were called "hoosiers," working in New Orleans or Mobile during the winter at stowing ships with cotton, and in the summer sailing in the packet ships. They were all good chantey men; that is, they could all sing at their?we could reef and hoist all three topsails at once, with a different song for each one, Packet ship TORONTO, NY &gt; London/re: cotton-stowing (Low 1906) - the wildest and most striking negro song we think we ever listened to?one dusky fellow, twirling his wool hat above his head, took the lead in singing, improvising as he sang, all except the chorus, in which the whole crew joined with enthusiasm Steamboat, Alabama river/boatmen (Hundley 1860) - The leader, a stalwart negro, stood upon the capstan shouting the solo part of the song?they were answered by his companions in stentorian tones at first, and then, as the refrain of the song fell into the lower part of the register, the response was changed into a sad chant in mournful minor key Steamboat, St. Louis &gt; New Orleans (Nichols 1860) - A chanty gang was engaged to hoist out the cargo, Zanzibar/stevedores (Clark 1867) c.1866 - when the sugar began to roll in, the crew found I was at the head of the rope, and a "chanty man." We rolled the sugar upon the stages, over the bows, and at every hogshead I gave them a different song, American schooner, St. Jago, Cuba/ working cargo (Clark 1867) - continuous running solo of "