... I have left something out.
At the beginning of the voyage Captain Schantze housed a flock of two dozen chickens in a coop under the forecastle ... in order to insure himself of fresh eggs during the voyage....
And for fresh meat, he had a huge sow hauled aboard—to be killed later on....
One morning, when I went forward to fetch the captain's and mates' breakfast, I found the cook all white and ghastly....
"What's the matter, Cook?"
"To-day's the day I've got to butcher the sow," he complained, "and I'd give anything to have someone else do it ... I've made such a pet of her during the voyage ... and she's so intelligent and affectionate ... she's decenter than lots of human beings I've met."
I kept to the cabin while the butchering was going on.
The cook, the next day, with tears streaming down his face, told me how trusting the sow had been to the last moment....
"I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she realised what I had done to her when I cut her throat."