In the windjammer, the tropical doldrums are usually the scene of more or less fun. The scupper holes are plugged and a tremendous downpour soon fills the main-deck a foot deep with clean fresh water. The decks of deep-loaded ships are often so much under water that seaweed grows upon them, and they are consequently apt to be clean after the growth is removed. The main-deck’s hatches make a shallow amidships, and all across the broad width the water rolls with the heave of the ship. In the waterways it is often two feet deep. In this huge tub the sailor takes his semi-annual bath. He does not bathe alone, neither does he overlook any of his belongings. Everything washable, from blankets to breeches, is laid out upon the white deck planks and rubbed with soap. After a foamy lather is formed upon the large pieces, he will slide upon them like the small boy does upon ice, his feet gathering up a bow-wave of lather and dirt. Then the wash is dragged into deeper water for a rinsing. At such times “skylarking,” as it is called, is indulged in freely. The men chase each other about the deck, splashing water and whipping each other upon the naked skin with wet clothes. Sometimes a sailor would be initiated into untying a most complicated knot which some wag would tie in his trouser legs, while a shipmate engaged him in conversation. It is said that, if cleanliness is next to godliness, the sailor’s soul is doomed, but this must surely be a fallacy, as no man can be very filthy who does not have to bathe but once or twice a year. In the trade-winds’ belts, where the wind is steady and sail is seldom handled from one day’s end to another, many original kinds of amusements are indulged in upon ships whose masters stand for frolics. Checkers and squeaking fiddles, which are a part of all forecastle accessories, are laid aside, and boxing taken up. There are never any gloves, and the test of skill invariably ends in a mix-up in which rules are superfluous and absurd. Dancing is common, and there are few sailors who cannot do a fair trick with the feet, if some one will produce a mouth-organ and play and “pat” for them. We allowed the usual routine of this sort, and it did the men good, for they were a dirty set at best, much dirtier than American or English seamen. After a good shave all around they presented a passable appearance. Day after day the hot calm continued, and always at sunrise the sails of the English ship were upon the horizon. As we would head the same course to the Cape, this was not remarkable, but somehow the presence of the vessel worried me unaccountably. Three days later, while it was still calm, we drifted close to her again and Crojack’s comments upon her master’s navigation brought forth a torrent of invective from both Garnett and Webster that would be impossible to equal.