where dirty waves break in a fringe is the outer delta of the Coco River, which carries so much silt from inland jungles that even here, a mile at sea, the water is the color of dead mud.
The
Eden
swings heavily on her chain. Now her bow heads up into the wind, and from the pulley on the mast her port boat is swung over the rails. When the ship rolls, the catboat bangs against the hull, and the sound brings the Captain from the deckhouse. He is wearing clean shirt and pants, mostly unbuttoned, and street shoes and a bent Panama hat.
Papa? It say here in my book dat Cape Gracias a Dios got dat name from Christopher Columbus—
Hold her off dere! Hold dat boat off!
Dem short masts, Copm Raib! Can’t swing her clear!
Can’t use an oar to hold her off while she goin down? Never heard about dat?
With dat short swing—
Nemmine! Men dat know dere job—
You sayin—
Nemmine, I said!
Copm Raib? Copm Raib? You all dressed up! You lookin like you plannin on gettin married!
Dis how
you
looked when
you
got married? Wouldn’t s’prise me. (
shouts
) Buddy! Run get dat shoe box with de ship’s documents! Who goin ashore?
I willin, Papa.
Go get dat box, I said! (
grunts
) Okay dere, Speedy. Nobody else? Don’t like rowin? Well, c’mon den, Vemon, I get some work out of you yet!
How about Athens? Athens never—
He sick! Dass what dey tell me about
dat
one! Dat one too
sick
to work!
Dat ain’t justice!
I say, get in de boat! I take care of de justice around here! Hold her off dere, Speedy! Speedy, you row in de middle till I see how you do!
Copm? Know de channel? What you do is dis—
You sayin I don’t know my way on de Miskita Coast? By God, Byrum, I never thought I hear
dat
!
Nemmine, den. But I was here on de
A.M. Adams
since you was last here—
Shove off dere! Let go dat line!
The blue catboat falls downwind from the
Eden
. Raib stands upright in the stern, holding a short blunt Miskito paddle. Speedy and Vemon step the mast, a spruce pole with a piece of dirty canvas wrapped around it; the mast is hand-adzed, with flat facets, like rail fence. The sail is gaff-rigged, and there is a small jib whichVemon secures to the bow: in place of a tiller, there are rudder lines, secured to both ends of a yoke fixed to the head of the rudder, like the top of a T.
Now the wind thumps in the sail, and the catboat scuds away toward the coast.
Copm Raib? Which gang you got me in, Copm Raib?
You be with Will in dis port boat. You and Athens; you got your partner dere to pull for you. (
laughs
) I take Byrum in de starboard gang with Speedy here, cause Speedy green, ain’t dat right, Speedy? Green but willin!
I do my domnedest, Doddy.
Den dere’s Buddy …
Nemmine about Buddy—dat is
my
business.
Copm Raib? Buddy gettin a full share, ain’t he? I mean to say, seem like dere an extra man aboard—don’t need but eight.
Goddom it, with dis lot, I
need
an extra mon! And maybe de extra one is
you
, ever think of dat? Goddom drunken—
What I mean is, Copm Raib, I think I like to change into
your
catboat, so I
learn
more. Dat fella you got dere for mate, he just got too much mouth for me.
Raib laughs quietly for a long time.
Now I heard plenty said about Will, but dat is one thing dat I never heard about. Will pretty quiet when he ain’t got something to say. Ain’t like his boy. Neither one of dem got sense, but Will got sense enough to keep his mouth shut when his brain ain’t workin.
Dass right! You recall dat time you told him he were wrong? And den he—
Raib starts to laugh again; he wipes his eyes, looking shy.
