{"id":"01KG8AMFZD1B2CQW3NEJEMKTRK","cid":"bafkreidsxftbse2wkj4cx6b7m3w5wqzbi7lyhosbqketlpuxi6hdu4e3tm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":14736,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.278Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":14665,"text":"during a ten years’ service in the Navy, yet he perpetually wore a\r\nhilarious face, and at joke and repartee was a very Joe Miller.\r\n\r\nThat man, though a sea-vagabond, was not created in vain. He enjoyed\r\nlife with the zest of everlasting adolescence; and, though cribbed in\r\nan oaken prison, with the turnkey sentries all round him, yet he paced\r\nthe gun-deck as if it were broad as a prairie, and diversified in\r\nlandscape as the hills and valleys of the Tyrol. Nothing ever\r\ndisconcerted him; nothing could transmute his laugh into anything like\r\na sigh. Those glandular secretions, which in other captives sometimes\r\ngo to the formation of tears, in _him_ were expectorated from the\r\nmouth, tinged with the golden juice of a weed, wherewith he solaced and\r\ncomforted his ignominious days.\r\n\r\n“Rum and tobacco!” said Landless, “what more does a sailor want?”\r\n\r\nHis favourite song was “_Dibdin’s True English Sailor_,” beginning,\r\n\r\n     “Jack dances and sings, and is always content,\r\n          In his vows to his lass he’ll ne’er fail her;\r\n      His anchor’s atrip when his money’s all spent,\r\n          And this is the life of a sailor.”\r\n\r\n\r\nBut poor Landless danced quite as often at the gangway, under the lash,\r\nas in the sailor dance-houses ashore.\r\n\r\nAnother of his songs, also set to the significant tune of _The King,\r\nGod bless him!_ mustered the following lines among many similar ones:\r\n\r\n     “Oh, when safely landed in Boston or ’York,\r\n          Oh how I will tipple and jig it;\r\n      And toss off my glass while my rhino holds out,\r\n          In drinking success to our frigate!”\r\n\r\n\r\nDuring the many idle hours when our frigate was lying in harbour, this\r\nman was either merrily playing at checkers, or mending his clothes, or\r\nsnoring like a trumpeter under the lee of the booms. When fast asleep,\r\na national salute from our batteries could hardly move him. Whether\r\nordered to the main-truck in a gale; or rolled by the drum to the\r\ngrog-tub; or commanded to walk up to the gratings and be lashed,\r\nLandess always obeyed with the same invincible indifference.\r\n\r\nHis advice to a young lad, who shipped with us at Valparaiso, embodies\r\nthe pith and marrow of that philosophy which enables some\r\nman-of-war’s-men to wax jolly in the service.\r\n\r\n“_Shippy!_” said Landless, taking the pale lad by his neckerchief, as\r\nif he had him by the halter; “Shippy, I’ve seen sarvice with Uncle\r\nSam—I’ve sailed in many _Andrew Millers_. Now take my advice, and steer\r\nclear of all trouble. D’ye see, touch your tile whenever a swob\r\n(officer) speaks to you. And never mind how much they rope’s-end you,\r\nkeep your red-rag belayed; for you must know as how they don’t fancy\r\nsea-lawyers; and when the sarving out of slops comes round, stand up to\r\nit stiffly; it’s only an oh Lord! Or two, and a few oh my Gods!—that’s\r\nall. And what then? Why, you sleeps it off in a few nights, and turn\r\nout at last all ready for your grog.”\r\n\r\nThis Landless was a favourite with the officers, among whom he went by\r\nthe name of “_Happy Jack_.” And it is just such Happy Jacks as Landless\r\nthat most sea-officers profess to admire; a fellow without shame,\r\nwithout a soul, so dead to the least dignity of manhood that he could\r\nhardly be called a man. Whereas, a seaman who exhibits traits of moral\r\nsensitiveness, whose demeanour shows some dignity within; this is the\r\nman they, in many cases, instinctively dislike. The reason is, they\r\nfeel such a man to be a continual reproach to them, as being mentally\r\nsuperior to their power. He has no business in a man-of-war; they do\r\nnot want such men. To them there is an insolence in his manly freedom,\r\ncontempt in his very carriage. He is unendurable, as an erect,\r\nlofty-minded African would be to some slave-driving planter.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJWG1Q56K09ESP8DXKERA","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFZ3WHZD5DPZMTQQD93R","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.893Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:56.352Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}