He'd some samples from the Baltic and some more from Mozambique;
Chinook and Chink and double-Dutch and Mexican and Greek;
He'd a word or two in Russian, but he learned the best he'd got
Off a pious preachin' skipper—and he had to use the lot....
"Bringin' home the Rio Grande in a seven-days' gale,
Seven days and seven nights, the same as JONAH'S whale,
Standard compass gone to bits, steering all adrift,
Courses split and mainmast sprung, cargo on the shift ...
Not a chart in all the ship left to steer her by,
Not a glimpse of star or sun in the bloomin' sky ...