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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 TWO YEARS AND A HALF 
 
 AMERICAN NAVY.
 
 LOXDOX : 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEy, 
 ,)orsct Stioet, FIcel Street.
 
 TWO YEARS AND A HALF 
 
 AMERICAN NAVY: 
 
 COMrRISI.NG 
 
 A JOURNAL OF A CRUISE 
 
 TO ENGLAND, IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, 
 AND IN THE LEVANT, 
 
 ON BOARD OF TIH-. V. S. FRIGATE CONSTELLATION, 
 IN THE YEARS 1829, 1830, AND 1831. 
 
 BY E. C. WINES. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. \. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 (successor to henry COLBl'RN.) 
 
 1833. 
 
 110855
 
 1)^ lO 
 
 TO THE HONOURABLE 
 
 THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, 
 
 THE OFFICERS ASSOCIATED WITH HIM 
 
 IN THE 
 
 NAVAL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 AS A TOKEN OF SINCERE RESPECT, BOTH TOR THEIR PUBLIC SERVICES 
 AND PRIVATE WORTH, 
 
 THESE VOLUMES 
 
 ARE INSCRIBED 
 
 BY THEIR MOST OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It shall be my endeavour not to exhaust my read- 
 er's patience in the Preface, however heavily I may 
 draw upon it in the work itself. It is so much the 
 fashion now-a-days for writers of travels to apologise 
 for their productions, by stating that they are less the 
 result of volition, than a sort of irresistible inspiration, 
 breathed into their spirits by the genii loci of the spots 
 they have visited, that I should not, probably, be be- 
 lieved, if I should say that I joined the Constellation 
 without any intention of sporting my pen for the edifi- 
 cation of the public. As I do not wish to make my 
 first — and probably my last — appearance before the 
 world in the character of an author with an assertion 
 at the outset that would occasion my veracity to be 
 called in question, I shall make no such declaration — 
 albeit I might do it in good faith. 
 
 My object, then, — to dash at once in medias res, — 
 in applying for my situation, was twofold — the acqui- 
 sition of the languages of the South of Europe, and 
 the sight of those glorious regions where Genius wan- 
 toned in her young and vernal hour. Being somewhat 
 fond of scribbling, I inundated my friends with let- 
 ters, of which I was foolish enough to retain copies, 
 and kept, besides, a copious journal of notes and ob- 
 servations for my own improvement and diversion. 
 
 On niy return to the United States, some of my 
 friends were kind — perhaps I ought to say partial — 
 enough to suggest that I had the materials of an
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 amusing volume. My self-love was flattered by the 
 • X suggestion, and my self-confidence so much confirm- 
 (^ ed, that I set myself down to weave the web of what 
 I intended to limit, at the utmost, to a moderate-sized 
 octavo. In the process of arrangement and prepara- 
 tion, my materials swelled to an unexpected bulk, and 
 for the result — ecce signum ! 
 
 If I should profess indifference to the success of my 
 ^ labours, I should deceive neither myself nor anybody 
 -K else. To the judgment of an enlightened and liberal 
 r^y>\ public I leave the decision of their merit. In ex- 
 tenuation of their faults, which I feel to be numerous 
 and of diversified complexion, I might plead inexpe- 
 ^ rience in the art of composition, a want of previous 
 ^ practice in observing, and the often ill-discriminating 
 
 judgment of youth as to the fittest objects of public 
 curiosity, and the fittest circumstances and terms by 
 which to place them before the public mind : but I 
 forbear. If these volumes should serve to beguile the 
 tedium of solitude — if they should furnish an agree- 
 able relaxation in the intervals of severer pursuits — 
 or, more ambitious still, if they should rectify error 
 and enlighten ignorance, though in the humblest de- 
 gree and to the most limited extent — if, I repeat, 
 these ends should by my labours be secured to any 
 portion of my fellow- citizens, I shall not have lost my 
 reward. 
 
 Philadelphia, 17th July, 1832. 

 
 CONTENTS 
 OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure from Washington — Mount Vernon — Tomb of Wash- 
 ington — Singular Adventure — Passage down the Potomac — Ar- 
 rival at Norfolk — First Impressions of a Stranger in visiting that 
 Place — Society of Norfolk — Beauty of its Females — Difference 
 between Northern and Southern Ladies — Tribute to Female Ex- 
 cellence — Popularity of the Navy at Norfolk — Importance of the 
 Naval Service — First Visit to the Constellation — Visit to the 
 North Carolina — Etiquette — Introduction to the Cockpit — De- 
 scription of the Constellation — Manning the Yards and Cheering 
 — Departure of the Constellation from Norfolk — Feelings occa- 
 sioned by the Operation of weighing Anchor, and other Nautical 
 Evolutions — First Night on Board — Holy Stones — Cape Henry 
 — Resemblance between the Coasts of Tripoli and Virginia — 
 First View of the Ocean — Novelty of a Sea Life — Living on 
 Board — Jovial Disposition of the Midshipmen — " Running" — 
 Arrival at New York P^g^ 1 — ^"^ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Beauty of the Constellation — Description of a Frigate — Spar Deck 
 — Quarter Deck — Etiquette — Forecastle — Booms — Chains — 
 Hammock Nettings — Gun Deck — Captain's Cabin — Half Deck 
 — Waist — Galley — Pumps — Berth Deck — Wardroom — Steerage 
 — Mess Lockers — Forward Officers' State Rooms — Mess Chests 
 — Sick Bay — Air Ports — Magazine — Hold — Forward Officers' 
 Store Rooms — Discipline — Division of Time — Order — Officers — 
 Captain — First Lieutenant — Other Lieutenants — Sailing Master 
 — Purser — Surgeons — Chaplain — Midshipmen — Forward O ffi. 
 cers — Subordination of Rank .... 28 — 53
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Divisions of the Crew — Petty Officers — Master-at-Arms — Quarter 
 Masters — Boatswain's Mates — Quarter Gunners — Yeomen — Ar- 
 mourer — Cooper — Cook — Ship's Corporals — Seamen — Ordinary 
 Seamen — Landsmen — Boys — Military Divisions — Quarters — Ex- 
 ercising the Guns — Stations— ^^'atclIes — After-Guard — Waisters 
 — Holders — Captains of the Tops — Gangs of Mechanics — I\Ia- 
 rines— Respect paid to Superiors — Internal Regulations — Eni- 
 ploynieat of the Men — Serving of Grog and Rations — Reception 
 of Officers on Board— ^Ship's Boats . . . 54 — 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Anecdotes showing the Strictness of Discipline — Passengers — De- 
 parture from New York — Detention at the Hook — Scenery of 
 Xew York Bay — Cockpit Mess — Inconveniences of living in the 
 Cockpit — Getting under weigh from the Hook — Feelings on 
 leaving America — Sea Sickness — Neglect of the Sabbath — Im- 
 portance of observing it — Ascent to the Main-top-gallaiit Mast- 
 head— Speaking of a Ship — Gale — Scene on Board, showing the 
 Promptitude with which Improprieties are punished — Punish- 
 ments of Midshipmen — Punishments of the Men — Prisoners — 
 Roughness of the latter Part of our Passage — Scenes at Meal- 
 time—Beauty of the Ocean under a fresh Breeze — Porpoises — 
 Amusements of the Sailors — Romance of a Sailor's Life — Their 
 Fondness for " Spinning Yarns"— Joy at Making the Scilly 
 Islands — First Y'lew of England — Airival at Cowes — First \'isit 
 ashore — Service on Board ..... 74 — 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Rush to the Purser for Money — Midshipmen going Ashore — \'il- 
 lages of East and West Cowes — East Cowes Castle — Norris 
 Castle — Excursion into the Interior of the Isle of Wight — English 
 Landscape — Newport — Parish Church — Carisbrooke Castle — 
 Ride to Appuldurcombe Park — Delicious Scenery— Godshill — 
 Appuldurcombe — Grave of the Dairj-man's Daughter — Isle of
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Wight — Royal Yacht Club — Visit to Southampton — Bar-Gate — 
 Royal IVIilitary Asylum — Trip to Portsmouth — View of Ryde — 
 Harbour of Portsmouth — The Victory — English Servants — Sun- 
 set off Havre — Muster — Courts Martial of the Sailors — Voyage 
 from England to Gibraltar — Evening Scene before entering the 
 Straits — Current of the Straits — Disappointment at not stopping 
 at Gibraltar 104—138 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Passage from Gibraltar to Mahon — Gale of Wind off Port Mahon 
 — Arrival at that Port — Salutations of old Ship-Mates — Bomb- 
 Boats — Harbour — First Visit ashore — Jackass Ride — Beggars — 
 Description of JMahon — Jackasses — Public Buildings — Theatre — 
 Cathedral — Its Organ — Franciscan and Carmelite Convent — 
 Nunnery — Cemetery — Mahon on Sunday — Courting in Mahon — 
 Love in the South of Europe — Female Porters — Antiquity of 
 Mahon — Talyots — Los Huertos — Fort St. Philip's — St. Stephen's 
 Cove — Lazaretto — Quarantine Island — Hospital Island — Visiting 
 between Sailors — Instance of Sailors' Generosity — Commodore 
 Biddle assumes the Command — New Regime — Loosing Sails in 
 Squadron — Sending down Top-gallant Yards — Crack Ship — The 
 Delaware 139—172 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Getting under weigh for Tripoli — Object in going there — Affair of 
 Major Laing's Murder — Promontory of Carthage — Sailing in 
 Squadron — Beating — Tacking Ship — Reefing Topsails— Sunrise 
 — View of Tripoli from the Deck of our Ship — Recollections — 
 Features of the Country about Tripoli — Interest felt by an Ame- 
 rican in viewing the Harbour of Tripoli — Salutes — Gozo — Divine 
 Service on Board — Coast of Sicily — Disappointment at not visit- 
 ing Carthage — Passage from Tripoli and Arrival at Mahon— 
 Quarantine — Return of the Delaware to the L'uited States — 
 Arrival of the Ontario with Letters from America — Coming-to at 
 Gibraltar — Bay and Rock of Gibraltar — Diversity of Appearance 
 among the Inhabitants of Gibraltar — Fortifications — Regiment
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 of Highlanders — Commercial Aspect of Gibraltar — Description 
 of the Town — Jewish Synagogue — Exchange — Market — Cisterns 
 — Alameda — St. Michael's Cave — Excavations — View of the 
 Troops parading — Prospect from the Signal House — Historical 
 and Poetical Associations 173 — 215 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Gale of Wind on our Passage to Mahon — New Year's Day — 
 " Splicing the INIain Brace" — Deatli by Drunkenness — Duelling 
 — Poverty of the Mahonese— Cheapness of Labour — Education — 
 — Minorcan Language — Illiberal Policy of the Spanish Govern- 
 ment — Morals — Masquerades — Clergy — Catholic Worship — 
 Praying to the Virgin— Infidelity — Character of the Mahonese — 
 Sprightliness of Spanisii Ladies — Carnival — Dining in the Coun- 
 try — Mascaras — Planners and Customs of the Mahonese — Spa- 
 nish Politeness— Winter in Mahon — Sailors on Shore — Their 
 Fondness for Groir 216 — 249 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Departure from Mahon for Algiers — " Scaling the Guns" — De- 
 lightful Day's Sail — View of Aljiiers from the Ship — Historical 
 Recollections — The French at Algiers — Blockading Squadron — 
 Arrival off Carthage — \'isit to the Ruins of the City — Natives — 
 Description of the Peninsula on which Carthage was built — Cis- 
 terns — New Carthage — Insignificance of the Remains — Excursion 
 to Tunis — The Goletta — Lake of Tunis — Bedouins — Singular 
 Prophecy of Mohammed — Scene in the Market Square — Doctor 
 Heape and his Family — Turki sh B ath — Bazars — Adventure — 
 Bashaw's Palace — Turkish Superstition — Visit to a Jewish Fa- 
 mily — Reception — Jewish Worship — Description of Tunis — 
 Commerce — Foreign Consuls — \'isit at Court — Country between 
 Tunis and Bardo — Goat's-hair Tents — Reception by the Bashaw 
 — Minister of Foreign Affairs — Zapatapa — Bey's Country Seat 
 at Manuba — Return to the Ship — Sliallowness of the Lake of 
 Tunis — Dinner-party on Board — Affair of a Tunisian Sentinel 
 
 250-294
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Departure from Tunis — Tangiers — Beating through the Straits — 
 Monkeys on Board — Batliing at Sea — Don Quixotte — French 
 Surgeons in Mahon — View of the French Fleet — Bay of Palma— 
 Approach to Barcelona — Visit on Board from three Spanish 
 Gentlemen — Scene in a Coffee-house — Religious Procession — 
 Costume of the Ladies in Spain — Female Beauty — Barcelonetta 
 — Colossal Dolls in the Streets of Barcelona — Fondness of the 
 Spaniards for Public Shows — EflTect of the French Revolution in 
 Spain— Suppression of the Newspapers — Espionage — Reflections 
 on the Political State of Europe — Description of Barcelona — 
 La Rambla — Alameda— Cathedral — Theatre — Exchange — Com- 
 merce — Harbour — Convent of Capuchins at Mount St. Geronimo 
 — Garden of a Merchant — Spanish Politeness — Historical Re- 
 collections 295 — 328 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Coast of Catalonia — Quarantine at Marseilles — Quarantine Regula- 
 tions in the Mediterranean — Bay and Port of Marseilles — Quay — 
 Marseilles— Old Town — New Town — Shops and Coffee-houses 
 — Promenades — Monument to Homer — Cathedral — Museum- 
 Cabinet of Insects — Public Library — Hotel de Ville — Royal Bo • 
 tanic Gardens — Mounts Bourbon and Notre Dame — Prospect 
 from the Signal House — Chapel — Commerce of Marseilles — 
 Advantages of having our Navy-Agent stationed at Marseilles — 
 Society — Abbe de Ricasoli — Kissing common among Gentlemen 
 — Ball on Board — Fourth of July — A ncient Celebrity of Slarseilles 
 — Southern Coast of France — Frejus and Cannes — Ihe Alps^ 
 First View of the Coast of Italy — Feelings and Reflections occa- 
 sioned by it 329—340
 
 TWO YEARS AND A HALF 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AMERICAN NAVY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure from Washington— Mount Vernon — Tomb of Wash- 
 ington — Singular Adventure — Passage down the Potomac — 
 Arrival at Norfolk — First Impressions of a Stranger in visit- 
 ing that place — Society of Norfolk — Beauty of its Females — 
 Difference between Northern and Southern Ladies — Tribute 
 to Female Excellence — Popularity of the Navy at Norfolk — 
 Importance of the Naval Service — First Visit to the Constella- 
 tion — Visit to the North Carolina — Etiquette — Introduction to 
 the Cockpit — Description of the Constellation — Planning the 
 Yards and Cheering — Departure of the Constellation from Nor- 
 folk — Feelings occasioned by the operation of Weighing Anchor 
 and other Nautical Evolutions — First iXight on Board — Holy 
 Stones — Cape Henry — Resemblance between the Coasts of Tri- 
 poli and ^'irgi^ia — First ^ iew of the Ocean — Novelty of a Sea 
 Life — Living on Board — Jovial Disposition of the jMidshipmen — 
 " Running" — Arrival at New- York. 
 
 On the first day of July 1829, I left 
 Washington city to join the United States' 
 frigate Constellation, then lying at Norfolk, but 
 soon to sail for the Mediterranean station. Hav- 
 ing laid in the necessary supply of linen, packed 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 DEPARTURE FROM WASHINGTON. 
 
 my luggage, received the parting benedictions 
 of my friends, and eaten my last dinner on 
 the Capitoline Mount, I stepped into the coach 
 I had ordered, with that mingled sentiment of 
 melancholy and gladness naturally resulting from 
 the thoughts of my exile and the anticipations of 
 treading on classic ground. The driver, having 
 folded-up the steps and shut the door of the 
 coach, mounted to his seat, and gave his whip a 
 crack that reminded me of the nose of the incom- 
 parable trumpeter of the Doubting Dutchman. 
 The steeds started off with that alacrity which we 
 may suppose the tremendous nasal peals of Van 
 Corlear infused into the soldiers of the guber- 
 natorial Walter, and I was rapidly rolled over 
 the descent from the Capitol to the steamboat- 
 wharf, where the concourse of hackney-coaches — 
 each pouring forth its quota of luggage and pas- 
 sengers; the scrambling and bickering of porters; 
 the prodigious roar of the steam, and the univer- 
 sal flurry, all gave indication that no time was to 
 be lost in getting on board by those who did not 
 wish to sup in Washington. After a short but 
 unyielding resistance to imposition — a penchant to 
 which I have found to be, in all countries, the 
 peculiar birthright of this class of persons — I 
 arranged matters with my coachman, and had my 
 effects transferred to the boat. Precisely at four 
 o'clock, P. M. the last bell ceased tolling, the haw- 
 sers were cast loose from the moorings, and the 
 music of contending voices and escaping vapour
 
 FRIENDS AT ALEXANDRIA. 3 
 
 gave place to the sounds occasioned by the regu- 
 lar play of the engine and the ceaseless plashing 
 of the paddles. 
 
 At Alexandria the same scene was repeated. 
 Here many of my friends, 
 
 " Plolius et Varius Sinuessie, Virgiliusque," 
 came down to the landing to extend to me the 
 parting hand, and repeat their wishes that every 
 gale might waft me a blessing, and that each suc- 
 ceeding wave might increase my debt of gratitude 
 to the God of the land and the God of the ocean. 
 
 While separated from my natal soil by the 
 wide-roiling Atlantic, the remembrance of these 
 friendly offices has often been sweet and refresh- 
 ing. Let shallow misanthropes exhaust their in- 
 genuity in vilifying human virtue, I cannot join 
 the heartless cry ! I will never believe that 
 friendship is but another name for selfishness, 
 and I despise the wretch whose mercenary soul 
 resolves it into a mere commerce of interests ! 
 When storms and darkness were upon the deep — 
 in the sweet vales of Italy — the wild mountain- 
 passes of Greece, and amid the filth and fleas of a 
 Turkish Khann, the memory of the friends I had 
 left behind, and who, I knew, were offering up 
 their prayers for my safety and success, has often 
 come over my soul like a stream of pure and heal- 
 ing waters. 
 
 About six o"'clock, we passed Fort Washington 
 on our left, and shortly after the residence of the 
 Father of his country on our right. Mount Ver- 
 B 2
 
 4 TOMB OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 non is one of the loveliest and most romantic 
 spots I ever beheld ; its calm and chastened 
 beauties accord well with the character of the 
 man Avhose fame has rendered it the resort of 
 pilgrims from every quarter of the globe. Fo- 
 reigners quarrel with our treatment of the vene- 
 rable hero's remains, but I cannot but think their 
 criticisms in bad taste. We may admire the mo- 
 numents reared to the memory of a Hannibal, a 
 Caesar, or an Alexander; but the homage of the 
 heart is the only offering made beneath the tree 
 that shades the grave of Washington. Washing- 
 ton himself, in his last will and testament, has 
 thought proper to order things just as they are. 
 The ambition of a general who could weep that 
 his victories were limited to the conquest of a 
 world, might have been tickled at the anticipation 
 of a gorgeous mausoleum ; but the modest pa- 
 triot, who was satisfied v/hen the liberty and inde- 
 pendence of his country were achieved, would 
 have been as averse to ostentation in death, as he 
 had been during his life. 
 
 I was gratified at witnessing the effect which 
 our approach to Mount Vernon produced on the 
 passengers. When our nearness was announced 
 in the cabin, every one hastily seized his hat and 
 hurried up on deck, and, " Where is the gravei^" 
 — "Can the grave be seen from the water.?""* — 
 " On which side of the house is the grave.''" were 
 (jueslions poured from a hundred lips at once. 
 Such is the homage paid to exalted talents and
 
 MY FELLOW-PASSENGERS. 5 
 
 virtue. Why are a thousand spots in the valley 
 of our own Mississippi, richer in all the sublimi- 
 ties and beauties of Nature than the plains of 
 Athens or of Troy, passed by without arresting 
 the traveller's attention ? It is because the genius 
 of a Themistocles — the heroism of an Achilles — 
 the wisdom of a Plato, or the numbers of a 
 Homer, have never consecrated or embalmed 
 them. From the deathless interest which the 
 memory of the great, the wise, and the virtuous 
 imparts to the places illustrated by their lives or 
 honoured by their ashes, we derive glorious evi- 
 dence of the superiority of mind over matter, and 
 of moral over physical beauty. 
 
 The bell rang for tea shortly after we passed 
 Mount Vernon, and I had an opportunity of sur- 
 veying my fellow-passengers together. So large a 
 congregation of strangers always furnishes a wide 
 variety of character, and is, of course, an excel- 
 lent school for the study of human nature. I 
 selected a seat near the ladies (Heaven bless the 
 dear creatures !) for the sake of a pretty, black- 
 eyed little beauty, with whom I had " knocked 
 up*" a sort of acquaintance ; and here I formed a 
 new one, so exceedingly edifying to me, that I 
 hope the reader will excuse me for giving some 
 account of it, especially as it will teach him a les- 
 son of caution, if he should ever happen to be 
 similarly situated. 
 
 Mr. , who was my right-hand neighbour, 
 
 seemed to take a particular fancy to me ; whether
 
 6 SINGULAR ADVENTURE. 
 
 it was that he discovered in me any qualities 
 which really pleased him, or, as is more probable, 
 a certain unsuspecting greenness, more pleasing to 
 him than any thing else. He had been to Wash- 
 ington, he said, attending to some claims in Con- 
 gress, and was on his way to his residence in 
 Charleston, S. C. He was dressed in a fine suit 
 of black broadcloth, tall and commanding in his 
 person, slightly bald, with a somewhat debauch- 
 ed expression of countenance, but altogether the 
 air and manners of a gentleman. He was evi- 
 dently not an unskilful observer of the heart : he 
 studied to accommodate himself to my tastes, and 
 lost no suitable opportunity of flattering my 
 pride. 
 
 In Norfolk we stopped at the same house, and 
 used frequently to walk out of an evening to- 
 gether. On one of these occasions he informed 
 me that he had determined to go to New York 
 instead of Charleston ; that he had already taken 
 passage on board a packet soon to sail for that 
 city, and would probably arrive there earlier than 
 the Constellation. He assured me that what he 
 was going to say was vastly disagreeable, but that 
 gentlemen were sometimes reduced to extremities 
 — he wished me to lend him ten dollars, which he 
 wmild return in New York ; or, in case he should 
 not be there, he would give me a letter to his 
 brother, a man of substance, who would hand me 
 the money the moment I called on him. The 
 lending of ten dollars to a friend is a small fa-
 
 PASSAGE DOWN THE POTOMAC. 7 
 
 vour, and I could not refuse. On our arrival 
 at New York, I v/ent immediately to tlic Ameri- 
 can Hotel. Mr. had been there, but had 
 
 left ; and the result of the whole matter was, that 
 his brother had been a poor man while living, 
 and had been dead for about two years. Thus 1 
 had the pleasure of losing my ten dollars, and, 
 which was the " most unkindest cut," of being 
 villanously gulled into the bargain. I would 
 divide my last dollar with honest poverty, but 
 polished villany I could see die of starvation with- 
 out one compunctious visiting. A letter of in- 
 troduction, containing an order for money on a 
 dead brother, is a thing which, for the honour of 
 humanity, I hope few, except myself, have ever 
 held in their pocket. 
 
 With the exception of the adventure just re- 
 lated, nothing remarkable occurred on the pas- 
 sage down the Potomac and Chesapeake. The 
 company was generally agreeable, and with the 
 aid of newspapers, backgammon, Horace, and the 
 ladies, I managed to keep off the monster trnnii. 
 A prim, black-eyed little Frencliman, whose 
 beauty had not been greatly improved by the 
 small pox, amused us vastly with his politeness, 
 snuff-box, and songs. A Frenchman is an ani- 
 mal sui generis. INIeet him whenever and wher- 
 ever you may, he is still a Frenchman, retaining, 
 in all their vividness, his three master qualities, — 
 vanity, gaiety, and hatred to Shakspeare. Yet 
 with all their levity and devotion to gallantry and
 
 8 ARRIVAL AT NORFOLK. 
 
 fashion, the French are unsurpassed, perhaps un- 
 equalled in the diligence with which they pursue 
 scientific researches. They make better engineers 
 than critics, and their mathematics are preferable 
 to their poetry. 
 
 There is but one Mount Vernon on the banks 
 of the Potomac. Some handsome plantations are 
 washed by its waters, but the country through 
 which it flows is thinly settled, and the scenery 
 has none of the romantic wildness of the hills 
 which surround Lake George, the towering sub- 
 limity of the mountains that rise from the banks 
 of the Hudson, or the picturesque beauty of the 
 valley of the Blue Ridge in the interior of Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 At ten o''clock on the morning of the 3rd of 
 July, we hove-to to send our Old Point passengers 
 ashore, and at half-past eleven, the roar of steam 
 and the rush of porters announced our arrival at 
 Norfolk. I was met by Captain Wads worth, who 
 had kindly interested himself in procuring my 
 appointment, and who invited me to visit the 
 Constellation with him in the evening. As I was 
 d stranger in Norfolk, I abandoned myself to the 
 
 guidance of my friend , to whom the reader has 
 
 already had the honour of an introduction. He 
 took me to the Steam-boat Hotel, where I was 
 crammed into a room not much larger than a 
 mouse-trap, not much cooler than a furnace, and 
 not much cleaner than it should be ; and which, 
 on the 5th, I was fain to exchange for a more
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 9 
 
 commodious, airy, and cleanly apartment in a pri- 
 vate boarding-house. Norfolk has no such public 
 house as it ought to have, and is well able to sup- 
 port. It has none that are even second rate. 
 
 The first impressions of a stranger on visiting 
 Norfolk, especially if he arrives in a steam-boat, 
 must be unfavourable. He is jostled by a crowd 
 of oily Africans, his eyes are disgusted by filth, 
 and his nostrils saluted by a congregation of 
 odours which make him " corrngere narem ;"" and 
 when, having manfully endured all these evils, and 
 been put in good humour by a glass of mint ju- 
 lap, he inquires for the Lions, he is provokingly 
 told that they are " not at home /" There are 
 only three, and one of them is in the Dismal 
 Swamp and the other two over the river. To 
 those who have been in Norfolk it would be un- 
 necessary to say that I refer to Lake Drummond, 
 the Dry Dock, and the Navy Hospital. 
 
 The place, however, improves on acquaintance. 
 It has a few pleasant streets and some handsome 
 residences, but its society is its highest recom- 
 mendation. In their social intercourse, its citi- 
 zens are distinguished by that easy urbanity, 
 that generous hospitality, and that freedom and 
 warmth of manners, which are the inheritance and 
 the glory of every true Virginian. I attended se- 
 veral parties, and was struck with the uncommon 
 beauty of the females. As you advance towards 
 the equator, female beauty — at least a certain 
 class of it — diminishes in exact proportion to thf 
 b5
 
 10 TRIBUTE TO FEMALE EXCELLENCE. 
 
 latitude. In the southern states, that rich bloom 
 which meets and charms the eye in the draAving- 
 rooms of our northern cities, is generally exchang- 
 ed for a pallid or brunette complexion. Not so 
 in Norfolk : Anacreon might have satiated his 
 voluptuous eye amid the charms of its blooming 
 daughters. 
 
 But if southern ladies cannot vie with those of 
 the north in beauty — in the elegance and sweet- 
 ness of their manners, in the ease, gracefulness 
 and elasticity of their movements, and in the thrill- 
 ing eloquence of the eye and lip, they are greatly 
 their superiors. Let females, however, vary as 
 they may in beauty and manners, their hearts, 
 as far as my observation has extended, are every- 
 where the same — gentle, kind, susceptible, pa- 
 tient, forgiving, and constant in their loves. Go 
 where you will, woman is the cream of the world. 
 We should be a set of demi-savages without her. 
 Her beauty, her refinement, her gentleness, her 
 fortitude, her ten thousand soft and winning 
 graces — outward and inward — material and spi- 
 ritual — all fit her pre-eminently to be the com- 
 panion of the rougher and sterner sex. 
 
 In Norfolk people amuse themselves at parties 
 as they do in other parts of the country. Music, 
 cards, chess, chitchat, and toddy ; each contri- 
 butes its share of entertainment. I met with 
 some genuine blue-stockings, who could spout 
 poetry like rain, who could give the lineages of all 
 the heroes and heroines of romance, and who had
 
 POPULARITY OF THE NAVY. 11 
 
 read Gibbon without becoming infidels, or even 
 discovering his hostility to the Christian system. 
 I like to see ladies intelligent and well-educated, 
 but I hate a blue-stocking as I do a bloodsucker. 
 To female pedantry, of all things in the world, I 
 would say, " Procul ! O procul !"" 
 
 The Navy is all the rage at Norfolk. Its offi- 
 cers are in great demand, and they contribute not 
 a little to the agreeableness of its society. But it 
 owes its popularity there partially to other consi- 
 derations: it is one of the main pillars of the place. 
 Nearly all our public vessels return from their 
 cruises and discharge their crews there ; and the 
 money which from this source flows into the 
 strong-boxes of the merchants and shopkeepers, 
 gives an impulse to business felt throughout all 
 the ramifications of society. I entertain no senti- 
 ments of hostility to Norfolk, but I cannot think 
 it quite fair that it should be made the general 
 rendezvous of our men-of-war on their return pas- 
 sages. Let them be equally distributed between 
 the different Navy Yards. Such an act of justice 
 would be attended Avith the certain advantage of 
 making the navy better known to our citizens, 
 and with the probable one of increasing its popu- 
 larity throughout the country. If either branch 
 of the public service should be a peculiar favour- 
 ite with the nation, it is unquestionably the navy. 
 Separated from the eastern world by an ocean 
 more than three thousand miles in width, witli an 
 Atlantic frontier well fortified, and an extent of
 
 12 IMPORTANCE OF THE NAVAL SERVICE. 
 
 territory which would render any attempt at con- 
 quest scarcely less than farcical, we might laugh 
 to scorn all the soldiers that united Europe could 
 send against us ; but the gigantic naval power of 
 England, and the increasing attention paid to this 
 branch of the public service in France, are cir- 
 cumstances which ought to affect public opinion 
 in this country, and open the eyes of the govern- 
 ment to the importance of a large, well organized 
 and efficient navy, officered by men in no respect 
 inferior to the officers of the army. The writer*'s 
 views on this interesting and all-important sub- 
 ject, drawn from personal observation and careful 
 meditation, will be developed more at large in the 
 progress of this work. 
 
 At dinner I was detained a little too long in the 
 discussion of a roast turkey and a bottle of claret, 
 and when I went down to the wharf to fulfil my 
 engagement, I found that Captain W. had al- 
 ready gone. Howbeit, I fell in with one of the 
 curly-headed descendants of Ham, who was will- 
 ing to pull me over for a couple of ^^Jips" and 
 we struck a bargain at once. The scoundrel kept 
 grumbling about the tide, and at last spoke out 
 his meaning like a hero : " Massa, I tink you no 
 pay me''nough. He bery hard pull gin de tide: 
 Massa, look how I sweats V and, suiting the ac- 
 tion to the word, he gave me such proofs of the 
 truth of what he said, as I would not like to have 
 witnessed in a tight room. Arrived alongside the 
 ship, I slipped an odd Jip into his hand, for which
 
 VISIT TO THE CONSTELLATION. 13 
 
 he saluted me with his most complaisant bow and 
 a " God bless you, my dear Massa !" and I hur- 
 ried up the ladder, anxious to see my new quar- 
 ters, and make the acquaintance of my new com- 
 panions. The ship was a perfect wilderness to 
 me, and the noises which issued from all quarters 
 would have put the confusion of Babel to the 
 blush. I met with the captain, wlio introduced 
 me to the first-lieutenant, and told me that he 
 would show me in what part of the ship I was 
 to live. As that was a piece of information in 
 which I felt some interest, I begged Mr. Paulding 
 to communicate it immediately. "We were then 
 standing on the third deck. Mr. P. pointed to 
 a dark hole still below us, and said, " There is 
 where you are to live; the place is called the 
 cockpit, but as I do not wish to deprive you of 
 your sleep to niglit, 1 will show it to you some 
 other time." I thanked him for his kind regard 
 for my repose, and lauglied off the matter as well 
 as I could ; but his words rang in my ears, and 
 the dismal appearance of the hole haunted my 
 imagination. 
 
 In company with Captain Wadsworth, the 
 chief clerk in the Navy Department and some 
 other naval officers, I called on Commodore Bar- 
 ron, to whom I liad been ordered to report myself 
 for duty on board the Constellation. He said 
 that if I had seen Captain W. the business 
 was all done. He was in fine spirits, and took us 
 to see the North Carolina. I was astonished at
 
 14 VISIT TO THE NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 her size ; she is a little world of herself. The 
 Commodore was enthusiastic in his commenda- 
 tions of her. He spoke of the Pennsylvania at 
 Philadelphia — said that some naval officers thought 
 her too large — but for himself, give him another 
 row of teeth, and he thought he could bite to 
 better purpose. His conversation was full of 
 spirit, and well seasoned with the genuine lan- 
 guage of the tar. 
 
 In our visit to the North Carolina, I had an 
 opportunity of observing a mode of etiquette 
 universal among naval gentlemen. In going on 
 board of a ship, the highest officer always ascends 
 the ladder first, and is followed by the others in 
 the order of their rank, but in leaving her this 
 order is reversed. The same -etiquette is observed 
 in descending and ascending the ladders when 
 on board. While the Constellation was at anchor 
 off Cowes, 1 saw this lesson taught to a poor 
 fellow not in the most agreeable manner. A 
 large boat-load of us had come off to the ship at 
 night, and the moment the boat was snugly 
 alongside, he jumped upon the platform at the 
 foot of the accommodation-ladder, when a lieu- 
 tenant sang out to him in a stern and peremptory 
 tone, " Mr. , stop there, and let your su- 
 periors pass up first." 
 
 On the evening of the next day, resolved to 
 inspect my new domicile for myself, I paid an- 
 other visit to the Constellation. I had not then 
 seen Mr. Jones' Naval Sketches, and could form
 
 THE COCKPIT. 15 
 
 no idea of what sort of place I might expect. 
 My anticipations from what I had seen and heard 
 the day before, were not of the most cheering 
 kind, but I was determined to know the worst. 
 I got a lantern, for the reader must know that 
 the blessed light of the sun never shines'in those 
 lower regions, and ^Eneas-like, descended to the 
 floating Avernus. The first view made my heart 
 sink within me. It was about fourteen feet square, 
 four and a half in height, and as filthy and clog- 
 ged as a lumber-yard. It seemed to me to be a 
 perfect thoroughfare, into which every thing was 
 thrown that was not suffered to remain anywhere 
 else, and the spirit-room hatch and the doors of 
 five store-rooms and a bread-room which perfo- 
 rated its walls, reminded me of the hundred mouths 
 t)f the dismal abode of tlie C'uniaean Sibyl. I was 
 somewhat consoled by JNIr. P.'s assurance that 
 it would look like a different place when every- 
 thing was arranged, and I afterwards found it a 
 far less disagreeable residence than its first ap- 
 pearance led me to anticipate. 
 
 But if I was disappointed in my own apart- 
 ment, and the internal arrangement of the ship 
 appeared confused and unintelligible, there was a 
 beauty in her external appearance, which I could 
 both comprehend and enjoy. As she lay in the 
 bosom of the waters — her three masts towering as 
 if in rivalry of each other — her ten thousand ropes, 
 so intricate that all was apparent confusion, and 
 yet so arranged that all was perfect order— her
 
 16 DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTELLATION. 
 
 huge sides, continually varying their direction, 
 and forming the famous curve line so eloquently 
 insisted on by Burke as one of the great elements 
 of beauty — her innumerable spars, delicately and 
 tastefully tapered — her double row of guns, em- 
 phatically denominated her " teeth" — her gallant 
 flag, waving to the breeze, and telling that she 
 belonged to a land where liberty and law, blend- 
 ing their sacred influences, secure the inestimable 
 rights, while they curb the stormy passions of 
 humanity — and, last of all, her entire and noble 
 self, beautiful in her sublimity, and uttering, as 
 it were, in the same breath, the language of free- 
 dom and defiance, altogether afixBcted my mind, 
 unaccustomed as it was to such things, like a 
 scene of enchantment. 
 
 The Constellation is a frigate of the second 
 class, rating thirty-six, and mounting forty-four 
 guns — twenty-eight eighteens on her main-deck, 
 and sixteen thirty-twos on her spar-deck. She 
 was built at Baltimore in 1795, under the super- 
 intendence of Commodore Truxtun, and is con- 
 sidered one of the finest models of a ship in our 
 navy. She has distinguished herself in two ac- 
 tions, the former with the French frigate L'lnsur- 
 gent, and the latter with the French frigate La 
 ^"engeance, which escaped after having struck 
 her colours three times. She was commanded by 
 Truxtun. The guns which she now carries were 
 presented to her by the Government of Great
 
 MANNING THE YARDS. 17 
 
 Britain, in commemoration of these gallant achieve- 
 ments over her natural enemy. 
 
 On the 8th of July, the President of the 
 United States, worn down by the fatigues of 
 office, and wishing to regain his customary health, 
 left Washington, accompanied by Mr. Branch, 
 Secretary of the Navy, and other distinguished 
 gentlemen, on a trip to Old Point Comfort and 
 Norfolk. On the tenth, about noon, the Potomac, 
 bearing the precious burden, and tricked out with 
 a profusion of ornaments that would have satisfied 
 a harlot, passed the Constellation and Erie, the 
 latter of which had just returned from a cruise in 
 the West Indies, with her crew in prime order. 
 The President, as he passed, was cheered by both 
 ships at the same time, and I had the gratification 
 of witnessing for the first time that beautiful evo- 
 lution, called "" manning the yards and cheering.'" 
 It is generally performed when a distinguished 
 personage visits or passes the vessel. Sometime 
 previous to its taking place, all hands are ordered 
 to " clean themselves," and they are stationed for 
 the occasion by the first Lieutenant. When the 
 time for manning the yards arrives, the men are 
 all sent up from below, and at the command, 
 " Lay aloft !" they spring upon the rigging, each 
 eager to surpass his companion, and the shrouds, 
 fore and aft, on both sides of tlic sliip, are in- 
 stantly whitened and animated with their bound- 
 ing forms. They cluster on the tops and about
 
 18 MANNING THE YARDS. 
 
 the topmast cross-trees and topgallantmast head, 
 and then all is quiet. At the second command, 
 " Lay out upon the yards !" the scene again 
 becomes animated ; the men spread themselves in 
 opposite directions, forming nine parallel lines, 
 and supporting themselves by means of life-lines 
 fastened to the lifts and masts. Arrived at their 
 stations, silence resumes her reign, and if but a 
 whisper reach the deck, it is stilled by the me- 
 nacing thunders of the trumpet — " Keep silence 
 
 there aloft ! Mr. -, take down the name of 
 
 the first man who speaks, and let me know who 
 he is." — "Ay, ay, Sir," is the reply, and it is 
 the only sound tliat now breaks the almost death- 
 like stillness which reigns throughout the ship. 
 At last comes the command to " cheer," at which 
 the men doff their hats, wave them three times in 
 the air, and fend the heavens with loud and long 
 huzzas. In summer, when the men are dressed 
 in their uniform of white duck frocks and trow- 
 sers, the appearance of the yards on such occa- 
 sions is peculiarly graceful and elegant. 
 
 The President and Secretary visited the Navy 
 Yard, the Dry Dock, and several of the ships on 
 the evening of their arrival, and the next day 
 they were escorted from the wharf to Johnson's 
 Hotel, amid the cheers of the multitude and the 
 waving of white handkerchiefs by the fair demoi- 
 selles who appeared by scores in the doors and 
 windows of the houses, that lined the streets 
 through whicli they passed.
 
 NAUTICAL EVOLUTIONS. 19 
 
 I joined the Constellation on the mornino- of 
 the 14th. The sailors who took my trunks up 
 the gangway, asked me if they were to go down 
 to the steerage. I told them that I knevv nothing 
 about where the steerage was, but that I had un- 
 derstood I was to live in the cockpit. They 
 laughed heartily at my ignorance, called me a 
 " green-horn,"* and kindly set about enlighten- 
 ing me: — "It's where the midshij^men mess, 
 down on the berth-deck, forward of tlie ward- 
 room ; you'll find out where it is, I reckon, 
 before you 've been long aboard." 
 
 In the afternoon we cot under weicjli, and 
 dropped down to Hampton Roads, off Fortress 
 Monroe. Amazement was the only sentiment I 
 felt. The numerous and complicated manoeuvres 
 of weighing anchor, making sail, and coming-to, 
 were all beyond my comprehension. The very 
 language employed was as unintelligible as so 
 much Arabic : but nothing was a greater enigma 
 to me than the Avhistling of the boatswain's mates, 
 and the measured sing-song of the quartermasters, 
 when they announced the deptli of the water. I 
 asked a midshipman for an explanation of the 
 whistling, and he knew as much of tlie matter as 
 I did. He said it was to cheer the men ! I took 
 the explanation, as it was given, in good faith, but 
 could not, for my life, conceive what there was so 
 very cheering in the tones of a large silver whistle. 
 
 ' " C'ueen-liorn" is a teim applied on siiipLoard to all who have 
 never been to sea before.
 
 20 FIRST NIGHT ON BOARD. 
 
 I thought a Jew's-harp would have been far 
 preferable. 
 
 My first night on board was a sleepless one. 
 I attempted to sleep in the steerage. There were 
 four mess-rooms appropriated to the midshipmen, 
 each of which was then surrounded by a con- 
 tinuous box or chest, called a locker, and sub- 
 serving as many different purposes as Castor's 
 nose. As my cot had not been arranged for 
 sleeping in the cockpit, I had my mattress spread 
 on one of these lockers, where I " turned in" for 
 the night : but the noise occasioned by the chang- 
 ing of the watches, the snoring of the sailors, the 
 tread of the officers on duty, the occasional grunt- 
 ing of the pigs, and my own busy brain, com- 
 bined to render my situation not unlike that of 
 Scudamour in the House of Care, 
 
 " Where, if by fortune any little nap 
 Upon his heavy eyelids chanced to fall," 
 
 the hammering imps of that arch blacksmith gave 
 him a rap on his head, which effectually put it 
 to flight. Towards morning, I got into a little 
 doze ; but at four o'clock all hands were called, 
 and the " holy-stones" set a-going; and this new 
 noise was like the red-hot iron tongs of the master 
 wx)rkman himself. Holy-stones, so called, I sup- 
 pose, from being used in purift/irig, are stones to 
 which two ropes are fastened, by means of which 
 they are drawn violently back and forth over 
 a deck covered with sand, and it requires not the
 
 HOLY-STONES. 21 
 
 aid of a description to enable the reader to judge 
 of the kind and degree of noise occasioned by the 
 simultaneous operation of a number of these 
 stones. This operation is called " wet holy-ston- 
 ing," or " dry holy-stoning," according as the 
 decks are wet or dry when it is performed. This 
 was the uniform mode of cleaning the ship when 
 I joined her ; but it afterwards fell into disuse, 
 and was employed only occasionally. The next 
 night I tried the cockpit, and succeeded better. 
 On board a man-of-war one soon learns to sleep 
 in the midst of all sorts of noises. 
 
 On the evening of the following day, the Secre- 
 tary of the Navy came on board to take passage 
 with us to New York. He had previously been 
 introduced to all the officers attached to the ship, 
 when he visited her in Norfolk, in company with 
 the President. He was received with a salute, 
 which was to have consisted of seventeen guns, 
 but which was interrupted by the cry — " A man 
 is killed ! a man is killed !" Fortunately, how- 
 ever, it proved to be a mistake : no one was either 
 killed or injured. It is customary, in firing sa- 
 lutes, to have all the boats removed from the 
 sides of the ship, and moored at her stern, to 
 prevent accidents of the kind just alluded to. 
 By some carelessness this precaution had been 
 neglected in regard to one of the boats, and the 
 men who were in her, being really in danger, 
 raised the cry, that they were already dead. 
 
 On the morning of the IGth, we got under
 
 22 CAPE HENRY. 
 
 weigh for New York. When I crawled out of 
 my dormitory, about six o'clock, the noble pro- 
 montory of Cape Henry was full in sight. It is 
 on your right as you go out from the Chesa- 
 peake ; before you, and on your left, stretches, 
 till it is lost in the distance, the ocean, bovmdless, 
 majestic, and free. It was the first time I had 
 ever beheld it : I leave the reader to imagine my 
 feelings — I can find no language to describe 
 them. 
 
 On our return, I was forcibly struck with the 
 resemblance between this part of the coast of Vir- 
 ginia and the coast of Tripoli. Both low, cham- 
 paign, and monotonous, the vast sand-bank which 
 composes Cape Henry, and extends to a con- 
 siderable distance on each side of it, resembles the 
 desert that stretches into the interior of Tripoli ; 
 and the magnificent palm-groves of the African 
 Regency find their counterpart in the forest-pines 
 of the Old Dominion. 
 
 We continued in sight of land till near sunset, 
 when the last faint traces of it, which had for 
 some time appeared like a low cloud resting on 
 the far-off horizon, faded entirely from our view, 
 and I found myself in a situation, long the 
 object of my wishes — a situation which imagina- 
 tion, in her day-dreams and night visions, had 
 often spread before my eager gaze — with nothing 
 around me but the blue heavens and the still 
 bluer waters of the great ocean, strongest of 
 Creation's sons,
 
 FIRST VIEW OF THE OCEAN. 23 
 
 " That rolls the vast, profound, eternal bass 
 In Nature's anthem, and makes music, such 
 As cliarms the ear of God." 
 
 I know not whether it be so with others, but to 
 me there is a sublimity in the idea of the ocean, 
 to which nothing else on earth is comparable — a 
 sublimity before which my imagination, in her 
 boldest moods, has always quailed. Do you love 
 to contemplate power ? Here is power that bows 
 to no superior but the voice of the Almighty. — 
 Vastness .'* Here is vastness that absorbs and 
 overpowers the fancy. — Immutability? Here is 
 a body which, from the first glad hour when the 
 morning-stars sang together, as they gazed on 
 the new-born beauties of creation, has been, and, 
 until their lyres are tuned to chant the requiem of 
 Nature, will be 
 
 " Loud uttering satire, day and night, on each 
 Succeeding race and little pompous work 
 Of man." 
 
 In short, it is an emblem, faint indeed, but still 
 too great for the loftiest human intellect to grasp, 
 of the infinitude of eternity. 
 
 Life at sea has little in common with life 
 on shore, and hence, on our passage from Norfolk 
 to New York, every thing I saw or heard inter- 
 ested me from its novelty. The manoeuvring of 
 the ship, the distinctions of rank, the language 
 and tone in which orders were given, the regular 
 recurrence of the same scenes and duties, and the 
 novel exhibitions of character and manners, all in
 
 24 LIFE AT SEA. 
 
 their turn awakened my curiosity, and filled my 
 mind Avith that confused but delicious wonder, 
 which novelty always inspires. One of the very 
 first lessons I learned on board a man-of-war was, 
 that I had superiors, and that I must bow to the 
 etiquette of rank. One day I happened to be 
 walking on the larboard side of the quarter-deck, 
 which, in port, is appropriated to the inferior 
 officers, when I was reminded, with the utmost 
 politeness of manner, that the weather side of the 
 deck at sea always belonged to the captain and 
 wardroom officers. At another time, on ascend- 
 ing the ladder nearest the cabin-door, I was 
 informed that that had a similar appropriation. 
 
 On the passage round I messed with the mid- 
 shipmen. We lived entirely on what are called 
 on shipboard " salt junk and hard tack," which 
 means salted provisions and sea-biscuit. " Fresh 
 grub and soft tack" are the sea terms for fresh 
 meats and bread. Our water was so bad both in 
 taste and smell, that I generally held my breath 
 till 1 had drunk off" all I wanted, to avoid, as far 
 as possible, the unpleasant sensations occasioned 
 to the olfactory and gustatory nerves. Had I 
 then been asked how I relished such fare, I should 
 have replied in the language of Charles XII. after 
 having eaten a piece of mouldy bread presented 
 to him by a murmuring soldier, " It is not good, 
 but it can be eaten." I congratulated myself on 
 the flexibility of my temperament, and deter- 
 mined, in the true spirit of a philosopher, never
 
 LIVING ON BOARD — MIDSHIPMEN. 25 
 
 to despair as long as I could get beans or lobs- 
 cowse.* If the hardships and privations of a sea- 
 faring life had been fourfold greater than this 
 early promise foreboded, I should still have been 
 content to endure them for the sake of the At- 
 lantic and the glorious regions beyond it. 
 
 The midshipmen call each other familiarly 
 " reefers," and I had frequent opportunities of 
 witnessing their jovial disposition and habits. 
 Young and buoyant, the effervescence of their 
 spirits was continually escaping injeux d ''esprit, 
 generally pointed at each other. After having 
 " turned in,"'"' they sometimes became so boiste- 
 rous in tlieir mirth that the first lieutenant was 
 obliged to sing out to them from the wardroom, 
 " Gentlemen, if you don't make less noise, I shall 
 send you on deck to keep watch." I was often 
 waked by them at midnight, and at four o''clock 
 in the morning, when the watch was changed. 
 The whole steerage was frequently awake, and 
 nothing w as to be heard for fifteen or twenty mi- 
 nutes but volleys of brilliant repartee and loud 
 peals of laughter. The old cruisers exhausted 
 their ingenuity in trying to impose on the credu- 
 lity of the " green-horns." On one of these occa- 
 sions, INIr. made one of them believe that it 
 
 was customary for midshipmen to break all their 
 
 • I have never seen this word written, 1 have therefore given it an 
 orthograpliy corresponding to its pronunciation. It is a dish com- 
 posed of salt beef and potatoes hashed up together, and yery fashion- 
 able when nothing better can be obtained. 
 VOL. J. C
 
 26 RUNNING. 
 
 china once a month. " But," said he, " why do 
 they break it ?" — " Why, to be sure," replied 
 the other, " only to live up to their pay." * They 
 sometimes carried their practical jokes a little too 
 far. The night after we sailed from Old Point, 
 one poor fellow, when he went down to turn in, 
 found a goat snugly lashed in his hammock. 
 " Sky-larking and running," that is, rough-and- 
 tumble play, and a free indulgence in personal 
 sarcasms, occupied no small portion of their time. 
 The men were as fond as the " reefers" of 
 " running " each other, and imposing on the 
 credulity of landsmen. Many of the green-horn 
 sailors became thoroughly sick of their new berth: 
 poor fellows ! they little knew to what they were 
 coming when they shipped on board a man-of-war. 
 In addition to their real hardships, the old cruis- 
 ers teazed them to death ; for, the reader must 
 know, that in the eye of a genuine tar, a man who 
 has never seen the sun rise and set among the 
 waves, is not much. One of them said to me, 
 half enraged from a dispute he had just ended, 
 " Why, the old sailors think, because they have 
 been to sea and know the names and uses of some 
 fifty ropes, nobody but themselves knows any 
 thing on any subject." The censure was more 
 than half just. Sailors are not given to overrating 
 the skill of other men. They see their superio- 
 
 * A nMdshipman's pay is only twenty dollars per month and one 
 ration.
 
 ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 27 
 
 rity in their own profession, and fancy an equal 
 superiority in every thing else. 
 
 Early on tlie morning of the twenty-first, we 
 made the Highlands in N. Jersey, and shortly 
 after fired a gun and hove-to for a pilot. It was 
 ebb tide when we got up to the bar, and we were 
 consequently obliged to come to an anchor below 
 it. Here Mr. Branch took leave of us, and went 
 up to New York in a pilot-boat. By his affabi- 
 lity and urbanity of manners, he had endeared 
 himself to the officers, and when he left us, car- 
 ried with him, I believe, the respect and esteem of 
 all who became acquainted with him. 
 
 We were kept off the hook, waiting either for 
 wind or tide, until the evening of the 25th, 
 when, both being in our favour, we got under 
 weigh, and at five o'clock p.m. anchored off the 
 Battery at Castle Garden. Immediately on our 
 arrival, I applied to Captain W. for permission 
 to live ashore, which was promptly and kindly 
 granted. Though by no means tired of old Nep- 
 tune's dominions, I was right glad to get once 
 again on terra Jirma. 
 
 c2
 
 28 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ]>eauty of the Constellation — Description of a Frigate — Spar Deck 
 — Quarter Deck — Etiquette — Forecastle — Booms— Chains — 
 Hammock Nettings — Gun Deck— Captain's Cabin — Half Deck — 
 Waist — Galley — Pumps — Berth Deck — Wardroom — Steerage — 
 ]\Iess Lockers — Forward Officers' State Rooms — Mess Chests 
 — Sick Bay — Air Ports — Magazine — Hold — Forward Officers' 
 Store Rooms — Discipline — Division of Time — Order — Officers — 
 Captain — First Lieutenant — Other Lieutenants — Sailing Master 
 — Purser — Surgeons — Chaplain — Midshipmen — Forward Officers 
 — Subordination of Rank. 
 
 In the two following chapters I shall endeavour 
 to give the reader some idea of what may be 
 termed the geography of a man-of-war, and also 
 of its internal organization. A lady at Genoa, on 
 visiting the Constellation, clasped her hands, and, 
 with an energy and a tone highly characteristic, 
 exclaimed, Corpo di Bacco ! e una piccola cittd .'* 
 No one can have visited a man-of-war for the first 
 time without a sentiment, if not quite so vivid, at 
 least somewhat similar to that of this fair Italian. 
 It is in fact both a city and an empire — a city in 
 its. materiel, and an empire in its jiiorale. In order 
 to give to what I have to say on the first of these 
 subjects a " local habitation and a name,"" I shall 
 
 • " Body o'nie ! it's a little city !"
 
 DESCRIPTION OF A FRIGATE. 2\) 
 
 do little more than simply describe tlie sliip in 
 which I sailed. 
 
 The Constellation, as already stated, is a fri- 
 gate of the second class, mounting forty-four 
 guns. Her whole weight of metal is one thousand 
 and sixteen pounds — her broadside five hundred 
 and eigrht. She is among: the oldest vessels in our 
 navy, and is one of those happy first productions 
 never afterwards surpassed. In the beauty of her 
 hull, she is unequalled by any thing I have ever 
 seen afloat. The easy swell and curvature of the 
 sides, and tlie general harmony of the proportions 
 are inimitable. The new frigates may present a 
 more warlike appearance, but the monotony of 
 their sides, rising as they do almost perpendicu- 
 larly from the water to the hammock-nettings, is 
 any thing but graceful or agreeable. In her spars 
 and riooino; the Constellation is less beautiful 
 than some other of our public vessels. 
 
 A frigate has three decks. The upper one is 
 called the spar-deck, and this is again subdivided 
 into different parts, each called by its appropriate 
 name. All that part of it from the gangways 
 aft, is denominated the quarter-deck. Next to 
 the cabin, this is the most sacred part of the 
 ship. No officer on duty is allowed to appear 
 there unless he is dressed in his uniform, and on 
 ascending to it from below, or in coming over the 
 ship's sides, he is obliged to pay it his respects by 
 touching his hat. I have been reprimanded for 
 walking there in a hot summer's day without a
 
 30 ETIQUETTE ON BOARD. 
 
 cravat on, and the etiquette of touching the hat is 
 in some instances so rigorously exacted, that mid- 
 shipmen are suspended or quarantined for neg- 
 lecting to comply with it. No officer is allowed 
 to be seated on the quarter-deck, and loud laugh- 
 ter and boisterous conversation are strictly prohi- 
 bited. I knew an officer high in rank to be re- 
 ported to the commodore by a master command- 
 ant for breaking out into what he called a " horse- 
 laugh"" on the quarter-deck. When we weighed 
 anchor from the Straits of Tenedos, the purser, 
 surgeon, and myself got into a somewhat animated 
 discussion on the localities of the Troad. We 
 were not aware of the loudness with which we 
 conversed, until reminded of it by the captain, 
 who approached us and said, " Gentlemen, you 
 are interrupting the orders of the trumpet." 
 
 In port the starboard side* of the quarter-deck 
 is appropriated to the captain and ward-room offi- 
 cers, and the larboard to the inferior officers. I 
 have seen a sailor taken to the gangway and re- 
 ceive a dozen for walking aft on the starboard 
 side of the deck. At sea the higher officers are 
 entitled to the weather side, that is, the side upon 
 which the wind blows, whichever it may be. 
 
 There are three hatches on the quarter-deck, 
 the after one of which belongs exclusively to the 
 superior officers. Near the centre is the capstern, 
 
 * As you stand facing the ship's head, the starboard is on your 
 liglit, and larboard on your left. The larboard side is also called 
 port.
 
 FORECASTLE — BOOMS CHAINS. 31 
 
 a large wooden cylinder, by means of wliicli tlie 
 anchor and other heavy weights are raised. The 
 wheel, at which four men are stationed to steer 
 the ship, is T^ust Jo? ivard of the mizen-mast, and 
 in front of it are the binnacles, two upriglit boxes, 
 in each of which is placed a mariner''s compass. 
 
 That part of the spar-deck forward of the fore- 
 mast is called the forecastle. This is the favourite 
 haunt of the men. Here they collect on a sum- 
 mer's evening to " spin" their " yarns" and for- 
 get their labours in the pleasures of the song and 
 the dance. On these amusements I shall not here 
 enlarge, but will say more of them in another part 
 of this work. The blacksmith's shop is always 
 shipped on the forecastle, when any work in that 
 line is to be performed. 
 
 On that portion of the spar-deck^ comprehend- 
 ed between the quarter-deck and the forecastle, 
 are stowed all the spare spars, and also at sea ail 
 the boats, except one at the ship's stern, and one 
 on each of her quarters. It is called the booms. 
 On the spar-deck there are four ladders for the 
 men, two of which are just forward of the gang- 
 ways, and two just abaft the foremast. Parallel 
 with this deck are six strong platforms, outside of 
 the bulwarks, three on each side of the vessel, 
 opposite the three masts. They are called the 
 fore-main, and mizen chains. The shrouds, 
 stout cable ropes which support the masts late- 
 rally, are fastened to them. The ropes which 
 give a fore-and-aft su]:)port to the masts are deno- 
 minated stays.
 
 32 HAMMOCKS — GUN-DECK. 
 
 The guns on this deck are called carronades, 
 and are all short, except generally two long car- 
 ronades on the forecastle, and two on the quarter- 
 deck. The bulwarks rise to about the height of 
 a common-sized man above the spar-deck. They 
 terminate in the hammock-nettings, a deep trough 
 nearly encircling the ship, in which the hammocks 
 are stowed during the day. In foul weather the 
 hammocks are protected by a tarred canvass cloth 
 thrown over them, but in fair weather this tar- 
 paulin is rolled up and laid on the top of them, so 
 as to leave them almost entirely exposed. No- 
 thing contributes more to the good appearance of 
 a ship than clean hammocks, neatly stowed. 
 
 I will now conduct my reader to the main, or 
 gun-deck. This is the great luxury of a frigate, 
 as it furnishes a fine promenade in all Weathers. 
 The sun, rain and dews are all excluded — things 
 which annoy you prodigiously on board of a 
 sloop. We will commence with the sanctum sanc- 
 torum of the ship, the captain's cabin. This occu- 
 pies nearly all the space on the main-deck abaft 
 the mizen mast, and encloses four guns. It is se- 
 parated from the rest of the deck by a partition, 
 called, as all partitions on shipboard are, a bulk- 
 head, which is always removed when the ship is 
 cleared for action. The Constellation's cabin 
 contained four apartments; — the forward-cabin, 
 which was the dining-room, the after-cabin, a cir- 
 cular apartment which served for a parlour, and 
 two state-rooms. The only furniture of the for-
 
 captain's cabin — half-deck. 33 
 
 ward- cabin was a large mahogany side-board, 
 whose top was perforated with holes for tumblers 
 and wine-glasses, a set of plain curly-maple chairs, 
 and two cherry tables. The after-cabin was car- 
 peted and furnished with a cushioned sofa, a set 
 of drawing-room chairs, two small secretaries, two 
 looking-glasses, a few portrait paintings, a baro- 
 meter, and a Fahrenheit. One of the state-rooms 
 was appropriated to the library, and the other 
 was the captain's sleeping-room. I should not 
 omit to mention that the tables in the forward 
 cabin were always groaning beneath the weight of 
 charts, sailing directions, and mathematical in- 
 struments. 
 
 The portion of the gun-deck extending from 
 the cabin to the main-mast is denominated the 
 half-deck. The larboard side of this is also ap- 
 propriated to the officers, but it wants the sacred 
 character of the quarter-deck. Its use is common 
 to officers of every grade. It is constantly occu- 
 pied as a promenade, and in summer is the gene- 
 ral reading-room. That part of this deck com- 
 prehended between the main-mast and the galley 
 is called the waist, and here the carpenters, tailors, 
 shoemakers, &c. carry on their respective business. 
 The galley is just abaft the foremast, and is the 
 ship's kitchen. The forward part of it is ap- 
 propriated to the officers' cooking. This is di- 
 vided into three compartments, of which that on 
 the larboard side is for the use of the captain, 
 that on the starboard for the use of the ward-room 
 c5
 
 34 GALLEY — PUMPS — BERTH-DECK. 
 
 mess, and that in the centre for all the officers 
 below them. The after part of the galley is 
 called the " coppers," and belongs to the crew. 
 On each side of the galley is a suspended table 
 for the use of the cooks. The psrt appropriated 
 to each of them is apportioned off, and you some- 
 times hear them defend their rights with as much 
 earnestness and a good deal more violence than a 
 debate, involving the destinies of Europe, would 
 occasion in the British Parliament. Forward of 
 the foremast are congregated the poultry, pigs, 
 sheep, goats, et id omne genus. There were also 
 on the Constellation's gun-deck three pumps, one 
 for pumping up the bilge water, one for procur- 
 ing water to wash the ship, and the other to draw 
 off fresh water for the ordinary consumption of 
 the officers and crew. 
 
 Courteous reader, I beg thee to follow me down 
 another ladder. Dicto citius, here we are on the 
 berth-deck. Our feet are now below water-mark, 
 and he who is not fond of hard knocks, must look 
 out for his head. 
 
 The after-part of the berth-deck is occupied as 
 a mess-room by the lieutenants and other commis- 
 sioned officers. It is called the wardroom, ex- 
 tends to a considerable distance forward of the 
 mizen-niast, and is separated from the rest of the 
 deck by a bulkhead. It has five state-rooms on 
 each side, which, though not very large, are suffi- 
 ciently commodious, and are furnished with neat 
 little bureaus at the public expense. Some of the
 
 WARDROOM AND STEERAGE. 35 
 
 officers have them carpeted and fitted up in ele- 
 gant style. The first lieutenant is entitled to the 
 first state-room, on the starboard-side, and the 
 others follow him in the order of their rank. The 
 room on the larboard-side, corresponding to the 
 first lieutenant*'s, belongs to the sailing-master, 
 and the purser, surgeon, and chaplain are entitled 
 to rooms receding from his in the order in which 
 their names are here mentioned. The wardroom 
 receives its light principally from a large sky-light 
 over head. 
 
