“Her tea not being yet on board, the ship's hull floated high as a castle, and to the subtle, intellectual, doll-faced, bolus-eyed people, that sculled to and fro busy as bees, though looking forked mushrooms, she sounded like a vast musical shell: for a lusty harmony of many mellow voices vibrated in her great cavities, and made the air ring cheerily around her. The vocalists were the Cyclopes, to judge by the tremendous thumps that kept clean time to their sturdy tune. Yet it was but human labour, so heavy and so knowing, that it had called in music to help. It was the third mate and his gang completing his floor to receive the coming tea chests. Yesterday he had stowed his dunnage, many hundred bundles of light flexible canes from Sumatra and Malacca; on these he had laid tons of rough saltpetre, in 2001b. gunny-bags: and was now mashing it to music, bags and all. His gang of fifteen, naked to the waist, stood in line, with huge wooden beetles called commanders, and lifted them high and brought them down on the nitre in cadence with true nautical power and unison, singing as follows, with a ponderous bump on the last note in each bar.

Here goes one,
Owe me there one,
One now it is gone,

There's another yet to come,
And away we'll go to Flanders,
Amongst our wooden comanders,
Where we'll get wine in plenty,
Rum, brandy, and genavy.

Here goes two.
Owe me there two, &c.*

And so up to fifteen, when the stave was concluded with a shrill "Spell, oh!" and the gang relieved streaming with perspiration. When the saltpetre was well mashed, they rolled ton butts of water on it, till the floor was like a billiard table. A fleet of chop boats then began to arrive, so many per day, with the tea chests. Mr. Grey proceeded to lay the first tier on his saltpetre floor, and then built the chests, tier upon tier, beginning at the sides, and leaving in the middle a lane somewhat narrower than a tea chest. Then he applied a screw jack to the chests on both sides, and so enlarged his central aperture, and forced the remaining tea chests in; and behold the enormous cargo packed as tight as ever a shopkeeper packed a box-nineteen thousand eight hundred and six chests, sixty half chests, fifty quarter chests….”


““All ready below, sir," cried a voice.

"Man the bars," returned Mr. Sharpe from the quarterdeck. "Play up, fifer. Heave away."

Out broke the merry fife with a rhythmical tune, and tramp, tramp, tramp went a hundred and twenty feet round and round; and, with brawny chests pressed tight against the capstan-bars, sixty fine fellows walked the ship up to her anchor, drowning the fife at intervals with their sturdy song, as pat to their feet as an echo, —

Heave with a will, ye jolly boys,
        Heave around;
We're off from Chainee, jolly boys,
        Homeward bound.

"Short stay apeak, sir," roars the boatswain from forward.

“Unship the bars. Way aloft. Loose sails. Let fall.””
[Reade, Very Hard Cash, All the Year Round, No.214, 30 May1863]

Note: Includes music for the first lyrics.