Section of James Fenimore Cooper's handwritten manuscript for the 1830 novel 'The Water Witch; or the Skimmer of the Seas, a Tale,' on both sides of an 8.75 x 1.5 slip, in part: "The eye of a seaman is acute…and his mind is quick…Ludlow saw by its construction, that the boat was not one of those sent from the ship; that it approached in a direction which enabled it to avoid the Coquette, by keeping in a part of the bay where the water was not of sufficient depth to admit of her passage; and that its movements were so guarded as to denote great caution…
'The stick wanted the commission of our mistress,' interrupted the other, glancing his eye at the credulous and attentive crew of the boat. 'In a thoughtless moment, ’twas taken up at sea, and fashioned to our purpose without counsel from the book. Nothing that touches our decks, under fitting advice, comes to harm.—You look incredulous, and ’tis in character to seem so. If you refuse to listen to the lady of the brigantine, at least lend an ear to your own laws. Of what offence can you charge Master Seadrift, that you hold him captive?'" In fine condition.
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