 Immediately forward of the wardroom is the 
 steerage, the midshipmen's domicile. This differs 
 materially in diflerent ships. In some, as in the 
 Constellation, it is partitioned off into different 
 mess-rooms ; while in others, as in the Brandy- 
 wine, it is all common, and is separated from the 
 forward part of the deck only by a canvass cur- 
 tain. In the Constellation, as I have already 
 mentioned in the preceding chapter, there are four 
 mess-rooms, two on each side of the ship. They 
 are each about nine feet by seven. The middies 
 are not allowed to have trunks on board, and the 
 mess-rooms are therefore furnished with lockers 
 to supply their place. Of these there are two 
 kinds, chest lockers and " up and down " lockers. 
 The chest lockers are nothing more than boxes 
 surrounding three sides of the rooms : the upright 
 ones are more like bureaus, and are much more 
 commodious. When we first- sailed we had the 
 former kind, but they were afterwards torn away,
 
 36 STATE-ROOMS. — SICK-BAY. 
 
 and the others substituted. The open space in 
 the steerage between the mess-rooms is familiarly 
 called the " country," and here the reefers'" ham- 
 mocks are swung at night. The Constellation's 
 steerage is the handsomest and most commodious 
 I have ever seen. 
 
 Immediately forward of the steerage are four 
 state-rooms, occupied by the forward officers, and 
 between them are four mess-lockers (small store- 
 rooms), where the provisions of the steerage and 
 cockpit are kept. Here is also an air-pump, by 
 means of which the foul air is removed from the 
 lower parts of the ship. 
 
 We are now forward of the mainmast, and 
 have come to an open part of the deck, lined on 
 each side by a row of chests. Each of these is 
 appropriated to one of the ship's messes, and con- 
 tains its table, furniture, and daily provisions. 
 Here are also compartments, formed by upright 
 wooden grates, and extending on both sides of 
 the ship, from the state-rooms of the forward offi- 
 cers to the sick-bay, in which the men keep their 
 clothes. The sick-bay, or apartment for the sick, 
 is a small room quite at the forward extremity of 
 the berth-deck. On each side of this deck there 
 is a row of air-ports, designed chiefly for the pur- 
 pose of ventilation, which extend from one end of 
 it to the other. They are open only in port. 
 
 I will not detain the reader by a minute de- 
 scription of a frigate"'s lower regions. Under- 
 neath the wardroom are the magazine and princi- 
 
 I
 
 HOLD STORE-ROOMS. 37 
 
 pal bread-room. The cockpit and spirit-room 
 are below the steerage, and directly forward of 
 them is the main hold, which extends over no in- 
 considerable portion of the ship. Here are stow- 
 ed the cables, water, and most of the provisions. 
 Tlie forward officers' store-rooms are underneath 
 the sick-bay. The various implements of their 
 respective crafts are kept in them, and they are 
 generally fitted up with a good deal of taste and 
 elegance. This is a part of the ship always 
 shown to strangers, and whicli, if kept in proper 
 order, generally excites more interest than any 
 other. 
 
 The foregoing expose cannot have been very 
 edifying, but I have been induced to make it to 
 avoid the necessity of subsequent explanations. 
 In doing so, I have studied chiefly two things — 
 brevity and clearness ; and I hope 1 have not so 
 completely failed as either to have exhausted my 
 reader's patience, or to have left him without 
 some definite notions of what a man-of-war is 
 physically. The second subject proposed to be 
 considered in this chapter will possess an interest 
 of a different and higher character, as it has refer- 
 ence to moral relations. 
 
 The government on board a man-of-war is des- 
 potic, and must be so from the circumstances 
 under which it exists. ]Men are here congregated 
 together from almost every country under Hea- 
 ven. They bring with them no natural principles 
 of amalgamation, but, on the contrary, almost as 
 
 a U 
 
 1. i y 5 D ^3
 
 38 DISCIPLINE DIVISION OF TIME. 
 
 many apples of discord as there are individuals in 
 the crew. Nothing but necessity can bind into 
 one harmonious whole so many discordant ele- 
 ments, and that necessity must result from a sys- 
 tem of discipline, stern in its nature and prompt 
 in the execution of its penalties. If the com- 
 mander were not, in a manner, clothed with the 
 power of a despot, neglect of duty would often 
 go unpunished, confusion would soon be worse 
 confounded, and the secretary might order every 
 vessel in the navy to be set on fire, dismiss his 
 clerks, and retire from the toils of office to enjoy 
 the quiet of his own fireside. 
 
 Time on shipboard is divided into watches, and 
 reckoned by bells. Hence you never hear the 
 question, "What's o'clock.''"" but " How many 
 bells is it ?'''' The twenty-four hours are divided 
 into six equal portions, called watches. At the end 
 of the first half-hour of one of these portions, the 
 bell is struck one ; at the end of the second, two ; 
 and so on, till the series reaches eight, when it 
 commences again. Thus it will be perceived that 
 two bells means either one, five, or nine o'clock; 
 and five bells either half-past two, six, or ten. 
 In the ship's journals, the dates are put down 
 according to the common mode of reckoning 
 time. 
 
 The division of time into watches differs some- 
 what at sea and in port. In the former case the 
 watches are all four hours' long, with the excep- 
 tion of two in the evening, called dog-watches,
 
 ORDER IN A MAN-OF-WAR. 39 
 
 from four to six, and from six to eight. In port 
 there is but one watch during the day, viz. from 
 eight o'clock, a.m. to eight, p.m. The night- 
 watches are the same as at sea. 
 
 Order is the first great rule on board a man-of- 
 war, and that to which all others must bend. It 
 is, in fact, the Alpha and the Omega, the begin- 
 ning and the ending, the centre and the circum- 
 ference of her whole internal organization. " To 
 every thing there is a season, and a time to every 
 purpose under Heaven."" From day to day, from 
 week to week, from month to month, and from 
 year to year, the same stroke of the bell is follow- 
 ed bv the same whistle, the same call, and the 
 recurrence of the same duties. Every thing has 
 its place too, and must be kept in it. So true is 
 this, that a person acquainted with the details of 
 a ship, can lay his liaud on a given object in any 
 part of her as well in the dark as if a thousand 
 suns were shining on it. To the same grand 
 principle — ordkr, are to be attributed the nu- 
 merous divisions and subdivisions of the officers 
 and creu'. With the distribution of rank, power, 
 and duties which these divisions involve 1 pur- 
 pose now to make the reader acquainted, promis- 
 ing always to be as brief as is consistent with ])er- 
 spicuity. 
 
 The whole number of persons on board the 
 Constellation varied at different times from three 
 hundred and eighty to four hundred and twenty. 
 The three grand divisions of the moral elements
 
 40 OFFICERS. 
 
 in the naval service are into officers, men, and ma- 
 rines. Of the former there were generally about 
 forty ; of the second somewhat more than three 
 hundred, and of the latter thirty-five, more or less. 
 At the head of the list stands the Captain. 
 He is literally " monarch of all he surveys," and 
 " sitteth secure in high authority and dread." 
 His will is supreme, and from his decisions, for 
 the time being, there is no appeal. The Autocrat 
 of all the Russias is not a more perfect despot 
 than the commander of a public vessel, nor do 
 the slaves of the Sublime Porte yield a more 
 ready obedience to the Brother of the Sun and 
 Moon than does the sailor to his Captain.* His 
 duties are, of course, more comprehensive than 
 those of any other officer. It would be impossi- 
 ble if I should attempt it, and useless, if pos- 
 sible, to specify each of them. He has a general 
 superintendence over the affairs of the ship, and 
 every order of a general nature must originate in 
 him. No important alteration can be made with- 
 out his knowledge and consent. It is his duty to 
 
 * An anecdote, related to me by^a gentleman in Mahon, is so 
 much to the purpose here, that 1 cannot forbear to repeat it. It so 
 happened that one of the men concerned in the murder of the French 
 lieutenant was a southern negro, and a perfect Ninevite in know- 
 ledge. In the course of the trial it became necessary for him to 
 take an oath, and an oath and the Copernican system were all one 
 to him. So the Court set about enlightening iiim : — " Don't you 
 acknowledge a Supreme Being]" — "Supreme Being! Massa," re- 
 plied Cuff; "I no 'stand what he mean." — "God, your Creator, 
 the Being who made. us all : don't you acknowledge any Superior 
 Being?" — " yes, INIassa ; my Captain !"
 
 CAPTAIN. 41 
 
 take a general oversight of the officers' conduct; 
 to see tliat they are guilty of no improprieties, 
 and to punish such as are. He is responsible for 
 the safety of the ship, both at sea and in port. 
 If any business of a public nature is to be trans- 
 acted with a foreign power, it falls of course into 
 his hands. These are his duties in time of peace ; 
 in war he has still higher responsibilities. 
 
 From this brief exposition, it will readily occur 
 to the thinking mind that the commander of a 
 government vessel ought to be a man of good 
 natural endowments and varied acquirements. 
 Courage, moderation, and judgment, comprehen- 
 sion of intellect sufficient to view a subject in all 
 its bearings, a keen sagacity in discriminating 
 between the distinctions of subtle minds, and a 
 general acquaintance with the usages of nations, 
 are indispensable, not only to his own fame, but 
 also to the reputation and interests of his coun- 
 try. Hence it appears that the qualifications re- 
 quisite in a captain of the navy are by no means 
 such as can be acquired by a dunce, or even by a 
 man of understanding without much study and 
 reflection. I do not speak here of a thorough 
 knowledge of his own profession, for the import- 
 ance of that no one will deny : but in addition to 
 this, his mind should have acquired clearness, 
 vigour, and synnnetry, from the study of mathe- 
 matics, philosophy, and literature, and have be- 
 come thoroughly versed in the usages and riglits 
 of nations by that of history and natural law.
 
 42 FIRST-LIEUTENANT. 
 
 Next in rank come the wardroom officers, con- 
 sisting, on board of a frigate, of six lieutenants, a 
 purser, surgeon, chaplain, sailing master, and lieu- 
 tenant of marines. The first lieutenant is next in 
 power to the captain, and though his station is 
 less responsible, his duties are more laborious. 
 He has a general supervision over the ship, and 
 is to see that she is kept clean and in proper order. 
 To this end he is obliged to inspect every part of 
 her at least once a day, and report her condition 
 to the captain. When the ship is put in com- 
 mission, it devolves chiefly upon him to station 
 the men, a business of the most laborious and 
 difficult nature, requiring great patience, a dis- 
 criminating judgment, and deep insight into the 
 human heart. It is his duty to have the men 
 frequently exercised at the guns ; to regulate the 
 expenditures of certain public stores ; to take care 
 that the men keep themselves clean and decently 
 clad ; to superintend the watering and victualling 
 of the ship ; and, in short, to see that all her 
 multifarious and complicated concerns move on 
 regularly and harmoniously. In coming to an 
 anchor and getting under weigh, and when all 
 hands are called to reef topsails, or for other pur- 
 poses, he takes the trumpet. On him, more than 
 on the captain himself, depends the comfort of the 
 officers. In port, it belongs to him to grant or 
 withhold permission to go ashore ; and there are 
 a thousand other ways, in which, if he is a man 
 of capricious or malignant disposition, he can
 
 OTHER LIEUTENANTS. 43 
 
 gratify his whims or his spleen at the expense of 
 the comfort and feelings of his fellow-officers. 
 The qualifications most needed in a first lieute- 
 nant are freedom from caprice and passion, fixed 
 principles of action, moderation combined with 
 decision, a dignified affability, a disposition to be 
 at once liberal and just, and a profoimd know- 
 ledge of character. On the whole, his situation, 
 though highly important, is not very enviable ; 
 and my observation has satisfied me that to be 
 generally popular as a first lieutenant, requires a 
 combination of qualities, such as rarely falls to 
 the lot of any man. 
 
 The other lieutenants are divided into watches, 
 and take turns in performing the duties belonging 
 to their station. The lieutenant on duty is styled 
 in writing the officer of the watch, but is familiar- 
 ly called the officer of the deck. Some of his 
 duties are common at sea and in port, and others 
 are peculiar to each of these situations. In both 
 he is responsible for the deck while he has charge 
 of it, and has also to take a general oversight of 
 the ship. He must see that the men's rations are 
 properly cooked, and that they have their meals 
 at proper hours. The serving of the grog is also 
 under his control. At sea his duty is to sail the 
 ship, keeping her on the course given her by the 
 captain, and reporting to him any cliange in the 
 wind, the discovery of land or strange sails, and 
 any extraordinary occurrences. At night he has 
 the captain waked at stated periods,* and the state 
 
 * On board of the Constellation every two hours.
 
 44 SAILING-MASTER. 
 
 of the weather reported to him. On receiving 
 the trumpet, the first thing the officer of the deck 
 does is to glance at the compass, the sails, the 
 dog-vane, the sky, and the water, to discover the 
 state of the ship, the wind, and the weather ; and 
 at the end of the watch, he must have a general 
 account of the weather, and other matters which 
 he may deem proper, inserted in the ship"'s log- 
 book. The duty of the officer of the deck in port 
 is to receive any supplies of water or provisions 
 which may come alongside, to regulate the send- 
 ing away of boats, to keep a look-out as to what 
 is going on in the harbour, to report the arrival 
 of ships and any important occurrences to the 
 captain, &c. The lieutenants are also officers of 
 divisions, and frequently have to exercise the men 
 at the guns, besides superintending the monthly 
 issues of slops to their respective divisions. 
 
 Next in rank to the lieutenants, I suppose, 
 would come the regular sailing-master, but the 
 duties of this office are almost universally per- 
 formed in our service by passed midshipmen, who 
 have received merely acting appointments. After 
 the first lieutenant, the duties of a sailing-master 
 are more comprehensive and arduous than those 
 of any other officer. His supervision and respon- 
 sibility extend to almost all the public stores in 
 the ship, but particularly to the water, spirits, 
 cables, and anchors. He reports the daily expen- 
 ditures of water to the captain. It is his business 
 to keep the ship's place and report it at least twice
 
 PURSER. 45 
 
 a day to the commaiuler, together with the bear- 
 ings and distance of the port to which she is 
 bound, or the nearest land desired to be made. 
 Some commanders leave this entirely to their sail- 
 ing-masters, but Captain Wadsworth always kept 
 the reckoning himself. He has told me that such 
 was the anxiety of his mind whilst at sea, that he 
 could not read a book pro})erly, and he rarely 
 ever undressed himself at night. One captain in- 
 formed me that he made it an invariable rule to 
 get up at midnight, and work out his ship's place 
 himself. 
 
 There is no berth on board a man-of-war more 
 cozy than that of purser. He holds the keys of 
 the strong box, and though his regular salary is 
 not much, his emoluments, arising from other 
 sources, are greater than those of the conmiander 
 himself. All the provisions on board are com- 
 mitted to his charge, and the ship's accounts are 
 all kept by him. His responsibilities are very 
 great, and heavy bonds are therefore justly ex- 
 acted from him. The present law respecting 
 pursers is, in my judgment, fundamentally de- 
 fective. It not only opens a wide door to abuses, 
 but actually courts the commission of them. In- 
 stead of granting them a liberal compensation for 
 their services and responsibilities, it allows them 
 to sell various articles to the officers and crews of 
 the ships in which they sail. It makes them, in 
 fact, grocery and dry goods merchants, and the 
 desire of making large profits must in the nature
 
 46 SURGEONS. 
 
 of things sometimes induce them to procure ar- 
 ticles of an inferior quality, and charge exorbitant 
 prices for them. Now a system ought not to 
 prevail which renders our seamen even liable to 
 be thus cheated and imposed on. Whatever ar- 
 ticles may be needed for the comfort of this use- 
 ful and indispensable class of our citizens ought 
 to be provided by the Government, of the best 
 quality, and charged at moderate prices. I hope 
 I shall not be understood as insinuating any thing 
 against the character of the purser of the Con- 
 stellation. He is a gentleman utterly incapable 
 of an action in the slightest degree dishonourable 
 or fraudulent, and no purser was ever more ge- 
 nerally or deservedly popular than INIr. H. 
 
 The surgeon and his two assistants form the 
 medical staff of a frigate. The assistant-surgeons 
 form a distinct class of officers, ranking between 
 the wardroom officers and midshipmen. In fri- 
 gates and ships of the line they mess in the cock- 
 pit, but in all other public vessels in the steerage. 
 The business of the staff is of course to take care 
 of the sick, and perform such surgical operations 
 as may be necessary. A daily journal is kept of 
 the names, rank, diseases, and constitutional ha- 
 bits of all the sick on board, and also of the me- 
 dicines administered to them. From the journal 
 a report is made out and signed by the surgeon 
 every morning, stating the names, rank, and 
 diseases of the sick, and the number added to and 
 taken from the list. This is handed to .the cap-
 
 DUTIES OF THE SURGEON. 47 
 
 tain. Another list, containing only the names, is 
 placed in the binnacle for the use of the officer of 
 the deck. Nothing will excuse either an officer 
 or a man from duty, but the fact of his being 
 registered on the sick list. A general review of 
 the sick takes place every morning after breakfast. 
 One of the assistant-surgeons inspects the ship's 
 coppers every day to sec that no verdigris is al- 
 lowed to collect upon them. It is the duty of the 
 surgeon not only to attend to the sick, but also to 
 reconmiend and enforce such precautionary mea- 
 sures as will have a tendency to prevent disease, 
 and thus secure the general health of the officers 
 and crew. 
 
 Much has been done of late years to elevate 
 the character of the medical department in our 
 naval service. Previous to receiving his com- 
 mission as a surgeon, the candidate must have 
 passed the ordeal of two thorough examinations 
 by a Board composed of some of the most distin- 
 guished medical gentlemen in the country ; and 
 I am credibly informed, that nearly one-half of 
 those who apply, are rejected on examination — 
 a circumstance which, if true, shows that this 
 class of officers, at least, are appointed less by 
 favour than on account of their fitness for the 
 station which they fill. None of our naval officers 
 possess such ample facilities for amusing and 
 instructing their countrymen as the surgeons. 
 They are supposed to be scientific men ; their 
 duties are not so arduous that they have not
 
 48 CHAPLAIN. 
 
 abundance of leisure for pursuing scientific re- 
 searches, and examining the numerous curiosities 
 they fall in with in foreign countries ; and, with 
 a moderate share of enterprise and talent on their 
 part, many a neat little duodecimo might make 
 its appearance, which would at once increase the 
 popularity of the navy, and diffuse a vast amount 
 of useful knowledge throughout the community. 
 I throw out the hint : — Sapientibus verbum sat. 
 
 The laws of the United States make it the duty 
 of the chaplain to perform divine service twice 
 a-day, and preach a sermon on the Sabbath, un- 
 less bad weather, or other extraordinary occur- 
 rences prevent it. The former of these duties is 
 never fulfilled, and the latter rarely. On board 
 of the Constellation prayers were generally read 
 of a Sunday morning, but only one sermon was 
 preached during the whole of the cruise. I mean 
 not to cast any reflections on our chaplain. He 
 is a man of genuine piety and sterling worth ; 
 but he was a settled invalid, and unable to per- 
 form the active duties of his office. The moral 
 and religious culture of the seamen on board of 
 our public vessels is too much neglected. Sailors, 
 though generally rough, profane, and fond of 
 grog, are not the worst of men. I see no good 
 reason why our sloops, as well as frigates, and 
 line-of-battle ships, should not be supplied with 
 chaplains. The labours of an efficient, pious, 
 and intelligent body of chaplains in our navy, I 
 cannot but believe, would be attended with the 
 happiest results.
 
 MIDSHIPMEN. 49 
 
 The lieutenant of marines has few duties of any 
 kind to perform. His office, though necessary 
 as long as the marine corps is continued, is nearly 
 a sinecure. 
 
 I come now to the midshipmen, alias, the 
 young gentlemen ; for by this name they are al- 
 ways called on shipboard. The number of these 
 varied on board of the Constellation, at different 
 times, from fifteen to upwards of twenty. It 
 would be difficult to give any very definite idea 
 of what their duties are; for, although an in- 
 teresting class of officers on account of what they 
 are to be, yet, in their present capacity, they do 
 little more than echo the orders of their superiors. 
 There is a change of wind ; the officer of the deck 
 orders the men to " Lay aft to the braces !" — 
 " Lay aft to the braces !" cries every midshipman 
 on deck. The wind freshens so as to make it 
 necessary to clue up the mainsail ; " Man the 
 main clue garnet !" is thundered throuo^h the 
 trumpet ; — " Man the main clue garnet !" is in- 
 stantly repeated by some half dozen echoes. 
 However, they have some specific duties. They 
 carry messages from the officer of the deck to the 
 captain, and in port one of them takes charge of 
 every boat that leaves the ship. At sea, seven 
 bells is reported to them every morning at half- 
 past eleven, when they are obliged to go on deck 
 with their quadrants, and take the sun. They 
 have to work out the last day's run, and report 
 the course, distance made good, and ship's place 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 master's mates. 
 
 at noon each day to the captain. They mus- 
 ter the crew, when the watch is called at night. 
 They are also required to keep a journal of the 
 cruise, which is, however, only a copy of the 
 ship's log. This is examined every few weeks by 
 the commanding officer ; and if it happens not to 
 be written up when called for, the delinquent is 
 generally punished by a curtailment of some of 
 his indulgences. 
 
 Five of the oldest midshipmen are master"'s 
 mates. Their duties are more important and re- 
 sponsible than those of the others. The master's 
 mate of the hold superintends the expenditures of 
 provisions, water, and spirits ; keeps an accurate 
 account of the quantity of each expended daily, 
 and reports it to the proper authority. He also 
 makes the rough copy of the ship's log from the 
 log-slate. This is afterwards transferred to an- 
 other book, called the smooth log. In both, the 
 different officers of the deck put their signatures 
 to the remarks made by their authority. It is 
 the duty of the master's mate of the gun-deck to 
 keep the deck in good order, and to prevent im- 
 proper conduct on the part of the men. In 
 addition to this, he oversees the serving out of 
 grog and provisions. There are three master's 
 mates of the watches, that is, one to each of them. 
 Each in turn has charge of the forecastle, and, at 
 the end of every hour, it is his business to heave 
 the log, to ascertain the ship's rate of going. 
 This he reports to the officer of the deck, who,
 
 FORWARD OFFICERS. 51 
 
 makino; such allowance as he chooses, tells him to 
 give her such a rate and course, and directs him 
 to make such remarks on the log-slate as he (the 
 officer of the deck) may deem proper. 
 
 The boatswain, gunner, carpenter, and sail- 
 maker form a distinct class of officers, called 
 forward-officers. I shall not enter into the par- 
 ticulars of their duties. The boatswain is charged 
 with the rigging of the ship, and in port attends 
 to squaring the yards. You may know him by 
 his silver whistle, rattan cane, and, above all, by 
 the ruddy hues of his countenance, and the odious 
 vapours that issue from his mouth. The gunner 
 has charge of the military stores, and, when all 
 hands are called, of the main rigging. The car- 
 penter is responsible for the stores belonging to 
 his department, and superintends the corking of 
 the ship, and other woik performed by his subal- 
 terns. The sailmaker is charged with the sails, 
 hammocks, and generally, all the canvass in the 
 ship. At sea, he is obliged to go aloft on each of 
 the three masts, examine the condition of the 
 sails, and report it to the first lieutenant every 
 morning before breakfast. 
 
 There was no part of the system on board a 
 man-of-war that interested me more than the dis- 
 tribution of power, and the complete subordina- 
 tion of rank. Persons who have seen life only in 
 civil communities can have no idea of the perfec- 
 tion of military government. Every officer in the 
 navy can say to every one below him, " Go," and 
 D 2
 
 5^ SUBORDINATION OF RANK. 
 
 he goeth, and " Do this," and he doeth it. There 
 is no quibbling or higgling about the matter at 
 all ; his will and pleasure are in the place of all 
 argument. Not only is the captain of a public 
 vessel supreme, but every other officer is, in some 
 sense, a despot ; for when he gives an order to 
 an inferior officer, or man, it must be obeyed, 
 though it contradict a previous order received 
 from a superior. The officer who gives the last 
 order is, in that case, responsible for the dis- 
 obedience of the first. I recollect a fact which 
 will serve to illustrate this principle. The first 
 lieutenant of one of our ships had given orders to 
 a tailor not to do any work for the midshipmen 
 without his permission, at the same time sending 
 word to the midshipmen to that effect. One of 
 them, who happened to be absent from the ship 
 at the time, a few days after, wished to have some 
 garment repaired, and ordered the tailor to do it. 
 He refused. The midshipman insisted, and the 
 worthy knight of the goose stoutly persisted in 
 his refusal. The spirited young officer reported 
 him to the first lieutenant, who had him flogged 
 for disobedience. 
 
 A curious specimen of the peculiar distribution 
 of power in the government of a man-of-war once 
 occurred on board of the Constellation. The cap- 
 tain, wishing to alter the direction of the ship, 
 went on deck, and ordered the quarter-master at 
 the wheel to give her such a course. The officer 
 of the deck, who was standing aft, observed it,
 
 SUBORDINATION OF RANK. 53 
 
 and shortly after, while the ca])tain was still near, 
 stepping forward and glancing jiis eye at the com- 
 pass, said, " Quartermaster, you have changed 
 the ship's course."" — " Yes, sir," he replied, touch- 
 ing his hat. — " If you ever do it again without 
 n)y order, when I am officer of the deck, I '11 
 break every bone in your body." 
 
 The midshipmen of the Constellation were 
 obliged to ask permission of the captain to go 
 ashore. On one occasion, when all the officers 
 above the third lieutenant, were absent from the 
 ship, some of them applied to him to go ashore. 
 Permission was promptly given. When the cap- 
 tain returned and learned who were ashore, he 
 
 sent for Mr. , to inquire into the matter. 
 
 " Sir," he replied, " I was at the time acting com- 
 mander of the ship, and had both the power and 
 the right to do as I did."
 
 54 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Divisions of the Crew — Petty Officers — Master-at-Arms — Quarter- 
 Masters — Boatswain's Mates — Quarter Gunners — Yeomen — Ar- 
 mourer — Cooper — Cook — Ship's Corporals — Seamen — Ordinary 
 Seamen — Landsmen — Boys — Military Divisions — Quarters — Ex- 
 ercising the Guns — Stations — Watches — After-Guard — Waisters 
 — Holders — Captains of the Tops — Gangs of INIechanics — Ma- 
 rines — Respect paid to Superiors — Internal Regulations — Em- 
 ployment of the Men — Serving of Grog and Rations — Reception 
 of Officers on Board — Ship's Boats. 
 
 The grand divisions of the crew are into petty 
 officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen and 
 boys. This division has reference to rank ; but 
 there are others, into which considerations of this 
 kind do not enter. Such are the military divi- 
 sions, and the divisions into larboard and starboard- 
 watches, into forecastlemen, fore, main and mizen- 
 topmen, afterguard, waisters, holders, &c. 
 
 The petty officers are appointed by the com- 
 mander, and may be degraded by him without 
 the formalities of a court-martial. They are se- 
 lected from among the most experienced and 
 trustworthy of the seamen, and receive eighteen 
 dollars per month. They consist, on board of a 
 frigate, of a master-at-arms, eight quartermasters, 
 four boatswain's mates, eight quarter gunners, a 
 boatswain's and gunner's yeomen, a carpenter and
 
 PETTY OFFICERS. 55 
 
 sailmaker's mate, an armourer, a cooper, cook and 
 cockswain. 
 
 The highest and most responsible of the petty 
 officers is the master-at-arms. He is, if I may be 
 allowed the expression, the principal police officer 
 of the ship. He has charge of all the prisoners, 
 and every morning makes out and hands to the 
 commander a list of their names, with a specifica^ 
 tion of the crime for which each is confined, and 
 the time when he was put in confinement. If he 
 allows any of them to escape, he is liable to be 
 punished in their stead. He counts the blows 
 audibly when a prisoner is flogged with the cats. 
 It is his duty to search those suspected of thefts, 
 and when a man dies, to take an account of his 
 clothes and other effects. At public sales he is 
 the auctioneer. He has charge also of the berth- 
 deck, and it is his duty to see that it is kept 
 in good order. All property that falls in his way 
 for which he cannot find an owner, is thrown into 
 the " lucky bag," the contents of which, if not 
 finally claimed, are sold at auction. 
 
 The office of quartermaster is one of some dig- 
 nity and considerable importance. Its duties are 
 not laborious, but they require vigilance, careful- 
 ness, judgment, and a thorough acquaintance with 
 practical seamanship. In port only one of them 
 keeps watch on deck at a time. You may know 
 him by his spy-glass and his busy, bustling air. 
 He is all eye and all locomotion. He cocks his teles- 
 cope at every new object that appears, and gives it
 
 56 PETTY OFFICERS. 
 
 a thorough scrutiny. It is his duty to keep a 
 look-out for signals from other ships, and to re- 
 port them to the officer of the deck ; and also to 
 report to him all boats that come along-side, and 
 all other movements and occurrences in the har- 
 bour, which he may deem of sufficient import- 
 ance. At sea, two of the quartermasters are re- 
 quired to be on deck during the day, and half of 
 them at night. One is stationed at the wheel to 
 steer the ship, and the others keep a look-out as 
 in port. When the log is thrown, they hold the 
 minute glass. They have to strike the bell every 
 half hour, and take turns in mixing and serving 
 the grog. In entering and leaving a harbour, 
 when it is necessary to sound, one of them is sta- 
 tioned in each of the main chains to heave the 
 lead. All the colours and signals are under their 
 charge. 
 
 Boatswain's-mates are an indispensable class of 
 men on board of a man-of-war, but their office is 
 the most invidious and least desirable of all. 
 Their duty is to enforce the orders of the officers, 
 and, to enable them to do this, each is furnished 
 with a hemp whip, consisting of only one lash, 
 called the colt. They liave to perform all the 
 flogging, and the men hate them therefore as they 
 would so many incarnate devils. In the ordinary 
 flogging the colt is always used, but when all 
 hands are called to witness punishment, another 
 whip, composed of nine lashes, and called the cats, 
 is employed. Each of the boatswainVmates has
 
 PETTY OFFICERS. 57 
 
 a silver whistle suspended from his neck, with 
 which he echoes the orders of his superiors. He 
 has a different pipe for almost every important 
 order that can be given. For instance, there is 
 one for calling all hands, another for hoisting 
 away, a third for hauling taught and belaying, 
 and so on of others. Amid the darkness and fury 
 of the tempest, when the orders of the trumpet 
 are drowned by the loud uproar of the elements, 
 the shrill pipe of the boatswain''s whistle reaches 
 the ear of the sailor on the top of the highest 
 mast, and no language could convey to him a 
 more definite meaning than its well-known tones. 
 
 The duty of the quarter-gunners is to keep the 
 guns and all other things belonging to the gunner's 
 department in proper order. They have to in- 
 spect the guns frequently, to see that every thing 
 about them is well secured, and at night report 
 their condition to the officer of the deck every two 
 hours. When all hands are called to reef or 
 furl sails, the quarter-gunners and quarter-mas- 
 ters are charged with the main-yard. 
 
 The yeomen and mates of the forward officers 
 have charge of their respective store-rooms, and 
 keep accounts of the expenditures of articles from 
 each of their departments. They make out month- 
 ly and quarterly returns of these expenditures, 
 wliich are handed to the captain, examined by his 
 clerk, and inserted in the general account-book. 
 
 The armourer is the ship's blacksmith. The 
 cooper opens the provision barrels when their con- 
 d5
 
 58 ship's corporals — seamen. 
 
 tents are wanted, and performs other matters in 
 his line of business, when necessary. The du- 
 ties of the cook are somewhat arduous, and it 
 requires a good deal of patience and care to per- 
 form them acceptably to the crew. The meals 
 must always be reported " ready " at seven bells 
 morning, noon, and night. At noon, when dinner 
 is reported ready, the cook takes a specimen to 
 the officer of the deck, who inspects it to see that 
 it is properly cooked. The cockswain is designed 
 for the captain's boat, but our commanders some- 
 times, perhaps generally, give this rank to their 
 steward, and select a quartermaster or other trust- 
 worthy person to perform the duties of cockswain- 
 
 There are two other officers, who have not even 
 the rank of petty officers. They are the ship's 
 corporals. They take turns in keeping watch at 
 night on the gun-deck, and their duty is to see 
 that no light is burning in any part of the ship, 
 where it is not allowed. They make an hourly 
 report to the officer of the deck. 
 
 Having despatched the petty officers, I come 
 now to the rest of the crew, of which the sea- 
 men generally compose about one-half. Those 
 of this rank must have seen a good deal of sea 
 service, and are supposed to be thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with practical navigation. If they are 
 found to be greatly deficient in this respect, they 
 are degraded. They receive twelve dollars per 
 month, and are appointed to the most honourable 
 and responsible stations in the ship. They have
 
 SEAMEN^ — BOYS — MILITARY DIVISIONS. 59 
 
 a good deal of the pride of profession, entertaining 
 the utmost contempt for all who do not know 
 what salt water and heavy gales are. 
 
 The ordinary seamen receive ten dollars per 
 month. They must have had some experience in 
 naval matters, but are neither expected nor re- 
 quired to be finished sailors. Promotions from 
 the rank of ordinary seamen to that of seamen are 
 not unfrequent. The landsmen are as green as a 
 cucumber, having never smelt the ocean, nor been 
 initiated at all into the mysteries of a sea- faring 
 life. Their pay is eight dollars. 
 
 Of the boys there are two classes, — those who 
 receive eight dollars, and those who receive five 
 dollars per month. They are employed princi- 
 pally in the capacity of servants to the officers. 
 Two are allowed to the captain besides his stew- 
 ard, one to the first lieutenant, one to every two 
 of the other wardroom officers, and one or two, 
 according to the pleasure of the first lieutenant, 
 to the cockpit, forward officers, and each of the 
 steerage messes. Some are employed as cooks at 
 the galley, and others as messenger boys on the 
 (juarter-deck. The boys and all others on ship- 
 board, who do not keep watch, are called idlers. 
 
 On board of a frigate there are six military 
 divisions ; one on the quarter-deck, one on the 
 forecastle, three on the gun-deck, and one on the 
 berth-deck. The last is commanded by the pur- 
 ser, and each of the others by a lieutenant. It is 
 the business of those who compose the purser's
 
 60 QUARTERS. 
 
 division to pass up powder to the combatants. 
 Every officer and man is included in one or the 
 other of these divisions, and is stationed in a par- 
 ticular part of the ship. These are the stations 
 for action, and are called general quarters. The 
 crew is mustered and inspected at quarters always 
 once, and on board many of our ships, twice a 
 day. There are ten or twelve men to each of the 
 guns in a broadside, called first and second cap- 
 tains, spungers, loaders, powder boys, &c. The 
 first intimation of quarters is a blast from the 
 bugle, calling the music. The boarders run for 
 their caps, and every man seizes a cutlass. At 
 the first tap of the drum, there is a general rush 
 throughout the ship, and before the music has 
 ceased, you may hear the midshipmen of the divi- 
 sions calling over the names, George Bell — first 
 captain, sir — -James Anderson — second captain, 
 sir — William Stokes — powder boy, sir — and so 
 on. Having called the names, the midshipmen 
 report to the officers of their divisions, the officers 
 of the divisions to the first lieutenant, and he 
 again to the captain. The order is then given to 
 " beat the retreat." Another rush takes place, 
 the cutlasses and boarding caps are returned to 
 their places, and the men, as the case may be, 
 proceed to their daily labours or their evening 
 diversions. All this is but the work of a moment. 
 Sometimes the call to quarters is beaten in the 
 dead of night, and then the men are obliged to 
 get up, lash their hammocks, take them on deck
 
 EXERCISING THE GUNS. 61 
 
 and stow them in the nettings, and be ready to 
 answer to their names in the space of about eight 
 or ten minutes. The midshipmen have to do the 
 same. They generally, however, avoid the labour 
 of carrying their hammocks on deck by stowing 
 them in the mess-room. Tliis is to accustom them 
 to sudden alarms, but it is not often practised. 
 
 What is of vastly more importance is experi- 
 ence in the art of gunnery, and it must be men- 
 tioned to the honour of our naval officers that 
 they are indefatigable in their exertions to render 
 our seamen expert and ready in this branch of 
 their profession. In good weather some of the 
 divisions are exercised at the guns almost daily, 
 and on board most of our ships one day in the 
 week there are general quarters for tliat purpose. 
 On these occasions all the evolutions of a regular 
 engagement, such as loading and firing the guns, 
 boarding, extinguishing fire, &c. are gone through 
 with. All this is of course a mere sham, and not 
 an ounce of gunpowder is burnt ; but it gives the 
 men experience, makes them expert at working 
 the guns, and cannot fail to fill them witli confi- 
 dence and bravery in the hour of real peril. The 
 practice of a general exercise of the guns once a 
 week in good weather, I think, ought to be uni- 
 versal in our navy. It is to our superior gunnery 
 that we are mainly indebted for the brilliant vic- 
 tories of the late war, — a superiority which the 
 English themselves have never hesitated to allow, 
 when apologizing for their own defeats.
 
 62 STATIONS. 
 
 In the general quarter bill the surgeons are 
 stationed in the cockpit. Here all the wounded 
 are brought, and all the surgical operations per- 
 formed, in time of action. The chaplain is also 
 stationed in the cockpit to give pious counsels 
 and administer the comforts of religion to the 
 dying. 
 
 In addition to their general quarters the men 
 are also stationed for getting under weigh, and 
 coming to an anchor, for tacking and veering, 
 and for other general evolutions. I have some- 
 times been astonished to see how quick, in the 
 darkest night, it is discovered that a man is 
 missing from his post, and how speedily he is 
 searched out and brought to it. But not only 
 does every man know his station, he has a specific 
 duty to perform at every order, and a failure 
 on his part might disconcert the whole operation. 
 Thus it will be seen that, notwithstanding the 
 complicated nature of naval evolutions, and the 
 apparent confusion which must necessarily prevail 
 when all hands are called, there is in fact the 
 greatest possible order, efficiency, and harmony of 
 action. I might go on ad infinitum with details 
 of this kind, all tending to show the admirable 
 adaptation to each other of the parts, and the 
 general perfection of the whole of that system of 
 internal polity which prevails on board a man-of- 
 war, but I am afraid of trespassing upon my 
 reader's patience. 
 
 The whole crew is divided into two equal por-
 
 WATCHES — AFTER-GUARD. 63 
 
 tions, called larboard and starboard watclies, from 
 the fact that those belonging to one of the divi- 
 sions stow their hammocks in the larboard, and 
 those belonging to the other, in the starboard net- 
 tings. When at sea, each of the watches at night 
 takes a turn of four hours on deck, while the 
 others are allowed to " turn in."" Those in their 
 hammocks call it their " watch below." Those, 
 however, who keep watch on deck, when the 
 weather is fair and the ship under easy sail, are 
 allowed to sleep, if they do not disturb the gene- 
 ral tranquillity by their ungracious snoring. In 
 port only a quarter-watch is called, except in 
 squally weather, and these are for the most part 
 allowed to stow themselves away somewhere on 
 the gun-deck. 
 
 The forecastle is the most honourable part of 
 the ship, and therefore the best and most experi- 
 enced seamen are selected to do duty on it. Next 
 come the tops, in the order of main, fore, and 
 mizen. The afterguard do duty on the quarter- 
 deck. They are generally green-horns. They 
 hold the reel when the log is thrown, sweep down 
 the deck when necessary, and keep every thing in 
 order on it. The waisters are likewise for the 
 most part landsmen, and perform the same kind 
 of duties on the gun-deck. Mr. Jones says that 
 they are a class of men in whose bloated and 
 hectic countenances you may read at a glance the 
 whole history of their lives. I have been struck 
 with the general accuracy of jNIr. J.'s observations
 
 64 WAISTERS HOLDERS. 
 
 on naval life, but my observation does not bear 
 him out in this. Some of our soberest and most 
 trusty men belonged to the waist and afterguard. 
 Besides, it is not natural that they should be dis- 
 tinguished for what he says they are. They are 
 by his own admission most of them " green 
 hands," and it is not usual for sailors to become 
 more temperate the longer they follow the seas. 
 Thus much is due even to so humble a class of 
 persons as the waisters on board of a man-of- 
 war. 
 
 The holders have charge of the ship"'s holds, 
 and are responsible for the order in which they 
 are kept, and to some extent for the stores stowed 
 away in them. Under the direction of the master 
 and master''s mate, they attend to getting up spi- 
 rits, provisions, water, &;c. They stow the cables 
 and other parts of the ship's rigging kept in the 
 main hold. There duties are, perhaps, more la- 
 borious than those of any other part of the crew, 
 and from a constant habit of stooping whilst at 
 work, they acquire almost the shape of a crescent. 
 
 Each of these minor divisions of forecastlemen, 
 topmen, afterguard, waisters, and holders has 
 two captains, a post of some dignity and a good 
 deal of responsibility. In addition to these, the 
 carpenter and sailmaker each has a gang of some 
 eight or ten men, employed almost constantly on 
 work in their appropriate lines of business. There 
 are also gangs of painters, tailors, and shoe- 
 makers, more or less occupied at different times.
 
 MARINES. 65 
 
 The tailors generally find employment enough to 
 keep them cross-legged most of the day. 
 
 A marine is a sort of ambidextrous animal 
 — half horse, half alligator ; his duties alternate 
 between those of a sailor and soldier. He is a 
 being for whom the genuine tar entertains very 
 little respect ; and, on the other hand, his con- 
 tem})t is repaid, if not with interest, at least with- 
 out abating a solitary farthing of the principal. 
 When a sailor hears a fish story, his only answer 
 almost always is, " Tell that to a marine ! " 
 
 At sea, the marines, in succession, all do duty 
 as sentries in the following places — one at the 
 cabin-door, one at the scuttle-butt, one at the 
 brig, and one at the fore-passage on the berth- 
 deck. The rest are obliged to pull and haul 
 on the ropes like the sailors, but they are ex- 
 cused from going aloft. In port there are three 
 additional sentries; viz. one at each of the sang- 
 ways and another on the bowsprit. During the 
 day, a sergeant's-guard, consisting of thirteen, 
 are required to be dressed in uniform, and to re- 
 main on the quarter-deck. A marine in uniform 
 must never pass the capstern without paying it 
 his respects : in undress, he is not reqviired to 
 show it more politeness than a sailor. 
 
 I have thus, to the best of my ability, redeem- 
 ed the pledge given at the commencement of the 
 preceding chapter. In every division of the two 
 main subjects, details have crowded upon my re- 
 collection which might, perhaps, have served to
 
 66 RESPECT TO SUPERIORS. 
 
 illustrate more fully the propositions there laid 
 down, but I have selected only such as I thought 
 best adapted to convey a general idea of what a 
 man-of-war is, physically and morally. I know 
 not whether I have succeeded in awakening in 
 the mind of the reader any of that interest and 
 admiration which the gradual developement of 
 the system excited in me ; but if I have, I shall 
 consider myself amply repaid for any labour it 
 may have cost me. The remainder of this chap- 
 ter will be devoted to some desultory remarks, 
 calculated to elucidate the system still farther, 
 but which could not well be introduced into any 
 methodical exposition of it. 
 
 One of the things which strikes an observer 
 unaccustomed to naval life most powerfully, is 
 the extreme respect, amounting almost to servi- 
 lity, paid by the men to their superiors. When- 
 ever a man passes an officer, and vice versa, he 
 never fails to pay him the compliment of touch- 
 ing his hat ; and when he converses with him, this 
 act is repeated at almost every word. In the ab- 
 sence of a hat he gives his forehead a knock, 
 which answers the same purpose. The moment a 
 sailor receives a command from an officer, " Ay, 
 ay, sir," he replies, and springs to execute it, 
 On the part of the officers, there is a correspond- 
 ing haughtiness of tone and manner. Their com- 
 mands are given as if the world was made to obey 
 them. The etiquette of touching the hat is also 
 observed by the inferior officers when they address
 
 INTERNAL REGULATIONS. 67 
 
 their superiors on duty, but in that case the com- 
 pliment is always returned ; and if it is not, the 
 refusal gives high offence. There are certain 
 modes of respect to be observed by the superior 
 officers in their official intercourse with their in- 
 feriors. I once knew an officer of the deck, while 
 a midshipman was on deck, to send a boatswain's 
 mate down to call some of the " young gentlemen 
 of the watch." He received in answer a note, 
 signed by the whole steerage, stating that it was 
 not customary to send boatswain's mates after 
 midshipmen. The result was a prompt apology, 
 as the amende honorable on his part. 
 
 In addition to the laws of the United States for 
 the government of the navy, which are read on 
 board of all our public vessels the first Sunday in 
 every month, each commander has a set of in- 
 ternal rules and regulations for the government 
 of his own ship, which are copied into a little 
 book, in a fair, legible hand, and hung up by the 
 cabin-door, where they are open to the inspection 
 of every officer and man on board. These rules 
 are more or less numerous, and more or less rigid, 
 according to the disposition and caprice of the 
 captain. Some of our commanders make quite 
 a sizeable little volume, and stick in rules ap- 
 plicable only to individuals, while others limit 
 themselves to a few, and those all of a general 
 nature. Captain Wadsworth was of the lat- 
 ter class. Let me give an example of his rules. 
 One required midshipmen on liberty to return to
 
 68 EMPLOYMENT OF THE MEN. 
 
 the ship at sunset ; another limited the other 
 officers to ten o"'clock, without special permission ; 
 a third recommended abstinence from profane- 
 ness, and the use of irritating language towards 
 the men ; and so on. Many of these regulations, 
 however, like the public laws, become mere dead 
 letters, and remain only to be violated and laugh- 
 ed at. 
 
 The reader may be curious to know how so 
 many persons as compose the crew of a frigate 
 can find employment in the ordinary business of 
 the ship. The time of most of them is chiefly 
 occupied in " keeping the ship in order." This 
 might seem, at first, a simple affair, and capable 
 of being soon despatched ; but there are more 
 things included in '■' keeping a ship in order"" than 
 the philosophy of a green-horn ever dreamed of. 
 Not only must every part of her be kept as clean 
 as a lady''s parlour, and every article arranged for 
 inspection as carefully as a coquette would ad- 
 just her toilet, but there are kinds of work to 
 be performed, of which a person unacquainted 
 with a man-of-war could form no conception. 
 The " bright work" requires immense labour. 
 This consists in scouring all the belaying-pins 
 and rings on the spar-deck, the brass on the 
 capstern, about the companion-ways, and in other 
 parts of the ship, the monkey-tails, iron hand- 
 spikes and cutlasses, the two rows of iron stan- 
 chions which support the spar-deck, the hoops of 
 the spit-boxes, (of which there is one to every
 
 SERVING OF GROG AND RATIONS. 69 
 
 gun, and a plentiful quantity distributed through- 
 out other parts of the ship,) the battle-axes, 
 })riming-\vires, &c. All this is to be done every 
 day, and if but a modicum of rust is left, woe be 
 to the luckless wight at whose door it lies. It is 
 sure to give employment to a boatswain's mate. 
 Besides this, all the ladders, combings of the 
 hatches, wooden handspikes, &c. must be scraped 
 perfectly clean. Add to all this, the labour per- 
 formed by the different gangs of mechanics, and 
 the working of the guns, and loosing and furling 
 sails for the pure purpose of experience, and the 
 wonder will rather be, that so few men should be 
 required, than that so many can find employ- 
 ment. 
 
 Grog is served out twice a day, that is, when 
 the hands are piped to dinner and supper. Bread 
 is served out twice a week, and the other parts of 
 the rations daily, immediately on the hands being 
 " turned to" after dinner. Sugar and tea are not 
 parts of the Government ration : the men pur- 
 chase these of the purser. The three standing 
 dishes at sea, are salt beef, pork and beans, and 
 dujf\ a heavy, indigestible species of plum-pud- 
 ding. In port, fresh beef is substituted for salt. 
 
 The men are divided into messes of from fifteen 
 to twenty individuals each. Each of the mem- 
 bers takes his regular turn of doing the duties of 
 a berth-deck cook a week at a time. The berth- 
 deck cook, so called to distinguish him from the 
 galley-cook, receives the daily supply of pro-
 
 70 ship's messes. 
 
 visions when it is served out, prepares it for the 
 coppers, and, when cooked, spreads the table, and 
 arranges it for the masticating process. When 
 the meal is concluded, he gathers up the frag- 
 ments, and deposits them in the mess-chest. 
 
 The ship's messes eat on the gun and berth- 
 decks. Their table is nothing more nor less than 
 a square piece of tarred canvass, spread between 
 two guns or mess-chests, around which they seat 
 themselves a la Turque. The whole of their 
 table-furniture consists of a large kid for the 
 principal dish, a few tin cups and basins, and a 
 spoon, knife and fork for each individual. Yet, 
 simple as all this is, princes do not sit down at 
 their tables, groaning beneath a thousand deli- 
 cacies, with greater contentment, or enjoy their 
 luxurious viands with a higher relish, than those 
 with which the tempest-tossed, weather-beaten 
 ^^■"^ '^ sailor squats by the side of his greasy tarpaulin, 
 .4>^ ■ ' " and devours his humble dish of lobscowse or duff. 
 -v«^ At sea the men live entirely on salted pro- 
 
 visions, unless they have been provident enough 
 to lay in a stock of potatoes. In port, besides 
 the substitution of fresh for salted beef, they are 
 allowed to purchase from the bomb-boats* what- 
 ever " fresh grub" they choose, and have funds 
 to pay for. Each of the petty officer's messes is 
 allowed to stop two of its rations, and each of the 
 others one, and receive money instead of them. 
 
 • Bomb-boats are a species of market-boat, allowed to come 
 alonf^side of the ship only when the men are at their meals.
 
 RECEPTION OF OFFICERS. 71 
 
 They are also allowed to barter away their rations 
 in any way they please, but no articles of cloth- 
 ing, or any thing else charged to them in their 
 accounts. 
 
 Some of the men sleep on the gun-deck, but 
 most of them on the berth-deck. The latter are 
 allowed a space of eighteen inches in width, and 
 about nine feet in length. Every man takes care 
 of his own hammock. The midshipmen have 
 hammock-boys, who attend to theirs. This is 
 considered a voluntary service, and the men gene- 
 rally expect some compensation for it. A glass 
 of grog now and then is the most acceptable re- 
 ward, but I always abstained from giving it on 
 principle. I never was in want of a boy who was 
 willing to serve me faithfully for an occasional 
 present in money or clothing. 
 
 The reception of an officer in going on board of 
 a man-of-war is, in all cases, graduated by his 
 rank. A post captain is entitled to a serjeanfs 
 guard and six side-boys, and is received by the 
 commander and first lieutenant. A master com- 
 mandant is entitled to a corporal's guard and four 
 side-boys, and is received by the commander, if 
 he is not above his own rank, and the first lieu- 
 tenant. He is, however, through courtesy, gene- 
 rally received by the commander, even when the 
 latter is a post captain. A lieutenant is entitled 
 to four side-boys, and is received by the officer of 
 the deck. All inferior officers are entitled to two 
 side-boys, and are received by a midshipman.
 
 72 ship's boats. 
 
 All boats that approach the ship at night are 
 hailed by one of the gang- way sentries — " Boat, 
 ahoy !" the answer indicates the rank, and the 
 reception is regulated accordingly. A commo- 
 dore replies, " fleet !" a captain repeats the name 
 of his ship ; a lieutenant answers, " ay ! ay !"" 
 all officers of an inferior grade, " no ! no !*" and 
 a seaman, " halloo !"" The sentry reports the 
 answer to the quartermaster, and he to the officer 
 of the deck, who is bound to see that the officer is 
 properly received, according to his rank. Cap- 
 tain W. once came off to the ship at night in 
 a shore-boat. He replied, " no, no !" to the chal- 
 lenge of the sentry, and was received by a mid- 
 shipman. Ludicrous mistakes sometimes occur. 
 I have heard a drunken sailor answer, "ay, 
 ay !" and when all the " pomp and circumstance" 
 with wliich a lieutenant is received had been pre- 
 pared, who should appear but a tottering devotee 
 of Bacchus, his clothes half torn from his back, 
 and he blubbering out his words through lips 
 thick as the bulwarks to which he clung for 
 support. 
 
 A frigate is allowed seven boats ; viz. a launch, 
 five cutters, and a barge or gig for the captain. 
 The only difference between a barge and gig is in 
 the size, the former being a double, the latter a 
 single-banked boat. A boat is said to be double- 
 banked when the row-locks are vis-a-vis; when 
 there is only one oar to each seat, they are called 
 single-banked. The oars of single-banked boats
 
 ship's boats. 73 
 
 being longest, their stroke is much the most 
 graceful. The launch is the largest of a man-of- 
 war"'s boats, and answers to the long-boat of a 
 mercliantman. The cutters are generally all 
 double-banked boats except one. The launch 
 and first cutter are chiefly employed in watering 
 and victualling the ship. The others are at the 
 service of the officers. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 74 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Anecdotes showing the Strictness of Discipline — Passengers — De- 
 parture from Nev/ York — Detention at the Hook — Scenery of 
 New York Bay — Cockpit INIess — Inconveniences of living in the 
 Cockpit — Getting under weigh from the Hook — Feelings on leav- 
 ing America — Sea-Sickness — Neglect of the Sabbath — Import- 
 ance of observing it— Ascent to the ftlain-top-gallant Mast-head 
 — Speaking of a Ship — Gale — Scene on Board, showing the 
 Promptitude with which Improprieties are punished — Punish- 
 ments of INIidshipmen — Punishments of the i\Ien — Prisoners — 
 Roughness of the latter Part of our Passage — Scenes at Meal- 
 time — Beauty of the Ocean under a fresh Breeze — Porpoises — 
 Amusements of the Sailors — Romance of a Sailor's Life — Their 
 Fondness for "Spinning Yarns" — Joy at making the Scilly 
 Islands — First View of England — Arrival at Cowes — First Visit 
 ashore — Service on Board. 
 
 I SHALL not spare myself when my errors, or 
 their consequences, are of a nature to give any 
 insight into naval life. I have already mentioned, 
 that I had general joermission from the captain to 
 live ashore while the Constellation remained at 
 New York. On Monday, the 10th of August, 
 I returned on board to live, and when I reported 
 my return to the first lieutenant, the only answer 
 I received was, " You can''t go ashore again, sir, 
 while the ship is in New York, without special 
 permission from the captain." On inquiry, I 
 found that the cause of this strange conduct, as I
 
 STRICTNESS OF DISCIPLINE. 75 
 
 regarded it, was, that I liad not come off on 
 Saturday. I apologized by saying, that if I had 
 offended, my offence was a sin of ignorance; and, 
 for all satisfaction, I was answered in the same 
 stern tone : — " You knew, sir, that the ship was 
 upon the point of sailing, and ought to have been 
 off on Saturday ; apply to the captain, if you 
 wish to go ashore." 
 
 At another time, when our mess-boy was sea- 
 sick, I ordered a coloured man to wait on our 
 mess. When the first lieutenant found it out, 
 and he was not long in doing so, he sent for me, 
 and said, that he superintended all changes of that 
 kind, and that I ought to have applied to him for 
 a boy. 
 
 A taught rein is held on board of a man-of- 
 war. While the Constellation lay off the Battery 
 in New York, one of the green-horn reefers made 
 a rather amusing practical bull, for which he re- 
 ceived a severe reprimand. He fell in one day, 
 while on shore, with some of his former asso- 
 ciates, and thought it might not be disagreeable 
 to enjoy the " feast of reason and the flow of 
 soul" with them, somewhat longer than he then 
 had permission to do. Accordingly, he wrote a 
 note to the captain, stating the fact, and that lie 
 believed he would stay ashore a few days. The 
 captain, however, believed no such thing, and im- 
 mediately despatched a brother midsliipmau in 
 search of him. Another midshipman was sus- 
 pended for suffering a man to run away from a 
 E 2
 
 76 PASSENGERS — SCENERY. 
 
 boat, whilst waiting for an officer. I have known 
 them to be suspended for weeks for breaking their 
 liberty only for a few moments. 
 
 On the morning of the 12th, the ministers to 
 England and France, Messrs. M'Lane and Rives, 
 with parts of their suites, joined the Constellation, 
 as did also Commodore James Biddle, who went 
 out passenger with us to take command of our 
 squadron in the Mediterranean. They were each 
 received with a salute of seventeen guns. Mr. 
 Rives had his family, consisting, besides himself, 
 of a wife and two little boys, with him ; and what 
 with ministers, commodore, secretaries, lieute- 
 nants and midshipmen, our ship was overflowing 
 with passengers, much to the annoyance of the 
 regular attaches. Temporary state-rooms were 
 erected for their accommodation on both sides of 
 the half-deck, to a considerable distance forward 
 of the cabin. On the evening of the same day at 
 two o''clock, we weighed anchor, and left New 
 York in tow by the steamer Benjamin Franklin, 
 but were obliged to come-to again above the bar, 
 in consequence of the shallowness of the water. 
 Here we were detained two days by contrary 
 winds ; and if any thing could have reconciled us 
 to this detention, it would have been the glorious 
 scenery by which we were surrounded. Before 
 us lay tlie Atlantic, illimitable and wild — behind 
 us the narrows, whitened by innumerable sail, and 
 defended on each side by a line of proud and me- 
 nacing bi'.ttlements. To tlie eastward the eye
 
 COCKPIT MKSS. 77 
 
 rested on the majestic range of hills that line thi- 
 coast of Long Island — to the westward on Stattn 
 Island, beautiful as fairy land, and a thousand 
 times more real. Four elegant light-houses, seen 
 from different points of the compass, the frientis 
 and guides of the sea-uorn mariner when darkness 
 is upon the deep, com})leted the scene ; and if tlie 
 picture is any thing like the original, I stand jus- 
 tified in the epithet I applied to it. 
 
 We commenced messing in the cockpit the day 
 we left New York. Our mess consisted of the 
 assistant surgeons, the captain and purser"'s clerks, 
 and myself. Though " down, down, down, be- 
 low the little midshipmen,''' we were vastly more 
 comfortable than we should have been in the steer- 
 age. Our table was better supplied, and we were 
 less annoyed by boisterous merriment. We laid 
 in sea-stores to the amount of more than one hiai- 
 dred dollars, so that on our passage out we did 
 not " want for any good thing." Kach mess has 
 a caterer, who provides for its necessities. He is 
 selected by his messmates, who, when they get 
 tired of him, intimate their wisli that he shoidd 
 lay down his load of dignity by unceremoniously 
 breaking a sea-biscuit over his head. The post of 
 caterer is not a very enviable one, and I ha\e 
 found that the incessant complaints of some half 
 dozen green-horns, unaccustomed to the priv.i- 
 tions of a sea-faring life, though on an unimpor- 
 tant subject, are more easily avoided than tole- 
 rated.
 
 78 INCONVENIENCES OF THE COCKPIT. 
 
 The cockpit of a frigate is wholly below water- 
 mark : of course you are obliged to use candle- 
 light in it as well by day as by night. This is 
 one of its most serious inconveniences. Others 
 are the spirit-room, store-rooms, and bilge-water. 
 The spirit-room is opened twice a day to pump 
 off the daily allowance of whiskey, and then the 
 lights must all be extinguished. Sometimes it is 
 kept open a whole day for ventilation, and this 
 amounts to an absolute banishment. The table 
 stores of the cabin and ward-room, and the stores 
 belonging to the medical department, are kept in 
 rooms which open into the cockpit ; and these are 
 all fruitful sources of annoyance. Then the smell 
 of bilge-water is stronger in the cockpit than in 
 any other part of the ship that is occupied by offi- 
 cers. But a moderate share of philosophy will 
 reconcile a man to all these inconveniences. He 
 who could not submit to them without repining, 
 had better stick to his drawing-room. He is fitter 
 for the Paradise of Coquettes, than for a man-of- 
 war. 
 
 In some cockpits there are four state-rooms— 
 generally, however, only two. They are occupied 
 by the assistant-surgeons. 
 
 On the evening of the 14th of August, a little 
 before sunset, the hoarse cry of the boatswain, 
 echoed by his mates through every part of the 
 ship, was heard, " All hands, up anchor, ahoy !" 
 No electric vshock ever produced a more sudden or 
 visible effect. It seemed as if new powers of en-
 
 GETTING UNDER WEIGH. 79 
 
 joyment had been suddenly communicated to 
 every individual on board. The first lieutenant 
 seized the trumpet, the capstern-bars were speed- 
 ily shipped, and at the command " Heave !" they 
 flew round like the spokes of a waggon-wheel. 
 Nothing could surpass the alacrity with which the 
 men worked, and the anchor was soon snugly de- 
 posited in its place under the bows. At the com- 
 mand, " Lay aloft to make sail !" the topmcii 
 sprang to their stations in the rigging, and it was 
 not long before our gallant Constellation was dash- 
 ing the foam from her sides, and with sails grace- 
 fully swelling to the breeze, moving like a thing 
 of life " the ocean waves among." 
 
 We sent our last farewells to friends in 
 America by the pilot-boat, and when she left us, I 
 felt as if the golden cord was indeed broken 
 Night was settling on the deep, and the distan 
 mountains began to look dim through the gather- 
 ing shadows, when I went on deck to take my last 
 look at my native land, and say to it as Harold 
 said to his when he poured his last farewell to tlu- 
 elements, " Good night !" The cold-hearted may 
 call it a foolish sensibility, but a tear stole to my 
 eye as 
 
 "The fleeting shores receded from my sight," 
 
 and I felt, if I did not utter, the language of the 
 pilgrim, as he gazed upon the sinking sun, 
 
 " A few short hours and he will rise 
 To give the morrow birth ; 
 And I shall hail the main and skies. 
 Bat not my mother earth."
 
 80 FEELINGS ON 
 
 Aud when America had indeed vanished, what a 
 rush of emotions, what a tumult of thought suc- 
 ceeded ! The object of which I could always say 
 as Horace said of living in the country — " hoc 
 erat in votis" — was at last to be realized. A visit 
 to the eastern continent, especially those parts of 
 it hallowed by the works and memory of the 
 brightest geniuses the world ever knew, I had al- 
 ways looked forward to, if not with high-wrought 
 expectations, at least with desires, which the impro- 
 bability of their being gratified had had no power 
 to dampen. I could not indeed adopt the lan- 
 guage of Byron when he set sail from England, 
 
 " With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go 
 Athwart the foaming brine ; 
 Nor care what land thou bear'st me to, 
 So not again to mine." 
 
