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Slushing the Mast
Slushing the mast - Covering the mast with a protective coating of leftover cooking grease.

   Some amusing things happened through my want of experience and lack of knowledge to match my zeal. One day I was sent up to slush the fore topgallant mast. I filled my slush bucket at the barrel that stood just outside the cook's galley, and went gaily to my task. The weather was fine and bracing, just a fresh breeze blowing, and the sun shining brightly. I made my way up the topgallant rigging to the masthead, made my bucket fast by its lanyard to a backstay with a slipknot so that I could move it along down as I worked from the masthead downward, and went at it. I had but just begun, when, as I was reaching to the bucket for a handful of slush, it suddenly disappeared. Looking downward, I saw it sliding swiftly down the backstay. It fetched up on the rail with a bang, going all to pieces and scattering its contents over deck and bulwarks. I had not made my slip knot right, and it had slipped prematurely on its own responsibility without any help from me.

   Luckily the chief mate was on the poop aft, intent on taking the sun and the third mate and most of the watch were busy at something on the forecastle forward. I succeeded in getting down on deck, securing another bucket, filling it, and getting back to my post of duty without attracting attention except from old Duffy the cook, who remarked with a grin that perhaps I had better take the barrel along with me at once and be done with it if I was going to slush the whole ship.

   This time I made out to keep my bucket from going down any faster than I did. When I had, as I supposed, sufficiently slushed the mast, I went down on deck. I met the third mate going aft. He stopped and looked me over and laughed.

   "What have you been doing, boy?" he asked.

   "Slushing the fore topgallant mast, Sir," I replied, proud as a drum major
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   "What were you slushing mostly, the mast or yourself?" he asked.

   I knew that I was pretty well covered with the stuff, but had supposed that was a necessary incident to the occupation of slushing a mast in a fresh breeze.

   "Suppose you try the weather side next time," he said, and turned away with a fresh laugh. I had gone up on the lee side of the mast and slushed against the wind, with the result that most of what was intended for the mast had been blown back over me. The next time I had to grease a mast, I took Mr. Sargent's advice and went up on the weather side.

   When Jack saw me, he almost went into hysterics of laughter, and poked no end of fun at me. After having his laugh out he said, "Come along o' me boy an' fetch yer bucket." He took me up the weather rigging to the main topgallant mast, which also needed slushing, and patiently showed me how it should be done. It is safe to say that there was no more accomplished mast slusher in the ship than I was after he had polished off my education in that branch of sailor learning.

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