He called it the Sleet's crow's-nest, in honor of himself;
he being the original inventor and patentee, and free from all
ridiculous false delicacy, and holding that if we call our own
children after our own names (we fathers being the original
inventors and patentees), so likewise should we denominate
after ourselves any other apparatus we may beget. In shape,
the Sleet's crow's-nest is something like a large tierce or pipe;
it is open above, however, where it is furnished with a movable
sidescreen to keep to windward of your head in a hard gale.
Being fixed on the summit of the mast, you ascend into it
through a little trap-hatch in the bottom. On the after side,
or side next the stern of the ship, is a comfortable seat,
with a locker underneath for umbrellas, comforters, and coats.
In front is a leather rack, in which to keep your speaking
trumpet, pipe, telescope, and other nautical conveniences.
When Captain Sleet in person stood his mast-head in this
crow's-nest of his, he tells us that he always had a rifle with him
(also fixed in the rack), together with a powder flask and shot,
for the purpose of popping off the stray narwhales, or vagrant
sea unicorns infesting those waters; for you cannot successfully
shoot at them from the deck owing to the resistance of the water,
but to shoot down upon them is a very different thing.
Pages:
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269