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Fit, but frightened the sailors out of their wits
and the rest of us - a little (!). Feb. 18. “Porpoises!”
“Stormy Petrels”.(!) a little black bird with brown
stripe from point to point of wings, and white
stripe across the tail. size of Mother Carey [1]
mistook them for her at first. The Albatross [2].
appears, calling up the ghost of the “Ancient
Mariner" [3]. The little bird probably is Mother Carey after all.
Sunday March 2d The British bark [4] right abeam [5]
again enters the Indian Ocean “neck and neck”
with the Oriental. tried to talk with us this morning,
but we are dumb, having no signals [6]. I dressed
for church today in the suit of black, to air
the broad-cloth and my respectability. a time
honored custom (begun last Sunday) and having
a good moral effect on the observer. A comical
conference of in the carpenters room, of “Five Great
Powers” [7] represented by Tom, Frank, Long Jack, John
and myself. Results in the discovery that the whole
crew, except Tom, are runaways from one ship or
another. Captain and 1st mate included. And much
interesting beside, of personal history - John left
home last April. His father died in July, leaving