124 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



explosive profanity was a material aid in cowing the men into 

 a state of submissive discipline, the very frequency of its use 

 went far towards defeating its purpose j for the seamen be- 

 came so accustomed to the endless repetition of abuse that the 

 net impression left upon them was far less than was intended. 



Chief amongst the offenses giving rise to punishment were 

 fighting, insubordination, slowness or stupidity in obeying or- 

 ders, refusal of duty, insulting or attacking an officer, at- 

 tempted mutiny, and all kinds and degrees of criminality, 

 from petty theft to murder. Such matters obviously merited 

 punitive treatment, though they seldom deserved its ferocious 

 manner. But often the most trivial fault, or even a wholly 

 imaginary one, was used as the pretext for a severe beating. 

 This was especially lixkely to occur when one of the officers 

 chanced to be peevish or partially intoxicated. In such cir- 

 cumstances many persons seemed to derive a positive satis- 

 faction from the process of inflicting suffering upon others 5 

 and with unchecked authority in their hands they often gave 

 their impulses free rein. 



In other instances the difficulty was caused by misunder- 

 standing or by stubborn stupidity. Thus at the beginning of 

 one voyage a man who had been sick in the forecastle was or- 

 dered to take the wheel. While at this post the captain di- 

 rected him to put the wheel to leeward. The man did so 5 

 but having never been to sea before he was ignorant of the 

 universal rule requiring the helmsman to repeat all orders, 

 and therefore said nothing. Instead of merely instructing the 

 green hand in the proper method of response, the master 

 chose to consider it a case of stubborn neglect, and worked up 

 a scene in which the victim was beaten severely. At another 

 time the same captain became enraged because the Portuguese 

 boy at the helm, who had been very ill, was not strong enough 

 to keep the vessel's head steady to the wind in the heavy sea 

 which was running, and because he did not know enough Eng- 

 lish either to understand the commands and threats or to reply 

 to them. Again the commanding officer insisted that this was 

 a manifestation of stubbornness and of insolence, and struck 

 the boy repeatedly on the face and head with his fists and with 

 a heavy rope. 



