A WRITTEN PROTEST AGAINST THE CAPTAIN. 177 pating his prey. 4th, rainy morning; it clears up at one, and we have a most delightful evening; a heavy cloud settles around the horizon, leaving us, as it were, in a lake as calm as a mirror. I never witnessed a more beautiful scene; I am, however, in no humor to enjoy it. This is our thirty-eighth day out, and the prospects most discouraging; I am over due at home, and half the journey yet to be performed. At 7 P. M. it was announced that Wm. F. Capron, of Palmyra, N. Y., was dead; he was sewed up in a canvas shroud, and thirty minutes after his death, with lights on deck, in latitude 6° 34' N., he was consigned to the ocean. 5th. Delightful morning, with fine breeze. We saw a large turtle floating on the surface of the water, asleep; we lowered a boat, and pulled off for him, but he awoke, and suspecting our movements, applied his propellers with great dexterity, and diving toward the bottom he was soon out of sight. He probably hailed from Cocus Island, distant one hundred and twenty miles; his object in cruising in these waters we were unable to learn. It being Monday, it was shrewdly suspected that he had been out, on the previous night, in search of bright eyes. His being asleep in the middle of the day, and his apparent embarrassment on being discovered, were evidence upon which almost any jury would have convicted him. 6th. Calm, heat insupportable, and we are short of provisions. I have a warm conversation with the captain, and draw up a protest, have it signed by the passengers, designing to lay it before the consul at Panama. PROTEST. WE, the undersigned, passengers on board the ship Edward Everett, Capt. HENRY SMITH, do hereby most solemnly aver that we were induced to take passage on said ship by representations made by said Capt. Smith and his agents, which representations were, that he had on board an extra supply of ship-stores, and that extra provisions had been made for the comfort of passengers. For this extra provision an extra charge of $100 in the first, and $25 in the second cabin, had been made, above that of any vessel sailing from the same port for the same destination, during the present season. The above-named Capt. Smith, through public advertisements and otherwise, called the attention of invalids particularly, to the superior arrangements made for their comfort, that a physician would be in attendance, &c. Immediately upon getting under weigh we learned, to our sorrow, that we had been grossly deceived; that the above representations were false. Our provisions, many of them, were damaged, and, we were credibly informed, were purchased as such at San Francisco. Of some of the articles that are indispensable at sea, we were short, and immediately put upon allowance. Some of the passengers had made arrangements to work their passage, but upon first putting to sea were unable to do duty. The Captain called upon them in person, ordering them from their berths and on duty, threatening, in case of non-compliance, to put them ashore on the first island. Mr. Saml. B. Lewis, of Elmira, N. Y., who was working his passage as under-steward, was compelled to do duty when unable, and finally compelled to take to his berth, from which he never arose. Just previous to his death he manifested a wish to see the Captain, and said, "If I die my blood will be upon the Captain's head." The invalids, being compelled to live on the coarse fare of the steerage, suffered for want of nourishing food, of which the ship was entirely destitute, there not being a particle of dried fruit, preserved meats, wines, or any one of the articles thought indispensably necessary on ship-board. The physician, (whose father and Captain Smith were the owners of the ship,) paid no other attention to the sick than dealing out medicines, which he did only at the most exorbitant charges. In some instances, passengers, after having been sick for days without nourishment, were obliged to buy flour of the Captain at exorbitant prices, and cook with their own hands something to sustain life. There have been five deaths on board, during the voyage. Wm. F. Capron, of Palmyra, N. Y., we do most solemnly believe died for want of proper nourishment; and in the case of Wm. B. Lewis, we believe he was brought to a premature death, by treatment received at the hands of the Captain, together with the want of proper nourishment after his prostration. Aside from the above unheard-of conduct, Capt. Smith went to sea without a single life or quarter-boat, consequently entirely unprepared to save life in case of accident, showing a recklessness of human life in the highest degree reprehensible, which should not be passed over in silence. We regret exceedingly that we are obliged to make the above charges against an American Captain, a class of men so justly celebrated for philanthropy and kindness; but the circumstances under which we are placed leave no alternative; and we hereby most respectfully request that our Consul at Panama will immediately enforce the law in this case, believing that a few public examples will put an end to the abuse. AT SEA, January 6th, 1850, lat. 6° N., lon. 92° W., having sailed from San Francisco, 28th November, 1849. J. M. LETTS, (Signed) ROBT. N. TATE, First Mate of Ship Edward Everett. N. N. RAPELYE, 7th. Pass within forty miles of Cocus Island. 