By the regulations of the ship, the forecastle was cleaned
out every morning, and the crew, being very neat, kept it clean by
some regulations of their own, such as having a large spitbox always
under the steps and between the bits, and obliging every man to hang
up his wet clothes, etc. In addition to this, it was holystoned
every Saturday morning. In the after part of the ship was a handsome
cabin, a dining-room, and a trade-room, fitted out with shelves and
furnished with all sorts of goods. Between these and the forecastle
was the "betweendecks," as high as the gun deck of a frigate; being
six feet and a half, under the beams. These between-decks were
holystoned regularly, and kept in the most perfect order; the
carpenter's bench and tools being in one part, the sailmaker's in
another, and boat-swain's locker, with the spare rigging, in a
third. A part of the crew slept here, in hammocks swung fore and aft
from the beams, and triced up every morning. The sides of the
between-decks were clapboarded, the knees and stanchions of iron,
and the latter made to unship. The crew said she was as tight as a
drum, and a fine sea boat, her only fault being, that of most fast
ships,- that she was wet, forward.
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