The ship had loaded a full cargo of Maryland tobacco, which comes in smaller casks than the Virginia, though still of good size, weighing upwards of nine hundred pounds. Several thousand staves had also been stowed away, to fill up all the spare room, and the ship's stores and water having been taken on board, she was ready for sea, and accordingly received the crew, and proceeded down the Chesapeake towards the sea.
The crew, as usual upon the commencement of a voyage, were for the most part under the influence of liquor. The mate was very reserved in talking about sailors, and told no fighting stories, which I thought must be evidence that he was a peaceable man, and as they came over the rail and staggered into the forecastle, he had remarked to me; "We'll have 'em all straight in a day or two. I don't like a drunken row, and we must shut our eyes to some things the first day."
He carried out these precepts, except upon finding a young Irishman sitting on his chest in the forecastle while all the other sailors were at work, when the answer that was given to the order to come out on deck was the brandishing of a sheath-knife and the declaration that he wasn't going to work "on board the bloody hooker." The mate settled this question by snatching away the knife, hauling the man on deck, and hitting him two or three cracks with a belaying pin, and the captain seeing it showed some signs of reform by shouting: "That'll do, Mr. Wright, that'll do till we get outside."
Leaving the pilot off the Capes of Virginia, the voyage was fairly begun, with a fresh S.W. wind, which increasing to a strong breeze blew after us for seven days, and took us half way across the Atlantic.
I now stood watch alone for the first time, and it seemed a tremendous responsibility to be left in charge of the ship on a dark, squally night. How a person could become so unconcerned as to fall asleep, as I knew Mr. Howard had sometimes done, was more than I could understand. I found a great difference between a second and third mate's position. When I was in the latter, I had only to obey orders and see to the execution of work designed by my superiors. But now I had to decide upon such matters for myself, and it sometimes set me at my wits' ends to find work to keep my eight men constantly employed, particularly in wet weather when sails and rigging could not be worked on. It had seemed easy enough when third mate, for whenever at a loss I could fall back on the mate for a job. But now when the watches were changed the mate would start me with some work and going below would leave me to get along as well as I could.