"Be you Meth'dis' o' Bab'tis', Massa Mate ?" "Both, Sopsy." "Can't be bof, Massa." "Then I'm either one you like." "That ain't right, Massa Secon' Mate, 'cordin' as you was brung up," said the cook, shaking his head violently, as though he utterly disapproved of the mate's theology.
"I'm a theosophist, Sopsy." "A seehossofist!" exclaimed the cook, dropping a plate in his astonishment.

"We don't hab none o' dem on shore in de Souf.

I reckon dey libs in de water." "No; they live on the mountains." "We hain't got no mount'ns down here, and dat's de reason we don't hab none on 'em," added Sopsy as he went to the pantry; but presently returned with a plate of pickles in one hand and the whiskey bottle in the other.

"Does dem sea-hosses drink whisker, Massa Secon' Mate ?" "They never drink a drop of it." "Dis colored pusson ain't no sea-hoss, and he do drink whiskey when he kin git it," added the cook; and he half filled a tumbler with the contents of the bottle, and drank it off at a single gulp.
He had hardly placed it on the table in the middle of the dishes before the captain came below.

His first step was to take a liberal potation from the bottle.