By
this time, our discontent amounted to disgust.
At length we got all our passengers on board. These consisted of a family,
of which the head was said to be, or to have been, an admiral in the Dutch
navy. This gentleman was going to Java to remain; and he took with him
his wife, several children, servants, and a lady, who seemed to be a
companion to his wife. As soon as this party was on board, the wind coming
fair, we sailed. The Plato went to sea in company with us, and little did
I then think, while wishing myself on board her, how soon I should be
thrown into this very ship--the last craft in which I ever was at sea. I
was heaving the lead as we passed her; our ship, Dutchman or not, having a
fleet pair of heels. The Stadtdeel, whatever might be her usage, or her
food, sailed and worked well, and was capitally found in everything that
related to the safety of the vessel. This was her first voyage, and she
was said to be the largest ship out of Rotterdam.
The Stadtdeel must have sailed from Helvoetsluys in May, 1839, or about
thirty-three years after I sailed from New York, on my first voyage, in
the Sterling. During all this time I had been toiling at sea, like a dog,
risking my health and life, in a variety of ways; and this ship, with my
station on board her, was nearly all I had to show for it! God be praised!
This voyage, which promised so little, in its commencement, proved, in the
end, the most fortunate of any in which I embarked.
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