 I was not so reckless of kindred and home as 
 this. After an eternal exile from my own coun- 
 try I had never panted. Its bustling towns and 
 quiet country retreats were connected with too 
 many pleasant recollections of the past, too many 
 real charms of the present, and too many glow- 
 ing anticipations of the future, to allow such 
 a sentiment a place in my bosom. The feeling 
 awakened by the prospect of a two years' absence 
 from the home of my childhood, and of a visit to 
 those spots around which clustered all the elegant 
 and stirring recollections of classic boyhood, was 
 that indefinable but easily comprehended state of 
 mind, in which gladness and melancholy, like the
 
 LEAVING AMERICA. SI 
 
 original elements of things, struggle against tacli 
 other. 
 
 As to futurity, it is wisely ordered that we can- 
 not penetrate the veil that hides its panorama 
 from our view. ^V^lile we are buoyant with hope, 
 a tempest may be gathering unseen, which, in an 
 evil hour, will ride in desolation over the fair field 
 of promise, blasting every opening blossom, and 
 burying all its unborn beauties in an eternal 
 midnight. It is not, however, less wisely ordered 
 that the mind, in its healthful state, should al- 
 ways anticipate happiness rather than misery. 
 Fear may sometimes bring a cloud across the 
 landscape of futurity, but the scenes which hope 
 paints to the imagination are generally those in 
 which verdure, flowers, and sunshine blend their 
 charms together. 
 
 " Hope rules a land for ever green, 
 
 Ail powers that serve the bright-eyed queen 
 
 Are confident and gay ; 
 Clouds at her bidding disappear ; 
 Points she to aught ? the bliss is near, 
 
 And Fancy smooths the way." 
 
 This is a happy constitution of our nature, and 
 one which shows the benevolence of the great 
 Creator. If our anticipations are imaginary, the 
 pleasure which springs from them is not on that 
 account the less real. Gladness, whatever be its 
 source, is gladness still. 
 
 Sunday, the 16th, was a day of general suffer- 
 ing from sea-sickness ; but I will not disgust the 
 reader by a minute description of the scenes 
 E 5
 
 82 SEA-SICKNESS. 
 
 which it produced. Almost every traveller who 
 has ever been out of sight of land, has thought it 
 expedient to regale his readers with an elaborate 
 picture of the sunken eyes, the rueful counte- 
 nances, the doleful headaches, the huge vomit- 
 ings ; and if there be any thing else, it is briefly 
 summed up in this — the utter despair which this 
 disease produces. Lest, however, I should be 
 quarrelled with for too wide a departure from 
 established precedent in this matter, I will merely 
 say en passant, that of all horrible feelings, that 
 occasioned by sea-sickness is the most horrible. 
 You loathe every thing you see, or hear, or taste, 
 or touch, or smell, and your own life into the 
 bargain. But all the sympathy you get is a 
 hearty laugh from every one who happens "to hear 
 you, when you " heave-up/' accompanied, per- 
 haps, with the still more provoking prescription 
 of a copious use of salt water and raw pork. 
 
 There was no religious service. The fourth 
 commandment is generally but little regarded on 
 board of a man-of-war ; this surely ought not so 
 to be ! Infidels may ridicule the idea as much as 
 they please, but those who believe there is a God 
 whose providence embraces nations as well as in- 
 dividuals, can never be indifferent to the general 
 profanation of this day. Of all the institutions 
 of Christianity, the Sabbath is, perhaps, that on 
 which its prosperity most depends. Let this be 
 abolished, and we may burn our bibles and tear 
 down our sanctuaries. Let this be abolished, and
 
 NEGLECT OF THE SABBATH. S,i 
 
 the dews of Hermon will no longer descend to 
 refresh and beautify our land, but a moral siroc 
 will sweep over its surface, burning and wither- 
 ing what of virtue falls within its arid, desolating 
 breath. Let the profanation of the Sabbath be- 
 come general, and the sun which now lights up 
 our moral firmament will go down in darkness, 
 more dense and gloomy than that which brooded 
 over Egypt when her haughty monarch refused 
 to let the tribes of God go free. 
 
 There is another aspect of this subject. Free 
 Governments depend for their perpetuity and 
 well-being on the intelligence and morality of the 
 people. The Bible is the handmaid of know- 
 ledge; and moral principles based on any other 
 foundation than that of true religion, will prove 
 but a weak ram])art against the inroads of vice. 
 It is an object, therefore, to which neither tlie 
 Christian nor patriot can be indifferent, that not 
 only our private citizens, but our seamen and 
 soldiers also, should be regularly instructed in 
 the doctrines and duties of Christianity, and tiu- 
 tremendous sanctions by which they are enforced. 
 
 On the 21st, I went for the first time up to 
 the maintop-gallant mast-head — to m.e a dizzy 
 height. But high as I was, my soul was far 
 from being caught up to the third heaven in 
 poetic raptures. If Burke's theory of the sub- 
 lime be correct, then indeed, I confess, I had a 
 little touch of it, for terror was certainly the most 
 prominent feeling in my mind. From this eleva-
 
 84 ASCENT TO THE MAST-HEAD. 
 
 tion the deck of the ship appeared scarcely wider 
 than the blade of a carving-knife, and the men 
 on it looked like Gulliver's Lilliputians. 
 
 The old tars laughed heartily at my timidity. 
 I asked them if they were never afraid. "Afraid!" 
 they replied, " what good would it do to be 
 afraid .''"" The captain of the top said to me, 
 
 " Mr. , have you ever been in a top before .P" 
 
 — " No." — " Then you must pay your footing," 
 was the next thing. Paying your footing is 
 treating all hands to a glass of grog on your first 
 visit to a top. This they never fail to demand, 
 always promising, in return, to teach you all 
 they know themselves about the rigging of the 
 ship. At first I offered them money. " Oh," said 
 they, " give us the grog — what good will money 
 do us here ?" I then told them I Avould pay my 
 footing in their own way, if they would get per- 
 mission from the first lieutenant. I thought this 
 would stagger them, but was mistaken. " Poh ! 
 poh !" they replied, " never mind the first lieu- 
 tenant ; send it up by a boy, and call it water." 
 More than two years afterwards, I asked the cap- 
 tain of the top one day if I didn't owe him a glass 
 of grog. " Yes, sir, I believe you do, sir," he 
 replied promptly. "What is it for.?" — "Why, 
 sir, I believe it's to pay your footing in the main- 
 top, sir." This will serve as a specimen of the 
 usual tenacity of a sailor's memory in regard to 
 debts of this kind. Had he lent me a ten-dollar 
 note, the chances are, that it would have been 
 forgotten in less than a week.
 
 SPEAKING A SHIP. 85 
 
 A few days after this, we spoke an Ainericaii 
 packet from Liverpool bound to New York. She 
 was pointed out to me when about five miles off, 
 and was standing directly for us under a press of 
 canvass. There is no object in nature that com- 
 bines more of majesty and gracefulness than a 
 ship under full sail. As she plunges through the 
 billowy waters, the freedom and grandeur of her 
 motions make her appear like a being of another 
 sphere. The Indians worshipped the first ship 
 they beheld, and he who has seen one in her glory 
 can easily forgive the idolatry. 
 
 The captain took the trumpet, and when she 
 had arrived nearly alongside, he hailed her : — 
 " Ship, ahoy ! what ship is that ?"— " The John 
 Jay, sir!" — "Where are you from .^" — "Li- 
 verpool, sir !" — " How long are you out .'''''' — 
 " Twelve days, sir V — " Have you any news .^" 
 The answer was not heard, and no more questions 
 were put. Many of the officers had expected to 
 have an opportunity of sending letters to Ame- 
 rica, and when they saw themselves cheated of 
 the chance, you might see them, with looks full of 
 disappointment and vexation, tearing up their 
 epistles, and giving them to the four winds. The 
 treasures of the deep were doubtless augmented 
 by many a brilliant image and many a burning 
 sentiment. 
 
 Lord Byron is right, when, in combating tiie 
 " invariable principles" of Bowles, and the other 
 poetic naturalists, he declares, that the " sea is a 
 more attractive, a more moral, a more poetical
 
 86 SPEAKING OF A SHIP. 
 
 object, with a vessel breaking its vast but fa- 
 tiguing monotony." A limitless expanse of 
 waters, calm or convulsed, is unquestionably sub- 
 lime ; but how much does the appearance of a 
 single vessel enhance the interest of the scene ! 
 We are so constituted, that we must have objects 
 of sympathy, and neither ocean nor sky affords 
 them. In contemplating the former we may be 
 awe-struck, but we cannot sympathise; and the 
 beings with which we people the stars are too 
 spiritual, too pure, too unearthly, to share largely 
 in our sympathies. But the moment a ship ap- 
 pears, vie feel — spontaneously and irresistibly ^ee/ 
 — that there is a relationship between her and us. 
 On this subject I speak fi'om experience. I shall 
 never forget the effect produced on my mind by 
 the first ship I saw after leaving the United 
 States. We were seven or eight days out from 
 the Hook. When she was pointed out to me, I 
 felt I know not what delightful sensation, but 
 it was certainly analogous to the feeling we ex- 
 perience in meeting unexpectedly with an old 
 friend far from kindred and home. I admired 
 undoubtedly the majesty of her proportions, the 
 graceful swell of her canvass, and the dashing- 
 freedom of her motions ; but this was not the 
 predominant feeling. It was that there at least 
 were human beings — beings who had much in 
 common with myself, and who would understand 
 me if I talked to them of love, friendship, and 
 generosity — the palpitations of hope, the shud-
 
 A GALE. 87 
 
 (lerings of fear, and the nameless endearments of 
 kindred and country. 
 
 On the night of the twenty-eighth, the wish 
 which I had cherished till it had become a part of 
 myself was at last gratified. At sunset the wind 
 began to increase, and the sky and ocean to put 
 on a dark and frowning appearance. Night and 
 a tempest coming on together ! How grand and 
 stirring the thought ! All hands were immedi- 
 ately called to " reef topsails and house masts.'' 
 " Insequitur clamorque vin'im stridorque rudentum." 
 
 The shrill voice of the commanding officer, 
 heightened by the trumpet and echoed by a score 
 of inferior officers; the noise of the men climb- 
 ing and hauling the ropes, and answering to the 
 orders from deck ; the creaking of timbers ; the 
 rustling of canvass ; the heavy plungings of the 
 vessel ; and above all, the loud roar of winds and 
 waves, combined to produce a congregation of 
 sounds, which Avould have shamed the grating 
 thunder of Hell-gate, had not the spirit of the 
 storm blended the jarring elements into one rich 
 and swelling harmony. Before eight o'clock all 
 the masts above the topmasts were " housed" — 
 that is, sent down on deck — and we were literally 
 flying under close-reefed fore and main topsails. 
 The sounds occasioned by the gale, as it swept 
 through the rigging of the ship, were like the 
 music of winds in a forest. They were wild but 
 delicious tones, and it was long before I could 
 tear myself away from their stormy melody.
 
 88 A GALE. 
 
 I turned in, but not to sleep. The rolling of 
 the vessel soon produced a very different scene 
 below from the one the wind was enacting aloft. 
 It was " high life below stairs" with a vengeance. 
 Let the reader figure to himself barrels, trunlcs, 
 books, and china — rolling, sliding, falling, and 
 breaking around him — and he will have some idea 
 of my situation. 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning. Dr. came 
 
 to my cot, saying he had just come from deck, 
 and had seen the main topsail rent in pieces by 
 the wind. His words were talismanic : I was up, 
 dressed and on deck in an instant. Languag-e 
 can but feebly shadow forth the sublimity of the 
 scene. The wind was roarino- through the naked 
 masts and ropes like thunder. The waves had 
 become mountains in size and giants in strength ; 
 and the ship, as if wearied and vexed by their 
 angry power, seemed alternately to seek a dwelling 
 place in the heavens above and in the sanctuaries 
 of the deep. At every plunge, huge masses of 
 foam were dashed from her sides, which, as they 
 rolled upwards, appeared to be loaded with my- 
 riads of the " gems of purest ray serene,"* which 
 
 * This beautiful appearance is occasioned by the phosphorus in 
 the water. I have often of a dark night stood in the main chains 
 watching it for hours together. When a ship moves rapidly through 
 the water, not only do the waves which roll up from her sides seem 
 loaded with brilliants, but the rush of waters into the space left by 
 the rudder occasions an appearance which resembles a long trail of 
 sparkling light. Soine waters contain a greater amount of phosphorus 
 than others. Those of the Archipelago I think more phosphoric 
 than any others with which I am acquainted.
 
 A SCENE ON BOARD. 89 
 
 " The (lark unfathomed caves of ocean bear." 
 
 The covering of darkness in which the whole was 
 enveloped rendered the scene more grand and 
 awful. 
 
 I love the ocean at all times, but most when 
 its music is deepest, and its power most visible. 
 At such times, I delight to gaze on its broken 
 and foaming surface, till my own feelings are in 
 unison with its grandeur, and my own spirit feels 
 a })art of its restless energy. It is then that the 
 epithet religious may be most appropriately ap- 
 plied to it, for it lifts the thoughts from itself to 
 its Maker ; from the image to the Original ; from 
 what is seen and temporal to what is unseen and 
 eternal. 
 
 To an old cruiser there is much in sea life that 
 is monotonous ; but to a novice every occurrence 
 is full of that fresh and eager interest, which 
 always attaches to novelty. Some new form of 
 nature, some new developement of character, 
 some new branch of discipline, or something else 
 calculated to gratify his curiosity, falls daily be- 
 neath his observation. 
 
 A scene occurred on the evening of the twenty- 
 ninth, of which, as it will show^ the promptness 
 with which improprieties are noticed and ])unished 
 on board of a man-of-war, I will give some ac- 
 count. Before our lights were extinguished in 
 
 the cockpit, Dr. was quietly lying in liis cot, 
 
 engaged in conversation, when he was suddenly 
 and unceremoniously saluted witli a pair of wet
 
 90 IMPROPRIETIES PROMPTLY PUNISHED. 
 
 and dirty stockings. Scarcely had we come to 
 the conclusion to have them thrown overboard, 
 when down came a cap in the same direction. 
 The doctor then requested them to cease, but 
 this was only firing the magazine. A boot full of 
 water, a pillow, and a variety of other articles fol- 
 lowed each other in rapid succession. " Joking is 
 joking," cried the medico, " but I '11 not be spit 
 upon." He immediately reported it to the first 
 lieutenant, who might have said with Caesar, Veni, 
 vidif vici ; for he came, looked and went, and in 
 less than two minutes all the midshipmen, though 
 most of them were snugly asleep in their ham- 
 mocks, were summoned by order of the captain to 
 appear on the quarter-deck. Each was interro- 
 gated personally. Not a soul of them knew any 
 thing of the matter. After a variety of fruitless 
 endeavours to ascertain the offender, the captain 
 addressed them to the following effect : " Very 
 well, young gentlemen, I shall hereafter give you 
 duty enough to keep you out of such business, 
 and shall moreover curtail the indulgences I had 
 intended to grant you on our arrival in port. I 
 am now under the necessity of suspecting you all, 
 but in the course of a year or two I shall find out 
 those who are mean enough to be guilty of such 
 actions, and treat them accordingly. Your pre- 
 sence is no longer necessary." 
 
 After they had retired, one of them requested 
 the offender to go forward and free the rest from 
 suspicion, by reporting himself. He refused.
 
 PUNISHMENTS OF MIDSHIPMEN. 91 
 
 " Then I'll report you," replied the other. But 
 — and the fact will show how cautious a midship- 
 man is about incurring- the ill-will of his compa- 
 nions — before executing his threat, he consulted 
 them all as to what he should do, thus forestalling 
 their approbation, and securing himself from 
 censure. 
 
 The punishments inflicted on offending mid- 
 shipmen are various. The most common is sus- 
 pension from duty, or as they themselves term it, 
 " doing duty below the hatches." A suspended 
 midshipman is never allowed to go ashore, and on 
 shipboard is limited to the berth-deck, the gun- 
 deck forward the main-mast, and the forecastle. 
 Any lieutenant has power to suspend an inferior 
 officer, but he must report it immediately, with all 
 the circumstances, to the captain. Another com- 
 mon punishment is " quarantining," that is, con- 
 fining them to the ship while in port, without sus- 
 pending from duty. They are sometimes, though 
 rarely, kept for a whole day at the mast-head 
 looking out for ships or land. It is quite ludi- 
 crous to see a reefer in the middle of tlie Atlantic 
 climbing up to the main royal yard to look out 
 for Europe. 
 
 Suspension and quarantining are much dreaded 
 by the midshipmen, and with reason. M'hat can 
 be a greater bore to a man, on entering such a 
 port as Naples, than to be debarred the privilege 
 of going ashore ? It is like climbing to the top 
 of Pisgah, merely to be tantalized witli a view of
 
 92 PUNISHMENT OF THE MEN. 
 
 the Promised Land, while you know you are con- 
 demned to die in the wilderness. These are the 
 punishments for comparatively trivial offences. 
 When the charges are of a more serious nature, 
 the accused is arrested for trial by a court martial. 
 
 The punishments of the men are not less various 
 than those of the midshipmen. The most common 
 is flogging, and the severest stopping their grog. 
 Any lieutenant can give a man a dozen with the 
 colt, but the captain alone can flog with the cats ; 
 and even his power is limited to a dozen lashes. 
 A greater number than this must be ordered by a 
 court martial. No officer has in strictness a right 
 to stop a man's grog any more than he has to stop 
 any other part of his ration ; and I have some 
 doubts whether, if the men should afterwards 
 claim payment, and should be able to prove that 
 their grog had been withheld from them, they 
 would not recover damages in the civil courts of 
 the United States. It is nevertheless frequently 
 withheld from them, much to their discomfort 
 and annoyance. A sailor would sooner receive a 
 dozen any moment than be kept out of his grog 
 for a week. 
 
 Another mode of punishment is confinement in 
 the " brig" — the ship's prison — which is nothing- 
 more than the space between the two forward 
 guns on the starboard side of the gun-deck. Of 
 this ])unishment there are three grades, distin- 
 guished by the terms simple confinement and con- 
 finement in single and double irons. Confine-
 
 PRISONERS — ROUGH PASSAGE. 9.'J 
 
 ment in single irons is when the hands only arc 
 fettered ; confinement in double irons, when both 
 the hands and feet are in that situation. You 
 often hear the prisoners of an evening " spinning 
 their yarns" and singing songs with as much glee 
 as if tiiey were lords of creation. When their 
 number is sufficient, the brig is not vmfrequently 
 officered and manned with captain, lieutenants, 
 midshipmen, &.c. ; and this fancied distribution 
 of rank and power is to tliem a never-ending well- 
 spring of amusement. Indeed, not only here but 
 in every part of the ship where a group of sailors 
 is collected, you often laugh in spite of yourself. 
 The universal practice of " riuuiing," prevalent 
 on shipboard, sharpens their wits to such a de- 
 gree that their conversation is for the most part 
 well seasoned with piquant, though vulgar re- 
 partee. 
 
 The latter part of our passage out was rough 
 and boisterous. The ocean for many days in 
 succession appeared like a vast expanse of moving 
 mountains. Nothing could surpass its dark and 
 angry sublimity. But a frigate under sucli cir- 
 cumstances is not a very comfortable place of 
 residence. The windsails are all taken up, the 
 ports shut in, and the gun-deck constantly ship- 
 ping seas. The rolling and pitching of the vessel 
 renders it impossible to walk without some sup- 
 port, and hence ropes, called " life lines," are 
 fastened to the guns on tlie main deck, to enable 
 you to pass back and forth.
 
 94 SCENES AT MEALTIME. 
 
 If I had any talent at drawing, I would here 
 introduce a sketch of one of our meals in a gale 
 of wind. The picture, if true to the original, 
 would unbend the face of a cynic ; though I 
 assure the reader that the reality is far from 
 being a laughable matter. It would show a half 
 dozen of us engaged in the threefold business of 
 eating, holding the dishes on the table, and bra^ 
 cing up to keep ourselves in our places ; and now 
 and then, by way of varying the scene, either 
 singly or in groups, taking a ride on our camp- 
 stools across the cockpit. It might also show 
 some one more luckless than the rest, at an ex- 
 traordinary lurch, running to the bucket to 
 " heave up" his half-finished meal, and curse the 
 star that ever guided him to the brink of the 
 
 ocean. To avoid these inconveniences. Dr. 
 
 proposed to have the table and seats suspended 
 by straps of canvass, and said that then, when 
 the ship rolled, the table would swing, and the 
 campstools would swing, and we should swing, 
 and there would be a universal harmony be- 
 tween us. 
 
 During the first part of my sea life, I did little 
 else than gaze and wonder and admire. The 
 novelty of the thing was overpowering, and I was 
 hurried from one scene to another, and from one 
 part of the ship to another, by an influence like 
 that ascribed to enchantment. V^'hen we had a 
 fresh breeze, I often amused myself by sitting 
 on the bowsprit, and viewing the surrounding
 
 FRESH BREEZE — PORPOISES. 95 
 
 waters. At such times the ocean presents a most 
 magnificent prospect. In every direction, as far 
 as tlie eye can stretch, its surface is covered with 
 breakers, white as the driven snow, and sparkling 
 in the bright sun like burnished silver. As you 
 look downwards, the waters beneath you are 
 redolent of life. Fishes 
 
 " Tliick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks 
 Of Vallombrosa," 
 
 and of almost every imaginable colour, emerald, 
 ruby, sapphire, and diamond, are playing their 
 antics, wild and free as the element they inhabit. 
 As the vessel plunges onward, a broad mass of 
 foam is constantly dashing from her sides, and 
 making music, compared with which the richest 
 harmonies of art are tame and tasteless. The 
 ;-cene is altogether fitted to captivate and fill the 
 imagination, and as you look round upon it, you 
 can scarcely avoid exclaiming in the glowing and 
 glorious language of the Hebrew poet, " They 
 that go down to the sea in ships, that do business 
 in great waters, these see the works of the Lord 
 and his wonders in the deep." 
 
 At other times 1 was not less amused at wit- 
 nessing the large shoals of porpoises that played 
 around the ship. These are fish of a peculiarly 
 sociable disposition, and often follow vessels for 
 hours upon the stretch. The water seems lite- 
 rally alive with them, and scores of them may 
 frequently be seen jumping out of it together. 
 They always seek the bows of the vessel, and
 
 96 AMUSEMENTS OF THE SAILORS. 
 
 their reflection of the various colours of the rain- 
 bow, formed by the spray rising from the foam, 
 gives them the appearance of being tricked out in 
 a thousand brilliant and fanciful decorations. 
 The sailors frequently harpoon and eat them. 
 They are shapeless lumps of fat, and cannot, 
 I should suppose, be very agreeable to a delicate 
 palate. 
 
 Nothing interested me more than the amuse- 
 ments of the sailors on the forecastle after dark. 
 Half the crew, it has already been stated, keep 
 watch on deck during the night, and they con- 
 trive to keep themselves awake by a variety of 
 diversions. Here a party is collected of which 
 some half-dozen are keeping time to the music of 
 the violin ; there an old tar is " spinning yarns,'' 
 i. e. recounting real or fictitious adventures to a 
 second company, whose occasional loud bursts of 
 laughter mark what are considered the odd or 
 witty parts of the story ; while a little farther on 
 a third group is listening to the strains, uncouth 
 and artless perhaps, of some son of the ocean. 
 This group I prefer to all the others. Some of 
 the sailors really sing well. Their songs are va- 
 rious both in matter and merit — some of them poor 
 enough, and others tolerably fair. They are sea 
 songs, and most of them full of wild and daring 
 imagery. Occasionally, however, you hear one of 
 a nature to bring over the soul the melting recol- 
 lections of absent friends, of fire-side endearments, 
 and of those hallowed spots in glen or glade, by
 
 ROMANCE OF A SAILOR's LIFE. 97 
 
 fountain or rivulet, where the society of kindred 
 spirits has made earth put on the hues of Eden, 
 and appear like a scene of unminglcd beauty and 
 delight. The listeners would probably make but 
 indifferent critics, but they feel correctly never- 
 theless ; and a new delight has often been im- 
 parted to my own feelings by the simple but 
 honest expressions of approbation with which, 
 at the close of a song, it has been honoured. 
 Theirs is not the hollow applause of the theatre ; 
 it comes warm and fresh from the heart. 
 
 There is a romance in the life of a sailor that 
 has always made him an object of peculiar interest 
 to me. A strong arm and a fearless spirit are 
 the only inheritance he possesses, or wishes to 
 possess.^ AVith these he bids defiance to war and 
 the elements. With these lie can charm the terrors 
 of the vexed ocean, or the voUied cannon. Dan- 
 gers — what are they to him ? His glory and his 
 pride. 
 
 " He lays his hand upon the Ocean's mane. 
 And plays familiar with his hoary locks." 
 
 There is no amusement of which sailors are 
 more fond than that of spinning yarns, and by 
 dint of practice they acquire a facihty in doing it, 
 which is really astonishing. Many of them make 
 their stories as they go along, and this gives them 
 a habit of exaggerating on all subjects. You must 
 generally set down one half of what an old tar tells 
 you for sober truth, to a love of the marvellous, 
 and a disposition to excite wonder. Many of our 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 CHARACTER OF SAILORS. 
 
 sailors were fond of reading, and did read a great 
 deal. I have been applied to by them oftener for 
 books than for any thing else, and have frequent- 
 ly regretted that I did not provide myself with a 
 small library of moral tales. Books of this kind 
 would be eagerly read by them, if written in a 
 simple style, of moderate length, and with some 
 interest in the story. That sailors are bad 
 enough, and a great deal too bad, every one must 
 be sensible who has mingled much with them ; 
 but they are not irreclaimable. There is no class 
 of men whose hearts are sooner touched by kind- 
 ness, or who are more grateful for favours. Con- 
 vince a sailor that you feel an interest for him, 
 and you are sure to make him your friend. He 
 will do any thing to oblige you. Let whiskey be 
 banished from our public vessels, and a proper 
 attention paid to the religious and moral instruc- 
 tion of our seamen, and the navy will soon present 
 a field on which the eye of the Christian and the 
 moralist can rest with complacency. 
 
 I know that personal religion is not popular on 
 board of a man-of-war ; but why should it not 
 be "i Is there any thing mean, pusillanimous, or 
 unreasonable in it ^ True religion is founded on 
 certain eternal principles — such as the existence 
 of a God, the immortality of the soul, the de- 
 pendence of man, the essential difference between 
 virtue and vice, and the necessity of rewarding 
 the former and punishing the latter ; — and if the 
 truth of these principles be admitted, it follows
 
 INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 99 
 
 that so far from being the part of weak and timid 
 minds to listen to tlie voice of the Son of God, it 
 is the perfection of wisdom to obey, and the ex- 
 treme of madness to disregard it. But Chris- 
 tianity has other claims to our regard. Its in- 
 fluence is most pure and ennobling. Were I to 
 attempt any thing like a full illustration of this 
 proposition, I might fill volumes without exhraist- 
 ing the suliject. My task would be but partially 
 completed when I should have shown that a man 
 thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Christianity, 
 as a ruler would be filled with a benevolent re- 
 gard for the happiness of his people ; that as a 
 subject he would be characterized by obedience, 
 as a master by kindness, as a servant by faithful- 
 ness, as a husband by conjugal fidelity, as a father 
 by parental love, as a son by filial respect, as a 
 friend by open-hearted sincerity; that he would 
 be humble without losing his self-respect, and for- 
 giving without sacrificing his honour; that he 
 would blend moderation with firmness, prudence 
 with enthusiasm, and decision with mildness ; 
 in short, that he would possess an erectness and 
 nobility of character, which all other influences 
 but those of religion would be incompetent to 
 produce. Then only would my labour be fully 
 accomplished, when I should have shown that the 
 full triumph and universal practice of the doc- 
 trines and precepts of the [Saviour of mankind] 
 would convert the world into a moral Eden, 
 as far surpassing in beauty and loveliness the 
 f2
 
 100 THE SCILLY ISLANDS. 
 
 garden in which the progenitors of our race were 
 placed, as the intellectual and the moral are supe- 
 rior to the sensual and the physical. 
 
 On the 9th day of September, about one o'clock 
 P.M. we made the Scilly Islands, and at the cry 
 from the mast-head, " Land O !" there was not, I 
 believe, an individual on board who did not feel 
 a thrill of pleasure stealing through his frame. A 
 pilot boat, rigged with coloured sails, was shortly 
 afterdiscovered, and a signal made to bring her to.* 
 She was plentifully freighted with eggs, fish, and 
 potatoes, which, among persons who had lived for 
 a month on salt junk and hard tack, met with a 
 very ready market. Our pilot, though from the 
 Scilly Islands, did not discover any remarkable 
 silliness in making a bargain, for he demanded a 
 most enormous price for his services. 
 
 In our approach to England we had an earnest 
 of its climate. A thick mist fell soon after we 
 made the land, and prevented its being seen from 
 deck. I gleaned from the pilot the following 
 particulars respecting the Scilly Islands, Five 
 only of them are inhabited, the rest being either 
 too small or too rocky to admit of cultivation. 
 The largest is from eight to ten miles in circum- 
 ference, and contains from two to three hundred 
 inhabitants. The others are much smaller, and 
 contain together about the same number. Their 
 principal productions are barley and potatoes, 
 
 • The signal for a. pilot boat is a union jack at the fore royal mast 
 h«ad>
 
 FIRST VIEW OF ENGLAND. 101 
 
 wheat being rarely raised. Apples formerly 
 abounded, but nearly all the trees have recently 
 been destroyed by the bugs. Gooseberries are 
 now the princijjal fruit. Each of the inhabited 
 islands, except one, has a chapel, in which Divine 
 service is performed every Sabbath. 
 
 On the 10th we had a gale of wind ahead, but 
 on the morning of the 11th, when I went on 
 deck, England — " merry Old England" — " glo- 
 rious Old England" — was in full view on our lar- 
 board beam. The coast was a line of high chalk 
 cliffs, apparently perpendicular to the sea. These 
 hills presented a bleak and desolate appearance, 
 and the scenery beyond was so mistified by dis- 
 tance, that even its more prominent features could 
 not be distinctly seen. But it was English soil, 
 and that was enough. It was the birth-place of 
 our forefathers, and their sepulchres had been 
 builded within its territories ; and what American 
 could behold it for the first time without some- 
 thing like the yearnings of filial affection ? 
 
 We passed Portland, Dorsetshire, and St. Al- 
 ban's Head, and soon after made the western ex- 
 tremity of the Isle of A\"ight. It is a high chalk 
 cliff, called the Needles, which, seen at a distance, 
 presents an apj)arently broad, flat surface, white 
 as snow, except where the rain by wa>>]iing down 
 the soil has variegated it with streaks of brown, 
 which give it a picturescpie and romantic a])pear- 
 ance. As you approach it, the aj)parent fiatness 
 of the surface is gradually metamorphosed into a 
 concave semicircle. Just in front of it, three
 
 102 ARRIVAL AT CO WES. 
 
 sharp white rocks shoot up to a considerable dis- 
 tance above the surface of the water. 
 
 Impelled by wind and current, the vessel glided 
 rapidly along the north coast of the Isle of Wight, 
 which was crowned with groves, and meadows, 
 and hedge-rows of the richest green, beautiful and 
 refreshing to behold, after having gazed on nothing 
 for the last four weeks but the " waste of waters." 
 The rain came down in torrents, but the attrac- 
 tions on deck were too powerful to be resisted, 
 and when we came-to off Cowes, I was as wet as 
 if I had been dipped in the ocean. None but the 
 sailor can know the pleasure of making the land 
 and getting into port after a long voyage. 
 
 The passengers all left us the moment the 
 anchor was let go, but not a single officer who 
 was attached to the ship. In the night it came 
 on to blow a heavy gale of wind, which parted 
 our chain-cable, and caused us to be drifted a con- 
 siderable distance. Most of the next day was 
 occupied in getting up the lost anchor and moor- 
 ing the ship. In the morning I asked the captain 
 if I might go ashore, and was answered in four 
 words, " Not at present, sir.'' I afterwards learn- 
 ed that, on arriving in port, officers are not ge- 
 nerally allowed to go ashore until the ship is 
 moored.* The moment that was done the cap- 
 tain sent me word that I could go. 
 
 I spent only a few hours ashore. It is impos- 
 sible to describe the feelings with which I first set 
 foot on English soil. It was as if my soul had 
 
 • A ship is said to be moored when she has two anchors out.
 
 FIRST VISIT ASHORE. 103 
 
 been bathed in some Klysian dream. As I wan- 
 dered among the enchanting villas which form the 
 suburbs of West Cowes, I could scarcely avoid 
 exclaiming aloud, " This, then, is really the na- 
 tive land of Shakspeare and Milton, the brightest 
 stars that ever gilded the heaven of poetry ; of 
 Newton and Locke, those magicians in the phi- 
 losophy of matter and of mind ; of Burke, Fox, 
 and Pitt, names synonymous with all that is 
 mighty and splendid in eloquence; and of a thou- 
 sand others, famani qui terminant aslris, and 
 whose writings will continue to instruct and de- 
 light the latest ages." 
 
 On Sunday the 13th, for the first time after 
 I joined the Constellation, Divine service was 
 performed on board. Mr. E read such por- 
 tions of the beautiful service of the Episcopal 
 church, as could be read without responses. The 
 sky, the air, and the surrounding waters, in their 
 purity and stillness, harmonized beautifully with 
 the sacred character of the day, and combined 
 with other things to render the scene one of the 
 most interesting and gratifying I have ever wit- 
 nessed. I have never seen a more decorous or at- 
 tentive audience on land ; and as His servant, in 
 an humble but simple tone, offered up our thanks 
 for His mercies, acknowledged our dependence 
 and guilt, and invoked His clemency and pro- 
 tection, I could not but feel that the Almighty 
 and beneficent Father of the universe looked down 
 from His throne, well pleased with the homage of 
 His creatures.
 
 104 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Rush to the Purser for Money — Midshipmen going Ashore — Vil- 
 lages of East and West Cowes — East Cowes Castle — Norris 
 Castle — Excursion into the Interior of the Isle of Wight — English 
 Landscape — Newport — Parish Ciiurch — Carisbrooke Castle — 
 Ride to Appuldurcorabe Park — Delicious Scenery — Godshill — 
 Appuldurcombe — Grave of the Dairyman's Daughter — Isle of 
 Wight — Royal Yacht Club — Visit to Southampton — Bar-Gate — 
 Royal Military Asylum — Trip to Portsmouth — View of Ryde — 
 Harbour of Portsmouth — The Victory — English Servants — Sun- 
 set off Havre— Muster — Courts Martial of the Sailors— Voyage 
 from England to Gibraltar — Evening Scene before entering the 
 Straits — Current of the Straits — Disappointment at not stopping 
 at Gibraltar. 
 
 On Monday morning, the 14th of Septem- 
 ber, there was a general rush to the purser. 
 This is always the first thing on getting into port. 
 His strong box is the sine qua non, without which 
 port would not be worth a farthing. Unfortu- 
 nately, most of us had not " worked out our dead 
 horses,"* and were obliged to content ourselves 
 with the pittance of a few dollars. However, a 
 few dollars make a midshipman as rich as a thou- 
 
 • Dead horses are debts to the purser on account of advances of 
 pay. When a ship is put in commission, her officers are allowed an 
 advance of three months. This advance generally operates as a 
 heavy drawback on their purses the first part of their cruise.
 
 EAST AND WEST COWES. 105 
 
 sand, and an army of them was soon " ri^f^ed 
 out" with full dress coats, cocked hats, and dirks, 
 for a cruise on shore. They set off from the ship 
 in high glee, full of the elastic buoyancy of youth, 
 and with expectation on tiptoe. Tliey visited 
 Newport, Carisbrooke Castle, and Appuldurcombe 
 Park. I was not of the party, but I understood 
 from those who were, that they enjoyed themselves 
 to the utmost of their anticipations. They show- 
 ered gold like rain on the servants who showed 
 them the lions, drank champaign like so many 
 lords, and returned at night, jaded and exhaust- 
 ed, to pace the quarter-deck for four dreary hours. 
 This is always the consummation of a midship- 
 man's enjoyment ; but tiie irksomeness of his 
 duties on board gives edge to his pleasure while it 
 lasts. " Enjoy the pleasures of the passing day," 
 is a maxim which he sticks to as Sancho did to 
 the promise of an island. 
 
 The villages of East and West Cowes are on 
 the north coast of the Isle of Wight, near its 
 centre. They are romantically situated on the 
 declivities of two hills, and separated from each 
 other by a small stream, called the INIedina river. 
 They are irregularly built, and in the lower parts 
 of them there is little to attract or gratify cu- 
 riosity ; but the beautiful castles and villas, the 
 residences of lords and gentlemen, that crown the 
 summits of the two hills on which they stand, 
 surrounded by rich lawns and shade trees, and 
 covered with luxuriant ivy, give tiiem an air of 
 F 5
 
 lOG EAST COWES CASTLE. 
 
 rural elegance, whose effect can be known only 
 by being felt. 
 
 The two edifices which chiefly attract attention 
 are East Cowes and Norris Castles — the resi- 
 dences of John Nash, Esq. architect to his Ma- 
 jesty, and the Right Hon. Lord Henry Seymour. 
 They are of modern construction, but built in 
 imitation of the ancient castles. They are noble 
 structures, " embosomed soft in trees," and the 
 clustering towers by which they are surmounted, 
 give them an appearance of grandeur and strength, 
 that recalls to the imagination many a wild tale of 
 gallant knight and bright-eyed dame. I visited 
 
 them in company Avith Dr. . When we 
 
 arrived at the enclosure of the grounds belonging 
 to East Cowes Castle, we were stopped at a small 
 out-house, where a number of girls were making 
 lace, and told that we must send our cards to the 
 proprietor, if we desired leave to enter. When 
 the people in the hut where we stopped, discover- 
 ed that we were Americans, they were as inqui- 
 sitive as so many Yankees, and some of them ex- 
 pressed great anxiety to come over to this coun- 
 try. The little girl who went with our cards, 
 soon returned with the necessary permission. An 
 English castle is not like an Italian palace, a mere 
 gallery of the fine arts, kept for show, with a little 
 garret or retired corner for the use of the owner's 
 family. The Italian has no word in his language 
 which signifies comfort, but the Englishman lias 
 both the word and the thing. He cares more for
 
 NORRIS CASTLE. 107 
 
 his comfort tlian he does for all the pictures be- 
 tween the Alps and Apulia ; but the Italian, on 
 the contrary, would not exchange his painted 
 Venuses and ^Madonnas for all the Madeira and 
 Champaign that sparkle on the tables of the whole 
 posse comitatus of English milordi. 
 
 As the family of jNIr. Nash was " at home," 
 we were not admitted into the castle ; but the 
 gardener conducted us through the pleasure 
 grounds, which consisted of lawns, flower-gar- 
 dens, conservatories, groves, aqueducts, fountains, 
 fish-ponds, bowers covered with grape vines, and 
 serpentine walks arched with the branches of 
 venerable oaks and elms; — the whole interspersed 
 with alabaster statues of ancient divinities, and 
 arranged with an airy elegance, that made it seem 
 more like one of those places which the poets have 
 peopled with nymphs and fairies, than like the 
 abode of beings of a more earthly mould. The 
 gardener descanted with great eloquence on the 
 good taste with which the grounds were laid out, 
 not forgetting to remind us frequently that the 
 whole Avas planned by its present proprietor, and 
 executed by himself. 
 
 At Norris Castle there was comparatively little 
 to be seen. It enjoys the advantages of a more 
 conmianding situation, and the view of it from 
 our anchorage was most enchanting. Over a 
 door in the passage is the history of the family in 
 heraldry. One of the symbols represents the 
 marriage of Henry the Eighth to Lady Jane Sey-
 
 108 ANECDOTE OF LORD SEYMOUR. 
 
 mour, from whom the present Lord Seymour is 
 descended. Lord S. is now in his dotage, being 
 upwards of eighty years old. Many character- 
 istic anecdotes are related of him. One of them 
 is the following : A countryman had one day 
 been so unfortunate as to have upset a load of 
 hay, and while he was deliberating what he 
 should do, Lord Seymour passed that way on 
 foot. The countryman, not suspecting from his 
 appearance that he was above his own rank, asked 
 him if he would help him to reload his hay. 
 Lord S. assented, mounted upon the cart, and 
 arranged the hay as it was pitched up to him. 
 When he had finished and descended, the poor 
 man thanked him for his kindness, and was going 
 to drive on. " My good friend," said Lord S. 
 " do you know who I am ?''"' " No, sir," he re- 
 plied. " I am the proprietor of Norris Castle," 
 rejoined Lord S. The poor fellow, trembling 
 and terrified almost out of his wits, fell upon his 
 knees and begged he would forgive him. The 
 generous nobleman bade him rise upon his feet, 
 gave him a small gold coin, and told him to drink 
 to his health in the best bottle of ale he could 
 find. 
 
 On the evening of the 16th, I set oiF on foot 
 and alone on an excursion into the Island. I 
 took the road to Newport, which lay along the 
 west bank of the Medina river. The valley of 
 the Medina is cultivated to an extent unknown in 
 any part of the United States that I have visited ;
 
 ENGLISH LANDSCAPE NEWPORT. 109 
 
 and the contrast between the dark green of the 
 hedge rows and the brilliant verdure of the mea- 
 dows and pasturing grounds, presents a landscape 
 to which we have no counterpart on this side of 
 the Atlantic, and whose effect it is utterly impos- 
 sible to describe. Wilder and sublimer scenery 
 we have in abundance, but certainly none so 
 beautiful. The glory of an English landscape is 
 the eternal richness of its verdure ; and it is vex- 
 atious to reflect that this is the effect of an ever- 
 lasting drizzle — the offspring of a climate the 
 most detestable on earth. Could the enchanting 
 landscapes of England and the delicious climate 
 of Greece be united, they would form all that the 
 maddest idolater of nature could desire of fair, 
 and lovely, and delightful. 
 
 It was nightfall before I reached Newport. I 
 had the good fortune to stumble upon a hotel 
 where a club, called the Social Friends' Club, 
 was to hold its weekly meeting. I was politely 
 invited to attend, and at eight o'clock was ushered 
 into a spacious hall, with a table extending the 
 whole length of it, around which were seated 
 some fifty gentlemen. The table was covered 
 with pipes, tobacco, and liquors. Each member 
 is required by the rules of the club to sing a song 
 when called upon, and the last singer is entitled 
 to name his successor. Several fine songs and 
 glees were sung, and we had a good deal of agree- 
 able conversation on various topics — political, lite- 
 rary, Sic. The English are quite as inquisitive
 
 110 ADVANTAGES OF LITERARY CLUBS. 
 
 as the Americans ; and my observation in various 
 countries has convinced me that, in this respect 
 at least, the whole universe is a set of Yankees. 
 Perhaps the analogy might hold good on some 
 other points. On that memorable evening I 
 learned, to my utter astonishment, that the un- 
 couth fashion of leaning back on the two hind 
 legs of a chair, is not altogether a " Yankee 
 notion." Englishmen, (quis crederet?) with all 
 their horror of outlandish attitudes, are some- 
 times guilty of doing it. The most friendly dis- 
 positions were expressed towards this country, 
 but I was surprised at the ignorance of some in- 
 telligent gentlemen in relation to its institutions 
 and history. 
 
 I have often wondered, and still wonder, why 
 clubs for literary conversation are not more com- 
 mon in our own country. Nothing is so well fit- 
 ted to whet the intellect and prepare it for rapid 
 movements, as free extemporaneous discussion. 
 The flint does not scintillate till brought into con- 
 tact with some foreign substance; so the brightest 
 emanations of genius are often elicited by the 
 collision of different intellects. Who will deny 
 that Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, and Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds were largely indebted for their conversa- 
 tional celebrity, and even for their conversational 
 powers, to clubs of this kind .'' But besides the 
 intellectual advantages resulting from them, they 
 promote kindly feeling among their members. 
 Thc-y open the fountains of social enjoyment, and
 
 NEWPORT CHURCH. 1 1 1 
 
 the streams that flow from them are pure and re- 
 freshing-. 
 
 Newport is the chief town of the Isle of Wight, 
 and enjoys a central situation on the Medina, 
 which is sufficiently deep to admit of licavy- 
 freighted vessels passing up it at high water. It 
 contains upwards of six thousand inhabitants, 
 and has from fifteen to twenty streets, cutting- 
 each other at right angles. It is surrounded by 
 an ampliitheatrc of hills, which present an infinite 
 variety of bold and picturesque scenery. 
 
 The most interesting building it contains is the 
 parish church, an old Gothic structure, erected in 
 the reign of the second Henry, and dedicated to 
 the famous Thomas a, Becket. The pulpit, which 
 stands near the centre, is a great curiosity. It is of 
 one solid block of oak, polygonal in its form, and 
 ornamented with a great variety of carved em- 
 blems; among others, fourteen figures representing 
 the cardinal virtues and liberal sciences. It was 
 erected in 1636, as we learn from an incription on 
 the canopy. Under a Gothic arch in one of the 
 principal aisles, is a small circular stone, with this 
 inscription : " Underneath in a lead coffin rest 
 the remains of Elizabeth, 2nd daughter of King 
 Charles I. Obit. Sept. 6th, 1650. yEtat. 14." In 
 one corner of the church there is a monument to 
 Sir Edward Horsey, governor of the island under 
 Elizabeth, on which is engraved a Latin epitaph, 
 
 setting forth his virtues in a strain of hiHi com- 
 es o 
 
 mendation. Under the monument is a marble
 
 112 CARISBROOKE CASTLE. 
 
 statue of the knight in full armour, with his 
 horse, richly caparisoned, at his feet. Near by 
 hangs his real helmet, an enormous mass of steel, 
 the sight of which brought to my recollection many 
 a wild but graceful legend of those gallant and 
 courteous times, when the weakness of govern- 
 ments induced individuals to undertake the gene- 
 rous task of protecting innocence and beauty. 
 
 The venerable ruins of Carisbrooke Castle lie 
 about a mile to the westward of Newport. This 
 ancient fortress is situated on a lofty eminence, 
 which was well chosen as a place of defence before 
 the invention of fire-arms. It appears to excellent 
 advantage as you approach it from Newport, and, 
 in its present dilapidated state, forcibly recalls 
 the lines of the poet, 
 
 " Time by his gradual touch 
 
 Has mouldered into beauty many a tower, 
 Which, when it frowned with all its battlements, 
 Was only terrible." 
 
 The first entrance is through a stone gateway 
 on the west side, on whose arch is inscribed 
 " 1598. E. R. 40," showing that it was erected in 
 the fortieth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 A little beyond is a second entrance through a 
 gateway, of tlie age of Edward the Fourth, flank- 
 ed and defended by two round towers Here I 
 was obliged to ring a bell and wait for the gate to 
 be opened. A well-dressed man soon made his 
 appearance. The ponderous caken gate, which 
 had opened to many a royal and many a gentle
 
 CARISBROOKE CASTLE. 113 
 
 guest, again moved upon its grating hinges ; and 
 as I passed into the area enclosed by the inner 
 walls, it was with unutterable feelings that I found 
 myself on ground that had been honoured by the 
 presence of Henry the Eighth, EHzabetli, Charles, 
 and many other English monarchs. 
 
 Near the centre of the area is a building of com- 
 paratively modern date, in which I was shown the 
 room where the princess Elizabeth died. The 
 window through which her unhappy father at- 
 tempted to escape, is in a ruined apartment of the 
 old Castle, In one end of the modern edifice is a 
 well, dug through a solid rock to the depth of 
 three hundred feet, before the discovery of gun- 
 powder. The water is uncommonly pure and 
 grateful to the taste. It is raised by means of a 
 large wooden wheel, turned by a donkey. The 
 longevity of these animals is almost incredible, 
 one of them having, it is said, performed that task 
 for forty-five years ! My conductor tried two ex- 
 })eriments. One of them was throwing a small 
 quantity of water into the well, which was five 
 minutes in its descent, and returned a sound in- 
 creased by reflection to an astonishing loudness. 
 The other was letting down a lighted lamp, by 
 means of which every part of the well became dis- 
 tinctly visible. The noise occasioned by its de- 
 scent resembled the low and distant mutterings of 
 tlnmder. There was another well in the keep, 
 formerly of equal depth, but now filled up to pre- 
 vent accidents.
 
 114 VIEW FROM CARISBROOKE CASTLE. 
 
 The old heep or donjon is on an elevated conical 
 mound, and the ascent to it is by a flight of se- 
 venty-two stone steps, every one of which exhi- 
 bited proofs that Time, the " victor of all fields 
 below," had achieved some conquests here also. 
 As I moved slowly up, a dream of other days was 
 coining o''er my spirit ; but on arriving at the 
 summit, the spell was interrupted, the present 
 triumphed over the past, and hoary-headed anti- 
 quity was forgotten amid the splendid profusion 
 of beauties by which I found myself surrounded. 
 I was on a spot that commanded a view of almost 
 the entire island, with distant glimpses of the 
 Solent and the coast beyond it. High hills and 
 sunken vales, rich meadows and corn-fields, smooth 
 pasturing downs, green hedge-rows, copses, groves 
 and forest woodlands, interspersed with elegant 
 country-seats and villages, and enlivened by in- 
 numerable grazing herds, met the eye wherever 
 it chanced to wander. A peal of bells from Caris- 
 brooke church in honour of the marriage of the 
 rector's daughter, rising in measured and harmo- 
 nious numbers, blended the charms of music with 
 those of vision, and threw over the whole scene an 
 air of mellow and chastened beauty, which time 
 will never efface from my memory. But the 
 relics of former times were thick around me, and 
 tlie past gradually regained its dominion over my 
 thouglits. I was standing upon the ruins of a 
 fortification, built, as many suppose, by the an- 
 cient Britons, and possessed successively by the
 
 MORAL REFLECTIONS. 115 
 
 Romans, the Saxons, the Danes, the Normans, 
 and the modern English ; and a train of reflec- 
 tions, somewhat tinged with melancholy, forced 
 itself upon my mind. 
 
 Such, I could not forbear exclaiming mentally, 
 such is human grandeur ; a flower — a song — a 
 gleam of passing sunshine ; and all is gone for 
 ever. Rome — imperial Rome — whose standarci 
 once waved in triumph perhaps on the very spot 
 where I am now standing, and wliose eagle 
 spread her broad wings over every clime ; where 
 is she .? In her grave, and nothing remains of 
 her — miohtv antl glorious though she was — but a 
 splendid image. These hills, save in tlie single 
 point of cultivation, remain as they were when 
 the Druid ofllered up his bloody sacrifices in the 
 forest sanctuary, but the generations that have 
 swept over them, have all shared the common lot 
 of humanity ; and that which now occupies them 
 will soon be removed to make room for another. 
 Well may Infidelity affirm that she cannot ac- 
 count for such a system of things ; but Chris- 
 tianity clears up the mystery by pointing to a 
 world whose glories are unfading, and where 
 virtue will meet a sure and everlasting reward. 
 
 On my return from the Castle to Newport, I 
 hired a donkey, gig and driver, all on a very 
 small scale, and set off" for Appuldurcombe Park, 
 the seat of the Right Honourable Lord Yarbo- 
 rough. Our road lay through a region of which 
 it is no poetical exaggeration to say,
 
 116 GODSHILL CHURCH. 
 
 ' ' Here in this delicrous garden is 
 
 Variety without end ; sweet interchange 
 Of hills and valleys, rivers, woods, and plains ; 
 Now land, now sea, and shores with forests crowned ; 
 Rocks, dens, and caves." 
 
 But why should I attempt to pourtray scenery, 
 from infancy familiar to the imagination of most 
 of my readers, in the incomparable descriptions 
 of Leigh Richmond in the Young Cottager and 
 Dairyman's Daughter ? — descriptions, whose 
 chaste simplicity a child can comprehend, and yet 
 whose fervid eloquence thrills the soul of the 
 scholar and the philosopher ; — descriptions, whose 
 accuracy, from an inspection of some of the scenes 
 they paint, I may safely say, is only equalled by 
 their beauty. 
 
 We passed through the little village of Gods- 
 hill, remarkable for nothing but the picturesque 
 situation of its church on a hill near the centre 
 of the town, and the antique appearance of its 
 houses, which are all thatched with straw, and 
 covered with moss, apparently the growth of cen- 
 turies. The church at Godshill is a sort of 
 Westminster Abbey in miniature. It contains 
 some handsome sepulchral monuments, and a 
 painting of Daniel in the Lions'" Den, by Rubens, 
 in which that illustiious artist has fully sustained 
 the reputation of his pencil. Continuing our ride 
 through the same picturesque and delicious sce- 
 nery, we soon arrived at Appuldurconibe, situated 
 in the southern part of the island, and considered 
 the most splendid residence it contains. The en-
 
 APPULDURCOMBE. 117 
 
 trance to the park is tlirough a stone gateway of 
 the Ionic order, and the beauties that cluster 
 around you on passing it, come over the soul like 
 music or a dream. Every thing there is on a 
 grand scale. The grounds are extensive, and laid 
 out with great elegance. Scarcely a tree, from the 
 tallest elm to the humblest juniper, scarcely a 
 flower that lends a fragrance to the air or a beau- 
 ty to the stem on which it blooms, 
 
 " But tliere is planted or grows natural." 
 
 The back-ground is a lofty hill, whose slope is 
 hung with a magnificent forest of oaks and 
 beeches, and whose summit is crowned with a 
 noble obelisk of Cornish granite. Hundreds of 
 deer, capita alta ferentes cornibus arhoreis, were 
 grazing in every direction, and bubbling foun- 
 tains and cawing rooks, thougli with music some- 
 what dissimilar, added to the interest of the scene. 
 The mansion is in a style of magnificence cor- 
 responding to that of the grounds. It is of free- 
 stone, with four regular fronts of the Corinthian 
 order. The pilasters, entablatures, balustrades, 
 &c. are of Portland marble, beautifidly sculptured. 
 But it is the interior of the building that chiefly 
 attracts your attention. The collection of paint- 
 ings and sculpture would be considered rich even 
 in Italy. The apartments on tlie groimd-floor 
 are superbly furnished, and decorated with nu- 
 merous paintings of the Roman and Venetian 
 schools, many of which were executed by the first 
 artists of Italy. On entering the grand saloon
 
 118 THE dairyman's DAUGHTER. 
 
 the profusion of ancient sculpture that bursts 
 upon the view, fills you with a sentiment of un- 
 bounded admiration. It was the first time I ever 
 saw any thing of the kind, and it produced a 
 strange feeling to see the ancient gods and philo- 
 sophers gazing upon me from all quarters. 
 
 On my return from Appuldurcombe, I went a 
 few miles out of my direct route to visit the grave 
 of the Dairyman's Daughter. It is in the bury- 
 iiig-ground of the church at Arreton village. 
 When I alighted, the little girls of the village ga- 
 thered around me. I asked them if they could 
 show me the grave of the Dairyman's daughter. 
 " O yes," they replied, and immediately conduct- 
 ed me to it. It is close by the church of which 
 she was a constant and most exemplary attendant. 
 A plain slab of marble, with an appropriate in- 
 scription, marks the spot where sleep the ashes of 
 that sainted spirit, who shone so brightly while 
 on earth, and who is now shining in a purer and 
 fairer world. Who, thought I, as my eye rested 
 on the grave and my mind reverted to her " short 
 and simple annals," who would not prefer the re- 
 putation of her who reposes beneath that mound, 
 lowly and obscure though her lot on earth was, 
 to all the renown which the proudest sons of 
 genius and power have ever inherited .'' Monu- 
 ments of marble and of brass have been erected to 
 perpetuate their memory ; her name is inscribed 
 on the impevisliable records of heaven. They en- 
 joyed the happiness arising from the conscious-
 
 THE SOLENT — YACHT CLUB. 119 
 
 ness of pleasing their fellow-men ; she the blessed 
 assurance of pleasing her INIaker. Their glory is 
 fading ; hers will endure when the stars shall be 
 quenched and 
 
 " The Sun himself shall die." 
 
 The Isle of Wight is separated from the Eng- 
 lish coast by a channel from two to three miles 
 wide, called the Solent, or Solvent Sea. Those 
 who employ the latter orthography derive it from 
 the Latin verb " solvere" — to loose — to break off 
 — and contend that the island was originally a 
 part of the main land, but separated from it by 
 the operation of natural causes, beyond the pe- 
 riod to which authentic history extends. I am 
 not prepared to enter into the discussion of this 
 question ; and if I were, it would not, probably, 
 be very edifying. 
 
 This island has of late years become one of the 
 most fashionable summer retreats in England. 
 The wonderful fertility of its soil, and the pic- 
 turesque beauty of its scenery, have procured for 
 it the proud appellation of " the garden of Eng- 
 land."" The members of the Royal Yacht Club, 
 an association of several hundred lords and gentle- 
 men, annually assemble there, to breathe the 
 country air, and recreate themselves by land and 
 water excursions. The King is their patron, and 
 sometimes honours them with his presence. The 
 club uniform is the costume of British sailors. 
 The Kino- himself becomes a common tar on these 
 occasions. Each member of the club owns a
 
 120 VISIT TO SOUTHAMPTON. 
 
 yacht ; and once in the season there is a grand 
 saihng-match, at which all are required to be 
 present. Amusement is thus made subservient 
 to a valuable national purpose — improvement in 
 the art of ship-building. 
 
 I paid a touch-and-go visit to Southampton 
 and Portsmouth, on the main island. The for- 
 mer is about twelve miles north of Cowes, up the 
 Southampton river — a noble stream, and illustri- 
 ous in English story. At an early hour on the 
 morning of the 15th, I left Cowes in company 
 
 with Dr. , in the steam -packet Earl of 
 
 Malmesbury, on a trip to that place. The 
 scenery up the river is distinguished by that 
 picturesque beauty, and that air of perennial 
 freshness, for which England is celebrated all 
 the world over. On our left, we had a view of 
 the royal forest in which the son of William the 
 Conqueror was killed in the chase, and on our 
 right, of the beach where Canute administered 
 that well-known rebuke to his flatterers, when 
 they told him the tides of the ocean would 
 retire at his command. The ruins of Netley 
 Abbey, one of the oldest monkish establishments 
 in England, were indistinctly seen through a clump 
 of trees on the east bank of the river. They are 
 in a romantic spot, and are visited as a curiosity 
 by strangers who travel to that part of England. 
 
 When we arrived off Southampton, the steam- 
 boat came-to in the middle of the stream, and left 
 the passengers to get ashore as they might, all for
 
 VISIT TO SOUTHAMPTON. Ull 
 
 the patriotic purpose of giving employment to tlie 
 watermen. These hovered around us by dozens, 
 and such a jostling and clamour as tiiey made ! 
 One would have supposed it was a pitched battle 
 among the victors to decide who should carry oft' 
 the greatest share of the prize. Thus, nolens vu- 
 lens, we were obliged to com])ly with the Spanish 
 proverb, En tierra donde fueres liaz conio vieres,* 
 and pay sixpence a-piece for getting ashore, 
 after having paid for our passage nearly enough 
 to travel from New York to Albany. 
 
 We had time only to walk through some of the 
 principal streets, and give a passing glance to the 
 exterior of the city. It is one of the handsomest 
 places I ever visited. Most of the houses in the 
 suburbs have little yards in front,, which are laid 
 out with the utmost purity and delicacy of taste. 
 It is astonishing to observe to what an extent a 
 taste for rural beauties prevails in England : you 
 see it both in town and country, and not less in 
 the elegant ivy vines that wed the meanest cot- 
 tage, and the little grass and flower plats by 
 which it is surrounded, than in the vast gardens 
 and pleasure-grounds on which tlie eye of the 
 nobleman rests as he looks down from the terrace 
 of his castle. The cleanliness of the streets, and 
 the neatness of the shops in Southampton, were 
 particularly remarkable ; and the magnificent pro- 
 menades which skirt the town must make it, par- 
 ticularly in summer, a delightful residence. 
 
 • " At Rome do as the Romans do." 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 BAR GATE ASYLUM. 
 
 The two objects which chiefly attracted our at- 
 tention in our hasty transit through the town, 
 were the Bar Gate and the Royal Military Asy- 
 lum. The Bar Gate is about a mile from the 
 river on the principal street ; it is of high anti- 
 quity, having been erected about the time of the 
 Norman Conquest, and was one of the gates of 
 the old town. It is thirty feet thick, and has 
 three arches. In a niche on the south side of it 
 is a statue of our good friend George the Third. 
 Queen Anne was removed a few years ago to 
 make place for him. In a corresponding niche 
 on the opposite side are two huge rampant lions, 
 each grasping a British standard, with the motto 
 of the Knights of the Garter, " Mai y soit,"" &c. 
 engraved on it. 
 
 The Asylum is quite at the upper part of the 
 town. It is an institution which does honour to 
 the British government. The object of it is to 
 educate the daughters of soldiers who have died 
 in their country ""s service. Upon the death of 
 their fathers, the girls are taken and instructed 
 not only in reading, writing, &c. but also in the 
 duties of domestic life. At the age of fourteen, 
 they are provided with places, either as servants 
 or in some other capacity. When we were at 
 Southampton, there were about four hundred 
 girls in the Asylum, nearly all of whom we saw 
 playing in the large area, enclosed by the build- 
 ings belonging to the institution. Their uniform 
 was a red flannel frock, checkered apron and grey
 
 TRIP TO PORTSMOUTH. 123 
 
 sun-bonnet. I have never seen a finer or hap- 
 pier-looking collection of children. In their 
 childish froHcs, they were pouring forth, like a 
 stream of melody, the gushing gladness of their 
 young spirits. There is no sight more grateful 
 to a benevolent mind than the enjoyments of those 
 innocent beings, who 
 
 " Are dreaming cliildliood's brightest dreams ;" 
 and the delight we feel is doubled, when those 
 enjoyments are the result of charity ; or, what is 
 more, of a nation's gratitude, directed to the or- 
 phans of the gallant defenders of her rights. 
 
