great strain upon him, and will, in time, unless he takes special
care, have a serious effect on his health; this is more particularly
the case with men of the nervous temperament. It cannot be expected
that in this age, when so many thousands of people on shore fail from
overwork and "high pressure," steamship masters, who as a class, are
overworked and harrassed to a serious extent, should altogether
escape. Again, unless a shipmaster takes an interest in the health,
comfort, and well-being of his crew, he, in the first place, neglects
one of his duties, and, secondly, sows the seeds of discomfort and
annoyance to himself. Let us consider his duties to himself
personally.

First, then, he must prepare himself to undergo, periodically, the
discomfort of want of proper rest and irregularity in times of meals;
he may, for instance, not be able to leave the bridge for over
forty-eight hours or more on a stretch, and, of course, any shipmaster
who may read this will know that this is no uncommon occurrence;
during this time he may be unable to get regular meals, and what he
does get may have to be eaten in a hurry and at an anxious time when
he cannot properly enjoy and digest it.

A time like this may be followed by a period of rest, when the days
will hang heavily on his hands, and he will be tempted to long
afternoon sleeps merely to get through the weary hours.

Now, as a course of this kind of thing is bound, unless care be
exercised, to act unfavorably on the digestion and bring on some form
of dyspepsia, so also the nights and days of great anxiety and moments
of great strain will, besides increasing the dyspeptic tendency, be
apt to bring on nervousness in some form or other. It is a fact that