He has
carried with him a light tackle called a whip, consisting of
only two parts, travelling through a single-sheaved block.
Securing this block, so that it hangs down from the yard-arm,
he swings one end of the rope, till it is caught and firmly held
by a hand on the deck. Then, hand-over-hand, down the other part,
the Indian drops through the air, till dexterously he lands
on the summit of the head. There--still high elevated above
the rest of the company, to whom he vivaciously cries--
he seems some Turkish Muezzin calling the good people to prayers
from the top of a tower. A short-handled sharp spade being
sent up to him, he diligently searches for the proper place
to begin breaking into the Tun. In this business he proceeds
very heedfully, like a treasure-hunter in some old house,
sounding the walls to find where the gold is masoned in.
By the time this cautious search is over, a stout ironbound bucket,
precisely like a well-bucket, has been attached to one end
of the whip; while the other end, being stretched across
the deck, is there held by two or three alert hands.
These last now hoist the bucket within grasp of the Indian,
to whom another person has reached up a very long pole.
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