 In company with another Medico, on the morn- 
 ing of the sixteenth I set off on a trip to Ports- 
 mouth, " the most considerable haven for men-of- 
 war, (so says Dr. Morse,) and the most strongly 
 fortified place in England."" It is in a north- 
 easterly direction from Cowcs, and about equally 
 distant with Southampton from that place. We 
 had a beautiful view of Ryde as we passed it, a 
 village in the Isle of Wight. The houses were 
 uncommonly neat, and the shade trees so thickly 
 interspersed among them, that town and country 
 seemed here married to each other. One of our 
 fellow-passengers, a ruddy, corpulent, good- 
 natured fellow, amused us with an account of the 
 improvements he had made in the British navy, 
 and of others which he had in contemplation. 
 One of his contemplated improvements was to 
 make copper ships ! Congress had better be cast- 
 ing about to dispose of our live oak forests in 
 G 2
 
 124 PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR. 
 
 Florida for firewood, instead of sending out 
 schooners for their protection. An English reefer 
 also edified us with an account of a cruise he had 
 made in a frigate, or some other vessel, that sailed 
 eleven knots close-hauled, and fifteen with flow- 
 ing sheets !* 
 
 The entrance to the harbour of Portsmouth is 
 narrow but deep, and is defended by strong bat- 
 teries on both sides. The harbour forms nearly 
 a circle, and is one of the most capacious and 
 beautiful in the world. Covered as it was when 
 we saw it, with more than one hundred and fifty 
 of the finest ships in the British navy, it present- 
 ed a most imposing and magnificent prospect. 
 Immediately on our arrival, we procured a boat 
 to convey us to the Victory, Lord Nelson's flag- 
 ship at the battle of Trafalgar. The Victory is a 
 three-decker, and a noble model. I do not recol- 
 lect the exact number of guns she mounts, but it 
 cannot be far from one hundred either way. She 
 is considered so sacred, that visiters are required 
 to write their names and residences in a book 
 kept for that purpose. I had supposed that she 
 Avas laid up ad perpetuum, but we were assured 
 by officers attached to her that, in case of war, 
 she would be one of the first ships put in commis- 
 sion. She was kept in first rate order, and her 
 forwar d officers"' store rooms, which are very large, 
 were superbly fitted up. The yeomen all expect- 
 
 * J he slieets aie ropes by wliicli tlie lower corners of the sails arc 
 hauled aft. They are said to be " flowing" when the ship runs free, 
 bnt the wind is not dead aft.
 
 THE VICTORY. 12.> 
 
 ed a gratuity. Sucii a thing is not allowed in 
 our navy. A man who should be known to have 
 received money from a visiter M'ould be flogged. 
 Near the centre of the A'ietory's (|uarter-dcck is 
 a small circular jjlate of brass, let into the plank, 
 marking the spot where Lord Nelson fell. On it 
 is engraved the motto which he telegraphed to 
 his fleet before the action : " England expects 
 every man to do his duty." ^V^lat a sublime 
 conception ! How much enthusiasm it must have 
 awakened ! Those simple but emphatic words, 
 floating in broad letters from the mast head of the 
 Admiral, were doubtless the beacon-light which 
 guided many a gallant tar to a glorious death. 
 The battle of Trafalgar cost Lord Nelson his Ufe, 
 but it was not till the pasan of Victory had been 
 struck up, that the bravest and greatest of Eng- 
 land's naval heroes closed his eyes in death. We 
 were shown the room in the cockpit where he 
 died, and he must be either more or less than 
 human, who could behold it without emotion. 
 We were not admitted into the cabin, as the 
 court-martial, convened for the trial of Captain 
 Dickenson, was then sitting there. 
 
 We were politely invited into the ward-room, 
 where we were treated to a bottle of good old 
 sherry and other refreshments. The trial of Ca})t. 
 Dickenson was the all-absorbing topic on board 
 of the Victory, as it w^as at that time throughout 
 England. He came off^with flying colours, much 
 to the gratification of all his brother oflicers. 
 
 We were not admitted into the famous dock-
 
 126 ENGLISH SERVANTS. 
 
 yard. Permission could be obtained only by 
 writing to the Lords of the Admiralty in London. 
 For the rest, the town was not so handsome as 
 that of Southampton, and was chiefly interesting 
 to us as being the first specimen of a walled city 
 that either of us had ever seen. 
 
 Of all the countries I have ever visited, Eng- 
 land makes the heaviest draws upon a man's 
 purse. Your original bills at the public-houses 
 are enormous, and then you have them all to pay 
 over again in the shape of gratuities to servants. 
 And such servants ! A Greek is satisfied with a 
 {ew paras, and an Italian with a few grains or 
 scratches ; but an Englishman turns up his nose 
 at any thing but gold or silver. The former beg ; 
 the latter demands. As some compensation for 
 this, you are well served, well fed, and well lodg- 
 ed ; and these are things for which any reason- 
 able man would be willing to incur some extra 
 charges. The linen of their beds is white as the 
 purest snow, the butter and cream on their tables 
 yellow as virgin gold, and their mutton pies and 
 roast beef quite as rich and savoury as common 
 fame reports them. 
 
 The English are proverbial for their cleanli- 
 ness, and deservedly so. The meanest cottage in 
 England has an air of neatness and comfort, un- 
 known in the south of Europe, I was struck 
 with this wherever I went. 
 
 The Constellation was visited a great deal while 
 at Cowes by persons of all ranks. She was uni- 
 versally admired.
 
 DEPARTURE FROM SPITHEAD. 127 
 
 On the evening of the 20th, we got under 
 weigh from Cowes, but the pilot said the weather 
 was too " dirty" to proceed, and we came-to 
 again off Spithead. The next morning dawned on 
 us, as no other morning in Kngland had, with 
 a clear sky. The clouds that threatened us Avith 
 a blow the preceding evening, had themselves 
 been blown away, and the golden sun, as he rose 
 from the blue wave, seemed to smile on our 
 departure. A fresh breeze was blowing fair upon 
 us, our sails were early unbosomed to it, 
 " And gallantly the vessel heaved the salt sea and the spray." 
 
 The Melville, an English line-of-battle ship, 
 weighed anchor shortly after us, and as she dou- 
 bled the eastern extremity of the Isle of Wight, 
 and with all sail set stretched away for the jNIedi- 
 terranean, the most indifferent could not behold 
 her without a sentiment of admiration. 
 
 We passed the buoy of the Royal George, 
 sunk in 1782 by a sudden squall of wind, and 
 whose loss Cowper has celebrated in that well 
 known ode, beginning : 
 
 " Toll for the brave ! 
 
 The brave that are no more ; 
 All sunk beneath the v/ave 
 Fast by their native shore." 
 
 We had scarcely lost sight of the white cliffs 
 of Albion, when the whiter and bolder cliffs of 
 France rose upon our view. We did not arrive 
 off Havre early enough to land INIr. Rives the 
 same day, and therefore hove-to for the night 
 a little after sun-set. It was the holiest of hours;
 
 128 SUN-SET OFF HAVRE. 
 
 — an hour that the poet loves for its richness, the 
 philosopher for its quiet, and the Christian for its 
 purity ; — 
 
 " When the stillness below, the mild radiance above, 
 Softly sink on the soul, and attune it to love." 
 
 The sun had gone down, but traces of his glo- 
 rious journey were still visible in the west. On 
 one side of vis Avas the coast of " La belle France," 
 stretching in either direction till it melted into 
 the distant horizon ; on the other the vast ex- 
 panse of waters was enlivened by innumerable 
 vessels, some hanging like specks on the edge of 
 the horizon, others at various distances — distinct 
 and shadowy ; some apparently stationary, and 
 others, in their mazy movements, reminding you 
 of the moonlight dances of fairies. The sky was 
 perfectly clear, except where a few light clouds, 
 wrought into a thousand wild and fantastic shapes, 
 and gilded by the last rays of the setting sun, 
 were slowly coursing along the far-off heavens. 
 A soft and balmy influence pervaded the at- 
 mosphere, and as the eye looked round upon the 
 scene, and the soul drank in its beauties, impiety 
 itself could not avoid feeling that the Being who 
 had provided so many innocent delights, and so 
 admirably adapted our capacities to the enjoy- 
 ment of them, was all-good as well as all-power- 
 ful, and should be loved not less than feared. 
 
 The next morning, when I turned out and went 
 on deck, a wretched-looking steam-boat, with a 
 dirty old tablecloth for colours, was alongside.
 
 sailors' clothes. 12f) 
 
 Mr. Rives aiul family left us for Paris, amid the 
 smoke and roar of artillery ; and we — with huoy- 
 ant hearts and expanded sails — stood aw.'iy for 
 the blue Atlantic. We had a fine breeze in the 
 morning, and soon ran over to the south coast of 
 the Isle of Wight. Seen from any point, this 
 lovely island seems to be the fairest production 
 of nature. 1 have read of the Vale of Tempe 
 and the Gardens of the Hesperides, but it may be 
 said of the Isle of AVight, " Thou excellest theui 
 all." 
 
 In the evening it fell calm, and continued so 
 for several days. Could a landsman at this time 
 have been suddenly introduced on board, he would 
 have thought himself in a floating tailor's shop. 
 The forecastle and starboard side of the gun-deck 
 were complctclv covered with men, engaged in 
 making duck frocks and trow sers. In sunnner this 
 is no uncommon sight. The sailors prefer mak- 
 ing their summer-clothes to buying the slops pro- 
 vided by the government. They buy the duck of 
 the purser, and say that by making it u]) them- 
 selves, thev get better clothes and at less expense. 
 A sailor's summer uniform is a white hat, duck 
 frock with blue-striped and starred bosoms and 
 collars, duck trowsers and blue-striped belt. His 
 winter uniform is a black tarpaulin hat, blue 
 cloth jacket and trowsers, with the same frock 
 and belt as in sunnner. He is always obliged to 
 appear at muster, dressed in uniform. 
 
 Muster, when there is nothing extraordinary to 
 g5
 
 130 MUSTER. 
 
 prevent it, takes place every Sunday morning. 
 The object of it is to inspect the crew, and see 
 that they keep themselves in proper trim. Gene- 
 rally about four bells in the morning, the shrill 
 pipe of the boatswain's whistle may be heard, fol- 
 lowed by the deep sonorous tones of his voice, 
 " All hands, clean yourselves for muster, ahoy !" 
 " All hands, clean yourselves for muster, ahoy !"" 
 is repeated in full chorus by all his mates in the 
 ship. And now there is a general rush to the 
 berth-deck. Every man seizes his clothes-bag, 
 unfolds his wardrobe, and rigs himself out in his 
 best attire. They are first mustered in divisions, 
 and inspected by their respective officers. Each 
 division ranges itself in aline on the deck, and the 
 commanding officer walks the whole length of the 
 line, first before and then beliind them, the men 
 all touching their hats as he passes them. This 
 done, the crew are reported to the captain, 
 " ready for muster." The order is then given by 
 him to have them called to muster. This is usually 
 about six bells. We are now again edified by the 
 dulcet cry of the boatswain, " All hands to muster, 
 ahoy !" The officers are always called by a mid- 
 shipman. When the crew are all up, the boat- 
 swain reports it to the officer of the deck, the officer 
 of the deck to the first lieutenant, and the first lieu- 
 tenant to the captain. The men range themselves 
 abaft the wheel on the quarter-deck, and the offi- 
 cers on the starboard side of the deck if in port, 
 but on the weather-side if at sea. Divine service is
 
 COURTS MARTIAL. 131 
 
 performed, if at all, first. The muster roll is then 
 called by the purser's clerk, and each man an- 
 swers to his name, and passes in review before all 
 the officers. The first lieutenant, if he does his 
 duty, eyes them all closely, and if he observes any 
 thintr amiss, cither in their dress or appearance, 
 orders it to be corrected. The crew, with the ex- 
 ception of the servants and mess-boys, are not 
 allowed to go below after their names are called, 
 but must remain on the forecastle ; and if a single 
 syllable escapes them, it is not suffered to go un- 
 punished. When the call is finished, the captain, 
 with the first lieutenant, inspects every part of the 
 ship ; and then, at the command " pipe down !" 
 the boatswain and his mates set up such a tre- 
 mendous whistling, as reminds one of the blast of 
 the seven rams' horns that levelled the walls of 
 Jericho with the earth. 
 
 I was often amused by the courts martial held 
 by the first lieutenant. On these occasions the 
 men frequently pleaded their causes, if not very 
 eloquently, at least with a good deal of ingenuity 
 and earnestness. Their habit of " yarning" en- 
 ables them to lie with a readiness and an air of 
 truth, which often impose on the keenest observer 
 
 of human character. Mr. P had one of these 
 
 courts martial while we were becalmed off the 
 Isle of Wight. It was about a book belonging 
 to an officer, which had been found secreted in 
 pne of the tops. Nothing could be ascertained 
 respecting it, and all the men belonging to that
 
 132 VOYAGE TO GIBRALTAR. 
 
 top were flogged. In this relation I beg the 
 reader to observe two things, characteristic of a 
 man-of-war. The first is the clanishness of the 
 men, and the other the fact that the innocent are 
 often punished with the guilty. Men belonging 
 to the same top, the same boat, the same mess, 
 &c. will almost universall}' be flogged sooner than 
 betray their companions ; and as to the old 
 maxim, that it is better that six guilty persons 
 should escape than that one who is innocent 
 should be punished, it is here quite the reverse : 
 it is, let scores of the innocent be flogged, rather 
 than that one who is guilty should escape. This 
 extreme strictness is necessary on board of a 
 man-of-war. Discipline is there the " one thing 
 needful." 
 
 I commenced my school soon after we dis- 
 charged our passengers ; but I shall defer an 
 account of it to another part of this work. 
 
 Touching our voyage from England to Gibral- 
 tar, if the reader will imagine us again upon the 
 wide bosom of the Atlantic ; now in sunshine, 
 now in storms ; one while gazing on a glassy 
 expanse of waters, the very image of serenity and 
 loveliness, at another on the same waters when 
 the wild winds had lashed them to madness, fit 
 emblems of the life of man ; he will have perhaps 
 as correct a picture of it, as he would if I should 
 enter more fully into details. On Sunday, the 
 4th of October, we passed Cape Saint Vincent in 
 Portugal, and on the evening of the following
 
 EVENING SCKNE. 133 
 
 day made the coast of Spain near the Straits of 
 Gibraltar. The sails were fanned by a light 
 breeze, and the ship was slowly approaching their 
 entrance. The purity of the sky, the balmy 
 breathings of the air, and the general serenity of 
 nature, convinced us that we were already in the 
 neighbourhood of those delightful climes, 
 
 " Where all, save llic spirit of man, is divine." 
 
 A red border of light for awhile marked the 
 place, where the sun had ungirded himself after 
 his race, but this gradually melted into the sur- 
 rounding azure, and the whole heavens soon ap- 
 peared like a vast sea of sapphire purity, gemmed 
 with myriads of shining islets. The slanting rays 
 of the moon, as she approached the horizon, gave 
 a silvery brightness to the surface of the ocean. 
 The silence of night was unbroken, save by the 
 light ripple of the water along the sides of the 
 vessel, the measured tread of the officers on duty, 
 and ever and anon a single expression of admira- 
 tion, made in a tone which showed that tlic sanc- 
 tity of the hour and of the scene had triun)phed 
 over all the rude and boistei'ous ])assions. How 
 grand, how beautifid is the contemplation of na- 
 ture at such an hour ! 
 
 " To woo the gentle heavens with all tlieir dower 
 Of thought," 
 
 when night has thrown her covering oVt the 
 globe, and the blue depths of air are sowed with 
 stars, is always to conteni}>lativc minds a delight- 
 ful employment. But the place and circumstances
 
 134 STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 rendered it at that time peculiarly so to me. 
 There are moments in the experience of every 
 man, when years are concentrated in a single 
 point ; moments when the mellow recollections of 
 the past and the glowing anticipations of the fu- 
 ture come dancing like a light dream upon the 
 soul. Such was this hour to me. Memory and 
 imagination were equally busy ; the one evoking 
 buried joys from their grave, the other reflecting, 
 like the magic glass of Merlin, the unborn glories 
 of futurity. 
 
 We entered the Straits about ten o'clock on the 
 morning of the following day, and, with a fresh 
 breeze and strong current in our favour, glided 
 rapidly along between two gigantic ridges of 
 mountains, whose sides presented alternately 
 rocky precipices and cultivated fields, sprinkled 
 with here and there a white-washed farm-house, 
 and whose lofty summits terminated in irregular 
 and fantastic outlines. As the vessel moved on- 
 ward, at every successive point the scene was 
 changed, and every change revealed to our ad- 
 miration some new form either of beauty or sub- 
 limity ; till at length, their summits crowned 
 with clouds, the two immortal pillars, Calpe 
 and Abyla, rose like twin giants from the deep, 
 proudly towering above all the surrounding 
 mountains. 
 
 Tarifa Point, the southern extremity of Eu- 
 rope, on which there is a lighthouse and small 
 town, is about midway between the Atlantic and
 
 CURRENT OF THE STRAITS. 135 
 
 Mediterranean. The women of Tarifa, like their 
 neighbours of Cadiz, are celebrated even among 
 the Andalusians for their gracia. This term, 
 in Spanish, is as untranslatable into English, as 
 our word comfort is into the Spanish language. 
 Grace or gracefulness does not approach its mean- 
 ing. It expresses a combination of almost all the 
 fascinating qualities ever united in woman. It 
 has, however, a peculiar meaning, which cannot 
 even be explained, and one must have mingled 
 with Spanish graciosas to know and feel its full 
 force. 
 
 The current from the Atlantic to the INlediter- 
 ranean sets through the Straits of Gibraltar at the 
 rate of from four to six knots an hour. It is 
 much stronger when westerly winds have prevail- 
 ed for any length of time, than during the preva- 
 lence of easterly winds. Ships can beat into the 
 Mediterranean, but it is dangerous to attempt 
 beating out. Such attempts are sometimes made, 
 but rarely with success. It is even dangerous for 
 small vessels to attempt to beat in against fresh 
 breezes, for the contrary action of the wind and 
 current forms violent eddies, in which they are 
 sometimes swallowed up and lost. The wind 
 often blows through the Straits in the same di- 
 rection for weeks together. Mr. Luff, the pro- 
 prietor of a respectable public-house in Gibraltar, 
 related to me the following anecdote. A number 
 of sea captains were boarding at his house : wes- 
 terly winds had prevailed for a long time, and
 
 136 CURRENT OF THE STRAITS. 
 
 one of them, weary of the delay, determined to 
 make an attempt to beat out. He succeeded, 
 went to England, sold his cargo, embarked an- 
 other, returned to Gibraltar, and found his com- 
 panions drinking wine at the same table, and 
 still waiting for a fair wind ! "I tell the story 
 as 'twas told to me," and, from the character 
 of my authority, have no reason to doubt its 
 truth. 
 
 Strong currents are constantly rushing into the 
 Mediterranean from the Atlantic and the Black 
 Sea ; and all the rivers in the south of Europe, 
 in Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, 
 empty their waters into it. It was long a pro- 
 blem that puzzled the wisest heads in Europe, to 
 know what became of all this water ; but when 
 the theory of evaporation came to be understood 
 and admitted, men began to wonder why the 
 sun did not drink up the whole Mediterranean. 
 Thus it always is with poor, weak human nature : 
 it cannot avoid Scylla without rushing headlong 
 into Charybdis. As to the theory of counter 
 currents in the Dardanelles and the Straits of 
 Gibraltar, though not impossible, it has not yet 
 been demonstrated by facts. Evaporation, I 
 think, affords a sufficient explanation of the phe- 
 nomenon. Let tlie other theory, however, be 
 examined and tested. " El saber," says the 
 Spanish proverb, " nunca ocupa lugar.""* 
 
 We did not come to an anchor at Gibraltar, 
 
 • " Knowledge takes up no room."
 
 GIBRALTAR. 137 
 
 ))ut hove-to for our Consul to come off. Mean- 
 while all the glasses on board were put in re- 
 quisition, and the superior knowledge of the old 
 cruisers, who had been " up the Straits" before, 
 frequently appealed to by the green-horns. Gib- 
 raltar and Apes Hill, the Abyla of antiquity, are 
 grey lime-stone rocks. The latter is much the 
 highest and most commanding. Their naked and 
 dreary sublimity did not offer a stronger contrast 
 to the verdant and fairy landscapes we had left, 
 than the mild temperature of the climate did to 
 the cold and muggy atmosphere of England. In 
 England we put on our flannels, and did not 
 venture out without a cloak and umbrella ; at 
 Gibraltar, Mr. Henry came off, dressed in whites, 
 and big sweat-drops were rolling down the faces 
 of the poor fellows mIio were tugging at the oars. 
 Mr. H. did not board us, because we had not 
 been admitted to pratique. Some conversation 
 passed between him and Commodore Biddle. 
 Henry connnunicated the intelligence of peace 
 between the Turks and Russians, and Biddle 
 informed him that we had landed Rodney in 
 South America ! The officers crowded to the 
 bulwarks, and the anxiety to catch every syllable 
 made the ship as silent as the halls of a deserted 
 castle. The conversation ended, we filled away 
 again, and stood for Port Mahon with a " crack- 
 ing breeze'" on our quarter. We had all expected 
 to stop, and get a chance at the shore ; but to 
 accommodate himself to circumstances over which
 
 138 DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 he has no control, is a lesson one soon learns on 
 board of a man-of-war ; or, if he cannot learn it, 
 he had better avoid tlie navy as he would the 
 plague or the sniall-pox. We submitted very 
 philosophically to our fate, and consoled our- 
 selves with the assurance that we should have an 
 opportunity at another time of visiting and ex- 
 amining the impregnable fortress.
 
 139 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Passage from Gibraltar to Mahon— Gale of Wind off Port Mahon 
 — Arrival at that Port — Salutations of old Ship-Mates— Bomb- 
 Boats — Harbour — First Visit ashore — Jackass Ride — Beggars — 
 Description of JMahon — Jackasses — Public Buildings — Theatre — 
 Cathedral — Its Organ — Franciscan and Carmelite Convent- 
 Nunnery — Cemetery — Maiion on Sunday — Courting in Mahon — 
 Love in the South of Europe — Female Porters — Antiquity of 
 Mahon — Talyots — Los Iluertos — Fort St. Pliilip's— St. Stephen's 
 Cove — Lazaretto — Quarantine Island — Hospital Island — Visiting 
 between Sailors — Instance of Sailors' Generosity — Commodore 
 Biddle assumes the Command — New Regime — Loosing Sails in 
 Squadron — Sending down Top-gallant Yards — Crack Ship — -The 
 Delaware. 
 
 Behold me at length fairly in the Mediterra- 
 nean ! — that glorious ocean in miniature, sowed 
 with a thousand fairy islands, surrounded by the 
 loveliest and most illustrious portions of the globe, 
 and canopied by the purest and brightest skies 
 that ever smiled on the lovers of nature. The 
 " thick coming fancies," that rushed from the 
 well-rsprings of the imagination, would not let me 
 rest the first night after we entered it. I paced 
 the quarter-deck, I stood in the gangway, I leaned 
 over the bulwarks, I listened to the sailors' songs, 
 but everywhere I felt a feverish excitement, a 
 sense of indefinable gladness and buoyancy, which
 
 140 GIBRALTAR TO MAHON. 
 
 "would not suffer me to remain quiet. Tlicse feel- 
 ings, so ardent, so vivid, so delicious, what were 
 they but an involuntary homage to genius ? 
 
 Our passage from Gibraltar to Port Mahon was 
 a long one, as we had head winds or calms almost 
 the whole of the time. The day after we passed 
 the Rock, we were becalmed off the Sierra Ne- 
 vada, a range of snow-capped mountains, about 
 sixty miles in the interior of Grenada. We were 
 carried almost the whole distance by the current, 
 which acts with considerable force as far down as 
 Carthagena, and which is slightly felt till you get 
 off the Island of Majorca. AYe were in sight of 
 the Spanish coast nearly all the time till we passed 
 Carthagena. It is a continuous chain of moun- 
 tains or mountainous hills, wild and romantic 
 enough to satisfy the wildest and most romantic 
 imagination. 
 
 We passed Majorca on the 14tli of October, 
 and about three o'clock, p. M., the white mo- 
 nastery of Mount Toro in the Island of Mi- 
 norca, was seen breaking through the distance. 
 The Israelites were not more rejoiced when they 
 came within sight of the promised land, than we 
 were, when this earnest of port first saluted our 
 view. We did not arrive off the harbour in time 
 to enter it that evening. We only got near 
 enough to " see men as trees walking," and, hav- 
 ing hove-to for the night, Ave turned-in with the 
 cheering expectation of dining on " fresh grub'" 
 the following day. But, alas ! we were doomed
 
 GALE OF WIND. 141 
 
 to experience another of the reverses to wliich sea- 
 faring men are liable. In tiie morning we f(Hind 
 ourselves a little to the leeward of our ])()rt, and 
 were beating up to windward. ^V^e iiad made the 
 last tack but one previous to entering, and I 
 heard a midshipman eloquently descanting on the 
 " good cheer with which he intended to regale his 
 palate at dinner, when a small black cloud which 
 had hung rather frowningly on the sunniiit of 
 Mount Toro, suddenly spread itself along the 
 liorizon, and soon appeared like a vast curtain of 
 darkness stretched over all that part of the hea- 
 vens. The surface of the water, as you looked 
 out upon it in different directions, presented a sin- 
 gular contrast. To windward it was an innnense 
 sheet of foam, rapidly and angrily approaching 
 us ; to leeward, it was merely wrought into rip- 
 ples by the light breezes which had fanned it 
 during the morning. The gale struck the ship 
 at first in angry and irregular gusts, but it soon 
 came as if a thousand air-ports had been opened 
 in tlie sky, tearing up the sea, and driving the 
 vessel before it, as the chafed lion flies from the 
 huntsman. All hands were called, the first lieu- 
 tenant took the trumpet, the helm was })ut hard 
 up in order to scud befoi-e the gale, and the deck 
 and rigging exhibited the usual scene of regulated 
 confusion on such occasions. The gib-boom was 
 carried away and the gib lost. The sails were all 
 clued up and furled, and the upper yards sent 
 down and masts housed. When the ship was thus
 
 142 GALE OF WIND. 
 
 prepared for the gale, she was hove-to under 
 storm-stay-sails, and was soon drifted out of sight 
 of land. It is impossible for one who has never 
 been to sea to conceive the excitement of such 
 a scene. It is a species of intoxication. The 
 commands of the trumpet, the rapidity with 
 which they are executed, the numberless compli- 
 cated evolutions performed as if by magic, the 
 roar of winds, the agitated and angry aspect of 
 the waters, and the sublimity of the ship's motions 
 as she " mounts up to heaven and goes down 
 again to the depths," produce a scene more grand, 
 more varied, more absorbing than perhaps any 
 other in nature. But much as I love the wild 
 war of the elements, I confess my heart sank 
 within me, and there were many who sympa- 
 thized with me in this sentiment, when I saw my 
 hopes, on the very brink of Jordan, thus uncere- 
 moniously scattered to the wind. 
 
 In the afternoon, when the gale was at its 
 height, a man fell overboard. The wind and sea 
 were too high to order men to go in a boat. The 
 
 officer of the deck, Mr. B , instantly gave up 
 
 the deck to a brother lieutenant, jumped into one 
 of the quarter-boats, and sung out for '* volun- 
 teers." Another lieutenant, a passenger, nobly 
 volunteered his services, and the cutter was soon 
 manned with a sufficient number of men. She 
 was then lowered away, and put off. Every eye 
 was strained in the direction in which she went ; 
 but it was only at long intervals that a glimpse
 
 A SEAMAN SAVED. '^ 143 
 
 could be caught of her. It was a beautiful and 
 noble siglit to see the generous tar, in defiance of 
 danger, dashing through the mountain billows to 
 save a drowning comrade. The ])oor fellow had 
 been buffeting the waves for half an hour, and 
 was upon the point of giving up when the boat 
 reached him. When she approached the ship so as 
 to be seen more distinctly, it seemed as if she must 
 certainly be swallowed up by every successive 
 wave, and I several times thought it was all over 
 with her. It was a most intensely interesting mo- 
 ment, and was felt to be so by every one onboard. 
 Such was the violence of the sea, that the only 
 mode of getting the boat"'s crew on board of the 
 ship was found to be by throwing a rope over the 
 stern, lashing it round their bodies, letting them 
 jump overboard, and then tricing them up on 
 deck, drenched and dripping with salt water. 
 The officers were hoisted up in the boat. The 
 
 moment INIr. B stepped on the quarter-deck, 
 
 Commodore Biddle caught him by the hand, 
 gave it a hearty shake, and declared that he had 
 not expected ever to have that pleasure again. 
 He told him that if he had been on deck when 
 the boat was lowered away, he should not have 
 allowed it to be done. 
 
 Two life-buoys are always kept at the stern of 
 the ship. One of them had been let down as soon 
 as it was known that a man was overboard. He 
 had not been able to get hold of it. 
 
 The gale continued with unabated violence for
 
 144 ARRIVAL AT PORT MAHON. 
 
 two days, and on the fourth day after its com- 
 mencement, we beat up to the mouth of the har- 
 bour, and let go the anchor. It was about ten 
 ©""clock in the morning. „ We found the line-of- 
 battle ship Delaware, the frigate Java, and the 
 sloop Warren, in Fort Mahon. All their cutters 
 were put in requisition to tow the Constellation 
 up to her anchorage. Two long lines of them 
 were formed, and made fast to the ship. Their 
 crews were dressed in their summer uniforms, 
 and their long lines of graceful beauty contrasted 
 finely with the heavy mass that was slowly mov- 
 ing at their stern. We did not fire a salute to 
 Commodore Crane, who commanded the Dela- 
 ware, on account of the illness of one of our 
 officers. The Constellation was soon overflowing 
 with visiters, and the brightening countenances 
 and warm shakes of the hand, showed that many 
 an old shipmate's heart had been gladdened by 
 our coming. I was often reminded of college 
 scenes, quorum pars fui, when classmates were 
 returning from vacation visits ; and I read many 
 a lesson on the Benevolence that had formed us 
 social beings, and given us so many facilities for 
 cultivating the social affections. 
 
 It was on Sunday that we arrived in Port 
 Mahon, and the Mahonese either were not allow- 
 ed, or did not choose to come on board that day ; 
 but early the next morning there were not less 
 than from twenty to thirty boats about the ship, 
 and at breakfast-time there was a general rush up
 
 BOMB-BOATS. 145 
 
 the gangway. The ship was thronged all day 
 with tailors, hatters, shoemakers, and persons 
 who supply the messes with provisions, all beg- 
 ging our patronage in broken English, and in- 
 undating us with certificates of character and 
 eulogiums on themselves. These Degos, as they 
 are pleasantly called by our j^eople, were always 
 a great pest when we Avere in the harbour of 
 Mahon. Some of our commanders jjave seneral 
 orders not to let them visit their ships en 'masse 
 more than once or twice a week. Those who 
 supply officers'' messes are always allowed to go 
 on board every morning. 
 
 I was much amused, when we first went to Ma- 
 hon, with the scenes alongside of the ship at meal- 
 time. A number of bomb-boats were allowed to 
 come off to supply with fresh grub and soft tack 
 such of the ship's messes as had the means of pur- 
 chasing them. The berth-deck cooks would go 
 down to the boats with their kids full of sea-bis- 
 cuit, rice, or salt-beef, and return with an almost 
 equal quantity of paiiecillos,*' grapes and other 
 fruits. A ship's corporal is always stationed in 
 the bomb-boats to preserve order, prevent imposi- 
 tions, and keep a look-out for the men. One fel- 
 low bartered away his jacknife and got a flogging 
 for it. I saw another make an attempt to sell a 
 plug of tobacco, but when the corporal told him 
 the consequence, he muttered something about 
 " orders," and walked off. 
 
 * Small loaves of bread. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 MAHON HARBOUR. 
 
 The harbour of Mahon is in the south-eastern 
 })art of the island of Minorca. It is from a quar- 
 ter to half a mile broad, and about three miles 
 deep. You enter it with the ship's head towards 
 the north-west, but about a mile from its mouth, 
 it sweeps round to the left, the upper part form- 
 ing an angle with the lower of about one hundred 
 and forty degrees. The entrance is scarcely wide 
 enough for two large ships to pass each other in 
 it. St. Stephen's Cove and Fort St. Philip's are 
 on your left as you enter it, and on your right 
 you have Cape Mola, composed of a ledge of in- 
 accessible rocks, and the Lazaretto. The south- 
 western side of the harbour is a ledge of rocks, so 
 bold that ships-of-the-line can ride at anchor 
 within a few yards of it. The opposite shore is 
 less bold, being composed of a number of hills, 
 separated from each other by deep ravines, and 
 covered with shrubbery and vegetation of a stint- 
 ed ffrowth. There are two small islands near the 
 mouth of the harbour. One of them is occupied 
 with a quarantine establishment, and the other 
 with a military hospital. The Lazaretto stands 
 on a peninsula. The navy-yard is on a small 
 island opposite Mahon. About half a mile from 
 the mouth of the harbour, on the south-west side 
 of it, is a small town, called by the English 
 rieorgetown, but by the Spaniards Villa Carlos. 
 Mahon stands on the same side of the harbour 
 near its head. The number of windmills shooting 
 up in both these places produce a singular effect,
 
 FIRST VISIT ASHORE. 147 
 
 and remind one of the memorable gigantic adven- 
 ture with which Don Qiiixotte commenced his 
 chivalrous career. 
 
 The harbour of Mahon is proverbial for its ex- 
 cellence. Its depth, capaciousness, and security 
 must render it equal, if not superior, to any other 
 in the world. It is largo enough for the whole 
 British navy to ride at anchor in, and is secure 
 from all winds. It usually presents a picturesque 
 and animated scene. The shore-boats there are 
 more beautiful than in any other part of the 
 Mediterranean. They are generally of graceful 
 proportions, of a bright green colour, and rigged 
 with sails of snowy whiteness. The harbour is 
 alive with them all hours of the day. 
 
 The morning after our arrival, I asked permis- 
 sion of the first-lieutenant to go ashore, and was 
 told that I could not go till I had the " navy 
 button" put on my coat. That job was soon des- 
 patched by a knight of the goose, and I set off in 
 company with two or three midshipmen on a 
 cruise ashore. As our ship was anchored in the 
 lower part of the harbour, we landed at George- 
 town, where a dead set was made upon us the mo- 
 ment we stepped ashore by not less than a dozen 
 beggars, and another by about an equal number 
 of boys, with horses and jackasses which they 
 wished us to hire. The latter were the most im- 
 portunate of the two, and though we at first re- 
 sisted them manfully, they at last carried the day. 
 We mounted upon their long-eared coursers, and 
 h2
 
 148 JACKASS RIDE — BEGGARS. 
 
 our muleteers followed us with whips, beating 
 the poor beasts unmercifully, and crying out at 
 every breath in a most unmusical tone, " Arre ! 
 Arrer The obstinate asses took their own way 
 in spite of all our efforts to govern them. The 
 more we guided them, the more they would not 
 be guided, but kept running from one side of the 
 road to the other, with a most provoking per- 
 verseness. It was the first jackass ride I ever 
 took, and before 1 forget it, " my right hand will 
 forget her cunning." We were all in high glee, 
 and enjoyed it vastly. One who has been pent 
 up within the walls of a ship, and tossed about 
 upon the ocean for four or five weeks, when 
 he gets on shore, feels like a bird escaped from 
 the snare of the fowler. He scarcely knows whe- 
 ther he is in the body or out of it. 
 
 We spent the day in strolling through the 
 town, viewing the churches and convents, peep- 
 ing into the shops, eating fruit, and waging war 
 upon the beggars. These knew that we were a 
 fresh arrival, and they made a vigorous onset. 
 The rogues ! they know their game to perfection. 
 No play-actor understands his part better. The 
 whining cry of " Officer, give me one penny for 
 de bread ; I say, officer, give me one penny for 
 de bread," was continually ringing in our ears. 
 It appeared to me that almost a fourth part of 
 the inhabitants were beggars ; but after I had 
 been to Italy and the Levant, begging seemed 
 almost unknown in Mahon. My heart has often
 
 DESCRIPTION OF MAHON. 141) 
 
 bled for the ])oor maimed wretches, who liave 
 befjo-ed of me in the name of Jesus and the blessed 
 Virgin a single copper to keep them from star- 
 vation. This is the utmost they ever ask, and if 
 bestowed, they kiss the miserable pittance, and 
 pray for a thousand blessings on your head. My 
 ears had become so accustomed to be asked only 
 for coppers, that when, on my return, I was first 
 asked in the streets of Washington for a five- 
 penny bit, it gave me an involuntary start ; it 
 sounded like an enormous sum. 
 
 We remained in Port Mahon about two weeks, 
 and I was ashore almost every day. To a tra- 
 velled man Mahon is not a place of great interest, 
 but to me, on my first visit, it furnished the same 
 kind of food on vvhich I had been feeding for the 
 five preceding months — novelty. The dresses, 
 manners, religion, and general appearance of the 
 people of the place, differed widely from any 
 thing that had before fallen under my observa- 
 tion. At that time I laboured under the dis- 
 advantage of not understanding the language, 
 and shall therefore defer to another chapter near- 
 ly all I have to say of the manners of the INla- 
 honese. 
 
 A glance at a map of Europe will show the 
 reader the position of the city of Mahon. It is 
 near the head of the harbour and on the south- 
 west side of it. Only a small part of it is visible 
 from the water, on account of the boldness of the 
 rock which forms the shore. This rock is soft
 
 150 DESCRIPTION OF MAHON. 
 
 and porous, and large fragments of it sometimes 
 lose their tenacity, and come tumbling down be- 
 low. This happened once when we were in Ma- 
 hon, and the mass that was disengaged, in its 
 downward progress, crushed to atoms several 
 warehouses and every thing in them. There are 
 a number of ascents to the town, some in right 
 and others in ziz-zag lines. It has a tolerably 
 good quay, extending more than half a mile in 
 length. It has one or two ships, which trade to 
 the West Indies. The rest of its little commerce 
 is carried on almost entirely in feluccas and other 
 small craft with the island of Majorca and the 
 neighbouring coast of Spain. 
 
 Ciutadela, situated on the opposite side of the 
 island, and about ten leagues distant, was for- 
 merly the capital, and there the nobility and prin- 
 cipal gentry still reside. Mahon is at present the 
 capital, and by far the largest town, distinctions 
 which it owes to the excellence of its harbour. 
 It contains from twelve to fifteen thousand inha- 
 bitants, about one half of the entire population of 
 the island. 
 
 The streets of Mahon are narrow, irregular, 
 and paved with small round stones, which ren- 
 ders walking on them an ungraceful and disagree- 
 able business. They are not dirty except in the 
 poorest parts of the town. The houses are built 
 of a soft sand-stone, common in the island. They 
 are generally two stories high, and whitewashed or 
 painted yellow. Some of them are spacious and 
 elegant. The floors, as well upper as lower, are
 
 HOUSES OF THE MAHONESE. 151 
 
 all of tiles, and the roofs are composed of slabs of 
 terra-cotta, grooved and fitted into each other. 
 They are fire-proof, as nearly all the buildings 
 are in the south of l^^urope. The Mahonese are 
 a cleanly people, and the interior of their houses 
 is generally neat and wholesome. The kitchens 
 have neither stoves nor fire-places, but a wall of 
 brick-work, on the top of which there is a num- 
 ber of holes where they kindle little fires of char- 
 coal. Many of the houses have cellars, used for 
 the stabling of horses and jackasses. It is amus- 
 ing to see these animals descending by regular 
 stone-steps to their dark cavernous abodes. What 
 we keep in cellars, winter fruits and vegetables, 
 the Mahonese keep in their garrets. All the 
 doors communicating between the different apart- 
 ments are always kept open. I never could teach 
 the children and servants in the family where I 
 lived to shut them. They gave as a reason for 
 not doing it, that it w'as demasiado trabajo, — 
 too much trouble. 
 
 ]VIahon is the Wapping of the Mediterranean, 
 and hence it is filled with the lowest grog-shops 
 and houses of prostitution. The streets are al- 
 most constantly echoing with the music of drunk- 
 en sailors. Wheel carriages are unknown there. 
 The backs of jackasses supply their place. All 
 the drudgery of transportation is performed by 
 these animals. It is astonishing to see what loads 
 they carry. They are sometimes completely en- 
 veloped by their burthens, so that all you see is a 
 mass of lifeless matter, apparently endowed with
 
 152 JACKASSES BOYS. 
 
 the power of locomotion. Their strength and 
 capacity for endurance are prodigious. There 
 are only a few horses in the place, and these are 
 nearly all kept to let. One of the most fashion- 
 able amusements of our officers in Mahon is riding 
 out on horseback in the country. The boys 
 sometimes follow you for miles for the sake of 
 getting a copper for holding your horses when 
 you stop. One day, in company with the school- 
 master of the Boston, I rode from Mahon to Fort 
 St. Philip''s. At Georgetown not less than a 
 dozen boys commenced following us ; and when 
 we stopped, part of them seized the reins of the 
 bridles, some caught hold of the stirrups, and 
 others, pointing towards the Fort, offered to act 
 as guides. We told them we had been there 
 before, and were not going to alight. " Empero,''' 
 they exclaimed in their Minorcan dialect, " tie ha 
 molt de veura,''''* and seemed resolved to convince 
 us that we had not seen it. We attempted to 
 turn back ; they resisted ; and we were absolute- 
 ly obliged to use our whips to drive them off. 
 We then undertook to get rid of them by run- 
 ning our horses, but did not succeed. They 
 caught hold of their tails, which were so long 
 that we could not reach the ends of them with 
 our whips, and thus they held on till we were ex- 
 hausted by riding. When we got to Georgetown, 
 they set up a universal cry for money, demand- 
 ing it in payment of their services. We would 
 * " Nay, but there is much to be seen."
 
 THEATRE — CATHEDRAL. 153 
 
 have been willing to pay them liberally for letting; 
 us alone. 
 
 The public buildings in INIahon are a theatre, 
 court-house, cathedral, two convents, a nunnery, 
 and several smaller churches and chapels. The 
 theatre is new, and though not splendid it is neat 
 and convenient. The natives compare it with 
 their former hovel, and speak of it with com- 
 placent exultation. It is open about six months 
 in the year. The only dramatic entertainment it 
 affords, is the Italian opera. The masquerade 
 balls are held there during the Carnival. 
 
 The cathedral is the largest church in the 
 place. It is undoubtedly vastly inferior to those 
 superb galleries of sculpture and painting which, 
 under the name of churches, adorn the cities of 
 Italy ; but it was not on that account the less in- 
 teresting to me, as affording the first specimen I 
 had ever beheld of Catholic temples and wor- 
 ship in a Catholic land. As there is a general 
 resemblance between all Catholic churches, that 
 the reader may have an idea of what they are, 1 
 will give a brief description of it. It is a rectan- 
 gular parallelogram, and the two princi})al en- 
 trances are at the sides. Close by each of the 
 doors there is a fount of sacred water, in which 
 every Catholic on entering always dips his finger, 
 and then touches his forehead, breast, and each 
 of his shoulders, repeating the four words, Padre, 
 Hijo, Espiritu Scnito, Amen* On each side of 
 * " Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Amen." 
 H 5
 
 154 CATHEDRAL ITS ORGAN. 
 
 the church there is a succession of small apart- 
 ments, separated from the nave by wooden balus- 
 trades, and adorned with numerous statues of 
 saints and angels. These are private chapels, 
 each dedicated to a particular saint. They are 
 all furnished with altars, on which private masses 
 are said when requested. The grand altar is at 
 one extremity of the nave. It is decorated with 
 statues of Christ upon the cross and the Virgin 
 Mary, and with others of tutelary saints. Behind 
 the altar is the choir, a circular apartment, where 
 the priests chant the services of the church. 
 There are scattered through the church several 
 black upright boxes, just large enough to admit 
 a single person within. These are the confes- 
 sionals, in which the Father Confessor is en- 
 sconced, while the devotee is confessing his sins 
 in order to receive the ecclesiastical absolution, 
 and the conversation is carried on through a small 
 latticed window in one of its sides. 
 
 Among the furniture of the cathedral at Mahon 
 there is a large silver crucifix, elegantly wrought, 
 and having our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, and 
 the twelve apostles embossed on it in massy gold. 
 It is only used on grand festival occasions, when 
 it is borne in procession through the streets. But 
 the most valuable part of the church furniture is 
 the organ. It is three stories high, and has, as I 
 was informed by the organist, a respectable priest, 
 six thousand six hundred and fifty-two pipes. 
 The longest of the pipes cannot be less than from
 
 CONVENTS. 155 
 
 twelve to fifteen feet in length, and of a propor- 
 tionate diameter. It is the largest but one in 
 Europe. That in the cathedral at Haarlem, in 
 Holland, contains upwards of ten thousand pipes. 
 I have heard many of the finest organs in Italy ; 
 but none equal to tliat in jMahon. 
 
 " Through many a row of pipes the sound-board breallies," 
 
 and the tones which its breath produces have an 
 astonishing compass, sweetness, and variety ; now 
 rising and swelling, and pouring forth a Niagara 
 of music, and now dying away to tlie soft and 
 mellow cadences, which fancy has given to tlie 
 music of the spheres. Besides tlie power of imi- 
 tating almost all kinds of musical instruments, it 
 has a set of pipes that counterfeit the music of 
 the human voice with an exactness that needs 
 only articulation to render the deception complete. 
 The convents are the Franciscan and tlie Car- 
 melite. The former is the largest, and contains 
 nearly a hundred monks. They are called secular 
 clergy, and (Hffer from the regular clergy in their 
 vows, dress, and manner of living. Their outer 
 garment is a cloak of coarse cloth with a cowl of 
 the same material, which they sometimes throw 
 back when they walk out, but more commonly, 
 sepulchre-like, it buries their heads so completely 
 that their big black eyes and a small ])art of their 
 fat faces are all that is to be seen. The priests, 
 on tlie contrary, dash about in flowing robes of 
 broad-cloth, with lone: silken cords and enormous
 
 156 PRIESTS AND MONKS — NUNNERY. 
 
 tassels dangling about their legs. They wear long 
 rolling hats with small crowns, which Mr. Jones 
 not inaptly compares to a piece of stove pipe 
 stuck horizontally on the head. Many of them 
 have all those studied airs of strutting littleness 
 which grace your genuine dandy. The priests 
 live in their own houses, and are masters of their 
 own income ; but the friars are congregated to- 
 gether, and " have all things common." The 
 building they inhabit, as well as the association 
 itself, is called indifferently a convent or mo- 
 nastery. It is built round an open court, deno- 
 minated the cloister, and has in all the stories 
 open galleries or corridors running round the 
 whole enclosure. Each monk has a cell to him- 
 self, but they have eating-rooms in common, 
 where a certain number take their meals together. 
 Every convent has a church attached to it, and 
 the friars, like officers on shipboard, " relieve" 
 each other in its ministrations. All the clergy 
 shave both the crowns and lower parts of their 
 heads. The width of the circle of hair left marks 
 the extent to which the wearer is inclined to be 
 fashionable. The real dandy leaves but a narrow 
 strip, which he adjusts with the greatest care and 
 nicety. 
 
 The nunnery at Mahon is small, the whole 
 number of nuns not exceeding twenty. They are 
 generally poor and aged, and derive a miserable 
 support from charity and the labour of their 
 hands.
 
 CEMETERY — MAHON ON SUNDAY. 157 
 
 The cemetery is a little back of the town. 
 There is a small chapel in front of it, where mass 
 is said for the souls of the dead who are in pur- 
 gatory. The entrance is through a stone gate- 
 way, over which there is an inscription, declaring 
 that the Bisliop of Minorca will grant al)solution 
 and indulgence to all who piously resort tliither 
 to pray for the dead. An old woman, who seemed 
 delighted to see me, (the reader may guess the 
 cause,) unlocked and opened the gate, and, on 
 passing through it, I found myself in an area 
 twenty rods long, and about half as wide, in the 
 centre of which rose an obelisk, surmounted by a 
 cross, and surrounded by a few stinted cypress 
 trees. Forty-nine vaults, covered with small 
 rooms, and belonging to individuals of the higher 
 classes, enclose the area, which is filled with 
 others, into which the corpses of the common 
 people are thrown promiscuously. A large iron 
 plate marks the entrance to each of these gloomy 
 abodes, over which the grass, as if in mockery of 
 the loathsomeness beneath, is growing green and 
 luxuriant. 
 
 The best time for seeing the Mahonese is on 
 Sunday. They are then " rigged out" in their 
 gayest attire, and, having heard mass in the morn- 
 ing, they devote the rest of the day to amuse- 
 ment. The boys collect in groups in the prin- 
 cipal streets, and engage in all manner of noisy 
 diversions; the gentlemen pass their time in pro- 
 menading, and lounging about in the more public
 
 158 COURTING IN MAHON. 
 
 parts of the town ; while the women throng the 
 doors and windows of their houses, staring on all 
 the passers by, and bowing and smiling graciously 
 on those they happen to know, — some, probably, 
 because they have nothing else to do, — some in 
 the hope of seeing a favourite lover, and having 
 their bosoms thrilled with a renewal of his vows, 
 — and others, again, merely to indulge that love 
 of petty criticism and scandal, always character- 
 istic of the idle and the ignorant. The gentle- 
 men, when they pass their fair acquaintances, 
 never fail to address them with an " Adios, her- 
 mosa ; hendita sea la madre que te pario, y la 
 tiei^a que tu pisas,''"'* or some other equally flat- 
 tering and exaggerated compliment. The fair 
 recipient is, of course, too modest to return the 
 compliment in language, but her rich black eyes, 
 so full of sentiment and soul, say all that could 
 be desired by the most greedy devourer of wo- 
 man's favours. 
 
 The business of courting in Mahon is perform- 
 ed almost entirely on Sunday, and in the streets. 
 The state of society is such as to forbid absolute 
 privacy, and within doors the presence of the 
 family would be felt by the parties to be too great 
 a restraint ; so, to avoid unfair suspicions, and at 
 the same time enjoy the desired freedom of con- 
 versation, the lady takes her station in the door 
 or window, v/hile her suitor remains in the street ; 
 
 • *' Adieu, fair one ! blessed be the mother that bore yon, and 
 the earth on vvliich you tread."
 
 FEMALE PORTERS. 159 
 
 and thus publicly tlo the enraptured enamorados 
 " breathe out the tender tale." But this " drop 
 of heavenly comfort," thus communicated, is not 
 less keenly enjoyed by the passionate beauties of 
 Spain, than if poured into their ears on the bank 
 of some cool meandering rivulet, " beneath the 
 milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale." 
 Love, such as it exists in the land of mantillas 
 and black-eyed graciosas, is almost unknown in 
 the United States. It may be less enduring- 
 there, but it is certainly a thousand times more 
 violent than among us. It is not a Zephyr, but 
 a Euroclydon — not a fire which burns with a 
 calm and steady heat, but a volcano that pours 
 its fflowino- lava into the soul. I will not invade 
 the sacred privacies of domestic life, or I might 
 here relate some circumstances that have fallen 
 under my own observation, which would go to 
 illustrate, in a striking manner, the nature and 
 force of this passion in the southern climates of 
 Europe. 
 
 There are other customs in Mahon, which do 
 not strike a stranger on his first visit there less 
 forcibly. Many of the common porters are fe- 
 males, who, with enormous burthens on their 
 heads, employ their hands upon the distaff as 
 they pass through the streets. This is " killing 
 two birds with one stone" to some ])urpose. The 
 market-women, too, employ their time during 
 the intervals of business in spinning, knitting, or 
 sewing ; and in the winter they have their copas,* 
 * Small braziers.
 
 160 ANTIQUITY OF MAHON. 
 
 with a little ignited charcoal in them, by their 
 side. Here they make their own coffee, and pre- 
 pare and eat their frugal meals. In bad weather 
 the women wear shoes with high wooden soles, 
 which make a clattering like that of a horse*'s 
 hoof. The little girls running through the streets 
 frequently make you jump aside and look round, 
 expecting to see a jackass close upon your heels. 
 In walking out in the country, I was often amused 
 by the odd assortment of animals employed by 
 the farmer in cultivating his fields. A cow and 
 a jackass in the same yoke, and a horse and mule 
 in the same harness, were to me novel sights. 
 But not only are such barbarous unions common 
 in Spain ; they and a hundred others, equally 
 grotesque, are sanctioned even by the practice 
 of classic Italy. 
 
 Mahon boasts a high antiquity : its foundation 
 is attributed to Mago, brother of the Carthaginian 
 Hannibal, who gave his name to the city which 
 he founded — a name which, slightly altered, it 
 retains to the present day. Its early inhabitants, 
 like those of the neighbouring islands of Majorca 
 and Ivica, were famous for their skill in the usq 
 of the sling ; and those of its present inhabitants 
 who reside in the country are said, even yet, to 
 inherit a portion of the dexterity of their fore- 
 fathers. To accustom their sons betimes to the 
 use of this weapon, mothers were in the habit of 
 suspending their breakfasts from the branches of 
 lofty trees, and not allowing them a morsel of
 
 SLINGING — SWIMMING. 161 
 
 food till they liad brought their meals to the earth 
 with a sling. Trained in this way from infancy 
 to manhood, they became the most tremendous of 
 warriors — a race of Davids, hurling at the devoted 
 foe their " smooth stones," or smoother bullets, 
 with prodigious force and unerring aim. In all 
 the wars of the Romans and Carthaginians, their 
 services were much sought after and highly valued 
 by both parties. Each warrior was always pro- 
 vided with three slings when he went into the 
 field of battle, one of which was suspended from 
 his neck and another from his waist, while he 
 carried in his hand that which was designed for 
 immediate use. 
 
 In comparatively modern times, the inhabitants 
 of ]\Iinorca have been equally celebrated for their 
 dexterity as swimmers. It is not many years 
 since that a countrywoman, when an English 
 man-of-war had been becalmed for several days 
 off the coast, plunged into the water and swam 
 off, carrying a basket of fruit with her. She 
 wanted a few cuartos^* and knew no easier mode 
 than this of getting them. But their expertness 
 even as swimmers is on the wane ; as in what 
 manly exercises and generous qualities have not 
 the Spaniards degenerated within the last half- 
 century ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the remote foundation of 
 Mahon, not a vestige remains to attest its former 
 pride, strength, or splendour. The only im- 
 
 • A small Spanish copper coin.
 
 162 THE TALYOTS. 
 
 portant antiquities of the island are, I believe, 
 the Talyots found in various parts of it. These 
 are circular piles of loose, unwrought stones, and 
 undoubtedly owe their origin to the same senti- 
 ments that reared the Pyramids of Egypt and 
 constructed the Tumuli scattered over Thrace, 
 Asia Minor, and various other countries of the 
 East. Near a large Talyot, in the immediate vi- 
 cinity of Mahon, there are two enormous rectan- 
 gular stones, one of which stands perpendicularly 
 on the ground, and the other is placed horizon- 
 tally across it. This is supposed by antiquaries 
 to have been a place of sacrifice, and still goes by 
 the name of " altar." The Talyots of Minorca 
 are now laid bare, but they were, without doubt, 
 originally covered with earth and green-sward, 
 like the great family tribe of similar works in the 
 East. To what sentiments do these monuments 
 owe their origin ? Power, pride, caprice, and 
 gratitude have each had its share in the construe- 
 tion of them. They were designed to give im- 
 mortality to the persons for whom they were 
 erected ; but in the vast majority of cases they 
 have failed in the attainment of that end, as the 
 names of those whose memories they were intend- 
 ed to perpetuate are buried in an oblivion deep 
 and everlasting as that which envelopes those of 
 the wretches who toiled thus fruitlessly for the 
 gratification of ambition or the fulfilment of ima- 
 ginary obligations. I have never beheld the Ro- 
 man Sarcophagi, the Grecian Soroi, or the Asiatic
 
 LOS HUERTOS. 163 
 
 Tumuli — those everlasting sepulchres, designed 
 to rescue from forgetfulness the names and vir- 
 tues of the men whose ashes they enclosed — with- 
 out a deep feeling of the utter littleness of human 
 glory, and of the truth of that philosophical 
 reflection of Corinna on an examination of the 
 bronze doors of the Baptistry at Florence — '• Oh, 
 how difficult it is for man to avoid oblivion ! and, 
 on the other hand, how powerful is death !" 
 
 There is a beautiful little valley, called Los 
 Huertos,* extending a mile or two above the head 
 of the harbour. It is watered by a copious foun- 
 tain, that gushes up from the earth near a small 
 church dedicated to St. John. The water is con- 
 ducted by means of aqueducts to the difterent 
 parts of the valley, which, fenced off into nume- 
 rous small fields, adorned with fruit-trees of vari- 
 ous kinds, and covered with a carpet of the 
 richest green, presents a highly picturesque ap- 
 pearance. In summer it is a fashionable prome- 
 nade, and once a year the whole population of 
 Mahon and the neighbouring villages visit it en 
 masse. This is on the twenty-fourth of June, at 
 the celebration of the festival of St. John, whose 
 church stands near the head of the valley. This 
 church is never opened except on the day of the 
 festival, and mass having been celebrated, the re- 
 mainder of the day is devoted to horse-racing. 
 The victors are rewarded by a silver spoon, paid 
 for by the Government. 
 
 * The Gardens.
 
 164 FORT ST. Philip's. 
 
 The fortifications situated on your left as you 
 enter the harbour, and known by the name of 
 Fort St. Phihp's, once rivalled in extent, beauty, 
 and strength, those of the Knights of St. John at 
 Malta. A menacing array of artillery frowned in 
 terrific grandeur for a considerable distance along 
 the coast, while the excavated galleries were suffi- 
 ciently capacious to receive military stores for the 
 supply of a numerous garrison for many years. 
 Babylon, however, can scarcely be in a state of 
 more complete desolation than Fort St. Philip's is 
 at present. It was destroyed a few years ago by 
 order of the Spanish government, which, had it 
 never committed an act more impolitic and wicked 
 than this, would have saved itself a good deal of 
 reproach, and gained no small amount of credit. 
 A few soldiers, commanded by an inferior officer, 
 the miserable shadow of a garrison, are the only 
 force stationed to defend a fortress, within whose 
 precincts were once gathered serried thousands, 
 and a silence, deep as that of the sepulchre, has 
 succeeded to the songs and shouts and revelry of 
 those jolly sons of Mars. 
 
 The first time I visited Fort St. Philip's I met 
 with an adventure which had like to have proved 
 not very agreeable, though I never anticipated 
 more than a few hours'" exposure to the torrent of 
 heat which a mid-day's sun was pouring down 
 upon the earth. At the highest battery I made a 
 few memoranda with a pencil to assist my me- 
 mory. This was reported by the sentinel station-
 
 AN ADVENTURE. IGo 
 
 ed there to the commanding officer, who immedi- 
 ately set off in pursuit of us, and soon overtook 
 and beckoned us to follow him. The old man, 
 whom I had procured for a guide, guessing the 
 cause, shook his head and cast upon me a most 
 doleful and significant glance. When we arrived 
 at the quarters, the officer placed us under sen- 
 try's charge, and told us that we must remain 
 there till he could write to the governor, and re- 
 ceive his decision. I was not less amused than 
 vexed at this strange conduct. Not so, however, 
 my venerable cicerone. He shook his head, wrung 
 his hands, and broke out in frequent expressions 
 of anguish. Whilst his haughtiness was pre- 
 paring his note, I several times paced the limits 
 to which we were confined, and having got my 
 cue, I sent the old man to call him. I then told 
 him that, as for any thing I had written, he was 
 welcome to do what he might clwose with it ; that 
 I had harmed neither him nor his government ; 
 and that he had better look well to his conduct, 
 as a complaint of it to the commodore might em- 
 barrass him. He appeared staggered, and asked 
 to see what I had written. Having effaced the 
 offensive notices, he dismissed us with permission 
 to see as much as we pleased, but with a strict in- 
 junction to write no more ; just as if every thing 
 was to vanish from my memory the moment it did 
 from my sight. I inquired of my guide the rank 
 of the officer who had treated us witli so much 
 civility. He replied that he did not know, but
 
 166 ST. Stephen's cove — lazaretto. 
 
 guessed he was a midshipman. The reader may 
 consider this a trifling circumstance, but on ship- 
 board it was considered the best part of the joke. 
 
 The fortress was built on both sides of a narrow 
 inlet, extending about a quarter of a mile inland. 
 This is St. Stephen's Cove. It is romantically 
 situated, and as you gaze upon its clear cerulean 
 waves, and listen to the deep delicious music they 
 make, as they are borne in everlasting alternation 
 upon the pebbly beach and back to the " world 
 of waters," you almost envy the lot of the hermit 
 who plants his solitary cell amid scenes like this, 
 and whose sole employment is to tremble with awe 
 and burn with love in the contemplation of the 
 sublimities and beauties of Nature. 
 
 Ships are sent from all parts of Spain to per- 
 form quarantine at Mahon. We sometimes saw 
 from thirty to forty of them at once, most of 
 them from Cadiz. The Lazaretto is large, clean, 
 and airy, and provided with every thing necessary 
 to the comfort of valetudinarians. Some of the 
 lodging-rooms, designed for the accommodation 
 of high naval officers, are spacious and well fur- 
 nished. Persons occupying apartments in the 
 Lazaretto are allowed the whole promontory 
 back of Cape Mola, for taking exercise and the 
 fresh air. 
 
 The establishment on Quarantine Island is de- 
 signed to facilitate communication between the 
 shore and ships in quarantine, and between ves- 
 sels performing quarantines of unequal duration.
 
 QUARANTINE AND HOSPITAL ISLANDS. 1G7 
 
 Fresh grub may always be procured by persons 
 in quarantine with the same facility, and at nearly 
 as low prices, as if they had full communication 
 witii the shore. 
 
 Hospital Island is considerably larger tlian 
 Quarantine Island. Tlie buildings belonging to 
 the military hospital are extensive, and the apart- 
 ments for the sick numerous, clean, and well- 
 aired. It has a copious well of excellent water. 
 A chaplain and surgeon are stationed there. The 
 gentleman who filled the latter office when we 
 first went to Mahon,* is one of the brightest spirits 
 in Spain, and in her better days occupied the 
 high post of surgeon-general of her armies. He 
 shared the recompense which talents and learning, 
 employed in the promulgation and support of 
 liberal principles, may always cx})ect at the hand 
 of despotic power. But although his sovereign 
 stripped him of his dignities, and drove him into 
 a species of exile, thanks to the Being who has 
 placed the noblest part of the reward of virtue 
 beyond the control of external influences, he could 
 not rob him of the glorious, the soul-sustaining 
 consciousness of having laboured for nearly half 
 a century with a zeal that none have surpassed, 
 and a learning that few have equalled, in the com- 
 mon cause of Spain and humanity. 
 
 But it is time to return to the ships. On our 
 first visit to Mahon, our sailors were not per- 
 
 * A short time before the Constellation left Mahon, he was re- 
 moved to a hospital on the Peninsula.
 
 168 VISITING BETWEEN SAILORS. 
 
 mitted to go ashore ; but, to compensate in part 
 for this privation, they were allowed to visit a 
 good deal among the other ships. Sunday is 
 their day for visiting, as it is the only holiday 
 they have, I have seen several boat-loads from 
 the other vessels on board of the Constellation at 
 the same time. These visits are highly enjoyed 
 by the sailors. Our people received their old 
 shipmates, weather-worn and jolly tars like them- 
 selves, with a rough but warm-hearted sinceritj, 
 far the most unknown in the elegant civilities of 
 polished life. A glass of grog is all the visiter 
 expects in the way of entertainment, and even 
 this is more than the entertainer can always pro- 
 cure for his guest. I have often seen a man stop 
 an officer as he was passing him, and clapping 
 one hand on the shoulder of his brother tar, and 
 with the other catching hold of his hat or a tuft 
 of hair, address him with a significant grin, " Mr. 
 
