Fighting Naturalist

ever wonder what was in Gregory's Polite Education?

(aka The elements of a polite education; carefully selected from the letters of the late Right Honble Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, to his son. By G. Gregory... 1800)

or Robertson's Elements of Navigation?

(aka The elements of navigation; containing the theory and practice. With the necessary tables, ... To which is added, A treatise of marine fortification. ... By J. Robertson, ... The fourth edition, with additions. 1780: Vol 1)

Fishing was a popular means of augmenting supplies. Traditionally, any of the fish that the men caught were retained by themselves, the exception being flying fish that became stranded on the deck, which by long custom were given to the captain's wife. When a lot of fish, or very large fish, were caught, everyone on board enjoyed a fresh mess. On the Clarissa B. Carver, Annie Dow kept a line trailing over the stern the whole time, baited with a piece of pork rind cut in the shape of a fish. Jemima Horton did the same, borrowing "a hook of one of the men." She did get a bite, but "the fish ran off with it, so Will made me one of a hair pin."