PATCH UPON PATCH. 75 



shrewdly observed, a man was compelled " e.tker 

 to be skinned or go naked;" and the matter is 

 now almost altogether taken out of the hands cf 

 the captains. The owners affix a price to each 

 article in the chest, and at that it is sold to the 

 needy. Yet these prices are sufficiently high, four 

 years interest and something additional for ne- 

 cessary loss being charged upon the cost price of 

 each article, on such a voyage as that we were 

 upon; making in all about thirty per cent. 



Fashion, I believe, generally takes its rise either 

 in the desire to conceal a deformity, or in the ne- 

 cessities of the tailor. Among whalemen, who 

 perform all tailoring operations for themselves, 

 necessity has brought in vogue a fashion called 

 " patch upon patch, and a patch over all;" and to 

 such an extent does this prevail that it is said 

 among sailors "you may know a whaleman by his 

 patched shirt." 



A man has two shirts, both nearly worn cut. 

 He puts one inside the other, and quilts both to- 

 gether with woollen yarn, then places additional 

 patches over the spots which yet appear frail, and 

 congratulates himself upon the possession of a 

 shirt which will last him, with care, for the bal- 

 ance of his natural life. 



The Sabbath is a day of uninterrupted rest, 

 previous to the arrival of the vessel upon her 

 destined cruising ground. And on such days, 

 when the weather is fair, all hands, with smooth 

 faces and clean shirts, bring on deck their clothes 



