{"id":"01KG8AJVWWVDQ6QHE55RMVH5DP","cid":"bafkreigfhourejbud2lt2uhnbqw2vo2updrlwc4bnlyjf6dmedzno2b27m","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHAPTER LXXXII. WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.\n\n## Overview\nThis chapter, titled \"WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA,\" is part of the novel [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ). It was extracted from the file [white_jacket.txt](arke:01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY) and is included in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection.\n\n## Context\nThis chapter follows \"CHAPTER LXXXI. HOW THEY BURY A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AT SEA.\" and precedes \"CHAPTER LXXXIII. A MAN-OF-WAR COLLEGE.\" It details the administrative and personal aftermath of a sailor's death at sea.\n\n## Contents\nThe chapter focuses on the discovery and validation of a seaman named Shenly's will, found scratched in pencil within his Bible. The will, a single sentence, directs that his wages be paid to his wife in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Purser, acting as a notary, requires the will to be \"proved\" by witnesses. The witnesses are questioned about the day of signing, using nautical terms for days of the week such as \"Banyan Day\" and \"Duff Day,\" highlighting the unique language and customs of naval life. A ship's barber provides corroboration, confirming the signing occurred on a \"Shaving Day.\" The chapter concludes with Shenly's epitaph in the Purser's books: \"D. D.\" for \"Discharged, Dead.\"","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:50:00.004Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHAPTER LXXXII. WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.","end_line":13161,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:39.667Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHAPTER LXXXII. WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":13115,"text":"CHAPTER LXXXII.\r\nWHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA.\r\n\r\n\r\nUpon examining Shenly’s bag, a will was found, scratched in pencil,\r\nupon a blank leaf in the middle of his Bible; or, to use the phrase of\r\none of the seamen, in the midships, atween the Bible and Testament,\r\nwhere the Pothecary (Apocrypha) uses to be.\r\n\r\nThe will was comprised in one solitary sentence, exclusive of the dates\r\nand signatures: “_In case I die on the voyage, the Purser will please\r\npay over my wages to my wife, who lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire_.”\r\n\r\nBesides the testator’s, there were two signatures of witnesses.\r\n\r\nThis last will and testament being shown to the Purser, who, it seems,\r\nhad been a notary, or surrogate, or some sort of cosy chamber\r\npractitioner in his time, he declared that it must be “proved.” So the\r\nwitnesses were called, and after recognising their hands to the paper;\r\nfor the purpose of additionally testing their honesty, they were\r\ninterrogated concerning the day on which they had signed—whether it was\r\n_Banyan Day_, or _Duff Day_, or _Swampseed Day_; for among the sailors\r\non board a man-of-war, the land terms, _Monday_, _Tuesday_,\r\n_Wednesday_, are almost unknown. In place of these they substitute\r\nnautical names, some of which are significant of the daily bill of fare\r\nat dinner for the week.\r\n\r\nThe two witnesses were somewhat puzzled by the attorney-like questions\r\nof the Purser, till a third party came along, one of the ship’s\r\nbarbers, and declared, of his own knowledge, that Shenly executed the\r\ninstrument on a _Shaving Day_; for the deceased seaman had informed him\r\nof the circumstance, when he came to have his beard reaped on the\r\nmorning of the event.\r\n\r\nIn the Purser’s opinion, this settled the question; and it is to be\r\nhoped that the widow duly received her husband’s death-earned wages.\r\n\r\nShenly was dead and gone; and what was Shenly’s epitaph?\r\n\r\n—“D. D.”—\r\n\r\nopposite his name in the Purser’s books, in “_Black’s best Writing\r\nFluid_”—funereal name and funereal hue—meaning “Discharged, Dead.”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHAPTER LXXXII. WHAT REMAINS OF A MAN-OF-WAR’S-MAN AFTER HIS BURIAL AT SEA."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJVX0XMWHC0YAGTD0M322","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJVWWWFZ0PAGZX8HNA4ZW","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:45.564Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:50:00.254Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}