WHY WE DON'T DESERT 35 



a keg of which was kept in the forecastle. For 

 dinner, we had soup, corned-beef stew, called 

 skouse," a loaf of soft bread, and coffee. For 

 supper, we had slices of corned-beef which the 

 sailors called " salt horse," hardtack, and tea. 

 The principal variation in this diet was in the 

 soups. 



The days were a round of barley soup, bean 

 soup, pea soup, and back to barley soup again, 

 an alternation that led the men to speak of the 

 days of the week not as Monday, Tuesday, and 

 so on, but as " barley soup day," " bean soup 

 day," and " pea soup day." Once or twice a 

 week we had gingerbread for supper. On the 

 other hand the cabin fared sumptuously on 

 canned vegetables, meat, salmon, soft bread, tea, 

 and coffee with sugar and condensed milk, fresh 

 fish and meat whenever procurable, and a des- 

 sert every day at dinner, including plum duff, a 

 famous sea delicacy which never in all the voy- 

 age found its way forward. 



From the first day, the green hands were set 

 learning the ropes, to stand lookout, to take their 

 trick at the wheel, to reef and furl and work 



