lavances "
Rice lb. 1/2
Oatmeal "
Barley "
Salted Fish "
Condensed Milk oz.
Tea " 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8
Coffee Beans (Roasted) " 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2
Cocoa "
Sugar " 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Dried Fruit (Raisins,
Currants, &c.) "
Butter lb.
Marmalade or Jam "
Molasses Pint
Mustard oz.
Pepper "
Vinegar or Pickles Pint
[1].............. ....
.............. ....

SUBSTITUTES AND EQUIVALENTS.
Equivalent Substitutes at the Master's option. No spirits allowed.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Other articles may be inserted here.]

CHAPTER VIII

LIFE AMONG THE PACKET RATS

It is a noteworthy fact that many of the featherbrained,
harum-scarum captains endeavoured to man their vessels with
men who had been trained in north-country colliers. These
men were considered not only the best, but the most
subordinate in the world. Perhaps this was correct, but I
think the west countrymen could claim a good place in point
of seamanship, if not of subordination. I remember hearing
the captain of an Australian passenger vessel making this
complimentary statement of north-country men to my father,
when I was a very small boy, and I learnt by experience many
years afterwards that it was true. Life aboard some of the
packet ships was a chronic convulsion of devilry. The
majority of the men constituting the crew were termed
"packet rats," and were the scrapings of British and foreign
scoundrelism. No wonder the captains were anxious to have a
proportion of fine, able-bodied north-country sailors, as a
steadying influence on the devil-may-care portion of the
crew. The signing on of a packet ship was quite an historic
occasion. All the "gimlet-eyed" rascals in town were on the
alert to bleed the sailor as soon as he had got his advance.
It was usual for the sailors to sign articles binding
themselves to be aboard at 5.30 or 6 a.m. on a fixed date,
and in order that there might be no mistake as to how the
discipline of the vessel was to be administered, the
officers, who were generally Yankees, or aped the habits and
manners of the Yankee, were stationed at the gangways for
the