No kindred weep above his youthful bier,
And stranger hands, his shipmates, placed this tribute here.
In memory of Thomas Hendrick,
Late seaman of the U. S. ship North Carolina,
Who departed this life May 31, 1838,
Aged 16 years.
In vain had youth his flight impeded,
And hope his passage had delayed;
Death’s mandate all has superseded,
His final order Tom’s obeyed.
In memory of Hugh McKenzie,
Who was drowned on the 25th of Dec., 1838,
Aged 27 years.
Weep not for me, my shipmates kind,
Nor mourn at my untimely end:
In heaven I trust we all shall find
A kind Redeemer, still our friend.
Jack’s signal of distress is a red flannel shirt tied in the fore rigging. Two of these signals of distress were made here in this port from two American whalers, both full of oil, and homeward bound. Our commodore answered the signals in person, and made the two captains promise that they would treat the men better and give them better rations. While lying here the U. S. ship Falmouth, Captain M. Keever, arrived from Valparaiso. She had on board three deserters from our ship. The ship Relief was discharged of all her cargo, for she was just alive with big rats and swarming with cockroaches. I should think the latter must have been from two to
