CHAPTER LXVI.
FUN IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
After the race (our man-of-war Derby) we had many days fine weather,during which we continued running before the Trades toward the north.Exhilarated by the thought of being homeward-bound, many of the seamenbecame joyous, and the discipline of the ship, if anything, became alittle relaxed. Many pastimes served to while away the _Dog-Watches_ inparticular. These _Dog-Watches_ (embracing two hours in the early partof the evening) form the only authorised play-time for the crews ofmost ships at sea.
Among other diversions at present licensed by authority in theNeversink, were those of single-stick, sparring, hammer-and-anvil, andhead-bumping. All these were under the direct patronage of the Captain,otherwise--seeing the consequences they sometimes led to--they wouldundoubtedly have been strictly prohibited. It is a curious coincidence,that when a navy captain does not happen to be an admirer of the_Fistiana_ his crew seldom amuse themselves in that way.
_Single-stick_, as every one knows, is a delightful pastime, whichconsists in two men standing a few feet apart, and rapping each otherover the head with long poles. There is a good deal of fun in it, solong as you are not hit; but a hit--in the judgment of discreetpersons--spoils the sport completely. When this pastime is practiced byconnoisseurs ashore, they wear heavy, wired helmets, to break the forceof the blows. But the only helmets of our tars were those with whichnature had furnished them. They played with great gun-rammers.
_Sparring_ consists in playing single-stick with bone poles instead ofwooden ones. Two men stand apart, and pommel each other with theirfists (a hard bunch of knuckles permanently attached to the arms, andmade globular, or extended into a palm, at the pleasure of theproprietor), till one of them, finding himself sufficiently thrashed,cries _enough_.
_Hammer-and-anvil_ is thus practised by amateurs: Patient No. 1 gets onall-fours, and stays so; while patient No. 2 is taken up by his armsand legs, and his base is swung against the base of patient No. 1, tillpatient No. 1, with the force of the final blow, is sent flying alongthe deck.
_Head-bumping_, as patronised by Captain Claret, consists in twonegroes (whites will not answer) butting at each other like rams. Thispastime was an especial favourite with the Captain. In the dog-watches,Rose-water and May-day were repeatedly summoned into the lee waist totilt at each other, for the benefit of the Captain's health.
May-day was a full-blooded "_bull-negro_," so the sailors called him,with a skull like an iron tea-kettle, wherefore May-day much fanciedthe sport. But Rose-water, he was a slender and rather handsomemulatto, and abhorred the pastime. Nevertheless, the Captain must beobeyed; so at the word poor Rose-water was fain to put himself in aposture of defence, else May-day would incontinently have bumped himout of a port-hole into the sea. I used to pity poor Rose-water fromthe bottom of my heart. But my pity was almost aroused into indignationat a sad sequel to one of these gladiatorial scenes.
It seems that, lifted up by the unaffected, though verbally unexpressedapplause of the Captain, May-day had begun to despise Rose-water as apoltroon--a fellow all brains and no skull; whereas he himself was agreat warrior, all skull and no brains.
Accordingly, after they had been bumping one evening to the Captain'scontent, May-day confidentially told Rose-water that he considered hima "_nigger_," which, among some blacks, is held a great term ofreproach. Fired at the insult, Rose-water gave May-day to understandthat he utterly erred; for his mother, a black slave, had been one ofthe mistresses of a Virginia planter belonging to one of the oldestfamilies in that state. Another insulting remark followed this innocentdisclosure; retort followed retort; in a word, at last they cametogether in mortal combat.
The master-at-arms caught them in the act, and brought them up to themast. The Captain advanced.
"Please, sir," said poor Rose-water, "it all came of dat 'ar bumping;May-day, here, aggrawated me 'bout it."
"Master-at-arms," said the Captain, "did you see them fighting?"
"Ay, sir," said the master-at-arms, touching his cap.
"Rig the gratings," said the Captain. "I'll teach you two men that,though I now and then permit you to _play_, I will have no _fighting_.Do your duty, boatswain's mate!" And the negroes were flogged.
Justice commands that the fact of the Captain's not showing anyleniency to May-day--a decided favourite of his, at least while in thering--should not be passed over. He flogged both culprits in the mostimpartial manner.
As in the matter of the scene at the gangway, shortly after the CapeHorn theatricals, when my attention had been directed to the fact thatthe officers had _shipped their quarter-deck faces_--upon thatoccasion, I say, it was seen with what facility a sea-officer assumeshis wonted severity of demeanour after a casual relaxation of it. Thiswas especially the case with Captain Claret upon the present occasion.For any landsman to have beheld him in the lee waist, of a pleasantdog-watch, with a genial, good-humoured countenance, observing thegladiators in the ring, and now and then indulging in a playfulremark--that landsman would have deemed Captain Claret the indulgentfather of his crew, perhaps permitting the excess of hiskind-heartedness to encroach upon the appropriate dignity of hisstation. He would have deemed Captain Claret a fine illustration ofthose two well-known poetical comparisons between a sea-captain and afather, and between a sea-captain and the master of apprentices,instituted by those eminent maritime jurists, the noble Lords Tenterdenand Stowell.
But surely, if there is anything hateful, it is this _shipping of thequarter-deck face_ after wearing a merry and good-natured one. How canthey have the heart? Methinks, if but once I smiled upon a man--nevermind how much beneath me--I could not bring myself to condemn him tothe shocking misery of the lash. Oh officers! all round the world, ifthis quarter-deck face you wear at all, then never unship it foranother, to be merely sported for a moment. Of all insults, thetemporary condescension of a master to a slave is the most outrageousand galling. That potentate who most condescends, mark him well; forthat potentate, if occasion come, will prove your uttermost tyrant.