"Yes," replied Thompson, who had drawn off a mug of the spirits, with which he was about to descend to the cabin, "open if you like, my boy.

You have made a _bon prize_ to-day, and your share shall be the trunk; so you may keep it, and the things that are stowed away in it, for your trouble; but don't forget to secure the casks till we can stow them away below.

We can't break bulk now; but the sooner they are down the better; or we shall have some quill-driving rascal on board, with his _flotsam_ and _jetsam_, for the _Lord knows who_;" and Thompson, to use his own expression, went down again "to lay his soul in soak." Reader, do you know the meaning of _flotsam_ and _jetsam_?
None but a lawyer can, for it is old law language.

Now, there is a slight difference between language in general and law language.

The first was invented to enable us to explain our own meaning, and comprehend the ideas of others; whereas the second was invented with the view that we should not be able to understand a word about it.