James Fenimore Cooper Ned Myers

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Well-meaning men often do quite as much harm, in this world, as the
evil-disposed. Philanthropists of this school should not forget, that, if
colour is no sufficient reason why a man should be always wrong, it is no
sufficient reason why he should be always right.
The lawsuit drove me to sea, again, in a very short time. Finding no better
berth, and feeling very savage at the blindness of justice, I shipped before
the mast, in the Superior, an Indiaman, of quite eight hundred tons, bound to
Canton. This was the pleasantest voyage I ever made to sea, in a merchantman,
so far as the weather, and, I may say, usage, were concerned. We lost our
top-gallant-masts, homeward bound; but this was the only accident that
occurred. The ship was gone nine months; the passage from Whampao to the capes
having been made in ninety-four days. When we got in, the owners had failed,
and there was no money forthcoming, at the moment. To remain, and libel the
ship, was dull business; so, leaving a power of attorney behind me, I went on
board a schooner, called the Sophia, bound to Vera Cruz, as foremast Jack.
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The Sophia was a clipper; and made the run out in a few days. We went into
Vera Cruz; but found it nearly deserted. Our cargo went ashore a little
irregularly; sometimes by day, and sometimes by night; being assorted, and
suited to all classes of customers. As soon as ready, we sailed for
Philadelphia, again; where we arrived, after an absence of only two months.
I now got my wages for the Canton voyage; but they lasted me only a
fortnight! It was necessary to go to sea, again; and I went on board the
Caledonia; once more bound to Canton. This voyage lasted eleven months; but,
like most China voyages, produced no event of importance. We lost our
top-gallant-masts, this time, too; but that is nothing unusual, off Good Hope.
I can say but little, in favour of the ship, or the treatment.
On getting back to Philadelphia, the money went in the old way. I
occasionally walked round to see my good religious friends, with whom I had
once lived, but they ceased to have any great influence over my conduct. As
soon as necessary, I shipped in the Delaware, a vessel bound to Savannah and
Liverpool. Southern fashion, I ran from this vessel in Savannah, owing her
nothing, however, but was obliged to leave my protection behind, as it was in
the captain's hands. I cannot give any reason but caprice for quitting this
ship. The usage was excellent, and the wages high; yet run I did. As long as
the Delaware remained in port, I kept stowed away; but, as soon as she sailed,
I came out into the world, and walked about the wharves as big as an owner.
I now went on board a ship called the Tobacco Plant, bound to Liverpool and
Philadelphia, for two dollars a month less wages, worse treatment, and no
grog. So much for following the fashion. The voyage produced nothing to be
mentioned.
On my return to Philadelphia, I resolved to shift my ground, and try a new
tack. I was now thirty-four, and began to give up all thoughts of getting a
lift in my profession. I had got so many stern-boards on me, every time I was
going ahead, and was so completely alone in the world, that I had become
indifferent, and had made up my mind to take things as they offered. As for
money, my rule had come to be, to spend it as I got it, and go to sea for
more. "If I tumbled overboard," I said to myself, "there is none to cry over
me;" therefore let things jog on their own course. All the disposition to
morality that had been aroused within me, at Philadelphia, was completely
gone, and I thought as little of church and of religion, as ever. It is true I
had bought a Bible on board the Superior, and I was in the practice of reading
in it, from time to time, though it was only the narratives, such as those of
Sampson and Goliah, that formed any interest for me. The history of Jonah and
the whale, I read at least twenty times. I cannot remember that the morality,
or thought, or devotion of a single passage ever struck me on these occasions.
In word, I read this sacred book for amusement, and not for light.
I now wanted change, and began to think of going back to the navy, by way of
novelty. I had been round the world once, had been to Canton five times,
doubling the Cape, round the Horn twice, to Batavia once, the West-Indies, on
the Spanish main, and had crossed the Atlantic so often, that I thought I knew
all the mile-stones. I had seen but little of the Mediterranean, and fancied a
man-of-war's cruise would show me those seas. Most of the Tobacco Plants had
shipped in Philadelphia, and I determined to go with them, to go in the navy.
There is a fashion in all things, and just then it was the fashion to enter in
the service.
I was shipped by Lieutenant M'Kean, now Commander M'Kean, a grandson of the
old Governor of Pennsylvania, as they tell me. All hands of us were sent on
board the Cyane, an English prize twenty-gun ship, where we remained about six
weeks. A draft was then made, and more than a hundred of us were sent round to
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Norfolk, in a sloop, to join the Delaware, 80, then fitting out for the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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