15,630. Could a man do that although he was not so good a seaman?-Yes.
15,631. Was that a general belief among the men?-Yes. For my part, I never was indebted to any of the agents, and therefore I got a ship whenever wanted it.
15,632. Did you get a ship because you were not in debt?-Yes; it did not matter. I stayed in one ship for a long time.
15,633. Were the agents more willing to get a berth for a man who was not in their debt?-No.
15,634. Did they prefer to engage a man who was in their debt?- Yes; but there were not very many that would be in debt. Perhaps a young hand, who had been a year or two only at the whaling, and had small wages, would be in debt, and they would take him next year in order to clear off the accounts which he had left the year before.
15,635. Do you think the green hands were ready to get into debt in order to make sure of getting a berth next year?-I don't know about that.
15,636. Then what did you mean by saying that you never were in debt, and therefore you always got berth when you wanted it?-I only meant to say that always got a ship when I wanted one, but that I never was in debt to the agents; and therefore I cannot prove whether they would take me more readily if I was in debt. But I have heard the men saying that those who were in debt would be shipped as soon as the others.
Lerwick, January 30, 1872, ELIZABETH MORRISON, examined.
15,637. Do you live in Lerwick?-Yes.
15,638. What do you do?-Anything that I can. I go errands or knit stockings, or anything of that sort.