{"id":"01KG8AMHTS5F5RNNY53S8VMXEZ","cid":"bafkreiads6ilp2bm26vfhzcbsh5kovuwtnthdhgo4oc56vp5iw6frirasa","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":10588,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":10525,"text":"CHAPTER LXVI.\r\nFUN IN A MAN-OF-WAR.\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter the race (our man-of-war Derby) we had many days fine weather,\r\nduring which we continued running before the Trades toward the north.\r\nExhilarated by the thought of being homeward-bound, many of the seamen\r\nbecame joyous, and the discipline of the ship, if anything, became a\r\nlittle relaxed. Many pastimes served to while away the _Dog-Watches_ in\r\nparticular. These _Dog-Watches_ (embracing two hours in the early part\r\nof the evening) form the only authorised play-time for the crews of\r\nmost ships at sea.\r\n\r\nAmong other diversions at present licensed by authority in the\r\nNeversink, were those of single-stick, sparring, hammer-and-anvil, and\r\nhead-bumping. All these were under the direct patronage of the Captain,\r\notherwise—seeing the consequences they sometimes led to—they would\r\nundoubtedly have been strictly prohibited. It is a curious coincidence,\r\nthat when a navy captain does not happen to be an admirer of the\r\n_Fistiana_ his crew seldom amuse themselves in that way.\r\n\r\n_Single-stick_, as every one knows, is a delightful pastime, which\r\nconsists in two men standing a few feet apart, and rapping each other\r\nover the head with long poles. There is a good deal of fun in it, so\r\nlong as you are not hit; but a hit—in the judgment of discreet\r\npersons—spoils the sport completely. When this pastime is practiced by\r\nconnoisseurs ashore, they wear heavy, wired helmets, to break the force\r\nof the blows. But the only helmets of our tars were those with which\r\nnature had furnished them. They played with great gun-rammers.\r\n\r\n_Sparring_ consists in playing single-stick with bone poles instead of\r\nwooden ones. Two men stand apart, and pommel each other with their\r\nfists (a hard bunch of knuckles permanently attached to the arms, and\r\nmade globular, or extended into a palm, at the pleasure of the\r\nproprietor), till one of them, finding himself sufficiently thrashed,\r\ncries _enough_.\r\n\r\n_Hammer-and-anvil_ is thus practised by amateurs: Patient No. 1 gets on\r\nall-fours, and stays so; while patient No. 2 is taken up by his arms\r\nand legs, and his base is swung against the base of patient No. 1, till\r\npatient No. 1, with the force of the final blow, is sent flying along\r\nthe deck.\r\n\r\n_Head-bumping_, as patronised by Captain Claret, consists in two\r\nnegroes (whites will not answer) butting at each other like rams. This\r\npastime was an especial favourite with the Captain. In the dog-watches,\r\nRose-water and May-day were repeatedly summoned into the lee waist to\r\ntilt at each other, for the benefit of the Captain’s health.\r\n\r\nMay-day was a full-blooded “_bull-negro_,” so the sailors called him,\r\nwith a skull like an iron tea-kettle, wherefore May-day much fancied\r\nthe sport. But Rose-water, he was a slender and rather handsome\r\nmulatto, and abhorred the pastime. Nevertheless, the Captain must be\r\nobeyed; so at the word poor Rose-water was fain to put himself in a\r\nposture of defence, else May-day would incontinently have bumped him\r\nout of a port-hole into the sea. I used to pity poor Rose-water from\r\nthe bottom of my heart. But my pity was almost aroused into indignation\r\nat a sad sequel to one of these gladiatorial scenes.\r\n\r\nIt seems that, lifted up by the unaffected, though verbally unexpressed\r\napplause of the Captain, May-day had begun to despise Rose-water as a\r\npoltroon—a fellow all brains and no skull; whereas he himself was a\r\ngreat warrior, all skull and no brains.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJTJS0E9FQHG061ZQ54GF","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMHTS8QVXEVX3JFAX3KBZ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:40.793Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:51.757Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}