{"id":"01KG8AKXGVVF5FAVHK3P5JX125","cid":"bafkreig4zxaj6u35pkdesz657djkq5i6lkls6dv446a37ogh5njo6g7t4u","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1703,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.534Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":1632,"text":"into one of the kegs; and drank from its spout. But to obviate the\r\nabsorption inseparable from decanting, we at last hit upon something\r\nbetter,—my comrade’s shoe, which, deprived of its quarters, narrowed at\r\nthe heel, and diligently rinsed out in the sea, was converted into a\r\nhandy but rather limber ladle. This we kept suspended in the bung-hole\r\nof the breaker, that it might never twice absorb the water.\r\n\r\nNow pewter imparts flavor to ale; a Meerschaum bowl, the same to the\r\ntobacco of Smyrna; and goggle green glasses are deemed indispensable to\r\nthe bibbing of Hock. What then shall be said of a leathern goblet for\r\nwater? Try it, ye mariners who list.\r\n\r\nOne morning, taking his wonted draught, Jarl fished up in his ladle a\r\ndeceased insect; something like a Daddy-long-legs, only more corpulent.\r\nIts fate? A sea-toss? Believe it not; with all those precious drops\r\nclinging to its lengthy legs. It was held over the ladle till the last\r\nglobule dribbled; and even then, being moist, honest Jarl was but loth\r\nto drop it overboard.\r\n\r\nFor our larder, we could not endure the salt beef; it was raw as a live\r\nAbyssinian steak, and salt as Cracow. Besides, the Feegee simile would\r\nnot have held good with respect to it. It was far from being “tender as\r\na dead man.” The biscuit only could we eat; not to be wondered at; for\r\neven on shipboard, seamen in the tropics are but sparing feeders.\r\n\r\nAnd here let not, a suggestion be omitted, most valuable to any future\r\ncastaway or sailaway as the case may be. Eat not your biscuit dry; but\r\ndip it in the sea: which makes it more bulky and palatable. During meal\r\ntimes it was soak and sip with Jarl and me: one on each side of the\r\nChamois dipping our biscuit in the brine. This plan obviated\r\nfinger-glasses at the conclusion of our repast. Upon the whole,\r\ndwelling upon the water is not so bad after all. The Chinese are no\r\nfools. In the operation of making your toilet, how handy to float in\r\nyour ewer!\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCHAPTER XV.\r\nA Stitch In Time Saves Nine\r\n\r\n\r\nLike most silent earnest sort of people, my good Viking was a pattern\r\nof industry. When in the boats after whales, I have known him carry\r\nalong a roll of sinnate to stitch into a hat. And the boats lying\r\nmotionless for half an hour or so, waiting the rising of the chase, his\r\nfingers would be plying at their task, like an old lady knitting. Like\r\nan experienced old-wife too, his digits had become so expert and\r\nconscientious, that his eyes left them alone; deeming optic supervision\r\nunnecessary. And on this trip of ours, when not otherwise engaged, he\r\nwas quite as busy with his fingers as ever: unraveling old Cape Horn\r\nhose, for yarn wherewith to darn our woolen frocks; with great patches\r\nfrom the skirts of a condemned reefing jacket, panneling the seats of\r\nour “ducks;” in short, veneering our broken garments with all manner of\r\nchoice old broadcloths.\r\n\r\nWith the true forethought of an old tar, he had brought along with him\r\nnearly the whole contents of his chest. His precious “Ditty Bag,”\r\ncontaining his sewing utensils, had been carefully packed away in the\r\nbottom of one of his bundles; of which he had as many as an old maid on\r\nher travels. In truth, an old salt is very much of an old maid, though,\r\nstrictly speaking, far from deserving that misdeemed appellative.\r\nBetter be an old maid, a woman with herself for a husband, than the\r\nwife of a fool; and Solomon more than hints that all men are fools; and\r\nevery wise man knows himself to be one. When playing the sempstress,\r\nJarl’s favorite perch was the triangular little platform in the bow;\r\nwhich being the driest and most elevated part of the boat, was best\r\nadapted to his purpose. Here for hours and hours together the honest\r\nold tailor would sit darning and sewing away, heedless of the wide\r\nocean around; while forever, his slouched Guayaquil hat kept bobbing up\r\nand down against the horizon before us.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ682W1XHHRFR7NV3FD6","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKXGV72BBFX6HY6NVP7VF","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKXGZF696M0PJTQEPB660","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.995Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:26.652Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}