ding by at the
time, whipped the tarpaulin from his head, and smashed it like a
pancake on the deck. "Liberty!" he shouted, leaping down into the
berth-deck after his bag.

At the appointed hour, the quarter-watch mustered round the capstan, at
which stood our old First Lord of the Treasury and Pay-Master-General,
the Purser, with several goodly buck-skin bags of dollars, piled up on
the capstan. He helped us all round to half a handful or so, and then
the boats were manned, and, like so many Esterhazys, we were pulled
ashore by our shipmates. All their lives lords may live in listless
state; but give the commoners a holiday, and they outlord the Commodore
himself.

The ship's company were divided into four sections or quarter-watches,
only one of which were on shore at a time, the rest remaining to
garrison the frigate--the term of liberty for each being twenty-four
hours.

With Jack Chase and a few other discreet and gentlemanly top-men, I
went ashore on the first day, with the first quarter-watch. Our own
little party had a charming time; we saw many fine sights; fell in--as
all sailors must--with dashing adventures. But, though not a few good
chapters might be written on this head, I must again forbear; for in
this book I have nothing to do with the shore further than to glance at
it, now and then, from the water; my man-of-war world alone must supply
me with the staple of my matter; I have taken an oath to keep afloat to
the last letter of my narrative.

Had they all been as punctual as Jack Chase's party, the whole
quarter-watch of liberty-men had been safe on board the frigate at the
expiration of the twenty-four hours. But this was not the case; and
during the entire day succeeding, the midshipmen and others were
engaged in ferreting them out of their hiding-places on shore, and
bringing them off in scattered detachments to the ship.

They came in all imaginable stages of intoxication; some with blackened
eyes and broken heads; some still more severely injured, having been
stabbed in frays with the Portuguese soldiers. Others, unharmed, were
immediately dropped on the gun-deck, between the guns, where they lay
snoring for the rest of the day. As a considerable degree of license is
invariably permitted to man-of-war's-men just "off liberty," and as
man-of-war's-men well know this to be the case, they occasionally avail
themselves of the privilege to talk very frankly to the officers when
they first cross t