 , this is an old shipmate of mine, sir, if you 
 
 had a drop that you could spare, sir." Eloquence 
 like this is, of course, resistless. When an old 
 sailor meets with an officer under whom he had 
 formerly sailed, he always expects a glass of grog 
 from him, to drink to the memory of Auld Lang 
 Syne. 
 
 When these visiting parties were on board, I 
 often amused myself by listening to their conver- 
 sation. In one respect the conversation of sailors 
 is like that of every body else ; i. e. it turns on 
 subjects which most nearly concern their happi-
 
 SAILORS GENEROSITY. 169 
 
 ness — the characters of their commanders and 
 ships, the duration of their cruises, the charms of 
 shore, the tempests they have witnessed, and the 
 perils they liave escaped in their ocean wander- 
 ings ; but their peculiar habits of life and a^,s()ci- 
 ation impart to it a flavour of romance, with 
 which the conversation of your dull ploddin<j; 
 landsman is never seasoned. Their everlasting- 
 flow of metaphors, many of which are bold and 
 happy, not imfrequently renders their conversa- 
 tion highly poetic. True, its poetry is rough and 
 uniiarmonious, but it is nevertheless nervous and 
 expressive. 
 
 A sailor is an odd sort of being. He has much 
 that is forbidding, nay, revolting in his character, 
 and yet he is by no means destitute of generous 
 and noble traits. These, whenever they are ex- 
 emplified, 1 shall always take pleasure in record- 
 ing. I am not one of those who delight to vilify 
 the human species. I love to discover proofs in 
 the very outcasts of society, that all has not been 
 lost in the fall — that, even amid the wreck of our 
 moral nature, some heaven-born qualities remain. 
 An instance of the generosity of sailors occurred 
 soon after our arrival at Mahon. On our passage 
 out, the ship's cook had had his leg broken. He 
 was sent home in the Delaware, and the crew of 
 the Constellation made up for him a purse of 
 about one hundred dollars. 
 
 Commodore Biddle took command of the squa- 
 dron shortly after our arrival in Port Mahon. 
 
 VOL. I. 1
 
 170 NEW REGIME. 
 
 He hoisted the broad pendant, (vulgarly called 
 the " swallow's tail,") on board of the Java. 
 While Commodore Crane remained, he used the 
 red instead of the blue pendant, to show that, 
 although the actual commander of the squadron, 
 there was still a superior officer on the station. 
 Salutes were exchanged between the Java and the 
 other ships on his assumption of the command. 
 
 We found ourselves under a different regime 
 the moment we dropped anchor in Port Mahon. 
 While he remains by himself, the commander of 
 any of our public vessels is supreme ; but in 
 squadron the movements of all the other ships are 
 regulated by those of the Commodore. The yards 
 are sent up and down, the sails loosed and furl- 
 ed, the colours hoisted and hauled down, and the 
 stern and quarter-boats hoisted up, on board of 
 all the ships at the same time. This community 
 of evolutions furnishes a great many beautiful 
 and animating scenes. Let the reader figure to 
 himself a fleet of fifty or sixty sail, all riding at 
 anchor within a few yards of each other. A sig- 
 nal to " loose sails" is run up on the Commo- 
 dore's mizen, and answered in the same w^ay from 
 all the other vessels. The crews are immediately 
 sent up from below and ordered to " stand by to 
 lay up on the yards." The officers of the decks 
 now keep their eyes on the Commodore, and the 
 moment they perceive that the order to " lay 
 aloft" has been given there, each repeats it on 
 board of his own ship, the men spring upon the
 
 EVOLUTIONS OF THE SQUADRON. 171 
 
 rigo;ing, and all the shrouds in the squadron are 
 instantly alive with them. They spread them- 
 selves out upon the foot-ropes, and with all possi- 
 ble despatch untie the cords by which the sails 
 are fastened to the yards. The officer of the deck 
 then puts the question, " Are you ready in the 
 main ?" " Ay, ay, sir," is the reply. The same 
 question is put to, and the same answers re- 
 ceived from, the captains of the fore and mizen- 
 tops. When all are " ready," and the command 
 " let fall" is given at head-quarters, it is in- 
 stantly repeated on board of all the other ships, 
 and the sails in every direction, displaying their 
 broad surfaces in ten thousand folds as they fall 
 about the masts, present a scene which the most 
 indifferent could not behold without a feeling of 
 admiration and delight. It is like a flock of 
 eagles spreading their giant wings for a flight 
 over the " great glen of Scotland." 
 
 Take another of these general manoeuvres. 
 Sending down top-gallant yards is an evolution 
 performed generally a little before sunset. A 
 signal is run up on board of the Commodore and 
 answered as in the other case. The necessary 
 preparations are made, and at the first movement 
 in the flag-ship, indicating that the order to 
 "sway down" has been given, all the top-gallant 
 yards in the squadron instantly lose their horizon- 
 tal position, move slowly down the rigging, and 
 are lashed to the lower shrouds. In all this not a 
 man is seen : the whole seems to be the effect of 
 I 5^
 
 172 THE CRACK SHIP. 
 
 enchantment. The hoisting and hauling down of 
 the colours is an operation equally magical and 
 beautiful. In summer the colours are hoisted at 
 eight o'clock — in winter, at nine. They are al- 
 ways hauled down at sunset. 
 
 There is always a rivalry between the different 
 ships in our squadrons as to which shall be kept 
 in the best order, and the neatest and cleanest 
 is called the " crack ship." When we arrived in 
 Mahon, the Delaware enjoyed the much coveted 
 distinction. She is a noble ship. She is pierced, 
 I believe, for one hundred and ten guns, but did 
 not then mount her full complement. The guns 
 on her two gun-decks are thirty-twos ; her car- 
 ronades are forty-twos. Her exterior did not be- 
 lie the purpose for which she was made ; but her 
 interior looked as if she had been designed for 
 show rather than fighting. The Delaware saw 
 but little active service whilst in the Mediterra- 
 nean, having, with the exception of three months 
 that she cruised off Cape de Gatt, lain in Port 
 Mahon nearly the whole of the time that she was 
 on the station. Her officers were not at all satis- 
 fied with their cruise.
 
 173 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Getting under weigh for Tripoli — Object in go!ng there — Affair of 
 Major Laing's Murder — Promontory of Carthage — Sailing in 
 Squadron — Beating — Tacking Ship — Reefing 'I'opsails — Sunrise 
 — View of Tripoli from the Deck of our Ship — Recollections — 
 Features of the Country about Tripoli — Interest felt by an Ame- 
 rican in viewing the Harbour of Tripoli — Salutes — Gozo — Divine 
 Service on Board — Coast of Sicily — Disappointment at not visit- 
 ing Carthage — Passage from Tripoli and Arrival at Mahon — 
 Quarantine — Return of the Delaware to the United States — 
 Arrival of the Ontario with Letters from America — Coming-to at 
 Gibraltar — Bay and Rock of Gibraltar — Diversity of Appearance 
 among the Inhabitants of Gibraltar — Fortifications — Regiment 
 of Highlanders — Commercial Aspect of Gibraltar — Description 
 of the Town — Jewish Synagogue — Exchange — Market — Cisterns 
 — Alameda — St. Michael's Cave — Excavations — View of the 
 Troops parading — Prospect from the Signal House — Historical 
 and Poetical Associations. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 31st of October, 
 a signal was run up the niizen of the Commodore 
 to " unmoor ship," and immediately after break- 
 fast another signal was made to get " under 
 weiffh."" The Java and Warren were anchored 
 above Hospital Island, and the Delaware and 
 Constellation below it. The beauty of a ship 
 with all sail set is irresistible, and when the Java 
 passed the island and came full in sight, she occa- 
 sioned a universal sentiment of admiration. Her
 
 174 SAIL FOR TRIPOLI. 
 
 rigging was immediately manned, and her men 
 gave two cheers, and then she again glided silent- 
 ly and slowly along. When she arrived opposite 
 the Delaware, the rigging of the latter was also 
 manned, and the compliment returned by three 
 cheers. This w^s again answered by one from 
 the Java, and then the men rapidly descended 
 from the shrouds of both ships. The same beau- 
 tiful evolution was performed on board of the 
 Warren. Our position prevented it on board of 
 the Constellation. As we left the harbour, the 
 Delaware''s band struck up " Hail Columbia !" 
 and its tones, wafted upon the morning breeze 
 and mellowed by distance, touched the soul like a 
 dream of home. 
 
 I shall offer no apology for introducing the fol- 
 lowing extract from a letter, written the morning 
 on which we sailed. 
 
 " Tripoli is our destination. The object of 
 our going there, as far as I can learn, is to settle 
 some difficulty between the Bey and the Ameri- 
 can Consul, Mr. Coxe, now on board of the Java, 
 which has grown out of an affair connected with 
 the murder of Major Laing. An impenetrable 
 mystery, you know, long hung over the assassi- 
 nation of that unfortunate traveller. Major L. 
 had married a daughter of the English Consul, 
 Warrington, and this latter, impelled by the 
 double motive of avenging the death of a rela- 
 tion, and recovering papers known to contain 
 valuable information, was indefatigable in his
 
 MURDER or MAJOR LAING. 175 
 
 endeavours to unravel the mystery and brin<r tlie 
 assassins to justice. At last he got a clue that 
 was likely to let him into the wliole secret, and it 
 was likely also to include among the accomplices 
 
 to that abominable deed, one H D , 
 
 eldest son of the prime-minister of Tripoli. This 
 fellow smelling what was in the wind, fled to the 
 house of Coxe, and begged the protection of our 
 flag. It was granted. The Bey admitted the 
 inviolability of the asylum, but sent a messenger 
 to our Consul, earnestly requesting him not to 
 
 favour the escape of D , as his deposition 
 
 Avould be necessary to the investigation then go- 
 ing forward. On the evening of that very day, 
 the 9th of August, D , disguised as an Ame- 
 rican officer, embarked on board of the Fairfield, 
 Capt. Parker, who weighed anchor and sailed 
 from Tripoli on the morning of the 10th. 
 
 " The French Consul is also, it appears, im- 
 plicated in the affair. D had formerly ped- 
 dled fancy articles in various parts of France, 
 and had everywhere been notorious for being 
 surrounded with women and creditors. He had 
 contracted numerous debts, which he was unable 
 to discharge on leaving the kingdom. A younger 
 
 brother of D , IMohamcd by name, who had 
 
 been apprehended after his escape, terrified at the 
 prospect of punishment, if he should refuse to 
 disclose what he knew of the matter, testified 
 under oath that the papers of Laing had been in 
 the possession of his brother, but that he had
 
 176 MURDER OF MAJOR LAING. 
 
 delivered them to the French Consul in conside- 
 ration of his (the Consul's) getting forty per cent, 
 remitted on his debts in France. 
 
 " What could have been the motive of this 
 strange conduct on the part of the American Con- 
 sul, I am utterly at a loss to guess ; but the con- 
 duct of the French Consul, if this statement of it 
 be correct, is still more inexplicable. Could he 
 have been influenced by the contemptible vanity 
 of publishing in his own name the result of an- 
 other''s researches ? forbid it generosity ! honour ! 
 justice ! I sincerely hope that the current reports 
 in relation to this strange affair may prove to be 
 without foundation. 
 
 " But amid all this darkness and uncertainty, 
 one cheering fact presents itself to the friends of 
 science. It is that Major Laing's papers are pre- 
 served, and will in due time probably be given to 
 the world. There is no subject in regard to 
 which public curiosity has been more strongly 
 excited for several years past than the examin- 
 ation of tliose vast empires and cities, said to 
 exist in the interior of Africa; and the number 
 of valuable lives sacrificed in the prosecution of 
 this object, have invested it with an air of ro- 
 mance, and given it an interest which does not 
 perhaps properly belong to it. Laing penetrated 
 farther than any previous traveller, visited the 
 famous city of Timbuctoo, and resided there se- 
 veral weeks. The information which his known 
 enterprise and learning must have collected, and
 
 MAJOR laixg's papers. 177 
 
 which is doubtless detailed in his journal, must 
 be highly original, and cannot fail to awaken a 
 deep and powerful interest in the public mind." 
 
 Since my return to the United States, I have 
 seen an article in the March Number of the Lon- 
 don Quarterly, on M. Caillie's Journey to Central 
 Africa, in which several pages are devoted to an 
 examination of this affair. All the important 
 facts contained in the above letter are corroborat- 
 ed by this writer, and several others added, of 
 which I was before ignorant. It does not, in- 
 deed, appear that D had been a fancy pedlar in 
 
 France, but that he was accessary to the murder 
 of JNIajor Laing, and, by a well conceived system 
 of bribery, succeeded in getting possession of his 
 papers, is proved to a moral certainty. That the 
 French Consul, the Baron de Rousseau, purchased 
 the papers of him by getting a per centage remit- 
 ted on his debts in France, for the purpose of 
 giving them to the world as the result of his own 
 researches, though not absolutely proved, is yet 
 made probable by such a chain of circumstances 
 as scarcely to leave room for a doubt that this was 
 actually the case. Had he succeeded in his lite- 
 rary fraud, by such nefarious means, how poor 
 and empty would have been the compensation he 
 would have received for his loss of self-respect, in 
 the admiration which liis stolen plumes might have 
 attracted. The American Consul, as it appears 
 from a letter to Warrington, written by him a 
 few days after we sailed from Tripoli, was onl}- 
 1 5
 
 178 SHIPWRECK OF iENEAS. 
 
 gulled. A sentiment, creditable to his heart, pre- 
 disposed him to imposition; — I mean gratitude 
 
 for the services rendered by the D family to 
 
 his fellow citizens, who were prisoners in Tripoli, 
 during our war with that Regency. 
 
 There seems now to be great reason to fear that 
 Laing's papers, consisting of his journal and the 
 result of his researches into the history of Tim- 
 buctoo, have been destroyed. 
 
 We had a fine breeze for crossing the Mediter- 
 ranean, and the morning of the second of Novem- 
 ber discovered to us the most interesting por- 
 tion of the Barbary coast. We were on the 
 same waters and near the spot Avhere " pius 
 j^Eneas," of school-boy memory, was wrecked 
 after his departure from the friendly shores of 
 Sicily. I remembered with what glowing admi- 
 ration I first read Virgil's description of that 
 event, and with what new feelings of delight, 
 after I became better able to appreciate its beau- 
 ties, I hung iteriim iterumgue over its sublime and 
 fervid eloquence. It was then, as may easily be 
 conceived, with no ordinary emotions that I be- 
 held myself even in the vicinity of such classic 
 scenes. And yet what was there peculiar in the 
 scenery by which I was surrounded ? Nothing. 
 It was genius, and genius alone that had hallowed 
 it. Is there not something in the interest which 
 the powers of a master spirit are thus able to im- 
 part to whatever they touch — an interest lasting 
 as the great features of nature — is there not some-
 
 SAILING IN SQUADRON. 179 
 
 thing in this that proves the nobility and ininior- 
 tality of man ? 
 
 We had a distant view of the promontory on 
 which stood the city of Dido, Sophonisba, and 
 Hannibal, and never did I want wings so much 
 as when we passed that place. My soul jianted 
 to leap from its tenement, and survey a sj)ot con- 
 secrated by such varied, brilliant, and stirring 
 recollections. Dido, Regulus, Sophonisba, Han- 
 nibal, Scipio, Marius, were charmed names ; and 
 as their shades, recalled by the genius of the 
 place, flitted before my fancy, images of beauty, 
 love, misfortune, patriotism, firmness, courage, 
 glory and tyranny, struggled in turn for mastery 
 over the spirit. 
 
 The order of sailing in squadron is the follow- 
 ing : — The Commodore leads the van, and tlie 
 other ships follow according to the rank of their 
 commanders, witli the exception of the second in 
 command, who always brings up the rear. The 
 company of other ships imparts a social character 
 to navigation, which it does not otherwise possess, 
 and hence " sailing in squadron"" is more relished 
 than solitary sailing. The " ships" furnish an 
 inexhaustible source of criticism, comparison, and 
 remark. The motions of all the vessels, as well 
 at sea as in port, are regulated by those of the 
 Commodore, and the beauty of the evolutions is 
 heightened by their conmuinity. There is but 
 one person who finds sailing in squadron dis- 
 agreeable, and he is the oflicer of tlic deck at
 
 180 BEATING TACKING SHIP. 
 
 night. If the night is dark, the weather squally, 
 or the wind ahead, there is always danger of 
 " parting company ;" and even the light which 
 burns incessantly at the mizen of the Commodore, 
 is not sufficient to relieve him from anxiety. 
 
 After passing Cape Carthage, we had head 
 winds all the way to Tripoli. The progress made 
 by beating is slow, as the ship can lie only within 
 six points of the wind, and the angle her two 
 courses make is consequently one hundred and 
 thirty-five degrees. Contrary weather is of ad- 
 vantage to the midshipmen, as it gives them ex- 
 perience in their profession. The operation of 
 tacking is frequently performed, and when the 
 sea is smooth, the breeze fresh, and all sail set, 
 it furnishes one of those magical scenes, so com- 
 mon in the manoeuvring of a man-of-war. The 
 order, " Ready about ! take your stations for 
 stays !" produces an instant commotion through- 
 out the ship, and your ears are tout de suite sa- 
 luted with the hoarse voices of the boatswain's 
 mates on the gun-deck, " On deck then, every 
 man of you, fore and aft ! hurry up, hurry up to 
 your stations!"" and if any of them are thought 
 to be too sluggish in their movements", a cut or 
 tv/o with the colt, with a " Why don't you move 
 faster there ? have you no life in you .^" soon 
 quickens their pace. As soon as the men are at 
 their stations, the steersman is ordered to " put 
 the helm down," and the ship then comes rapidly
 
 REEFING TOPSAILS. 181 
 
 up to the wind, the sails lose their steadiness, and 
 every thing seems verging towards anarchy. But 
 the vessel, heedless of the flapping and rustling of 
 her canvass, continues to move majestically round, 
 and when her head comes up directly into the 
 " eye of the wind," and she begins to fill aback., 
 the orders " Haul taught I mainsail haul !" are 
 thundered from the trumpet, and the two after 
 sets of sails, from the main course upwards, move 
 rapidly round together. As soon as their yards 
 are braced up, at the command " Let go and 
 haul !" the same evolution is performed with the 
 head sails. The canvass now swells out again to 
 the breeze, the ropes are coiled up, the deck swept 
 down, and the ship is soon dashing through the 
 water as steadily and swiftly as if nothing had 
 happened. The whole is frequently the work of 
 only four or five minutes. 
 
 On our passage to' Tripoli, every evening a 
 little before sunset a signal was run up on board 
 of the Commodore to " reef topsails."" Reefing 
 topsails is a grand or a beautiful evolution ac- 
 cording as the weather, when it is performed, is 
 tempestuous or serene. It is an occasion on which 
 all hands are called, and the first lieutenant of 
 course takes the trumpet. I will not inflict upon 
 the reader a particular description. There are 
 two reefs in the courses, four in the topsails, and 
 one in the top-gallant sails. The top-gallant 
 sails are rarely reefed.
 
 182 SUNRISE. 
 
 " The glorious sunrise of an Eastern sky." 
 
 On the morning of the 7th of November, when 
 I turned out of my cot and went on deck, the 
 stars, thinned and obscured by the approach of 
 day, still threw a pale and mellow lustre over the 
 waters. At first I thought the sky without a 
 cloud to darken its serene and pure expanse. In 
 the east, where Morning had already hung out 
 her purple banners, appeared what I took to be a 
 long range of sombre hills, wrought, with a wild- 
 ness and freedom peculiar to nature, into cones, 
 pyramids, resemblances of animals, and a thousand 
 nameless shapes. I thought of course that we 
 had made the coast of Tripoli. Lost in admira- 
 tion, I stood for some time contemplating the 
 endless diversity and incomparable eccentricity of 
 the forms into which Nature had moulded this 
 part of her works, when one of the hills seemed 
 suddenly to be lighted up with a sheet of flame, 
 so like to real fire, that the deception was at first 
 complete ; but a momcnt"'s observation convinced 
 me of my mistake. What I had taken for hills I 
 now perceived to be only a succession of clouds, 
 and the flame but a reflection of the beams of the 
 great Dispenser of light and beauty to the world. 
 My eyes were riveted to the east. Summit after 
 summit of these cloudy eminences was kindled 
 into a blaze ; and at last the glorious Sun himself 
 burst, like a globe of fire, from behind them, 
 pouring a flood of illumination over all that part 
 of the heavens, and giving it the appearance of a
 
 VIEW OF TRIPOLI. 183 
 
 vast burning furnace. It was the subliniest spec- 
 tacle I ever beheld, and as I gazed enraptured on 
 the gorgeous scene, surely thought I, if any ido- 
 latry were ever excusable, it was the idolatry of 
 the ancient Persians. They did not degrade Di- 
 vinity by clothing it in disgusting forms ; and if 
 the Deity himself was not the object of their wor- 
 ship, they at least paid their devotions to the 
 purest emblems of his nature, and the noblest 
 productions of his power. 
 
 " Lovely indeed is Morning. I have drunk 
 Its fragrance and its freshness, and have felt 
 Its delicate touch ; and 'tis a kindlier thing 
 Than music, or a feast, or medicine." 
 
 The following morning we made the real coast, 
 dead to leeward of the city, and it took us till the 
 next day about noon to beat up to it. Conniio- 
 dore Biddle hoisted the " swallow's tail," on board 
 of the Warren, and ran into the harbour, leaving 
 the Constellation and Java to lie-to off-and-on till 
 he should have accomplished his business. 
 
 We stood in near enough to obtain by means 
 of our glasses a tolerably distinct view of the 
 town. From the sea its appearance is rather 
 handsome, but we were informed by those who 
 went ashore there, that it was but a ",whited 
 sepulchre." The most conspicuous edifice is the 
 Bashaw's Castle, a large stone pile, rising to a 
 considerable height above the walls. Few places 
 waken recollections of deeper interest to an Ame- 
 rican bosom than this Castle. The fate of Bain- 
 bridge and his gallant companions, made ])riso-
 
 184 FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 ners by the accidental foundering of the frigate 
 Philadelphia, and confined for more than two 
 years within its gloomy walls, rises to the view 
 on memory's page with a touching freshness. 
 
 " Sunt lachrymae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt." 
 
 Commodore Biddle was at that time a midship- 
 man, and among the prisoners. He had never vi- 
 sited Tripoli before since his captivity there. The 
 fortifications fronting the sea mount a large num- 
 ber of cannon, and from the distance at which we 
 saw them, look strong and in good condition. 
 The flags of the various Consular establishments, 
 floating in the breeze, formed neither an ungrace- 
 ful nor disagreeable contrast to the dark and 
 threatening mass below. 
 
 The country about Tripoli is low, flat, and 
 sandy ; but the uniformity of its appearance is 
 relieved by a back-ground consisting of a range 
 of undulating mountains in the interior. On 
 each side of the city there is an extensive palm- 
 grove, sprinkled with white-washed cottages. 
 Droves of camels were seen feeding in every di- 
 rection. A number of bomb-boats came off" to 
 us, although several miles out at sea. They were 
 manned wholly by Jews and Maltese, the most 
 squalid, dirty, and degraded looking beings I 
 ever saw. They brought nothing but fish, bread, 
 eggs, and green dates. The green date is not 
 very palatable, but in its preserved state it is 
 the queen of Eastern fruits, as the pine-apple is 
 of American. It is very juicy, and its flavour is
 
 HARBOUR OF TRIPOLI. 185 
 
 the richest sweet I ever tasted. I have seen dates 
 in the market in all parts of the Mediterranean 
 and Levant, but have never met with any that 
 were good out of Africa. 
 
 Places distinguished as the theatres of great 
 intellectual, moral, or military exertions acquire 
 an interest which renders them objects of strong 
 curiosity. Hence the almost universal anxiety of 
 liberal minds to visit countries rendered illus- 
 trious by their achievements in letters, arts, or 
 arms. The gratification we feel in beholding 
 these places is increased if our own friends or 
 countrymen have in any way contributed to their 
 celebrity. Such a place is the harbour of Tripoli 
 to a citizen of the United States. No American 
 who is acquainted with the history of his country 
 can behold it without vivid emotions. It was 
 there that Decatur performed that daring act, 
 which tore from the enemy the spoils that fortune 
 had thrown into his hands — an act that has en- 
 titled him to a place among the bravest of modern 
 heroes. Beneath the battlements of Tripoli, 
 Preble and his brave associates won for themselves 
 a glory that will live as long as patriotism and 
 gallantry find a dwelling-place on earth, or excite 
 a sentiment of admiration in the human mind. 
 
 Yet we stopped short of the advantages which, 
 under the then existing circumstances, we ought 
 to have gained over the semi-barbarous foe. Ge- 
 neral Eaton, accompanied by the ex-Bashaw and 
 his party, having traversed the Desert which
 
 186 SALUTES — GOZO. 
 
 separates Egypt from the kingdom of Tripoli, 
 had already taken Derne, and was on the eve of 
 commencing his march to lay siege to the capital 
 itself, when peace was concluded. The reigning 
 Bashaw had been heard to declare, that he would 
 sell the last article in his wardrobe but he would 
 have a 'peace ivith the Americans. Under such 
 circumstances, was it becoming the honour and 
 dignity of our Government to buy a peace of the 
 enemy ? Yet this was in eflfect done by paying 
 a ransom for the prisoners. It is a melancholy 
 reflection, that the greatest minds are often most 
 sullied by envy. It is confidently asserted, that 
 this sentiment formed at least one of the motives 
 that induced the naval officers to urge an ac- 
 commodation with so much warmth. " Eaton 
 was running away with the glory of the war." 
 
 Salutes were exchanged between the Bashaw's 
 batteries and the Warren, and on the morning of 
 the 12th, she stood out from the harbour, and 
 the commodore resumed the command of his own 
 ship. Here we parted company. The Java, it 
 was understood, was to visit some Sicilian port, 
 the Warren was to touch at Malta, and we were 
 to have an opportunity of " sitting among the 
 ruins of Carthage." 
 
 We passed Malta and Gozo on the 15th, having 
 been driven up to them by contrary winds. Gozo 
 is supposed by many to have been the island of 
 Calypso ; but the goddess no longer dwells in 
 her grotto, and the valleys that listened to her
 
 DIVINE SERVICE ON BOARD. 187 
 
 love-sick moans, once fanned by the breath of an 
 eternal spring, and clothed in perennial verdure, 
 are no longer exeni])t from the vicissitudes to 
 which the abodes of mortals are subject. 
 
 Divine service was performed on board. This 
 is generally done at sea of a Sunday morning, 
 when the weather is favourable. I have often 
 wished my friends in America with me on these 
 occasions. How grand, how awful to worship 
 the Deity, encircled by the noblest image of him- 
 self, and canopied by heaven's unclouded azure ! 
 What can produce sentiments of devotion so 
 strong, so pure, so sublime as the service of the 
 church, pronounced in the ocean-temple ? In 
 addition to the solemn, tranquil, devotional cha- 
 racter of the service itself, the matchless sub- 
 limities by which you are surrounded, are fitted 
 to remind you, with no ordinary force, of the per- 
 fections of that mysterious Being, who stills the 
 raging of the tempest, and gives its rainbow-tints 
 to the frailest flower that blooms on the mountain 
 cliff. You listen to the ceaseless roar of the 
 waves, and tremble at His power ; you gaze upon 
 the sky, and seem to behold, as in a mirror, a 
 feeble reflection of His purity ; you inhale the 
 balmy breath of heaven, and feel in your every 
 sense that His very essence is goodness. 
 
 On the 19th we w^ere becalmed off" that part 
 of " flowery Sicily'' where stood the ancient Agra- 
 gas or Agrigentum, the breeder of " magnani- 
 mous steeds," and the rival of Syracuse in riches,
 
 188 COAST OF SICILY. 
 
 power, and splendour. We saw nothing but a 
 succession of undulating hills, but there is a lux- 
 ury in the associations, which the. most distant 
 view of such places awakens in the mind. It was 
 along this coast that " Anchises' deathless son" 
 sailed in his wanderings omnibus terris et Jiuctibus. 
 
 " Arduus inde Agragas ostentat maxima longe 
 Moenia, magnaaimum quondam generator equorum." 
 
 There the abominable Phalaris used to amuse 
 himself by burning his enemies in the brazen bull, 
 once carried to Carthage, but restored to the 
 Agrigentines by the younger Scipio, after the 
 final overthrow of that unfortunate republic. 
 Agrigentum was, with the exception of Syracuse, 
 the most considerable of the Grecian settlements 
 in Sicily ; and if modern travellers may be cre- 
 dited, there are at this day more remains of anti- 
 quity there than in any other Sicilian city. 
 
 On the 20th we were all sadly disappointed. 
 Contrary to our expectations, we passed Tunis 
 and Carthage without paying them a visit. Vir- 
 gil says of the harbour of Carthage, 
 
 " Hie fessas non vineula naves 
 
 Ulla tenent, unco non aliigat anchora morsu." 
 
 Our captain thought differently of its safety ; and 
 as the sky wore a rather menacing appearance, 
 he was fearful that even the " crooked bite of the 
 anchor" might not be a complete security against 
 danger. " Patience and a good cloak," said the 
 Italian cicerone, " are a remedy for every thing." 
 We arrived in Port IMahon on the 26th of
 
 ARRIVAL AT MAHON. 189 
 
 November, and were quarantined for ten days. 
 Much to our surprise, we found the Java and 
 Warren our " companions in tribulation." They 
 had both entered two days before us. It may be 
 inferred from this that they are better sailers than 
 the Constellation, but it is not so. Captain Wads- 
 worth is the most careful man in the world, and 
 as the weather was constantly squally, he had 
 carried but little sail. This was his uniform 
 practice ; and he was in the right of it. Men-of- 
 war do not carry cargoes, and under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances there is no necessit}^ for pressing on 
 canvass. I have heard a master-commandant in 
 our Navy say that he has carried top-gallant 
 studding sails till the breeze was so fresh that 
 he was afraid to take them in. '^Fhis was " crack- 
 ing on sail" with a vengeance. 
 
 The Constellation is not more distinguished by 
 the symmetry of her proportions than by the 
 swiftness of her sailing. She sails well with any 
 wind, but in beating she goes ahead of any thing 
 I have ever seen afloat. The officers generally 
 identify tliemselves with the ships to which they 
 are attached, and hence the earnestness with which 
 you sometimes hear them discuss their relative 
 merits. The midshipmen are famous for this. 
 You would sometimes suppose from their dis- 
 cussions that the taper of a spar or the brightness 
 of a belaying pin was a matter of as much im- 
 portance as the election of a President. The 
 sailors also participate in this feeling. I have
 
 190 QUARANTINE. 
 
 frequently heard them exclaim exultingly, "Well, 
 the old Constellation for ever ! She would beat 
 any thing that floats. Wouldn't she be fine for 
 a chase ? D — n me if I"d take fifty dollars for 
 my part of the prize money, if I could see the 
 enemy*'s hull." 
 
 Being in quarantine in Port Mahon is not after 
 all so very disagreeable. You are a prisoner, it 
 is true, and when you leave the ship must always 
 be accompanied with a guard ; but then your 
 limits are sufficiently ample. You can go ashore 
 at the Lazaretto, and stroll about the hills, or at 
 Quarantine Island, and while away an hour in 
 smoking and chatting with the officers of other 
 ships. True, it would be pollution to touch 
 them, but words are not contagious, nor is there 
 infection in a cigar. And then fresh grub, fruits, 
 and red wine ! sack was not more abundant in 
 the favourite haunts of Jack FalstafF. The reader 
 may smile at the enthusiasm with which a good 
 dinner tips my pen, but it is a feeling which four 
 weeks' feeding on hard tack, bean soup, salt beef, 
 duff and lobscowse would be quite enough to 
 make him comprehend. No man can know the 
 luxuries of mere eating, till he has been to sea ; 
 and it must not be inferred that sailors have all 
 drunk of the cup of Circe, when it is asserted that 
 the anticipation of " good cheer," is not among 
 the least exhilarating of those which the sight of 
 port produces. " Nathan, do you ever think of 
 a supper of yellow pudding and young heifer's
 
 RETURN OF THE DELAWARE. 191 
 
 milk ?" " Don't mention it,"" said his companion, 
 *' I shall die at the punij)." 
 
 The men, too, sail on a different tack. A 
 number of bomb-boats always put themselves in 
 quarantine, and every cranny in the ship is 
 scented with garlic and onions. 
 
 The Delaware sailed for the United States 
 about a fortniglit previous to our arrival. It is a 
 good deal of work to prepare a vessel for her re- 
 turn ; a great many changes are always made, 
 both in her officers and crew. A portion of her 
 men generally either have a longer term of ser- 
 vice, or wish to re-ship : these are to be transfer- 
 red to other ships, for whom, in return, she re- 
 ceives all the invalids in the squadron. Then, as 
 to her officers, some wish to remain out longer ; 
 others, nolens volens, are obliged to do so on ac- 
 count of their debts; while more than a modicum 
 of those on board of the other vessels are always 
 anxious to salute the household gods beneath 
 their own roofs. 
 
 One of our middies returned in the Delaware. 
 Disgusted with the service, he went home to re- 
 sign. Poor fellow ! he appeared to possess an 
 amiable character, but he was " run" to death. 
 The midshipmen are tremendous fellows for 
 " running," and the best way to deaden the ef- 
 fect of their raillery is to join in the laugh that is 
 raised at your own expense. To exhibit the least 
 tokens of testiness is to court the tempest. Suc- 
 cess is always sweet, and it would be too much to
 
 192 ARRIVAL OF THE ONTARIO. 
 
 expect that a man who is sensible of his power 
 would not deliffht in the exertion of it. 
 
 The Ontario, impatiently expected, arrived on 
 the 30th, sixty-two hours from Gibraltar, loaded 
 with Spanish gold, and, what was worth more 
 than all the gold ever poured into the lap of 
 Spain, letters from friends in America. What 
 luxury can be compared with that of receiving, 
 for the first time in a foreign land, the proofs that 
 absence and the wide-rolling ocean have no power 
 to chill the generous glow of friendship ? It 
 annihilates space, and you believe yourself, for 
 the moment, breathing amid scenes hallowed by 
 the reminiscences of buoyant childhood or classic 
 youth. The letter-bag was emptied on the cap- 
 stern, and the purser advanced to examine ils 
 contents. The officers pressed eagerly around 
 him, and, as hope ripened into certainty, you 
 might read the ecstasy of their emotions in the 
 brightening expression of their countenances. 
 Some were so unlucky as to receive nothing, and 
 one would have believed them ready to burst into 
 tears from a mingled feeling of disappointment 
 and vexation. This is a picture of the scene on 
 all such occasions. There is no moment on board 
 of a man-of-war so full of excitement and anx- 
 iety as that when the letter-bag from America 
 is brought aboard ; and could those who have 
 friends in the navy abroad know how much plea- 
 sure their letters afford, and how much pain they 
 occasion by neglecting to write, I am sure they
 
 COMING-TO AT GIBRALTAR. 193 
 
 would suffer no vessel, bound to the station where 
 they are, to depart without bearing some memo- 
 rial of their interest and affection. Space is a 
 stern divider of bodies, but souls may mingle, 
 though oceans roll between the tenements thev 
 inhabit. 
 
 VV^e got pratique on the 5th of December, had 
 one day to stretch our legs ashore, and early the 
 next morning our sails were again unbosomed to 
 the breeze, and oiu- " brilliant Constellation," 
 though not exactly like the chariot of Anij)hi- 
 trite, led by Tritons, and attended by Nymphs, 
 was yet not ungracefully dasliing through the 
 ocean brine. On the morning of the 11th, the 
 distant summits of tiie Sierra Nevada, some of 
 them buried in the clouds, and others glittering 
 in the golden sunlight, announced our approach 
 to Gibraltar. Apes' Hill stood out to view about 
 three o'clock P. M., the rock being concealed by 
 a dark cloud that overhung it. A fresh breeze 
 was blowing on our quarter, which increased to a 
 gale soon after dark, and the rain poured down 
 in torrents. About ten o'clock all hands were call- 
 ed to bring the ship to an anchor, but the oppos- 
 ing current retarded our progress, so that it was 
 after midnight when we came-to. The wardroom 
 officers were celebrating the birth-day of our first 
 lieutenant, and the exchange of their generous 
 Champaigne and ^Madeira for the bleak wind and 
 driving rain of the quarter-deck, was far from 
 being the most agreeable that could be imagined ; 
 
 VOL. J. K
 
 194 BAY AND ROCK 
 
 but it is one with which the hardy sons of the 
 ocean are perfectly familiar. Hardships and dan- 
 gers are the birthright of the gallant tar, and he 
 who cannot, without a sigh, relinquish his plea- 
 sures at the call of duty, is unworthy of the 
 name. It is the pride of the true sailor to sacri- 
 fice every thing to duty. 
 
 The gale continued three days with such vio- 
 lence as to prevent any communication with the 
 shore. We were anchored on the opposite side 
 of the bay from Gibraltar, and near Algeciras, a 
 small town on the Spanish coast. 
 
 The bay of Gibraltar is about five miles wide, 
 and from eight to ten deep. To the westward the 
 bend commences at Cabarita Point, and sweeping 
 round in the form of an ellipse, terminates to the 
 eastward in Europa Point, the southern extremity 
 of Gibraltar. The western part and head of the 
 gulf are formed by a flat coast backed by barren 
 mountains, the tail of the vast chain which 
 stretches through the interior of Granada. On 
 the east it is bounded by the Rock and the Neu- 
 tral Grounds, a low sandy flat, connecting Gibral- 
 tar to the Spanish main. The rock of Gibraltar 
 is about three miles in length from north to 
 south, and from half to three-quarters of a mile 
 in breadth. It is from 1200 to UOO feet high. 
 The highest point is rather to the south of the 
 middle, where is an old dilapidated tower, built 
 by General O'Hara, while he was governor of the 
 fortress, for the purpose of viewing the move-
 
 OF GIBRALTAR. 195 
 
 ments in the harbour of Cadiz, and from the 
 failure of the object, denominated " O'Hara's 
 Folly." From the top of the northern extremity, 
 the descent is nearly perpendicular. The summit 
 is a sharp ragged ridge, running in a waving line 
 till it approaches the southern part, whence it 
 becomes gradually flattened, and inclines regu- 
 larly towards the sea, where it terminates in a 
 point. The side facing the Mediterranean, is ut- 
 terly inaccessible, except in one or two spots, 
 where a few miserable huts have been constructed 
 by fishermen. It is full of frightful precipices, 
 and can be ascended only by a flight of steps, cut 
 in the rock from the base to the summit, and 
 called the Mediterranean Stairs. The western 
 side, though steep, is not precipitous. It is co- 
 vered with a stinted growth of grass and shrub- 
 bery, and furnishes browsing ground to large 
 flocks of goats. On this side are built the two 
 towns and most of the fortifications. The Old 
 and New Towns are separated by a parade 
 ground and an alameda. The former is situated 
 near the northern, and the latter near the southern 
 extremity of the rock. 
 
 We remained in Gibraltar two weeks in the 
 month of December, and about an equal length 
 of time in the following May. The remainder of 
 this cliapter will contain the result of my ob- 
 servations there on both these occasions. 
 
 What strikes a stranger most forcibly on first 
 entering Gibraltar, is the vast diversity of ap- 
 k2
 
 196 INHABITANTS OF GIBRALTAR. 
 
 pearance among the inhabitants, and the pro- 
 diffious extent and excellent order of the fortifica- 
 tions. As he walks the streets of the Old Town, 
 in the space of fifteen minutes he fancies himself 
 in almost every region on the globe. The dis- 
 tance between the poles seems there to be anni- 
 hilated. Englishmen, Spaniards, Portuguese, 
 Frenchmen, Italians, Greeks, Turks, Moors, Jews, 
 and Heaven knows who else, are there congre- 
 gated together ; and, dressed in the costumes and 
 speaking the languages of their different nations, 
 they form such a motley assemblage as the world 
 perhaps, with the single exception of Smyrna, 
 does not contain besides. Gibraltar is a perfect 
 Babel, — a mass of unreconciled and irreconcilable 
 elements, where 
 
 " Black spirits and white, blue spirits and grey," 
 
 are engaged in an eternal struggle with each 
 other. Excepting from the account the soldiers 
 of the garrison, the Jews, Moors, and Spaniards 
 are the most numerous classes of the inhabitants. 
 The most common language is the Spanish. 
 
 If a stranger is amused at the variety of cos- 
 tumes and manners which Gibraltar exhibits, he 
 is not less amazed at the extent and strength of 
 the military works by which it is defended. These 
 consist of battlements piled on battlements in 
 sucii order that some scores of gnns can be 
 brought to bear upon any given point in the 
 vicinity. The western side of the rock is defended
 
 FORTIFICATIONS. 1J)7 
 
 by a stroiifT wall along the \vater''s edge, witli 
 numerous projecting bastions, and the whole 
 mounted with an immense quantity of heavy ord- 
 nance. Fortifications have been erected on va- 
 rious parts of the rock above the wall, especially 
 towards the north end, where are the excavations. 
 Here are seen innumerable loopholes througli 
 which shot may be poured in any direction, and 
 to almost any amount ; while the combatants, 
 behind their impenetrable bulwarks, may laugh 
 to scorn the heaviest cannonading that can be 
 brought to play upon them. Everything about 
 Gibraltar is calculated to induce the belief that 
 its present possessors mean to have it stand against 
 the united assaults of the universe. Should an 
 enen)y, by some miracle of good fortune, force 
 the outworks, and obtain possession of the town, 
 he would still be very far from being master of 
 the rock. He would have to advance up the 
 ascent step by step, in the face of a tremendous 
 and consuming fire, poured in upon him from a 
 thousand points at once. Suppose that, in spite 
 of all this opposition, he should succeed in car- 
 rying every work on the exterior of the rock, he 
 would still have to combat an enemy in its very 
 bowels ; for its internal apartments arc sufficiently 
 capacious to accommodate twenty thousand soids, 
 and are always furnished with a supply of pro- 
 visions and munitions of war for two or three 
 years. Such are the military strength and re- 
 sovu'ces of this wonderful place. It is no arro-
 
 198 FORTIFICATIONS. 
 
 gation on the part of its possessors to denomi- 
 nate it an impregnable fortress ; for should all the 
 images of strength with which the human mind is 
 acquainted, be combined into one harmonious 
 whole, they would form nothing superior to Gi- 
 braltar, 
 
 The order in which these military works are 
 kept, is equal to their strength. One would sup- 
 pose, from an inspection of them, that Gibraltar 
 was in momentary expectation of seeing a hostile 
 fleet moor beneath her battlements, and that 
 everything had been got in readiness for the an- 
 ticipated assault. Sentinels are stationed at al- 
 most every corner, ready to give the alarm ; and 
 mortars, cannons, bombs, balls — -everything is 
 just where it should be, and as it should be. It 
 is astonishing to see the piles of cannon-bails and 
 bombs in every part of the Rock. The fortifi- 
 cations of Cadiz are said to be more beautiful 
 than those of Gibraltar. It may be so ; but for- 
 tifications are not made to be looked at like a pic- 
 ture, and in the great essentials of works of this 
 kind, in strength, durability, harmony, and adap- 
 tation to the purposes of defence, I can conceive 
 nothing superior to those of the latter place. 
 
 But after all, of what real service is Gibraltar 
 to the English ? What benefits have they de- 
 rived from the possession of it which counter- 
 balance the enormous sums of money it has 
 drawn from their public treasury .'' It is said to 
 command the entrance of the Mediterranean ; but
 
 SCOTCH HIGHLANDER. 19!) 
 
 this is a great mistake. Gibraltar does not and 
 cannot, without the aid of a numerous fleet, com- 
 mand the entrance to that sea. But a lar^e fleet 
 would do this without the fortress ; and if my 
 life were the forfeiture, I could not point out 
 the advantages experienced by England from the 
 possession of Gibraltar that approach to a com- 
 pensation for the immense expenditures which it 
 has cost that country. It has drawn millions 
 upon millions from her exche(|uer, with no earth- 
 ly benefit, that I can conceive, but that of flatter- 
 ing her national pride. 
 
 The command of the garrison at Gibraltar is 
 the second military dignity in the gift of the Bri- 
 tish government. The present garrison consists 
 of four regiments, among which is the celebrated 
 one of the Scotch Highlanders. Their dress, 
 which is highly fantastic, has been often de- 
 scribed. It is of plaid, and leaves the leg com- 
 pletely bare up to the knee. The officers, when 
 on duty, wear a uniform that conforms in this re- 
 spect to that of the privates. I have never seen 
 any body of men so uniformly athletic, large and 
 well formed as this regiment of Highlanders. 
 The " human form divine"" is developed in them 
 with a perfection to which I search in vain for a 
 counterpart in the book of memory. 
 
 We frequently saw the soldiers of the garrison 
 parading both in single companies and regiments, 
 and their movements, had they been the result of 
 machinery, could not have been more exact and
 
 200 GARRISON REGULATIONS. 
 
 regular. There are no soldiers in the world so 
 well disciplined as the English. The French are 
 not less brave, but their bravery is of a different 
 kind. The courage of a Frenchman is the off- 
 spring of enthusiasm ; that of an Englishman is 
 the effect of his everlasting drilling. 
 
 The regulations with regard to the admission of 
 strangers into Gibraltar, as indeed all the other re- 
 gulations of that celebrated garrison, are extreme- 
 ly strict. Naval officers alone are permitted to 
 enter when they please ; all others jjiust have pass- 
 ports from the civil authorities. The gates are 
 shut every night at the firing of the evening gun at 
 sunset, and opened again when the morning gun is 
 fired at sunrise. The king himself would knock 
 in vain for admission after the gates are closed. 
 One of our officers, who was down at the Marina 
 looking out for a cutter to carry him off to the 
 ship, chanced unluckily one evening to be outside 
 of the walls when the gates were shut. No boat 
 went for him, and he had the satisfaction of walk- 
 ing the quay in a piercing December night, till 
 the echoes of the morning-gun gave token that 
 he might re-enter the town. After the gates are 
 closed, every inn-keeper and citizen is required to 
 make out a list of all the strangers in his house, 
 and send it to the town-major. Thus it is known 
 how many of these lodge in Gibraltar every night- 
 Next to the diversity of its inhabitants and its 
 military strength, what most attracts attention in 
 Gibraltar is its commercial aspect. Commerce,
 
 COMMERCIAL ASPECT. 201 
 
 indeed, has been on the decline there ever since 
 Cadiz was made a free port ; but the quantity and 
 variety of merchandise exposed for sale, are still 
 very great. It is vastly amusing to visit the 
 shops, and trace the national peculiarities of the 
 dealers in then* different modes of doing business. 
 The Englishman, stiff, reserved and haughty, 
 with characteristic fairness, asks you at first the 
 price he means to take for the article in question. 
 The Spaniard, polite not less from habit than 
 from genius, lavishes upon you the warmest pro- 
 testations of friendship, assuring you that, if 
 there is any thing in which he can serve you, you 
 have only to command, and see your wishes ex- 
 ecuted. The prim and powdered Frenchman, 
 from scorn or levity discarding the feigned polite- 
 ness of the heart, trusts to an elegant bow, a 
 graceful wave of the hand, or a honied compli- 
 ment, to ingratiate himself into your favour, and 
 cajole you into the purchase of his wares. " But 
 the Jewish shop-keeper, ay, what say of him ?'"' 
 What .say I of him indeed! Why, I say, if you 
 are a good judge of the article you wish to pur- 
 chase, by all means go to his shop ; for if he does 
 not finally take what you oifer, it will be because 
 your offer has not come up to the original cost. 
 If he can make one farthing of profit, he will not 
 let the chance slip through his fingers. — But if 
 you are not well acquainted with the goods you 
 wish to procure, avoid the Jew as you would the 
 very spirit of deception. He will be sure to ask 
 K 5
 
 202 JEWS. 
 
 you three times what he is willing to take, at the 
 same time setting forth, with inconceivable glib- 
 ness of tongue, the excellence and cheapness of 
 his wares ; and when he has sold you an article at 
 double the original cost, it is ten to one if he has 
 not the effrontery to tell you that you have got it 
 by special favour, and at an actual loss to himself. 
 I know not the exact proportion which the 
 Jews in Gibraltar bear to the whole population, 
 but it must be very great, if an inference may be 
 hazarded from the number seen in the streets. 
 They are found in all classes of society, from the 
 rich broker and wholesale merchant down to the 
 wretch who sells his services in the degraded com- 
 merce of prostitution. Throughout all this wide 
 variety of rank and fortune, are observable the 
 same cunning, versatility, and restless activity. 
 Indeed, the Jews seem to be not less distinguish- 
 ed by their moral qualities than by their physi- 
 ognomy. A large proportion of them are porters, 
 and many act as interpreters and guides to 
 strangers. Wherever there is any thing to be 
 done in either of these lines of business, there you 
 are sure to find a Jew ready, for a trifling com- 
 pensation, to render you as faithful service as Ariel 
 did to Prospero. They have a surprising apt- 
 ness for the acquisition of languages, and most of 
 them speak all the languages common at Gibraltar 
 with the fluency of a native. The most beautiful 
 woman on the Rock, when we were there, was 
 said to be a Jewess.
 
 OLD TOWN — PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 208 
 
 The Old Town, as already stated, is near the 
 northern extremity of the Rock. It is not laid 
 out with much regularity, and could not be from 
 the nature of the ground on which it is built. 
 The buildings are all of stone, and covered like 
 those of Mahon so as to be fire-proof. The prin- 
 cipal streets are well-paved and have side-walks. 
 That on which most of the merciiandize is exposed, 
 traverses the town from north to south, and is 
 about three quarters of a mile in length. The 
 shops are not remarkable for neatness, but they are 
 well supplied with all sorts of merchandise, whicli 
 can generally be obtained at very moderate prices. 
 There are some handsome residences. Those oc- 
 cupied by the civil and military officers of the 
 garrison are the finest. The entire population of 
 the Rock, exclusive of the military, is about 
 twenty thousand. 
 
 The public buildings of Gibraltar are a Ca- 
 tholic Church, a Protestant Episcopal Chapel, a 
 Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, four Jewish Syna- 
 gogues, a Court-house, a Theatre, and an Ex- 
 change. The Catholic, like all Romish churches, 
 is decorated with innumerable gilded images ; but 
 a minute description of it would be " too fati- 
 guing." The Protestant Chapel was formerly 
 the church of a convent. It has nothing remark- 
 able, except a few handsome monuments to the 
 memory of the great ones of the garrison. The 
 Government is now erecting an Episcopal Chmxh, 
 which, when finished, will be large and splendid.
 
 204 JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 
 
 Of the Jewish Synagogues only one is deserv- 
 ing of any notice. This, though small, is rather 
 handsome. The architecture is of the Doric 
 order. The pulpit is near the centre. The sacred 
 furniture in gold and silver is said to be of im- 
 mense value. On entering, I involuntarily took 
 off my hat. My guide, who was a Jew, whis- 
 pered me that it was customary Avith them to re- 
 main covered in their churches. Two Rabbis 
 were seated at a table in a corner of the Syna- 
 gogue, engaged in earnest conversation. One of 
 them I took to be not much short of ninety years 
 of age. His long hair and beard, white as the 
 driven snow and of silken fineness, lying in grace- 
 ful curls on his shoulders and bosom, brought 
 forcibly to my mind that beautiful passage in 
 Job, " Grey hairs are a crown of glory, if they be 
 found in the way of righteousness."" I almost 
 fancied myself in the presence of one of those 
 Jewish patriarchs, familiar to my imagination be- 
 yond the period to which memory extends, and 
 whom I have ever been accustomed to regard as 
 models of whatever is venerable, dignified, and 
 excellent in human nature. But when I remem- 
 bered that he was a descendant and a champion of 
 those rejecters of their own Messiah, who, in con- 
 demning him, assumed the tremendous responsi- 
 bility of invoking his blood upon themselves and 
 their posterity; — when I thought of his belong- 
 ing to a people scattered and pealed, a people 
 whose name is a reproach and by-word through-
 
 EXCHANGE — LIBRARIES. 205 
 
 out the world, and whose very existence as a na- 
 tion, in despite of the wasting persecutions and 
 miseries to which it has been subjected, is a con- 
 tinued miracle and a living commentary on the 
 truth of revelation, it gave rise to reflections 
 which I need not repeat, and occasioned emotions 
 which I have no language to describe. 
 
 The Exchange is a handsome building, commo- 
 diously situated on Main Street, near the centre 
 of the town. It was erected wholly by private 
 subscription. An auction was held there every 
 morning while we were in Gibraltar, and the mot- 
 ley assemblage which it collected, formed a curious 
 and amusing spectacle. There are two public 
 libraries, called the Commercial and Garrison Li- 
 braries. The former is kept in a large room in 
 the second story of the Exchange. It is small, 
 consisting only of about eight thousand volumes ; 
 but it comprises many of the choicest works in 
 all the languages of Europe. There is also a 
 public reading-room at the P]xchange, well sup- 
 plied with the best English, French, and Ame- 
 rican periodicals, as well literary as political. The 
 Garrison Library was founded by Mr. Pitt, and 
 contains fifty tliousand volumes. I did not see it. 
 The Theatre was not open when we were at Gi- 
 braltar. 1 suspect it is a miserable affair. The 
 officers of the garrison officiate as actors. 
 
 The market at Gibraltar is at the northern ex- 
 tremity of the town, and near the entrance from 
 the harbour. It is outside of the inner-gate. It
 
 206 MARKET. 
 
 is plentifully supplied with flesh, fish, fruits, and 
 vegetables ; but they sell generally at high prices. 
 Oranges are an exception. You see vast piles of 
 the most delicious Andalusian and African oranges, 
 that make the mouth water to look at them, and 
 what is better, they may be procured for a trifling 
 consideration. The Moors deal most largely in 
 oranges. Eggs are also very abundant and 
 cheap. Immense quantities of them are brought 
 over from Barbary. The Barbary eggs are the 
 smallest I have ever seen, two of them being on 
 an average about equal to one Spanish egg. In 
 Tunis and Tripoli you can purchase them almost 
 for a song. Alfieri is said to have frequented the 
 market of Florence to learn Italian ; I went to 
 that of Gibraltar to study the character of the 
 people. There Avas a little black-eyed, brown- 
 faced Andalusian, who amused me infinitely by 
 his complaisance. I often purchased little arti- 
 cles of him merely for the sake of listening to his 
 inflated praises. His vocabulary of compliments 
 was inexhaustible, and I never left him that he 
 did not bring his fingers to his lips, and then, 
 throwing off his hand in a tangent, and inclining 
 his head with the iiecessary quantum of gracia^ 
 address me with his effeminate Andalusian pronun- 
 ciation, " Senor t7iio, le beso a vd. la mono ; y si 
 hay algo en que le fuedo servir, aqui (touching 
 his breast) dene vd. uncriado.''''* 
 
 * " My dear sir, I kiss your hand ; and if there is any thing in 
 which I can serve you, liere you have a servant."
 
 NEW TOWN CISTERNS. 207 
 
 The two principal public-houses in Gibraltar 
 are near tlie Kxclianfi;e. I stopped at Luff's. 
 His charges were tlie most reasonable, and his 
 table equally good with that of his neighbour. 
 He had besides an agreeable family, in whicli I 
 became quite domesticated. His daughters, with- 
 out any lack of personal beauty, possessed the su- 
 perior charms of cultivated understandings and 
 generous hearts. At evening I uniformly joined 
 the family circle. The Penates are the gods to 
 whom I sacrifice : If there is any thing on earth 
 that resembles heaven, it is the happiness of social 
 life. 
 
 What I have hitherto said of Gibraltar relates 
 exclusively to the Old Town, There is another 
 settlement near the southern extremity of the 
 Rock, called the South or New Town. Though 
 small at present, it will in time probably equal 
 the former in extent and population. The garri- 
 son cisterns are situated near this village. There 
 are, I believe, sixteen of them. They are bomb- 
 proof, immensely capacious, and kept in excellent 
 repair. They receive all the water that is washed 
 down the side of the rock. Before it is allowed 
 to enter them, it undergoes a purifying process 
 in coppers provided for that purpose. We once 
 watered our ship from these cisterns, and were 
 obliged to pay for the privilege. The Jewish bu- 
 rying-ground is a few hundred yards above the 
 new town. It is not enclosed. The tomb-stones 
 are placed horizontally over the graves, and the
 
 208 THE ALAMEDA. 
 
 inscriptions on them are all in Hebrew cha- 
 racters. The only antiquity on the Rock, as 
 far as I know, is an old Moorish castle above the 
 Old Town. It is in a ruined state, but is a con- 
 spicuous object out at sea. 
 
 The Alameda, or public promenade, is between 
 the two towns. The English have spared no la- 
 bour or expense to adorn this place, and make it 
 resemble one of those fairy pleasure-haunts so 
 common in their own land ; and it must be ac- 
 knowledged that they have succeeded beyond 
 what any person who has ever seen the Rock 
 would have believed possible. Where natural 
 soil was wanting — which indeed was almost every- 
 where — they have made soil on the naked rock, 
 and have covered nearly the whole extent between 
 the two towns with grass and flower-plats, inter- 
 spersed with fruit and shade-trees of various 
 kinds, and cut into innumerable labyrinthine 
 walks, so as to form a wilderness of beauties and 
 delicrhts. There are several handsome summer- 
 houses and arbours, where the pleasures of soul 
 and sense may be equally enjoyed, as you engage 
 in social conversation and look out upon the pro- 
 fusion of riches by which you are surrounded. 
 Winter had despoiled it of its beauties the first 
 time we were in Gibraltar ; but on our second 
 visit, when Spring had loaded it with her trea- 
 sures of verdure and flowers and fragrance, it was 
 indeed a delicious spot. 
 
 Near the centre of the Alameda there is, in
 
 MONUMENTS — ST. MICHAEL's CAVE. 209 
 
 wooden sculpture, a colossal statue of General 
 Elliot, by whose talents and ingenuity Gibraltar 
 was defended, when attacked by the Spaniards 
 and French in 1782. He holds the key of the 
 garrison in his right hand ; and the means by 
 which he saved the place, and ruined the floating 
 batteries of the combined fleet, is a])tly repre- 
 sented by a square iron grate placed behind him, 
 and filled with coal and cannon-balls. A few 
 paces to the south of this is a monument to the 
 Duke of Wellington, surmounted by a bronze 
 bust of the hero and statesman. It has a long 
 Latin inscription, setting forth, in strains of no 
 very measured eulogy, the virtues and achieve- 
 ments by which his Grace has distinguislied him- 
 self. The parade-ground, called the Field of 
 Mars, is between the Alameda and the south 
 gate of the Old Town. It is a large gravelled 
 square, surrounded by shade-trees. The whole 
 garrison, amounting to somewhat more than four 
 thousand, can parade there at the same time. 
 The Neutral Grounds are also used for that pur- 
 pose. 
 
 There are some natural curiosities on the Rock, 
 among which the principal is St. Michael's Cave. 
 It is about two-thirds of the way up the moun- 
 tain on the south-west side. The entrance is not 
 large ; but the moment you pass it, a spacious 
 hall, not less than thirty or forty feet in height, 
 and about seventy in depth, presents itself to 
 your view. It is hung with stalactites of a beau-
 
 210 ST. Michael's cave. 
 
 tifully variegated brown colour, many of which 
 reach from the top to the bottom, and present the 
 appearance of vast, but irregular columns, sup- 
 porting the roof of an edifice. There are said to 
 be two other apartments in the cavern, one of 
 which has a striking resemblance to a temple. 
 This is supposed to have been an adytus, or 
 shrine, of an Oracle of Hercules. As I was 
 unprepared with lights when I visited the cavern, 
 I did not descend farther than into the first hall 
 or vestibule of it. The stalactites are wrought 
 by the natives into all manner of useful and fancy 
 articles — such as inkstands, candlesticks, salts, 
 hearts, beads, crosses, ear-drops, breast-pins, 
 watch-seals, children's toys, &c., but they sell 
 them at enormous prices. 
 
 Gibraltar has no harbour other than an open 
 roadstead in the bay. Several moles have been 
 erected to facilitate vessels in the unlading of their 
 cargoes. In the winter it is often dangerous 
 riding at anchor there. The Boston had like to 
 have been driven aground there by a gale of 
 wind in the winter of 1830-31. She lost three 
 anchors, and before she could bend the fourth, 
 she was driven from Gibraltar over to the oppo- 
 site side of the bay, and so near ashore, that the 
 oranges on the trees could be distinctly seen from 
 the deck. 
 
 On our second visit to Gibraltar, a party of us 
 made an excursion through the excavated gal- 
 leries to the top of the Rock. Having obtained
 
 EXCAVATIONS. 211 
 
 a written permission from the town-major, we set 
 off' about eleven o'clock in the morning. We 
 entered the excavations just above the town, with 
 a soldier for our conductor. No works of mo- 
 dern, and, with the exception, perhaps, of the 
 pyramids of Egypt, scarcely any of ancient times, 
 can be compared with them. They consist of a 
 succession of prodigious caverns, cut in a dense, 
 grey marble rock, apparently hard as the flint, 
 and so extensive, as to be capable of containing a 
 garrison of from fifteen to twenty thousand per- 
 sons, together with military and other stores suf- 
 ficient to subsist them for four or five years. 
 They are in the north part of the Rock, and com- 
 pletely command the Neutral Grounds. This 
 end of the Rock is perforated witli loop-holes in 
 every direction, through every one of which a 
 cannon points its dark and threatening mouth, 
 laughing, as it were, in proud defiance of every 
 thing that may approach it. I do not recollect 
 the precise number of internal batteries, but the 
 largest and most remarkable is that called St. 
 George's Hall. It is about half way up the Rock, 
 and commands a beautiful view of the Neutral 
 Grounds and the Spanish Main. The pavement, 
 which is nothing but the mountain rock, is per- 
 fectly smooth, and the hall is sufficiently capa- 
 cious to accommodate a large dancing party. 
 Balls are sometimes given there. From this and 
 several other points in the ascent, we had a fine 
 view of the regiment of light infantry which was
 
 212 VIEW FROM THE SIGNAL-HOUSE. 
 
 parading on the Neutral Grounds below. They 
 went through with all the marches, counter- 
 mrches, advances, retreats, skirmishes, and the 
 other countless et cetera of a regular battle, with 
 a precision and regularity to us equally novel and 
 surprising. The time of firing was regulated by 
 counting, and yet so perfectly had the soldiers 
 been drilled in this matter, that the discharge of 
 all the muskets in a platoon seemed to be but the 
 report of a single piece. 
 
