SEPTEMBER 28.—John Silas Huntly, the captain of the Chancellor¹, has the reputation of being a most experienced navigator of the Atlantic. He is a Scotchman by birth, a native of Dundee, and is about fifty years of age. He is of the middle height and slight build, and has a small head, which he has a habit of holding a little over his left shoulder. I do not pretend to be much of a physiognomist, but I am inclined to believe that my few hours' acquaintance with our captain has given me considerable insight into his character. That he is a good seaman³ and thoroughly⁴ understands his duties I could not for a moment venture to deny; but that he is a man of resolute⁵ temperament⁶, or that he possesses the amount of courage that would render him, physically⁷ or morally, capable of coping with any great emergency, I confess I cannot believe. I observed a certain heaviness and dejection about his whole carriage. His wavering glances, the listless motion of his hands, and his slow, unsteady gait, all seem to me to indicate a weak and sluggish⁸ disposition⁹. He does not appear as though he could be energetic enough ever to be stubborn; he never frowns, sets his teeth, or clenches¹⁰ his fists. There is something enigmatical about him; however, I shall study him closely, and do what I can to understand the man who, as commander of a vessel¹¹, should be to those around him "second only to God."