Captain Balaam of the 'Cormorant', and other sea comedies

by Morley Roberts

III. [CAPTAIN BALAAM OF THE CORMORANT]

IV. [JACK-ALL-ALONE]

V. [THE MUTINOUS CONDUCT OF MRS. RYDER]

VI. [THE COMEDY OF THE ORIANA]

THE OWNER OF THE PATRIARCH

If any one cares to look up the Patriarch in Lloyd's List, it will be discovered that the line given to her reads thus:—

And all these hieroglyphics mean something to the initiated, of whom, as a matter of fact, there are more ashore than at sea. But the main point is that the owner of her was T. Tyser, and it matters very little whether she was built of heavier plating than the rules required, or whether she was cemented, or built under special survey, or what not. For T. Tyser, otherwise Mr. Thomas Tyser, was not only the owner of the Patriarch, but also the owner of a dozen other vessels all beginning with a P. He was, moreover, the owner of a large block of land in the heart of Melbourne; he had several streets, of which the biggest was Tyser Street, S.E., in London, and his banking account was certainly of heavier metal than he had any personal use for. He was a rough dog from the north country, and in the course of half a century's fight in London he came out top-dog in his own line, and was more or less of a millionaire.