MAKING A MASTER. 5 



sail and rope must be so familiar to him that in 

 the darkest night, without a ray of light, he can 

 handle them quickly, accurately and effectively, 

 knowing everything as well by touch as by sight. 

 To many a newly made sailor it is one of life's 

 most terrible moments when he is first ordered to 

 the masthead, that cruelly-tapering, suggestively- 

 towering spire, a glance at whose skyward reaches 

 causes the brain to reel and the heart to fail. 

 But the mounting is inevitable. If one refuses it, 

 punishment is also inevitable, and the task still to 

 be accomplished. To a kind hearted master this 

 forcing of young sailors into the rigging is an 

 almost heartbreaking experience ; to the calloused 

 captain a most exasperating one. But the Swift's 

 cabin-boy wanted to go into the rigging, longed 

 to learn everything, great and small, about a 

 vessel, and that right quickly. As the days went 

 on, although my duties as cabin-boy were never 

 neglected, I worked much of each day among the 

 men, constantly gaining a thorough knowledge of 

 every form of seamen's craft. In the boats which 

 were sent out to drill for the capturing of whales, 

 I became an expert. While the captain was 

 trying to teach the second and third mate naviga- 

 tion, I was sitting in a state-room opposite the 

 cabin occupied by the three, noting all the many 



