Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Harvard Memorial Biographies

On the Commonwealth he found the work harder and the fare worse. In sailor phrase, it was an ‘all-hands ship,’ instead of ‘watch and watch ’; that is, all hands were required to be on deck during the day. This left him only a half-hour out of the hour allowed for dinner, and a half-hour in the dogwatch; and of this short time a good part had to be given to the care of his clothes, etc. But even then he found time to keep up his familiarity with the languages and begin the study of natural philosophy. In spite of the hard and continued work on this vessel, it was pleasanter to him than the mean tasks imposed upon him on the Peabody, since he had shipped as ordinary seaman, and had thus more opportunity to learn and do the more intricate parts of the work.

On arriving at Callao, he found that the crew had been shipped under false pretences, and that the ship was bound for the Chincha Island for guano,—a place to which sailors will never go if it can be avoided, as the work is of the most repulsive kind. He therefore went aft with a shipmate to procure his discharge from the captain. Failing in this, he demanded to see the American consul at the port. This, too, was refused with an oath, and high words passed between the captain and him. The captain finally struck him, and with the assistance of the second mate beat him badly. This determined him to leave the ship at all hazards, which he did that night. After a stay of a few days at Callao, he shipped again as ordinary seaman on the Rival, a Boston vessel, bound for Cork. The first twenty-five days of this passage were pleasant. But by that time they had arrived in the vicinity of Cape Horn, and the rough weather began for which that region is proverbial. This lasted about twenty days, and as its commencement found him without proper clothing, he suffered unusually. The work, too, was incessant and severe; but he had the satisfaction of knowing that it was none of it unnecessary, and he had pleasant relations with the officers, in remarkable contrast with his experience on the Commonwealth. When fairly in pleasant weather again, he took up his studies and reading, necessarily intermitted during the passage