VALPARAISO TO SAN FRANCISCO 43
distanced.
We left behind lying at anchor the French frigate L'Algerie; she had
one of our sailors aboard who had been placed there in service, owing
to some trouble he had had with an officer.
Since
few persons understand this essentially maritime expression, "placed in
service," a brief explanation will be given. When a sailor proves
unruly aboard a merchant vessel, if the captain meets a warship and if
he wishes to get rid of the sailor, he "places" him in service. In
other words, any sailor whom he refuses to keep because of
incorrigibility can be turned over to the government. The sailor dius
passes, at the whim of the captain, from a merchant ship over to the
navy. This, it must be conceded, is an unfortunate way of securing
recruits for the navy; for soldiers ashore special companies have been
formed for disciplinary purposes. Furthermore, frequently captains who
do not have to account to anyone for their acts and conduct are
flagrantly unjust to certain poor devils toward whom they have
conceived a dislike and whom they get rid of in this fashion. I have
cause to suspect, for instance, that our poor sailor may have fallen a
victim to the ill-humor of our captain.
The
breeze was strong and the sea rough and, as we had spent forty hours
ashore, seasickness now overtook those least acclimatized to the
pitching of our vessel. The women in general—and I, in turn, must
repeat the same remark that others have made before me—the women
endured this long and tiresome voyage far better than the men. Up until
that time, oddly enough, we had not had among our 150 passengers
aboard, a single case of sickness, nor even an accident. From this
fortunate situation, however, we were soon cruelly to be awakened. We
had just passed Panama, crossed the line in the opposite direction from
which we had passed before, and were sailing ahead under a mild breeze
with all sail set, even to the studding sails, but actually, as a
matter of fact, not travelling over four or five knots an hour —which
was quite remarkable considering the calms usually experienced out in
these waters—when suddenly near the seventeenth parallel was heard the
hideous cry, "Man overboard!"
On
warships provision is made for just such emergencies. Buoys are
provided and a man is always ready to handle the pulleys of the small
boats, which have only to be lowered by their ropes. So, provided the
water is not rough, or a man does not know how to swim, only in rare
instances is there not time enough to save him. But this situation
does not hold true of merchant vessels, with their crews of only
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