YACHTS AND YACHTING. 154 
But Sampson’s good sense proved to be stronger than his ap- 
petite, and the native force of his character secured a very cred- 
itable victory for his higher moral nature, and vindicated fhe 
goodness and strength of hisjudgment. When sailing with him 
on one occasion, after we had delicately alluded to this subject, 
he said,—‘‘I ha’nt drinked no sperits since °76. I know’d it 
wouldn’t do. Why, when,I used to drink, I was ’fered to talk to 
the missuses—’cause I ’fered they’d smell my breth. But now 
T isn’t ’fered at all. I goes ’round ’em, and ’mong ’em, and to 
windward of ’em, or any how—and none of ’em kan’t smell no 
liker when Sampson talks to ’em, ’bout goen sailen in his boat.” 
We have been informed that in Boston harbor several lives are 
lost every summer from the capsizing of pleasure boats; that 
Boston yachts are long and narrow, and that in their construc- 
tion, as well as in sailing them, safety is subordinated to speed. 
But here, surrounded by intricate channels, and the waters 
abounding with submerged rocks and reefs, where the vessels of 
commerce, in formidable numbers, are stranded, and the busi- 
ness of ‘‘ wrecking” is pursued by many of the islanders under 
licenses purchased of the government, we have yet to leayn of 
an instance where a serious accident has ever happened to a 
pleasure boat. The “ Triton” carries eight thousand pounds of 
iron ballast and draws five feet of water. It grounded once when 
we were on board of her, upon a bank of coral, and a ton of bal- 
last was thrown overboard to get her off, but Sampson declared 
such a thing never happened to the ‘‘ Triton” before, and he 
would not have the affair known for fifty dollars. He was over- 
board in the water so long trying to get her off, and was so ex- 
cited and nervous about it, that, alas for the fast color of his 
ebony complexion, he fairly turned white. Aided by the friendly 
crew of a passing boat, the ‘‘ Triton” was extricated from her 
difficulty at last, and the diplomatic Sampson made all his pas- 
14 
