natural appetite, too; your
breakfast tasted better, especially if some other ship had got into
trouble with one of her yards or sails. "Did you see what a mess the
---- made of fore-topgallant-yard this morning?" An old boatswain's
mate of the ship used to tell me one of his "last-cruise" stories, of
when he "was in the _Delaware_, seventy-four, up the Mediterranean, in
1842." Of course, the _Delaware_ had beaten the _Congress's_ time; the
last ship always did. Then he would add: "I was in the foretop in
those days, and had the fore-topgallant-yard; and if one of us fellows
let his yard show on either side of the mast before the order 'Sway
across,' we could count on a dozen when we got down just as sure as we
could count on our breakfast." Flogging was not abolished until about
1849. No wonder men were jolly when they could be, without worrying
about to-morrow's headache.

Part of the preparation was to let the captain know beforehand that it
was eight o'clock, and get his authority that it might be so; subject
always to the yet higher authority that the yards and sails were
ready. If they were not, so much the worse for eight o'clock. It had
to wait quite as imperatively as the sun did for Joshua. Sunset, when
the masts and yards came down, was equally under bonds; it awaited the
pleasure of the captain or admiral. Indeed, in my time a story ran of
a court-martial at a much earlier day, sitting in a capital case. By
law, each day's session must end by sundown. On the occasion in
question, sundown was reported to the admiral--or, rather, commodore;
we had no admirals then. He sent to know how soon the court could
finish. The reply was, in about fifteen minutes. "Tell the officer of
the deck not to make it sundown until he hears from me;" and, in
defiance of the earth's movement, the colors were kept flying in
attestation that the sun was up. One other hour of the twenty-four,
noon, was brought in like manner to the captain's attention, and
required his action, but it was treated with more deference;
recognition rather than authority was meted to it, and it was never
known to be tampered with. The circumstance of the sun's crossing the
ship's meridian was unique in the day; and the observation of the
fact, which drew on deck all the navigating group with their
instruments, establishing the latitude immediately and precisely, was
of itself a principal institution of the ship's economy. Such claims
were not open to trif