74 WHALING AND FISHNG. 



and cotton trowsers which blew apart as they 

 hung in the rigging to dry, such was, with three 

 or four exceptions, the quality of their supply of 

 clothing for a four years cruise. Some there were 

 however, who had fallen into better hands, and 

 these had received the worth of their money in 

 good substantial clothing. 



Green hands often prefer while yet in port, to 

 deal with the very men who afterward cheat 

 them so outrageously for the reason that these 

 will, in most cases, advance them small sums of 

 money during their stay on shore, to be charged 

 as clothing in the bill, while the honest dealer 

 ignores all such transactions. Thus the inexpe- 

 rienced and unthinking often for the sake of a 

 little indulgence on shore, sacrifice their comfort 

 during the greater part of a cruise. 



It is not expected however, that the clothing 

 obtained of the outfitters shall last the crew the 

 entire cruise. And as clothing stores are not 

 known in the vicinity of many of the whaling 

 grounds, the captains are provided by the owner 

 with a "slop-chest," furnished with all articles 

 which are likely to be wanted for the particular 

 voyage upon which the vessel is bound. These slop- 

 chests were in former times the perquisites of the 

 captains, and they often made immense profits upon 

 their investments; from two to three hundred per 

 cent being considered only an average return. 

 Many complaints were made about this system of 

 xtortion, by which, as one of our boatsteerers 



