Alas! all this has passed away, and our
eyes shall see it never more; but the fascination of it is
fixed in one's memory, and it is pleasant to think of even
now.
The average seaman has always expressed himself with
unmistakable clearness on matters pertaining to his
profession. I was walking down the main street of a
seafaring town some years ago, when I saw a group of people
standing at a window looking at an oil-painting of a large,
square-rigged ship which had been caught in a squall. The
royals and top-gallant sails had been let fly, and they were
supposed to be flapping about as sails will in a squall if
the yards are not trimmed so as to keep them quiet. There
were two sailors in the group who were criticising the
painting with some warmth: the ropes were not as they should
be, the braces and stays were not properly regulated, and
"Whoever saw sails flying about like that!" said the more
voluble of the two. The other dryly retorted, "I don't know,
mister, what _you_ think, but I want to say that I have seen
them cut some d---- funny capers at times!" This very
sailor-like sally both tickled the audience and convinced it
that the sails were really correctly drawn.
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