Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Sam Smith and Mr. Bentley—a brilliant young clergyman who has taken an interest in Nat—both drop into the chandlery from time to time. Mr. Hodges has given Nat a notebook, which he uses to write down everything he learns during the day. He seems to learn something new every day, and he fills up one notebook after another.

Sam Smith starts teaching Nat navigation, and before long he has a notebook all about navigation. One day, Mr. Ropes asks Nat to go over to his house, find the encyclopedia and write down what it says about “the start of surveying”. (56) All Mr. Ropes wants to know is that the science of surveying was believed to have been developed in Egypt, but Nat tries to find the beginning by understanding all the science and math that surveying is based on.

When he is sixteen, Nat figures out how to create an almanac. He is working on an almanac for the years 1789 to 1823 when a stranger comes into the chandlery and overhears Nat talking to Ben about the almanac. The stranger introduces himself as Mr. Morris. He says that Nat should go to Harvard. When he learns that Nat is indentured, he gives Nat his address and tells him to write to him if anything happens that would free him from his indenture.