He has the power to turn his officers off duty, and
even to break them and make them do duty as sailors in the forecastle.
Where there are no passengers and no supercargo, as in our vessel,
he has no companion but his own dignity, and no pleasures, unless he
differs from most of his kind, but the consciousness of possessing
supreme power, and, occasionally, the exercise of it.
The prime minister, the official organ, and the active and
superintending officer, is the chief mate. He is first lieutenant,
boatswain, sailing-master, and quarter-master. The captain tells him
what he wishes to have done, and leaves to him the care of overseeing,
of allotting the work, and also the responsibility of its being well
done. The mate (as he is always called, par excellence) also keeps the
log-book, for which he is responsible to the owners and insurers,
and has the charge of the stowage, safe keeping, and delivery of the
cargo. He is also, ex-officio, the wit of the crew; for the captain
does not condescend to joke with the men, and the second mate no one
cares for; so that when "the mate" thinks fit to entertain "the
people" with a coarse joke or a little practical wit, every one
feels bound to laugh.
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