The master is a person of an excellent disposition, and is
remarkable in the ship for his gentleness, and the mildness of
his discipline. He is, indeed, of so amiable a nature, that he
will not hunt (a favourite, and almost the only amusement here),
because he cannot endure to spill blood. He is, moreover,
heroically generous. Some years ago he loved a young Russian
lady, of moderate fortune; and having amassed a considerable sum
in prize-money, the father of the girl consented to the match.
He saw his mistress once before the destined ceremony; but she
was bathed in tears, and, throwing herself at his feet,
entreated him to spare her, confessing at the same time that she
loved another, but that he was poor, and that her father would
never consent to the union. My generous friend reassured the
suppliant, and on being informed of the name of her lover
instantly abandoned his pursuit. He had already bought a farm
with his money, on which he had designed to pass the remainder
of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival, together
with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock, and then
himself solicited the young woman's father to consent to her
marriage with her lover. But the old man decidedly refused,
thinking himself bound in honour to my friend; who, when he
found the father inexorable, quitted his country, nor returned
until he heard that his former mistress was married according to
her inclinations. "What a noble fellow!" you will exclaim. He
is so; but then he has passed all his life on board a vessel,
and has scarcely an idea beyond the rope and the shroud.