ng to fire upon them if the
order was not instantaneously obeyed. The captain of marines brought
his men to the "make ready," and they were about to present, when the
first lieutenant waved his hand to stop the decided measure, until he
had first ascertained how far the mutiny was general. He stepped a few
paces forward, and requested that every "blue jacket" who was inclined
to remain faithful to his king and country, would walk over from that
side of the quarter-deck upon which the ship's company were assembled,
to the one which was occupied by the officers and marines.

A pause and silence ensued--when, after some pushing and elbowing
through the crowd, William Adams, an elderly quartermaster, made his
appearance in the front, and passed over to the side where the officers
stood, while the hisses of the rest of the ship's company expressed
their disapprobation of his conduct. The old man just reached the other
side of the deck, when turning round like a lion at bay, with one foot
on the _coamings of_ the hatchway, and his arm raised in the air to
command attention, he addressed them in these few words:--

"My lads, I have fought for my king five-and-thirty years, and have been
too long in his service to turn a rebel in my old age."

Would it be credited that, after the mutiny had been quelled, no
representation of this conduct was made to government by his captain?
Yet such was the case, and such was the gratitude of Captain A---.

The example shown by Adams was not followed--the ship's crew again
cheered, and ran down the hatchways, leaving the officers and marines on
deck. They first disarmed the sentry under the half-deck, and released
the prisoners, and then went forward to consult upon further operations.

They were not long in deciding. A boatswain's mate, who was one of the
ringleaders, piped, "Stand by hammocks!" The men ran on deck, each
seizing a hammock, and jumping with it down below on the main deck. The
object of this manoeuvre not being comprehended, they were suffered to
execute it without interruption. In a few minutes they sent up the
marine, whom they had disarmed when sentry over the prisoners, to state
that they wished to speak to the captain and officers, who, after some
discussion, agreed that they would descend and hear the proposals which
the ship's company should make. Indeed, even with the aid of the
marines, many of whom were wavering, resistance would now have been
useless, a