"Counterfly, the ballast man! leave that spastical oaf be, and jettison our sandbags, or we are done for!"
* * * * * * * * * *
I think this is Randolph calling Miles fat again by the literary device of juxtaposition. By invoking the term "ballast," we assume he's talking about the sandbags. But what if he's talking about the other heavy thing in the line, the spastical oaf? Obviously he isn't but that's the job of juxtaposition! To make you think, if even for a fleeting moment, "Oh yeah. That Miles is a fat little oaf, isn't he?"
Not that I'd think that! I would never judge somebody by how much they resemble a sand bag!
Also, calling Miles "spastical" reminds me that perhaps Miles actually has a condition that has yet to be mentioned, perhaps of an epileptic nature.
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