lose by, I could not fully comprehend the whole manoeuvre.
The captain was head and shoulders immersed in the filthy trough,
which, uncleaned, was taken from the manger, that part of the main-deck
directly under the forecastle, and filled with salt water. The doctor
and purser had taken a greater lurch, and fallen over it, sousing their
white waistcoats and well-arranged shirt frills in the dirty mixture.
The rest of us contrived to keep our legs. The ship was running before
the wind, and rolling considerably, and the motion, aided by the wine
and the act of plucking aside the flag, _might_ have precipitated the
captain into his unenviable situation; he thought otherwise. No sooner
was he placed upon his feet, and his mouth sufficiently clear from the
salt water decoction of hog-wash, than he collared the poor victim of
persecution, and spluttered out, "Mutiny--mu--mu--mutiny--sentry.
Gentlemen, I call you all to witness, that Mr Silva has laid violent
hands upon me."

The "paviour of ways" was immediately put under arrest, and a marine,
with a drawn bayonet, placed at his cabin door, and the captain had to
repair damages, vowing the most implacable vengeance for having been
shoved into his own hog-trough. _Did ever anybody know any good come of
hoaxing_?

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.

THE PALISADE BANQUET, AND MAJOR FLUSHFIRE'S ANTHEM TO YELLOW JACK--WHO'S
AFRAID?--THE SANDS OF LIFE'S HOUR-GLASS WILL RUN OUT RAPIDLY, UNLESS
WELL SOAKED WITH WINE.

We will despatch the object of persecution in a few words. Lieutenant
Silva was given the option of a court-martial or of exchanging into a
sloop of war. He chose the latter. The captain and his messmates saw
him over the side, two days after we had anchored in Port Royal. The
spiteful commander purposely contrived, when his effects were whipped
into the boat, that one of the heavy, suspicious-looking cases should be
swung against the gun and smashed. The result was exactly what we all
expected. The water was strewn with copies, in boards, of the "Tour up
and down the Rio de la Plate." They must certainly have been light
reading, as they floated about triumphantly. "I wonder whether they
will pave their way up to Kingston," said the captain, with a sneer.

As the author would not suffer them to be picked up, they sank, one by
one, and disappeared, like the remembrance of their creator in the minds
of his companions. We heard, a few weeks after, that he had died o