The old duds assembled on deck formed a curious collection, and as I noticed them I fancied that I could read the character of the owner by the appearance of each, and the circumstances under which he left home. The neatly painted chest, comfortable mattrass and quilt, prepared by the careful hands of some fond mother or sister, fully proved that their owner was a New Bedford boy, whose friends knew precisely what would conduce to his comfort when separated from them by thousands of miles of ocean waste; whilst the common straw bed, rude pine box, outfit quilt, with the padding run into one corner, and coarse blankets, testified that their owner was a reckless, careless fellow, who, at the time he shipped, cared little for outfit or anything else, except getting to sea, and, having fallen into the hands of the sharks, had been shoved aboard and sent afloat with the merest necessaries. In the pile, too, may be noticed an assemblage of hats and caps that would make a hatter stare. During the first six months, all the hats and caps brought from home, without, perhaps one may have been saved to wear ashore, were blown overboard, for when a man goes up to reef topsails in a gale, he has as much as he can do to attend to himself without taking notice of his hat, and, unless it fit him perfectly tight, he is sure to lose it. Hence, in this collection may be seen head coverings of kangaroo skin, canvass, dungaree, cloth, and other materials, in every conceivable shape and make; also straw hats, made by the native of the Spice Islands, the Arab of the coast of Africa, the Madagascar negro, the swarthy Portuguese, and the Malay; all fabricated of different materials, and in different styles; all answering, equally well, the purpose for which they are designed--that of protecting the wearer from the seething sun, which has such power in the native countries of their fabricators.