16,396. What reason was given for refusing you credit?-They said they did not know me.
16,397. Was that by a merchant in Lerwick?-Yes.
16,398. Were you asked on these occasions whether you were running an account elsewhere?-Yes; and I was told to go to the agent's for what I wanted.
16,399. Do the tradesmen here expect that you will get your supplies from the agent who engages you for the whaling voyage?-Commonly they do.
16,400. And they don't care for giving credit to men who are running an account with the agent?-No.
16,401. Were you running an account with the agent also at the time when you applied for credit in that way?-No; I was clear with the agent at that time.
16,402. Did you get no supplies from him at the beginning of the voyage?-No; but I have sometimes got supplies from the agents before I went on another voyage.
16,403. What merchant refused you credit in the way you have mentioned?-It was some of them who did not know me in Lerwick.
16,404. Did they refuse because they knew that the agent had the command of your money, and could keep it for his own account if he had one?-Yes.
16,405. Did they say so?-No, they did not make that statement exactly; but they told me that when a man was getting a ship from an agent he should go and get his things from him.