-
Articles/Ads
Article Untitled Article ← Page 2 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
oldest inhabitant . So ready , indeed , was he with reminiscences and yarns of all naval veterans , that I sometimes have expected to hear him bring forth some personal recollection of the Ark , when under the command of Noah . He was red in the face and nose from hard drinking , and as fat as Daniel Lambert ; in fact , he appeared composed of a series of globes ; his head being a small globe , his body a large one , and sections of globes forming his legs . Notwithstanding , he was an excellent sailor , had been tried in every sea , and was never at a loss for anything connected with the remotest branch of his profession .
.. We jogged lazily away from the white coasts of Old England , across the Bay of Biscay ; the Pump , on ordinary occasions , not exceeding five miles an hour . There was but little wind in the bay , but a gale the day before had left a fearful swell . People talk incredulously of waves " mountains high ; " I would recommend them to cross the Bay of Biscay in rough weather . I only know the height of the waves seemed terrific to me , unaccustomed , as I was , to the ocean . I could have sworn that they were fully as high as our mastheads , and felt as if each must infallibly whelm us beneath
its immense burden of water , nor did I wonder less at the ease and agility wherewith the brig mounted the billows . Let any one who has been to the lakes of Westmoreland , fancy Helvellyn or Skiddaw rushing at him one after the other , and he will form an accurate notion of the appearance presented to me by the bay . However , we safely surmounted all these perils , and sped on our outward voyage . There were three other passengers in the JPump also bound to Bio de Janeiro . One , a newly-appointed attache to our embassy ; the two others belonging to mercantile houses . We all messed with the
lieutenant in command , upon food certainly tougher than I at first at all relished ; but those were not the days for preserved meats and potted milk in the cabin . We had to content ourselves with salt junk , biscuit , and cocoa , washed down with plenty of " grog ; " the lieutenant took rather more than his share during the first part of the voyage , when his passengers had not become familiarised with the
taste of that beverage . Latterly he complained that he was not required to drink half of each passenger ' s grog as well as his own . It was singular to notice how well the attache adapted himself to these circumstances . Springing from fashionable London life and luxury , he fitted himself to the coarse food of his Majesty ' s brig Pump , and the society of her rough commander , with as much ease as if he had
been naturally bred to such a position . He talked with me , though knowing that I was going out as a clerk , in as friendly a way as he would have chatted with his friend the Honourable Captain Tomnoddy , of the Gruards . This was pleasant enough , allowing for the drawback of knowing that when we met on shore he would not interchange half a dozen syllables—so time passed on .
We ran along merrily before the north-east " trades , " having nothing to do but trim the sails , and sit down at our ease ; then came ft long delay in the neighbourhood of the equator , to which , finally ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
oldest inhabitant . So ready , indeed , was he with reminiscences and yarns of all naval veterans , that I sometimes have expected to hear him bring forth some personal recollection of the Ark , when under the command of Noah . He was red in the face and nose from hard drinking , and as fat as Daniel Lambert ; in fact , he appeared composed of a series of globes ; his head being a small globe , his body a large one , and sections of globes forming his legs . Notwithstanding , he was an excellent sailor , had been tried in every sea , and was never at a loss for anything connected with the remotest branch of his profession .
.. We jogged lazily away from the white coasts of Old England , across the Bay of Biscay ; the Pump , on ordinary occasions , not exceeding five miles an hour . There was but little wind in the bay , but a gale the day before had left a fearful swell . People talk incredulously of waves " mountains high ; " I would recommend them to cross the Bay of Biscay in rough weather . I only know the height of the waves seemed terrific to me , unaccustomed , as I was , to the ocean . I could have sworn that they were fully as high as our mastheads , and felt as if each must infallibly whelm us beneath
its immense burden of water , nor did I wonder less at the ease and agility wherewith the brig mounted the billows . Let any one who has been to the lakes of Westmoreland , fancy Helvellyn or Skiddaw rushing at him one after the other , and he will form an accurate notion of the appearance presented to me by the bay . However , we safely surmounted all these perils , and sped on our outward voyage . There were three other passengers in the JPump also bound to Bio de Janeiro . One , a newly-appointed attache to our embassy ; the two others belonging to mercantile houses . We all messed with the
lieutenant in command , upon food certainly tougher than I at first at all relished ; but those were not the days for preserved meats and potted milk in the cabin . We had to content ourselves with salt junk , biscuit , and cocoa , washed down with plenty of " grog ; " the lieutenant took rather more than his share during the first part of the voyage , when his passengers had not become familiarised with the
taste of that beverage . Latterly he complained that he was not required to drink half of each passenger ' s grog as well as his own . It was singular to notice how well the attache adapted himself to these circumstances . Springing from fashionable London life and luxury , he fitted himself to the coarse food of his Majesty ' s brig Pump , and the society of her rough commander , with as much ease as if he had
been naturally bred to such a position . He talked with me , though knowing that I was going out as a clerk , in as friendly a way as he would have chatted with his friend the Honourable Captain Tomnoddy , of the Gruards . This was pleasant enough , allowing for the drawback of knowing that when we met on shore he would not interchange half a dozen syllables—so time passed on .
We ran along merrily before the north-east " trades , " having nothing to do but trim the sails , and sit down at our ease ; then came ft long delay in the neighbourhood of the equator , to which , finally ,