White Jacket; Or, The World on a Man-of-War
Page 19
CHAPTER XVIII.
A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.
It was necessary to supply the lost cooper's place; accordingly, wordwas passed for all who belonged to that calling to muster at themain-mast, in order that one of them might be selected. Thirteen menobeyed the summons--a circumstance illustrative of the fact that manygood handicrafts-men are lost to their trades and the world by servingin men-of-war. Indeed, from a frigate's crew might he culled out men ofall callings and vocations, from a backslidden parson to a broken-downcomedian. The Navy is the asylum for the perverse, the home of theunfortunate. Here the sons of adversity meet the children of calamity,and here the children of calamity meet the offspring of sin. Bankruptbrokers, boot-blacks, blacklegs, and blacksmiths here assembletogether; and cast-away tinkers, watch-makers, quill-drivers, cobblers,doctors, farmers, and lawyers compare past experiences and talk of oldtimes. Wrecked on a desert shore, a man-of-war's crew could quicklyfound an Alexandria by themselves, and fill it with all the thingswhich go to make up a capital.
Frequently, at one and the same time, you see every trade in operationon the gun-deck--coopering, carpentering, tailoring, tinkering,blacksmithing, rope-making, preaching, gambling, and fortune-telling.
In truth, a man-of-war is a city afloat, with long avenues set out withguns instead of trees, and numerous shady lanes, courts, and by-ways.The quarter-deck is a grand square, park, or parade ground, with agreat Pittsfield elm, in the shape of the main-mast, at one end, andfronted at the other by the palace of the Commodore's cabin.
Or, rather, a man-of-war is a lofty, walled, and garrisoned town, likeQuebec, where the thoroughfares and mostly ramparts, and peaceablecitizens meet armed sentries at every corner.
Or it is like the lodging-houses in Paris, turned upside down; thefirst floor, or deck, being rented by a lord; the second, by a selectclub of gentlemen; the third, by crowds of artisans; and the fourth, bya whole rabble of common people.
For even thus is it in a frigate, where the commander has a whole cabinto himself and the spar-deck, the lieutenants their ward-roomunderneath, and the mass of sailors swing their hammocks under all.
And with its long rows of port-hole casements, each revealing themuzzle of a cannon, a man-of-war resembles a three-story house in asuspicions part of the town, with a basement of indefinite depth, andugly-looking fellows gazing out at the windows.