PRIVILEGED TO BEG OR STEAL. 263 



a 



and not very remote ; and we felt ourselves consider- 

 ably elevated b}' the mere thought, when we gam- 

 moned with ships but a short time from home, 

 of the probation they, poor fellows, would have 

 to go through ere they arrived at the degree of 

 experience we had acquired on this coast. The 

 wildest of those of our crew, who had left home on 

 the impulse of the moment, were the most anxious 

 to return, feeling that they had paid dear enough for 

 their whistles. 



We were now the longest out of any ship on the 

 coast. It is an old adage, amongst whalemen, that 

 when a year from home, on gammoning with any 

 ship that has sailed subsequent to your own departure, 

 you have the privilege of begging ; when two years 

 out, of stealing; and when three years, of stealing 

 and begging too ; so that we now had the right of 

 exercising this privilege, in which there is more 

 reality than romance. Fresh provisions are seized 

 upon by the old residenters without ruth, as if 

 they had the best right to them. This is seldom 

 disputed by the owners, who, in the abundance of 

 their S3^mpathy, do not w^ait to be asked for such, 

 things, but press them for acceptance without thought 

 of remuneration ; doing as they would be done by, 

 and setting an example worthy of imitation by more 

 polished ones. 



During the latter part of February and the month 

 of March, we were occupied in beating around the 

 south-west coast of New Holland, occasionally seeing 

 land or sighting a ship to vary the monotony. Early 

 in April we steered to the northward, the strong 

 south-east trades being greatly in our favor. These 



