some eight hundred tons' burden, bound to China, had
put into Rio for repairs: a leak of no special danger, but so near the
keel as to demand examination. It might get worse. As yet Rio had no
dry-dock, and so she must be hove down. This operation, probably never
known in these days, when dry-docks are to be found in all quarters,
consisted in heeling the ship over, by heavy purchases attached to the
top of the lower masts, until the keel, or at least so much of the
side as was necessary, was out of water. As the leverage on the masts
was extreme, almost everything had to be taken out of the ship, guns
included, to lighten her to the utmost; and the spars themselves were
heavily backed to bear the strain. The upper works, usually out of
water, must on the down side be closed and protected against the
proposed immersion. In short, preparation was minute as well as
extensive. In the old days, when docks were rare, and long voyages
would be made in regions without local resources, a ship would be hove
down two or three times in a cruise, to clean her uncoppered bottom
or to see what damage worms might be effecting. When frequently done,
familiarity doubtless made it comparatively easy; but by 1859 it had
become very exceptional. I have never seen another instance. She was
taken to a sheltered cove, in one of those picturesque bights which
abound in the harbor of Rio, the most beautiful bay in the world, and
there, in repeated visits by our flag-officer, I saw most stages of
the process. Technical details I will not inflict upon the reader, but
there was one amusing anecdote told me by our carpenter, who as a
senior in his business was much to the fore. Some general overhauling
was also required, and among other things the sloop's captain pointed
out that the side-board in the cabin was not well secured. "I have
sometimes to get up two or three times in the night to see to it," he
said. He had been one of the restored victims of the Retiring Board of
1855, and had the reputation of knowing that sideboards exist for
other purposes than merely being secured; hence, at this pathetic
remark, the carpenter caught a wink, "on the fly," as it passed from
the flag-officer to the captain of the _Congress_ and back again. The
commander invalided soon after, and the sloop went on her way to China
under the charge of the first lieutenant.

The flag-officer, though not a man of particular distinction,
possessed strongly that kind of in