140 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



Customary ceremonies, not to be overlooked with impunity, 

 were both numerous and important. Perhaps the most widely 

 observed was the custom of initiating the green hands into the 

 mysteries of Neptune when first they crossed the equator. 

 These festivities usually placed a severe tax upon the initiate's 

 credulity, patience, and endurance. After a great deal of pre- 

 liminary badgering and the narration of many preposterous 

 yarns by the more sophisticated hands, the novice was at length 

 presented to King Neptune as he came aboard, trailing long 

 streamers of sea-weed and bearing his mystic trident. His 

 majesty at once began a searching interrogation of the neo- 

 phyte. If he refused to answer he was thumped under the 

 chin J while if he talked too freely a "stopper," consisting of 

 various disgusting and indigestible substances, was put into his 

 mouth. Then his face was lathered with a mixture of lard 

 and tar and he was shaved with a piece of an iron hoop. After 

 undergoing a series of salt-water duckings throughout the cere- 

 monies, he was sometimes "keel-hauled" as a final thrust. 

 This involved being thrown overboard with a rope fastened 

 around the body, by means of which the victim was drawn com- 

 pletely under the vessel and then hauled up on deck on the 

 opposite side. Having passed through this sequence of trials, 

 the green hand was declared to be duly initiated. 



Aside from such rare occasions of one-sided mirth and 

 boisterous celebration, there were also more normal means of 

 seeking recreation and amusement. The standard play-time 

 and rest-period on shipboard was during the second dog-watch 

 (6 P.M. to 8 P.M.) At this time, in fine weather, the whole 

 crew assembled on deck, ready for whatever form of diver- 

 sion their combined resources might produce. Three types of 

 persons were always in great demand: viz., the man who could 

 play any musical instrument j the "minstrel boy" who possessed 

 a wide repertory of songs and a passable voice; and the seaman 

 who could spin a good yarn. The last two, in particular, were 

 always heard with respect and interest. A good yarn, well- 

 told and springing from a vivid imagination, had a never- 



Industrles of the U. S.," (Goode, G. B., Editor), V, p. 9 ; Davis, W. M., "Nina- 

 rod of the Sea," p. 290; and Olmsted, "Incidents of a Whaling Voyage," p. 15. 



