The wind was fresh and fair
from the southwest, and the ship was soon out of sight of land and free
from the apprehended danger of interruption. The frigate, therefore,
gave her "God speed," and left her to her course.
The harmony so earnestly enjoined by Mr. Astor on this heterogeneous
crew, and which had been so confidently promised in the buoyant moments
of preparation, was doomed to meet with a check at the very outset.
Captain Thorn was an honest, straighforward, but somewhat dry and
dictatorial commander, who, having been nurtured in the system and
discipline of a ship of war, and in a sacred opinion of the supremacy of
the quarter-deck, was disposed to be absolute lord and master on board
of his ship. He appears, moreover, to have had no great opinion, from
the first, of the persons embarked with him--He had stood by with surly
contempt while they vaunted so bravely to Mr. Astor of all they could
do and all they could undergo; how they could face all weathers, put up
with all kinds of fare, and even eat dogs with a relish, when no better
food was to be had. He had set them down as a set of landlubbers and
braggadocios, and was disposed to treat them accordingly. Mr. Astor was,
in his eyes, his only real employer, being the father of the enterprise,
who furnished all funds and bore all losses.
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