"By many
a tempest has his beard been shook"; and I suppose he must soon go into a
workhouse, and thence, shortly, to his grave. He is now in a hospital,
having, as the surgeon certifies, some ribs fractured; but there does not
appear to have been any violence used upon him aboard the ship of such a
nature as to cause this injury, though he swears it was a blow from a
rope, and nothing else. What struck me in the case was the respect and
rank that his age seemed to give him, in the view of the officers; and
how, as the captain's expression signified, it lifted him out of his low
position, and made him a person to be honored. The dignity of his manner
is perhaps partly owing to the ancient mariner, with his long experience,
being an oracle among the forecastle men.
May 3d.--It rains to-day, after a very long period of east-wind and dry
weather. The east-wind here, blowing across the island, seems to be the
least damp of all the winds; but it is full of malice and mischief, of an
indescribably evil temper, and stabs one like a cold, poisoned dagger. I
never spent so disagreeable a spring as this, although almost every day
for a month has been bright.
Friday, May 11th.--A few weeks ago, a sailor, a most pitiable object,
came to my office to complain of cruelty from his captain and mate. They
had beaten him shamefully, of which he bore grievous marks about his face
and eyes, and bruises on his head and other parts of his person: and
finally the ship had sailed, leaving him behind.
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