 In going through the galleries, we ascended a 
 number of flights of spiral stairs, and our final 
 sally from them was about two-thirds of the way 
 up the Rock. From here we proceeded up a 
 regular ascent to the signal-house, which stands 
 near the middle of the sharp ridge that forms the 
 summit of the mountain. The perpendicular 
 elevation of this point is about 1250 feet. The 
 view from this elevation is very extensive, em- 
 bracing a boundless expanse of waters, and parts 
 of the five kingdoms of Seville, Granada, Bar- 
 bary, Fez, and Morocco. Vast chains of moun- 
 tains, their summits capped with clouds, or buried 
 in eternal snows ; extensive plains, adorned with 
 a rich covering of verdure, and watered by mean- 
 dering streams ; the mighty sweep of Mediter- 
 ranean waters ; huge rocks, piled upon each other, 
 so as to form terrific chasms and precipices, as if 
 Nature had delighted to play wild freaks in her 
 primal hour ; and finally, the cities of Gibraltar, 
 St. Roque, and Algeciras on the European, and 
 Ceuta on the African side of the Straits, giving
 
 VIEW TROM THE SIGNAL-HOUSE. 213 
 
 an air of life and comfort to these diversified 
 scenes ; all combine to render tliis a most interest- 
 ing and glorious spot. I love sucli sweeping 
 views. They fill tlie imagination and elevate the 
 soul. It is not merely a sensual pleasure that 
 they afford : they have an excellent moral effect, 
 tending to destroy those narrow and selfish views 
 and feelings which persons who have always been 
 confined to their own little handet are so apt to 
 entertain and cherish. 
 
 From the signal-house you have also a view of 
 the entire Rock, cut up on the west side by in- 
 numerable roads, and of the harbour, covered and 
 animated with its countless vessels. Having 
 emptied our last bottle of wine, and devoured the 
 remnant of our biscuit, we commenced our de- 
 scent by a different route. This was down flights 
 of stone stairs by the side of a wall, in such a 
 dilapidated state as to render it somewhat danger- 
 ous. However, without any hairbreadth escapes, 
 or any special adventures, we reached the town 
 about three o'clock, p. m. covered with dust, 
 scorched by the sun, and worn out by fatigue; 
 and when I got on board, I found that there was 
 luxury even in the cockpit of a frigate. 
 
 The original name of Gibraltar was Calpe. Its 
 present appellation is derived from two words — 
 Gebel, the Arabic term for mountain, and Tarik, 
 the name of the first INIoorish chief who took pos- 
 session of it. Nothing is known with certainty of 
 its early history. The motto, " Nonplus ultra,''' 
 engraved in rude characters on a column erected
 
 214 HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 there, showed that its first visiters considered it 
 the limit of the habitable world. The Phoe- 
 nicians afterwards planted colonies, and founded 
 cities along the. coast, Cartheya, Calpe, Melaria, 
 Belo, and Besipo, are mentioned by Strabo, Pliny, 
 and other ancient writers, as being in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of Gibraltar. Of all these not a 
 vestige now remains, except a few unimportant 
 fragments and a little rubbish which mark the 
 site of Cartheya. From the top of the Rock may 
 be seen the Sierra de Ronda, where in later times 
 stood the flourishing city of Munda, and where 
 the sons of Pompey and Augustus contended for 
 the empire of the world. 
 
 Gibraltar was first taken by the Moors in 712, 
 under their gallant chief Tarik. They retained 
 possession of it five hundred and ninety-eight 
 years, when it was wrested from them by Perez 
 de Guzman, It was retaken in 1332 ; but one 
 hundred and thirty years subsequent to that date 
 the Spaniards again got possession of it. During 
 the war of the succession in Spain, in 1704, it 
 surrendered to the combined fleet of England and 
 Holland, who conquered and took it in the name 
 of Charles the Third, It was given up by the 
 treaty of Utrecht and Seville to the English, who 
 have retained it in their possession ever since. 
 Various attempts have been made to wrest it from 
 their hands ; the most memorable was that made 
 by the floating-batteries of France and Spain, in 
 178S, when the ingenuity of General Elliot so 
 successfully defeated their purpose. The Queen
 
 POETICAL RECOLLECTIONS. 215 
 
 of Spain was so confident of victory on that occa- 
 sion, that she had a tlirone erected on one of 
 the hills that overlook the bay, and declared to 
 her courtiers that she would not descend till she 
 had seen the Cross of Saint George supplanted by 
 the Lion of the Escurial. The hill from which 
 she watched the progress of the contest is still 
 known by the name of the Queen's Chair. Since 
 that time Gibraltar has not been attacked, nor 
 will it probably ever be again. 
 
 But while Gibraltar and the surrounding coun- 
 try have been witness to many of the bloodiest 
 struggles recorded by the Historic Muse of Spain, 
 they are not destitute of that more delightful in- 
 terest which arises from poetical recollections. It 
 was there that Hercules, in imitation of the Nax- 
 ian god, reared those gigantic pillars, which were 
 to stand an everlasting monument of his strength, 
 and a memorial to future ages of the extent of his 
 wanderings. It was in the country bordering on 
 the Gades that poetry beheld the rural charms, 
 the gay simplicity, the infant loveliness and inno- 
 cence of the golden age, long after the reign of 
 Saturn had been forgotten in the less fortunate 
 portions of the globe : and the inhabitants of 
 Betica are described as living in valleys where 
 the jasmine, the laurel, the pomegranate, were 
 ever green and ever flourishing ; in a climate ex- 
 empt alike from wintry storms and scorching fer- 
 vours ; and enjoying at once the freshness of a 
 perennial spring and the golden treasures of an 
 eternal autumn.
 
 .216 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Gale of Wind on our Passage to IMahon — New Year's Day — 
 " Splicing the Rlain Brace" — Death by Drunkenness — Duelling 
 — Poverty of the Mahonese— Cheapness of Labour — Education — 
 — Minorcan Language — Illiberal Policy of the Spanish Govern- 
 ment — Morals — Masquerades — Clergy — Catholic Worship — 
 Praying to the Virgin — Infidelity — Character of the Mahonese — 
 Sprightliness of Spanish Ladies — Carnival — Dining in the Coun- 
 try — jMascaras — Manners and Customs of the IMahonese — Spa- 
 nish Politeness— Winter in Mahon — Sailors on Shore — Their 
 Fondness for Grog. 
 
 We got under weigh on the evening of the 
 24th of December. For twenty-four hours after 
 we left Gibr(iltar, we had splendid weather. A 
 fresh breeze Avas wafting us at the rate of ten 
 knots an hour ; a cloudless sky exhibited the 
 snowy and glittering summits of Sierra Nevada in 
 a more imposing aspect than we had before seen 
 them ; and a fine bracing atmosphere gave elas- 
 ticity to the frame, and prepared it to enjoy with 
 a keen relish the glories of nature. We were 
 already off Cape de Gatt, a vast mountain of 
 sand, advancing far into the sea, as if to give bat- 
 tle to whatever approaches it, when a cloud sud- 
 denly spread itself along its summit, '''Jerens noc- 
 tein et teinpestatent^^'' and its treasures were soon
 
 NEW year's day. f?17 
 
 poured upon us with tremendous and most un- 
 welcome liberality. The gale, at times accompa- 
 nied with hail and snow, continued for three days 
 with unabated force. Howbcit, the last day of 
 December found us safely and snugly moored in 
 Port JNIahon, all overjoyed at our arrival, and 
 protesting most earnestly against winter naviga- 
 tion in the Mediterranean. 
 
 The next day, being New Year's, was a holiday 
 and a jolly day with the men. If to " eat, drink 
 and be merry" is any evidence of a grateful heart, 
 then indeed our sailors were the most grateful 
 beings in the world. The galley was scarcely suf- 
 ficient for cooking their pigs, lambs, and turkeys, 
 and the whole ship was a store-house of reeking 
 odours. About an hour after the second allow- 
 ance of grog was served out, the thundering voice 
 of the boatswain, echoed by his mates, was heard, 
 " All hands to splice the main^brace, ahoy !" 
 which, rendered into plain Knglish, means all 
 hands to take an extra cup of whiske}' and water. 
 pjvery man in the ship — stop-grogs and all — was 
 at liberty to join in the libation ; and never was 
 the altar of Bacchus surrounded by more sincere 
 worshippers. There was fiddling and dancing all 
 the evening on the forecastle and forward part of 
 the gun-deck, and, what with splicing the main- 
 brace and New Year's gifts from officers, many of 
 the men were " pretty well corned," as they call 
 it. Only two were added to the crew of the 
 " brig," and these would not have been put there, 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 DEATH BY DRUNKENNESS. 
 
 had they not been reported for making disturb- 
 ance. One of them was a son of " Erin's Green 
 Isle," and his " crazed imagination," haunted 
 with visions of sweethearts and dances, furnished 
 a copious source of amusement to his companions. 
 " Ah !" he would cry, his feet at the same time 
 obeying the ecstatic movements of his soul, " ah ! 
 if I had my swate Janny here, I could lead a 
 country dance as well as ony o"" them." At any 
 other time, such conduct as many were guilty of 
 that day, would have been severely punished, but 
 on such occasions excesses are overlooked and par- 
 doned. Custom has made these things in some 
 sense necessary, but it is a necessity which I can- 
 not but regret, and which I think ought to be cor- 
 rected. Drunkenness may have palliatives, but 
 nothing can justify it. 
 
 About this time a melancholy death occurred 
 on board of the Lexington. The boatswain had 
 been ashore, and had, as boatswains often do, 
 iridulged too freely in his libations to the sailor's 
 god. He was carried off in a state of insensi- 
 bility, from which he never recovered. The first 
 week in the year was also signalized by two 
 duels, (bloodless as honourable !) fought by mid- 
 shipmen attached to the Constellation. " Brutus 
 is an honourable man ; so are they all — all ho- 
 nourable men." 
 
 The midshipmen are fond of distinguishing 
 themselves on the field of honour. Many duels 
 were fought by them while the Constellation was
 
 DUELLING. 219 
 
 up the Straits. They were t^onerally without any 
 disastrous consequences ; but, when we were at 
 Smyrna, one of the most desperate and shocking 
 affairs of tliis kind took place, of whicli I have 
 ever heard. The parties fought witli sliip's 
 pistols, at the distance of only five paces from 
 each other, under the engagement tliat, if the 
 first fire missed, they should advance to a second, 
 and place their pistols breast to breast. The 
 pistol of only one of the combatants went off, and 
 its ball passed through the thigh of the other, 
 mangling the flesh and shattering the bone in a 
 most dreadful manner. Five months afterwards, 
 when we left tlie Mediterranean, the poor sufferer 
 was still on his back, and if he ever recovers, will 
 be a crip]ile for life. 
 
 Immediately on our arrival at INIahon, the Con- 
 stellation was hauled alongside of tlie Navy Yard. 
 She w'as stripped and underwent a thorough 
 " overhaul." In this state of things, I ap])lied to 
 Captain W. for permission to live ashore, which was 
 kindly granted. We remained three months in 
 Mahon, and the result of my observations there will 
 be recorded in the following pages of this chapter. 
 
 I am not about to present the reader with a 
 table of statistics, or to regale him with an elabo- 
 rate exposition of the state of society in ]\linorca, 
 but will merely throw out such detached facts 
 and reflections, as occur to me in regard to the 
 resources, character, and manners of the people of 
 that island. To a citizen of the United States, 
 l2
 
 fiCO POVERTY OF THE MAHONESE. 
 
 where plenty smiles in every village and hamlet, 
 one of the most striking contrasts it presents is 
 its extreme poverty. Proofs of this meet you on 
 all hands, and in every shape. You see them in 
 the number of mendicants that crowd the streets, 
 in the modes to which many of the inhabitants 
 resort to obtain subsistence, in the fare to which 
 they are obliged to submit, and in the low prices 
 affixed to manual labour and domestic services. 
 
 As you pass through the town, hosts of ragged 
 boys, whose pertinacity no refusal can overcome, 
 follow you from street to street, with faces 
 wrinkled into a thousand shapes of woe, and with 
 the incessant whining cry of " Officer, give me 
 one penny for de bread — I say, officer, give me 
 one penny.*" There is another class of beggars 
 composed of old men and women, who, from age 
 or infirmity, are unable to work, and therefore 
 really necessitous. Such have stated times for ask- 
 ing alms, which are on Saturdays and some of the 
 church holidays. They go from house to house, 
 generally visiting only the families to whom they 
 are known. They never enter, but tell their tale of 
 poverty and suffering without ; at the same time 
 beseeching some trifling gratuity' for the " love of 
 Clod and the blessed Virgin" To the honour of 
 that ])ortion of the inhabitants who are in better 
 circumstances, it must be mentioned that they 
 are rarely turned away without an alms. 
 
 I used frc(]uently to walk out in the country, 
 and go in whatever direction I might, it rarely
 
 POVERTY OF THE MAHONESE. 221 
 
 happened that I did not see a number of persons 
 carefully gatherino- up the ordure in the roads for 
 the purpose of selling it. Multitudes of the in- 
 habitants have no regular means of subsistence, 
 but lounge about in the public places, ready to 
 engage in any temporary or menial service that 
 may offer itself to them. In jNIahon and its im- 
 mediate vicinity, nearly all the connnon people 
 are able to procure bread; but I was informed 
 on unquestionable authority, that in other parts of 
 the island there are many, whose only bread is 
 barley cakes, and that the number is not small of 
 those who cannot obtain even these, but are com- 
 pelled to subsist almost exclusively on fish, fruits, 
 and vegetables. 
 
 In one of my rambles into the country, I lost 
 my way and came to a place where an old man 
 was repairing a stone wall. I begged him to 
 direct me. He replied that he was going to din- 
 ner, and w^ould accompany me on my way to- 
 wards Mahon. Arrived opposite a little stone 
 hut, he said, " There is my home ; I am going 
 to dine; will you dine with me.?" I declined. 
 The old gentleman insisted, and I at length yield- 
 ed. The table was an old bench resembling the 
 moveable seats in some of the school-houses in 
 New England ; and the chairs were other benches 
 of the same kind, only a little lower. The din- 
 ner consisted of a small loaf of brown bread, a 
 bowl of vegetable soup, a bit of old sausage, and 
 a little cheese, with the common red wine of tlie
 
 222 CHEAPNESS OF LABOUR. 
 
 country. An old rusty Knife and fork, neither of 
 which had a handle, two or three broken plates, 
 a tumbler and a gourd-shell, constituted the 
 M'hole furniture of the table. As the reader may 
 guess, I ate but little, but I thought the more ; 
 and I could not but be deeply affected, as fancy 
 pictured to my view the multitudes in that rocky 
 and sterile island, who were accustomed to sit 
 down to a worse dinner than even that before 
 me ; whilst in my own loved and happy land, if 
 inquest should be made from the northern boun- 
 daries of Maine to the southern Cape of Florida, 
 and from the shores of the Atlantic to the Valley 
 of the Mississippi, the family could scarcely be 
 found, who were obliged to submit to such fare. 
 The old gentleman's family consisted only of him- 
 self and his wife. I was touched with their unaf- 
 fected kindness, and the patriarchal simplicity of 
 their manners. They did not seem to dream that 
 the dinner to which they had invited me, was not 
 a dinner for a king, and they expressed a thou- 
 sand regrets that I had not a better appetite. It 
 is but justice to add that my kind-hearted host 
 jDositively refused the slightest remuneration for 
 his hospitality. 
 
 The statement of a few facts will be sufficient 
 to show the cheapness of labour in Minorca. The 
 servants in the family where I lived, received but 
 one dollar per month, and this is the usual com- 
 pensation for common servants. Nurses receive 
 one or two additional pesetas. The making of a
 
 SOURCES OF POVERTY. Q2S 
 
 suit of clothes, when all the trimmings are found, 
 is only seven dollars ; and the finest calf-skin 
 boots sell at three dollars the pair. All other 
 labour is proportionably cheap. Nor is this 
 cheapness of labour the consequence of a corre- 
 sponding cheapness of the ordinary articles of 
 consumption. All foreign goods sell at enormous 
 prices, and provisions are for the most part much 
 dearer than among us. The low price of labour 
 can result, therefore, only from an excess of la- 
 bourers, and a consequent necessity of labouring 
 for a trifling compensation. 
 
 The poverty of Minorca has grown directly out 
 of the combination and train of circumstances, to 
 which it has been subject. First of all, the soil, 
 owing to its shallowness, does not contain within 
 itself the elements of wealth. Whatever opulence 
 it may possess, must therefore flow into it through 
 the channels of counncrce ; but iMinorca has no 
 commerce. During the period when a more li- 
 beral policy was pursued by the Spanish Govern- 
 ment, the inhabitants drove a rich trade in wheat 
 with the Barbary Powers and Turkey ; but since 
 the destruction of the Constitution, and the sub- 
 stitution in its place of arbitrary power, the in- 
 troduction of wheat from foreign countries has 
 been prohibited, and of course the only source of 
 wealth dried up. But not only have the means 
 of increasing their property been utterly and 
 ruthlessly torn from the people ; — the little they 
 already possess, is gradually wasting away beneath
 
 224> EDUCATION — MINORCAN LANGUAGE. 
 
 the constant drains made upon it, that a haughty 
 monarch, a stupid nobility, and a licentious priest- 
 hood may enjoy the means of living in luxurious 
 idleness, and glittering in gilded wealth. 
 
 Were it not for our squadron and the mer- 
 chantmen sent from various ports in Spain to per- 
 form quarantine in Mahon, Minorca would be a 
 desert. It produces in abundance, grapes, oranges, 
 figs, pomegranates, olives, apricots, melons, cauli- 
 flowers, and various other fruits and vegetables, 
 and the money received in exchange for these 
 commodities from the vessels that visit Port Ma- 
 hon, is nearly all that gets into the Island. The 
 wine made in Minorca is of an excellent quality, 
 and sells low. 
 
 The poverty of the Mahonese, great though it 
 be, is not greater than their ignorance. Educa- 
 tion is miserably neglected. The Minorcan lan- 
 guage is not taught at all. Andrews, in his His- 
 tory of Literature, declares it, together with the 
 dialects of Majorca and Catalonia, to be essen- 
 tially the same with the old Provencal language. 
 It is certainly not unmusical in its sounds. Many 
 of our officers, I know, think differently ; but if 
 they would give a more careful attention to it 
 when spoken, I am inclined to believe their opi- 
 nions would undergo the same change that mine 
 did. It is, I should think, not ill adapted to sa- 
 tire and the expression of violent emotions. It 
 has a grammar and dictionary, but in its princi- 
 ples, I suspect, it is a rudis indigestaque moles.
 
 SCHOOLS IN MAHON. J?-'i.> 
 
 without much form or comeliness. Its basis is 
 tlic Spanish and Italian, but it has recently been 
 considerably modified by the introduction of 
 French and Englisli terms. It has few books, 
 and those all on religious subjects. I should ex- 
 cept from this some unpublished compositions, 
 chiefly poetical, of which I have heard, but never 
 seen. I have seen several manuscript songs in 
 the Minorcan dialect, not altooether destitute of 
 elegance of language or poetical spirit. 
 
 There are in Mahon a few schools for boys, in 
 which, however, only the Spanish language and the 
 simplest elements of education are taught. There 
 is also a public school where the children of the 
 poor are received gratuitously. About two hun- 
 dred attend it ; but it is conducted in such a way 
 as to be of little service to its beneficiaries. One 
 mathematical school completes the list of means 
 for obtaining an education enjoyed by boys. 
 Girls in this respect stand on far inferior ground. 
 Few, very few, of this sex, except those in the 
 higher classes, learn either to read or write. 
 There is but one school in Mahon, where the 
 mental improvement of females is the object, and 
 even there reading and writinfj are about all that 
 is taught. There are others, useful certainly and 
 commendable, where the children of the poor are 
 taught to work. Strong prejudices exist in the 
 minds of many intelligent gentlemen in Mahon, 
 against female education. I have heard it grave- 
 ly contended that women have no business to 
 L 5
 
 226 EDUCATION OF MAHONESE LADIES. 
 
 learn either to read, write, or cast accounts ; tliat 
 their duties are wholly of a domestic nature, and 
 that their education should be limited to the 
 making of ragouts and the darning of their hus- 
 bands' stockings ; in short, that they are inca- 
 pable of much intellectual cultivation, and there- 
 fore it would be time and money thrown away to 
 attempt any thing of the kind. How would my 
 own fair countrywomen like to hear such doc- 
 trines as these preached up ? Music and dancing 
 constitute the chief part of the education of the 
 more respectable Mahonese ladies ; and when I 
 told them that 1 could not dance, and that I was 
 no musician, they would sometimes exclaim in 
 amazement, Y pues, que sale vd. ?* as if a know- 
 ledge of these things were the ?ie plus ultra of hu- 
 man perfections, and a sine qua non of human 
 happiness. Let me, however, be just. There 
 are some parents in Mahon, who, entertaining 
 more liberal views, employ private teachers for 
 their daughters, and extend their education so as 
 to embrace arithmetic, grammar, geography, and 
 even philosophy. Some of the ladies too contend 
 stoutly for their rights, and maintain with an elo- 
 quence, which is itself the best argument they 
 employ, their full intellectual equality with the 
 other half of creation. In a spirited discussion 
 Avhich 1 once heard on this subject, the lady, a 
 woman of superior natural endowments, made a 
 home thrust at her antagonist, which appeared to 
 
 * " Why, what do you know ?"
 
 RESTRICTIONS ON TIIK PRESS. 227 
 
 mc to have a little squintiiif^ towards the truth. 
 " Usledes^'' she exclaimed, her large black eyes 
 darting flashes of generous indignation, " Usiedes 
 (jiiieren (fne las niugeres scan simples, pcira que las 
 puedan eiiganar mas facilmenle.''^* 
 
 But I might almost ask of what use schools 
 would be, where nearly all the sources of useful 
 information are effectually sealed up ? All those 
 books which present just views, and inculcate 
 liberal principles with regard to government and 
 po})ular rights, are prohibited in Spain. The 
 liistory of our own country is among tlie number, 
 and the few who read it, are obliged to do so by 
 stealth. Newspapers, such as they are in Eng- 
 land, France, and the United States, are unknown 
 in Spain. In their public houses a billiard-table 
 sup])lies the place of our reading-rooms ; and in 
 the domestic circle a pack of cards is the substi- 
 tute for the village newspaper. There is but one 
 Gazette (that published at Madrid under the eyes 
 of the King's Confessor) in the whole kingdom. 
 When we first went out to the Mediterranean, 
 a small semi-weekly Diario was published at 
 Mahon, but nearly all it contained worth reading, 
 was usually a moral sentiment extracted from the 
 wise sayings of some celebrated philosopher, and 
 placed as a motto on the first page. This, like 
 all other publications of the kind, was abolished 
 the nioment the late French revolution was an- 
 
 • " Vou men wish to have silly wives in order to deceive them 
 more easily."
 
 228 ILLIBERAL POLICY OF 
 
 nounced at Madrid ; and, in the matter of public 
 journals, as well as many other things, the sub- 
 jects of Ferdinand the Seventh are now infinitely 
 worse off than the slaves of Sultan Mahmoud. 
 To possess the Constitution of Spain, to express 
 one generous sentiment of admiration at the ex- 
 alted patriotism, or of regret at the melancholy 
 fate of the gallant Riego, the great leader of the 
 liberal party in the last Revolution ; these things 
 are crimes, that subject the persons guilty of them 
 to immediate death. 
 
 Such is the present misguided policy of the 
 Spanish government in relation to the liberty of 
 the press and the freedom of speech. It is a 
 policy that can have no other influence than to 
 cover the land with darkness, to dry up the living 
 springs of virtue, to check the upward aspirations 
 of the soul, and to wither the energies of the 
 nation. In a conversation with me on this sub- 
 ject, a respectable gentleman once said, Senor, la 
 libertad del culto y de la imprenta es la madre de 
 la ciencia, de las artes, del coniercio, de la indus- 
 trial de todo lo buetio ; en una palahra, es lafuente 
 de la prosperidad y felicidad naciunal.* " In the 
 United States," he continued, " you have all these, 
 but here" — and he shook his head, as if death 
 lurked in the utterance of the obnoxious truth. 
 
 * " Sir, the liberty of conscience and of tlie press is tlie mother of 
 science, of the arts, of commerce, of industry, of every thing excel- 
 lent ; iu a word, it is the fountain of national prosperity and happi- 
 ness."
 
 THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT. 22l> 
 
 It was a silence more expressive than words; for 
 it showed the power of an opposite system of 
 things even over enhfjlitened minds. If such be 
 the effect of the fetterin<>- of tlie press, and the es- 
 tablishment of an exclusive roli<^ion on minds that 
 have felt the genial and expanding warmth of the 
 sun of science, what must be their influence on 
 the vulgar mind — that mighty mass of darkness, 
 relieved only by a few feeble and flickering emana- 
 tions of its blessed light ? The same gentleman, 
 — and his former attachment to the Court at Ma- 
 drid gave him the means of forming something 
 like a correct judgment on that matter, — on ano- 
 ther occasion said to me, " Sir, there is not a 
 king in Europe, who would not be willing to 
 have his right arm cut off, if by that means the 
 United States could be blotted out of existence."""' 
 I expressed some surprise at such a declaration, 
 and he immediately rejoined with emphasis, " No, 
 sir, do not doubt it, — re|)ul)lics are a bad odour 
 in the nostrils of crowned heads."'"' 
 
 As a further proof that the Spanish govern- 
 ment " loves darkness because its deeds are evil," 
 may be mentioned the obstructions recently thrown 
 in the way of the profes^ion of law. The course 
 has been so enlarged that it caimot be completed 
 in less than eight or ten y^^ai's, and none but per- 
 sons of princely fortunes can hazard the expense 
 of entering upon that career. The government is 
 afraid of the univir>ities : that at \'alencia, and, 
 I believe, those in other parts of the kingdom.
 
 230 MORALS MASQUERADES. 
 
 were closed on the first intelligence of the French 
 revolution ; the former remained locked-up when 
 we left the Mediterranean. 
 
 I once heard it facetiously remarked by a Spa- 
 niard, that " there was a vast deal of religion, but 
 little morality, in Spain ;" and the result of my 
 observations is a conviction of the truth of his re- 
 mark, as far as it relates to Mahon. A lax mora- 
 lity would naturally result from such a state of 
 society as I have described ; but this is not all. 
 There are various other causes : and first and 
 foremost among them, are the masquerades kept 
 up during the Carnival. These exert a most de- 
 moralizing influence on the heart and conduct. 
 They are not, I will confess, quite as bad as I 
 had expected. Modesty is not altogether put off, 
 when the mask is put on. Indeed, most of the 
 more respectable persons of both sexes, who 
 attend them, go unmasked. But it is a doctrine 
 not less true in philosophy than in religion, that 
 " Evil communications corrupt good manners ;"" 
 and it is equally certain that an unwarrantable 
 freedom both of language and conduct is allowed 
 in these assemblies. Purely republican, there- 
 fore, as they are in their principles, may the day 
 be far distant when they shall become common 
 among us. I should regard their prevalence as 
 among the clearest proofs of a dereliction from 
 the purity of our forefathers. I have called mas- 
 querades republican assemblies, and so they are 
 in the strictest sense of the term. The broadest
 
 MASQUERADES STATE OF SOCIETY. 23\ 
 
 distinctions melt away like wax beneath the all- 
 pervading- spirit of equality, that j^ivcs life and 
 flavour to the entertainment. The lowest and 
 most loathsome prostitute, raised from her de- 
 graded state by the ma^ic of a mask, dances 
 hand in hand with the daughter of the most re- 
 spectable citizen. The sexes dance, waltz, em- 
 brace, ogle, promenade ; nay, think themselves at 
 liberty to indulge in an unwarrantable use of the 
 tongue ; and who shall answer for the power of 
 human passions, especially under the burning 
 suns of Spain, to resist so many enticements ? 
 Who will doubt tliat many a female has wept in 
 bitterness over the hour that initiated her into the 
 mysteries of a masquerade ? These assemblies 
 furnish ten thousand facilities for carrying on 
 amorous intrigues. jNIarried ladies, who have 
 illicit amours, after their husbands are in bed and 
 asleep, steal out of their houses to meet their 
 eiiumorados at the masquerade ball. 
 
 I will mention one or two facts of a different 
 character, which, however, will go to illustrate 
 still further the state of society in iMahon. No 
 young lady of a respectable family ever goes out 
 at night, and rarely during the day, unattended 
 by either her mother, an aged servant, or a near 
 relation. A\'hen she receives a visit from a gen- 
 tleman, if slie happens to be alone, and has any 
 regard for her reputation, the first thing she does, 
 is to call in some other member of the family, to 
 prevent unfair suspicions. The slightest intimacy
 
 23^ STATE OF SOCIETY — CLERGY. 
 
 between two persons of different sexes is sus- 
 pected ; if they are together an hour without 
 other company, it furnishes ground for confident 
 assertion ; and a young unmarried lady, who 
 should consent to walk out at night with a young 
 gentleman, who was not her relation, would be 
 banished from what bears the name of virtuous 
 society. Such is the want of confidence in the 
 virtue of females, I used to tell the ladies of 
 Mahon of the liberty enjoyed by their sex in 
 America, but they could not comprehend it. It 
 was a state of society of which they could con- 
 ceive only as one wide-spread scene of licentious- 
 ness and guilt. As to the virtue of chastity in 
 the male sex, it is what few pretend to. The ma- 
 jority regard it as a thing from which they are 
 absolved, in virtue of having been born men. 
 The statements in the preceding part of this para- 
 graph are equally applicable to most parts of 
 Spain and Italy. 
 
 As you walk the streets of a Spanish city, 
 priests and friars, next to beggars, appear to be 
 the most numerous class of inhabitants. You 
 know them by their flowing robes, their grotesque 
 hats, and their important airs. The whole num- 
 ber in the island of Minorca is upwards of two 
 hundred, that is, more than one to every one 
 hundred and fifty souls, and the proportion in 
 other y^arts of Spain is much greater. The num- 
 ber of monks has been greatly increased within 
 the last four or five years. They were manufac-
 
 CLKRGY or SPAIN. 233 
 
 tured, not for home consumption, but for expor- 
 tation. Had the attempts of Charles X. and his 
 detestable ministers, to abolish the freedom of the 
 press, been successful, the convents were to have 
 been re-established in France, and an army of 
 Spanish friars, reared up for that express purpose, 
 were ready to march and take possession of them. 
 There was a perfect understaiiding on this sub- 
 ject between the two jMonarchs and the Pope, 
 previous to the memorable decree of the 27th of 
 July. The project was worthy of the triumvirate 
 who conceived it ; and its issue was not more dis- 
 astrous to one of them, than it was honourable to 
 the gallant nation who defeated it. 
 
 The clergy of Spain receive one-third of all the 
 revenues of the kingdom, and, besides various 
 other perquisites and privileges, are exempt from 
 taxation of every description. The richest and 
 most beautiful estates in Minorca are owned by 
 the Monks of Mount Toro, and their selections 
 in other parts of the kingdom are equally credit- 
 able to the judgment of these reverend Padres. 
 So well, indeed, have they known how to choose 
 the fairest portions of that fair realm, that, when 
 the liberalists obtained possession of the govern- 
 ment, and broke up the convents, declaring their 
 lands to be national property, gentlemen from va- 
 rious parts of Europe flocked to the purchase of 
 these spoils of fallen piet}'. 
 
 Considerable difference in public sentiment to- 
 wards the clergy, is observable in different parts
 
 234 CATHOLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 of Spain. In the interior of the Peninsula, where 
 the night of ignorance is most complete, the voice 
 of a monk is regarded with the veneration due to 
 an oracle ; but in the seaboard towns and islands, 
 where intercourse with foreigners has enlarged 
 the circle of men's ideas, though the clergy still 
 wield a tremendous power, they enjoy far less 
 consideration. In Mahon I know that public 
 sentiment is strong and decided against them ; 
 and the characters of many of them, particularly 
 those of the monks, are not, it is to be feared, 
 such as to entitle them to much respect. It is, 
 however, with the liveliest pleasure, that I bear 
 testimony to the unfeigned piety, the high moral 
 worth, the thorough intellectual training, and the 
 sound political principles of a number of clerical 
 gentlemen of my acquaintance, in Spain, France, 
 and Italy. 
 
 The forms of the Catholic worship are of an 
 imposing character. The number of officiating 
 ecclesiastics, the richness of their habits, the nu- 
 merous changes of scene, and the gaudy decora- 
 tions of their temples, give it an air of splendour 
 and majesty, which cannot fail to captivate the 
 imagination, though it may leave the heart un- 
 touched. The whining tones, however, in which 
 the service is chanted by the priests, are to me 
 anything but agreeable. They would render it 
 incomprehensible were it not already so from 
 being in Latin. The only part of the worship, in 
 which I can sympathise, is the music ; and that
 
 PRAYING TO THE VIRGIN 235 
 
 is highly devotional. The rich tones of the Ca- 
 thedral organ at INlahon fall upon the ear with an 
 effect inconceivably solenni and elevating ; and in 
 the inspiration they produce, you almost fancy 
 yourself listening to some angel-band, which, 
 from the regions of mid-air, is pouring a flood of 
 celestial harmony u))()n your ravished soul. 
 
 The Catholic religion addresses itself almost 
 exclusively to the senses. Not that it excludes 
 the affections, or is inconsistent with the fullest 
 exercise of that sentiment — the purest and loftiest 
 of which our nature is susceptible — denominated 
 the love of God. But its rituals are so gorgeous, 
 and so numerous, that they cannot but have a 
 tendency to draw off the mind from what is in- 
 ward and spiritual, to what is merely external 
 and material. There are, however, some points 
 in it which cannot fail to awaken the most de- 
 licious emotions of tenderness, confidence, and 
 love in the minds of those who sincerely believe in 
 their truth. Such, among others, is praying to 
 the "\"irgin Mary. It is one of the most beautiful 
 features of Christianity, that its Divine Founder 
 may be approached with the knowledge that he 
 can be " touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
 ties,''"' because he " was in all points tempted like 
 as we are. With what peculiar fervour and con- 
 fidence, then, must a woman, who can do it in 
 the full assurance of faith, ])our her infirmities 
 and her wants, her griefs and her anxieties, into 
 the ear of one whom she feels to be her sister, and
 
 23G EVENING DEVOTIONS. 
 
 who, she believes, is all-powerful in heaven ! 
 How sweet to the pious mother, to commend her 
 infant child to a friend in heaven, who knows all 
 the fulness of a mother's love, and all the intense- 
 ness of a mother's anxiety ! With what senti- 
 ments of resignation and tenderness must the poor 
 widow, who earns with her daily labour the daily 
 bread of herself and her offspring, approach the 
 altar of the " blessed among women," whose 
 poverty forced her to cradle in a manger the 
 infant Son of God ! 
 
 There is no denomination of Christians so 
 punctual as the Catholics in the discharge of what 
 they consider their religious duties, which are to 
 attend mass on Sundays and holidays, to say 
 their prayers morning and evening, and confess 
 their sins at least once a year to the priests. At 
 the first stroke of the bell, when tolled for even- 
 ing prayers, every Catholic doffs his hat, and 
 crosses himself most devoutly. If you are in the 
 market-place, you will see the whole crowd col- 
 lected there, engaging at once in their evening 
 devotions: if you are in company, no matter how 
 loud or merry the conversation may be, you will 
 perceive it instantly hushed into a low and con- 
 fused murmur, — the voice of united prayer. I 
 have seen people playing at cards suspend the 
 game to say their prayers, and then go on as if no 
 interruption had taken place. When they have 
 linished their devotions, though they had before 
 been conversing with you in the most familiar
 
 INFIDELITY. 237 
 
 way, they will often address you with a Buenas 
 noches, Senor,* as if you had just entered the 
 room. 
 
 Many of those who are most punctual in the 
 performance of all the ceremonies of the church, 
 are, at heart, arrant infidels. This I happen to 
 know from my frequent conversations with Roman 
 (Jatholics on religious subjects. They would not, 
 for the world, have their sentiments breathed into 
 the ears of a priest — such is their dread of eccle- 
 siastical denunciation ; but when they can do it 
 in perfect confidence, they express their opinions 
 freely and without disguise. There are more 
 Voltaires than Bibles in Spain. The priests 
 themselves do not escape the infection of scep- 
 ticism. One of my friends in Mahon, who was 
 infidel to the back-bone, was very intimate with 
 a young and dashing c/erigo. I one day asked 
 him how it was that he and his clerical friend kept 
 on such good terms. Do you ever, said I, broach 
 your real sentiments to him .'' His reply was, 
 Nosotros nos ente/idenios.-^ 
 
 What 1 have hitherto said of the people of 
 Minorca is not, it must be confessed, much to 
 their praise. As I have been holding up to view 
 the dark part of the picture, I should not do 
 justice to my own feelings, if I did not unroll the 
 canvass, and let the reader see wliat it contains of 
 bright and amiable. Fallen as human nature is, 
 
 • " A good night to you, sir." 
 t " We understand each other."
 
 238 CHARACTER OF THE MAHONESE. 
 
 there are still in its worst estate some glorious 
 traces of its original perfection — some precious 
 relics remaining from its wreck. 1 he Mahonese 
 are certainly far from being destitute of good 
 qualities. They are kind, hospitable, simple in 
 their manners, frugal, industrious, and generally, 
 I believe, strictly honest. Nor is there an utter 
 dearth of good society. There are many intelli- 
 gent gentlemen there, nearly all of whom are 
 men of liberal politics. I was acquainted with a 
 number of families, in which I could spend an 
 evening as pleasantly and profitably as on this 
 side of the Atlantic. Females, it is true, owing 
 to their want of education, do not command that 
 respect, or exert that influence in society in 
 Mahon, that they do in the United States ; but 
 even there they possess a native s^prightllness and 
 wit, which go far towards su])plying the place of 
 mental cultivation. The Spanish ladies generally 
 possess a vivacity and a perception of the ridicu- 
 lous, that leave the women of all other countries 
 far behind them. Some of the most brilliant 
 repartees I have ever heard, were made by com- 
 mon servants in Spain. If the women of that 
 country enjoyed all those means of intellectual 
 culture, to which their sex, on every principle of 
 equity and good policy, is entitled, there are none 
 in the world that would surpass them. 
 
 The winter, in Catholic countries, is the season 
 of gaiety and dissipation. The Carnival com- 
 mences at Christmas and closes at Lent. During
 
 CARNIVAL — DINING IN THE COUNTRY. 239 
 
 its continuance, the rage for amusements is at its 
 lieiglit, and people abandon themselves almost 
 without reserve to the intoxications of pleasure. 
 Balls, parties, theatrical representations, masque- 
 rades, cards, S:c. ejigross so much of their time 
 and thoughts, that amusement may be said to be 
 the great business of life. During some of the 
 last days especially, schools are suspended, police 
 regulations relaxed, shops closed, and business, 
 properly so called, almost swept away by the cur- 
 rent of mad hilarity. 
 
 There is a custom very prevalent not only at 
 Mahon but in other parts of Spain, of dining in 
 the counti-y during the latter part of the carnival. 
 It is called el irse de vega.* Two or three fami- 
 lies generally unite, and, loading their servants or 
 a jackass with the " good cheer" that is to charm 
 away hunger, thirst, and the " blues,"" they go 
 forth to light their sacrifices, and pour out their 
 libations to the Penates, in the open temple of 
 natui'e. These rustic entertainments are fjene- 
 rally greatly enjoyed, especially by the younger 
 members of the ftimilies. Sometimes they make a 
 farm-house their rendezvous, and for a trifling 
 compensation, are permitted to spread their stores 
 beneath its humble roof; but more commonly the 
 earth is their table, and the heavens their canopy. 
 The day is generally spent in strolling through 
 
 * This phrase does not aJmitof a literal translation, fega means 
 a plain pasturing ground on the hank of a river, but irse de vega 
 means to dine anywhere in the country.
 
 240 DANCING ON BOARD. 
 
 the fields, and in innocent but exhilarating 
 sports. 
 
 The family in which I lived, with two or three 
 others, were once spending the day not far from 
 our ship. When my school hour arrived, I left 
 them to go and " teach the young idea how to 
 shoot." I had scarcely advanced a dozen yards, 
 when I was met by our first lieutenant, who said 
 
 to me, " Well, where now, Mr. ?" To my 
 
 school. Sir, I replied. " Poh !" said he, " never 
 mind the school to-day. Let us take a stroll over 
 the hills. These Spaniards are the happiest peo- 
 ple I ever saw." I told him that I could intro- 
 duce him to a merry group, and immediately con- 
 ducted him to the one I had left. He invited 
 them all — a goodly generation — aboard ; had the 
 larboard-side of the gun-deck " cleared for ac- 
 tion ;" invited the young gentlemen and ward- 
 room officers to join the party ; and waltzes and 
 country dances soon became the " order of the 
 day." Thus my school was converted into a fro- 
 lic, much to the gratification of the midshipmen, 
 who would perhaps have relished my services 
 more, if they had been oftener employed in the 
 same way. 
 
 As the period of Carnival festivities approached 
 its termination, the people became more anxious 
 to improve it. They were in fact little less than 
 frantic. The streets at night were filled with 
 mascaras, or persons in mask — in many cases men 
 in the dress of females, and females in that of
 
 LAST DAY OF THE CARNIVAL. 241 
 
 men* — who went from house to house, singing, 
 dancing, leaping, and performing all manner of 
 grotesque and ludicrous evolutions, wherever they 
 stopped. 
 
 But the last day of the Carnival, the 24th of 
 February, put the climax on all the others. Any 
 one who had witnessed the scenes to which it gave 
 birth, would have said that the demon of madness 
 had breathed a ])ortion of his spirit into the entire 
 population of Mahon. The hills in every direc- 
 tion about the city were literally alive with the 
 de vega dinner parties, that went out in swarms to 
 bid a merry farewell to the God of Pleasure. Here 
 you might see a group threading the knotty bo/ati- 
 gera, and there another going through the odd 
 combination of movements in the rustic J'andafigo. 
 But what painter is equal to sketching the scenes 
 enacted at night ? I was in every part of the city, 
 and everywhere I witnessed the same effects of 
 the universal phrenzy. Every grog-shop was a 
 ball-room, and every obscure lane was filled with 
 persons, drunk with delight, and pouring forth 
 the overflowings of their spirits in song, dances, 
 screams, and every extravagant act and gesture, 
 which the excess of gladness could suggest. But 
 the great focus of carnival excitement was at the 
 theatre, where the public masquerade-ball was 
 held. The people were there literally wedged to- 
 
 * This, however, is contrary to law, and those wlio so dis- 
 guise themselves, are liable to be apprehended and thrown into the 
 calalozo. 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE GLOOM OF LENT. 
 
 gether, so that it was impossible to pass from one 
 side of the room to the other, without the utmost 
 difficulty. But notwithstanding the heat and the 
 
 squeeze and 1 leave the reader to guess what 
 
 else — they danced away lustily till the bell called 
 them to mass on the following morning. 
 
 What a contrast did the 25th present to the 
 preceding day ! When I went out, I could 
 scarcely realize that I was in the same place. 
 The universal gaiety had given place to an appa- 
 rent gloom equally general ; the sounds of mirth 
 had been hushed by the ashes of repentance ; and 
 the streets seemed little else than representatives 
 of the voiceless grave. What an enigma is man ! 
 How inflammable, yet how pliant ! How appa- 
 rently ungovernable, yet how easily controlled by 
 adequate motives ! 
 
 Persons, reading the above details, might, with- 
 out reflecting much upon the subject, be led to 
 regard such a state of things as unnatural ; but I 
 view the matter in quite a different light. The 
 human mind must and will have excitement, — 
 excitement too of a high and intense kind. In 
 England and the United States, this principle 
 finds food in elections and romances ; but in 
 countries where the press is fettered, and people 
 are scarcely permitted to think, much less to con- 
 verse on political matters, it must look to other 
 sources for its gratification. Hence the excessive, 
 not to say unnatural, addiction to pleasures in 
 such countries ; and hence the proof of the uni-
 
 PECULIARITIES IN MANNERS. 243 
 
 forniity of the great ])rinciples of human nature. 
 The modes in which this uniformity of principle 
 displays itself, may indicate states of society dif- 
 fering tolo coclo from each other. In the United 
 States, for example, they involve no inconsider- 
 able degree of mental culture ; whereas in Spain, 
 they are not inconsistent with the most absolute 
 intellectual darkness. 
 
 There were some things in the modes of inter- 
 course and manners of the people of INIinorca, 
 which struck me at first as a little ovtrt ; such, 
 for instance, as entering the house of a person on 
 the slightest acquaintance without knocking, and 
 remaining covered in the company of ladies. 
 When you call on a friend there, the first thing 
 he says to you is, cubrase vd. (" put en your 
 hat,") and it would be a breach of politeness to re- 
 fuse to do so in the winter, as you would thereby 
 oblise him to do the same. This custom has its 
 origin in a regard to health ; since, as there is 
 usually little or no fire in the room, to sit unco- 
 vered would in many instances be a dangerous 
 exposure. Gentlemen often sit down to table in 
 the company of ladies with their hats on. True 
 politeness is unquestionably always and every- 
 where the same, having its foundation in that ele- 
 gant benevolence, which seeks to communicate 
 pleasure and avoid giving pain in the ordinary 
 intercourse of life; but its forms are scarcely less 
 conventional than language itself. In Mexico it 
 indicates a want of good breeding in a young lady 
 M 2
 
 244 SPANISH POLITENESS. 
 
 to refuse to smoke in a polished circle ; yet what 
 could be more shocking to our nerves than to see 
 a fair damsel at one of our fashionable parties 
 whiffing away with a cigar in her mouth, and 
 filling the room with its fumes and odours ? But 
 the refusal in the one case and the act in the other 
 would, from their oddity, be equally painful, and 
 therefore equally impolite. 
 
 At fashionable parties in Mahon, it is cus- 
 tomary for the ladies and gentlemen to remain 
 almost all the time, except while dancing, in sepa- 
 rate rooms. 
 
 There is no nation in the world so excessively 
 polite, and so lavish of compliments, as the 
 Spanish. In the house in which I had my lodg- 
 ings, I never knew a person of any rank or con- 
 dition, of respectable standing in his own sphere, 
 to enter while the family were at their meals, 
 without being invited to participate with them. 
 When you enter the house of a Spaniard, pro- 
 perly introduced, he never fails to assure you 
 that both it and himself are perfectly and always 
 at your disposition. There is no end to such ex- 
 pressions as the following : Senor, aqui tiene vd. 
 una casa — esta casa es suya — si le puedo servir en 
 algo, mande vd. — Estoy siempre a su disposicion.* 
 Whatever may be meant by such protestations as 
 these, both their literal import and the perfect 
 
 • " Sir, here you have a house — this house is yours — If I can 
 serve you in any way, command me — I am always at your dis-' 
 posal."
 
 WINTER IN MAIION. 245 
 
 politeness of manner with which they are made, 
 are certainly very gratifying to the feelings of a 
 stranger. 
 
 Notwithstanding the state of society in Spain 
 is such as to prevent young ladies from receiving 
 even calls of ceremony from gentlemen in private, 
 yet in company much greater freedom both of 
 manners and conversation is allowed there than in 
 the United States. Expressions which would here 
 be stamped with the seal of obscenity, are there 
 bandied about without reserve, in promiscuous 
 assemblies of the highest respectability. Kvery 
 one who has travelled much in different parts of 
 this country, must have been struck with the 
 difference between northern and southern man- 
 ners, and the superior warmth of the latter ; but 
 even the generous and hospitable Old Dominion 
 appears cold and distant to a person fresh from 
 the society of southern Europe. 
 
 The first winter we passed in Mahon, though 
 mildness itself compared with our northern win- 
 ters, was for that place unusually severe, and con- 
 sequently produced a good deal of suffering. 
 There fell at different periods a considerable 
 ((uantity of snow, and several times the streets 
 were so icy as to render it dangerous to go out 
 at night — things scarcely within the memory of 
 the oldest inhabitants. I was amused at the ap- 
 pearance exhibited by the streets of Mahon after 
 a fall of snow. The boys crowded them with 
 snowy statuary. The subjects were generally re-
 
 £46 HIGH PRICE OF FUEL. 
 
 ligious, and their execution did not often do much 
 honour either to the taste or talents of their au- 
 thors ; but I never shall forget one of the figures 
 I saw on one of these occasions. It was a female, 
 whose majestic form and graceful proportions 
 would not have disgraced the young imagination 
 of Canova. 
 
 Wood is sold in Mahon by weight,* and at a 
 very high price. Charcoal is the more common 
 fuel, but it is almost equally expensive ; so that the 
 poor can scarcely afford to have any fire at all. 
 Indeed, a good cheerful fire is a thing almost un- 
 known there. People pretend to warm their 
 houses by means of little coal fires, made in a 
 copa^ or brazier, which is placed near the centre 
 of the room ; but they scarcely alter the tempera- 
 ture of the air, and the little urchins gather close 
 around them, still shivering with the cold. In 
 passing through the town of a cold morning, you 
 would always see every street lined on each side 
 with a row of these copas, placed there for the 
 purpose of igniting the coal. 
 
 While we were in winter-quarters, the crew 
 were twice permitted to go ashore in companies 
 of twenty-five or thirty individuals at a time. 
 Sailors on shore are perfect Bacchantes, and the 
 most disgraceful excesses were often committed 
 by them. It was not uncommon for them, after 
 having spent all their money, to sell every stitch 
 of clothes on their backs, and return to the ship, 
 * It is sold in the same way all over the Mediterranean.
 
 SAILORS ON SHORE. 247 
 
 covered with tatters and iiian(>led with bruises, 
 there to be thrown into the brig, and afterwards 
 flogged with the cats. Notwithstanding the 
 liberties granted them, as the ship lay close along- 
 side the Quay at the Navy Yard, the facilities 
 for " taking French leave," as they term it, were 
 so great, that one or two midshipmen were obliged 
 to be almost constantly employed in searching for 
 them on shore. The mode adopted for finding 
 them was this : — five dollars reward was offered 
 to the Spanish soldiers for every American sailor 
 they would apprehend. The money was ad- 
 vanced by the purser, and charged to the indi- 
 vidual for whom it was paid. Not a single run- 
 away, who was not found by our own people, 
 escaped the vigilance produced by this offer. 
 That the reader may know how strong is the 
 desire in sailors of getting ashore, it will be 
 enough to state, that neither this deduction from 
 their pay, nor all the terrors of a flogging with 
 that dreadfid scourge — the cats — were sufficient 
 to deter them from going. Some of them even 
 repeated the offence, after having been once pun- 
 ished for it in this way. 
 
 The thirst of the old sailors for strong drink is 
 insatiable. Without personal observation of it, 
 one can scarcely have an idea of the force with 
 which it acts, or of the ingenuity of which it is 
 sometimes the parent — an ingenuity, however de- 
 plorable in its consequences, often in itself vastly 
 amusing. A black fellow, attached to the launch,
 
 248 SAILORS FONDNESS FOR GROG. 
 
 one day brought off a quantity of the delectable 
 beverage, disguised in the shape of sausages. 
 When he came aboard, the officer of the deck, 
 suspicious that there was foul play in the affair, 
 said to him, " What have you there, Williamson, 
 in that bundle ?" — " Sausages, sir," he replied, in 
 a tone of indifferent firmness, and with a sort of 
 nonchalant grin, indescribably ludicrous. " Un- 
 cover them," said Mr. . He hesitated, but 
 
 obeyed. " Hold one of them up," was the next 
 order. He held it up. " Take your knife, and 
 pierce it." Trembling and confused, the poor 
 fellow obeyed, to the no small amusement of the 
 by-standers; and the scene wound up by his 
 being taken to the gangway. 1 have often heard 
 him say, that he would, at any time, take a dozen 
 for a quart. 
 
 The following anecdote is of a different cast, 
 but not less characteristic. On our passage from 
 Mahon to Tripoli, in the fall of 1829, I changed 
 my place of sleeping from the cockpit to the gun- 
 deck. One of the carpenters was ordered by the 
 first lieutenant to fix my cot-hooks. Having 
 completed his task, he came below to inform me 
 of it. " Very well, Martin," said I, " I 'm much 
 obliged to you." — " OIi ! not at all, sir," he re- 
 plied, and started up the ladder, but stopped be- 
 fore he had reached the top : — " Mr. are 
 
 you going to sleep on the gun-deck, sir .''" — 
 " Yes ; I 've fixed your hooks very nice for you, 
 sir." I knew what he wanted ; but as what he
 
 AN AN KC DOTE. 249 
 
 had done was a part of his regular duty, and as I 
 thought his allowance of grog as n)uc'h as he 
 ought to drink, I pretended not to take the hint. 
 Shortly after, I was standing by one of the guns 
 on the main-deck, and looking out through the 
 port-hole on the water. Martin came up, and 
 renewed the attack in a different way, " Mr. 
 
 ," said he, seizing the rim of his hat, and 
 
 bowing as graciously as he knew how ; " you 're 
 growing very fat and large, sir." — " I 'm quite 
 sensible of it." — " You look much healthier and 
 handsomer than you did when you first came 
 aboard, sir ; I think you grow more handsome 
 every day, sir." What mortal is proof against 
 flattery .'' Stormed with this battering-ram, the 
 castle is sure to fall. " Martin," said I, " you 
 shall have a glass of grog." This was the ulti- 
 matum of his aims : he thanked me, and walked 
 off, chuckling himself, no doubt, on the success of 
 his cunning; and I, being in somewhat of a con- 
 templative mood, was not less pleased at getting 
 rid of him. 
 
 M «
 
 250 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Departure from Mahon for Algiers — " Scaling the Guns" — De- 
 lightful Day's Sail — View of Algiers from the Ship— Historical 
 Recollections — The French at Algiers — Blockading Squadron — 
 Arrival off Carthage— Visit to the Ruins of the City — Natives- 
 Description of the Peninsula on which Carthage was built — Cis- 
 terns — New Carthage — Insignificance of the Remains — Excursion 
 to Tunis — The Goletta — Lake of Tunis — Bedouins— Singular 
 Prophecy of Mohammed — Scene in the Market Square — Doctor 
 Heape and his Family — Turkish Bath — Bazars — Adventure — 
 Bashaw's Palace — Turkish Superstition — Visit to a Jewish Fa- 
 mily — Reception — Jewish Worship — Description of Tunis — 
 Commerce — Foreign Consuls — A^isit at Court — Country between 
 Tunis and Bardo — Goat's-hair Tents — Reception by the Bashaw 
 — Minister of Foreign Affairs — Zapatapa — Bey's Country Seat 
 at Manuba — Return to the Ship — Shallowness of the Lake of 
 Tunis — Dinner-party on Board — Affair of a Tunisian Sentinel. 
 
 Anxious as we had all been to get into winter 
 quarters after our tempestuous passage from Gib- 
 raltar in December, we were not less anxious to 
 get to sea again, as soon as the weather became 
 sufficiently settled. Inhabitants of a restless ele- 
 ment, sailors are themselves restless beings. By 
 their roving habits they acquire a roving disposi- 
 tion, which soon tires of the monotony of a sta- 
 tionary habitation. Hence that love of change 
 and excitement so characteristic of sea-faring 
 men.
 
 SAIL FOR ALGIERS. 251 
 
 Commodore Biddle having been appointed one 
 of the Commissioners to negotiate a Treaty of 
 Commerce and Navigation between the United 
 States and the Sublime Porte, early in December 
 sailed for Smyrna, where he remained about six 
 months. Captain Wadsworth being next to him in 
 rank, of course had command of that part of the 
 squadron which remained in the lower part of the 
 Mediterranean. On the 1st of April 1830, we got 
 under weigh from Port Mahon, with the Ontario 
 in company. None of us knew where we were 
 going. This uncertainty as to their destination is 
 the most tantalizing thing to which men-of-war's- 
 men are subject. In the majority of cases, when 
 they sail from one port, they are utterly ignorant 
 to what other they are bound. The first thing, 
 therefore, as soon as they get a sufficient ofl^ng, 
 is to examine the compass, and see to what point 
 it is directed. Conjecture and speculation then 
 become rife, and the various probabilities as to 
 her destination are weighed with great skill and 
 judgment. In this instance we had all expected 
 to go first to Gibraltar, but the course given to 
 the ship soon removed all doubts, and it was 
 ascertained that Algiers was our point of desti- 
 nation. 
 
 It will be recollected by the reader that this 
 was the period at which France was most active 
 in making preparations to attack Algiers. The 
 expedition was expected to sail from Toulon in a 
 few weeks. The object of our visit to Algiers at
 
 252 SCALING THE GUNS. 
 
 that time was to afford Major Lee, Consul-Gene- 
 ral to the Barbary Powers, an opportunity of 
 leaving that city. 
 
 The day after Ave left Mahon we fired two 
 broadsides. I beg the gentle reader would not 
 suffer her nerves to be shocked by this annuncia- 
 tion ; for although the discharge was with " fire 
 and vapour of smoke," it was without " blood." 
 It was, according to the technical language of 
 the profession, a mere " scaling of the guns," or 
 firing of them with balls, to clear them of the rust 
 or other matter that might have collected on the 
 inside from long disuse. When cruising from 
 port to port, the number of salutes usually fired 
 renders this operation unnecessary; but it is al- 
 ways resorted to when the guns, as is generally 
 the case in winter quarters, have been for any 
 length of time ^ laid upon the shelf." 
 
 On the evening of the 3rd of April, we made 
 the coast of Africa considerably to the eastward 
 of Algiers, having been headed off our course 
 during the day by contrary winds. At night we 
 were becalmed. On the following morning a 
 light but favourable breeze sprang up from the 
 eastward, and we had one of the most delightful 
 day's sails we enjoyed during the whole cruise. 
 The heavens were without a cloud, and the breezes 
 that fanned our sails, soft as the balm of Gilead, 
 were loaded with the fragrance of ten thousand 
 flowers. The gales of Araby the Blest cannot 
 be more grateful or refreshing to the traveller
 
 VIEW OF ALGIERS. '253 
 
 wlio has long been scorched by the burning si- 
 roccos of the desert, than were these vernal kisses 
 of the " soft south" to us. The Ontario came up 
 abreast of us, and the two ships sailed along, side 
 by side, nearly all day. 
 
 We arrived off the city about three o'clock, p.m. 
 Algiers was at that time blockaded by the French, 
 but we saw nothing of the blockading squadron, 
 and the Ontario ran in and came to an anchor 
 close under the walls of the town. The anchor- 
 age there is not very safe for frigates, and Captain 
 W. determined therefore to run no hazard, but 
 stand off and on till the Ontario should come out. 
 This was a great disappointment to most of our 
 officers, but we mustered up enough philosophy 
 to enable us to submit to our fate with a jjood 
 grace, and consoled ourselves with the liope of 
 better days. We several times stood in sufficient- 
 ly near to obtain a tolerably distinct view of the 
 city by means of our telescopes. 
 
 Algiers is said by some travellers to be built in 
 the form of an amphitheatre, but the appearance 
 it presents to a person viewing it some distance 
 oui at sea, is exactly that of an inclined plane of 
 white marble, variegated with veins of a brownish 
 colour, in the shape of an acute-angled triangle. 
 If it had a good harbour, it would be one of the 
 finest situations in the world for a great com- 
 mercial capital. The declivity on which it stands 
 is so steep that almost every building is distinctly 
 visible as you enter its port ; and the country by
 
 254 VIEW OF ALGIERS. 
 
 which it is surrounded is one of unequalled beau- 
 ty and fertility. It is covered with a great num- 
 ber of villas and country seats, to which the fo- 
 reign Consuls and richer citizens retire in the 
 summer months, to escape the heat and filth of 
 the city. The Dey's garden is about two miles 
 to the northward of the city, and near the water"'s 
 edge. Seen from the deck of our ship, it looked 
 like an enchanting spot. 
 
 Algiers was formerly called Mesgana. It re- 
 ceived this appellation from a distinguished Afri- 
 can family of that name. Its present name is 
 derived from Al-JezeirCf an Arabic term, signify- 
 ing the island. The original town was built upon 
 an island, now connected with the main land by 
 a mole, constructed by Hayradin, a son of the 
 celebrated Barbarossa. The mole is in the form 
 of a semicircle, and the harbour formed by it, 
 which I believe is wholly artificial, is only one 
 hundred and thirty fathoms in depth, and eighty 
 fathoms in breadth, being much smaller than the 
 Piraeus at Athens. It is defended by a castle with 
 three batteries, which serves the double purpose 
 of a lighthouse and fort. There is another fort 
 at the south end of the island with an equal num- 
 ber of batteries. The walls are twelve feet thick 
 and very high. They are flanked by square 
 towers. There are seven forts or castles without 
 the walls, the principal of which is that built 
 upon an eminence above the town, and completely 
 commanding it. The city is from a mile and a
 
 HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS. 255 
 
 half to two miles in circumference. There is 
 said to be but one street in tlie whole of it. The 
 rest are dirty lanes, so narrow as scarcely to 
 allow of two persons walking abreast in them. 
 
 Some writers think that Algiers occupies the 
 site of the Icosium mentioned by Ptolemy, but 
 Dr. Shaw is of a different opinion. He believes 
 that Icosium stood upon the river Harath, the an- 
 cient Savus, four miles to the southward and east- 
 ward of Algiers. 
 
 In 1775, the Spaniards made an unsuccessful 
 attack upon Algiers with large forces both by 
 land and sea. Eight years afterwards they re- 
 newed their attempt at conquest, but with simi- 
 lar success. Since our visit there, as all the 
 world knows, it has undergone the most import- 
 ant revolution it has ever experienced, and is noAV 
 a French Colony. The events of the war by 
 whicii that conquest was achieved, are too fresh 
 in the recollection of the reading community to 
 need any repetition. Humanity rejoices at its 
 issue. Europe and the world had too long 
 trembled before a paltry den of miscreants. But 
 whether the French will continue to retain pos- 
 session of Algiers for many years, is extremely 
 problematical. They can never make it a great 
 commercial emporium, owing to its want of a 
 good harbour ; and the people of the conquer- 
 ing and conquered nations are so diverse from 
 each other in habits, prejudices, and religion, that 
 it is impossible they should ever coalesce. The
 
 256 THE FRENCH AT ALGIERS. 
 
 only obedience the Algerines will ever render to 
 the French authorities must be exacted at the 
 point of the bayonet. A garrison, amounting to 
 quite an army, is now stationed there, and must 
 continue to be stationed there, in order to over- 
 awe the inhabitants and keep them in check. 
 While we remained in the Mediterranean, every 
 fresh arrival from Algiers brought fresh intelli- 
 gence of rencounters and massacres in the infant 
 colony. Taking all these things into considera- 
 tion, it is at least doubtful whether the French 
 government will not come at length to regard it 
 as inexpedient longer to retain possession of the 
 conquered territory at such an immense expendi- 
 ture of human life. Should they, however, ever 
 abandon it, they will unquestionably first re- 
 move all the valuable ordnance, and raze the for- 
 tifications to the earth. Algiers, whether retain- 
 ed by the French or not, will never be what it 
 has been, the terror and the tax-gatherer of 
 Europe. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th, one of the Ontario's 
 cutters came off to the Constellation, with infor- 
 mation that Major Lee did not tlien wish to leave 
 Algiers, but that the families of the Spanish and 
 Danish Consuls would like to take passage on 
 board one of our ships to Mahon. Permission to 
 that effect was promptly and politely granted by 
 Captain W, to the Ontario. 
 
