- description
- # CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE DOCK-WALL BEGGARS
## Overview
This is Chapter 38, titled "THE DOCK-WALL BEGGARS," from Herman Melville's novel, [Redburn: His First Voyage](arke:01KG8AJ9CVDS15WWAP46A9M4XP). The chapter spans lines 7275 to 7428 of the source text.
## Context
This chapter is part of the novel [Redburn: His First Voyage](arke:01KG8AJ9CVDS15WWAP46A9M4XP), which is included in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It was extracted from the digital text file [redburn.txt](arke:01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF). Preceded by [CHAPTER XXXVII. WHAT REDBURN SAW IN LAUNCELOTT’S-HEY](arke:01KG8AJRKNBP7BQ7AC8F90RW5Q), it is followed by [CHAPTER XXXIX. THE BOOBLE-ALLEYS OF THE TOWN](arke:01KG8AJS9WA8Y2C5NE7P4RWM95).
## Contents
The chapter describes the pervasive poverty and various forms of beggary observed by the narrator, Redburn, around the Liverpool docks. It details the "rubbish-pickers" who sift through refuse from ships and the "remarkable army of paupers" who gather at the dock walls during meal times to solicit charity from sailors. Redburn recounts specific instances of beggars, including a cripple displaying a mangled factory accident, a pallid man with a chalk inscription about his starving family, and an old, merry, one-legged man-of-war's man who lost his leg at the Battle of Trafalgar and claims his wooden leg is made from Nelson's ship, the Victory. The chapter concludes with Redburn's reflections on the widespread suffering and his prayer for an angelic intervention to heal the woes of humanity.
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- CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE DOCK-WALL BEGGARS
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- title
- CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE DOCK-WALL BEGGARS