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    one ' s back . Neither can I altogether approve of turning the sleeper ' s hammock suddenly round so as to face the deck , upon which Iiis own weight instantly brings him lump down , unless he be quick enough to catch hold of the sides , where he hangs like a roasting-pi g until he recovers himself sufficiently to let his legs drop gently down . But flinging handsfull of shot about in the dark , that rain sharp peppering upon the faces of snorers , was a game that amused me exceedingly . A heavy fall in one ' s sleep , however , is a thing not to be smiled at : it is bad enough to dream of , I generally slept with double laniards to my hammock , and an awning for my head in case of accidents . The worst trick

    almost I ever heard was played one night vipon C . They put a broken claret bottle in his bed . This was done from sheer spleen and envy , because he was the Captain ' s brother , since he never assumed upon the strength of it . The individual was not exactly discovered , and as there were two or three in the

    berth very capable of such a thing , it was rather difficult to fix a suspicion strong enough to act upon . It was not many nights , however , before I cut down one , upon a venture . * # * Both the boa ' son ' s mates were characters , and well worthy the short sketch I am about to give of them . The chief boa ' son ' s mate of the starboard watch was Bill Jones . He was a thin man

    of moderate height , all bone and sinew what there was of him , with naTrow shoulders , no chest , spare thighs , and griesly arms . He had a lean physiognomy , very much seamed with the small pox , a moist eye and a sensual , I wot ; large ear-rings , long greasy corkscrew ringlets at the side of his head and face , and a hungry-looking mouth . It was after we had been out at sea a long while , that sitting- upon the spar-deck one night ( for he was in my watch , which was the starboard ) there being a lull of

    wind , he had collected several round him , and he then told us his history , from going to sea at " nine years old , up till now , ' * he being six-and-thirty . The account was simply this . Bill Jones had been to every part of the world in the merchants service ; seen every thing and done every thing that sailors commonly see

    and do , and a little over . This is saying a great deal . Bill Jones had also been in men o ' war in every service , and had < c doue duty " under all colours ; he had fought for the king and against the king . This he particularly piqued himself upon . The last service he had been in , previous to the Mexican , was that of the Venezuelians , which he entered in consequence of being badly paid by the Spaniards , for whom he had teen fighting against them ; and he left the Venezuelians because he considered himself treated in an ungentlexnanly sort of way b y Bolivar . He now engaged himself in tlie service of the 3 Mk } rican Government , because he had been ashore some time , and had spent all his money . Of shipwrecks he had seen and

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    013 Mexican Sketches .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1836, page 612, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2662/page/24/