In despair, therefore, Captain Scraggs had
abandoned bay and river towing and was prepared to jump overboard
and end all, when an opportunity offered for the freighting of
garden truck and dairy produce from Halfmoon Bay to San
Francisco.
But now a difficulty arose. The new run was an "outside"
one--salt water all the way. Under the ruling of the Inspectors,
the _Maggie_ would be running coastwise the instant she engaged
in the green pea and string bean trade, and Captain Scraggs's
license provided for no such contingency. His ticket entitled him
to act as master on the waters of San Francisco Bay and the
waters tributary thereto, and although Scraggs argued that the
Pacific Ocean constituted waters "tributary thereto," if _he_
understood the English language, the Inspectors were obdurate.
What if the distance was less than twenty-five miles? they
pointed out. The voyage was undeniably coastwise and carried with
it all the risk of wind and wave. And in order to impress upon
Captain Scraggs the weight of their authority, the Inspectors
suspended for six months Captain Scraggs's bay and river license
for having dared to negotiate two coastwise voyages without
consulting them.
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