And what could be better adapted to the purpose?
It is a slender, tapering, unstranded piece of rope prepared with much solicitude; peculiarly flexible; and wreathes and serpentines round the cable and messenger like an elegantly-modeled garter-snake round the twisted stalks of a vine.
Indeed, _Selvagee_ is the exact type and symbol of a tall, genteel, limber, spiralising exquisite.

So much for the derivation of the name which the sailors applied to the Lieutenant.
From what sea-alcove, from what mermaid's milliner's shop, hast thou emerged, Selvagee! with that dainty waist and languid cheek?
What heartless step-dame drove thee forth, to waste thy fragrance on the salt sea-air?
Was it _you_, Selvagee! that, outward-bound, off Cape Horn, looked at Hermit Island through an opera-glass?
Was it _you_, who thought of proposing to the Captain that, when the sails were furled in a gale, a few drops of lavender should be dropped in their "bunts," so that when the canvas was set again, your nostrils might not be offended by its musty smell?
I do not _say_ it was you, Selvagee; I but deferentially inquire.
In plain prose, Selvagee was one of those officers whom the sight of a trim-fitting naval coat had captivated in the days of his youth.

He fancied, that if a _sea-officer_ dressed well, and conversed genteelly, he would abundantly uphold the honour of his flag, and immortalise the tailor that made him.

On that rock many young gentlemen split.

For upon a frigate's quarter-deck, it is not enough to sport a coat fashioned by a Stultz; it is not enough to be well braced with straps and suspenders; it is not enough to have sweet reminiscences of Lauras and Matildas.