In addition to, and perhaps partly as a consequence of, this state of things, there was trouble brewing on board the vessel. Our mate (as the first mate is always called, par excellence) was a worthy man.— a more honest, upright, and kind-hearted man I never saw,— but he was too easy and amiable for the mate of a merchantman. He was not the man to call a sailor a ``son of a b***h,'' and knock him down with a handspike. Perhaps he really lacked the energy and spirit for such a voyage as ours, and for such a captain. Captain Thompson was a vigorous, energetic fellow. As sailors say, ``he hadn't a lazy bone in him.'' He was made of steel and whalebone. He was a man to ``toe the mark,'' and to make every one else step up to it. During all the time that I was with him, I never saw him sit down
