Skysail was firm, and so was I; the lieutenant cocked his
eye, and said, "Messmate, depend on it there is something in the wind.
I have sent one shirt on shore to be washed; and when that comes off,
I will send another; if I lose that it is no great matter."
That night, at ten o'clock, Captain Jacky came on board, bringing his
trunk and dirty linen, turned the hands up, up anchor, and ran out of
Carlisle Bay and went to sea, leaving most of the officers' linen on
shore. This was one of his tricks. He had received his orders when he
landed in the morning; they were waiting for him, and his coming on
board for his things, was only a run to throw us off our guard, and
I suppose compel us, by the loss of our clothes, to be as dirty
in appearance as he was himself, "but he always liked to make his
officers comfortable."
We arrived at Nassau, in New Providence, without any remarkable
incident, although the service continued to be carried on in the same
disagreeable manner as ever. I continued, however, to get leave to go
on shore; and finding no prospect of bringing the captain to justice,
determined to quit the ship, if possible. This was effected by
accident, otherwise I should have been much puzzled to have got clear
of her. I fell between the boat and the wharf as I landed, and by the
sudden jerk ruptured a small bloodvessel in my chest; it was of no
great importance in itself, but in that climate required care, and I
made the most of it.
Pages:
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334