CHAPTER VII. 



CONCLUSION ADVICE TO APPRENTICES. 



NOW if any youth, who is intending going to sea, should 

 read this rough sketch of the life of an apprentice, 

 I would advise him to be very careful how he enters 

 upon his duties. He should be civil to everybody 

 and dutiful to his officers, doing his best to gain their 

 good-will by performing what he is told, cheerfully. 

 When he is set to do anything, do it quickly with a good 

 grace. Nobody gains ill-will so soon as a sulky, grumbling 

 boy. I will vouchsafe to say at the end of a long voyage a 

 civil boy will be respected. Do not listen to the yarns of 

 some men. When they wish you to stay, leave at once, and 

 begin some trifling job, also improve your mind with 

 reading, and your spare time in learning navigation. When 

 the men see you are superior in education to them, they 

 will treat you with respect. If a poor fellow cannot write, 

 proffer to write his letters for him. It will cost nothing, and 

 he will send a letter to his friends, otherwise he would 

 neglect doing so, and I can assure you that he will befriend 

 you in some way or other. Help those who are not so well 

 educated as yourself, and do not taunt them because they 

 are not so, although there are not so many now as formerly 

 who cannot write. 



These few remarks I hope will not deter any youth from 

 going to sea. The times are much altered since I first 

 began. Boys are well looked after, and their comfort 

 studied. As regards the hardships of the Arctic regions, 

 steam has superseded sailing vessels, the work is easier, and 



