Page:Carroll - Rhyme and Reason.djvu/160

144 "Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
 * But we've got our brave Captain to thank"

(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best— A perfect and absolute blank!"

This was charming, no doubt: but they shortly found out
 * That the Captain they trusted so well

Had only one notion for crossing the ocean,
 * And that was to tingle his bell.

He was thoughtful and grave—but the orders he gave
 * Were enough to bewilder a crew.

When he cried "Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!"
 * What on earth was the helmsman to do?

Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes:
 * A thing, as the Bellman remarked,

That frequently happens in tropical climes,
 * When a vessel is, so to speak, "snarked."

But the principal failing occurred in the sailing,
 * And the Bellman, perplexed and distressed,