The passionate soldier.—A blue-jacket paying his debts.—A monkey on board.—A ship.—Keel.—Decks.—Masts.—Sails.—Rigging.—Life-boat.—Cables.—Anchors.—Capstan.—Buoys.—Blocks.—Knotting.—Quadrant.—The Indian and his fine clothes.—His return home.—His relation of his adventures.—The indignation of his tribe.—His tragical end.

“I will now say a little about a ship, without dwelling long on the subject. It must be, touch 96and go, aloft and below, for young people must learn to be sometimes satisfied with little.”

“The more you tell us the better; we like a long account much better than a short one. Tell us all that you can think of about a ship and about sailors too.”

“No, that will not suit me just now; my account must be short. Sailors are sometimes hard to manage; and it becomes necessary to be quick in finding out when any ill-will is spreading among them, for it might lead on to a mutiny. Soldiers and sailors should be obedient as well as brave—a red-coat should never be found in the black hole, nor a blue-jacket show a white feather in the hour of danger.”

“A mutiny is a sad thing among sailors or soldiers.”

“It is; but I think sailors can be managed more easily than soldiers, because they usually go to sea early; whereas soldiers are often men before they enlist, with all the strength of their passions about them. A French newspaper says—‘There is a private in the first regiment of cuirassiers in the French service, whom nothing can withstand when he becomes enraged; in that state he breaks iron like so much glass, and makes a plaything of a horse, as if it were a child’s toy. In July last, his lieutenant, having directed him to take charge of the fresh horses, Memuel complained of partiality, and 97was placed under arrest for four days. He went quietly to prison; but the door had been scarcely locked upon him before he fairly shivered it open without drawing the bolts back, and got away. He was then thrown into the regimental prison; from this he speedily broke loose, destroying all the camp bedsteads, snapping the window-bars asunder, and scattering the walls and doors in every direction. After this second release from ‘durance vile’ he was next incarcerated in a dungeon; but he had crippled his hands and fingers so much by his last exploit as to be disabled from active service—in the matter at least of any fresh escapade.”

“Terrible! terrible! You never heard of such a sad fellow as that among sailors, did you?”

“I can hardly tell at the moment. Fall in with the humour of sailors, and they are a good-tempered, honest-hearted set of fellows. A true-hearted sailor loves his country, never forsakes a messmate in danger or trouble, and would rather snap his cable than break his word. I will tell you a laughable account that I have just read about a sailor paying his debts. The account is this:—‘I ought to add, for the honour of Jack, that the bumboat-women, landladies, and all others who had trusted him, were duly remunerated before the remainder of his money was spent. Many of these creditors had come round from Chatham for this purpose. I believe there was but one exception 98to their being all honestly and liberally paid. There was one fellow who made an objection to his account in rather a Joe Miller sort of style. I am not sure whether Joe was before him, but he certainly stuck to his point with the gravity of an original: this was a Dutchman, who had entered for our service. Having built rather largely upon his anticipated pay, he had made his visits to the bumboat-woman rather often; so that, besides the score for loaves of bread, red-herrings, sausages, and pounds of sugar, there appeared upon his account a considerable number of dittos. Now, he acknowledged to all the above-named articles, and paid for them fairly, but he declared most forcibly that he had never had any dittos, nor could he be brought to understand what the word meant by all the logic of the bumboat-woman, or those who advocated her cause.’”

“Poor Jack did not know what ditto meant.”

“Well, now let us go on board ship together. I will tell you something that will a little surprise you.”

“What is it? what is it?”

“It is the opinion of an officer, as brave and as well-informed as any in the British navy, that it is an excellent thing to have on board ship a monkey.”

“A monkey! Why, he would be so full of his antics as to set the blue-jackets laughing at him; and then, he would be always in mischief.”

99“For these very reasons Captain Hall recommends that Mr. Pug should be received as one of the crew. He well knows the advantage of light hearts and good humour on board ship, and thinks that few things are more likely to afford mirth to the blue-jackets than the comical tricks of a monkey! If Mr. Pug cannot be taught to weigh anchor, reef a sail, or pull a rope, he can grin and chatter at those who do these things, and thereby keep them in a good temper.”

“Very good, Mr. Pug; and now, while you run up the ropes we shall, perhaps, hear something more about ships.”

“I have a few pictures of ships, which I will show you. See! here is a ship in the time of King Alfred.”

“Is that a ship? Why, there seems to be no room for the sailors.”

100“You must remember, that in the time of Alfred, Jack-tars were not so plentiful as they are now. But, perhaps, a ship in the reign of William the Conqueror will please you better. What do you think of this? It has, you see, a kind of house, or tower, upon it. This would prevent the men on board from being so much exposed as in the other ship: a thing of no trifling importance in a time of warfare. A well-built and well manned British ship of war, such as carries an admiral’s flag now, would, no doubt, destroy a whole fleet of the ships of olden time. Half-a-dozen broadsides would send as many ships of William the Conqueror’s days to the bottom. But what do you think of this ship?”

“Why, that is very little better than the other. It has but one mast and one sail, and nothing like a sailor is to be seen.”

101“Come, I must try again, it seems. Here is a ship in the time of Henry III. Will that suit you? You cannot say that has but one mast. The shrouds, too, that hold the masts steady, are here fastened to the sides of the vessel. It was not so before. This method of steadying the masts is a decided improvement, you must admit, though the vessel is still far from being perfect.”

“Yes, there is no doubt of its being an improvement, to say nothing of the flags flying at the top; but such a vessel would not do at the present time. It has two masts certainly, but it is but an odd-looking ship, after all. What is the next picture you have, uncle?”

102“It is a ship of the reign of Edward IV. Ships then had four masts, with a sail to each of them, as well as a forecastle at the head, and a cabin at the stern. Like all other things of importance, ships have been brought to perfection by degrees. Whether I am right in supposing a British man-of-war to be perfect, even now, is a question.”

“Ay! this is much grander than the others,—but every man on the deck has a long spear in his hand. That is not very sailor-like, is it?”

“Why no, it is not boys; at least, not like the sailors of the present day. This ship of the reign of Henry VIII. will please you.”
103

“That is something like! Plenty of masts, and sails, and cannon too, in that ship; and what a height the hull runs up! Please to tell us something about a first-rate man-of-war, such as are now in the British navy?”

“Now then for a man-of-war. If you are ready for a dive, we will go under water together. We will begin at the false keel; this is made fast under the keel to preserve it from injury in case of a run upon the rocks. On the keel is the keelson to strengthen it. The timbers that start out right and left from the keel are the ribs, and the planking 104is fastened to them inside and out. You know the head from the stern, I dare say.
A bold British sailor his duty should learn,
And know every rope from the head to the stern;
His heart should be firm when the rude billows roll,
And as true as the needle that points to the pole.”

“Ay! that is a good description of a sailor; he should know his duty, and carry a true heart in his bosom.”

“To say nothing of the forecastle and quarter-decks, a first-rate has three whole decks. Under the lower gun-deck is the orlop-deck, where you will find the store-rooms of the carpenter, the gunner, the boatswain, the surgeon, and the purser, as well as the cockpit, which is near the after-hatchway. Over the lower gun-deck is the middle deck, and over that the upper or main-deck. Above these are the forecastle and quarter-deck.”

“A first-rate, then, has three decks, besides the forecastle and quarter-deck and orlop-decks; and how many masts?”

“To carry the yards, sails and rigging, there are three masts, an............