The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-25

me it was fearful combination OF tossing,
heaving, darkness and strangeness. The men
were pulling in concert at fold after fold OF
wet, tapping sail, bringing it atop the yard
In this work was useless and an mcun'
brance. simply chung, A sailor perceivins
my general inefaciency and fear told me to
go on deck. As I seemed under everybodys
orders did so. Here a foe, which for some
hours had been trying to throw off or delude
myself with the idea that it was not the
enemy I suspected. overcame me-sea-slck-
ness. / laid myself upon the deck On me
poured the rain and over me tramped the
heavy boots Of the noisy tars as they swayed
away at brace and clew line The deck be-
came pond as wave on wave sent from It's
crest their cards on board in the form OF
buckets or barrels of water dashed over tho
bulwarks. rolled into the lee scuppers A
voice bawled into my ear, care you sick?' L
was feebly affirmative. $50 below" was the
order. Below I went, and tumbled thank
fully into berth alongside of another sick
''greenhorn."
1t seemed but few moments afterward-
but it was morning, for to sailor at sea
morning comes very early-I was 'yanked"
out of my berth by strong hand and hidden
to dress myself and turn to. This gentle
man was the second mate. He swore at me,
of course. Indeed, profanity seemed to ac-
cumulate in these gentlemen's mouths If they
remained long silent. so that its discharge
was the first necessity ere giving utterance
to other thought He said he had come to
cure my sea-sickness. He said this with
sardOnic grin. pulled on my wet clothes
and staggered on deck. The cloud of yes
terday's canvas had disappeared, but a
single sail was set, thu bare mastS and yards
were rising and falling against background
of stormy sky, the ocean was tunbling
mass of gray-hued water, the storm music
was playing ~on the ships rigging. Weak,
faint and trembling, and / may add tum-
bling about, my feet having as yet learned
no sea grip Of the deck, my present master
put a ''chain hook" in my hands AMI bid me
assist the gang in dragging along section
after section of the heavy iron cable, pre-
paratory to its final storage in the run, :"
where it would rest until we reached San
Francisco.
The mode of cure seemed rough. 1t seemed
also efficacious. Misery" was no name for
it during the first hours I so worked.
Yet little by little the agony worked off, and
by nightfall I could relish the quart of hot
water, colored with something called tea and
served us sweetened with molasses. Had !
been nursed as passenger L should probably
have remained sick q week.
Yes, my dear boy, this is the sea, the sea,
the deep blue sea outside the fascinating
maritime novel. This is the sea without its
gloves, for the young man who is weary OF
the home monotony of feather bed, room
to himself, hot rolls and prime coffee for
breakfast, and a mother to grumble at be-
cause she hasn't furnished just the kind of
pie you like This, my good woman, is the
taste of life possibly in store for that son of
yours whom you have nursed and reared so
tenderly, and possibly whose every caprice
you have humored, until ne has come to
regard you as a cross between an upper SER
want and a governess. Possibly month of
the experience above given might be good
for him. 1 remember hearing one of
my youthful chuns on that ship say,
during a terrific gale off Cape Horn,
when q ton or two of greenish
water was coming on board every few min
utes, smashing barrels, boxes and ribs:
'Jimminy! Don't wish 1 was in our old
woodshed home! Used to think it mighty
hard to have to bring in wood and water and
do such like chores after coming home from
school. Jimminyl Wouldn't I be glad to
do them nowp PRENTICE MILFORD.