"The devil to pay, and no pitch hot!"
Whether sheltered in the forecastle, perched up in the rigging, toiling over the guns or clinging to the yards, the sailors on the Natière ships had to submit to the law of the sea. When their ship was becalmed, they sculpted and polished objects out of bone or wood. Sometimes they beseeched the heavens for a favourable wind. Life aboard ship was lived according to a routine – watches, work, meals – that kept boredom at bay, and that was punctuated with songs, dances and games.
