But
I was rudely roused from my meditations by the harsh voice of
one of the officers, who shouted, "Naow then, git below an' stow
yer dunnage, 'n look lively up agin." I took the broad hint,
and shouldering my traps, hurried forward to the fo'lk'sle,
which was below deck. Tumbling down the steep ladder, I entered
the gloomy den which was to be for so long my home, finding it
fairly packed with my shipmates. A motley crowd they were. I
had been used in English ships to considerable variety of
nationality; but here were gathered, not only the
representatives of five or six nations, but 'long-shoremen of
all kinds, half of whom had hardly ever set eyes on a ship
before! The whole space was undivided by partition, but I saw
at once that black men and white had separated themselves, the
blacks taking the port side and the whites the starboard.
Finding a vacant bunk by the dim glimmer of the ancient teapot
lamp that hung amidships, giving out as much smoke as light, I
hurriedly shifted my coat for a "jumper" or blouse, put on an
old cap, and climbed into the fresh air again. For a double
reason, even MY seasoned head was feeling bad with the
villainous reek of the place, and I did not want any of those
hard-featured officers on deck to have any cause to complain of
my "hanging back.
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