{"id":"01KG8AME6YKATJFRDV865WQPQY","cid":"bafkreieuadzyzzvw7iql77esvmx3b5tmwinbsqu6sgcotvythyqwddtnee","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7491,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":7420,"text":"CHAPTER XLVI.\r\nTHE COMMODORE ON THE POOP, AND ONE OF “THE PEOPLE” UNDER THE HANDS OF\r\nTHE SURGEON.\r\n\r\n\r\nA day or two after the publication of Lemsford’s “Songs of the Sirens,”\r\na sad accident befell a mess-mate of mine, one of the captains of the\r\nmizzen-top. He was a fine little Scot, who, from the premature loss of\r\nthe hair on the top of his head, always went by the name of _Baldy_.\r\nThis baldness was no doubt, in great part, attributable to the same\r\ncause that early thins the locks of most man-of-war’s-men—namely, the\r\nhard, unyielding, and ponderous man-of-war and navy-regulation\r\ntarpaulin hat, which, when new, is stiff enough to sit upon, and\r\nindeed, in lieu of his thumb, sometimes serves the common sailor for a\r\nbench.\r\n\r\nNow, there is nothing upon which the Commodore of a squadron more\r\nprides himself than upon the celerity with which his men can handle the\r\nsails, and go through with all the evolutions pertaining thereto. This\r\nis especially manifested in harbour, when other vessels of his squadron\r\nare near, and perhaps the armed ships of rival nations.\r\n\r\nUpon these occasions, surrounded by his post-captain satraps—each of\r\nwhom in his own floating island is king—the Commodore domineers over\r\nall—emperor of the whole oaken archipelago; yea, magisterial and\r\nmagnificent as the Sultan of the Isles of Sooloo.\r\n\r\nBut, even as so potent an emperor and Caesar to boot as the great Don\r\nof Germany, Charles the Fifth, was used to divert himself in his dotage\r\nby watching the gyrations of the springs and cogs of a long row of\r\nclocks, even so does an elderly Commodore while away his leisure in\r\nharbour, by what is called “_exercising guns_,” and also “_exercising\r\nyards and sails;_” causing the various spars of all the ships under his\r\ncommand to be “braced,” “topped,” and “cock billed” in concert, while\r\nthe Commodore himself sits, something like King Canute, on an arm-chest\r\non the poop of his flag-ship.\r\n\r\nBut far more regal than any descendant of Charlemagne, more haughty\r\nthan any Mogul of the East, and almost mysterious and voiceless in his\r\nauthority as the Great Spirit of the Five Nations, the Commodore deigns\r\nnot to verbalise his commands; they are imparted by signal.\r\n\r\nAnd as for old Charles the Fifth, again, the gay-pranked, coloured\r\nsuits of cards were invented, to while away his dotage, even so,\r\ndoubtless, must these pretty little signals of blue and red spotted\r\n_bunting_ have been devised to cheer the old age of all Commodores.\r\n\r\nBy the Commodore’s side stands the signal-midshipman, with a sea-green\r\nbag swung on his shoulder (as a sportsman bears his game-bag), the\r\nsignal-book in one hand, and the signal spy-glass in the other. As this\r\nsignal-book contains the Masonic signs and tokens of the navy, and\r\nwould therefore be invaluable to an enemy, its binding is always\r\nbordered with lead, so as to insure its sinking in case the ship should\r\nbe captured. Not the only book this, that might appropriately be bound\r\nin lead, though there be many where the author, and not the bookbinder,\r\nfurnishes the metal.\r\n\r\nAs White-Jacket understands it, these signals consist of\r\nvariously-coloured flags, each standing for a certain number. Say there\r\nare ten flags, representing the cardinal numbers—the red flag, No. 1;\r\nthe blue flag, No. 2; the green flag, No. 3, and so forth; then, by\r\nmounting the blue flag over the red, that would stand for No. 21: if\r\nthe green flag were set underneath, it would then stand for 213. How\r\neasy, then, by endless transpositions, to multiply the various numbers\r\nthat may be exhibited at the mizzen-peak, even by only three or four of\r\nthese flags.\r\n\r\nTo each number a particular meaning is applied. No. 100, for instance,\r\nmay mean, “_Beat to quarters_.” No. 150, “_All hands to grog_.” No.\r\n2000, “_Strike top-gallant-yards_.” No. 2110, “_See anything to\r\nwindward?_” No. 2800, “_No_.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS2XR4F65K8W27CASPYP","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AME6YC5V2YPC91FX64GRS","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:37.086Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:48.861Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}