rs that rats will
desert a sinking ship. We often remarked that a rat had not been seen
on the Grenfalls during the voyage. I must say the rodents made a very
close calculation, if that was the reason for at some time quitting
their cosy quarters. My first act in port was to tie a rope around my
wet blankets and lower them into the water. By swashing them up and down
for awhile, I got considerable of the mud removed. Hanging in the hot
sun, they became dry by evening. So I enjoyed a good night's sleep on
deck. It was quite a contrast from what I had been doing for weeks
past--namely, getting into a soaking wet bed with all my clothes on,
dripping with water, and the sea dropping on me in small instalments
through the leaky decks.

Our worthy captain was an entirely different man from what he was at sea
in the Cape Horn regions. Warm weather, with no danger to be feared,
made quite an improvement in his personal appearance. He was also more
self-important and domineering. The two mates and he were small men,
about five feet two inches in height. The way in which they murdered
the Queen's English was something simply terrible. "Mike, 'ow's 'er
'ead?" was the question often asked at the wheel when they wished to
know the point of the compass I was steering, so as to enter it in the
log-book. The disabled condition of the brig had been reported to the
English consul. He appointed three ship captains to "survey" our vessel,
and report whether it was seaworthy or not. They came on board and
examined everything. We, the sailors, took our knives and showed them
how rotten the remaining bulwarks were, how the decks leaked; in fact,
we did all we could to get the old tub condemned. It was estimated that
one hundred tons of guano had been dumped overboard; however, nothing
was said about the quantity of water that went with it. The captains
looked very wise, but said nothing. Finally, they got into their boats
and returned to shore. My shipmates and myself were in great hope that
the vessel would be condemned as unseaworthy. That meant our release and
three months' extra pay on account of being discharged in a foreign
port. Greatly to our disgust, the report was briefly: "The brig
Grenfalls, with necessary repairs, is fit to continue the voyage."

In a few days we hoisted anchor and sailed up to a small island close to
the city. After considerable trouble we got the old tub fastened to a
small dock. Then we were allowed time to d