The personal equation--An ideal commander--Want of tact--They do these things better in "Yanks"--Good to have a hobby--High standard of excellence--Difficulties of the British shipmaster with respect to his crew--Unpalatable truths--The fear of God--Honesty of shipmasters--Incitements to dishonesty 45 CHAPTER VII. THE MASTER'S DUTIES. A glimpse of navigation--The unstable compass--Dead reckoning--Pilotage anxieties--The shipmaster as trustee--As lawyer--As doctor--Rough-and-ready surgery--A true hero--The "malingerer" 53 CHAPTER VIII. THE MASTER'S DUTIES--_continued_. Voluntary duties--Knowledge of engineering--Of ship construction--Of natural history--The danger of drink--A drunkard or two--A memorable voyage--The Blue-nose skipper--His all-round excellence 63 CHAPTER IX. THE MATE. The "mate and his duties"--An ancient and honourable title--His range of importance--A long step from mate to master--Both in position and pay--Education of British officers--Examinations 73 CHAPTER X. THE MATE'S WORK. A good mate precious above rubies--Some difficulties of the young mate--Sensitiveness--Manager of a large business--A great gulf between tramp and liner for the mate--Low wages--Difficult generalship--A scandalous miscarriage of justice--Again better in the "Yank"--Compensations 82 CHAPTER XI. THE MATE'S WORK (IN A SAILING SHIP). Peculiarities of status--The excellence of the sailing-ship mate--"Humouring" a ship--Care of her aloft--The mate's right-hand man--Keeping them at it--The joy of a good sailing ship--A happy mate--Keeping the log 91 CHAPTER XII. THE MATE'S WORK (IN A SAILING SHIP)--_continued_. Ideal log-book literature--Ruffianly mates--But splendid seamen--A "nigger-driver"--The mate as cargo clerk and warehouseman--His temptations--An exultant Hebrew--The drink question again--The mate's privileges 101 CHAPTER XIII. THE SECOND MATE (IN STEAM). "Hazing" a second mate--His importance--His assured excellence in a liner--Careful selection--Really first lieutenant in a liner--But in the tramp "a servant of servants shall he be"--An upper housemaid--An anomalous position--As stevedore--The Yankee second mate 112 CHAPTER XIV. THE SECOND MATE (FIRST STEPS). The passing of the "Board"--School-boy work--Theoretical navigation--Practical seamanship--Colour-blindness--Queer instruction--A kindly examiner--The astonishment of the schoolmaster--Only mate--And "bo'sun-second-mate" 121 CHAPTER XV. THE SECOND MATE (OF A SAILING SHIP).