Contents
| CHAPTER | |
| I. |
[THE JACKET.] |
| II. |
[HOMEWARD BOUND.] |
| III. |
[A GLANCE AT THE PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS, INTO WHICH A MAN-OF-WAR’S CREW IS DIVIDED.] |
| IV. |
[JACK CHASE.] |
| V. |
[JACK CHASE ON A SPANISH QUARTER-DECK.] |
| VI. |
[THE QUARTER-DECK OFFICERS, WARRANT OFFICERS, AND BERTH-DECK UNDERLINGS OF A MAN-OF-WAR; WHERE THEY LIVE IN THE SHIP; HOW THEY LIVE; THEIR SOCIAL STANDING ON SHIP-BOARD; AND WHAT SORT OF GENTLEMEN THEY ARE.] |
| VII. |
[BREAKFAST, DINNER, AND SUPPER.] |
| VIII. |
[SELVAGEE CONTRASTED WITH MAD-JACK.] |
| IX. |
[OF THE POCKETS THAT WERE IN THE JACKET.] |
| X. |
[FROM POCKETS TO PICKPOCKETS.] |
| XI. |
[THE PURSUIT OF POETRY UNDER DIFFICULTIES.] |
| XII. |
[THE GOOD OR BAD TEMPER OF MEN-OF-WAR’S MEN, IN A GREAT DEGREE, ATTRIBUTABLE TO THEIR PARTICULAR STATIONS AND DUTIES ABOARD SHIP.] |
| XIII. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR HERMIT IN A MOB.] |
| XIV. |
[A DRAUGHT IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XV. |
[A SALT-JUNK CLUB IN A MAN-OF-WAR, WITH A NOTICE TO QUIT.] |
| XVI. |
[GENERAL TRAINING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XVII. |
[AWAY! SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH CUTTERS, AWAY!] |
| XVIII. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.] |
| XIX. |
[THE JACKET ALOFT.] |
| XX. |
[HOW THEY SLEEP IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XXI. |
[ONE REASON WHY MEN-OF-WAR’S MEN ARE, GENERALLY, SHORT-LIVED.] |
| XXII. |
[WASH-DAY AND HOUSE-CLEANING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XXIII. |
[THEATRICALS IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XXIV. |
[INTRODUCTORY TO CAPE HORN.] |
| XXV. |
[THE DOG-DAYS OFF CAPE HORN.] |
| XXVI. |
[THE PITCH OF THE CAPE.] |
| XXVII. |
[SOME THOUGHTS GROWING OUT OF MAD JACK’S COUNTERMANDING HIS SUPERIOR’S ORDER.] |
| XXVIII. |
[EDGING AWAY.] |
| XXIX. |
[THE NIGHT-WATCHES.] |
| XXX. |
[A PEEP THROUGH A PORT-HOLE AT THE SUBTERRANEAN PARTS OF A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XXXI. |
[THE GUNNER UNDER HATCHES.] |
| XXXII. |
[A DISH OF DUNDERFUNK.] |
| XXXIII. |
[A FLOGGING.] |
| XXXIV. |
[SOME OF THE EVIL EFFECTS OF FLOGGING.] |
| XXXV. |
[FLOGGING NOT LAWFUL.] |
| XXXVI. |
[FLOGGING NOT NECESSARY.] |
| XXXVII. |
[SOME SUPERIOR OLD “LONDON DOCK” FROM THE WINE-COOLERS OF NEPTUNE.] |
| XXXVIII. |
[THE CHAPLAIN AND CHAPEL IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XXXIX. |
[THE FRIGATE IN HARBOUR.—THE BOATS.—GRAND STATE RECEPTION OF THE COMMODORE.] |
| XL. |
[SOME OF THE CEREMONIES IN A MAN-OF-WAR UNNECESSARY AND INJURIOUS.] |
| XLI. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR LIBRARY.] |
| XLII. |
[KILLING TIME IN A MAN-OF-WAR IN HARBOUR.] |
| XLIII. |
[SMUGGLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XLIV. |
[A KNAVE IN OFFICE IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XLV. |
[PUBLISHING POETRY IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XLVI. |
[THE COMMODORE ON THE POOP, AND ONE OF “THE PEOPLE” UNDER THE HANDS OF THE SURGEON.] |
| XLVII. |
[AN AUCTION IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XLVIII. |
[PURSER, PURSER’S STEWARD, AND POSTMASTER IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XLIX. |
[RUMOURS OF A WAR, AND HOW THEY WERE RECEIVED BY THE POPULATION OF THE NEVERSINK.] |
| L. |
[THE BAY OF ALL BEAUTIES.] |
| LI. |
[ONE OF “THE PEOPLE” HAS AN AUDIENCE WITH THE COMMODORE AND THE CAPTAIN ON THE QUARTER-DECK.] |
| LII. |
[SOMETHING CONCERNING MIDSHIPMEN.] |
| LIII. |
[SEAFARING PERSONS PECULIARLY SUBJECT TO BEING UNDER THE WEATHER.—THE EFFECTS OF THIS UPON A MAN-OF-WAR CAPTAIN.] |
| LIV. |
[“THE PEOPLE” ARE GIVEN “LIBERTY.”] |
| LV. |
[MIDSHIPMEN ENTERING THE NAVY EARLY.] |
| LVI. |
[A SHORE EMPEROR ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| LVII. |
