"
As they proceeded on their voyage and got into the smooth seas and
pleasant weather of the tropics, other annoyances occurred to vex the
spirit of the captain. He had been crossed by the irritable mood of one
of the partners; he was now excessively annoyed by the good-humor of
another. This was the elder Stuart, who was an easy soul, and of a
social disposition. He had seen life in Canada, and on the coast of
Labrador; had been a fur trader in the former, and a fisherman on
the latter; and, in the course of his experience, had made various
expeditions with voyageurs. He was accustomed, therefore, to the
familiarity which prevails between that class and their superiors, and
the gossipings which take place among them when seated round a fire
at their encampments. Stuart was never so happy as when he could seat
himself on the deck with a number of these men round him, in camping
style, smoke together, passing the pipe from mouth to mouth, after the
manner of the Indians, sing old Canadian boat-songs, and tell stories
about their hardships and adventures, in the course of which he rivaled
Sinbad in his long tales of the sea, about his fishing exploits on the
coast of Labrador.
This gossiping familiarity shocked the captain's notions of rank and
subordination, and nothing was so abhorrent to him as the community
of pipe between master and man, and their mingling in chorus in the
outlandish boat-songs.
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