And with the end, the commissioner, in each case, fetched a deep breath, resumed his natural voice, and proceeded to business.

"Now, my man," he would say, "you ship A.B.at so many dollars, American gold coin.

Sign your name here, if you have one, and can write." Whereupon, and the name (with infinite hard breathing) being signed, the commissioner would proceed to fill in the man's appearance, height, etc., on the official form.

In this task of literary portraiture he seemed to rely wholly upon temperament; for I could not perceive him to cast one glance on any of his models.

He was assisted, however, by a running commentary from the captain: "Hair blue and eyes red, nose five foot seven, and stature broken"-- jests as old, presumably, as the American marine; and, like the similar pleasantries of the billiard board, perennially relished.