54
RICE UNIVERSITY STUDIES
being packed in like pickles on the English transports destined for
America during the Colonial War” (W, III, 187). Writing about
the water he found between Trieste and Venice, he states, “In
order to appreciate the goodness and value of it [a clear spring],
you must have been shipped to America by the English” (W, I, 235-
236), and he goes into a detailed description of the nauseous liquid
they had been forced to drink on those ships. On his way to
Vyborg in 1805 he found only ill-smelling wateι∙ and was compelled
to drink it while holding his nose, “in the same manner as formerly
aboard the English transport vessels” (W, III, 116). As for the
ocean crossing which he says took twenty-two weeks (W, I, 72),
thus disputing von Eelking’s figures above, he writes in the
Spaziergang, “I have never been seasick on all my voyages, thanks
to my good training” (W, II, 72), referring, no doubt, to these
many weeks. Similarly, in Mein Sommer he writes, “Neptune
apparently does not favor me. Even my first voyage from the
North Sea to America lasted twenty-two weeks” (W, III, 173).
Thus throughout his life Seume vividly remembered his involuntary
crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
On board the ship which took him to America he met two more
Englishmen, this time at close quarters. One was the “stout first
mate” who wanted to chase him off the quarterdeck where he
was reading his Horace, and for whom he has few kind words.
The other was the captain who came to his rescue and who en-
couraged him with his reading not only of Latin authors but also
of English works by lending him some of his books. Their exchange
in English is written up by Seume in the original (W, I, 69).
When the time for parting came, both the captain and Seume
were sorry at being forced to separate. Seume writes: “When I
said good-bye to the ship’s captain, he shook hands with me in
cordial friendship. ‘It is a pity, my boy,’ said he, ‘you do not stay
τυits [sic] us; you would soon become a very good sailor.’ ‘Heartily
I would,’ said I, ‘but you see, it is impossible.’ ‘So it is,’ he exclaimed,
‘god speed you well!’ With a grateful wish for the humane man I
climbed down the ladder into the boat and rowed towards shore”
(W, I, 76-77). The sailors on board the ship were not men to
Seume’s liking. In his first written story, the “Schreiben aus
Amerika nach Deutschland” in J. W. von Archenholtz' Neue
Litteratur- und Vblkerkunde,19 he mentions their most common
expressions as being “God damm [sic]” and “Give here the bottle.”
On landing in Halifax (which he invariably spells Hallifax)
Seume resumed garrison duty. He rose to the rank of sergeant,