to sail with an unreliable crew.

In many ships in which I have sailed, in my younger days, no officer
considered it _infra dig_. for him, when not on watch, to go for'ard and
listen to some of the hands spinning yarns, especially when the subject
of their discourse turned upon matters of seamanship, the eccentricities
either of a ship herself or of her builders, etc. This unbending from
official dignity on the part of an officer was rarely abused by the
men--especially by the better-class sailor-man. He knew that "Mr.
Smith" the chief officer who was then listening to his yarns and perhaps
afterwards spinning one himself, would in a few hours become a different
man when it was his watch on deck, and probably ask Tom Jones, A.B.,
what the blazes he meant by crawling aft to relieve the wheel like
an old woman with palsy. And Jones, A.B., would grin with respectful
diffidence, hurry his steps and bear no malice towards his superior.

Such incidents never occur now. There is no feeling of comradeship
between officer and "Jack". Each distrusts the other.

I have not had much experience of steamers in the South Sea trade,
except as a passenger--most of my voyages having been made in sailing
craft, but on one occasion my firm had to charter a steamer for six
months, owing to the ship of which I was supercargo undergoing extensive
repairs.

The steamer, in addition to a general cargo, also carried 500 tons
of coal for the use of a British warship, engaged in "patrolling" the
Solomon Islands, and I was told to "hurry along". The ship's company
were all strangers to me, and I saw at once I should not have a pleasant
time as supercargo. The crew were mostly alleged Englishmen, with a
sprinkling of foreigners, and the latter were a useless, lazy lot of
scamps. The engine-room staff were worse, and the captain and mate
seemed too terrified of them to bring them to their bearings. They (the
crew) were a bad type of "wharf rats," and showed such insolence to the
captain and mate that I urged both to put some of them in irons for a
few days. The second mate was the only officer who showed any spirit,
and he and I naturally stood together, agreeing to assist each other
if matters became serious, for the skipper and mate were a thoroughly
white-livered pair.

Just off San Cristoval, the firemen came to me, and asked me to sell
them a case of Hollands gin. I refused, and said one bottle was enough
at a time. They threatened to brea