334 CHARACTER OF THE DISMISSED HANDS. 



water, that we had a much more effective crew than 

 we had had at any time during the preceding six- 

 teen months. The ten discharged and deserted com- 

 prised all the useless material in the ship — the 

 foreign portion of them, in fact, being worse than 

 useless ; for, together with their incapacity, they had 

 a propensity to growl, and made both themselves 

 and those with whom they were associated uncom- 

 fortable. Their thievishness, too, had still adhered 

 to them, notwithstanding their penal servitude. One 

 of them, we discovered after leaving port, had on 

 his dismissal carried away with him a considerable 

 portion of the cooper's tools. This was Leonard, pro- 

 fessedly a cooper by trade. 



