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Continental Monthly, Vol. I., No. IV., April, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy by Various
page 53 of 297 (17%)
(most of which he obtained from the sea), grew stock, planted, in
rotation, and, with only here and there a sympathizer, gave in his full
adherence to the theory of root culture. And he was a mechanic. He could
build house or barn to the last beam, and ship or boat to the last
joint; nay, he once devised the model of a self-righting life-boat,
which I have often heard shipmasters, and even real shipwrights, descant
upon in the highest terms of praise. Moreover, I can affirm that he was
a navigator. It is true that the _science_ of seamanship, as set forth
in books, he had never mastered. But he knew right well what winds of a
certain force and direction foretold, what waves of a certain height and
aspect meant; and this knowledge, combined with a squint, now and then,
at his pocket compass, sufficed to enable him to take a vessel with
safety anywhere along our coast.

But while my old pal showed high abilities in other arts, as a
'soundser' and wrecker he was not to be matched. He brought to the first
of these pursuits a clearness of observation which would have met the
approbation of many an acknowledged man of science. He knew every sort
of food which bird and fish fed upon, where it was to be found, and the
circumstances favorable to its production. He knew why the game resorted
to certain spots yesterday, and avoided them to-day; what
circumstances--and they are very many--impelled it to joyousness or
quietude; and what were most of its minor instincts. And all this was
done _thoroughly_, withal. There was no haphazard or uncertainty in any
of his conclusions. Taking thought of sundry conditions, he could tell
at any time when such a thing was applicable; how many sheepsheads one
could catch in the sounds; whether the _honk_ of the wild goose, flying
overhead, announced that he was on his way to a fresh-water pool or a
bar of gravel; whether the black ducks were cooling their thirsty
gizzards in a woodland pond, sitting scattered about the marshes, or
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