, with the wind abaft the beam, blowing
a strong breeze, we were carrying a main-topmast studding sail, the
boatswain very properly undertook to get up a preventer-brace on the
weather main yard-arm. A rope was procured, which had already been
considerably worn, and the boatswain expressed some apprehension that it
was hardly strong enough for the service required. "O," said Jonas in
an off-hand, decided manner, "it will hold on until it breaks; and if it
was ever so strong it could do no more."

The boatswain appeared favorably struck with the unanswerable logic
embraced in the remark, and made no further objection to the rope.

On this voyage I had one source of pleasure, of an elevated character,
which was denied to the rest of my shipmates. This was my attachment to
books. Before I left New Orleans, I purchased a variety of second-hand
volumes; a miscellaneous collection, which enabled me to pass many
pleasant hours on our passage to Havre, and at the same time lay in a
stock of information which might prove of great value at a future day.

In books I found biographies of good men, whose example fortified my
mind against the temptations to vice and immorality, which beset the
sailor on every side. They furnished me with an interesting occupation
in an idle hour, acted as a solace for disappointment, and a faithful
friend and consoler in anxiety and trouble; inspired me with a feeling
of emulation, and bade me look forward with hope. Many is the hour when,
after a hard day's work, or an exciting scene of peril or suffering,
by the dim light of a tallow candle, or a lamp manufactured by my own
hands, while others were lamenting their hard fate, or pouring out their
indignation in unavailing grumblings, I have, while poring over a book,
lost all sense of unhappiness, and been transported far away to other
and happier scenes; sometimes exploring with Barrow the inhospitable
wastes of Africa; accompanying Christian on his journey to the Celestial
City; sympathizing with the good Vicar of Wakefield in his domestic
misfortunes; sharing the disquietudes of Rasselas in the "Happy Valley;"
tracing, with almost breathless interest, the career of some ancient
hero whom Plutarch has immortalized, or lingering over the thrilling
adventures and perils of "Sindbad the Sailor."

A sailor before the mast, as well as the inmates of the cabin, has many
hours on every voyage, which may be and should be, devoted to reading
and study.