Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/524

 as to trimming the yards, etc., though the chief mate is expected to look out for the head yards. Such is also the case in getting under way, and in coming to anchor, the master taking the entire personal control of everything, the officers acting under him in their respective stations.

In the ordinary day's work, however, the state of things is somewhat different. Here the master does not superintend personally, but gives general instructions to the chief mate, whose duty it is to see to their execution. In order to understand this distinction, it is necessary to define the two great divisions of duty and labour on shipboard. One is the working and navigating of the vessel; that is, the keeping and ascertaining the ship's position on the ocean, directing her course, the making and taking in sail, trimming the yards to the wind, and the various nautical manœuvres and evolutions of a vessel. The other branch is the work done upon the hull and rigging to keep them in order, such as fitting, repairing, and tarring the rigging; all of which, together with the manufacture of "small stuffs," to be used on board, constitute a part of "the day's work" of the crew. As to the latter, the master usually confers with the chief mate upon the state of the vessel and rigging, and tells him, more or less in detail, what he wishes to have done. It then becomes the duty of that officer to see the work accomplished. If the master sees anything of which he disapproves, or has any preference in the modes of performing the work, he should convey his wishes to the officer, instead of giving his orders direct to the men. The Americans, as especially exhibited in