serably
ill-satisfied--perfectly wretched.

You are surprised and demand the reason. I shall give it in a few
words.

I had not been many days on board the _Pandora_ when I observed
something which I fancied odd about the ship. I first noticed the
manner and discipline, or rather want of discipline, of the crew, far
different from what I had read of in books, which told of the exact
obedience and punctilious respect between those who served and those who
commanded. It might be, however, that those of which I had read were
ships of war, and that in others the discipline was very different. As
I had no previous knowledge of seamen, or their mode of life, I
concluded that the rude behaviour of the _Pandora's_ crew might be a
fair specimen of it, and I was both pained and humiliated by the
conclusion. It was a sad realisation--or contradiction rather--of all
my young dreams about the free happy life of the sailor, and I was
disgusted both with him and his life at the very outset.

Another circumstance attracted my attention at the same time--that was
the number of hands on board the _Pandora_. She was not a very large
ship--not over 500 tons by registry. In fact she was not a "ship,"
speaking technically, but a "barque;" in other words, a ship with her
mizen-mast rigged unlike the other two, or without a "square" topsail.
In this, and a few other points, lies the difference between a barque
and a ship--though the former is also usually smaller.

The _Pandora_ was large enough for a barque,--carried a full suit of
sail, even to flying-jibs, topgallant studding-sails, and royals; and
was one of the fastest sailors I have ever known. For her size,
however, and the amount of merchandise she carried, I could not help
fancying that she had too large a crew. Not over half of them seemed to
be employed, even while wearing ship--and I was convinced that half of
them could have done the work. I had been told often--for I used to
make inquiry about such matters--that a crew of from ten or twenty hands
was sufficient for a vessel of her size; what then could the _Pandora_
want with twice that number? I counted them over and over. There were
forty of them all told, including the worthies of the quarter-deck and
Snowball in the caboose!

The circumstance made an impression upon me--somewhat undefined it is
true--but day by day, as I observed the reckless and disgusting
behaviour of both officers and men, and overheard s