Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/320

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"Enough I’ve said of our captain bold,
Still this is no jest,
For there is much remains untold,
But you may guess the rest.

"It’s of the mate I next shall tell,
As being next in rank.
He’s a man we all like well,
He’s rude, but yet he’s frank.

"The mate, he’s an old Dutchman;
He’d please you, I am sure;
At any rate, with such a man
I never sailed before.

"He’s rough and rude, ’tis very true, —
And what old sea-dog’s not?
But surely he will well treat you,
If you’re one of the right sort.

"Our dikey, Mr. Greggs, we all can see
How with him is the case;
He very well would like to be
In Mr. Freeman’s place.

"And so, to please bold Captain Leach,
He tries to keep us on the go;
But having tried it with us each,
He finds it is no go.

"We are but six before the mast,
As good a six as ever met;
For ne’er before was my lot cast
With such a manly, jovial set.

"Our forecastle is dark and wet,
But still we don’t complain.
Our captain, he will never meet
With the likes of us again.