e_; for our commodore,
taut disciplinarian as he was and as anxious to lick us all into shape
as he was to make the ships of his squadron manoeuvre handily,
exercising them at all hours both of day and night to this end, did not
forget the old adage that a bow should not always be bent.

No, he always allowed us plenty of time for relaxation and enjoyment,
besides permitting us to fish overboard, which some commanders would not
have allowed.

This was rare sport, I can tell you, the bonetta, a fish common to the
tropics and eating uncommonly well when fried, biting freely at a piece
of white bunting or any other attractive object attached to a hook, as
did the many-hued dolphin, and many a hearty supper did we have on the
lower deck through the kindly aid of these beneficent denizens of the
deep.

One of the foretopmen who hailed from Newfoundland was an expert with
the harpoon, spearing with that weapon as many dolphins as he liked;
these beggars being in the habit of plying to and fro under the
corvette's cutwater as she sailed onward, delighting apparently in
showing us the dexterity with which they could wheel about and leap
athwart the ship's course as they pleased, keeping up with her or going
ahead according to their bent.

We saw lots of flying-fish also; and they, when we had the chance of
catching the few that came aboard, were even better fare for hungry
sailor-boys of an evening than the dolphins and bonetta.

These latter used to hunt the poor flying-fish like a pack of hounds
after some prey on land, the fish leaping out of the sea and making
short flights by the aid of the membraneous fins they have, which they
extended like wings, flying for some twenty yards or so till exhaustion
compelled their return to their native element--a characteristic feature
that has gained the `flying-fish' its name.

Unfortunately for the poor beggars, however, they have an enemy aloft as
well as one below; and, when they leave the water to escape the bonetta,
they fall into the clutches of the sea-hawks that hover over the surface
on the watch for them; and so, thus situated `between two stools,' as it
were, `their lot,' like that of the `Bobby' in the song, being `not a
happy one!'

Amid such varied changes of life and scene, our three weeks' voyage from
Teneriffe to Barbados passed quickly and pleasantly enough, all hands
being surprised one fine morning when we cast anchor in Carlisle Bay,
the harbour of `Little