d with streaks of paint, like the face of a wild Indian on the
war-path. He had a thick beard made of oakum; and a wig of rope-yarns,
the curls hanging gracefully on his shoulders, was surmounted with a
paper cap, fashioned and painted so as to bear a greater resemblance to
the papal tiara than to the diadem of the ocean monarch. In one hand he
held a huge speaking trumpet, and in the other he brandished, instead of
a trident, the ship's granes with FIVE prongs!

The other strangers to Old Neptune were subsequently compelled to go
through the same ceremonies, in which I assisted with a hearty good
will; and those who did not patiently submit to the indignities,
received the roughest treatment. The shades of evening fell before the
frolic was over, and the wonted order and discipline restored.

It was formerly the invariable practice with all American and British
vessels to observe ceremonies, when crossing the line, of a character
similar to those I have described, varying, of course, according to the
taste of the commander of the vessel and other circumstances. In a
large ship, with a numerous crew, when it was deemed expedient to be
particularly classical, Neptune appeared in full costume, accompanied
by the fair Amphitrite, decorated with a profusion of sea-weed or
gulf-weed, shells, coral, and other emblems of salt water sovereignty,
and followed by a group of Tritons and Nereids fantastically arrayed.
Sometimes, and especially when remonstrances were made to the mandates
of the sea god, and his authority was questioned in a style bordering on
rebellion, the proceedings were of a character which bore unjustifiably
severe on his recusant subjects. Instances have been known where
keel-hauling has been resorted to as an exemplary punishment for a
refractory individual.

This cruel and inhuman mode of punishment, in former ages, was not
uncommon in ships of war of all nations. It was performed by fastening a
rope around the body of an individual, beneath the armpits, as he stood
on the weather gunwale. One end of the rope was passed beneath the keel
and brought up to the deck on the opposite side, and placed in the hands
of half a dozen stout seamen. The man was then pushed overboard, and
the men stationed to leeward commenced hauling, while those to windward
gently "eased away" the other end of the rope. The victim was thus, by
main force, dragged beneath the keel, and hauled up to the deck on the
other side. The ope