, 1871-03-30
Dessition at Sea--An Adventure Of Twen-
~ Years Ago.

~ Years Ago.
We left New BE lford in the year 1851
in The good ship Mary and sMa.tha for "a
whaling cruise on the nlrrh ives, coast OF
America. Our crew consisted If eighteen
Young fellows from the States of Il lode
Island ana Mlssachuxetls-s me of th m
Wild young fellnws wan la,! siolaftd some
OF the rict laws of ihnss puri'aniral
States, aud imag intd cruise would i'm
prove thir neral standing. There are
'lways indi, ilusls. who may be termed
agents. proving about The interior towns
in the interest of Ihr WhIlers, aud thry
are ready az all times TO aJvance moury
to those hes desire it 10 enable them to
reach the whaling potts, where, as soon
as they arrive the, ARE Slipped tn board
some waiting vess'l, and tie dis ,iiec;rd
nevice, b fpie he has liud time to reflect
on ille step be has TAX n, is far at sea,
wi ee he has the op, urtnni.y yaf as ingup
his accounts wi Ii anything puI Ilrasure 0
himself, aud 6 est.y to the amusement If
III more rxrerirn-'d sIipmat,s. Aud so
1t is that many you g men leave Il5pir
friends and h.mes never 10 re,u,n. Some
are buried beneath the blue waves sill
very foam; hers on the drsula,r islaids
along the coast, with not even stone 10
mark th'-ir fioal resting place.
Z AT er the usual amount If seasicknrSs
and 81, hi z for the good things we bad
left b hind, we settled down 10 hard tack
ahd 20 hard abuse, for hr officers srelned
Oh The ert 10 take advantage of every
occasion aud mske our lives cn shipboarG
as mise bic as possible; yet we Sour be>
came accustomed to'ii and supposed it all
belonged to the profession. t
Alter rough passage of six months
We arrived oil the ast OF Alaska, aud IL
a sholt time look several whae, Every
thing bid fair for successful cruise Yet
diseont,nt and lrumAling Was the oadef
of the day and night, and, Ia the Iarguf ge
Of the forccastle, the vessel Was a he'll
ahoat.
One. Of the crew had en- to the. y ines
OF California, and he tod Us marvellous
stories ab' ut the richness of the diggines,
and OF the fabulous adventures of 40.
We soon ught the gold fever, and
wishr'i the ship might pu: lnto.s me pprr
OF Oregon pi CaiIrr'i.. British Columbia
AMI Washington Territory wsre MT
med th,n), tha we might leave h,r
and try our TO tunes in the 8 Ian Of sctd."
Many ''wa ch below" was nsau.ed in
framIng plaus 10 ach tie MINIS, and
wher r'gat bells rnck tn. t.lit was as
IN ca in need # sleep as the relieved.
Tim. did not ften the harsh conduct of
our officers.
pu'iug hsavy gale of wind we car
ried away some OF our ruddfr fasteniitgs,
audswe bore away for Silka to rrpair dam
ages and rrfit but, unfortunately, when
ia sight Of the harbor the wind Shifted
aud blew h irsitane and drove tie ship
to-sea. When it aLated we were about
three hundred niles from sand. The
weather b Ing fnr for several days onr
carpenter refair, the iuaflsr, and the
C, c,piain c4n,luded 10 crri.e the SEASON
ouu. What was 10 b. done now ; Sever
of us had made i'll ready to leave tue ship
at Stka; hut hrrr We wrIe to crmis+. six
mouths more and then go to thr Sandwich
Islands to refii. What was to b.. done
Six mon hs mole OF his abuse would be
WORSE than dea h; to mutiny wunld be
death by law to desert the ship Ahre..,
hundred mics at sea was not inOught Of
then. 4 - rA = e
One Of our loat-steerers finally pro-
posrd 10 t.ke lolf at i.ht and have
he ship. aud sirer for Sitka, or any pl .re
on the American coast, and tleA cosst
down To- Calf rnia. This ,la1 was secret
y broachrd TO I'll the discontented onr''s
and SIX OF us, in,ludi,g tie boat s'errer,
'neluded tn layr the sh p ON the tirSi
.l|poribnitv, which sooir off red. Five of
wrie Ia one watch, aud The bosi-s err-
, 0as officer OF snOthrr He ttfrc;e ed an
Exchange with oal officer, aud we were al
'toge'h'r. Everything was soon sr,aIgd.
and bread and 20 and extra boat-kegs
tilrd with wnt.r we're 5, creted rrady fr,
use. On the tlird night af er We h d
nadr the Arrangement We had tL,' middle
watch on derk 1t " as a heau.i'ul ight
-Sn clear. 20 I'm, 81 Still. E erythng
appeared sl'r p ns-Ihe. sea- the ship ana
al! on buaid. vs. nufeelres. We got our
provisio AID walter int1 the bot and
tonk tIie, bi.nacr- compass. Ne cut all
the her Luat H., aud CREASED the
6l' cks aud tackles that l.tld the "ne "
had TAX n. low re- away. unh""kr" and
drited from II ship, without disturbing
any one Oh board.