ry night we had to be on deck and duty
through one of the three periods, of four hours each, into which the
sea night is divided. Of this he made a principle, and in it doubtless
found the satisfaction of a good conscience; he had done all that
could be expected, at least by himself. I personally agree with Basil
Hall; upon the whole, watch keeping pays, yields more of interest than
of disagreeables. It must be conceded that it was unpleasant to be
waked at midnight in your warm hammock, told your hour was come, that
it was raining and blowing hard, that another reef was about to be
taken in the topsails and the topgallant yards sent on deck.
Patriotism and glory seemed very poor stimulants at that moment. Still
half asleep, you tumbled, somewhat literally, out of the hammock on to
a deck probably wet, dressed by a dim, single-wick swinging lantern,
which revealed chiefly what you did not want, or by a candle which had
to be watched with one eye lest it roll over and, as once in my
experience happened, set fire to wood-work. Needless to say, electric
lights then were not. Dressed in storm-clothes about as conducive to
agility as a suit of mediaeval armor, and a sou'wester which caught at
every corner you turned, you forced your way up through two successive
tarpaulin-covered hatches, by holes just big enough to pass, pushing
aside the tarpaulin with one hand while the other steadied yourself.
And if there were no moon, how black the outside was, to an eye as yet
adjusted only to the darkness visible of the lanterns below! Except a
single ray on the little book by which the midshipman mustered the
watch, no gleam of artificial light was permitted on the
spar--upper--deck; the fitful flashes dazzled more than they helped.
You groped your way forward with some certainty, due to familiarity
with the ground, and with more certainty of being jostled and trampled
by your many watch-mates, quite as blind and much more sleepy than
their officers could afford to be. The rain stung your face; the wind
howled in your ears and drowned your voice; the men were either intent
on going below, or drowsy and ill-reconciled to having to come on
deck; in either case inattentive and hard to move for some moments.

In truth, the fifteen minutes attending the change of a watch were a
period not only of inconvenience, but of real danger too rarely
appreciated. I remember one of the smartest seamen and officers of the
old navy speaking feelingly