{"id":"01KG8AMJBEESH682191X4GY6E5","cid":"bafkreiewtchivzeiid5sm6btmrbd24ukymbh7gbyt564uirkwb5apq7lxu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5211,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":5137,"text":"CHAPTER XXXIII.\r\nA FLOGGING.\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you begin the day with a laugh, you may, nevertheless, end it with a\r\nsob and a sigh.\r\n\r\nAmong the many who were exceedingly diverted with the scene between the\r\nDown Easter and the Lieutenant, none laughed more heartily than John,\r\nPeter, Mark, and Antone—four sailors of the starboard-watch. The same\r\nevening these four found themselves prisoners in the “brig,” with a\r\nsentry standing over them. They were charged with violating a\r\nwell-known law of the ship—having been engaged in one of those tangled,\r\ngeneral fights sometimes occurring among sailors. They had nothing to\r\nanticipate but a flogging, at the captain’s pleasure.\r\n\r\nToward evening of the next day, they were startled by the dread summons\r\nof the boatswain and his mates at the principal hatchway—a summons that\r\never sends a shudder through every manly heart in a frigate:\r\n\r\n“_All hands witness punishment, ahoy!_”\r\n\r\nThe hoarseness of the cry, its unrelenting prolongation, its being\r\ncaught up at different points, and sent through the lowermost depths of\r\nthe ship; all this produces a most dismal effect upon every heart not\r\ncalloused by long habituation to it.\r\n\r\nHowever much you may desire to absent yourself from the scene that\r\nensues, yet behold it you must; or, at least, stand near it you must;\r\nfor the regulations enjoin the attendance of the entire ship’s company,\r\nfrom the corpulent Captain himself to the smallest boy who strikes the\r\nbell.\r\n\r\n“_All hands witness punishment, ahoy!_”\r\n\r\nTo the sensitive seaman that summons sounds like a doom. He knows that\r\nthe same law which impels it—the same law by which the culprits of the\r\nday must suffer; that by that very law he also is liable at any time to\r\nbe judged and condemned. And the inevitableness of his own presence at\r\nthe scene; the strong arm that drags him in view of the scourge, and\r\nholds him there till all is over; forcing upon his loathing eye and\r\nsoul the sufferings and groans of men who have familiarly consorted\r\nwith him, eaten with him, battled out watches with him—men of his own\r\ntype and badge—all this conveys a terrible hint of the omnipotent\r\nauthority under which he lives. Indeed, to such a man the naval summons\r\nto witness punishment carries a thrill, somewhat akin to what we may\r\nimpute to the quick and the dead, when they shall hear the Last Trump,\r\nthat is to bid them all arise in their ranks, and behold the final\r\npenalties inflicted upon the sinners of our race.\r\n\r\nBut it must not be imagined that to all men-of-war’s-men this summons\r\nconveys such poignant emotions; but it is hard to decide whether one\r\nshould be glad or sad that this is not the case; whether it is grateful\r\nto know that so much pain is avoided, or whether it is far sadder to\r\nthink that, either from constitutional hard-heartedness or the\r\nmultiplied searings of habit, hundreds of men-of-war’s-men have been\r\nmade proof against the sense of degradation, pity, and shame.\r\n\r\nAs if in sympathy with the scene to be enacted, the sun, which the day\r\nprevious had merrily flashed upon the tin pan of the disconsolate Down\r\nEaster, was now setting over the dreary waters, veiling itself in\r\nvapours. The wind blew hoarsely in the cordage; the seas broke heavily\r\nagainst the bows; and the frigate, staggering under whole top-sails,\r\nstrained as in agony on her way.\r\n\r\n“_All hands witness punishment, ahoy!_”\r\n\r\nAt the summons the crew crowded round the main-mast; multitudes eager\r\nto obtain a good place on the booms, to overlook the scene; many\r\nlaughing and chatting, others canvassing the case of the culprits; some\r\nmaintaining sad, anxious countenances, or carrying a suppressed\r\nindignation in their eyes; a few purposely keeping behind to avoid\r\nlooking on; in short, among five hundred men, there was every possible\r\nshade of character.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJRBPHFFD3WM83WT59YBT","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMJBAFZJMKR62CWJCQCEX","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:41.326Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:46.834Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}