8th. Indication of land; a cloud of "boobies" surround the ship, lighting on the spars and rigging; we divert ourselves by tying clubs to fishing lines, throwing them around their necks, and hauling them in. They appeared to enter into the sport with as much zeal as ourselves, for upon being released they would fly around, and seem to say, "do it again." Chapter Chirtieth. 46 99 66 INTENSE HEAT-HUMAN NATURE AS EXHIBITED BY THE PASSENGERS-DANGER, NOT APPREHENDED-A TATTLER-A DUTCH JUSTICE LONG TOM COFFIN"-A QUAKER HAT AN INDIVIDUAL RUNNING WILD-HIS OATHS, DEPREDATIONS, MUSICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SHOWMAN PROPENSITIES, AND PUGILISTIC DEVELOPMENTS—" BLUBBER," BUCKSKIN, AND "THE LAST RUN OF SHAD"-A CAPSIZED WHALE-BOAT-THRILLING SENSATION HARPOON USED-A SHARK-"LAND HO !"-GULF OF PANAMA-SOUTH AMERICAN COAST-" SAIL HO!"-DOLPHIN FOR DINNER-A WHALE-A TERRIFIC GALE-OUR SAILS AND SPARS CARRIED AWAY. January 8th. CALM with intense heat. Our ship rolls about at the mercy of the sea, the spars creaking, and the sails displaying as little ambition as if they designed to enfold the yards in an eternal sleep. This example of tranquillity was but illy followed by the passengers; it appeared to foment their pas sions, bringing the evil ones to the surface. Each was disposed to demand an apology from his neighbor for wrongs either real or imaginary, (mostly of the latter;) the neighbor declaiming, in the most vehement manner, that he is the injured party. What a motley group! what an exposition of the dissimilarity of human nature! Here are my friends Fairchild and Seymour, all they should be, disposed to look upon the brightest side of the picture; McG. offering $100 for the strength he once had; "he would whip that big Englishman," the Englishman, at the same time, swelling and blowing about, with the pomp and glory of "Old England" flitting through his imagination, quite ignorant of his impending danger. Gates, on the alert for news for the captain's ear, for which he gets an occasional cup of coffee, together with the universal detestation of the passengers; the "Dutch Justice" strutting about with all the pomp of brainless vanity; the professor, learned in love, law, and physic, which comprises, in his estimation, all that can be learned in this world; "Long Tom Coffin," the very "beau ideal " of the hero himself, AN INDIVIDUAL RUNNING WILD. 181 stretched out on the quarter-deck, very much resembling a pair of oyster-tongs. He had Blackstone and Kent at his tongue's end, and swore that, on his arrival in Maine, he would prepare a "BRIEF" for the captain's especial edification; Ply, sitting under a quaker hat, as forbidding in appearance as he is in fact, damning all indiscriminately who differ with him in opinion. T―n, who in attempting to relate an occurrence commences at the last word, throwing the balance on the top of it, in the most unintelligible confusion. He is about twenty-one years of age, has been well brought up, with a good education, but is now running wild. He blacks his boots and starts for the masthead; half-way up he halts, looks at his boots, suspects that they might have received a higher polish, and with a repetition of his usual oath, comes down again. He discovers some one's can of preserved meat; he takes it to the cook, and soon some one is invited to dine with him, and if he discovers some one's bottle of wine, some one is almost sure to get one glass of it. He had a passion for music, but generally sung in parodies, as follows: I'm sitting on a stile, Mary, And struck upon a stump, Ittee bump, ittee bump, ittee bump. almost indefinitely, closing up with a constant repetition of his usual imprecations, and again starting for the mast-head; he would probably reach the first yard, when a new idea, and he would be again on deck, playing superintendent of a caravan, with "John, take that little monkey from his mother, or he will suck her to death, not that I wish to disturb the animals in their innocent amusements, but really the public eye must be respected; music, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, well, well, &c." He is now interrupted by "Blubber," alias "Livingston & Wells' Express;" a short quarrel, and they square off for a fight. Blubber is backed by Buckskin, alias "the last run of shad," and they don't fight. We have a steward that knows his place, and another that does not deserve one on this earth; a cook who has not been accused of washing himself during the voyage, and one who appears never to have been guilty of the act. A negro who knows his |