"Then you ought to keep in the captain's place, unless there's nobody below you that knows anything. But from the first day I came on board, you've undertaken to do my work, and you don't know whether I am capable of it or not; and you've done it so poorly, I'm ashamed to have the ship go into port. I've always seen a captain show some respect to his mate; but you never have a civil word for me on duty, and your silly, lying stories don't make up for it." "You must make allowances," replied the captain; "you can't expect a man always to be smooth-tempered. When Mr. Jones was with me, I--" "Mr. Jones was a fool, if all you say of him is true," interrupted the mate. "No one with any respect for himself can make allowance enough for you; your knock-down principles and vile language are disgraceful." For every word the captain advanced, the mate brought out two dozen, and so fast there was no interrupting him. At last the captain found a retreat by noticing that the sails were lifting, and he gave the order to brace forward the yards and take in the lower-studding-sail. Going to the cabin he for once left the mate to work alone, and afterwards found some relief to his pent up rage by calling the two boys to come aft with a watch-tackle and taughten up the ropes. There was kept hanging up in front of the cabin a fathom of ratline stuff, doubled up and seized, so as to make a loop for the hand and bring the two ends together. Slipping this over his hand and shaking the ends, he called out the ropes to the boys, and if they made any mistake, or were not quite lively enough, he gave them what he called a dose of rope-yarn tea, by bringing the "cat" down on their backs. This treatment made them so bewildered and frightened that they made all the more blunders, and half of the time got hold of the wrong ropes, giving the captain an excuse for beating them to his heart's content. He found this such a good relief for a pent-up temper that he frequently put it in practice, when galled by the mate's contempt and indifference, and all through the voyage the boys were made the scape-goats for Mr. Morrison's sins against the captain. That evening the captain told me that if the night was fine he expected to sight Cape Spartel, the point of the African coast at the entrance of the Straits, before morning, as it was mountainous land and could be seen sixty or eighty miles. At 2, A.M., the lookout discovered it on the starboard bow. I went into the cabin, and waking up the captain said to him: "Cape Spartel is in sight, sir!" "What!" said he, in a very sharp tone. I repeated it, and went on deck. Soon the captain came out and after looking at the land, without addressing any one, began to swear in a loud tone, saying, "I expect my officers will take charge of the ship soon, for even the third mate undertakes to tell me what land we make." A good deal more followed about "making them know their place."