{"id":"01KG8AKVTVPTC31C9FW97B1GCE","cid":"bafkreidfcxx4clf775sd35eepnjq45ffe3oc566p5metbldj7wqdhe7oei","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2965,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":2907,"text":"from my cousin’s, who was a young man of fortune and drove a tilbury.\r\n\r\nWhen my pantaloons ripped and tore, as I have said, I did my best to\r\nmend and patch them; but not being much of a sempstress, the more I\r\npatched the more they parted; because I put my patches on, without\r\nheeding the joints of the legs, which only irritated my poor pants the\r\nmore, and put them out of temper.\r\n\r\nNor must I forget my boots, which were almost new when I left home.\r\nThey had been my Sunday boots, and fitted me to a charm. I never had\r\nhad a pair of boots that I liked better; I used to turn my toes out\r\nwhen I walked in them, unless it was night time, when no one could see\r\nme, and I had something else to think of; and I used to keep looking at\r\nthem during church; so that I lost a good deal of the sermon. In a\r\nword, they were a beautiful pair of boots. But all this only unfitted\r\nthem the more for sea-service; as I soon discovered. They had very high\r\nheels, which were all the time tripping me in the rigging, and several\r\ntimes came near pitching me overboard; and the salt water made them\r\nshrink in such a manner, that they pinched me terribly about the\r\ninstep; and I was obliged to gash them cruelly, which went to my very\r\nheart. The legs were quite long, coming a good way up toward my knees,\r\nand the edges were mounted with red morocco. The sailors used to call\r\nthem my _“gaff-topsail-boots.”_ And sometimes they used to call me\r\n“Boots,” and sometimes “Buttons,” on account of the ornaments on my\r\npantaloons and shooting-jacket.\r\n\r\nAt last, I took their advice, and _“razeed”_ them, as they phrased it.\r\nThat is, I amputated the legs, and shaved off the heels to the bare\r\nsoles; which, however, did not much improve them, for it made my feet\r\nfeel flat as flounders, and besides, brought me down in the world, and\r\nmade me slip and slide about the decks, as I used to at home, when I\r\nwore straps on the ice.\r\n\r\nAs for my tarpaulin hat, it was a very cheap one; and therefore proved\r\na real sham and shave; it leaked like an old shingle roof; and in a\r\nrain storm, kept my hair wet and disagreeable. Besides, from lying down\r\non deck in it, during the night watches, it got bruised and battered,\r\nand lost all its beauty; so that it was unprofitable every way.\r\n\r\nBut I had almost forgotten my shooting-jacket, which was made of\r\nmoleskin. Every day, it grew smaller and smaller, particularly after a\r\nrain, until at last I thought it would completely exhale, and leave\r\nnothing but the bare seams, by way of a skeleton, on my back. It became\r\nunspeakably unpleasant, when we got into rather cold weather, crossing\r\nthe Banks of Newfoundland, when the only way I had to keep warm during\r\nthe night, was to pull on my waistcoat and my roundabout, and then clap\r\nthe shooting-jacket over all. This made it pinch me under the arms, and\r\nit vexed, irritated, and tormented me every way; and used to incommode\r\nmy arms seriously when I was pulling the ropes; so much so, that the\r\nmate asked me once if I had the cramp.\r\n\r\nI may as well here glance at some trials and tribulations of a similar\r\nkind. I had no mattress, or bed-clothes, of any sort; for the thought\r\nof them had never entered my mind before going to sea; so that I was\r\nobliged to sleep on the bare boards of my bunk; and when the ship\r\npitched violently, and almost stood upon end, I must have looked like\r\nan Indian baby tied to a plank, and hung up against a tree like a\r\ncrucifix.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ1DMX9VNTDKPDXH8YQ1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVTSEXNVK9KDNKPS145E","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKVTSHBPTDQWWGZQ1ETVY","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.267Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.755Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}