The Lady Chatterissa very pleasantly called their private room the gynecee, which, as I afterwards ascertained, was a term for the women's apartment, obtained from the Greek, the monikins being quite as much addicted as we are ourselves, to showing their acquirements by the introduction of words from foreign tongues.
Noah showed great care in the selection of the ship's company, the service being known to be arduous, and the duties of a very responsible character.

For this purpose, he made a journey expressly to Liverpool (the ship lying in the Greenland Dock at London), where he was fortunate enough to engage five Yankees, as many Englishmen, two Norwegians, and a Swede, all of whom had been accustomed to cruising as near the poles as ordinary men ever succeeded in reaching.

He was also well suited in his cook and mates; but I observed that he had great difficulty in finding a cabin-boy to his mind.

More than twenty applicants were rejected, some for the want of one qualification, and some for the want of another.

As I was present at several examinations of different candidates for the office, I got a little insight into his manner of ascertaining their respective merits.
The invariable practice was, first, to place a bottle of rum and a pitcher of water before the lad, and to order him to try his hand at mixing a glass of grog.