Internal economy. the collier, are now in various branches of trade being fast superseded by steam, and by the great changes which the improvements of later years have created, we should ill perform the duty we have undertaken did we not, though at the risk of wearying our readers with detail, leave a record, however imperfect, of the internal economy of the ordinary merchant vessels of a generation now rapidly passing away, and attempt to furnish an account of the various duties and responsibilities of the master, officers, and seamen, as they existed prior to the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act. No special code then existed, either in Great Britain or the United States, for the maintenance of discipline, or the provisioning and treatment of the crews of trading vessels when beyond the jurisdiction of the Admiralty; but certain usages were, as a rule, re-*
- [Footnote: considerable discussion, mingled with many gloomy forebodings as to
the result. The ship, when finished, loaded in London and sailed, with a general cargo and her full complement of passengers, for Australia. She encountered rough weather, and meeting with some slight accident, had to anchor in the Downs for repair. The captain, officers, and crew were fully satisfied with the strength, safety, and good sea-going qualities of the ship; but after this trivial accident the popular outcry against her became so strong that the author recalled her, and despatched the passengers to their destination in another vessel. Though his pecuniary loss was very considerable, he resolved to make it rather than encounter the howl of indignation which must have arisen had he sent the ship to sea and any disaster befallen her, which might have happened to any other ship, whereby the lives of the passengers were lost or placed in jeopardy. The crew remained by her. No alteration whatever was made in her construction. She proceeded almost immediately afterwards, with a full cargo of general merchandise, to Bombay, and on her return the captain reported that he never sailed in a finer or safer sea-going vessel. Such vessels are now very common, and many of them, especially steamers, are much more extreme in length in proportion to their beam.—So much for popular prejudice.]
