{"id":"01KG6YGRYBN0V81NV76665WCRQ","cid":"bafkreiek3vcf6f667m5z5cp5inzzl7n57qijmchhvovdkmmf73wu3jahmi","type":"section","properties":{"description":"# THE 'GEES\n\n## Overview\n\"THE 'GEES\" is a section from the text file \"the_apple_tree_table_and_other_sketches.txt\". It is part of the larger \"Melville\" collection. This section appears to be a narrative or descriptive piece, likely from a literary work.\n\n## Context\nThis section is extracted from \"the_apple_tree_table_and_other_sketches.txt\", a file within the \"Melville\" collection, which contains the complete works of Herman Melville. It follows the section titled \"The Uncle's Invention\" and precedes another section not detailed here. The text discusses the origin and characteristics of a group referred to as the \"'Gees,\" which the author explains is a derogatory term used by seamen for Portuguese sailors. The term is derived from \"Portugee,\" a corruption of \"Portuguese.\" The narrative elaborates on the historical context, suggesting the \"'Gees\" are descendants of Portuguese convicts sent to Fogo, one of the Cape Verde islands, where they intermingled with an indigenous population. The author highlights the disdain seamen held for this group, noting the term \"'Gee\" was a particularly contemptuous abbreviation.\n\n## Contents\nThe section \"THE 'GEES\" explains the etymology and social context of the term \"'Gee,\" used by sailors to refer to Portuguese individuals. It details their supposed origins on the island of Fogo, stemming from a mix of Portuguese convicts and an aboriginal population. The text emphasizes the derogatory nature of the term within the maritime community and provides anecdotal examples of its use. The section also briefly mentions the island of Fogo's name origin, relating it to its volcano.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T07:58:10.694Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"THE 'GEES","end_line":6668,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:39.533Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"THE 'GEES","source_file":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","start_line":6625,"text":"THE 'GEES\r\n\r\n\r\nIn relating to my friends various passages of my sea-goings I have\r\nat times had occasion to allude to that singular people the 'Gees,\r\nsometimes as casual acquaintances, sometimes as shipmates. Such\r\nallusions have been quite natural and easy. For instance, I have said\r\n_The two 'Gees_, just as another would say _The two Dutchmen_, or _The\r\ntwo Indians_. In fact, being myself so familiar with 'Gees, it seemed\r\nas if all the rest of the world must be. But not so. My auditors have\r\nopened their eyes as much as to say, \"What under the sun is a 'Gee?\"\r\nTo enlighten them I have repeatedly had to interrupt myself and not\r\nwithout detriment to my stories. To remedy which inconvenience, a\r\nfriend hinted the advisability of writing out some account of the\r\n'Gees, and having it published. Such as they are, the following\r\nmemoranda spring from that happy suggestion:\r\n\r\nThe word _'Gee_ (_g_ hard) is an abbreviation, by seamen, of\r\n_Portugee_, the corrupt form of _Portuguese_. As the name is a\r\ncurtailment, so the race is a residuum. Some three centuries ago\r\ncertain Portuguese convicts were sent as a colony to Fogo, one of the\r\nCape de Verdes, off the northwest coast of Africa, an island previously\r\nstocked with an aboriginal race of negroes, ranking pretty high in\r\ncivility, but rather low in stature and morals. In course of time, from\r\nthe amalgamated generation all the likelier sort were drafted off as\r\nfood for powder, and the ancestors of the since-called 'Gees were left\r\nas the _caput mortum_, or melancholy remainder.\r\n\r\nOf all men seamen have strong prejudices, particularly in the matter of\r\nrace. They are bigots here. But when a creature of inferior race lives\r\namong them, an inferior tar, there seems no bound to their disdain.\r\nNow, as ere long will be hinted, the 'Gee, though of an aquatic\r\nnature, does not, as regards higher qualifications, make the best of\r\nsailors. In short, by seamen the abbreviation 'Gee was hit upon in pure\r\ncontumely; the degree of which may be partially inferred from this,\r\nthat with them the primitive word Portugee itself is a reproach; so\r\nthat 'Gee, being a subtle distillation from that word, stands, in point\r\nof relative intensity to it, as attar of roses does to rose-water. At\r\ntimes, when some crusty old sea-dog has his spleen more than unusually\r\nexcited against some luckless blunderer of Fogo his shipmate, it is\r\nmarvelous the prolongation of taunt into which he will spin out the one\r\nlittle exclamatory monosyllable Ge-e-e-e-e!\r\n\r\nThe Isle of Fogo, that is, \"Fire Isle,\" was so called from its volcano,\r","title":"THE 'GEES"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6YGBGKK3MPVS4R3X6W8FQH","peer_type":"segment","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6YDD8GKW0DRD5H2MY1NRZ7","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6YGRYCJHGWA877H0N3E2VN","peer_type":"section","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T07:57:39.659Z","ts":"2026-01-30T07:58:10.901Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}