ad not only the implied but the
specified conditions of the articles been violated on the part of the ship
in which I served. The usage on board of her was tyrannical; the sick had
been inhumanly neglected; the provisions had been doled out in scanty
allowance; and her cruises were unreasonably protracted. The captain was
the author of these abuses; it was in vain to think that he would either
remedy them, or alter his conduct, which was arbitrary and violent in the
extreme. His prompt reply to all complaints and remonstrances was--the
butt-end of a hand-spike, so convincingly administered as effectually to
silence the aggrieved party.

To whom could we apply for redress? We had left both law and equity on the
other side of the Cape; and unfortunately, with a very few exceptions, our
crew was composed of a parcel of dastardly and mean-spirited wretches,
divided among themselves, and only united in enduring without resistance
the unmitigated tyranny of the captain. It would have been mere madness
for any two or three of the number, unassisted by the rest, to attempt
making a stand against his ill usage. They would only have called down
upon themselves the particular vengeance of this "Lord of the Plank," and
subjected their shipmates to additional hardships.

But, after all, these things could have been endured awhile, had we
entertained the hope of being speedily delivered from them by the due
completion of the terms of our servitude. But what a dismal prospect
awaited us in this quarter! The longevity of Cape Horn whaling voyages is
proverbial, frequently extending over a period of four or five years.

Some long-haired, bare-necked youths, who, forced by the united influences
of a roving spirit and hard times, embark at Nantucket for a pleasure
excursion to the Pacific, and whose anxious mothers provide them with
bottled milk for the occasion, oftentimes return very respectable
middle-aged gentlemen.

The very preparations made for one of these expeditions are enough to
frighten one. As the vessel carries out no cargo, her hold is filled with
provisions for her own consumption. The owners, who officiate as caterers
for the voyage, supply the larder with an abundance of dainties. Delicate
morsels of beef and pork, cut on scientific principles from every part of
the animal, and of all conceivable shapes and sizes, are carefully packed
in salt, and stored away in barrels; affording a never-ending variety in
their diffe