PADDY. 329 



"Be Jabers, Misther Charley/' he would reply, 

 after an awkward pause, " is it a clewline ? " 



Night after night, I worried myself and him, 

 to teach him at least a few of the most important 

 ropes. But all to no use. To the last, he used to 

 go to the maintopsail clewline when the forebrace 

 was to be pulled upon. And on the very last day 

 of our voyage, as we were being towed up the 

 Thames, Paddy, told to slack up the spanker vang, 

 let run the peak halyards, nearly killing himself 

 by the operation. But he never uttered the word 

 can't. This had been drilled into him. 



Such extreme ignorance was almost incredible 

 to seamen. We took upon us to cross questior 

 him as to his outward voyage from London to 

 Port Louis. 



"How did you get along there, Paddy? Did 

 not they beat you occasionally? " 



But Paddy preserved a judicious silence upon 

 this part of his history. 



Had not the officers beaten him so much, he 

 would have fared hardly in the forecastle. But 

 the daily sometimes almost hourly ropes-end- 

 ings he received at the captain's hands forced us 

 to take pity upon him. 



Some others of our crew were not much better 

 treated than Paddy. In fact our officers had a 

 itrong inclination to ill use any one that would 

 stand abuse, and it was only by a continual show 

 of independence, and a readiness to resist all 



