CURRENTS AND WHALING. 499 



restricted in food by his commander may receive an equivalent in 

 money. 



The ration has been hitherto left to the master and owner, and 

 although it is the true interest of the latter that the crew of his ship 

 should be well fed, yet there are many who think and practise the con- 

 trary. I see no reason why there should not be a lawful ration fixed 

 as well in the merchant service as in the navy, and when it is not 

 supplied in full, that the crew shall be entitled to be paid for the 

 deficiency; it then could be no object for a master or owner to stint 

 them. I have generally observed that by far the greater part of the 

 complaints arise from this cause, and when the master is part owner 

 they are almost invariably made. 



Another cause of complaint arises from the practice of issuing slops 

 to the crews instead of money, and giving the supply of these to the 

 master as a perquisite. I was not a little surprised when I learned that 

 this perquisite had amounted to eighteen hundred dollars with a crew 

 of about thirty men. It, in fact, sometimes reaches the amount of 

 between two and three thousand dollars ; and it will naturally excite 

 some curiosity to know how so large a net gain could accrue from 

 sailors whose ordinary dress is but a pair of coarse blue trousers and 

 red flannel shirt. There is, however, no difficulty in the explanation. 

 The crew, in the first place, get an outfit in clothing as an advance, 

 which is charged to them at a profit of one hundred per cent. ; they then 

 when allowed liberty on shore are obliged to draw these goods or 

 clothing, in lieu of money, and cannot exchange them on shore for 

 more than one-fourth of what they are charged for them. In this way 

 a debt is accumulated against the " lay" of the seaman, until he finds 

 before the end of the voyage that the whole amount that ought to 

 accrue to him is dissipated. This naturally leads to discontent against 

 the persons whom he knows or believes to be the authors of his loss, 

 and for whose gain all his labours have gone. This state of things 

 unavoidably produces difficulties, more or less serious according to the 

 number of the crew who find themselves thus circumstanced. I am not 

 prepared to say how this can be avoided, but I am well satisfied it 

 would be for the interest of the owners to reserve this supply to them- 

 selves, and charge it to the crew, at such advance on the cost as will 

 just secure themselves from loss. By doing this they would find that 

 the expenses caused by detention and the many vexations and quarrels 

 would be saved. It is inconceivable how much time is lost in port by 

 these difficulties between the master and crew. 



Many difficulties would certainly be prevented by the government 

 sending men-of-war to the ports at the time they are frequented by the 



