ies on one side, we looked like a pig with one ear.

We anchored at Port Royal in the afternoon, and before the sails were
furled we were surrounded by a number of boats and canoes filled with
dignity and first and second-class dingy damsels, some of them squalling
songs of their own composition in compliment to the ship and officers,
accompanied by several banjos. When the ropes were coiled down they were
admitted on board, when they began dancing round the quarter-deck and
making love to the officers for their washing. Having accomplished the
purpose of their visit, they departed, promising that we should "hab ebery
ting berry clean by Saturday ebening, and dat he lib in hope for see massa
at him house berry soon."

The carpenters from the dockyard soon repaired the quarter galleries, and
made good all other defects, when that fatal scourge, the yellow fever,
made its appearance among the ship's company. The schoolmaster, a clever,
intelligent young man, who had been educated at Christ's Hospital, was the
first victim. This was quite sufficient to alarm the nerves of our gallant
captain, who never joined the ship afterwards; he, having obtained
permission from the admiral to return to England by a lugger going with
despatches, took French leave of the whole of us--that is, no leave at all.
In a few days afterwards Captain B. joined us as acting-captain. He was a
young, active, and smart officer. The yellow fever was now making
lamentable havoc among the crew. Six were either carried to the hospital
or buried daily. After losing fifty-two men, one of the lieutenants, the
captain's clerk, and four mids, the captain requested the admiral's
permission to go to sea, for, although we had more than thirty cases of
the fever on board, the surgeon thought the pure sea-breeze might be the
means of preserving their lives. Alas! he was fatally mistaken, for nearly
the whole of them were thrown over the standing part of the fore-sheet
before we returned from our cruise. We were one hundred and sixty short of
our complement of men, besides having about fifty more in their hammocks,
but the captain wished to persevere in keeping the sea. We had been from
Jamaica three weeks, cruising on the south side of St. Domingo, when we
captured a French brig of war of fourteen guns and one hundred and
twenty-five men, and two days afterwards a large schooner privateer of one
long eighteen-pounder on a traverse, and six eighteen-pounder carronad