"Yes," said Rollo; "I see that they might do it in that way. But I don't understand why they should have any occasion to warp a ship out in the open sea."
"They do not have occasion to do so often," replied Mr. George. "I have been told, however, that they resort to this method sometimes, in time of war, to get a ship away from an enemy in a calm. Perhaps, too, they might sometimes have occasion to do it in order to get away from an iceberg."
CHAPTER XV. THE EMIGRANTS.
While this conversation was going on Mr. George and Rollo had been sauntering slowly along the walk, with warehouses on one side of them, and a roadway for carts and drays on the other, between the walk and the dock; and now all at once Rollo's attention was attracted by the spectacle of a large ship, on the decks of which there appeared a great number of people-men, women, and children.
"What is that?" asked Rollo, suddenly. "What do you suppose all those people are doing on board that ship?"
"That must be an emigrant ship," said Mr. George. "Those are emigrants, I have no doubt, going to America. Let us go on board."
"Will they allow us to go?" asked Rollo, doubtfully.
"O, yes," said Mr. George; "they will not know but that we are emigrants ourselves, or the friends of some of the emigrants. In fact, we are the friends of some of the emigrants. We are the friends of all of them."
So saying, Mr. George led the way, and Rollo followed up the plankway which led to the deck of the ship. Here a very singular spectacle presented itself to view. The decks were covered with groups of people, all dressed in the most quaint and singular costume, and wearing a very foreign air. They were, in general, natives of the interior provinces of France and Germany, and they were dressed in accordance with the fashions which prevailed in the places from which they severally came.
The men were generally standing or walking about. Some were talking together, others were smoking pipes, and others still were busy with their chests and bundles, rearranging their effects apparently, so as to have easy and convenient access to such as they should require for the voyage. Then there were a great many groups of women and girls seated together on benches, trunks, or camp stools, with little children playing about near them on the deck.
"I am very glad to see this," said Mr. George. "I have very often witnessed the landing of the emigrants in New York at the end of their voyage; and here I have the opportunity of seeing them as they go on board the ship, at the beginning of it."
"I am glad, too," said Rollo. "But look at that old woman!"
Rollo pointed as he said this to an aged woman, whose face, which was of the color of mahogany, was wrinkled in a most extraordinary manner, and who wore a cap of very remarkable shape and dimensions. She had an antique-looking book in her hands, the contents of which she seemed to be conning over with great attention. Mr. George and Rollo looked down upon the pages of the book as they passed, and saw that it was printed in what might be called an ancient black-letter type.
"It is a German book," said Rollo, in a whisper.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "I suppose it is her Bible, or perhaps her Prayer Book."
Near the old woman was a child playing upon the deck. Perhaps it was her grandchild. The child had a small wagon, which she was drawing about the deck. The wagon looked very much worn and soiled by long usage, but in other respects it resembled very much the little wagons that are drawn about by children in America.
"It is just like one of our little wagons," said Rollo.
"Yes," replied Mr. George, "of course it is; for almost all the little wagons, as well as the other toys, that children get in America, come from Germany."
"Ah!" said Rollo; "I did not think of that."
"Would you ask her to let me see her wagon?" continued Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "that is, if you can ask her in German."
"Don't you suppose she knows English?" asked Rollo.
"No," said Mr. George, "I presume not."
"I mean to try her," said Rollo.
So he extended his hand towards the child; and then, smiling upon her to denote that he was her friend, and also to make what he said appear like an invitation, and not like a command, he pronounced very distinctly the words, "Come here."
The child immediately came towards him with the little wagon.
"There!" said Rollo; "I was pretty sure that she could understand English."
The child did not understand English, however, after all. And yet she understood what Rollo said; for it so happens, by a remarkable coincidence, that the German words for "come here," though spelled differently, sound almost precisely like the English words. Besides, the child knew from Rollo's gesture that he wished her to come to him.
Rollo attempted to talk with the child, but he could make no progress. The child could not understand any thing that he said. Presently a very pleasant-looking woman who was sitting on a trunk near by, and who proved to be the child's mother, shook her head smilingly at Rollo, and said, with a very foreign accent, pointing at the same time to the child, "Not understands English."
Mr. George then held a little conversation with this woman in German. She told him that she was the mother of the child, and that the old woman who was reading near was its grandmother. She had a husband, she said, and two other children. Her husband was on the shore. He had gone into the city to make some purchases for the voyage, and her two other children had gone with him to see what was to be seen.
Mr. George and Rollo, after this, walked about the deck of the ship for some time, looking at the various family groups that were scattered here and there, and holding conversations with many of the people. The persons whom they talked with all looked up with an expression of great animation and pleasure in their countenances when they learned that their visitors were Americans, and seemed much gratified to see them. I suppose they considered them very favorable specimens of the people of the country which they were going to make their future home.
I am sure that they needed all the kind words and encouraging looks that Mr. George and Rollo bestowed upon them; for it is a very serious and solemn business for a family to bid a final farewell to their native land, and in many instances to the whole circle of their acquaintances and friends, in order to cross the stormy ocean and seek a home in what is to them an entirely new world.
[Illustration: PLEASANT WEATHER.]
Even the voyage itself is greatly to be dreaded by them, on account of the inevitable discomforts and dangers of it. While the ship is lying in the docks, waiting for the appointed day of sailing to arrive, they can pass their time very pleasantly, sitting upon the decks, reading, writing, or sewing; but as soon as the voyage has fairly commenced, all these enjoyments are at once at an end; for even if the wind is fair, and the water is tolerably smooth, they are at first nearly all sick, and are confined to their berths below; so that, even when there are hundreds of people on board, the deck of the ship looks very solitary.
The situation of the poor passengers, too, in their berths below, is very uncomfortable. They are crowded very closely together; the air is confined and unwholesome; and their food is of the coarsest and plainest description. Then, besides, in every such a company there will always be some that are rude and noisy, or otherwise disagreeable in their habits or demeanor; and those who are of a timid and gentle disposition often suffer very severely from the unjust and overbearing treatment which they receive from tyrants whom they can neither resist nor escape from.
Then, sometimes, when the ship is in mid ocean, there comes on a storm. A storm at sea, attacking an emigrant ship full of passengers, produces sometimes a frightful amount of misery. Many of the company are dreadfully alarmed, and feel sure that they will all certainly go to the bottom. Their terror is increased by the tremendous roar of the winds, and by the thundering thumps and concussions which the ship encounters from the waves.