{"id":"01KG8AKRZ0GYB6NAPVZE2WA8DT","cid":"bafkreifhy47srntrykdb73ql3lcra7audplm4wa62erupzb5u6qc52xk34","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":365,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":302,"text":"whaleboats were gone: and of the four harpooners, only one was left, a\r\nwild New Zealander, or “Mowree” as his countrymen are more commonly\r\ncalled in the Pacific. But this was not all. More than half the seamen\r\nremaining were more or less unwell from a long sojourn in a dissipated\r\nport; some of them wholly unfit for duty, one or two dangerously ill,\r\nand the rest managing to stand their watch though they could do but\r\nlittle.\r\n\r\nThe captain was a young cockney, who, a few years before, had emigrated\r\nto Australia, and, by some favouritism or other, had procured the\r\ncommand of the vessel, though in no wise competent. He was essentially\r\na landsman, and though a man of education, no more meant for the sea\r\nthan a hairdresser. Hence everybody made fun of him. They called him\r\n“The Cabin Boy,” “Paper Jack,” and half a dozen other undignified\r\nnames. In truth, the men made no secret of the derision in which they\r\nheld him; and as for the slender gentleman himself, he knew it all very\r\nwell, and bore himself with becoming meekness. Holding as little\r\nintercourse with them as possible, he left everything to the chief\r\nmate, who, as the story went, had been given his captain in charge.\r\nYet, despite his apparent unobtrusiveness, the silent captain had more\r\nto do with the men than they thought. In short, although one of your\r\nsheepish-looking fellows, he had a sort of still, timid cunning, which\r\nno one would have suspected, and which, for that very reason, was all\r\nthe more active. So the bluff mate, who always thought he did what he\r\npleased, was occasionally made a fool of; and some obnoxious measures\r\nwhich he carried out, in spite of all growlings, were little thought to\r\noriginate with the dapper little fellow in nankeen jacket and white\r\ncanvas pumps. But, to all appearance, at least, the mate had everything\r\nhis own way; indeed, in most things this was actually the case; and it\r\nwas quite plain that the captain stood in awe of him.\r\n\r\nSo far as courage, seamanship, and a natural aptitude for keeping\r\nriotous spirits in subjection were concerned, no man was better\r\nqualified for his vocation than John Jermin. He was the very beau-ideal\r\nof the efficient race of short, thick-set men. His hair curled in\r\nlittle rings of iron gray all over his round bullet head. As for his\r\ncountenance, it was strongly marked, deeply pitted with the small-pox.\r\nFor the rest, there was a fierce little squint out of one eye; the nose\r\nhad a rakish twist to one side; while his large mouth, and great white\r\nteeth, looked absolutely sharkish when he laughed. In a word, no one,\r\nafter getting a fair look at him, would ever think of improving the\r\nshape of his nose, wanting in symmetry as it was. Notwithstanding his\r\npugnacious looks, however, Jermin had a heart as big as a bullock’s;\r\nthat you saw at a glance.\r\n\r\nSuch was our mate; but he had one failing: he abhorred all weak\r\ninfusions, and cleaved manfully to strong drink.. At all times he was\r\nmore or less under the influence of it. Taken in moderate quantities, I\r\nbelieve, in my soul, it did a man like him good; brightened his eyes,\r\nswept the cobwebs out of his brain, and regulated his pulse. But the\r\nworst of it was, that sometimes he drank too much, and a more\r\nobstreperous fellow than Jermin in his cups, you seldom came across. He\r\nwas always for having a fight; but the very men he flogged loved him as\r\na brother, for he had such an irresistibly good-natured way of knocking\r\nthem down, that no one could find it in his heart to bear malice\r\nagainst him. So much for stout little Jermin.\r\n\r\nAll English whalemen are bound by-law to carry a physician, who, of\r\ncourse, is rated a gentleman, and lives in the cabin, with nothing but\r\nhis professional duties to attend to; but incidentally he drinks “flip”\r\nand plays cards with the captain. There was such a worthy aboard of the\r\nJulia; but, curious to tell, he lived in the forecastle with the men.\r\nAnd this was the way it happened.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJG6SBV49G2YWKB4GCDW2","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKRZ09W15NDM9P0CCKQDD","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKRYS28MZP25QWZG2YFSZ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.328Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:22.727Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}