w readily he could appeal
to the bayonet that was suspended from his shoulder, should need demand
it. Their Commander himself withdrew, with the rest of the officers to the
poop, in order that no incumbrance might be given, by their presence, to
the freedom of the sports to which they had resigned the rest of the
vessel.

A couple of minutes might have been lost in producing the different
changes we have just related But, so soon as the topmen were sure that no
unfortunate laggard of their party was within reach of the resentment of
the different groupes beneath, they commenced complying literally with the
summons of the boatswain, by plotting mischief.

Sundry buckets, most of which had been provided for the extinction of
fire, were quickly seen pendant from as many whips on the outer extremity
of the different yards descending towards the sea. In spite of the awkward
opposition of the men below, these leathern vessels were speedily filled,
and in the hands of those who had sent them down. Many was the gaping
waister, and rigid marine, who now made a more familiar acquaintance with
the element on which he floated than suited either his convenience or his
humour. So long as the jokes were confined to these semi-initiated
individuals, the top men enjoyed their fun with impunity; but, the in
stant the dignity of a quarter-gunner's person was invaded, the whole
gang of petty officers and forecastle-men rose in a body to meet the
insult, with a readiness and dexterity that manifested how much at home
the elder mariners were with all that belonged to their art. A little
engine was transferred to the head, and was then brought to bear on the
nearest top, like a well-planted battery clearing the way for the opening
battle. The laughing and chattering topmen were soon dispersed: some
ascending beyond the power of the engine, and others retreating into the
neighbouring top, along ropes, and across giddy heights, that would have
seemed impracticable to any animal less agile than a squirrel.

The marines were now summoned, by the successful and malicious mariners,
forward, to improve their advantage. Thoroughly drenched already, and
eager to resent their wrongs, a half-dozen of the soldiers, led on by a
corporal, the coating of whose powdered poll had been converted into a
sort of paste by too great an intimacy with a bucket of water, essayed to
mount the rigging; an exploit to them much more arduous than to enter a
breach. The