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before they reached the ship. The ones that did get there were so tired you could take them in your hand.
Boston was very much changed since I had last seen it. Many fine buildings had been put up. The new court house was especially fine, but not yet finished. There were some immense stone pillars, bigger than those on the capitol. I saw them haul one to the building with fifty-four yokes of oxen. From Boston we sailed to Baltimore and back again without anything special happening.
Here I left the ship, as it was getting cold, and took hire in the brig "Capt. Petersen" going to Wilmington and there to the West Indies. I was first eight days in Boston and in that time went to see comedies pretty often. There was a Mademoiselle Celeste who was a great favorite.
Going away on the ship at the close of October it was awfully cold. We were only the captain, mate, three sailors and the cook on board, so that my watch was shared by only one other man. We had a bad northwest storm and the forecastle leaked so badly we had to lie around on our sea chests and cover with blankets to keep the wet out. The mate was cross, and always scolded, and we were very tired of it. One night while we were tacking and it was hard to steer the ship he came and scolded me for not steering better. I answered him that I did the best I could but he kept on grumbling. At last I told him to steer it himself if I could not do it to suit him. He grabbed me and wanted to whip me,
but I was not inclined to take it, so I let go the wheel and went at him. He yelled for the captain, who came running. I thought he was going to strike me too, so I was going to have the first lick, and handed him a big one. But just then the ship, which no one steered, turned broadside, and a big sea tumbled over us, took the captain's hat overboard, and washed us down the side. That cooled us somewhat. The captain took the wheel and told me to go forward and keep the lookout. Nothing was ever mentioned about the fight any more. I even believe they liked me better for it.
We lay seven days outside the coast and could not get in for a heavy fog. At last it lifted, and we got a pilot on board who took us up to Wilmington, which lies up a river twelve or fourteen miles. The country here is even lower than in Virginia and it looks as if the sea were higher than the land. The land is not fertile. It is very sandy and is cultivated only by the rivers where there are some big rice plantations. It is hard work for the poor Negroes to work these plantations, as they have to work in water up to their knees all the time. The plantations can be flooded with water when necessary. Growing rice looks like oats. When it is threshed one can hardly tell it from barley. Wilmington is only a small town mostly built of tree houses. In the summer it is choking hot and very unhealthy. At the mouth of the river is a great fort called Johnson, but there is only a garrison of twenty people. Here we took on a load of lumber for Puerto Rico.
After a long voyage we arrived at Maria Guesta a small town on the island. Puerto Rico is a very pretty island and as a fine climate, but I will not describe it closer, as it looks like the other West Indian islands. We unloaded our lumber, but could get no return cargo, so we took on ballast and went to the capital, Port Au Prince, of St. Domingo, where we received a load of coffee. I believe this is the highest island in the West Indies. Here you get a good idea of what becomes of the Negroes when they all at once receive their freedom. The inhabitants are the laziest and most criminal I have ever seen. It is a funny sight to see the black soldiers drill. They all have
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