Lewis, M. G. (Matthew Gregory), 1775-1818
. Journal of a Residence among the Negroes in the West Indies
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
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DECEMBER 8.
At three o'clock this afternoon we entered the tropic of Cancer ; and if the wind continues tolerably favourable, , we expect to see Antigua on Sunday se'nnight. On crossing line, it was formerly usual for ships to receive a visit from an old gentleman and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Cancer: the husband was, by profession, a barber; and, probably, the scullion, who
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insisted. so peremptorily on shaving Sancho, at the duke's castle, had served an apprenticeship to Mr. Cancer, for their mode of proceeding was, much alike, and, indeed, very peculiar : the old gentleman always made a point of using a rusty iron hoop instead of a razor, tar for soap, and an empty beef-barrel was, in his opinion, the very best possible substitute for a basin; in consequence of which, instead of paying him for shaving them, people of taste were disposed to pay for not being shaved , and as Mrs. Cancer happened to be particularly partial to gin, the gift of a few bottles was generally successful in rescuing the donor's chin from the hands of her husband ; however, to-day this venerable pair "perdventure were sleeping or on a journey," for we neither saw nor heard anything about them.