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Untitled Article
within myself , as if wishing for annihilation . It was now reported that the washing and scrubbing apparatus was ready , and the lines were struck off in divisions of about twenty , to undergo , in succession , the application of hot water , soap , sand , scrubbing-brushes and canvass towels of No . 1 . Just as the first body was in motion , an officer called me out from the ranks , and told me to go aft , I was not to undergo the scouring ; and once more rny hopes breathed ; freer still , when , after the washing , each man was examined , in a state of nudity , by the surgeons , I passed muster on answering a few questions , without stripping ;
I have never Jearnt to whom 1 was indebted tor this indulgence : but I assure you , reader , it was a delicious relief to my agonized senses . Then assembled on board a sort of committee of captains , in the cabin ; my companions were called in , and , at length , I stood feverishly before the inspectors ; they spoke to me with kindness , even with civility , and turned to each other to say what I could not hear ; one in particular , I noticed , who smiled at something which his neighbour said , and shook his head , as if repelling it ; he put to me several questions , as to my habits , friends , &c , and ' why did I leave home ? ' I answered to this freely— I wished to see other countries , and people , &c /
• Why do you wish that ?—* Because I have read so much about them / I was then dismissed ; when , as I reached the cabindoor , I was called to remain a moment , while the ' masterat-arms' was ordered in . I panted again with fear of something ; what it was I could not guess ; but that c master-at-arms '
had an ugly sound . It was to receive from the commanding officer an order to see that I did not get knocked about among the riff-raff , to take me under his charge , and into his mess , while 1 remained on board the Resolu . ' Here , then , was a surety that I was not to be plunged into the contamination which , to think of , made me sweat with horror . But , oh , this did not
continue long ; in a day or two boats came alongside , to carry us to the guard-ship , and I was huddled , with the rest , on board of her . 1 was no longer separated , I was now one of themselves ,
to toil as they toiled , washing and holystoning decks—to come at a whistle and run at a blow—to scramble , as I best could , through that congregated mass , some of them of the most depraved and abandoned character , thieves and pickpockets tooto wallow in degradation and misery—to watch continually in avoidance of abuse and beating , and to watch in vain—to be scourged with ropes by brutes who were charmed with delight at the sound of the heavy dense blows which they dealt around in
sheer wantonness ; who rejoiced in their muscular arms , for strength was prized only because it enabled them to strike with greater energy ; whose best sport was in watching , and smiling tit , and prolonging the suppressed cries and writhings of their victims . 1 do not exaggerate . There was , at the period of which
Untitled Article
820 Autobiography ofPeL Verjuice *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1833, page 820, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2628/page/16/
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