about now?"

"Swearing? it's enough to make a minister pull off his wig, and rip
right out in the middle of his sarmont!"

"Well, what _is_ the matter?"

"Matter? why d--n my old shoes, Captain Williams, here is one of that
bloody Don Dego's shot gone right through the galley-door, and through
the side of the big copper, and knocked all the beef and hot water
galley-west. By the piper that played before Moses when the children of
Israel danced through the wilderness, I never see such a thing since I
first went to sea, and I've seen shot fired afore to-day. And here's my
two sweet potatoes," he continued, groping in the coppers with the
cook's ladle, "that I popped in just as that fellow come alongside, all
knocked to pieces. Here he is, d--n his eyes!" holding out a
twelve-pound shot in his ladle; "here's the thundering thief that's
spoilt our dinner, Captain Williams, stowed away in the bottom of the
copper, as snug as a flea in a soger's blanket. The curse of the twelve
geese that eat the grass off o' Solomon's grave upon you!" With these
words he threw the shot overboard, and turned to Captain Williams with a
most rueful countenance.

"Well, Jones, it's devilish unlucky I own, but I guess we can make out a
dinner for to-day, and perhaps the armorer can patch it so that it will
answer till we can get to Canton,"

"I hope so, sir," said Jones, with a deep sigh; "for if we don't have
our reg'lar-cooked grub, we'll all get the scurvy, as sure as the
devil's in London; though for that matter, I've been pretty much all
over Lunnun, and never see nor heard nothin' on him, unless so be he's
in the Tower, or the king's palace, or some one of them thunderin' great
churches; and I've seen about all there was to be seen there, unless it
may be them three places. But in my way of thinking, a ship might a d--d
sight better go to sea without a medicine-chist, than without her proper
cooking-utensils and coppers; because why? if a man don't get his
reg'lar grub, his bowels gets out o' trim, and he gets belly-us, as our
doctor calls it."

"Well, well, if we can't do any better, we'll burn out the big
pitch-pot, and make a shift with that till we arrive in China."

"Aye, that indeed, so we can. By the hook-block! how our two snow-balls
of cooks will swear! Well, thank God for every thing but bread, and
that we get o' the baker." So saying, he rolled off towards the
forecastle, to superintend the knotting of one of the fore sh