{"id":"01KG8AMDKJTRX5SP6EKXQPWC6K","cid":"bafkreifir2t7s27la7c42u3vseq3zqx5p4hnhzpbxn7yqmjekkhrssguke","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":636,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":570,"text":"languages is as good as five men_. But Jack, he was better than a\r\nhundred common mortals; Jack was a whole phalanx, an entire army; Jack\r\nwas a thousand strong; Jack would have done honour to the Queen of\r\nEngland’s drawing-room; Jack must have been a by-blow of some British\r\nAdmiral of the Blue. A finer specimen of the island race of Englishmen\r\ncould not have been picked out of Westminster Abbey of a coronation\r\nday.\r\n\r\nHis whole demeanor was in strong contrast to that of one of the\r\nCaptains of the fore-top. This man, though a good seaman, furnished an\r\nexample of those insufferable Britons, who, while preferring other\r\ncountries to their own as places of residence; still, overflow with all\r\nthe pompousness of national and individual vanity combined. “When I was\r\non board the Audacious”—for a long time, was almost the invariable\r\nexordium to the fore-top Captain’s most cursory remarks. It is often\r\nthe custom of men-of-war’s-men, when they deem anything to be going on\r\nwrong aboard ship to refer to _last cruise_ when of course everything\r\nwas done _ship-shape and Bristol fashion_. And by referring to the\r\n_Audacious_—an expressive name by the way—the fore-top Captain meant a\r\nship in the English navy, in which he had had the honour of serving. So\r\ncontinual were his allusions to this craft with the amiable name, that\r\nat last, the _Audacious_ was voted a bore by his shipmates. And one hot\r\nafternoon, during a calm, when the fore-top Captain like many others,\r\nwas standing still and yawning on the spar-deck; Jack Chase, his own\r\ncountryman, came up to him, and pointing at his open mouth, politely\r\ninquired, whether that was the way they caught _flies_ in Her Britannic\r\nMajesty’s ship, the _Audacious?_ After that, we heard no more of the\r\ncraft.\r\n\r\nNow, the tops of a frigate are quite spacious and cosy. They are railed\r\nin behind so as to form a kind of balcony, very pleasant of a tropical\r\nnight. From twenty to thirty loungers may agreeably recline there,\r\ncushioning themselves on old sails and jackets. We had rare times in\r\nthat top. We accounted ourselves the best seamen in the ship; and from\r\nour airy perch, literally looked down upon the landlopers below,\r\nsneaking about the deck, among the guns. In a large degree, we\r\nnourished that feeling of “_esprit de corps_,” always pervading, more\r\nor less, the various sections of a man-of-war’s crew. We main-top-men\r\nwere brothers, one and all, and we loaned ourselves to each other with\r\nall the freedom in the world.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, I had not long been a member of this fraternity of fine\r\nfellows, ere I discovered that Jack Chase, our captain was—like all\r\nprime favorites and oracles among men—a little bit of a dictator; not\r\nperemptorily, or annoyingly so, but amusingly intent on egotistically\r\nmending our manners and improving our taste, so that we might reflect\r\ncredit upon our tutor.\r\n\r\nHe made us all wear our hats at a particular angle—instructed us in the\r\ntie of our neck-handkerchiefs; and protested against our wearing vulgar\r\n_dungeree_ trowsers; besides giving us lessons in seamanship; and\r\nsolemnly conjuring us, forever to eschew the company of any sailor we\r\nsuspected of having served in a whaler. Against all whalers, indeed, he\r\ncherished the unmitigated detestation of a true man-of-war’s man. Poor\r\nTubbs can testify to that.\r\n\r\nTubbs was in the After-Guard; a long, lank Vineyarder, eternally\r\ntalking of line-tubs, Nantucket, sperm oil, stove boats, and Japan.\r\nNothing could silence him; and his comparisons were ever invidious.\r\n\r\nNow, with all his soul, Jack abominated this Tubbs. He said he was\r\nvulgar, an upstart—Devil take him, he’s been in a whaler. But like many\r\nmen, who have been where _you_ haven’t been; or seen what _you_ haven’t\r\nseen; Tubbs, on account of his whaling experiences, absolutely affected\r\nto look down upon Jack, even as Jack did upon him; and this it was that\r\nso enraged our noble captain.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJPBCBJ9WPRN8NTZ6F7R0","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMDKG1E5XRF0E5SA88RS5","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMDKJR7N3ZSY1CWYF02Q9","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.466Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:43.283Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}