All English Whalemen Are Bound By-Law To Carry A Physician, Who, Of
Course, Is Rated A Gentleman, And Lives In The Cabin, With Nothing
But His Professional Duties To Attend To; But Incidentally He Drinks
"Flip" And Plays Cards With The Captain.
There was such a worthy
aboard of the Julia; but, curious to tell, he lived in the forecastle
with the men.
And this was the way it happened.
In the early part of the voyage the doctor and the captain lived
together as pleasantly as could be. To say nothing of many a can they
drank over the cabin transom, both of them had read books, and one of
them had travelled; so their stories never flagged. But once on a
time they got into a dispute about politics, and the doctor,
moreover, getting into a rage, drove home an argument with his fist,
and left the captain on the floor literally silenced. This was
carrying it with a high hand; so he was shut up in his state-room for
ten days, and left to meditate on bread and water, and the
impropriety of flying into a passion. Smarting under his disgrace, he
undertook, a short time after his liberation, to leave the vessel
clandestinely at one of the islands, but was brought back
ignominiously, and again shut up. Being set at large for the second
time, he vowed he would not live any longer with the captain, and
went forward with his chests among the sailors, where he was received
with open arms as a good fellow and an injured man.
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