's
service was another charge. The lieutenant then laid down the law to me
in splendid style, and ended thus: "Now, Michael Murray, you have made
considerable trouble on this frigate, and I shall see that you get 'four
dozen.' Then you can desert--that is, if you get the chance. Corporal,
put him in irons." When the corporal put the padlock on the bar, he
said: "Mike, my lad, you're in for it now!"

About five days afterward I was taken on the quarter-deck again. The
lieutenant wanted to know who brought the cashass on board to Matt and
myself. I replied that I knew nothing about it and that I had never seen
Matt with the liquor in his possession. Then I was told that Matt's body
had been found floating in the bay. He had on all his clothes excepting
cap and shoes. Inside of his shirt was found the skin containing a small
quantity of cashass. He must have been quite drunk or he would not have
tried to swim such a distance with his clothes on; or it may be that he
fell overboard and that that was the reason he did not come back for me
as he promised.

"Four dozen" on an English man-of-war means flogging with the
cat-o'-nine-tails. The "cat" is a hardwood handle eighteen inches long,
to one end of which are attached nine pieces of hard lines, about one
eighth of an inch in diameter and eighteen inches long. At the end of
each tail is a hard knot. When punishment is to be inflicted the "tails"
are soaked in strong brine. That makes them hard and heavy. A wooden
grating from a hatchway is placed on end, resting against the bulwarks.
All hands are called to witness punishment. Everybody must be present,
from the captain to the powder boys. The prisoner is stripped naked to
the waist, his feet are lashed to the bottom of the grating, and his
arms are stretched out full length and fastened. The face and breast
are then close to the grating, with no chance remaining of moving the
body. The ship's surgeon watches to see that the prisoner does not die
while being punished. The boatswain's mate is on the left side. He
swings the "cat" over his head with the right hand, at the same time
drawing the tails through his left hand. At every stroke nine stripes
are cut on the prisoner's back, the knots at the same time making little
holes in the skin, about two seconds elapsing between each stroke. After
two dozen strokes have been given, the boatswain's mate steps to the
other side of the prisoner and gives the remaining two dozen, the