Well, I guess you ain’t de only one dat got faults, Vemon, it just
seem
dat way. But Will a pretty good sailor, I got to say dat. Dey don’t come no better den dat in days like dis. I mean to say, you couldn’t hardly expect a first-class turtler; ain’t many of
dem
no more. Will can pretty well take care of de job on de vessel deck, and set de nets too, he can set de nets. But de
The
Eden
swings heavily on her chain. Now her bow heads up into the wind, and from the pulley on the mast her port boat is swung over the rails. When the ship rolls, the catboat bangs against the hull, and the sound brings the Captain from the deckhouse. He is wearing clean shirt and pants, mostly unbuttoned, and street shoes and a bent Panama hat.
Papa? It say here in my book dat Cape Gracias a Dios got dat name from Christopher Columbus—
Hold her off dere! Hold dat boat off!
Dem short masts, Copm Raib! Can’t swing her clear!
Can’t use an oar to hold her off while she goin down? Never heard about dat?
With dat short swing—
Nemmine! Men dat know dere job—
You sayin—
Nemmine, I said!
Copm Raib? Copm Raib? You all dressed up! You lookin like you plannin on gettin married!
Dis how
you
looked when
you
got married? Wouldn’t s’prise me. (
shouts
) Buddy! Run get dat shoe box with de ship’s documents! Who goin ashore?
I willin, Papa.
Go get dat box, I said! (
grunts
) Okay dere, Speedy. Nobody else? Don’t like rowin? Well, c’mon den, Vemon, I get some work out of you yet!
How about Athens? Athens never—
He sick! Dass what dey tell me about
dat
one! Dat one too
sick
to work!
Dat ain’t justice!
I say, get in de boat! I take care of de justice around here! Hold her off dere, Speedy! Speedy, you row in de middle till I see how you do!
Copm? Know de channel? What you do is dis—
You sayin I don’t know my way on de Miskita Coast? By God, Byrum, I never thought I hear
dat
!
Nemmine, den. But I was here on de
A.M. Adams
since you was last here—
Shove off dere! Let go dat line!
The blue catboat falls downwind from the
Eden
. Raib stands upright in the stern, holding a short blunt Miskito paddle. Speedy and Vemon step the mast, a spruce pole with a piece of dirty canvas wrapped around it; the mast is hand-adzed, with flat facets, like rail fence. The sail is gaff-rigged, and there is a small jib whichVemon secures to the bow: in place of a tiller, there are rudder lines, secured to both ends of a yoke fixed to the head of the rudder, like the top of a T.
Now the wind thumps in the sail, and the catboat scuds away toward the coast.
Copm Raib? Which gang you got me in, Copm Raib?
You be with Will in dis port boat. You and Athens; you got your partner dere to pull for you. (
laughs
) I take Byrum in de starboard gang with Speedy here, cause Speedy green, ain’t dat right, Speedy? Green but willin!
I do my domnedest, Doddy.
Den dere’s Buddy …
Nemmine about Buddy—dat is
my
business.
Copm Raib? Buddy gettin a full share, ain’t he? I mean to say, seem like dere an extra man aboard—don’t need but eight.
Goddom it, with dis lot, I
need
an extra mon! And maybe de extra one is
you
, ever think of dat? Goddom drunken—
What I mean is, Copm Raib, I think I like to change into
your
catboat, so I
learn
more. Dat fella you got dere for mate, he just got too much mouth for me.
Raib laughs quietly for a long time.
Now I heard plenty said about Will, but dat is one thing dat I never heard about. Will pretty quiet when he ain’t got something to say. Ain’t like his boy. Neither one of dem got sense, but Will got sense enough to keep his mouth shut when his brain ain’t workin.
Dass right! You recall dat time you told him he were wrong? And den he—
Raib starts to laugh again; he wipes his eyes, looking shy.
Well, I guess you ain’t de only one dat got faults, Vemon, it just
seem
dat way. But Will a pretty good sailor, I got to say dat. Dey don’t come no better den dat in days like dis. I mean to say, you couldn’t hardly expect a first-class turtler; ain’t many of
dem
no more. Will can pretty well take care of de job on de vessel deck, and set de nets too, he can set de nets. But de
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