[THE EMPEROR REVIEWS THE PEOPLE AT QUARTERS.] |
| LVIII. |
[A QUARTER-DECK OFFICER BEFORE THE MAST.] |
| LIX. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR BUTTON DIVIDES TWO BROTHERS.] |
| LX. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN SHOT AT.] |
| LXI. |
[THE SURGEON OF THE FLEET.] |
| LXII. |
[A CONSULTATION OF MAN-OF-WAR SURGEONS.] |
| LXIII. |
[THE OPERATION.] |
| LXIV. |
[MAN-OF-WAR TROPHIES.] |
| LXV. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR RACE.] |
| LXVI. |
[FUN IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| LXVII. |
[WHITE-JACKET ARRAIGNED AT THE MAST.] |
| LXVIII. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR FOUNTAIN, AND OTHER THINGS.] |
| LXIX. |
[PRAYERS AT THE GUNS.] |
| LXX. |
[MONTHLY MUSTER ROUND THE CAPSTAN.] |
| LXXI. |
[THE GENEALOGY OF THE ARTICLES OF WAR.] |
| LXXII. |
[“HEREIN ARE THE GOOD ORDINANCES OF THE SEA, WHICH WISE MEN, WHO VOYAGED ROUND THE WORLD, GAVE TO OUR ANCESTORS, AND WHICH CONSTITUTE THE BOOKS OF THE SCIENCE OF GOOD CUSTOMS.”] |
| LXXIII. |
[NIGHT AND DAY GAMBLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| LXXIV. |
[THE MAIN-TOP AT NIGHT.] |
| LXXV. |
[“SINK, BURN, AND DESTROY.”] |
| LXXVI. |
[THE CHAINS.] |
| LXXVII. |
[THE HOSPITAL IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| LXXVIII. |
[DISMAL TIMES IN THE MESS.] |
| LXXIX. |
[HOW MAN-OF-WAR’S-MEN DIE AT SEA.] |
| LXXX. |
[THE LAST STITCH.] |
| LXXXI. |
[HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.] |
| LXXXII. |
[WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.] |
| LXXXIII. |
[A MAN-OF-WAR COLLEGE.] |
| LXXXIV. |
[MAN-OF-WAR BARBERS.] |
| LXXXV. |
[THE GREAT MASSACRE OF THE BEARDS.] |
| LXXXVI. |
[THE REBELS BROUGHT TO THE MAST.] |
| LXXXVII. |
[OLD USHANT AT THE GANGWAY.] |
| LXXXVIII. |
[FLOGGING THROUGH THE FLEET.] |
| LXXXIX. |
[THE SOCIAL STATE IN A MAN-OF-WAR.] |
| XC. |
[THE MANNING OF NAVIES.] |
| XCI. |
[SMOKING-CLUB IN A MAN-OF-WAR, WITH SCENES ON THE GUN-DECK DRAWING NEAR HOME.] |
| XCII. |
[THE LAST OF THE JACKET.] |
| XCIII. |
[CABLE AND ANCHOR ALL CLEAR.] |
WHITE-JACKET.
CHAPTER I.
THE JACKET.
It was not a very white jacket, but white enough, in all conscience, as the sequel will show.
The way I came by it was this.
When our frigate lay in Callao, on the coast of Peru—her last harbour in the Pacific—I found myself without a grego, or sailor’s surtout; and as, toward the end of a three years’ cruise, no pea-jackets could be had from the purser’s steward: and being bound for Cape Horn, some sort of a substitute was indispensable; I employed myself, for several days, in manufacturing an outlandish garment of my own devising, to shelter me from the boisterous weather we were so soon to encounter.
It was nothing more than a white duck frock, or rather shirt: which, laying on deck, I folded double at the bosom, and by then making a continuation of the slit there, opened it lengthwise—much as you would cut a leaf in the last new novel. The gash being made, a metamorphosis took place, transcending any related by Ovid. For, presto! the shirt was a coat!—a strange-looking coat, to be sure; of a Quakerish amplitude about the skirts; with an infirm, tumble-down collar; and a clumsy fullness about the wristbands; and white, yea, white as a shroud. And my shroud it afterward came very near proving, as he who reads further will find.
But, bless me, my friend, what sort of a summer jacket is this, in which to weather Cape Horn? A very tasty, and beautiful white linen garment it may have seemed; but then, people almost universally sport their linen next to their skin.
Very true; and that thought very early occurred to me; for no idea had I of scudding round Cape Horn in my shirt; for that would have been almost scudding under bare poles, indeed.