Then followed a
severe indisposition, which kept me in bed for a fortnight, during which I
suffered the torments of the damned.
I have had two or three visits from the "horrors," in the course of my
life, but nothing to equal this attack. I came near following Jack Dove to
the grave; but God, in His mercy, spared me from such an end. It is not
possible for one who has never experienced the effects of his excesses, in
this particular form, to get any correct notions of the sufferings I
endured. Among other conceits, I thought the colour which the tar usually
leaves on seamen's nails, was the sign that I had the yellow fever. This
idea haunted me for days, and gave me great uneasiness. In short, I was
like a man suspended over a yawning chasm, expecting, every instant, to
fall and be dashed to pieces, and yet, who could not die.
For some time after my recovery, I could not bear the smell of liquor; but
evil companions lured me back to my old habits. I was soon in a bad way
again, and it was only owing to the necessity of going to sea, that I had
not a return of the dreadful malady. When I shipped in the Delaware, I had
left my watch, quadrant, and good clothes, to the value of near two
hundred dollars, with my present landlord, and he now restored them all to
me, safe and sound. I made considerable additions to the stock of clothes,
and when I again went to sea, left the whole, and more, with the
same landlord.
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