not worth
reading. Oh, Ignorance, thou art sometimes bliss, but in the present
instance it were not folly to be wise! I attempted to take the Irish
half-crown out of his mind by comparing some of Dryden's passages with the
others, and he was as much convinced as a cable-tier coiling and
stowing-hold officer is generally capable of being, that the "Dry" poetry
was the best.

The captain of this ship was from the north, I believe, strictly moral and
as strict in discipline, admirably economical, and as regular in his
habits as any old-clothes man in Monmouth Street. He kept all the
cockpitonians on the _qui vive_, and as every recommendation went through
him to the admiral it was but good policy for the mids to be on the alert.
As all the lieutenants were constantly changing, those promoted making
room for others, I shall not describe their characters, except noticing
that the generality of them were good officers and gentlemen. A month
after I joined we were ordered to sail, and on going out of Port Royal
Roads we struck with great force on a sand bank called the Turtle Head.
The master, who was as ignorant as he was conceited, had taken charge of
the ship before she was out of pilot water, and in less than half an hour
after the pilot left us she struck. As we were still in sight of the
vessels at Port Royal, we made the signal for assistance, and soon
afterwards saw a frigate and a store ship coming out towards us. The sea
breeze began to set in, which drove us more on the shoal, notwithstanding
that we had carried out two anchors ahead. At length she thumped so
violently that we jumped at least a foot high from the deck. I could not
refrain from smiling to see the captain and officers with serious, long,
anxious faces, cutting capers against their will. The rudder and false
keel soon parted company, and we all expected to see the masts jerked out
of their steps. On sounding the well we found the ship making water
rapidly. The pumps were set to work, but in vain. She soon sank in three
fathoms and a half water, and we had eighteen feet of water in the hold.
The frigate and store ship, with some smaller vessels, had anchored as
near us as they could with safety. The small craft came alongside and took
out our guns and stores, and one hundred additional men were sent on board
us to work the pumps. Pumps were also sent from the dockyard, and were
introduced into the hold through the decks, which had been scuttled for
that