CHARACTERISTICS OF TUB PEOPLE. 65 



fish (or clams), salt, pepper, p ten ty of potatoes , a little 

 (and but a little) Hour, and water ad libitum; then, with 

 proper cooking, you get a dish lit for old Epicurus 

 himself. 



It will be safe to address at least every second man 

 you meet as " Captain," and he likes it; it sounds, too, 

 much better and more respectful than "sir" or 

 " mister." This is easily accounted for from the fact 

 that they were for so many years a seafaring people, 

 consequently expressions like the following are prover- 

 bial: for instance, if one has not been successful in an 

 undertaking they say, " Well, we must go one voyage 

 to learn." Two persons meet on the street: one says, 

 " Where are you bound?" or "Which way are you 

 heading? " The other answers, " Oh, only on a cruise! " 

 Every well-dressed person is "rigged to kill"; and 

 they always know you " by the cut of your jib." A 

 horse when harnessed is "tackled up." The word 

 " skrimshonting " * is often heard, and is applied to the 

 doing of any small job requiring ingenuity, like the carv- 

 ing of a whale's tooth or the making of a small box. 



" Foopaw " — evidently from the French faux pas — 

 denotes an awkward performance; "you've made a 

 reglar foopaw of it " would be the term used. 



The peculiar shape of the carts and box wagons is no- 

 ticeable. The " spring cart," with a crowd of young 



* This word is evidently of Indian origin, doubtless a corrup- 

 tion of some word used by them to denote the carving of a pipe 

 or arrow-head. The aborigines of Nantucket were very early 

 connected with the settlers in the business of the whale fishery, 

 hence it is believed that the word was borrowed from them. 



