{"id":"01KG8AMDKXE22EVNFPHN05H5NQ","cid":"bafkreibdmcaenrolebly36ovayjj64zxt3derpjsw66priksknemtmxlja","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6817,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":6752,"text":"CHAPTER XLIII.\r\nSMUGGLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.\r\n\r\n\r\nIt is in a good degree owing to the idleness just described, that,\r\nwhile lying in harbour, the man-of-war’s-man is exposed to the most\r\ntemptations and gets into his saddest scrapes. For though his vessel be\r\nanchored a mile from the shore, and her sides are patrolled by sentries\r\nnight and day, yet these things cannot entirely prevent the seductions\r\nof the land from reaching him. The prime agent in working his\r\ncalamities in port is his old arch-enemy, the ever-devilish god of\r\ngrog.\r\n\r\nImmured as the man-of-war’s-man is, serving out his weary three years\r\nin a sort of sea-Newgate, from which he cannot escape, either by the\r\nroof or burrowing underground, he too often flies to the bottle to seek\r\nrelief from the intolerable ennui of nothing to do, and nowhere to go.\r\nHis ordinary government allowance of spirits, one gill per diem, is not\r\nenough to give a sufficient to his listless senses; he pronounces his\r\ngrog basely _watered_; he scouts at it as _thinner than muslin;_ he\r\ncraves a more vigorous _nip at the cable_, a more sturdy _swig at the\r\nhalyards;_ and if opium were to be had, many would steep themselves a\r\nthousand fathoms down in the densest fumes of that oblivious drug. Tell\r\nhim that the delirium tremens and the mania-a-potu lie in ambush for\r\ndrunkards, he will say to you, “Let them bear down upon me, then,\r\nbefore the wind; anything that smacks of life is better than to feel\r\nDavy Jones’s chest-lid on your nose.” He is reckless as an avalanche;\r\nand though his fall destroy himself and others, yet a ruinous commotion\r\nis better than being frozen fast in unendurable solitudes. No wonder,\r\nthen, that he goes all lengths to procure the thing he craves; no\r\nwonder that he pays the most exorbitant prices, breaks through all law,\r\nand braves the ignominious lash itself, rather than be deprived of his\r\nstimulus.\r\n\r\nNow, concerning no one thing in a man-of-war, are the regulations more\r\nsevere than respecting the smuggling of grog, and being found\r\nintoxicated. For either offence there is but one penalty, invariably\r\nenforced; and that is the degradation of the gangway.\r\n\r\nAll conceivable precautions are taken by most frigate-executives to\r\nguard against the secret admission of spirits into the vessel. In the\r\nfirst place, no shore-boat whatever is allowed to approach a man-of-war\r\nin a foreign harbour without permission from the officer of the deck.\r\nEven the _bum-boats_, the small craft licensed by the officers to bring\r\noff fruit for the sailors, to be bought out of their own money—these\r\nare invariably inspected before permitted to hold intercourse with the\r\nship’s company. And not only this, but every one of the numerous ship’s\r\nboats—kept almost continually plying to and from the shore—are\r\nsimilarly inspected, sometimes each boat twenty times in the day.\r\n\r\nThis inspection is thus performed: The boat being descried by the\r\nquarter-master from the poop, she is reported to the deck officer, who\r\nthereupon summons the master-at-arms, the ship’s chief of police. This\r\nfunctionary now stations himself at the gangway, and as the boat’s\r\ncrew, one by one, come up the side, he personally overhauls them,\r\nmaking them take off their hats, and then, placing both hands upon\r\ntheir heads, draws his palms slowly down to their feet, carefully\r\nfeeling all unusual protuberances. If nothing suspicious is felt, the\r\nman is let pass; and so on, till the whole boat’s crew, averaging about\r\nsixteen men, are examined. The chief of police then descends into the\r\nboat, and walks from stem to stern, eyeing it all over, and poking his\r\nlong rattan into every nook and cranny. This operation concluded, and\r\nnothing found, he mounts the ladder, touches his hat to the\r\ndeck-officer, and reports the boat _clean_; whereupon she is hauled out\r\nto the booms.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS3273YPPET2Q8S3ZWFQ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMDKSNKR4WK2AXJZ20F9Q","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.477Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:48.147Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}