e boat it was seen that the flesh of
his hands had been torn off by the clutch he made at the reef points.

The crew of this vessel was supplied with alcohol with the specific
object of getting them to work hard at the discharging of the cargo. In
plain language the owners or masters gave no thought to the personal
effect of the custom so long as it did not interfere with their
material interests, but should their policy cause the man to imbibe on
his own account and commit a breach of discipline, or to be temporarily
absent from work, he was punished with shameful severity, and in this
the master or owner was encouraged both by written and unwritten laws.
No account was taken of how far the employer was responsible in having
helped his employee to form habits by which the law was broken. The
poor lad who lost his life might have done so anyhow; but the
impression that has been fixed on my mind is that the cause of his
tragic death lay at the door of those who gave him the second mate's
nip.

The unrestrained appetite of the old sailing ship seamen for doing
something ridiculous was a problem that even those closely associated
with them could never solve. When their minds were bent towards a freak
they plunged into it regardless of consequences. The more daring the
adventure the more enjoyment they got out of it. On a memorable
occasion long ago, several ships' crews went ashore in a foreign port
on leave, and at a late hour they were returning aboard their
respective ships. Some were half seas over, and others badly sprung,
but all seem to have been smitten with the idea of reckless mischief.
Sentries were stationed along the banks of a river that Byron has sung
of. They were not supposed to allow any one to pass without a permit,
and as the seamen were not in the temper to brook coercion of this
kind, they came into conflict with each other. One of the sentries
struck a sailor, who attempted to pass the line, with his bayonet. This
was the beginning of a carnival of lawlessness. The tars were maddened
by the attempt to slay their comrade, and a wild rush was made upon
several of the soldiers. They were promptly overpowered, disarmed, and
their muskets used in disarming their friends who were panic stricken
by the vigorous onslaught, and soon succumbed to Jack's bellicose
persuasiveness. It then became an easy task to carry out the impromptu
plan of campaign of putting each soldier into his sentry-box and
casting bot