Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/533

 cargo as it goes in and comes out of the vessel, and, as he generally gives receipts, he is bound to use great care and accuracy. When cargo is coming in or going out he stands in the gangway to keep an account, while the second mate is in the hold with some of the crew, breaking out or stowing, he being responsible for the proper stowage and delivery of the cargo. When the master is on shore, the chief mate is necessarily commander of the ship for the time, and though the law will extend his power proportionably for cases of necessity, yet, except in instances which will not admit of delay, he must not attempt to exercise any unusual powers, but should refer everything to the master's decision. The mate has no right, for instance, to punish a man during the master's absence, unless it be a case in which delay would lead to serious consequences.

Neither of the mates stand watch at night when in harbour, but the chief should always be the first to be called in the morning, as it his duty to summon the men to their work, and apportion to them their respective duties. In cleaning the ship, such as washing down decks, etc., which is done the first thing in the morning, each mate, while at sea, takes charge of it in his watch, in turn, as the one or the other may have the morning watch; but in port the second mate oversees the washing down of the decks, under the chief mate's general orders.

We have furnished, in a preceding part of this work, a specimen of the orders given, and of the language employed by masters two hundred years ago; we now give a description of an ordinary manœuvre in the present century. While at sea, in