Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 3, 1895 - Travels and Excursions, Volume II

STEERAGE TYPES
already referred to under the name of Mackay, who
seemed to me not only a good instance of this failure
in life of which we have been speaking, but a good
type of the intelligence which here surrounded me.
Physically he was a small Scotsman, standing a
little back as though he were already carrying the
elements of a corporation, and his looks somewhat
marred by the smallness of his eyes. Mentally, he
was endowed above the average. There were but
few subjects on which he could not converse with
understanding and a dash of wit ; delivering himself
slowly and with gusto, like a man w^ho enjoyed his
own sententiousness. He was a dry, quick, pertinent
debater, speaking with a small voice, and swinging
on his heels to launch and emphasise an argument.
When he began a discussion, he could not bear to
leave it off, but would pick the subject to the bone,
without once relinquishing a point. An engineer
by trade, Mackay believed in the unlimited perfec-
tibility of all machines except the human machine.
The latter he gave up with ridicule for a compound
of carrion and perverse gases. He had an appetite
for disconnected facts which I can only compare to
the savage taste for beads. What is called informa-
tion was indeed a passion with the man, and he not
only delighted to receive it, but could pay you back
in kind.
With all these capabilities, here was Mackay,
already no longer young, on his way to a new
country, with no prospects, no money, and but
little hope. He was almost tedious in the cynical
45