d,
and he therefore directed that a part should be salted, as he could have
no company. I was in the midshipmen's berth, when some of them proposed
that we should get possession of the pig; and the plan they agreed upon
was as follows:--they were to go to the pen that night, and with a
needle stuck in a piece of wood, to prick the pig all over, and then rub
gunpowder into the parts wounded. This was done, and although the
butcher was up a dozen times during the night to ascertain what made the
pigs so uneasy, the midshipmen passed the needle from watch to watch,
until the pig was well tattooed in all parts. In the morning watch it
was killed, and when it had been scalded in the tub, and the hair taken
off, it appeared covered with blue spots. The midshipman of the morning
watch, who was on the main-deck, took care to point out to the butcher,
that the pork was _measly_, to which the man unwilling assented,
stating, at the same time, that he could not imagine how it could be,
for a finer pig he had never put a knife into. The circumstance was
reported to the captain, who was much astonished. The doctor came in to
visit Mrs To, and the captain requested the doctor to examine the pig,
and give his opinion. Although this was not the doctor's province, yet,
as he had great reason for keeping intimate with the captain, he
immediately consented. Going forward, he met me, and I told him the
secret. "That will do," replied he; "it all tends to what we wish."
The doctor returned to the captain, and said that "there was no doubt
but that the pig was measly, which was a complaint very frequent on
board ships, particularly in hot climates, where all pork became
_measly_--one great reason for its there proving so unwholesome." The
captain sent for the first lieutenant, and, with a deep sigh, ordered
him to throw the pig overboard; but the first lieutenant, who knew what
had been done from O'Brien, ordered the _master's mate_ to throw it
overboard; the master's mate, touching his hat said, "Ay, ay, sir," and
took it down into the berth, where we cut it up, salted one half, and
the other we finished before we arrived at Plymouth, which was six days
from the time we left Portsmouth. On our arrival, we found part of the
convoy lying there, but no orders for us; and, to my great delight, on
the following day the _Diomede_ arrived, from a cruise off the Western
Islands. I obtained permission to go on board with O'Brien, and we on