 While the Ontario's boat was alongside, the 
 French blockading squadron hove in sight, and
 
 THE DEY. 257 
 
 bore clown upon us. The crew were immediately 
 beat to quarters, and the ship preyjared for ac- 
 tion ; and we were ready to pour a broadside into 
 them at a nioment"'s warning. A lieutenant from 
 the French Admiral boarded us, and had a private 
 interview with the captain. 
 
 The officers who came off in the Ontario's boat 
 had called upon the Dey. He kept himself shut 
 up in his castle, never venturing outside of the 
 walls by which it was surrounded. He pretended 
 to believe that all the noise about the French ex- 
 pedition was a mere bugbear, cunningly invented 
 by that nation to frighten him into such terms as 
 they desired ; but he said that, come with what- 
 ever forces they might, he was prepared to give 
 them a warm reception. He said that, having 
 given the French a drubbing, he intended to get 
 the Americans to build him some ships, and 
 chastise the Portuguese. He presented a num- 
 ber of bullocks, with an immense quantity of 
 dates and other fruits to Captain Stevens, of the 
 Ontario, for his officers and crew, and sent two 
 lions' skins to Captain Wadsworth, one for him- 
 self, and the other to be presented to the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 The two Consular families above mentioned 
 having embarked, on the afternoon of the 8th, the 
 Ontario got under weigh from Algiers, and came 
 up with us. We stood away together for some 
 distance, when each vessel took her own course, 
 the Ontario stretching away for Port Mahon, and
 
 258 ARRIVAL OFF CARTHAGE. 
 
 the Constellation for Carthage and Tunis. We 
 had a cracking breeze, and soon lost sight of each 
 other. 
 
 After a pleasant sail of three days, on Sunday 
 the 11th of April, at four o'clock, p.m. we let go 
 our anchor in the classic waters of the Bay of 
 Tunis, three miles south-east of Cape Carthage, 
 and about two from the ruins of the ancient city. 
 My heart had been in my mouth all the morning. 
 How many brilliant recollections, how many stir- 
 ring thoughts, crowd upon the mind under such 
 circumstances ! The loves of the Tyrian queen 
 and the Trojan hero, the glory of Hannibal and 
 Scipio, and the stern, uncompromising virtue of 
 the Last of the Romans, alternately haunted my 
 imagination. From the moment that we made the 
 promontory on which stood the city oi piilcherrima 
 Dido, I had my Virgil constantly in my hand, 
 endeavouring to identify the places which he men- 
 tions, or at least to discover some resemblances 
 between their present appearance and his account 
 of them. But alas ! his descriptions wei'e either 
 never true to nature, or Time has been no idler. 
 I looked for the rock that .^neas ascended to ob- 
 tain a view of the sea, and look out for his lost 
 companions, fortemque Gyan Jortemque Cloan- 
 thum, and for the hill of which Virgil says, plu- 
 rinius urhi imminet ; but I saw nothing that ap- 
 peared to correspond to his descriptions. As to 
 the island mentioned by him as breaking the vio- 
 lence of the waves by the projection of its sides,
 
 VISIT TO THE RUINS. 259 
 
 it must either have been eaten up by tlie sea, or 
 joined to the main land, either of wliieh time may 
 easily have accomplished. I am the more inclined 
 to this opinion, as it is known that there was an- 
 ciently a small island in one of the harbours, on 
 which stood the Admiral's palace. Of this there 
 is not remaining at present the slightest trace. 
 
 In company with a surgeon's mate and two 
 midshipmen, I spent one day, not " sitting," but 
 wandering " among the ruins of Carthage." The 
 moment our boat struck the shore, I started from 
 my seat and hurried to the bows, determined to 
 be the first to salute the " Lydian sands ;" but 
 the doctor following close upon my heels, con- 
 trary to all the rules of chivalry, pulled me back, 
 and sprang upon the beach before me. The rest 
 of us were not slow in following his example, and 
 finding ourselves fairly on terra Jirma, we were 
 unable to repress our emotions, but broke out in 
 I know not what extravagant exclamations. We 
 were on a spot which VirgiPs charming story had 
 made familiar to our imaginations from classic 
 boyhood. We stood upon the birthplace of Han- 
 nibal, Clytomachus, and Terence; the scene of 
 the two Scipios' glory ; the competitor with Rome 
 for universal empire ; a spot, in short, which was 
 twice the capital of Africa, and once of the 
 world. How often had we panted to tread upon 
 those hallowed ruins ! And now we were there, 
 not in the dreams of fancy, but in reality ; stand- 
 ing, perhaps, upon the very sands where ^Eueas
 
 260 NATIVES. 
 
 and his companions, their limbs dripping with 
 salt water, disembarked and prepared their rustic 
 meal from the scanty stores they had been able to 
 save from the general wreck. A little enthusiasm 
 was excusable on such a spot. Not to have felt 
 it would have argued us " more or less than 
 human." 
 
 We were soon surrounded by some half-dozen 
 tawny, savage-looking beings, who, like Venus 
 in the habit of a Spartan virgin, were " naked up 
 to the knee," with dirty white turbans on their 
 heads and ragged flannel blankets thrown over 
 their shoulders and round their waists. They 
 were armed with rusty sabres. They received us 
 in a friendly manner, saluting us in lingua Franca 
 with a biion giorno, Americaniy at the same time 
 offering themselves as guides, and loading us with 
 compliments. They offered for sale a variety of 
 copper coins, which they said they had dug up 
 among the ruins ; but they were all so effaced that 
 no design could be traced, and we were a little in- 
 clined to suspect that they had purchased them 
 of some speculating Italian, who understood the 
 business of making antiques. We therefore re- 
 fused their coins, but accepted their services, and, 
 like iEneas and Achates, who 
 
 " Corripuere viam interea, qua semita monstrat," 
 we commenced our stroll by taking a path be- 
 tween two fields of barley, which led up to a hill 
 not far distant from where we had landed. This 
 hill Mr. Jones, not indeed very confidently, took
 
 PENINSULA OF CARTHAGE. 261 
 
 to be the site of the ancient Byrsa, or Citadel, 
 which the crafty Tyrians got by fraud of the 
 rude aborigines, by promising to limit their occu- 
 pation to a spot wliich could be encircled by a 
 bull's hide. The temple of /Esculapius, into the 
 flames of which the generous wife of Asdrubal 
 precipitated herself and her children at the sack- 
 ing of her native city, is known to have occupied 
 an elevated site, and why may we not suppose 
 that this hill is the spot which witnessed that 
 memorable display of heroic virtue ? 
 
 From its summit you have an entire view of 
 the peninsula on which Carthage was built. This 
 is situated at the bottom of a large gulf, now 
 called the Bay of Tunis, which is terminated in 
 its two extremities by Capes Bon and Blanco, 
 anciently the promontories of Mercury and 
 Apollo. The direction of the peninsula is nearly 
 east and west. It is from fifteen to twenty miles 
 long, and in some parts perhaps nearly half as 
 broad. I will endeavour to give its present ap- 
 pearance, as well as I can, from the eminence 
 above mentioned. The eastern point is about 
 three miles distant, and at its extremity there is 
 a small town, built of whitewashed huts, and de- 
 signed, as we were informed, exclusively for cul- 
 prits. No Christian is allowed to enter it. The 
 interval is elevated and somewhat broken, though 
 not sufficiently so to make it incapable of cultiva- 
 tion. To the northward lies an extensive valley, 
 beyond which is another ridge of elevated land.
 
 262 PENINSULA OF CARTHAGE. 
 
 sowed with numerous country seats, to which the 
 various Consular families resident at Tunis re- 
 sort during summer. To the west, towards the 
 " abode of happiness and the city well guarded,''* 
 stretches a vast plain, which is backed by a range 
 of lofty mountains, some distance inland. The 
 whole peninsula is covered with extensive olive 
 groves and pasturing grounds, where large droves 
 of camels, goats, big-tailed sheep and asses were 
 feeding, all tended by herdsmen, according to 
 Oriental custom, as no such thing as a fence or 
 wall to separate each other"'s possessions, seems ever 
 to have been thought of by the inhabitants of the 
 " unchanging East." There were also, when we 
 visited it, large fields of barley and peas, almost 
 ripe for the sickle. Our guides plucked the green 
 ears and ate them, at the same time offering them 
 to us, and pronouncing them to be huono. 
 
 On the eminence to which we first directed our 
 footsteps, I took out my pocket Virgil, and read 
 the account of jEneas's first arrival and entry 
 into the city. On such a spot ages seem to be 
 concentrated into a single moment. Thoughts 
 and images of other times, of the rise, grandeur 
 and decay of empires, with all their accompany- 
 ing circumstances, crowd thick upon the mind, 
 bearing it, as it were, away from itself, and bath- 
 ing it in the sere visions of antiquity. 
 
 The fragments of marble found on this hill are, 
 as Mr. Jones states, richer and more numerous 
 * Epithets applied by the Bashaw of Tunis to his capital.
 
 THE CISTERNS NEW CARTHAGE. 263 
 
 than in any other part of the peninsula ; but to 
 conclude from this fact that it was the site of 
 the ancient Byrsa, or of the temple of ^Kscula- 
 pius, or of any other particular edifice, is per- 
 fectly idle. At this time of day, no part of the 
 old city, particularly the city of Dido,* can be 
 identified, except the cisterns. These are about 
 two miles from the eastern point of the penin- 
 sula, and just above a small fort on the water's 
 edge. There are seventeen of them, six of which 
 are in a tolerable state of preservation, containing 
 still a considerable quantity of water. They are 
 one hundred feet in length and twenty in breadth. 
 Of their original depth, it is impossible now to 
 judge, owing to their being partially filled up 
 with earth and other substances. They are sepa- 
 rated from each other by thick walls, coated with 
 stucco ; are covered by a continuous arch ; and 
 the communication between them is by means of 
 a corridor on each side, extending their whole 
 length. M. de Chateaubriand thinks that he dis- 
 covered the old harbour of Carthage, but it was 
 our sober judgment that his discovery existed no- 
 where but in his own teeming and fanciful brain. 
 We were not so fortunate as to see any of the sub- 
 marine remains mentioned by him. 
 
 Two or three miles beyond the cisterns, to- 
 wards Tunis, there is a little village, called New^ 
 Carthage, (how unlike the old !) composed of 
 some fifteen or twenty miserable stone huts, with- 
 
 * Carthage was several times utterly destroyed and rebuilt.
 
 264 INSIGNIFICANCE OF THE REMAINS. 
 
 out windows or floors. Here the natives, dark, 
 ferocious-looking beings, gathered around us in 
 large numbers, offering for sale coins and frag- 
 ments of sculptured marble. The men were 
 wretchedly clothed, and many of the boys quite 
 naked. We saw but one woman, and all of us 
 agreed that nobody but Don Quixotte or a Turk 
 could endure her. Every thing bespoke the ex- 
 treme of poverty and degradation. Near the 
 village there is a Mosaic pavement of an ancient 
 edifice, almost entire, but so solid that we did not 
 succeed in our attempt to break off" pieces as spe- 
 cimens. In another part of our ramble, we came 
 to a line of huge stones, which extended several 
 hundred yards, and which we thought might pos- 
 sibly be some remains of the ancient walls. Upon 
 the whole, the remains which pass under the 
 name of the Ruins of Carthage, are insignificant 
 and unimportant ; consisting almost exclusively 
 of masses of rubbish and a thick sprinkling of 
 small bits of verde antique and other marbles. 
 Not even the shaft or capital of a column, nor 
 any considerable fragment of cornice or archi- 
 trave, is left to mark the site of a single edifice, 
 which adorned that seat of wealth, luxury, and 
 splendour. There is indeed little remaining upon 
 the ground, which recalls very forcibly the shade 
 of that mother of commerce and queen of Africa. 
 Such are the present remains of a city, which, 
 in the days of its glory, was surrounded by triple 
 walls, numbered a population of seven hundred
 
 VISIT TO TUNIS. QC)5 
 
 thousand souls, and was no mean rival of tlu' 
 " lone mother of dead empires;" — a city which 
 once counted amonfji; its territories the whole Afri- 
 can coast, from the altars of the Phila?ni to the 
 Columns of Hercules, together with Sicily, Sar- 
 dinia, Spain, and the Balearic Isles : — a city, the 
 canvass of whose vessels whitened every sea, and 
 which exchanged the productions of its own in- 
 genuity for the perfumes, the purple, the scarlet, 
 the fine linen, the pearl and the precious stones of 
 the East, and the iron, tin, lead, copper, gold and 
 silver of the North and West ; — a city, in short, 
 so extensive that a conflagration of seventeen days, 
 constantly raging, and fed by thousands who 
 were eager to see its termination, was scarcely suf- 
 ficient to consume it. It was the first time I ever 
 stood upon the grave of a mighty empire, and it 
 has left an impression on my mind, which nothing- 
 can ever obliterate. 
 
 On Fritlay the 16th, a party of us, consisting 
 of a lieutenant, our sailing-master, a surgeon's 
 mate, several midshipmen, and myself, left the 
 ship immediately aftei- breakfast, on a visit to 
 Tunis. We were anchored about eighteen miles 
 below that city. It was a day's work for the men 
 to pull there and back again, and the boat's crew 
 therefore took on board a sufficient quantity of 
 water, provisions, and whiskey, to last them till 
 their return. In proceeding up the Goletta, we 
 had on our right the Promontory of Carthage, 
 and on our left a range of high and rocky hills, 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE GOLETTA. 
 
 called Heeman Leef, which were broken into a 
 thousand shapes of wildness and grandeur. 
 
 The Goletta was about midway between our 
 anchorage and Tunis. It is a fortification which, 
 from its position, might be made one of great 
 strength, but which, in its present state, is little 
 better than a mere cipher. The batteries are 
 mounted with beautiful brass cannon. There are 
 two pieces of immense calibre and exquisite work- 
 manship, presented to the Bashaw of Tunis by 
 the Venetian Republic. Nine-tenths of the gun- 
 carriages are so crazy that they would not stand 
 the wear of a half dozen discharges. The garri- 
 son is composed of about three hundred soldiers, 
 poorly disciplined, poorly clad, and worse fed. 
 Their entire ration consists of a stinted allow- 
 ance of coarse bread, and rancid olive oil. Each 
 digs a little hole into his scanty portion, and satu- 
 rates it with oil ; and this constitutes the whole 
 of his miserable meal. They get no meat at all. 
 They are, as might be guessed, a set of sorry- 
 looking fellows. One of our Consul's dragomen 
 once said to me, and I doubt not with perfect 
 truth, " Give me twenty-five of your sailors, and 
 in less than half a day I am master of the Goletta."" 
 The last time we were at Tunis, I was informed 
 that the soldiers had complained to the foreign 
 Consuls of their living, and that these had peti- 
 tioned the Bey in their behalf. His decision was 
 not then known. 
 
 There is a small settlement, consisting of about
 
 CANAL. 267 
 
 four or five hundred persons, at the Goletta, wlio 
 derive their support chiefly fi'om the garrison and 
 from sii})plyin<r vvith provisions and other neces- 
 sary articles the vessels that carry on the com- 
 merce of Tunis. The port of Tunis is at this 
 place, and here vessels unlade tiieir cargoes, 
 which are taken up to the city in lighters. Tliere 
 is a liglit-house at the Goletta, fed by contribu- 
 tions levied upon all the merchantmen that visit 
 the ])ort. A mole has been built at considerable 
 expense to protect ships at anchor in the harbour 
 from the violence of the winds. There were a 
 good many there at the time of our visit, — chiefly 
 French, Italian, Greek, Turkish, and Tuni>ian. 
 
 The Goletta* derives its name from the canal 
 which passes through it, and connects the Bay 
 with the Lake of Tunis. This canal is about 
 half a mile in length, and is a work of great soli- 
 dity and beauty. It has several locks, not how- 
 ever for the purpose of ascending and descend- 
 ing, but, as I suppose, for the collection of toll. 
 Men-of-war-boats are allowed to pass in and out 
 free of expense. The rascals who were in the 
 lighters, jostled us prodigiously, and tried to get 
 the advantage of us in passing through the locks, 
 but they got at least a loud scolding, with some 
 menacing gestures, from the officers in attend- 
 ance, who were equally lavish of their comjiliments 
 towards us ; for they would often, with a signifi- 
 
 * Goletta is an Italian word, signifying a little throat. 
 
 N 2
 
 268 LAKE OF TUNIS. 
 
 cant motion of the hand and nod of the head, 
 exclaim, Americanos bono. 
 
 As there is a current setting from the Atlantic 
 into the Mediterranean, so there is one from the 
 Mediterranean into the Lake of Tunis; and as 
 the waters of the Mediterranean are salter than 
 those of the Atlantic, the waters of the Tunisian 
 Lake are in like manner much salter than those of 
 that great inland ocean. It is doubtful whether 
 this lake will not in the end become one vast bed 
 of salt, for there is now only a narrow channel in 
 which the lighters can pass up, and the depth of 
 water in every part of it is diminishing every year. 
 There is known to be already in many places 
 thick incrustations of salt on the bottom. The 
 fish taken in this lake are said to be of an excel- 
 lent quality. The lake is about nine miles in 
 length, and on an average from four to five in 
 breadth. 
 
 Tunis stands at the head of the Lake. AboJit 
 one o*'clock we arrived at the Marina, which is 
 half a mile distant from the walls of the city. 
 
 The impressions which we received on landing 
 were not of the most favourable kind, and the an- 
 ticipations they awakened were in the sequel but 
 too faithfully verified. We proceeded some dis- 
 tance up a narrow canal, and the nauseous efflu- 
 via emitted from its dirty waters and from the 
 masses of filth piled up on each side and in every 
 direction around it, were such as almost to pre- 
 vent respiration. Having disembarked, we took
 
 BEDOUINS. — PROPHECY OF iMOHAMMED. 269 
 
 our way over the commons which intervened be- 
 tween the jNIarina and the sea-gate of the city, 
 amidst droves of camels (loaded with oil) and oily 
 Bedouins, whose only clothing was ragged flannels 
 thrown around their waists, and turbans on their 
 heads which looked as if they might have de- 
 scended from father to son through many genera- 
 tions. Their arms and legs were left perfectly 
 naked. The Bedouins are very numerous at Tu- 
 nis. They perform the most menial and labori- 
 ous services, and hold about the same rank in 
 society there that the lazzaroni do in Naples, and 
 the free negroes in the United States. Little con- 
 fidence is reposed in their integrity. Their com- 
 plexion is a dark-brown. They have generally 
 haggard countenances and sunken eyes, with an 
 expression of ferocity which seems to say that 
 they would not hesitate to perpetrate deeds of the 
 darkest colour, if they could be sure of avoiding 
 detection. 
 
 We arrived at the city gate just in time to feel 
 the effects of that prophecy in the Koran, whicli 
 declares that, unless the followers of the Prophet 
 are on their guard, an army of Christians, dressed 
 in red, will come between the hours of one and 
 two o"'clock, 1'. M., on their national sabbath, and 
 destroy their cities and religion together. During 
 that hour, therefore, the gates of every Moham- 
 medan city are closed on Friday, and it being 
 precisely the hour at which we arrived, we were 
 obliged to remain without the walls till the fatal
 
 270 SCENE IN THE MARKET-SQUARE. 
 
 period had elapsed. We should have been less 
 troubled at this delay, could we at once have been 
 made acquainted with its cause ; but we spent 
 nearly half an hour in fruitless endeavours to 
 ascertain it, when a gentleman, an aUac/ie of the 
 French Consul's establishment, very fortunately 
 came up and relieved us of our difficulty. The 
 market at Tunis is outside of the city, and near 
 the sea gate. We purchased a quantity of large 
 delicious oranges and dates, with which and the 
 novel scenes presented to our observation, we 
 managed to amuse ourselves till the liour had 
 passed. Several wordy skirmishes and some more 
 serious affrays took place among the semibarba- 
 rous populace assembled in the market square. 
 One of these rencounters would certainly have 
 been very amusing, had it not too forcibly and 
 painfully reminded us of the present degradation 
 of that people, once so favoured of Heaven. A 
 number of roguish Tunisian boys beset a Jew 
 (as we suptposed from their actions, for we could 
 not understand a syllable that was uttered,) for 
 money. He refused them, and probably em- 
 ployed some provoking language. Tiiey then be- 
 gan to torment him by slapping him in the face, 
 and while he was looking to see who gave him the 
 blow, the same act would be repeated on other 
 parts of his body. His patience at length became 
 exhausted, and he returned one of their blows 
 with interect. This retaliating act set them on 
 fire. They snatched his turban off his head, and
 
 DR. IIEAPE. 271 
 
 Stamped it under their feet. They stripped him 
 of his irirdle, and tore it into a tliousaud tatters. 
 They were proceeding in their diabolical conduct, 
 and would have left him without a rag to his 
 back, had he not appeased their fury with money. 
 Being then left in peace, he gathered up the 
 tattered renmants of his dress, and marched off, 
 crest-fallen and dejected, to deplore the unhappy 
 condition of his race. While the affray was going 
 on, all the indignation of my nature prompted me 
 to interfere in behalf of the object of this outrage, 
 but prudence dictated a different course. When 
 I saw tlie poor fellow retire from the field of 
 battle, and reflected that his was but one of a 
 thousand similar cases occurring every day in 
 different parts of the world, I could have wept at 
 the thought of the miserable degradation of that 
 people which was once the light and glory of the 
 universe. But did not the murderers of the Son 
 of God exclaim, '* His blood be upon us and up- 
 on our children .?" How terribly has that invo- 
 cation been answered upon their posterity ! 
 
 Our boat had been seen upon the lake, and 
 when the city gates were thrown open, we were 
 met by one of the American dragomen, ^vllo sa- 
 luted us very courteously, and conducted us 
 through narrow and filthy lanes to the residence 
 of Dr. Heape, formerly of the United States 
 Navy, but at present our Consul at Tunis. Dr. 
 Heape and his family are very popular, and de- 
 servedly so, among our naval officers. Their hos-
 
 272 TURKISH BATH. 
 
 pitality and politeness are universally spoken of 
 in terms of the highest commendation. Indeed, 
 they entertain in a princely style ; and, as they 
 absolutely forbade our officers whilst on shore to 
 take lodgings anywhere but with them, many do 
 not go ashore as much as they otherwise would, 
 because they are unwilling to tax tlieir generosity 
 to too great an extent. The Doctor is a man of 
 intelligence, and understands well what he is 
 about. The interests and honour of our country 
 are in no danger in his hands. His wife is a 
 perfect lady, and a woman of talents ; and his 
 daughters are accomplished, pretty, and agreeable. 
 Our reception and treatment there strongly re- 
 minded us all of the comforts and endearments 
 of home. ♦ 
 
 It was dusk when we rose from the dinner- 
 table. As it was too late to go anywhere else, a 
 party of us, with a dragoman for a guide, sallied 
 forth with the intention of trying a Turkish bath. 
 Tunis, as all the world knows, is celebrated for 
 its baths ; but either we were not taken to one of 
 the best in the place, or the Tunisian are far 
 inferior to the Smyrniot. For a description of it, 
 however, and of the operation of bathing, such as 
 they were, vide infra. 
 
 Having wandered for the space of half an hour 
 through crooked and filthy alleys, which people 
 there dignifj' by the name of streets, we came at 
 length to a low, shabby-looking edifice, which we 
 were told was the bath-house. It was twin-brother
 
 OPERATION OF BATHING. 27',i 
 
 of those in Algiers, wliicli Cervantes denominates 
 prisons, as they really are to the wretches who 
 are condemned to serve in them. These are ge- 
 nerally slaves obtained from the interior of Africa. 
 Christian captives were formerly forced to work 
 in them, but this indignity is not at present tole- 
 rated. 
 
 ^^'e were first ushered into a sort of anti-cham- 
 ber, or saloon, dimly lighted by two dirty little 
 lamps, and furnished with cushioned divans. In 
 one corner of the room there was a little fireplace, 
 with the necessary implements for making coffee, 
 and on the walls were suspended a number of 
 dingy })ipes. Immediately on entering we were 
 surrounded by not less than a dozen of the slaves 
 who are doomed to toil in those gloomy abodes, 
 and whose long, gaunt figures, swarthy complex- 
 ions, deep-set eyes, and ferocious looks, almost 
 persuaded us that we were among the imps of the 
 lower regions. Next, we were conducted into a 
 small room designed for undressing. There each 
 imp selected his man, pinned a white sheet round 
 his waist, and gave him a pair of thick wooden 
 soles, with straps near the centre, into which he 
 was directed to thrust his feet. Thus accoutred, 
 we were led into another apartment, heated to 
 such a degree by steam that the first sensation we 
 felt was that of suffocation. It really seemed to 
 us that we could not live there five minutes; and 
 some of the party actually retreated, and could 
 not be induced to return to renew the attempt. 
 n5
 
 274 SHAMPOOING. 
 
 All the pores in the body were soon opened, and 
 a copious perspiration commenced. The sensa- 
 tion of suffocation then gave place to a feeling of 
 a very different kind — a delicious lassitude, which 
 relaxed the muscular system, and diffused through- 
 out the whole frame an exquisite but indescribable 
 pleasure. 
 
 After this initial steaming, we were taken into 
 a room where the temperature was still higher. 
 The stone pavement on one side of this room was 
 a little elevated above that on the other, and here 
 we were required to stretch ourselves at full 
 length. The fellows then commenced shampoo- 
 ing us with coarse cloths, which ever and anon 
 they would dip in a bucket of soap-suds. After 
 they had continued this operation awhile, they 
 " knocked off," and fell to cracking our joints 
 most lustily. This produced a simultaneous and 
 universal roar of laughter on our part, and we 
 laughed away nearly all the little strength which 
 the steam had left us. Their mode of cracking 
 joints was a most singular one. They would 
 double our limbs, and then falling upon them 
 with their knees, press with their whole weight 
 upon them. Nothing daunted by our merriment, 
 they " held on the even tenor of their way," till 
 not a joint in our bodies remained uncracked. 
 Having finished this part of the ceremony, they 
 renewed, and continued for some time longer, the 
 operation of shampooing with cloths of a finer 
 quality.
 
 LUXURY OF THE BATH, 27o 
 
 All this being eiulecl, we were finally conducted 
 into an apartment in which there were several 
 fountains of clean fresh water, with sponges and 
 towels for drying our limbs, and blankets in 
 which to wrap ourselves up. Having here per- 
 formed the requisite ablutions, we returned to our 
 dressing-room, and afterwards to the saloon where 
 we had first entered. There, reclining on the di- 
 van, we indulged for some time in the two great 
 Turkish luxuries, coffee and the chibouque; and 
 then bade our good friends adieu, with a feeling of 
 buoyancy and elasticity which could scarcely have 
 been surpassed had we just exchanged the decre- 
 pitude of old age for the vigor of youth. 
 
 A Turkish bath is certainly one of the greatest 
 luxuries in the world. The Turks, especially fe- 
 males of the higher classes, frequently indulge in 
 it to such an extent as to ruin their constitutions, 
 and bring on premature old age and death. The 
 excessive fondness of Turkish ladies for the bath 
 is doubtless in part to be attributed to their 
 secluded habits, and their consequent want of 
 exhilarating amusements. 
 
 On the following morning. Dr. and myself, 
 
 determined to make the most of our short stay at 
 Tunis, rose at an early hour, put in requisition 
 the services of one of the dragomen, and went out 
 to take a stroll in the city. The Doctor wished 
 to purchase some otto of roses, for which 1 unis 
 is famed all the world over, and we therefore di- 
 rected our course towards the street of the bazars,
 
 276 THE BIZARS. 
 
 or shops. This is near the centre of the town. 
 It is both the Broadway and the Pearl-street of 
 Tunis, being the only fashionable and mercantile 
 street in the place. It is arched over to keep out 
 the rays of the sun, and is as wide as the prin- 
 cipal streets in most of the cities of southern 
 Europe. It is kept comparatively clean, and is 
 strongly scented with the perfumes — musk, and 
 otto of roses, and jasmine — which are exposed for 
 sale in almost every shop. The shops are entirely 
 open in front, as the large folding-doors by which 
 they are secured at night are removed out of sight 
 during the day. They appear small, but most of 
 them have large magazines in their rear, well 
 stored with merchandise of every description. 
 The sho])keepers — large, fat, sleek-looking fel- 
 lows, and many of them splendidly dressed — sit 
 cross-legged on their counters, with a cup of cof- 
 fee in their hand or a pipe in their mouth, all the 
 livelong day. The bazars are also the resort of 
 fashionable loungers. At all hours of the day 
 you may see a row of them lining each side of the 
 street, whiffing away, with their long chibouques 
 resting on the ground, and chatting as cosily as 
 if all creation were obedient to their nod. They 
 were the very image of laziness and self-compla- 
 cency, and in their slow, plodding motions, often 
 reminded us of the declaration of the Jewish sage: 
 " The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom ; it 
 "■rieveth him to brino; it ao;ain to his mouth." 
 
 ry D CD 
 
 We met with an adventure in our morning
 
 AN ADVENTURE. 277 
 
 ramble, which, though it finally ended only in 
 words, at one time bade fair to have a more serious 
 denouement. The Doctor had put a half doubloon 
 into the hands of the dragoman, to purchase for 
 him an ounce of otto of roses. While the latter 
 was bargaining for the perfume, he laid the gold 
 piece down on the counter, and either by design 
 or accident (probably the latter), it got into the 
 merchant's box of weights. When they came to 
 settle the account, the dragoman insisted that he 
 had given the eiglit-dollar piece to the shop- 
 keeper, who as stoutly denied having received it. 
 Diligent search was made in every part of the 
 shop, the box of Aveights included. An alterca- 
 tion of some warmtli ensued between the drago- 
 man and shopkeeper, in which the latter accused 
 the former of having secreted it about his person 
 with the design of cheating him out of his pay. 
 This threw the dragoman into a perfect rage : he 
 challenged a search, and began himself to pull off 
 his clothes and examine them. By this time a 
 crowd of several hundred persons had assembled, 
 who completely blocked up the street, and some 
 of whom began to take a pretty active part in the 
 dispute, ranging themselves, as men always do 
 when there is any question to be decided, on dif- 
 ferent sides. Thev soon began to vociferate in- 
 stead of talk, and we feared that they would 
 actually come to blows. The shop was research- 
 ed, but without success. Significant glances were 
 cast towards us both by the merchant and the
 
 278 AN ADVENTURE. 
 
 bystanders, but not a whisper of suspicion was 
 breathed. At last one of the crowd happened to 
 pick up a brass plate in the box of Aveights, and 
 there was the half-doubloon underneath. A ge- 
 neral congratulation took place, and I believe the 
 crowd were sincerely rejoiced at the discovery. 
 We settled the account and hastened back to the 
 ConsuFs ; but Ave had been detained so long by 
 the affray that the breakfast-table was cleared off, 
 and our companions had been waiting nearly an 
 hour for our return, in order to set sail on a 
 cruise through the city. When we recounted 
 the affair to Dr. Heape, he expressed surprise at 
 the forbearance of the dragoman. He said that 
 he might have had the shopkeeper taken at once 
 before the public authorities, and bastinadoed with 
 a hundred blows. The dragoman requested the 
 Consul to take some measures to get reparation 
 for the outrage he had suffered. Dr. H. pro- 
 mised to gratify him, but what was done I never 
 learned. 
 
 Having swallowed a cup of coffee and a couple 
 of boiled eggs, we relieved the impatience of our 
 companions by joining them and setting off on an 
 expedition. I will not tax the patience of my 
 reader by requiring him to follow us through all 
 our devious windings. There was scarcely a 
 street, or a lane, or an obscure avenue in the 
 whole city, that did not that day echo to the mer- 
 riment of some half dozen roystering " Yankee " 
 midshipmen. We went first to the Bashaw's pa-
 
 PALACE — PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 279 
 
 lace, which stands in the upper part of the town. 
 This is an immense pile of biiiklint^s, enclosed by 
 a thick and high wall, but left unfinished, from a 
 superstition prevalent among the Mohammedans, 
 that, when the proprietor of an edifice dies before 
 it is completed, whoever finishes or occupies it af- 
 terwards will be unfortunate. I am not aware 
 that it has ever been occupied as a residence by any- 
 body but Queen Caroline of England, while en- 
 gaged in her " wanderings through many lands ;" 
 and the history of her misfortunes or her guilt is 
 not such as would be calculated to remove the su- 
 perstition from the minds of the followers of the 
 Prophet. Those parts of the palace which are 
 finished, though in a style of architecture some- 
 what more heavy and massive than is common 
 among the Orientals, are rich and showy. They 
 are ornamented with vast quantities of gilding, 
 stucco, carved work, and coloured glass. Tlie 
 other principal public building in Tunis is the 
 Bey"'s grand mosque; but we were cautioned by 
 Dr. Heape against attempting to enter any of 
 their places of worship. The interior of it is said 
 to be finished in a most gorgeous style. There is 
 also a custom-house, arsenal, and some other 
 public buildings, but they are for the most part 
 miserable sheds, and unworthy of a particular 
 description. As we walked through the bazars, 
 it was amusing to observe the anxiety of the cross- 
 legged shopkeepers to induce us to purchase their 
 goods ; and the modes which they took to effect
 
 280 ARTIFICE OF SHOPKEEPERS. 
 
 their object were equally diverting. They would 
 bow, and smile, and call out to us in their lingua 
 franca, Americanos bnono. Some of the officers 
 considered their compliments a proof that our 
 countr\f stood high in their estimation, but such 
 a conclusion is perfectly idle. It was a shallow 
 artifice, common all over the Levant, to flatter us 
 into their own interests. The Barbary Powers 
 have no particular occasion to esteem us, as we 
 were, I believe, the first Christian nation who 
 refused to pay them tribute, and gave them to 
 understand that the only powder we could consent 
 to present them would be from the mouth of our 
 cannon. The Tunisian gentlemen are great 
 loungers. All the public places were crowded 
 with them, but we saw but few females in the 
 streets, and those huge waddling lumps of fat, 
 so muffled up that nothing but their eyes could 
 be seen. 
 
 On our return to the Consul's, we found a 
 fresh party from the Constellation, and another 
 from the Ontario, which had arrived from Mahon 
 the preceding evening. Tiie midshipmen who 
 went ashore from the Constellation the day be- 
 fore, were now obliged to return. After they 
 had left us, we fell in with a Jewish pedlar, who 
 spoke English very well, and said that he had 
 been some time a student in Harvard University. 
 He informed us that he had just married a beau- 
 tiful young girl, and wished us to go with him 
 to see her. Of course, we sliould have been un-
 
 VISIT TO A JEWISH FAMILY. 281 
 
 pardonably deficient in <^allantry, if we could 
 have refused such an invitation. After winding 
 about, as usual, for some time, he took us through 
 a filthy yard and up a flight of crazy wooden 
 stairs, into a small nuid-house. There we found 
 the bride, two of her sisters, and several other 
 young Jewesses. They all rose to receive us, 
 smiling and bowing most graciously. They were 
 prodigiously fat, but that is an essential part of 
 beauty in all Eastern countries. Their eyes were 
 large, black, and piercing ; and full of an expres- 
 sion of voluptuous softness. Their faces, much 
 to our surprise, were as fresh and blooming as 
 those of our New England girls. They were 
 dressed in flaming red silk gowns, which were or- 
 namented with a ]irofusion of gold and silver 
 lace : and wore huge silver bracelets on their 
 wrists and ankles. A large number of Jewish 
 children soon collected in the yard below to look 
 at us as curiosities. Among them were some 
 sweet-looking little girls, with a most intelligent 
 and fascinating expression of countenance. 
 
 The moment we entered the apartment and 
 were seated, our handkerchiefs were sprinkled 
 with otto of roses, and rose water was handed us 
 to bathe our faces. Our host made a thousand 
 a])()logies, because, as it was their Sabbath, he 
 was forbidden by his religion to offer us coffee or 
 any other refreshments, except unleavened bread. 
 When M-e took leave of them, the fair Jewesses 
 gave each of us a hearty shake of the hand, and 
 appeared to be highly gratified with our visit.
 
 282 JEWISH WORSHIP. 
 
 We then went to the principal Jewish Syna- 
 gogue in Tunis. Here several hundred persons 
 of both sexes were assembled, and engaged in 
 what they called religious worship. To me, I 
 confess, it was more in accordance with the idea I 
 had formed of an Indian pow-wow, than of any 
 thing I had ever supposed could be styled the 
 worship of that God, whose sacrifices are a broken 
 heart and contrite spirit, and in whose sight one 
 silent penitential tear is more precious than all iiie 
 noise and all the ceremonies with which fanaticism 
 and superstition have filled the world. Unlike 
 their brethren in ancient times, who, captive and 
 mourning, hung their harps upon the willows 
 that shaded the banks of the Euphrates, these 
 outcasts from their country were singing one of 
 the songs of Zion. The whole assembly joined 
 in the chorus, and the number of discords equalled 
 that of the voices. It was, in fact, bellowing ra- 
 ther than singing. We did not remain long in 
 such a scene of disorder, but leaving the Syna- 
 gogue, we returned to the Consul's to partake of 
 the hospitalities with which his table was loaded. 
 
 Tunis, though styled, in the pompous language 
 of Eastern exaggeration, " the abode of happi- 
 ness "" and " the city well guarded," is really the 
 most execrable and defenceless place that can be 
 imagined. For filth and putrid exhalations, it 
 exceeds every other city I have ever visited even 
 in the East. In some parts of it the stench is so 
 strong and nauseous, that persons, accustomed to 
 purer air, experience a sense of suffocation in
 
 DESCRIPTION OF TUNIS. 283 
 
 breathing. As to the other epithet of well guard- 
 ed, the walls have neither towers nor bastions, and a 
 iew slight fortresses on some of the hills that sur- 
 round the city, are its only means of defence. It 
 would fall an easy prey to any nation that might 
 think proper to besiege it. 
 
 The walls of Tunis are about three miles in 
 circuit. The streets, except those of the bazars, 
 are no more than lanes or alleys, and many of 
 them are so narrow that two persons cannot walk 
 side by side in them. They are generally paved 
 with unwrought stones. The houses are chiefly 
 of stone and mud, and usually only two stories 
 high. They are built round an open court, called 
 the palia, which has a stone or marble pavement, 
 somewhat depressed underneath the sky-light, 
 and grooved for the purpose of carrying off the 
 water that falls when it rains. They generally 
 have a mean and uncomfortable appearance. The 
 roofs are all flat, and in the cool of the day 
 in summer affiord delightful promenading places. 
 They communicate with each other, and when 
 people wish to visit, it is not unusual for them to 
 go over the tops of the houses instead of through 
 the streets. It is curious to look down from an 
 eminence on a city Avhere the roofs of many of the 
 duellings are adorned with grass plats and flower- 
 beds. JNIultitudes of the Tunisians perform their 
 evening devotions on the tops of their houses. 
 There are five gates in the city, which are all closed 
 and barred at sunset. A party of our officers had
 
 284 COMMERCE. 
 
 been riding out in the country one afternoon, and 
 happened to return a few moments after the gates 
 were shut. They had some difficulty to persuade 
 the keepers to let them into the city. 
 
 Tunis is more populous than either of the other 
 Barbary capitals. The number of its inhabitants 
 is variously estimated, from one hundred to one 
 hundred and fifty thousand. They are also much 
 farther advanced in civilization than either their 
 eastern or western neighbours. For this supe- 
 riority they are indebted chiefly to commerce, and 
 partially perhaps to the schools of Mohammedan 
 law and divinity, for which Tunis has long been 
 noted. There are said to be at the present time 
 some profound Arabic scholars in that city. 
 
 The Tunisians carry on an extensive commerce 
 with France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and 
 Palestine. Their principal exports are olive-oil, 
 wheat, hides, wool, lentils, wax, dates, and per- 
 fumes. For these they bring back in exchange 
 all the productions of the countries to which they 
 trade, with various foreign commodities imported 
 into them for commercial speculation. I was sur- 
 prised to find in the bazars of Tunis nearly all 
 the articles to be met with in the shops and ware- 
 houses of Marseilles, Leghorn, and Smyrna, and 
 to see them selling at nearly or quite as low prices 
 as they can be purchased in either of those great 
 commercial emporiums. 
 
 The olive-oil of Tunis is of an excellent quality. 
 In the purchase of otto of roses, vast quantities of
 
 FOREIGN CONSULS. 285 
 
 which are exposed for sale, you are less liable 
 to be imposed upon there than in Smyrna. The 
 genuine can be obtained, I believe, at two dollars 
 an ounce. The otto of jasmine, though more abun- 
 dant at Tunis than anywhere else, is even there 
 exceedingly rare, and sells for about six times as 
 much as the otto of roses. It is a perfume of 
 great strength and durability. The Tunisians 
 manufacture extensively woollen cloths, flannels, 
 purses, and coarse linens. Brown sugar is refined 
 there, and the lump can be pui'chased as cheap as 
 at Gibraltar or Malta. 
 
 The foreign Consuls and their families, resident 
 at I'unis, form a large and select society. Were 
 it not for them, Tunis would be intolerable as 
 a place of residence; but they make it not only 
 tolerable but agreeable. In sunniier they usually 
 retire to their country seats, but in winter, balls, 
 routs and dinner parties follow each other in 
 rapid succession, and the grave capital of an 
 Eastern despot is made to put on the gay and 
 cheerful air of one of the fashionable cities of 
 France or Italy. 
 
 On the 18th, a party of us, consisting of Cap- 
 tain Stevens of the Ontario, and a number of offi- 
 cers from both ships, " bearded the lion in his 
 den ;" that is, paid a visit to the Bashaw. He 
 and his Court reside at a place called Bardo, 
 about three miles distant from the city. Dr. 
 Heape had politely provided carriages for the 
 party on the preceding evening, and immediately
 
 286 VISIT TO THE BEY. 
 
 after breakfast, we mounted to our seats and set 
 off. On such occasions, all the officers are re- 
 quired to be dressed in uniform, and to wear side- 
 arms. I asked Captain S. whether I, being a 
 " civilian," could not be excused from complying 
 with the general usage in this respect. He re- 
 plied in the negative, and my heart began to beat 
 quick and strong from an apprehension that I 
 should be cut off from my contemplated visit. 
 However, the Consul found an old laid- up sword, 
 and told me that it was at my service, if I could 
 do no better. No knight-errant ever girded on 
 his glittering broadsword with a more quickened 
 circulation of the blood, than I did this rusty old 
 weapon which fortune had thus propitiously 
 thrown in my way. My companions laughed 
 heartily to see me accoutred in this novel style, 
 and " run" me a good deal on my appearance ; 
 but our first lieutenant was kind enough to take 
 my part, and complimented me on my military 
 bearing. Howbeit, compliments and jokes on 
 that score Avere to me tout la meme chose. 
 
 Our coachmen — ragged, dark-coloured Moors 
 — were not seated, as among us, in the front part 
 of the carriage, but rode on mules by the side 
 of the horses. They had goads, with which they 
 kept pricking the poor animals, and we were 
 rapidly rolled over the interval between the city 
 and the palace. On our way, we passed under 
 the prodigious aqueduct built by Charles V., a 
 monarch who has left memorials of his enterprise
 
 I 
 
 FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 2S7 
 
 and greatness in almost every country in Europe 
 and the north of Africa. Our road lay through a 
 country, which, though at that time burnt up by 
 drought, is naturally fertile and beautiful. Its 
 surface was neither mountainous nor level, but 
 undulating ; thus combining that uniformity and 
 variety which constitute one of the great elements 
 of beauty. The eye was neither obstructed by 
 precipitous elevations, nor wearied by monoto- 
 nous plains ; but, stretching over a vast extent of 
 territory, was at once gratified and relieved by a 
 delightful succession of hills and valleys, con- 
 stantly varying the direction of their surfaces, but 
 so gently, that the changes were scarcely any- 
 where perceptible. The whole country was sprin- 
 kled with black goats''-hair tents, round eacli of 
 which a number of dirty, half-naked urchins were 
 playing. We also met and passed numerous ca- 
 ravans of camels, loaded with oil (in hide sacks) 
 and various other articles of merchandise. The 
 former were approaching the city, but most of the 
 latter Avere journeying towards the interior of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Bardo is surrounded by two thick walls, which 
 are mounted with a large number of cannon. It 
 has the appearance of a solid mass of buildings. 
 Several thousand persons reside there, all attach- 
 ed to the Court in some capacity or other. The 
 gates were thrown open at our approach, and we 
 wound our way up to the palace of the Bey, be- 
 tween wretched stone huts, in front of which were
 
 288 INTERVIEW WITH THE BEY. 
 
 seated two continuous rows of Turks and Moors, 
 all armed and smoking their chibouques. Some 
 of them were gorgeously arrayed, while the 
 dresses and personal appearance of others indica- 
 ted the extreme of squalid poverty. We alight- 
 ed, and our arrival was announced to the Bey. 
 A slave was immediately sent to usher us into his 
 presence. He was in the great Hall of Justice, 
 an oblong apartment in the palace, plainly finish- 
 ed, and without ornament. He is engaged there 
 about three hours every day, Fridays excepted, 
 during his residence at Bardo, which is somewhat 
 more than half the year. In deciding upon the 
 grievances of iiis slaves, he is both law and judge. 
 He received us seated cross-legged upon his 
 throne, and completely embedded in rich vel- 
 vet cushions. When we were presented to him, 
 he inclined his head slightly, and extended his 
 hand for each of us to shake; but the Consul 
 was entitled to the superior honour of kissing it. 
 His dress was rich, though not gorgeous, and his 
 turban, white as unsullied snow, was folded with 
 the most perfect symmetry. Several large dia- 
 mond rings adorned his fingers, and a string of 
 diamond beads served him for a plaything. Plain 
 chairs were brought in for us to sit upon, and 
 coffee was served without cream. The Bey con- 
 versed a little, but not enough to incur the 
 charge of loquacity. He asked Captain S. whe- 
 ther he was more pleased with Tunis than Al- 
 giers, (to which the captain of course gave an
 
 THE BASHAW 01' TUNIS. 289 
 
 affirmative nod,) and made some incjuiries about 
 the war between the latter Power and France. 
 He was surrounded by his guards to the number 
 of twenty-five or thirty. These were mostly 
 large, well formed, and muscular men, all splen- 
 didly arrayed in Turkish costume. They were 
 flaming in scarlet, gold lace, diamonds, and span- 
 gles. The Turkish costume is certainly the most 
 splendid in the world. Its graceful folds and 
 rich adornments set off the person of the wearer 
 to the greatest advantage. The richest European 
 dress looks mean by the vside of a rich Turkish 
 dress. Besides the guards, a large number of the 
 subjects or slaves of the Bey were assembled in 
 the hall. These had come there to have their 
 differences adjusted, and their grievances redress- 
 ed. They had their papers and ink-horns before 
 them, and kept plodding on in their business, 
 with little apparent interest in our visit. 
 
 The present Bashaw of Tunis is a man of about 
 fifty-five years of age. He has an atrabilious 
 complexion and smooth skin, with a weak but 
 rather amiable countenance. His eye is dull, and 
 he has the appearance of a man whose physical and 
 intellectual powers have been enervated by dissi- 
 j)ation. He is, we were informed, generally be- 
 loved by his people. He lost his favourite wife 
 a few years ago, whom he loved to adoration. 
 His harem is small, and composed chiefly of 
 Italian women. One of the American dragomen 
 told me that the reason of his preferring Italians 
 VOL. I. o
 
 290 MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 
 
 for wives was, that their marriage excited no ex- 
 pectations on the part of their relatives, whereas 
 if he married his own countrywomen, all their 
 friends became his enemies, unless they were libe- 
 rally provided for by him. This struck me as at 
 least somewhat plausible. 
 
 After we took leave of the Bey, we called on 
 the principal ministers of his Court, who received 
 us with the greatest politeness. Coffee was always 
 served, and we found them much more sociable 
 than their master. The minister of Foreign Af- 
 fairs was a Christian. He did not shave his head, 
 but wore his hair in a long cue behind. A native 
 Italian, he gave proofs of his origin in his man- 
 ners, conversation, and the ornaments of his 
 apartment. The walls of this were adorned with 
 a great variety of paintings and engravings, and 
 among them we were surprised to find several repre- 
 senting some of our successful naval engagements 
 with the Barbary Powers, He talked in a torrent. 
 His conversation ran chiefly on France and Al- 
 giers. He said that Tunis would not like to see 
 Algiers made a French colony, but would have 
 no objections to the Algerines receiving a sound 
 drubbing. 
 
 The Zapitapa, who is prime minister, could not 
 have been more than thirty years old, when we 
 saw him. The Tunisians called him young in 
 years but old in oppression. When we were first 
 presented to him, his manner was studied and 
 formal, but he soon relaxed and entered into con-
 
 THE ZAPITAPA. ^91 
 
 versation with great freedom and politeness. He 
 is not above the middle stature, but of a some- 
 what muscular frame. His complexion is of a 
 deep brown, with a high forehead, aquiline nose, 
 and a dark, large, piercing eye. The general ex- 
 pression of his features indicates shrewdness, se- 
 verity, and decision. His dress bordered upon 
 the slovenly, his room was without a single orna- 
 ment, and the chairss presented us fur seats, such 
 as may be seen in any poor man''s kitchen in 
 America. He has managed by his address to get 
 the Bey completely under his influence, and he 
 rules the kingdom with an iron-handed despotism. 
 He is an object of universal hatred and terror. 
 The Zapitapa ])iques himself on his horsemanship. 
 Dr. Heape assured us that he had seen him, when 
 riding a charger at full speed, fire his rifle, toss it 
 up in the air, and, whirling round, catch it as it 
 was falling. 
 
 When we had finished our calls at Court, the 
 Bey having invited us to visit his country seat at 
 Manuba, about two miles beyond Bardo, we again 
 mounted into our coaches and proceeded thither. 
 A number of slaves had been sent on before us to 
 prepare refreshments. The palace at INIanuba, 
 though less gorgeous and showy than the un- 
 finished one within the city, is in the true style 
 of Oriental architecture, airy, graceful, and ele- 
 gant. It is two stories high, and built round a 
 large open court, in the centre of which is a fish- 
 pond, where thousands of beautiful gold and 
 o 2
 
 292 THE bey's country SEAT. 
 
 silver fishes were playing their antics. The court 
 is surrounded by a corridor, whose roof is sup- 
 ported by marble columns in none of the Grecian 
 orders, but slender and graceful, with short inter- 
 columniations. Many of the interior apartments 
 are also ornamented with the same kind of co- 
 lumns, and the pavements of all of them are of 
 fine marble. We were shown through the whole 
 building, not even excepting the seraglio, that 
 Ultima Thule of European curiosity. This is an 
 oblong room, with two wings and a projecting 
 part in the centre opposite the entrance. It was 
 destitute of furniture when we visited it, but 
 nothing can surpass the graceful beauty of its 
 architecture. It is surrounded by a divan, or 
 sofa, elevated from ten to fifteen inches above the 
 pavement, and extending out about two feet from 
 the walls. The windows of this apartment are 
 fancifully decorated with coloured glass. The 
 Turks are excessively fond of ornaments of this 
 kind. 
 
 The palace is encircled by a garden containing, 
 as we judged, upwards of fifty acres. More than 
 half of it consists of a grove of orange trees, which, 
 at the lime of our visit, were so heavily laden that 
 we observed many of the branches shored up with - 
 poles to prevent their being broken off from the 
 parent trunks by the weight of their golden fruit. 
 There is a beautiful summer-house near the cen- 
 tre of the garden. 
 
 After we had finished our observations, refresh-
 
 RETURN TO THE SHIP. 293 
 
 ments were served in the seraglio. They were 
 brought in by barefooted slaves, on large silver 
 waiters, which were placed upon the carpet, and 
 we partook of them reclining on the divan in ge- 
 nuine Turkish style. They consisted of a deli- 
 cious glass of lemonade, and not less tlian a dozen 
 different kinds of cakes, moulded into as many 
 shapes, and all thickly incrusted with sugar, and 
 strongly scented with musk and otto of roses. 
 Having partaken of these refreshments, coffee was 
 served in gilt china cups, and then huge bunches 
 of oranges were brought in fresh from the trees, 
 and the carpet of one wing of the seraglio literally 
 covered with them. This repast concluded, we 
 returned to the Consurs, and, having devoured 
 the better part of a roast pig and turkey, and 
 emptied a few decanters of his old Madeira and 
 Champaign, we set off to the ship, in good fellow- 
 ship with all the world, and highly gratified with 
 our visit to the " abode of happiness," and our 
 reception both by Dr. Heape and the yellow, 
 crossed-legged Beast, yclept the Bashaw of Tunis. 
 The wind was high, and it was night before we 
 got half way over the Lake of Tunis. Having 
 neglected to take the bearings of the stars before 
 it became so dark that we could not see the Go- 
 letta, we lost our way, and ran aground not much 
 less than a dozen times. The sailors were then 
 obliged to jump out in the water, and shove the 
 boat off of the mud. We began to entertain se- 
 rious apprehensions of being tantalized in this
 
 294 A TUNISIAN SENTINEL. 
 
 Avay all night, but, much to our joy, the entrance 
 of the canal was discovered between ten and eleven 
 o'clock, just a-head. It was after midnight when 
 we got to the ship, and the poor fellows who had 
 pulled us off were dripping wet, and almost ex- 
 hausted by fatigue. They were allowed to " splice 
 the main-brace," which was to them an ample 
 compensation for all their toils. 
 
 The next day, the 19th of the month, the cap- 
 tain and ward-room officers gave a grand enter- 
 tainment on board. Before daylight the barge 
 and two or three cutters were sent ashore to bring 
 the company aboard. Several of the Consuls and 
 their families came off. The day was spent in 
 dancing and other social amusements. A number 
 of the belles complained of headache and sea- 
 sickness. 
 
 One of the cutters that had been sent to take 
 the visiters ashore, in returning at night, was fired 
 upon by a sentinel at the Goletta. An affair 
 grew out of this, which detained us several days. 
 The Bey was notified of the occurrence, and his 
 decision was, that whatever punishment might be 
 demanded by Captain Wadsworth, should be in- 
 flicted on tlie offender for his temerity. The cap- 
 tain declined interfering, and the poor fellow was 
 then ordered by the Bey to be bastinadoed with a 
 hundred blows on each of his feet.
 
 295 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Departure from Tunis — Tangiers — Beating through the Straits — 
 .Monkeys on board — JJathing at Sea — Don Quixotte — French 
 Surgeons in Mahon — View of the French Fleet — Bay of Palma 
 — Approach to Barcelona — Visit on board from three Spanish 
 Gentlemen — Scene in a CofTee-house — Religious Procession — 
 Costume of the Ladies in Spain — Female Beauty — Barcelonetta 
 — Colossal Dolls in the Streets of Barcelona — Fondness of the 
 Spaniards for Public Shows — Effect of the French Revolution 
 in Spain — Suppression of the Newspapers — Espionage — Reflec- 
 tions on tiie Political State of Europe — Description of Barcelona 
 — La Ranibla — Alameda — Cathedral — Theatre — Exchange — 
 Commerce — Harbour — Convent of Capuchins at IMount St. Ge- 
 ronimo — Garden of a Merchant — Spanish Politeness — Historical 
 Recollections. 
 
 This unfortunate affair of the sentinel detained 
 us several days after we were ready to sail. Hav- 
 ing at length been finally settled, both ships got 
 under weigh on the 24th of the month. We had 
 been ordered by the commodore to show our co- 
 loiu's off Tangiers in our spring cruise. Accord- 
 ingly, on the evening of the 5th of May, we pass- 
 ed the Rock with a light breeze aft, which fresh- 
 ened up towards the latter part of the night, and 
 early in the morning we found ourselves off the 
 town. We hoisted our ensigns and hove-to for a 
 short time, and then, filling away again, we began 
 to beat down to Gibraltar. 
 
 Tangiers is one of the principal cities of the
 
 296 TANGIERS. 
 
 kingdom of Fez, and stands at the western extre- 
 mity of the Straits of Gibraltar. It was first taken 
 from the aboriginal inhabitants by Sertorius, a 
 Roman General, and continued for several centu- 
 ries a province of the Roman empire. When that 
 Power was subverted by the Goths, Tinjis, the 
 ancient name of the city, fell into their hands, and 
 they retained possession of it till the Saracens 
 wrested it from Count Julian, who was at that 
 time governor of it. In 1471 it experienced ano- 
 ther revolution, and was incorporated into the 
 dominions of Alonzo, of Portugal. It was given 
 by this latter Power to Charles the Second, of 
 England, as a marriage dowry with the Princess 
 Catharine. The English, not finding it of suffi- 
 cient utility to pay the expenses of retention, in 
 1684 destroyed the mole and fortifications, and 
 abandoned it to its present possessors, the Moors. 
 It is not at present a strongly fortified place, and 
 the quantity of rubbish with which the destruc- 
 tion of the old mole and fortifications has choked 
 up the harbour, renders the anchorage there un- 
 safe during the prevalence of strong westerly gales. 
 The Arabic name of Tangiers is Tinjiah. The 
 garrison at Gibraltar obtains from thence large 
 supplies of eggs, vegetables, oranges, dates, and 
 other fruits. The United States and most of the 
 nations of Europe have Consuls residing there. 
 
 We had to beat against an easterly wind, which 
 was blowing almost a gale, and although we had 
 the current in our favour, and the distance from
 
 RETURN TO MAHON. 297 
 
 Tangiers to the Rock is only thirty-eight miles, it 
 was after dark when we came to an anchor off the 
 town of Gibraltar. Not one of us had received a 
 letter from America since the arrival of the Onta- 
 rio from Gibraltar in the fall, and it would be dif- 
 ficult to conceive the point to which our anxiety 
 was wrought up. We waited impatiently for the 
 morning, and wiien it came, let the reader, if he 
 can, imagine the disa])pointment and consterna- 
 tion that reigned throughout the ship, when it 
 was announced that all our letters had been sent 
 to Mahon in a store-ship only a few days before. 
 A thrust from a dagger would scarcely have pro- 
 duced a more painful sensation in me than this 
 sudden failure of my hopes. 
 
 We remained in Gibraltar only long enough to 
 transact our necessary business, and sailed from 
 there on the 15th. IMr. Henry and his two little 
 sons took passage with us to Mahon. It was the 
 intention of the captain to have touched at Ma- 
 laga, but the current carried us past that town in 
 the night, and in the morning there was not wind 
 enough to enable us to return. 
 
 Sailors, rough as they are, are generally exces- 
 sively fond of children ; and Mr. Henry's two 
 boys were universal pets. They were sprightly 
 lads, and their childish diversions varied agree- 
 ably the monotony of a sea life. Sometimes the 
 officer of the deck would give them the trumpet, 
 and let them sail the ship; at others, one of them 
 would become a bull and the other his matador, 
 o 5
 
 298 MONKEYS ON BOARD BATHING. 
 
 and they would go through with all the manoeu- 
 vres of a regular bull fii>;ht. Our first lieutenant 
 had shipped a pair of monkeys at Gibraltar, and 
 they also contributed their full share to the 
 amusement of both officers and crew. The cap- 
 tain suffered most severely from their roguery. 
 They would steal into his pantry, and get hold of 
 a loaf of bread, a pie, or a pudding, and as sure as 
 the steward made an attempt to wrest it from 
 them, they would jump out of a port-hole, throw 
 it overboard, and make their escape. Sometimes 
 they would climb the masts up to the trucks to 
 avoid being taken. They were allowed to remain 
 in the ship several months, but one day, when the 
 captain was going to give a large dinner party, 
 they got hold of a pan of baked pears, and what 
 they could not eat, they threw overboard. This 
 produced a sentence of banishment, and we never 
 had any more monkeys on board during the re- 
 mainder of the cruise. 
 
 We were becalmed for several days in succes- 
 sion off' the coast of Granada. The quarter boats 
 were lowered away, and the sailors went out in 
 search of turtles. They took only two. When- 
 ever any thing of this kind is caught at sea, the 
 captain is always entitled to it. 
 
 In summer, whilst becalmed at sea, the men 
 frequently get permission towards sunset to go in a 
 bathing. Not more than one watch is ever allowed 
 to bathe at the same time. One of the studding 
 sail booms is rigged out, and a Jacob's ladder
 
 GALE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. 299 
 
 made fast to it for tlie men to climb up, when 
 the)' wish to come aboard. They run out upon 
 the boom, which is some eight or ten feet above 
 the water, and then plunge headlong into the sea. 
 Challenges are often bandied about, and regular 
 swimming matches formed, and the various sports 
 in which the swimmers engage, furnish a lively 
 and interesting scene. It usually lasts about half 
 an hour, and is always viewed with much interest 
 from the quarter-deck. The officers also often go 
 in a bathing when at sea. 
 
 About the time we left Gibraltar, one of the 
 most tremendous gales ever known in those parts 
 swept over the INI ed iter ranean from Eui'ope to 
 Africa. Two French brigs, composing a part of 
 the blockading squadron off Algiers, were driven 
 ashore, and the officers and crews made prisoners 
 and put in confinement, from which they were not 
 released till Algiers fell into the hands of the 
 French. The whole force of the tempest was felt 
 in the Balearic Isles, where it did great injury to 
 the crops and fruits. We felt the effects of it off 
 Cape de Gatt, where, although it was a dead 
 calm, our ship rolled as if she had been scudding 
 before a heavy gale. 
 
 During our spring cruise I beguiled my leisure 
 hours while at sea with Don Quixotte. I have 
 never read the English version, but am confident 
 that no translation can do more than feebly sha- 
 dow forth the exquisite and incomparable beau- 
 ties of the original. It was one of the most bril-
 
 300 DON QUIXOTTE. 
 
 liant remarks of the epigrammatic Montesquieu, 
 that Spain had produced but one good book, and 
 the object of that was to show the folly and worth- 
 lessness of all the rest. Were this true, as it is not, 
 1 should not hesitate to say that the Spanish lan- 
 guage would be well worth the trouble of learning, 
 merely for the sake of reading that single book. 
 But did the witty President make this remai'k be- 
 cause he really believed it was true, or merely to 
 say a clever thing ? Let the Labyrinth of Juan de 
 Mena, the sweet pastorals and sonnets of Garcilaso, 
 Francisco de la Torre, and Balbuena, the sublime 
 and fervid lyrics of Luis de Leon, Rioja, and Fer- 
 nando de Herrara, the graceful romances of the 
 sixteenth century, the prodigious and inexhaustible 
 genius of Lope de Vega, and a hundred other 
 names, almost equally distinguished in " prose 
 and numerous verse," answer this question. 
 
