ABOATSTEERER. 17 



and stockings. He speaks in an undertone, 

 & though not judging it worth while to talk 

 louder. His appearance is thoroughly unprepos- 

 sessing, and calculated to give one the impreesioi. 

 that he is quite the reverse of " smart." 



This is a whaleman, ashore. 



"Who is he?" I asked of the shipper, as he 

 lounged out of the office door, after receiving some 

 money, evidently the object of his visit to the 

 shipping-office. 



" That fellow," was the answer, spoken with 

 Borne degree of pride ; " that's Ezekiel Wixon, a 

 mighty smart man, I can tell you, and death on a 

 sperm whale. I've got him a birth as third mate 

 and boatsteerer in the finest ship that will sail 

 from New Bedford this season, and I would not 

 hesitate to bet money that he will be chief mate 

 of her next voyage." 



I should never have guessed it, from his appear- 

 ance ; but it was even so. And when I subse- 

 quently came to New Bedford, I found this awk- 

 ward looking fellow hand-in-glove with every 

 out-fitter in the place a sure sign that his smart- 

 ness as a whale-man was beyond doubt. 



While I was talking to the shipper, my com- 

 panion saw something in the street to attract his 

 attention, and left me. Being thus w thout com- 

 pany I continued my conversation with the talk- 

 ative shipping-master, gaining from him some 

 information in regard to a branch of the whaling 

 business, of which I had hitherto learnt but little, 

 2 



