arry a
Whistle" (_Boteler_). The coxswain had to stay in his barge when she
towed astern at sea, and his office, therefore, was often very wretched,
from the cold and wet. He had to see that his boat's crew were at all
times clean in their persons, and dressed alike, in as fine a livery as
could be managed (_Monson_). He was to choose them from the best men in
the ship, from the "able and handsome men" (_Monson_). He had to
instruct them to row together, and to accustom the port oarsmen to pull
starboard from time to time. He also kept his command well caulked, and
saw the chocks and skids secure when his boat was hoisted to the deck.

The quartermasters and their mates had charge of the hold (_Monson_),
and kept a sort of check upon the steward in his "delivery of the
Victuals to the Cook, and in his pumping and drawing of the Beer"
(_Boteler_). In far later times they seem to have been a rating of
elderly and sober seamen who took the helm, two and two together, in
addition to their other duties. In the Elizabethan ship they
superintended the stowage of the ballast, and were in charge below, over
the ballast shifters, when the ships were laid on their sides to be
scraped and tallowed. They also had to keep a variety of fish hooks
ready, in order to catch any fish, such as sharks or bonitos.

The purser was expected to be "an able Clerk" (_Monson_) for he had to
keep an account of all provisions received from the victualler. He kept
the ship's muster-book, with some account of every man borne upon it. He
made out passes, or pay-tickets for discharged men (_ibid._), and,
according to _Boteler_, he was able "to purse up roundly for himself" by
dishonest dealing. The purser (_Boteler_ says the cook) received 6d. a
month from every seaman, for "Wooden Dishes, Cans, Candles, Lanthorns,
and Candlesticks for the Hold" (_Monson_). It was also his office to
superintend the steward, in the serving out of the provisions and other
necessaries to the crew.

The steward was the purser's deputy (_Monson_). He had to receive "the
full Mass of Victual of all kinds," and see it well stowed in the hold,
the heavy things below, the light things up above (_Boteler_). He had
charge of all the candles, of which those old dark ships used a
prodigious number. He kept the ship's biscuits or bread, in the
bread-room, a sort of dark cabin below the gun-deck. He lived a life of
comparative retirement, for there was a "several part in the Hold, w