ecipitate rapidity.

Between Honolulu and Manila lies the imaginary line where the days of
the week are supposed to begin and end. It has long been a custom
among sailors to hold the "Revels of Neptune" on the night after a
vessel crosses either the International Date Line or the Equator, and
the ship is then turned over to the crew. Even the petty officers of
the ship are not free from being made the objects of the sport, and
passengers of especial prominence have often been treated to a bath in
a tub of cold water or had their faces lathered with a broom as a
shaving brush while a bar of old iron served the purpose of a razor.

A naval lieutenant on the battleship which conveyed Napoleon from
London to St. Helena, writing to one of the court ladies in London,
states that Napoleon offered the sailors four hundred dollars in gold
and actually gave them eighty-five dollars to escape being ducked in a
tub of cold water and shaved with a rough iron hoop when they crossed
the equator.[A]

[A] Century Magazine for September, 1889.

We reached the line on Thursday night and awoke a few hours later on
Saturday morning, having lost a day in revelry.

CHAPTER II.

MANILA.

One would imagine the water of Manila Bay to be as tranquil as a lake
should conclusions be drawn from its almost landlocked position. On
the contrary, it is noted among sailors the world over for the
roughness of its waters; and a breakwater behind which ships can lie
in quiet and take on or discharge their cargoes is essential to the
proper development of the city's shipping. But, so far as we were
concerned, this was a possible joy of the future. So, one by one we
descended the narrow stairway at the side of the ship, and then leaped
at opportune moments to the decks of the dancing steam launches below.
How it ever came to pass that each of us, ladies and all, in
succession went through with this mid-air acrobatic performance
without serious accident is a matter of profound wonder; but we did,
and the launches when loaded danced away over the bay and entered the
mouth of the Pasig River. At the wharf we were informally introduced
to a crowd of curious natives. The men wore hat, shirt, and pants, and
some of them wore shoes. The women wore a sort of low-necked body with
great wide sleeves and a skirt not cut to fit the body, but of the
same size at both bottom and top, the upper end not being belted or
tied, but just drawn tightly around