We had, during our stay at Honolulu, obtained a couple of grand
boats in addition to our stock, and were now in a position to man
and lower five at once, if occasion should arise, still leaving
sufficient crew on board to work the vessel. The captain had
also engaged an elderly seaman of his acquaintance--out of pure
philanthropy, as we all thought, since he was in a state of semi-
starvation ashore--to act as a kind of sailing-master, so as to
relieve the captain of ship duty at whaling time, allowing him
still to head his boat. This was not altogether welcome news to
me, for, much as I liked the old man and admired his pluck, I
could not help dreading his utter recklessness when on a whale,
which had so often led to a smash-up that might have been easily
avoided. Moreover, I reasoned that if he had been foolhardy
before, he was likely to be much more so now, having no superior
to look black or use language when a disaster occurred. For now
I was his harpooner, bound to take as many risks as he chose to
incur, and anxious also to earn a reputation among the more
seasoned whalemen for smartness sufficient to justify my
promotion.
The Kanakas shipped at Honolulu were distributed among the boats,
two to each, being already trained whalemen, and a fine lot of
fellows they were.
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