Voyage of Will Rogers to the South Pole

It seems strange that I should only now publish an account of my
extraordinary voyage and experience near the South Pole, but when I
arrived in England my story seemed to be so out of the way that I was
laughed and jeered at, and not having written anything in my life in the
shape of a journal, I gave up talking about it. Now, however, sooner than
the world should lose what ought to be of great interest to it, I will
attempt, in my plain way, to give an account of what occurred to me, and
of the strange people I fell in with, in my last voyage, especially as my
span of life is drawing to a close.

I was born in the village of Tamarton, near Plymouth, Devonshire, in the
year 1812, and went to school at Stone-house, in the same county, until I
was eleven years of age, when I was obliged to leave school, owing to the
death of my father, who was a small trader in that town. My mother and
two sisters were left very poor, and feeling myself a burden to her, I
resolved to shift for myself, and also hoped to be able, after a time, to
be of some help to her. I engaged myself on board of a collier, and had
a very rough life of it for two or three voyages, being kicked and cuffed
by the captain and all hands, because, I suppose, I was a helpless lad;
and in the last voyage I was so cruelly ill-treated that I ran away the
first chance I had. I next shipped on board an East Indiaman, where my
life was more bearable, and made several voyages in her from London. The
treatment of boys on board ship in those days was very different to what
it is in the present day. Talk of cruelty to animals! The cruelty to
lads on board ship was worse than any animal ever went through! After a
time, I became an expert seaman, but of course could not get to be more
than a foremast hand, owing to my want of education. However, as soon as
I got good wages I took as much as I could from time to time to my dear
mother, who was one of the best women, I do believe, that ever was, and
who almost broke her heart when I first left her. The wages were not so
good in those days, so that I had not much to take her, but such as it
was, it was gratifying to her, as it was also to me, for they were so
glad to see me after a long spell. After a time they got to be a little
better off, for some kind friends, seeing that my mother was a good and
striving woman, set her up in a small shop, which in a short time
succeeded so as to keep the wolf from the door.

In one of my voyages I happened to be at Boston, in America, and out of a
ship, as the one I was in was paid off and sold there. A vessel was being
fitted out for whaling in the South Seas, and I engaged to ship in her
when ready, which would be in about three months. In the meantime I
knocked about at odd jobs, and, being strong and able, I was never idle.
I found the Yankees a nice lot, and although they are cute, they never
tried to take advantage of my being a Britisher, and supposed to be
green. I will make one exception. A respectable looking chap wanted to
engage me as an agent for selling what he called his patent lubricator.
He was to fix a price, and what I got over was to be my commission. The
stuff was contained in pots, and called "Tedkin's Patent," and was to be
used for greasing cart wheels and such like. He said it was not yet
patented, and he was waiting to sell some and get some money to get a
patent, and to advertise, which, he said, was the secret nowadays to be
successful: I said I thought that it was not necessary, as there was
plenty of grease knocking about which would' answer all purposes, and it
would not be right to sell a thing as patented which was not so in fact.
He said that would not matter if the thing succeeded, and that he would
make up my loss of time afterwards if it did not succeed at first. I was
very near going in with him, but being only a plain sailor man, not used
to any kind of business, on consideration I thought, if it was such a
good thing as he wanted to make out, why did he not sell his own stuff,
and save my commission; also, I should lose my ship and lose my time.
Although I was nothing of a scholar, I had at an early age got a habit of
"putting two and two together," as I used to call it, and was called by
the hands in a vessel which I once shipped in "Philosopher Bill," so I
determined to have nothing more to do with him. I was very glad of this,
for I afterwards heard that he was a hum-. bug and a schemer, and had got
others on that lay before, and left them in the lurch with nothing in
their pockets.