2f42 TRAVELS IN 
good sailors, would appear to be incompatible with the fri- 
volous and flexile tempers of Frenchmen. Their natural ver- 
satility disqualifies them for situations that require steady 
perseverance ; and the trifling gaiety of their disposition is 
ill suited to the order and discipline that are indispensable on 
board of a ship. In a gale of wind, it is said to be a matter 
of the greatest difficulty to prevail on a sufficient number of 
Frenchmen, in a whole ship's company, to go aloft for the 
purpose of taking in the sails ; and if the gale comes on sud- 
denly, the odds are great that the masts are carried away, or 
the saiTs blown from the yards. 
Both men and officers are averse to long voyages, and are 
seldom inclined to pass a friendly port. To possess the ad- 
vantage of having such ports, in different parts of the world, 
is of the first importance to their navigation and commerce. 
They pay little attention to cleanliness, either in their per- 
sons or ships, and they are generally very much crowded ; 
hence, a long voyage, without refreshments, is seldom unat- 
tended with disease and mortality. 
The Dutch seamen are steady, persevering, and intrepid ; 
and, of all nations, have maintained the hardest struggles 
with the English; but they are habitually slow and inactive. 
That they are not physically so, the crew of the Rattlesnake 
$loop, a great part of which were Dutchmen, affbrded a suf- 
ficient proof, when they engaged, in the most gallant and 
active manner,, the La Preneuse frigate, which they drove 
out of Algoa Bay. By example and a little practice, they 
overcome the dull and sluggish motion to which they have 
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