[23] The Barbary sheep entirely resembles the tame kind, excepting in the tail, which is very much loaded with fat, is often more than a foot broad, and weighs upwards of twenty pounds. Among this kind of broad-tailed sheep, there are some whose tails are so long and heavy, that the shepherds are obliged to fasten a small board with wheels, to support them as they walk along. This tail, which is a substance between marrow and fat, is considered a great delicacy.—See System of Natural History. Boston: Carter, Hendee & Co., 1834.
[24] Twenty-four doublegees made a rix dollar.
[25] An instance of maternal imprudence was said to have occurred in this port on board another ship. A poor woman went on board and inquired for her son, who had run from the British service, and was then among the captive crew of an American prize. They told her there was no one of that name among the crew. “He is among the Yankees,” said she. Hearing this, the prisoners were called up, and the poor, affectionate, but ill-judging mother, singled out her son, and embracing him, said, “I have brought you a clean shirt!”
The lieutenant, who stood by them, stepped up, remarking to the thunder-stricken man, “It’s a clean shirt you want, is it? I will give you a clean handkerchief”—meaning that he would be hung. The unhappy youth was accordingly ironed, in presence of the astounded mother, who now beheld herself the unintentional murderess of her son. A court-martial was held, and the brutal prediction of the lieutenant verified.
[26] We were captured July 12, 1814; it was now August, 1815.
[27] If the reader wishes to know why seamen wear their hats on the back of their heads, let him put his hat on as usual and ascend a ladder. He will find himself unable to look up until he places it on the back of his head as a sailor does. Sailors wear their hats thus, because they could not otherwise ascend the rigging of a ship.
[28] Edward T. Taylor (1793-1871). From 1800 to 1817 he was a sailor. In 1819 he became a Methodist clergyman. In 1827 he served as chaplain on the Macedonian, which took supplies to the famishing Irish people. He was a pastor in Boston during the rest of his life, was known as “Father Taylor,” and was a most successful worker, particularly among seamen.—(Ed.)
[29] Rev. Joel Hawes (1789-1867), for forty-six years pastor of the First Congregational Church.
[30] Rev. Wilbur Fisk (1792-1839), one of the greatest Methodists America has known.
[31] It will be á propos to here quote a letter from Thoreau to his sister Sophia, describing Emerson’s quarters on board the packet-ship Washington Irving, on which he sailed from Boston in 1847: “I went to Boston to see Mr. E. off. His stateroom was like a carpeted dark closet, about six feet square, with a large key-hole for a window. The window was about as big as a saucer, and the glass two inches thick—not to mention another skylight overhead in the deck, of the size of an oblong doughnut and about as opaque; of course it would be in vain to look up if any promenader had his foot upon it. Such will be his quarters for two or three weeks,” etc.