90 EAMBLES AFTEE SPOET. 



labouring wearily, there not being enough, sober hands 

 to get sail on her ; everything in confusion on deck ; the 

 captain at his wits' end what to do, as both his mates 

 were hopelessly drunk, let alone the pitchy darkness and 

 the half gale that was blowing. The dangers of the 

 deep open sea are as nothing compared with those of 

 beating down Channel in dirty weather with a drunken 

 crew. Well, at all events, I thought, when we get into 

 fine weather we shall be all right, and the brave sailor 

 lad will come out in his truer and better colours. Alas 

 for my fancies ! I never saw such a melancholy, surly 

 lot ; they loafed, shammed, and shirked work like the 

 veriest " cadgers " ashore. Out of the whole crew you 

 might have possibly picked out four men who knew their 

 work and did it — a proportion which the captain subse- 

 quently assured me he was very glad to get in most cases. 

 And the songs ! I went forward once to hear about saucy 

 Nan and winsome Sal; I entered a low square sort of a bin, 

 called a deckhouse, which seemed, like the cages in the 

 Bastille, especially designed to prevent a person either 

 standing up or lying down ; two or three buckets were 

 lying about, half filled with cold greasy pork and half- 

 picked beef bones ; a breaker of water, three or four tin 

 cans, a couple of seamen's chests, and some old suits of 

 waterproof clothing were all the furniture visible to the 

 eye ; and the whole place had a disgusting sickening 

 smell of stale tobacco smoke and dirty clothes. Two of 

 the apprentices were lying huddled up under a pile of 

 old coats and boots, while three of the " merry tars '' 

 were sitting on the wet slippery floor, enveloped in 

 tobacco smoke, staring at me vacantly and spitting pro- 

 fusely. After a good deal of pressing on my part, and 

 paying my footing in the shape of a bottle of rum 



