et the germ of piety was implanted in the sailor's heart. His religion
was simple, but sincere. Without making professions, he believed in the
being of a wise and merciful Creator; he believed in a system of future
rewards and punishments; he read his Bible, a book which was always
found in a sailor's chest, pinned his faith upon the Gospels, and
treasured up the precepts of our Saviour; he believed that though his
sins were many, his manifold temptations would also be remembered. He
manifested but little fear of death, relying firmly on the MERCY of the
Almighty.

My description of the uninterrupted labors of the crew on board the
Clarissa may induce the inquiry how the ship's company could do with so
little sleep, and even if a sailor could catch a cat-nap occasionally in
his watch, what must become of the officers, who are supposed to be wide
awake and vigilant during the hours they remain on deck?

I can only say, that on board the Clarissa there was an exception to
this very excellent rule. Captain Page, like other shipmasters of the
past, perhaps also of the present day, although bearing the reputation
of a good shipmaster, seldom troubled himself about ship's duty in
the night time. He trusted to his officers, who were worthy men and
experienced sailors. Between eight and nine o'clock he turned in, and
was seldom seen again until seven bells, or half past seven o'clock in
the morning. After he left the deck, the officer of the watch, wrapped
in his pea-jacket, measured his length on the weather hencoop, and soon
gave unimpeachable evidence of enjoying a comfortable nap. The remainder
of the watch, emulating the noble example of the officer, selected the
softest planks on the deck, threw themselves, nothing loath, into a
horizontal position, and in a few minutes were transported into the land
of forgetfulness.

The helmsman only, of all the ship's company, was awake, to watch the
wind and look out for squalls; and he, perhaps, was nodding at his post,
while the brig was moving through the water, her head pointing by turns
in every direction but the right one. If the wind veered or hauled, the
yard remained without any corresponding change in their position. If
more sail could be set to advantage, it was seldom done until the sun's
purple rays illumined the eastern horizon, when every man in the watch
was aroused, and a great stir was made on the deck. When the captain
came up the companion-way, every sail was pr