William Clark Russell

The Convict Ship William Clark Russell

I was awakened from a deep slumber by the glare of a lantern upon my eyes, by the weight of a heavy hand upon my shoulder, and by a deep voice roaring out: 'Here y'are, then! Another convict, is it? Who's to say what's right aboard a craft where everything's wrong? Out you come, my lively!' And, still half asleep and blinded by the light and deafened by the fellow's roaring voice, I was dragged as though I had been a child out of the sail and held erect. A second man holding a lantern raised it to my face and peered at me. I had seen both fellows in this place before; they were the boatswain and the sailmaker.