8.14
I found that the steersman’s servant, who is called the mate, knows each particular section so exactly, that he can tell even when away where everything is kept and how much there is of it, just as well as a man who knows how to spell can tell how many letters there are in Socrates and in what order they come.
8.15
Now I saw this man in his spare time inspecting all the stores that are wanted, as a matter of course, in the ship.Or, more probably, during the voyage. I was surprised to see him looking over them, and asked what he was doing. Sir, he answered, I am looking to see how the ship’s tackle is stored, in case of accident, or whether anything is missing or mixed up with other stuff.
8.16
For when God sends a storm at sea, there’s no time to search about for what you want or to serve it out if it’s in a muddle. For God threatens and punishes careless fellows, and you’re lucky if he merely refrains from destroying the innocent; and if he saves you when you do your work well, you have much cause to thank heaven.
8.17
Now after seeing the ship’s tackle in such perfect order, I told my wife: Considering that folk aboard a merchant vessel, even though it be a little one, find room for things and keep order, though tossed violently to and fro, and find what they want to get, though terror-stricken, it would be downright carelessness on our part if we, who have large storerooms in our house to keep everything separate and whose house rests on solid ground, fail to find a good and handy place for everything. Would it not be sheer stupidity on our part?
8.18
How good it is to keep one’s stock of utensils in order, and how easy to find a suitable place in a house to put each set in, I have already said.
