{"id":"01KG8AKT5VSWK4YV7ZNG93NYF4","cid":"bafkreice745thdtzfppzdotjbdhrpwjxv24ghvkle3zxzwwodlgkccqfb4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6805,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.842Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":6736,"text":"miter; while forward, on the bows, was a sort of devil for a\r\nfigure-head—a dragon-shaped creature, with a fiery red mouth, and a\r\nswitchy-looking tail.\r\n\r\nAfter her cargo was discharged, which was done “to the sound of flutes\r\nand soft recorders”—something as work is done in the navy to the music\r\nof the boatswain’s pipe—the Lascars were set to _“stripping the ship”_\r\nthat is, to sending down all her spars and ropes.\r\n\r\nAt this time, she lay alongside of us, and the Babel on board almost\r\ndrowned our own voices. In nothing but their girdles, the Lascars\r\nhopped about aloft, chattering like so many monkeys; but, nevertheless,\r\nshowing much dexterity and seamanship in their manner of doing their\r\nwork.\r\n\r\nEvery Sunday, crowds of well-dressed people came down to the dock to\r\nsee this singular ship; many of them perched themselves in the shrouds\r\nof the neighboring craft, much to the wrath of Captain Riga, who left\r\nstrict orders with our old ship-keeper, to drive all strangers out of\r\nthe Highlander’s rigging. It was amusing at these times, to watch the\r\nold women with umbrellas, who stood on the quay staring at the Lascars,\r\neven when they desired to be private. These inquisitive old ladies\r\nseemed to regard the strange sailors as a species of wild animal, whom\r\nthey might gaze at with as much impunity, as at leopards in the\r\nZoological Gardens.\r\n\r\nOne night I was returning to the ship, when just as I was passing\r\nthrough the Dock Gate, I noticed a white figure squatting against the\r\nwall outside. It proved to be one of the Lascars who was smoking, as\r\nthe regulations of the docks prohibit his indulging this luxury on\r\nboard his vessel. Struck with the curious fashion of his pipe, and the\r\nodor from it, I inquired what he was smoking; he replied _“Joggerry,”_\r\nwhich is a species of weed, used in place of tobacco.\r\n\r\nFinding that he spoke good English, and was quite communicative, like\r\nmost smokers, I sat down by _Dattabdool-mans, as_ he called himself,\r\nand we fell into conversation. So instructive was his discourse, that\r\nwhen we parted, I had considerably added to my stock of knowledge.\r\nIndeed, it is a Godsend to fall in with a fellow like this. He knows\r\nthings you never dreamed of; his experiences are like a man from the\r\nmoon—wholly strange, a new revelation. If you want to learn romance, or\r\ngain an insight into things quaint, curious, and marvelous, drop your\r\nbooks of travel, and take a stroll along the docks of a great\r\ncommercial port. Ten to one, you will encounter Crusoe himself among\r\nthe crowds of mariners from all parts of the globe.\r\n\r\nBut this is no place for making mention of all the subjects upon which\r\nI and my Lascar friend mostly discoursed; I will only try to give his\r\naccount of the _teakwood_ and _kayar rope,_ concerning which things I\r\nwas curious, and sought information.\r\n\r\nThe _“sagoon”_ as he called the tree which produces the teak, grows in\r\nits greatest excellence among the mountains of Malabar, whence large\r\nquantities are sent to Bombay for shipbuilding. He also spoke of\r\nanother kind of wood, the _“sissor,”_ which supplies most of the\r\n_“shin-logs,”_ or “knees,” and crooked timbers in the _country ships._\r\nThe sagoon grows to an immense size; sometimes there is fifty feet of\r\ntrunk, three feet through, before a single bough is put forth. Its\r\nleaves are very large; and to convey some idea of them, my Lascar\r\nlikened them to elephants’ ears. He said a purple dye was extracted\r\nfrom them, for the purpose of staining cottons and silks. The wood is\r\nspecifically heavier than water; it is easily worked, and extremely\r\nstrong and durable. But its chief merit lies in resisting the action of\r\nthe salt water, and the attacks of insects; which resistance is caused\r\nby its containing a resinous oil called _“poonja.”_\r\n\r\nTo my surprise, he informed me that the Irrawaddy was wholly built by\r\nthe native shipwrights of India, who, he modestly asserted, surpassed\r\nthe European artisans.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJRKNBM8ACW2DR0GKXD88","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKS802EDD2216MFPMVNR6","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKT5V16N7ZGZ8AGC0RYW5","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.571Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.521Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}