They held the notion that learning, as they called it,
always carried with it nautical ignorance and general
deterioration; and in some instances the old salts' opinions
seemed amply borne out by palpable blunders in practical
seamanship which were not uncommonly made when the theoretic
seaman or navigator was at work. These shortcomings of the
"learned" were never forgotten or forgiven by the practical
though illiterate seamen.
Until well into the 'fifties the north-east coast collier
brigs and schooners were usually commanded by this type of
illiterates, and innumerable stories might be told of their
strange methods and grotesque beliefs. The following is a
fair example. The London trade once became congested with
tonnage, and a demand sprang up for Holland, whereupon a
well-known brig was chartered for Rotterdam. She had been so
long employed running along the coast with the land aboard
that the charts became entirely neglected. When the time
came to say farewell there was more than ordinary affection
displayed by the relatives of the crew whose destiny it was
to penetrate what they conceived to be the mysteries of an
unexplored East.
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