Accordingly, we had no sooner got the ship before the wind, than his
chest was brought up upon the forecastle, and the sale began. The
jackets and trowsers in which we had seen him dressed but a few days
before, were exposed and bid off while the life was hardly out of
his body, and his chest was taken aft and used as a store-chest, so
that there was nothing left which could be called his. Sailors have an
unwillingness to wear a dead man's clothes during the same voyage, and
they seldom do so unless they are in absolute want.
As is usual after a death, many stories were told about George. Some
had heard him say that he repented never having learned to swim, and
that he knew that he should meet his death by drowning. Another said
that he never knew any good to come of a voyage made against the will,
and the deceased man shipped and spent his advance, and was afterwards
very unwilling to go, but not being able to refund, was obliged to
sail with us. A boy, too, who had become quite attached to him, said
that George talked to him during most of the watch on the night before
about his mother and family at home, and this was the first time
that he had mentioned the subject during the voyage.
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