One Night, He Made A Rough Calculation Of The Number Of Hides That
Could Be Stowed In The Lower Hold,
Between the fore and main masts,
taking the depth of hold and breadth of beam, (for he always knew
the
Dimension of every part of the ship, before he had been a month
on board,) and the average area and thickness of a hide; he came
surprisingly near the number, as it afterwards turned out. The mate
frequently came to him to know the capacity of different parts of
the vessel, so he could tell the sailmaker very nearly the amount
of canvas he would want for each sail in the ship; for he knew the
hoist of every mast, and spread of every sail, on the head and foot,
in feet and inches. When we were at sea, he kept a running account,
in his head, of the ship's way - the number of knots and the courses;
and if the courses did not vary much during the twenty-four hours,
by taking the whole progress, and allowing so many eighths southing
or northing, to so many easting or westing; he would make up his
reckoning just before the captain took the sun at noon, and often
came wonderfully near the mark. Calculation of all kinds was his
delight. He had, in his chest, several volumes giving accounts
of inventions in mechanics, which he read with great pleasure,
and made himself master of. I doubt if he ever forgot anything
that he read.
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