; but _I_ called it queer-
sailing; and so did most of the hands, barring Bill the boatswain, who
said the captain was right; but anyways, right or wrong, it led us into
an ugly corner, as you shall hear.

"Well, we went down the latitudes like one o'clock, the brig, running
free before the north-east monsoon as if she were sailing for a wager in
a barge-race on the Thames; and the weather as fine as you please, warm
and sunny--too much so, sometimes--so that a man hadn't to do a stroke
of work on board, save to take his turn at the wheel. Watch on deck,
and watch below, we had nothing to do but loll about, with a stray pull
at a brace here and a sheet there, or else walk into our grub and then
turn into our bunks; for Cap'en Jiggins was the proper sort of skipper.
None of your making work for him when there was nothing to do; but when
the hands were wanted, why he did expect them to look alive, and have no
skulking--small blame to him, say I, for one!

"We had run down below the parallel of Cape Horn, pretty considerable I
should think, when we at last had to ask the old brig to bear up
eastwards to lie her proper course; and then you should have seen the
tricks she played--confound her! Why, we had to treat her as gingerly
as if she were a yacht rounding a mark-boat to make her bear up a point
or go to the wind; although I'll give her the credit of saying, if she
were cranky--and she was that, and no mistake--she made no leeway, which
was a blessing at all events.

"It was some days after we had altered our course to East South East,
with as much more easterly as we could get out of her--and that wasn't
much, try all we could, with as much fore and aft sail as we could get
on her--when the weather began to change, and the wind, which had been
steadily blowing from the north-east, chopped round a bit more ahead,
the sea getting up, and a stray squall coming now and again, which made
us more alert trimming the sails, and taking in and letting out canvas
as occasion arose. It was no use, however, trying to drive the brig to
the eastward any longer with this wind shifting about, humour her as we
might; so the skipper altered her course again more to the south,
although we were then as far down as we ought to have gone.

"`The darling,' says he to the first officer when he gave the order to
lay her head South South East, `she's a little playful with the heavy
cargo we've got on board, and wants to keep warm as long a