also in all respects, a brave man, and kind-hearted; and these are the
qualities which sailors with good reason respect. Without possessing
them, no man is fit to be placed in command over his fellow-men. My old
ship, the _Dolphin_, continued in our company for several days, during
which we made the best of our way to the northward, the wind, though
scant, enabling us, close-hauled, to keep a course in that direction.
When somewhere about the latitude of Lisbon, a ship hove in eight,
standing towards us under all sail. As her courses rose above the
water, she was pronounced to be a frigate; and as her hull appeared,
such was found to be the case. Then commenced such a hauling up and
down of flags as I had never before seen. What it all meant I could not
tell, but it seemed to produce a great commotion among the officers; and
soon the news ran along the deck that war was declared--war with France.
It was the beginning of a long and bloody struggle.

Meantime, we hove-to, as the frigate had done, and Captain Hudson went
on board her. When he returned, we found that we were ordered into the
British Channel. The frigate, a new ship, just fitted out, with her
officers in glittering uniforms, and her white wide-spread of canvas,
and her fresh paint, and her brightly burnished sides looked, I thought,
the very picture of a gay and gallant craft, as, passing close to us,
she glided by through the sparkling sea. I could not help comparing her
with the weather-beaten, wall-sided, ill-formed, slow-sailing
merchantmen I had been accustomed to see, and I began to feel a pride in
belonging to a man-of-war which I had not hitherto experienced.

Before proceeding on our course, Captain Hudson signalled the _Dolphin_,
which had been hove-to, and informed Captain Gale that war had broken
out, advising him to make the best of his way to Halifax. It was not
till some years afterwards that I heard she reached that place in
safety, and that Captain Stenning had had the happiness of being
re-united to his wife and family.

No sooner was the news of war received on board the _Syren_, than
everybody seemed to wake up into activity. No one had time for a moment
to be idle fore or aft. The armourer's crew were employed in polishing
up muskets, and pistols, and sharpening cutlasses. For hours together
we were practised at the small-arms and great-guns, which had never
before been thought of. The gunners were busy making cartridges; t