alf, which enclosure
I was instructed to present to the gentleman addressed on joining the
ship.

I will not detain my readers by introducing them to the officers of the
"Scourge;" my sojourn on board that ship was but a short one, so short,
indeed, that I scarcely had time to become acquainted with them myself;
and, as I never fell in with any of them again in after-life, what
little it is necessary for the reader to know concerning them he will
glean in the progress of the narrative. And now to resume the thread of
my story.

The "Scourge," when we left her, was standing out to sea under single-
reefed topsails. The wind was about W.N.W., blowing strong, with
frequent squalls of mingled rain and sleet. The sky was entirely
obscured by dull, dirty, ragged-looking clouds, which hung so low that
they seemed to touch our trucks as they swept rapidly along overhead.
The sea under the shelter of the land was of course smooth, but as we
drew rapidly off the shore (the brig proving to be a wonderfully fast
little craft, to the intense satisfaction of all hands), we soon got
into rougher water; and then to the original miseries of rain and cold
were added the discomfort of frequent and copious showers of icy spray,
which, coming in over the weather bow, flew right aft and out over the
lee quarter, treating everybody, with the utmost impartiality, to a good
drenching on its way. All hands, from the skipper downward,
disregarding appearances, carefully enwrapped their carcases from head
to foot in oilskin; and if anything had been needed to complete the all-
pervading aspect of cold and wretchedness which the scene presented, it
would have been found in contemplation of the wet and shiny appearance
of the crew, each with a little stream of water trickling off the flap
of his sou'-wester down his back, and with hair and whiskers blowing
drenched and bedraggled about his pinched and purple visage.

The crowning misery of all--sea-sickness--I was happily spared, and I
was thus enabled to go about my duty without experiencing a wish that
some kindly sea would wash me overboard and end my life and my
wretchedness together; but, as it was, the circumstances attendant upon
my first experience of active service were such as might well have
damped the ardour of one even more enthusiastic than myself. My pride,
or my obstinacy, however, were such, that having once put my hand to the
plough, I was quite determined that nothing shor