De Captain stands on de upper deck;
(Ah ha-a-a-ah! Oh ho-o-o-o-ho!)"
You nebber see 'nudder such gentlehem, I 'spec;
(Ah ha-a-a-ah, Oh ho-o-o-ho.)
and then would follow, as an interlude, the refrain of some old plantation melody in the same key and meter, the six darkies singing their parts in perfect time and accord, and with a melody that cannot be bettered in all the world of music.
De pilot he twisses he big roun' wheel;
(Ah ha-a-a-ah! Oh ho-o-o-o-ho.)
He sings, and he whissels, and he dance Virginia reel,
(Ah ha-a-a-ah, Oh ho-o-o-ho),—