such, then, was the person that i saw seated on the transom when i followed captain peleg down into the cabin. the space between the decks was small; and there, bolt-upright, sat old bildad, who always sat so, and never leaned, and this to save his coat tails. his broad-brim was placed beside him; his legs were stiffly crossed; his drab vesture was buttoned up to his chin; and spectacles on nose, he seemed absorbed in reading from a ponderous volume.