ships pets.

[Brian Charles Williams]

I recall when on the Loadstone the 2nd. Steward had a few trips earlier got an African Grey parrot that he was going to take home for his mother.
The parrot would be hung in it`s cage just inside his cabin door way. When ever a crew member passed the cabin they would tell it a swear word.
Because of the previous trips it`s vocabulary was really ripe with words I had never heard before ! By the time we paid off 5 months later the trip had given the bird words as blue blue. He was I suspect never to give that parrot to his dear old mum ! (STILL SMILING ) Brian W.

[Captain Kong]

This happened on the Corrales, we were near Tiko and then we had orders to go
, to the Congo to pick up some American Missionaries, All they had was a West African Grey Parrot in a cage, It was out on the hatch midships, singing hymns every day.
The sailors passing all day taught it every swear and cuss word we could think of. The Missionary didn't like to hear the cussing and picked up the cage and flung it over the wall into the ocean drowning the Parrot,
The crowd chased the man into the accommodation but he locked his door. The Captain told the Missionaries to stay in side until we got to Las Palmas where they got off,
Brian

[happy daze john in oz]

There was a an engineer and a couple of days out of Cape Town his cabin began to smell like a harlots knickers and there were some odd noises coming from the wardrobe.
Opened it up and there staring me in the face a Bush baby. Where he had got it I have no idea but he told me he was taking it home.
How, if ever, he got it off in Southampton I do not know but next voyage he told me it had died a couple of days after he got home.
Too bloody cold and the animal more than likely not used to conditions.

[j.sabourn]

Cant remember whether Capetown or Durban, but remarked on a couple of stevedores working down the hold that they must have fallen into a bag of flour. Was informed that was their colour. They were native albinos and had the pink eyes to prove it. Was also informed by some expert on the subject there was a tribe of them somewhere, whether true or not never followed up. One of the Directors of the company I served my time with was called Blackadder the same as the comedy show on tv one. Of course he was nicknamed the negro accountant. Wonder what you could call a white negro without upsetting the goodie goodie brigade. JS

[john walker]

#4 I guess in the old apartheid S. Africa the white negro would have been classed as non white but today could he be classed as non black?