Note 53 — Chapter XX · TEL-EL-MAHUTA TO MAHSAMEH.
Reading edition
It is related that one of the men-of-wars' men, when in working dress and carrying a huge package of stores, was accosted by a smart Commissariat officer, who asked the sailor who he was. Jack stopped in his work, and wiping the perspiration from his brow, replied, "Well, sir, I used to be a British sailor, but now I'm blowed if I don't begin to think I'm a blooming Commissariat mule."