away
from the wheel. and thundrr,d-
''lon take the spokcs in hand! You know
no moro about steering than your mother
(Sucli were the evil words, for distinctly
remember thtm.)
The poor fellow who was one of Tic best
| holmsm,n in tie ship took hold of the spok.s
again, the blood trickling down his chin, and
muttctd-
II was steering to hair bro ad;h."
whats that you say -
81 say was steering as well as any man
| could, and you're a---tyrant, captain"
The captains face grew black with passion,
and the light foam flew from his lips, as he
screamed
MIR. jackson, clap this fellow in irons !!
No, seize him up-makc \ spread-easfe him !!
! III teach him to toe the mark ~
The mate, jackson, in vain attempted to
soothc the mailman. who compelled his Off
GERS TO 'scizc up the unfortunate sailor
| that is, to lash his wrists to the shrcuds.
with his back bare for punishment. This is
called making a spread eagle | dare not
dilatc on the sckscene that ensucd Suffice
it that the captain with his own hand fog
god the man mast brutally in presence ofall
hands, and not Il soul of us dared to speak.
| That night we all signed n Ground robin"
that is, a paper stating grievance, or petit
ton with the names of the men written in
circle, SO that not ono can be pitched upon as
the Observation-Disclosures to the chief mate
stating that we all felt that our lives were not
safe in the hands of the captain, as he was
| o''iou"iS anu wv hldtc W
take the command of the ship, and place the
captain in confinement. We sent this to Mr..
jackson by one of the boys, and in quarter
Of an hour the mate came forward.
men," said he, edo you know what you
are about? You are in open mutiny--and
you know what the penalty for that is. For
Gods sake let us have no more of this.
Captain l. Is captain and his will is law.
We must all submit to it. Were to do my
duty strictly, should show this" pointing
to the round robin, "to the captain; but
don't want to make matters worse. Let us
60 to port, and then complain as you please.
But for your own sakes-and for my sake
don't mutiny."
We all respected the mate, and his words
made great impression. We consulted to-
gcther, and the prudence of the majority over
come the fierce impulse of the boldcr spirits.
1t was, however, taciuy understood that if
matters grew much worse, We would risk the
dreadful penalty of mutiny by Selling the
captain, for we now considered lie was un-
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