rst lieutenant, but refuses--Description of
officers--A fruitless search for a Spanish treasure ship--Run on a
coral reef, but float off again--A tropical thunderstorm--A futile
attempt to cut out three schooners off Matanzas--Author becomes
first lieutenant--Return to Port Royal--The incriminating papers of
an American sloop found in a shark--Seize a French ship in ballast
off St. Domingo.

On introducing myself to my new captain, who was a short, corpulent,
open-countenanced man, he informed me he had conversed with my former
captain respecting me. "We lost both the lieutenants by the yellow fever
the latter part of last cruise," said he, "and if you like to be first
lieutenant, I will request the Admiralty to give me an acting officer." I
thanked him for his good opinion, but begged leave to decline being first.
About a fortnight afterwards, during which time no other lieutenant had
joined, the captain again asked me if I had altered my mind. "And," added
he, "the time you have been on board has given you some insight respecting
a first lieutenant's duty. Your early rising I much approve, and your
regularity with the duty pleases me. Let me write for an acting
lieutenant." I made him due acknowledgments but still declined, pleading
the want of experience. "Well," said he, "if you will not, I must ask for
a senior officer," and soon afterwards he was appointed. Another fortnight
expired, when we sailed for the Gulf of Mexico. I will now rest on my oars
a little, and as I have the watch below, I will amuse myself by sketching
the outline of the gun-room inmates.

The first lieutenant knew his duty, but was too fond of the contents of
his case-bottles of rum, which made him at times very irritable and hasty;
in other respects he was a sociable messmate. The second was a kind of
nondescript; he was certainly sober, and I hope honest, fond of adventure,
and always volunteered when the boats were sent on any expedition. He was
sociable, and frequently rational, although too often sanguine where hope
was almost hopeless. Three-and-twenty summers had passed over his head,
but still there was much to correct. He was generous and open-hearted, and
never could keep a secret, which often got him into a scrape with ladies
of all colours. The value of money never entered his head, and when he
received a cool hundred, he spent it coolly, but not without heartfelt
enjoyment. The