Duties of Second Mate.
The duties of the second mate are to command
the starboard watch when the master is not on deck,
and to lead the crew in their work. It was not
formerly deemed indispensably necessary that he
should be a navigator, or even be able to keep a
journal; but it is obvious that many advantages must
have resulted from his being acquainted with navigation,
together with a general competency to keep the
log, so that he might have the chance of promotion,
in the contingency of any accident happening to
the chief mate, or of his removal from office. The
second mate, however, does not even now, either by
law or custom, necessarily succeed to the office of
chief mate in the same manner that the chief mate
succeeds to that of master: it lies in the discretion
of the master, for the time being, to appoint whom he
pleases to the office of chief mate; nevertheless, if
the second mate be really fit to perform the duties
of the office, he is usually appointed.
When the starboard watch alone is on deck, and the master is below, the whole of the duties devolve on the second mate, he alone being then in charge of the ship. In furling sails, the second mate also goes aloft to the topsails and courses, and takes the "bunt,"[1] that being an important place in all such operations. He is not expected to go on the mizen topsail-yard for any service, and though, in bad weather, and in case of necessity, he would do so, yet it would be out of the usual course. He might also, in heavy weather, assist in furling the jib, but he never furls a top-gallant sail, royal, or
- ↑ The "bunt" is the middle part or cavity of the square sails, that is, of the mainsail, foresail, topsails, and top-gallant sails.
