第20章 THE VOYAGE(8)

Such a benefactress as this must naturally be beloved by mankind in general;it would be wonderful,therefore,if her interest was not considered by them,and protected from the fraud and violence of some of her rebellious offspring,who,coveting more than their share or more than she thinks proper to allow them,are daily employed in meditating mischief against her,and in endeavoring to steal from their brethren those shares which this great alma mater had allowed them.

At length our governor came on board,and about six in the evening we weighed anchor,and fell down to the Nore,whither our passage was extremely pleasant,the evening being very delightful,the moon just past the full,and both wind and tide favorable to us.

Tuesday,July 2.--This morning we again set sail,under all the advantages we had enjoyed the evening before.This day we left the shore of Essex and coasted along Kent,passing by the pleasant island of Thanet,which is an island,and that of Sheppy,which is not an island,and about three o 'clock,the wind being now full in our teeth,we came to an anchor in the Downs,within two miles of Deal.--My wife,having suffered intolerable pain from her tooth,again renewed her resolution of having it drawn,and another surgeon was sent for from Deal,but with no better success than the former.He likewise declined the operation,for the same reason which had been assigned by the former:however,such was her resolution,backed with pain,that he was obliged to make the attempt,which concluded more in honor of his judgment than of his operation;for,after having put my poor wife to inexpressible torment,he was obliged to leave her tooth in statu quo;and she had now the comfortable prospect of a long fit of pain,which might have lasted her whole voyage,without any possibility of relief.In these pleasing sensations,of which I had my just share,nature,overcome with fatigue,about eight in the evening resigned her to rest--a circumstance which would have given me some happiness,could I have known how to employ those spirits which were raised by it;but,unfortunately for me,I was left in a disposition of enjoying an agreeable hour without the assistance of a companion,which has always appeared to me necessary to such enjoyment;my daughter and her companion were both retired sea-sick to bed;the other passengers were a rude school-boy of fourteen years old and an illiterate Portuguese friar,who understood no language but his own,in which I had not the least smattering.The captain was the only person left in whose conversation I might indulge myself;but unluckily,besides a total ignorance of everything in the world but a ship,he had the misfortune of being so deaf,that to make him hear,I will not say understand,my words,Imust run the risk of conveying them to the ears of my wife,who,though in another room (called,I think,the state-room--being,indeed,a most stately apartment,capable of containing one human body in length,if not very tall,and three bodies in breadth),lay asleep within a yard of me.In this situation necessity and choice were one and the same thing;the captain and I sat down together to a small bowl of punch,over which we both soon fell fast asleep,and so concluded the evening.

Wednesday,July 3.--This morning I awaked at four o'clock for my distemper seldom suffered me to sleep later.I presently got up,and had the pleasure of enjoying the sight of a tempestuous sea for four hours before the captain was stirring;for he loved to indulge himself in morning slumbers,which were attended with a wind-music,much more agreeable to the performers than to the hearers,especially such as have,as I had,the privilege of sitting in the orchestra.At eight o 'clock the captain rose,and sent his boat on shore.I ordered my man likewise to go in it,as my distemper was not of that kind which entirely deprives us of appetite.Now,though the captain had well victualled his ship with all manner of salt provisions for the voyage,and had added great quantities of fresh stores,particularly of vegetables,at Gravesend,such as beans and peas,which had been on board only two days,and had possibly not been gathered above two more,I apprehended I could provide better for myself at Deal than the ship's ordinary seemed to promise.I accordingly sent for fresh provisions of all kinds from the shore,in order to put off the evil day of starving as long as possible.My man returned with most of the articles I sent for,and I now thought myself in a condition of living a week on my own provisions.I therefore ordered my own dinner,which I wanted nothing but a cook to dress and a proper fire to dress it at;but those were not to be had,nor indeed any addition to my roast mutton,except the pleasure of the captain's company,with that of the other passengers;for my wife continued the whole day in a state of dozing,and my other females,whose sickness did not abate by the rolling of the ship at anchor,seemed more inclined to empty their stomachs than to fill them.Thus I passed the whole day (except about an hour at dinner)by myself,and the evening concluded with the captain as the preceding one had done;one comfortable piece of news he communicated to me,which was,that he had no doubt of a prosperous wind in the morning;but as he did not divulge the reasons of this confidence,and as I saw none myself besides the wind being directly opposite,my faith in this prophecy was not strong enough to build any great hopes upon.

Thursday,July 4.--This morning,however,the captain seemed resolved to fulfill his own predictions,whether the wind would or no;he accordingly weighed anchor,and,taking the advantage of the tide when the wind was not very boisterous,he hoisted his sails;and,as if his power had been no less absolute over Aeolus than it was over Neptune,he forced the wind to blow him on in its own despite.