half-way down, that is, to where the legs are inserted into the human
frame, he was a fine, well-made, handsome, well-proportioned man. But
what a falling off was there!--for some reason, some accident it is
supposed, in his infancy, his legs had never grown in length since he
was three years old: they were stout as well as his body, but not more
than eighteen inches from the hip to the heel; and he consequently
waddled about a very ridiculous figure, for he was like a man _razeed_
or cut down. Put him on an eminence of a couple of feet, and not see
his legs, and you would say at a distance, "What a fine-looking sailor!"
but let him get down and walk up to you, and you would find that Nature
had not finished what she had so well begun, and that you are exactly
half mistaken. This malconformation below did not, however, affect his
strength--it rather added to it; and there were but few men in the ship
who would venture a wrestle with the boatswain, who was very
appropriately distinguished by the cognomen of Jemmy Ducks. Jemmy was a
sensible, merry fellow, and a good seaman: you could not affront him by
any jokes on his figure, for he would joke with you. He was indeed the
fiddle of the ship's company, and he always played the fiddle to them
when the danced, on which instrument he was no mean performer; and,
moreover, accompanied his voice with his instrument when he sang to them
after they were tired of dancing. We shall only observe that Jemmy was
a married man, and he had selected one of the tallest of the other sex:
of her beauty, the less that is said the better--Jemmy did not look to
that, or perhaps, at such a height, her face did not appear so plain to
him as it did to those who were more on a level with it. The effect of
perspective is well known, and even children now have as playthings,
castles, etcetera, laid down on card, which, when looked at in a proper
direction, appear just as correct as they do preposterous when lying
flat before you.

Now it happened that from the level that Jemmy looked up from to his
wife's face, her inharmonious features were all in harmony, and thus did
she appear--what is very advantageous in the marriage state--perfection
to her husband, without sufficient charms in the eyes of others to
induce them to seduce her from her liege lord. Moreover, let it be
recollected, that what Jemmy _wanted_ was _height_, and he had gained
what he required in his wife, if not in his own per