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Untitled Article
* and contempt : such were intruders on her sight—yet had she a falcon ' s eye in search of them , and eager was her clutch of what she oftentimes despised . On our way we passed two ships of war , and there was a silent interchange of polite gratulations ; elegant bows made in passing , the exclusives recognised each other immediately : but a lugger
hove in sight ; little ambitious was she of such genteel company . Unlucky lugger ! she was under our lee , and inshore of us , when we first descried her through the haze ; and , like a frightened bird , she instantly stretched out every feather of her wings in the hope of escaping ; in vain , in vain ; she must be caught ; a shot brought her to , and in a few minutes the A cowered over her as a kite over a fluttering chicken . By this I was made fully
sensible of the great size and ponderousness of our ship : she lay , just lifting , at easy intervals on the billows , while that poor , fragile , little creature , was tossed about like a shuttlecock or a blown bladder by every wave , which splashed mercilessly over her , drenching her from stem to stern ; yet the men stood as steadily on the deck , as if their feet were pieces of her planks . These are the craft to teach a man to find his sea legs . And no wonder she was anxious to shun our civilities , for a boat was
lowered—an officer and men were sent on board , and in a few minutes returned with two hardy , vigorous , young men , whose galled hearts looked out at their pale faces ; and the lugger was told she might go . They were impressed . Such was all the ceremony used in adding- two more victims to our band of
captives . Huzza ! jolly tars !—again ! I cannot help it , reader , I did promise not to grumble in January : but I cannot resist heaving out this short groan and grin : now bowl away again , as if nothing had occurred , and sea , and air , and sky , and wind , were all King George ' s : so , also , were the stars at night ; for they served as lanterns to one of his ships .
Reader , did you ever see an army of bats suspended by the heels to the roof of a cavern ? If you have , you may form some idea of the ' tween decks of a frigate at night , when some two or three hundred hammocks are slung up to the ceiling , the deck over head , with half as many sleepers snoring in chorus , though my zoology does not tell me that bats snore . Did you ever switch a torch among the bats , ( at the peril of your light it must be , ) and set the whole rookery of them , hurry , skurry , upon the
wing , with a furious whizz , and a cataract of whirr ? If you have , you may conceive the effect which two or three shrill loud twit , twit , twits , followed by a long yell , ( for it is nothing else , as it cuts into the ears of the sleepers , ) from a quartetto of boatswain ' s and boatswain ' s mates' silver calls , has upon those who are occupying the hammocks : then the lengthened shout of ' all ha-a-ands a-hoy ! ' and down among the suddenly disturbed mass the arousers plunge to quicken the rapidity of bustle which
Untitled Article
, 24 Autobiography of Pel Verjuice ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1834, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2629/page/24/
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