 It was shrewdly remarked by Philip the Second 
 to his courtiers, when he saw a man walking the 
 streets of Seville and bursting at intervals into 
 carcajadas, or immoderate fits of laughter, " That 
 man must either be mad, or he is reading Don 
 Quixotte." Cervantes is the Shakspeare of Spain, 
 and next to Jack Falstaff, Sancho Panza is with- 
 out doubt the most comical character in the whole 
 range of fictitious writings. His alternate acute- 
 ness and simplicity, his arch roguery and sheer 
 silliness, and his endless proverbs, which he pours 
 forth on every occasion, whether they suit the dis- 
 course or not, would set in motion the risibles of
 
 DON QUIXOTTE. 301 
 
 Diogenes himself. Scarcely less ludicrous are the 
 affected stateliness both of language and manners, 
 the misguided courage, and the ever-recurring 
 mistakes of the flower and cream of knisht-errant- 
 ry — tlie valorous, imaginative, famed, and worthy- 
 to-be-famed Don Quixotte de la Mancha. 
 
 The characters in Cervantes'* work, though not 
 numerous, are all admirably sustained. Tiiey are 
 sketched with a freedom and individuality as 
 charming as they are fresh and racy. Not only 
 their mental portraits, but every lineament in 
 their features, and every article in their dress, are 
 drawn with such truth and justness, that the 
 author seems to be copying rather than painting, 
 and to depend more upon the resources of me- 
 mory than imagination. Instead of creations of 
 the fancy, they appear like old acquaintances with 
 whom we have Ion"- been in the habit of whilinff 
 away an idle hour over a good bottle of claret. 
 
 In works of every description, but especially in 
 dramatic compositions, style, though by no means 
 an unimportant, must always be a secondary con- 
 sideration. It is those large ideas that lift the 
 mind into higher and purer regions, those bursts 
 of deep- wrought passion that cause the feelings of 
 the reader to gush from their buried fountains 
 like the waters from the rock in the wilderness 
 when touched by the prophetic rod, that deliglitful 
 imagery that bathes the spirit in dreams of a 
 brighter world, those just and living pictures of 
 the many-coloured life of man that come home to
 
 302 FRENCH SURGEONS IN MAHON. 
 
 every one's bosom ; — it is these things which con- 
 stitute the chief merit of dramatic compositions. 
 All these characteristics the work of Cervantes 
 possesses in a pre-eminent degree. But it has 
 moreover the merit of being written in a style 
 of surpassing excellence. One would say that 
 each of the Graces had lent it her peculiar charms 
 — Aglaia her splendour, Euterpe her freshness, 
 and Euphrosyne her cheerfulness. It is the 
 noblest example extant of the richness, flexibility, 
 and majesty of perhaps the richest, most flexible, 
 and most majestic of modern languages ; that 
 language whose noble qualities have exacted from 
 all who know it the appellation of the " Idiom of 
 the Gods." 
 
 We arrived in Mahon on the 23rd of May, and 
 found the Java and Fairfield there from Smyrna, 
 both in quarantine. Mahon was overflowing with 
 French medecitis, who had gone thither to attend 
 to the sick and wounded, who might be carried 
 there from Algiers to receive medical aid. Hos- 
 pital Island and the barracks in Georgetown had 
 been rented to the French government for this 
 purpose. The surgeons were, for the most part, 
 young gentlemen, fresh from college, who had 
 volunteered their services. They were French- 
 men, and this simple fact speaks volumes on their 
 gallantry and powers of fascination. When we 
 returned in August from our summer cruise, my 
 old landlord said to me, Los Franceses han hecho 
 maravillas en Maon ;* and when I asked him what 
 * " The French have done wonders in Mahon."
 
 VIEW OF THE FRENCH FLEET. 303 
 
 wonders they had done, shruj^gincr up his shoul- 
 ders, he replied drilv, Cusas de Franceses.* 
 
 On the 28th, in company with Dr. , I 
 
 took a stroll in the country. We took the road 
 known there by the name of El Camino Verde, 
 and had proceeded about half a mile, when, acci- 
 dentally casting my eye towards the INIediterra- 
 nean, it was met by one of the most glorious 
 prospects 1 ever beheld. The view operated like 
 electricity on my own feelings, and exclaiming in 
 a sort of frenzied tone, "Look! yonder is the 
 French fleet," I gave the same start to those of 
 the Doctor. We proceeded to the largest and 
 most elevated Talyot in the vicinity of Mahon, 
 where a great concourse of people were assembled 
 with telescopes to witness the spirit-stirring scene. 
 From this point, the sea view was obstructed only 
 by Cape Mola, and the water in either direction, 
 as far as the eye could stretch, was covered and 
 whitened with innumerable sail. I counted at one 
 time upwards of ninety, a considerable number of 
 which were ships of the line and frigates. The 
 whole division consisted of about three hundred 
 vessels, but the line which they formed was so 
 long that those in the van were continually disap- 
 pearing, and others heaving in sight. The breeze 
 was fresh, and the sea covered with breakers, 
 which looked like silver fretwork, reflecting the 
 sunbeams that played upon it. The scene excited 
 a deep and absorbing interest in the multitudes 
 who were collected to behold it, and a thousand 
 
 * " Things of Frenchmen."
 
 304 BAY OF PALMA. 
 
 speculations and predictions were uttered as to the 
 probable issue of the contest. In my mind it pro- 
 duced a train of melancholy reflections. War is 
 sometimes necessary, and therefore just, but the 
 necessity which produces it is always to be re- 
 gretted. When the peaceful doctrines of the 
 meek and patient Jesus shall have gained that in- 
 fluence over the passions and understandings of 
 mankind, to which their purity and excellence 
 entitle them, strife and bloodshed will cease from 
 off" the earth ; men, on whose features, alike in 
 every clime and every condition, is stamped the 
 image of the ever blessed God, will think, and feel, 
 and act like brethren ; and the world will no 
 longer exhibit those jarring scenes, which have 
 hitherto made it one vast Aceldama — a field of 
 blood. 
 
 Having taken on board water and provisions for 
 our summer cruise, we sailed from Mahon on the 
 morning of the 11th of June, and in the afternoon 
 of the same day entered the Bay of Palma, capital 
 of Majorca, and of the province composed of the 
 Balearic Isles. We found several French men of 
 war cruising off" the bay, and about two hundred 
 transports at anchor near the town. We did not 
 come to an anchor there, but ran in far enough to 
 obtain a tolerably good view of the city, hoisted 
 our colours and hove-to. 
 
 The Bay of Palma faces the south-east, and, 
 both in extent and shape, resembles that of Gib- 
 raltar. It is contained between the Capes Blanco
 
 CITY OF PALMA. 305 
 
 and Cala Fio;uera. The city is handsomely situ- 
 ated on a gentle declivity at the head of the bay, 
 and appears to good advantage from the water. 
 The public edifices are numerous and conspicuous. 
 The cathedral church, a venerable gothic pile, 
 situated in the upper part of the town, and stand- 
 ing out to view in full relief, produces an uncom- 
 monly fine effect. Palma is said to contain a po- 
 pulation of about forty thousand souls. It is 
 celebrated for the number of its ecclesiastics and 
 the beauty of its females. These latter are to the 
 other fair Spanish islanders what the Andalusians 
 are to their sister beauties of the Peninsula. They 
 pride themselves particularly on the synunetry of 
 their forms. Not many years ago a young Ma- 
 jorcan dandy became the eiiuniorudo of a girl who 
 was looked upon as the very beau ideal of symme- 
 try. Having gone through with the requisite 
 })reliminaries of vows, antl sighs, and raptures, 
 and hi/lels-doKX, and all the et cetera of courtship, 
 they at length became "one flesh.'' But what 
 was the bridegroom"'s consternation on discovering 
 the very first night after the marriage, that the 
 hips of his Dulcinea, whose beautiful proportions 
 had been the admiration of every circle she ever 
 graced, were made to ship and unship, as occasion 
 might require, like the accommodation-ladder of 
 a frigate ! The poor fellow made a desperate 
 struggle for a divorce, but the court decided that 
 he must keep his " rib," hips or no hips. 
 
 Majorca is a large and fertile island. It pro-
 
 306 APPROACH TO BARCELONA. 
 
 duces excellent oranges, and in great abundance. 
 The coast is generally rugged and mountainous, 
 but the interior is said to contain some of the 
 richest and most beautiful valleys in the south of 
 Europe. The women there labour in the fields 
 like men. 
 
 Having remained about half an hour off the 
 town, we wore ship and stood away with a fresh 
 breeze for Barcelona. It fell calm towards night, 
 and continued so for twenty-four hours. The fol- 
 lowing evening a breeze sprang up, and on the 
 morning of the 13th, soon after breakfast, we 
 made the coast of Catalonia. Few views can sur- 
 pass in grandeur, richness, and variety, that en- 
 joyed by the voyager in approaching Barcelona 
 from sea. Mount Serrat, towering in proud and 
 lonely sublimity ; the majestic sweep of coast 
 which forms the bay ; the innumerable villages, 
 vineyards, and cornfields that crown the hills to 
 their very summits ; the streams which are seen 
 meandering along down the valleys to mingle 
 their waters with those of the Mediterranean ; and 
 finally, Barcelona itself, with its fortress of Mon- 
 juich, its citadel, and its countless domes and spires, 
 successively attract and gratify the attention. 
 
 We came to an anchor about two miles from 
 the entrance of the harbour. As it was Sunday 
 when we arrived, nobody went ashore but an 
 officer to agree upon a salute. Early the next 
 morning three gentlemen, el primer actor de Tra- 
 gedia,* a young painter just from Italy, and a 
 * The chief tragedian.
 
 VISIT ON BOARD. 307 
 
 lawyer, came off to see the ship. The tragedian 
 was a Madrileno^ as nearly all the actors on the 
 Spanish stage are ; the other two were native 
 Catalans. The former, in his eyes, hair, and 
 manners, was a genuine Spaniard ; but liis com- 
 plexion was less morena than that of most of his 
 countrymen. He had the most delicately tapered 
 fingers and the most beautifully proportioned 
 hand it is possible to imagine, and he took especial 
 pains to dis])lay tiiem to the best advantage. His 
 conversation was elegant, classical, and intelligent ; 
 and he expressed unbounded admiration of our 
 country and its institutions. The painter had no- 
 thing remarkable in his dress or personal appear- 
 ance, but the lawyer was a perfect unique. He 
 was far below the ordinary stature, and apparently 
 about thirty-five years of age. His complexion 
 was a dark brown, and his features were harsh, 
 but full of expression. His mouth was not much 
 larger than the key-hole of a trunk ; his chin 
 pointed ; his nose small, thin, and as sharp as 
 a piece of cut tin ; and his eyes like two peas in 
 size, deep-set, of a jet black colour, and as keen 
 and sparkling as the antelope's. It was difficult 
 to judge from his looks whether shrewdness or 
 roguery was his predominant characteristic. 
 
 I happened to be walking on the quarter-deck 
 when they came on board, and the officer of the 
 deck requested me to sliow them through the 
 ship. I walked up to them, saluted them, and 
 made a few common-place remarks. Having been
 
 308 SCENE IN A COFFEE-HOUSE. 
 
 conducted throu<^h the ship, they declared them- 
 selves encantados de su propriedad, limpieza y buen 
 orde/i,^ and invited me to take coffee vj^ith them in 
 the evening at the principal coifee-house in the 
 street called La Rambla. 
 
 I went ashore immediately after dinner, in com- 
 pany with Dr. 5 and having strolled through 
 
 the town for some time, at the appointed hour we 
 repaired to the coffee-house. We found our good 
 friend the tragedian, and the little man of the 
 green bag already waiting for us. We were 
 ushered into a large room furnished with a great 
 number of small marble tables, around which 
 were seated some dozens of groups, who were en- 
 gaged in loud conversation, and allaying, by means 
 of a cup of strong coffee, the fumes of the wine 
 with which they had washed down their dinners. 
 Our tragedian sung out for cuatro tazas de cafe, 
 which were forthwith brought in, and a small 
 decanter of liquor was placed upon the tablf at the 
 same time. Many of the Spaniards mix spirits 
 with their coffee. 
 
 It was the celebration of the feast of Corpus 
 Christi when we were at Barcelona ; and the first 
 evening that I was ashore there, I had an oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing one of the grandest religious 
 processions with which that festival is commemo- 
 rated. Nearly all the inhabitants of Barcelona 
 turned out en masse, and proceeded to the small 
 town of Barcelonetta, which stands upon a neck of 
 
 * " Enchanted with her propriety, cleanliness, and good order."
 
 RELIGIOUS PROCESSION. 309 
 
 land lying to the northward and eastward of the 
 city. We stationed ourselves about midway be- 
 tween Barcelona and Barcelonetta, where we had 
 an excellent opportunity of seeing the procession 
 as it passed. It is not my design to give a minute 
 description of it. It was headed by a large pro- 
 portion of the clergy of every grade, who were 
 dressed in their richest robes, and carried torches 
 and banners. The citizens followed in their train, 
 not in any regular order, but as the convenience 
 and pleasure of each individual dictated. The 
 whole procession was nearly an hour in passing 
 us, and we had a fine opportunity of scrutinizing 
 on a large scale the dress and beauty of the Spa- 
 nish ladies. In this we were not a little aided by 
 our theatrical jNIentor. 
 
 Spain is, I believe, tiie only country in the 
 civilized world, where the costume of females is 
 not affected by rank ; but there the belle who 
 captivates the hearts of half the courtiers in the 
 kingdom is not distinguished in her dress, except 
 by its superior richness, from the poor country 
 girl who brings in every morning to market her 
 basket of fruits or vegetables, and beguiles the 
 tedium of her walk by the uncouth strains of the 
 fandango song, with which her eiianioradn had 
 serenaded her on the preceding evening. Of all 
 the female costumes with which I am acquainted, 
 I do not hesitate to avow a decided preference for 
 the Spanish. The gala dress of a Spanish lady is 
 always black. It is neat, modest, and appropriate.
 
 310 FEMALE COSTUME AND BEAUTY. 
 
 It is impossible that it should be gaudy or osten- 
 tatious. The principal distinction between the 
 Spanish female costume and that of other coun- 
 tries, is the black lace mantilla worn upon the 
 head. This supplies the place of a bonnet, and 
 is, to my eye, infinitely m.ore beautiful. The 
 basquina, or gown, does not differ essentially from 
 that in use among French, English, and Ameri- 
 can ladies, except that it is made a little shorter, 
 in order to display more fully the foot and ankle, 
 of which the Spanish fair are generally excessively 
 vain. In company, whether in summer or winter, 
 a fan is an indispensable article. In love matters, 
 a Spanish lady can carry on a conversation as 
 intelligibly with her fan and eyes, as with her 
 tongue and lips. 
 
 Female beauty in Spain is quite a different 
 thing from what it is in the United States. 
 
 They make less account there of those delica- 
 cies of complexion, that regularity of features, 
 and a thousand other light and airy graces, so 
 much valued among us ; and look more to the 
 soul expressed in the countenance. To a Spaniard 
 a fine eye, full of life and expression, is an atone- 
 ment for almost every other species of ugliness. 
 Black is the only colour ever celebrated in their 
 love songs, and they are accustomed to say that 
 persons with blue eyes ought to see better in the 
 night than in the daytime, because they have ojos 
 de gala* The Spanish women are generally well 
 * " Cat's eyes."
 
 BARCELONETTA COLOSSAL DOLLS. 311 
 
 formed. Their feet and ankles are renowned all 
 the world over for their sniallness and symmetry. 
 
 When the procession had nearly passed us, we 
 joined in with the crowd, and proceeded to Barce- 
 lonetta. This is the most singular-looking place I 
 ever saw. It is an exact square, and has twenty-four 
 streets intersecting each other at riglit angles. 
 The houses are of brick, and two stories hiirh. 
 They are all of the same size, with the same num- 
 ber of doors, windows, and apartments. Every 
 one, in short, is the exact image of its neighbour. 
 Temporary board seats had been constructed, and 
 almost every street in the place was lined with a 
 row of ladies on each side of it. When the ser- 
 vices in the church were ended, and the clergy 
 issued forth, the whole immense assemblage rose, 
 and the gentlemen all uncovered themselves. Our 
 little lawyer whispered us to take off our hats, 
 unless we wished to attract the gaze of the popu- 
 lace, and excite the indignation of the friars. At 
 the same time he more than intimated that he 
 looked upon the whole ceremony as a mere piece 
 of mummery, and conformed to the general usage 
 in this respect only to avoid the anathemas of the 
 priesthood. 
 
 Every time I was ashore in Barcelona, I saw 
 two colossal female dolls dancing through the 
 streets. They were constantly followed by im- 
 mense crowds of people. This was also a part of 
 the ceremony of the Corpus Christi. 
 
 The people of Barcelona, like those in other
 
 312 FONDNESS FOR PUBLIC SHOWS. 
 
 parts of Spain, are excessively fond of processions, 
 balls, masquerades, theatrical representations, and 
 public spectacles of every kind. Madrid for bull 
 fights, and Barcelona for masquerades, leave all 
 the other cities of Spain far behind them. " Bread, 
 amusements, and executions," was a motto of one 
 of the Kings of Naples, and it is the true policy 
 of every despot in existence. To enable the peo- 
 ple to procure the bare necessaries of life, to fur- 
 nish them with amusements to drown their cares 
 and make them forget their oppressions, and to 
 multiply executions to let them know that the 
 sword of power is suspended over their heads by 
 a hair, — all this is the very quintessence of des- 
 potism. 
 
 The excessive fondness for public shows and 
 public assemblies, prevalent in Spain, indicates, in 
 my opinion, an extremely unintellectual state of 
 the people. " A good man,"''' Solomon says, " is 
 satisfied from himself." In a somewhat different 
 sense, it is not perhaps less true that an intellectual 
 people will be satisfied from their own meditations. 
 I should regret exceedingly to see a taste for pub- 
 lic spectacles and assemblies, fitted to minister 
 only to the gratifications of sense, gaining ground 
 in this country. I could not but regard it as a 
 proof that the general intelligence and virtue for 
 which my countrymen are now so honourably dis- 
 tinguished, were on the decline, and as the har- 
 binger of those vicious and degrading excesses, 
 which never fail to follow in the train of ignorance
 
 EFFECT OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 31. J 
 
 and corruption. There are men in Spain wlio see 
 and mourn over this state of things, but they have 
 no power to remedy it. I do not state this unad- 
 visedly. A gentleman to whom I have more than 
 once had occasion to refer in the course of this 
 work, said to me one day in a conversation on this 
 very subject, " Sir, I love my country ; every 
 particle of my flesh and every drop of my -blood 
 are Spanish, and I am proud ^f the name of Spa- 
 niard ; but Spain is degraded, lost, ruined ; her 
 inhabitants at this moment are more ignorant, 
 wretched, and vicious than those of any other 
 country in Europe; and at present I see no pro- 
 spect of an amelioration. Ah! my dear sir, the 
 only sad consolation I have left is, that I shall not 
 long survive to behold the miseries and disgraces 
 of my native land."" 
 
 Nor is the gentleman to whom I allude the only 
 person whom I have heard express similar senti- 
 ments. Indeed, 1 believe it to be the general feel- 
 ing entertained by the more intelligent and reflect- 
 ing part of the community, who have no personal 
 interest in maintaining opposite views. But clearly 
 as the better spirits of Spain may see the disgraced 
 and wretched condition of their country, they can 
 do no more than brood over it in silent and un- 
 availing regret. Even before the last French re- 
 volution, they were afraid to breathe their senti- 
 ments except to persons in whom they knew they 
 could place entire confidence. Of this I had fre- 
 quent and numerous proofs. One day, when 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 314 SUPPRESSION OF NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 walking along the ramparts of Barcelona in com- 
 pany with several Spanish gentlemen, the conver- 
 sation turned on the comparative condition of 
 Spain and the United States. They made a thou- 
 sand inquiries, which I answered to the best of my 
 ability. Warmed by the subject, and free from 
 the restraint which would have been imposed by 
 suspicious company, we had unconsciously allowed 
 our enthusiasm to influence the tone of voice in 
 which we conversed ; but when we came to the 
 neighbourhood of a sentinel on guard, one of them 
 said to me in a tone approaching to a whisper, 
 Senor, liablemos bajo, purqne estanios cerca de un 
 guardia, y quien sabe lo que podria suceder? Aqui 
 no sepuedejiar de nadie.* On another occasion, an- 
 other gentleman said to me, " In the United States 
 you have perfect freedom both of thought and 
 
 speech, but in Spain we have only to" and he 
 
 put his finger on his lips without uttering a syllable. 
 This was the state of things before the late 
 French revolution. Since that event, it has greatly 
 altered for the worse. Previously newspapers had 
 been published in all the principal and many of 
 the minor cities of Spain, subject, however, to the 
 censorship of persons appointed by the crown. 
 The instant intelligence of the occurrences in 
 Paris reached Madrid, an edict was issued, abo- 
 lishing every one of them, and now the Gazeta de 
 Madrid is the only political paper published in 
 
 * " Sir, let us talk low, for we are near a sentinel, and who knows 
 what might happen ? Here confidence can be reposed in nobody."
 
 ESPIONAGE IN SPAIN. 315 
 
 the wliole kingdom. This is directly under the 
 eye of the King and his Confessor, and thus every 
 avenue of correct foreign and domestic intelligence 
 is effectually barred to all the inhabitants of the 
 interior of the Peninsula. A Dim to to communi- 
 cate commercial intelligence and facilitate business 
 is published in each of the great commercial cities, 
 but all political matter, except such as is copied 
 from the Madrid Gazette, is strictly excluded. In 
 this respect, as well as many others, the slaves of 
 Sultan Mahmoud are in a condition far preferable 
 to that of the subjects of Ferdinand the Seventh. 
 In Constantinople from six to ten newspapers arc 
 published without being subjected to any censor- 
 ship whatsoever ; and the Courier de Smyrne, to 
 my own knowledge, is as independent, and ex- 
 presses the views of its conductors with almost as 
 little reserve, as any paper in the United States. 
 
 But it was not merely in the suppression of the 
 newspapers that the French revolution operated 
 to the prejudice of the poor Spaniard, A system 
 of espionage and eaves-dropping a hundred-fold 
 more strict and scrutinizing than that which exist- 
 ed before, was established in every city, village, 
 and hamlet throughout the kingdom. The sanc- 
 tity of private friendship was violated by the open- 
 ing of letters in all cases where there was any 
 cause, real or imaginary, for suspecting that they 
 contained political heresies. An esteemed and esti- 
 mable friend of mine in Mahon, now numbered 
 with the dead, sent a son to the university of 
 p2
 
 316 REFLECTIONS ON THE 
 
 Valencia, at a time when the liberalists entertained 
 some faint hopes that the revolutionary movements 
 in the north and south of Spain might result in a 
 complete change of the government. No man was 
 more interested in such a result than he was, and 
 none more anxious to get the earliest intelligence 
 from the different theatres of action ; but I heard 
 him enjoin it again and again upon his son not to 
 communicate in his letters a syllable of political 
 news, however important or interesting it might 
 be. This simple fact speaks volumes on the illi- 
 beral and despotic policy of the Spanish govern- 
 ment. Who can contemplate it without being 
 filled with compassion for a people, whose dearest 
 rights are thus ruthlessly torn from them, and 
 trampled under foot by an idiot and a debauchee, 
 who, though clothed in the robes of royalty, ac- 
 cording to every just scale of merit, is not worthy 
 to unloose the latchets of the shoes of many of his 
 meanest subjects.'' For myself, I confess that 
 when I heard the good old man give such an in- 
 junction to his son, I was profoundly moved, and 
 could not but bless God that to me the " lines had 
 fallen in pleasant places." 
 
 The revolution in France would have been fol- 
 lowed by one in Spain, as sure as there is a sun in 
 the heavens, if the memory of the excesses to 
 which revolutions, whether right or wrong, always 
 give rise, had not been so recent in the minds of 
 men ; but so short a period had elapsed since 
 Spain had been deluged in the blood of her own
 
 POLITICAL STATE OF EUROPE. 317 
 
 citizens, that even the friends of free institutions 
 and equal rights shuddered and shrank from the 
 anticipation of the horrors of a civil war. I was 
 on the spot at the time when the prospects of a 
 revolution were greatest, and when it was even 
 confidently expected that the whole Peninsula 
 would be in revolt in a few weeks; and from a 
 careful attention to the current of events, I am as 
 fully persuaded of the truth of tliis assertion as I 
 can be of any thing which I do not absolutely 
 know. And the friends of liberal governments 
 and the rights of man may rest assured tliat the 
 present apparent calm of Spain, and the rest of 
 Europe, is but the quiet of Vesuvius before an 
 eruption. The embers are glowing in the bowels 
 of the volcano. Its hidden fires are working up 
 towards the surface, and the burning lava will 
 ere long burst from beneath the superincumbent 
 mass, with a force augmented by the previous 
 restraints under which it had laboured. But there 
 will be this remarkable difference between the ef- 
 fects of the natural and moral volcanic action. 
 Thfe former pours its tide of desolation on culti- 
 vated fields and smiling villages, while the latter 
 will only consume the miserable weeds and rub- 
 bish that eat up and obstruct the natural fertility 
 of the political and moral soil. 
 
 An intelligent Frenchman said to me shortly 
 after the change of government in France, AIou- 
 sieur, les trois jours glorieux de Juillet out fait le 
 bonheur de lEurope. I agreed with him then,
 
 318 REFLECTIONS ON THE 
 
 and I have not since seen sufficient cause to change 
 my opinion. The occurrences of those " glorious 
 days" have given an impulse to the mind of Eu- 
 rope towards free institutions, which it will never 
 lose. It may be accelerated or retarded in its pro- 
 gress by unforeseen causes, but its march will ne- 
 vertheless continue to be onward, till the last 
 despotism in Europe, — is it political fanaticism to 
 hope — the last despotism on earth, shall have 
 crumbled and fallen to ruins. 
 
 The mind of Europe, I know from my own ob- 
 servation, is in a state of feverish agitation, and 
 the people there are daily becoming ripe for those 
 great changes which must sooner or later take place 
 in the political organization of the Old World. I 
 have said that Europe was in a state of apparent 
 tranquillity, but even the stillness of this tranquil- 
 lity is occasionally broken by confused but por- 
 tentous sounds. These sounds which reach our 
 ears at this vast distance, I am persuaded, are but 
 the usual indications of the approaching storm — 
 the low and distant mutterings of thunder before 
 the gust breaks its vials of electricity over our 
 heads. But tempests in the natural world purify 
 the air and clothe the fields with beauty ; and may 
 we not anticipate the same healthful and refresh-' 
 ing influences from the political storms v/ith which 
 Europe is to be visited ? 
 
 Since my return to the United States, I have 
 heard with feelings of the profoundest regret, me- 
 naces and speculations with regard to the disso- 
 lution of this Union. I am not about to discuss
 
 POLITICAL STATE OF EUROPE. 319 
 
 this question, but do those who agitate it, with so 
 little apparent concern, weigh well the probable, 
 the almost certain consequences of such an event ? 
 Its effects would not be limited to this country. 
 Indeed, its most imjjortant effects would perhaps 
 be on the other side of the Atlantic. In Europe 
 it would retard the march of intellect, morals, and 
 government, for more than a century. It would 
 confound and dishearten the advocates of liberal 
 principles ; whilst an iron-handed aristocracy 
 would seize upon it as an instrument to rivet, 
 with a still stronger tenacity, upon the great mass 
 of the people, the loathsome fetters of oppression. 
 On its annunciation. Liberty would clothe herself 
 in sackcloth, and water with her tears the grave of 
 her fairest hopes, and Despotism would strike a 
 paean louder and more fiendish than she has sung 
 since Alexander enslaved the world. 
 
 Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, the most 
 fertile and highly cultivated province in Spain. It 
 contains, including those of Barcelonetta, about 
 two hundred thousand inhabitants. It is the most 
 strongly fortified place in the kingdom. The 
 garrison, when we were there, consisted of about 
 twelve thousand troops, being somewhat smaller 
 than usual. I saw the regiment of King's Guards 
 parade. They were dressed in a splendid uni- 
 form, mounted on superb chargers, and per- 
 formed their various evolutions with great adroit- 
 ness. The Catalans are the best soldiers in 
 Spain. There does not exist a braver or more 
 hardy race of men. A curious anecdote was re-
 
 320 DESCRIPTION OF BARCELONA. 
 
 lated to me by a Spaniard, going to show the 
 capacity of his countrymen for endurance. There 
 was a regiment, or a company, (I forget which,) 
 of Spaniards in Buonaparte's Russian army. They 
 were exposed to the same rigours with the rest of 
 the army, and the proportion that perished was 
 not one-fourth as great as in any regiment or com- 
 pany of Frenchmen. 
 
 Barcelona is surrounded by a wall which is 
 double on the land side, and a deep fosse that can 
 at any time be filled with water. The walls, espe- 
 cially on the land side, are very thick, and mounted 
 at convenient distances with cannon. The citadel, 
 a place of great. strength, is situated on an emi- 
 nence in the north-east part of the city. It was 
 built for the double purpose of awing the inha- 
 bitants, and defending them against foreign ene- 
 mies, and more than once has it been successfully 
 employed to answer both these ends. State pri- 
 soners are kept in it, and it is difficult to get 
 admission. The most important military work at 
 Barcelona is on a high hill to the south-west of 
 the town. It is called the Fortress of Monjuich, 
 from the name of the hill on which it stands. 
 From this hill may be seen, in a clear day, the 
 two principal of the Balearic Isles, Majorca and 
 Minorca. 
 
 The streets in Barcelona are generally narrow, 
 irregular, and dirty. They were originally hand- 
 somely paved with square stones, but time has not 
 been idle, and many of them are now quite rough.
 
 LA RAMBLA ALAMEDA. 321 
 
 They have no side- walks. The Broadway of Bar- 
 celona is La Rambla. A\'ith the exception of the 
 New INIall, or Alameda, it is the most fashionable 
 promenade in the city. It is a noble street. The 
 promenade is in the centre of it, and is bordered 
 on each side by a row of beautiful locust-trees. 
 Carriages pass on both sides. The Alameda is a 
 delightful spot. It is ornamented with four beau- 
 tiful fountains and a large variety of shade trees. 
 At one end of it is the garden of the Governor- 
 General of the Province, which, though small, 
 makes up for what it wants in size, in the neatness 
 and elefjance with which it is laid out. It con- 
 tains a large aviary, in which almost every species 
 of fancy bird in the two Continents has a repre- 
 sentative. Marble statues and fountains meet 
 you at every turn. 
 
 The houses are generally from four to six 
 stories high, and are for the most part built of 
 brick, but plastered so as to appear like stone. 
 Those on the principal streets are ornamented with 
 misei-able fresco paintings. They have enormous 
 windows, which, when we were tliere, were all 
 hung on the outside with calico curtains, giving to 
 the streets a most singularly fantastic appearance. 
 
 The public buildings are an Exchange, a Cus- 
 tom-House, a Royal Palace, a Hall of Justice, a 
 Theatre, and Churches and Convents innumerable. 
 As we remained in Barcelona only three days, I 
 had time to visit but icw of them, and to those 
 few I could give only a passing glance. Many of 
 p 5
 
 322 CATHEDRAL THEATRE EXCHANGE. 
 
 the churches are large and splendid, but none of 
 them rivals the Cathedral in magnificence. The 
 style of architecture of this superb temple is a 
 light and elegant Gothic. It is, however, over- 
 loaded with ornaments. Gold could make it no 
 richer than it is. These costly decorations it owes 
 to the discovery of America. In a subterraneous 
 apartment, is the magnificent tomb of St. Eulalia, 
 the patroness of the city. This church was 
 founded in the thirteenth century by the famous 
 Raymond Berenger, the great patron of the Trou- 
 badours, quorum pars magna fuit. 
 
 The theatre is not large, but neat and commo- 
 dious. It fell short of my expectations, as I had 
 read in some books of travels that it was the 
 handsomest in Spain. Senor Nicanor Puchol, my 
 tragi-cicero)ie, informed me that in Madrid, Se- 
 ville, Granada, and Cadiz there are theatres far 
 superior to it. There were no theatrical perform- 
 ances in Barcelona while we remained there, in 
 consequence of the celebration of the festival of 
 Corpus Christi. 
 
 The finest edifice in Barcelona is the Exchange. 
 It is two hundred and thirty- feet by seventy- 
 seven, and is three stories high. On the first floor 
 is the grand saloon, where the merchants assemble 
 daily to make their contracts and hear the news. 
 It is one of the three places where masquerade 
 balls are held during the Carnival. The apart- 
 ments in the upper stories are occupied for schools 
 of chemistry, navigation, and the various branches
 
 COMMERCE HARBOUR. 323 
 
 of the fine arts ; all free of expense, and open to 
 whoever may choose to attend. This is a noble 
 institution, and does honour to the Catalonian 
 capital. I sincerely wish that " the vintage land, 
 fair flowery Spain," furnished more frequent ex- 
 amples of such enlarged and enlightened public 
 spirit. The schools are opened only at night, so 
 that those who are engaged in business during 
 the day, may have an opportunity of enjoying the 
 benefits of them. They are always numerously 
 attended. The gallery of paintings is also in tliis 
 building. It is small, but contains some choice 
 pieces. 
 
 There is a good deal of commerce in Barcelona, 
 and the warehouses and shops are therefore well 
 stored with merchandise. Each class of merchan- 
 dise has its own street ; — an arrangement wliich it 
 would be wise to adopt in our own cities. The 
 port is a basin partly natural anil partly artificial. 
 As you enter it, you have the city directly ahead; 
 on your left is the fortress of Monjuich, and on 
 your right the little brick town of Barcelonetta. 
 The mole consists of two piers, which form in effect 
 two distinct harbours. It is built of hewn stone 
 of immense size, and is considered one of the great- 
 est works in Spain. Swinburne appropriately de- 
 nominates it a " master-piece of solidity and con- 
 venience." At the extremity of each of the piers 
 is a large and elegant light-house. 
 
 The harbour cannot be entered by large sliips, 
 as there is a bar at its mouth, over which the water
 
 324 CONVENT OF CAPUCHINS. 
 
 is only fifteen feet deep. A mud machine, worked 
 by steam, is kept constantly in operation. We saw 
 a good deal of shipping there, chiefly Spanish. 
 The tax imposed on all ntierchant ships for the re- 
 pairs of the mole, and the heavy import duties, 
 prevent the merchants of other countries from 
 trading much at Barcelona. The quay surround- 
 ing the port is broad, clean, and commodious. 
 
 The last day I was ashore, I rode out in the 
 country with my old friends the tragedian and 
 lawyer. We visited the famous convent of Capu- 
 chin friars at the foot of Mount St. Geronimo. It 
 is a great curiosity ; I speak of the grounds be- 
 longing to the convent, and not of the church or 
 apartments of the friars. The entrance is through 
 a stone gateway. We found the gate barred, but 
 our rap was soon answered by one of the long- 
 bearded gentry, a fat, inane, harmless-looking be- 
 ing, who welcomed us with a low and obsequious 
 bow, and a wave of the hand, which would not 
 have disgraced a courtier of Louis the Fourteenth. 
 He had not the politeness to accompany us, but 
 gave us permission to go where we pleased by our- 
 selves. The grounds contain, as nearly as I could 
 judge, from fifteen to twenty acres, and are sur- 
 rounded by a high stone wall. They consist of 
 groves, fountains, fish-ponds, grass plats, &c. ar- 
 ranged with such rustic elegance, that, were it not 
 for the infinitude of religious images with which 
 the whole is interspersed, they might easily be 
 mistaken for the paradise of the Naiads. The
 
 GARDEN OF A MERCHANT. 325 
 
 principal walk divides tliem into nearly two equal 
 parts, and leads up a gentle ascent of several hun- 
 dred yards. On each side of this walk there is a 
 number of rustic fountains, from which the water 
 oozes up and forms artificial streams, which, mur- 
 muring over moss-covered stones, diffuse a deli- 
 cious freshness through the atmosphere, and 
 mingling their music with the notes of the feather- 
 ed songsters^ produce a harmony that soothes and 
 enchants the spirit. Each side of the same walk 
 is also lined with a row of statues, representing 
 Riches, Beauty, Ambition, Power, &c. Of these 
 statues one side of the face represents the freshness 
 of youth and the gladness of prosperity, while the 
 other exhibits a state of the most loathsome de- 
 cay ; thus indicating the fading nature of those 
 things which mankind generally regard as the 
 greatest of goods, and for the attainment of which 
 they do not hesitate to sacrifice ease, comfort, and 
 not unfrequently reputation itself. Groups of 
 other statues, equally quaint and whimsical, are 
 scattered throughout the enclosure in great abun- 
 dance ; but I will not weary the reader by a parti- 
 cular description of them. The gentlemen who 
 were with me would frequently repeat, Este es el 
 jHodo de moi'tijicarse que proctican losj'roj/les.* 
 
 From the convent we proceeded to the garden 
 of a rich merchant of Barcelona in the same vici- 
 nity. It is very large, and laid out in excellent 
 taste. It is adorned with a number of fountains, 
 * " This is the kind of mortification practised by friars."
 
 326 SPANISH POLITENESS. 
 
 one of which, with a beautiful monument of white 
 marble, was made to commemorate the visit which 
 the king paid it some years ago. Through the 
 centre flows a crystal stream, whose banks are 
 shaded by groves, cut into a thousand compart- 
 ments by as many labyrinthine walks. 
 
 I had letters of introduction to a number of 
 gentlemen in Barcelona, by all of whom I was 
 received and treated with the greatest politeness. 
 They offered me the hospitalities of tlieir houses, 
 and made proffers of personal service with as 
 much apparent warmth and sincerity as if I had 
 been an old friend. Nor were their services con- 
 fined to mere professions. AVhenever they accom- 
 panied me in any of my excursions, they insisted 
 upon paying the bills, declaring that they might 
 at some future day meet me in my own country, 
 and that then we would make an adjustment of 
 our accounts. Wliatever may be the political or 
 moral degradation of the Spaniards, they are dis- 
 tinguished by a generous hospitality and a fasci- 
 nating warmth of manners, which cannot fail to 
 gratify and attach strangers who travel among 
 them. 
 
 Barcelona is not destitute of interesting histori- 
 cal associations. It was founded, according to 
 tradition, by the father of the great Hannibal, 
 Hamilcar Barcas, two hundred and thirty years 
 B. c. It was possessed successively by the Car- 
 thaginians, the Romans, the Goths, the Saracens, 
 and the modern Spaniards. It has sustained
 
 HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS. 327 
 
 many remarkable sieges, and the inhabitants on 
 these occasions have displayed a heroism and love 
 of country, which would have done honour to the 
 best days of the Roman Republic. It was here 
 that Ferdinand and Isabella received Columbus 
 on his return from the discovery of America, and 
 from this port he sailed on his second ill-fated 
 voyage. I'he ruins of the palace in which he was 
 received with so much pomp and splendour, are 
 still to be seen near the heart of the city. 
 
 To Catalonia, if Andrew's History of Litera- 
 ture be good authority, rather than to Provence, 
 is due the honour of having led the way in the 
 cultivation of the vulgar language and poetry. 
 The patronage afforded to letters by the Counts of 
 Barcelona is well known ; especially, the name of 
 Raymond Berenger, who was not only the patron 
 of poets but a poet himself, is familiar to every 
 one. Barcelona was the birth-place of the fa- 
 mous Rodrigo, whose affront to the Count Don 
 Julian, governor of Ceuta, in the person of his 
 daughter Florinda, and the terrible vengeance 
 which the Count took by introducing the Sara- 
 cens into Spain, have furnished Southey with the 
 subject of the best of all his poetical works, " Don 
 Roderick, or the Last of the Goths." This Flo- 
 rinda, whose beauty, virtue, and misfortune have 
 gained for her the ])roud epithet of the Spanish 
 Lucrctia, resisted the solicitations of the king, till, 
 enraged at her obstinacy, he procured by violence 
 what he had not been able to obtain by entreaty.
 
 328 HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 She found means to communicate her disgrace to 
 her father, who, stung to desperation by this in- 
 sult offered to his daughter, resolved to revenge it 
 by bathing the Turkish scimetar in the blood of 
 the royal family. This design, from his situation 
 as Governor of Ceuta, he easily found means to 
 accomplish. At the head of five hundred Spa- 
 niards, accompanied by twelve thousand Saracens 
 commanded by Tarif, an Arabic general of dis- 
 tinguished valour and prudence, he landed and 
 took possession of Haraclea, since called Gibraltar, 
 in the year 711. With the history of the revolu- 
 tion which followed, so important in its conse- 
 quences to Europe and the world, my readers are 
 probably all well acquainted.
 
 329 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Coast of Catalonia — Quarantine at Marseilles — Quarantine Regula- 
 tions in the Meiliteiranean — 15ay and l^ort of Marseilles — Quay — 
 Marseilles — Old Town — New Town — Shops and Coffee-houses 
 — Promenades — Monument to Homer— Cathedral — Museum — 
 Cabinet of Insects — Public Library — Hotel de Ville — Royal Bo- 
 tanic Garden — JMounts Bourbon and Notre Dame — Prospect 
 from the Signal House — Chapel — Commerce of Marseilles — Ad- 
 vantages of having our Navy Agent stationed at Marseilles — So- 
 ciety — Abbe de Ricasoli — Kissing common among Gentlemen — 
 Ball on Board — Fourth of July — Ancient celebrity of jNIarseilles 
 — Southern Coast of France — Frejus and Cannes — The Alps — 
 First \'iew of the Coast of Italy — Feelings and reflections occa- 
 sioned by it. 
 
 Early on the morning- of the 18th of June, all 
 hancfs were called to " up anchor •/'' and when I 
 turned out, Barcelona was already fading in the 
 distance, a fresh breeze was wafting us through 
 the foaming billows at a rapid rate, and the rich 
 and fertile coast of Catalonia presented to our 
 view its blushing vineyards and verdant land- 
 scapes, and its thousand whitewashed villages, 
 frlitterinn; like burnished silver in the bright rays 
 of the morning sun. There is something in scenes 
 like this, so glorious, so spirit-stirring, so enchant- 
 ing, that none, who have not been in a situation 
 to enjoy them, can fully know the feelings they 
 awaken. In the shades of the Academy, in the
 
 330 QUARANTINE AT MARSEILLES. 
 
 quiet and contemplative life of a philosopher, in 
 the converse which the man of letters holds with 
 the illustrious and mighty dead, I confess, and 
 rejoice to confess, that there is something that 
 soothes, sublimes, and enraptures the soul ; but it 
 wants that thrilling vivacity, that sentiment of 
 wild and joyous freedom, imparted to the spirit 
 by the new and ever-changing scenes which he 
 whose only employment is to roam from clime to 
 clime has frequent opportunities of contemplating. 
 
 We arrived at Marseilles on the 20th of June, 
 and were quarantined for four days. The qua- 
 rantine regulations at Marseilles are stricter than 
 in any other part of the Mediterranean ; and the 
 extreme caution of the health officers renders the 
 citizens less apprehensive with regard to the in- 
 troduction of contagious diseases from ships per- 
 forming quarantine there. Thus a few years ago, 
 when the plague raged in Africa and the East, 
 Marseilles was the only port in the Mediterranean 
 where vessels from the infected regions were even 
 admitted to perform quarantine. When " the 
 days of our purification were ended," the oflicers, 
 charged with the performance of the duty, came 
 off and inspected the whole of the crew, and fumi- 
 gated every part of the ship. 
 
 Quarantine establishments are undoubtedly use- 
 ful in preventing the introduction of disease into 
 healthy places, but the rules by which they are 
 regulated in the Mediterranean are always arbi- 
 trary, and would often be merely ridiculous, if
 
 BAY AND PORT OF MARSEILLES. 331 
 
 tliey were not so annoying. Vessels coming from 
 the Levant are not admitted to pratique at all in 
 Sicily. It is not long since the same regulation 
 prevailed at Gibraltar. Not many years ago, one 
 of our men of war went from Smyrna to Gibraltar. 
 When the health officers learned where she was 
 from, they gave her a quarantine of three hun- 
 dred and sixty-five days, and told the captain 
 when she had completed that term, they would 
 then take into consideration the question whether 
 they should give her pratique or not! 
 
 The Bay of jNIarseilles faces the south-west. 
 It is capacious, but its effect is in a great mea- 
 sure destroyed by a number of islands, which 
 obstruct the view, and entirely conceal the city 
 till you are close upon it. A promontory to the 
 southeast of the town nearly bisects it, forming in 
 effect two distinct bays. INIen of war of a larger 
 size than sloops, are obliged to anchor out in the 
 bay, as the water is not deep enough in the har- 
 bour to admit of their entering it. The port of 
 Marseilles is a basin, about half a mile in length 
 and an eighth of a mile in breadth, running up 
 into the heart of the city. Its entrance is very 
 narrow, and is defended on the left by batteries 
 surmounted by a tower. The port is capacious 
 enough to contain twelve hundred merchantmen, 
 and they are so completely sheltered from all 
 winds, that the severest gales which sweep over 
 the stormy gulf of Lyons, do not expose them to 
 the least danger. As the ships in this harbour
 
 332 MARSEILLES — QUAY — CITY. 
 
 are necessarily so near to each other, the greatest 
 precautions are taken to prevent accidents by fire. 
 Men of war are not allowed to enter it without 
 having first unloaded their guns, and removed all 
 their powder from on board. Not a single fire is 
 allowed to be kindled on board of any ship. Even 
 the ordinary cooking for the crews must be per- 
 formed on shore. 
 
 The quay which surrounds the basin is the 
 finest I have ever seen. In the cool of the day in 
 summer, it forms one of the most agreeable pro- 
 menades in the city. It is a pleasure to view the 
 quantity and variety of merchandise exposed for 
 sale in the large magazines and elegant shops, 
 with which the quay is lined. 
 
 Marseilles is the principal city in the south of 
 France, and on some accounts second to none but 
 Paris in the kingdom. "If any town in France,"" 
 says the guide-book, " can give an idea of the 
 Capital, it is assuredly, and perhaps exclusively, 
 Marseilles. No other, it appears to us, has so 
 striking a resemblance to Paris, whether it be in 
 the beauty and regularity of its wide streets, the 
 elegance of its buildings, the extent of its quays, 
 the alacrity and number of its population, which 
 amounts to one hundred and twenty thousand 
 souls, or finally, in the politeness of its inhabit- 
 ants, and the courtesy with which they receive 
 the strangers who frequent it from all parts of 
 the world.*' 
 
 This, it must be allowed, is lofty praise. Of
 
 OLD TOWN — NEW TOWN. 333 
 
 its justness, I, who have never seen any other 
 French city, am not of course competent to judge. 
 Marseilles is divided into two parts, called the 
 Old and New Town. They are separated from 
 each other by a street called " Le Cours,"" which 
 joins at its two extremities the streets of Aix and 
 of Rome. It is the principal street in the city. 
 One writer says it is the finest in France, and 
 perhaps in Europe. It is certainly very beautiful, 
 but I question whether it is the finest in Europe, 
 or even in France. Were it not for the shade- 
 trees and fountains by which it is adorned, and 
 which, in the hottest days, impart a cool and de- 
 licious freshness to the atmosphere, it would not 
 be at all comparable to Broadway in New York. 
 
 Nothing can be more striking than the contrast 
 between the old and new parts of Marseilles. 
 The former is irregular and badly built : the 
 streets are narrow, crooked, and dirty ; and the 
 exhalations render the air disagreeable and un- 
 wholesome. It is almost entirely destitute of 
 ornaments of every description. Such is the old 
 town ; but the moment you issue from this, and 
 enter the new, you breathe a different atmosphere, 
 every thing around you wears a different aspect, 
 and you feel as if you were in a new world. The 
 streets here are wide, clean, regular, and hand- 
 somely paved ; the buildings are spacious and 
 elegant; the number of squares, fountains, monu- 
 ments, &c. is very great; and everything breathes 
 an air of luxury, splendour, and gaiety. No tra-
 
 334 COFFEE-HOUSES — PROMENADES. 
 
 veller would do justice to Marseilles in attempting 
 to describe its external appearance, who should 
 omit to notice the elegance of its shops and the 
 splendour of its coffee-houses. In these respects, 
 I have never seen any city in Europe or America 
 at all comparable to the Capital of Provence. 
 The coifee-houses are numerous, and the principal 
 ones are magnificent palaces. They are as rich as 
 gilding and marble can make them. The walls 
 are composed of huge mirrors, so that the eye, to 
 whatever point it is directed, appears to range 
 through a hall of unlimited extent. 
 
 The handsomest streets in Marseilles are those 
 which have the common name of " Cours," with 
 some additional epithet to distinguish them from 
 each other. They are all adorned with shade- 
 trees and fountains, and afford delightful prome- 
 nades. But the most fashionable promenade in 
 Marseilles is a short but wide street, called the 
 Allies of Meilhan. These are really superb. 
 The buildings here are the finest in the city. 
 There are four beautiful rows of trees, so tall and 
 spreading as to form a shade almost impervious 
 to the rays of the sun ; and at the upper end of 
 the street is a fountain, which, though not re- 
 markable for elegance, produces an agreeable 
 effect by its rusticity. Here of an evening the 
 beauty and fashion of Marseilles may always be 
 seen in the multitudes who sally forth to breathe 
 the fresh, cool air, after the heats of a summer- 
 day. Many prolong their walk to nightfall, and
 
 PROMENADES MONUMENT TO HOMER. 335 
 
 the effect is then particularly fine from the con- 
 trast between the trees, dark, towering, and so- 
 lemn, and the light and graceful forms that flit 
 along beneath them. But there is an hour when 
 this place produces an effect still more deep and 
 touching. It is when tlie world of business and 
 of fashion have retired, and left it to the stillness 
 and repose of midnight. The lamps which had 
 burnt bright during the evening, begin now to 
 lose their lustre, and the dim but solemn light 
 they cast on surrounding objects, the meanings of 
 the wind as it passes lightly through the branches 
 of the trees, the sweet bubblings of fountains 
 which may now be distinctly heard from different 
 parts of the city, an occasional form that passes 
 by, and which you might inistake for a genius 
 loci, if you did not know that spirits tread with 
 lighter step — everything, in short, which you see 
 or hear has something of divinity about it — some- 
 thing that touches the soul, and furnishes matter 
 for pensive but profitable meditation. If there is 
 anything of religion in nature, it is surely in a 
 scene like this. 
 
 The city is adorned with several handsome mo- 
 numents. Among others is a column of Oriental 
 granite, surrounded by a bust of the ( hian Bard, 
 on which is engraved the following inscription, 
 " The descendants of the Phocians to Homer." 
 In 18:28 was erected upon La Place Extt^ 
 rieure de la Porte du Nord, a beautiful tri- 
 umphal arch in honour of the Dauphin and the
 
 S36 CATHEDRAL MUSEUM. 
 
 army of Spain. It is supported by eight co- 
 lumns, and covered with stucco. It is not yet 
 completed. 
 
 I visited the museum, the public library, most 
 of the public buildings, and other curiosities in 
 Marseilles, but a minute description of them 
 would not perhaps be very interesting. The Ca- 
 thedral, built on the bank of the sea in the old 
 town, is a curiosity on account of its antiquity. 
 It is the oldest building in France, having been a 
 temple of Diana when Gaul was possessed by the 
 Romans. It was rebuilt by the Goths, but of the 
 old temple there still remain the foundations, a 
 number of marble columns of the Doric order, 
 and a few pieces of bas-relief sculpture, repre- 
 senting religious subjects. It is well worth the 
 trouble of a visit. 
 
 The Museum contains a collection of one hun- 
 dred and seventy paintings, some of which were 
 executed by the greatest masters of the art. In 
 the vestibule there is a large collection of sarco- 
 phagi of the ancient Christians, obtained from 
 various churches and convents. They are usually 
 of marble, and on the outside of them are sculp- 
 tured a great variet}- of symbols, illustrating the 
 lives of the persons whose remains they contained. 
 The collection of anatomical wax figures, in a dif- 
 ferent building, is well worthy of the attention of 
 scientific gentlemen, though it falls far short of 
 that in Florence in extent, interest, and value. 
 In another part of INIarseilles, there is, belonging
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARY — HOTEL DE VILLE. 337 
 
 to a private gentleman whose name I do not recol- 
 lect, a collection of insects more extensive and 
 interesting than is to be met with perhaps in any 
 other part of the world. They are from every 
 quarter of the globe, beautifully arranged, and in 
 a state of perfect preservation. The examination 
 of this collection was one of the richest treats I 
 enjoyed in Marseilles. The gentleman who own- 
 ed it appeared highly gratified at our visit, and 
 treated us with the utmost attention and polite- 
 ness. The public library contains fifty thousand 
 volumes. Among them are many rare works, and 
 some manuscripts of great value. At the head of 
 the principal hall is a bust of the Abbe Barthe- 
 lemy, the elegant and ingenious author of Ana- 
 charsis in Greece. 
 
 By far the finest building in Marseilles is the 
 Hotel de Mile, designed by the great Puget. 
 Nothing can exceed in richness and beauty the 
 fa9ade of this edifice. It is of white marble, and 
 adorned with sculpture of such exquisite execu- 
 tion as to have caused Bernini, when invited from 
 Italy by Louis XIV. to exclaim, on beholding it, 
 " Why should France send to Italy for sculptors, 
 when she has such artists of iier own ?" 
 
 There are several handsome walks in the coun- 
 try about Marseilles. One of them is by a new 
 street called Magdelene, which leads to the Royal 
 Botanic Garden, about a mile from the city. 
 This garden is delightfully situated, and contains 
 a large variety of plants and flowers, tastefully 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 o38 MOUNTS BOURBON AND NOTRE DAME. 
 
 and scientifically arranged. But the most pic- 
 turesque and agreeable promenade about Mar- 
 seilles is that by Le Cours Bourbon, which con- 
 ducts to the Mounts Bourbon and Notre Dame, 
 situated to the south of the city. The ascent to 
 the former is by a winding gravelled road, and its 
 sloping sides and even summit are garnished with 
 pleasure-seats, shade-trees, and grass and flower- 
 plats. Near the highest point of this mountain 
 stands a beautiful antique column of Oriental 
 granite, erected in honour of the Bourbon family. 
 It is surmounted by a marble globe, sprinkled 
 with Jieurs-de-lis-d' or i beneath which are engraved 
 these words, " Aux Bourbons." South of Mount 
 Bourbon rises the mountain of Our Lady, to the 
 height of five hundred and ten feet above the 
 level of the sea. From the summit of this moun- 
 tain the view is most extensive, diversified, and 
 magnificent. On one side of you stretches the 
 Mediterranean in all its pride and glory ; on the 
 other, the eye takes in the entire city of Mar- 
 seilles and the rich valley which encircles it, toge- 
 ther with the mountains that rise like a vast am- 
 phitheatre beyond, lofty, barren, and in many 
 places inaccessible, forming, in their nakedness 
 and sterility, a perfect contrast to the vine-clad 
 and village-sprinkled hills, which surround the 
 Catalonian capital. The country about Marseilles 
 is cultivated like a garden, and the country-seats 
 of merchants, lawyers, &c. are so numerous as to 
 make it appear almost like a continuous city.
 
 COMMERCE OF MARSEILLES. 339 
 
 On this mountain there is a small but neat cha- 
 pel, dedicated to the Virgin. It contains a num- 
 ber of tolerable paintings, and is hung with in 
 numerable votive offerings, chiefly of mariners. 
 Here is also the signal house, v/hence the arrival, 
 departure, &c. of vessels are telegraphed to the 
 town. 
 
 Marseilles is the chief commercial port in the 
 south of France. It has not at present as much 
 commerce as formerly, when it monopolized nearly 
 the whole trade of the Levant, but the amount is 
 still very great. The magazines and shops are 
 large, numerous, and well stored with merchan- 
 dise of every description; and the amount of ship- 
 ping in the harbour, the crowds that are constant- 
 ly seen on the quays and in the principal business 
 streets, and the general activity and life apparent 
 throughout the whole city, all give evidence of a 
 rich and flourishing metropolis. But there is ano- 
 ther proof of the commerce of Marseilles, still more 
 interesting and beautiful : it is the number of ships 
 constantly arriving and clearing. I have stood on 
 the quarter-deck of the Constellation of a morning, 
 and counted upwards of thirty vessels standing out 
 of the harbour at the same time, and more than a 
 hundred in the course of a day. 
 
 Marseilles has recently become a place of more 
 importance and interest to our naval officers than 
 it has heretofore been. Our Navy agent in the 
 Mediterranean, who formerly resided at Gibral- 
 tar, is at present established in that city, and from 
 q2
 
 340 SOCIETY — ABBE DE RICASOLI. 
 
 there all the supplies of money for the use of the 
 squadron will hereafter be obtained. This I con- 
 sider a most judicious change, for Marseilles, in 
 every point of view, except a military one, pos- 
 sesses decided advantages over Gibraltar. This is 
 the case as it regards society, arts, amusements, 
 and a hundred other things that might be men- 
 tioned. It will give our officers frequent oppor- 
 tunities of making excursions into the interior of 
 France, and occasionally of visiting the capital 
 itself. It will afford them facilities, not before 
 enjoyed, of acquiring a practical knowledge of the 
 French language, that sine qua non of a naval 
 officer. 
 
 The society of Marseilles is extensive and very 
 accessible. I had no letters of introduction, and 
 yet I made the acquaintance of a number of 
 French gentlemen, by whom I was treated with 
 the greatest politeness. All over the south of 
 Europe, strangers find a much readier access to 
 polite society than in the north of Europe or the 
 United States. Accident frequently introduces 
 you to gentlemen of the highest respectability. 
 Such an acquaintance as this I had the good for- 
 tune to make at a book-store, in the Abbe de Rica- 
 soli. The purest chance introduced me to him, but 
 I afterwards passed many a pleasant hour in his 
 company. I found him a most estimable, learned, 
 and worthy man, and a mutual attachment was 
 formed, which will ever be among the most plea- 
 sant recollections of my " wanderings through 
 
 I
 
 KISSING BALL ON ROARD. 341 
 
 many lands." He was a native of Florence, but 
 had long resided in France, and he spoke not only 
 Italian and French, but also German, Spanish, and 
 a little English. He said that, although he was 
 always anxious to practise speaking our language, 
 whenever opportunities occurred, yet it was more 
 important for me to have practice in Italian than 
 for him to have it in English, and he would there- 
 fore never allow me to converse with him in any 
 but the Italian lanffuajie. When I took leave of 
 him, he threw liis arms around my neck and said, 
 II placer e d'un bacio,* kissing me at the same time 
 on each of my cheeks. This was the first time I 
 was ever kissed by a man, but I afterwards became 
 quite accustomed to it in Italy. Even a bookseller 
 in Florence, after I had purchased some three or 
 four dollars'* worth of books of him, honoured me 
 with two as violent smacks as any reasonable man 
 could desire. 
 
 On the night of the 30th of June, the quarter- 
 deck of our ship exhibited such a scene as I had 
 never before witnessed on board. She micfht then 
 have been appropriately styled the " brilliant 
 Constellation," for 
 
 " Belgium's capital had gathered there 
 Her beauty and her chivalry," 
 
 A grand ball was given by the captain and ward- 
 room officers, and more than five hundred persons, 
 the flower of Marseilles, were present on the occa- 
 
 * " The pleasure of a Itios."
 
 342 BALL ON BOARD. 
 
 sion. The quarter-deck was fitted up as a hall. 
 A splendid canopy was formed of the colours of 
 all nations, tastefully arranged, and hung with 
 large and beautiful festoons of natural flowers. 
 The capstern and mizen mast were also covered 
 with ensigns, so as to destroy their otherwise 
 heavy appearance; the carronades were run out, 
 and seats formed on both sides of the ship ; the 
 deck was painted with various fanciful figures ; 
 the illuminations were brilliant ; every thing, in 
 short, was made to wear an air of lightness and 
 elegance, which I would not have believed it pos- 
 sible to impart to a man of war. Every part of 
 the ship was in excellent order. She had received 
 a double scouring in the morning, and the bright 
 work had all been polished to such a degree that 
 its reflection was like that of a mirror. 
 
 About two hundred ladies were present, all 
 splendidly dressed, and many of them very beau- 
 tiful. I am not about to give a particular de- 
 scription of the entertainment. Suffice it to say, 
 that it was one of the most brilliant of the kind 
 ever given to the good people of Marseilles, and 
 all who were present spoke of it in raptures. Sup- 
 per was served on the gun-deck about one o''clock 
 in the morning. There were three tables. At 
 two o'clock, the company began to disperse, but 
 it was broad daylight before they had all left the 
 ship. 
 
 In taking the company ashore, a gentleman on 
 leaving the boat offered the midshipman who went
 
 SPLICING THE MAIN BRACE. 343 
 
 in it as officer, a dollar for his trouble. Glancinn^ 
 a stern look upon liini, he said, " Sir, are you 
 aware that I am an American officer ?" He made 
 some apolofjy hy saying that he thought such 
 things customary ; and concluded by asking if ho 
 might give it to the boat's crew ? " No, sir," 
 replied the young officer promptly and sternly, 
 " our sailors are paid by Government for their 
 services." 
 
 The next day all hands were called to muster. 
 During the night there had been many opportu- 
 nities of stealing ashore unobserved, and the men 
 generally supposed that they had been called 
 for the purpose of ascertaining who had taken 
 " French leave." Their disappointment was there- 
 fore only equalled by their joy, when they were 
 told that all the prisoners in the " brig" were to 
 be released, and the whole crew allowed to " splice 
 the main brace" for good behaviour. Poor fellows ! 
 the compliment was well merited, and, though not 
 the most brilliant, was at least the most accept- 
 able that could have been given them. They had 
 worked hard all the preceding day to prepare the 
 ship for the party, had been kept up all night, 
 and no improprieties of any kind had been com- 
 mitted by them. The boats' crews particularly 
 had had a hard time of it. From seven to ten 
 o'clock in the evening, and from two to five in the 
 morning, they had been incessantly engaged in 
 bringing the company off and taking them ashore 
 again. But for all his toils and vigils a glass of
 
 S44 ANCIENT CELEBRITY OF MARSEILLES. 
 
 grog is to a sailor an ample compensation. This 
 is the magic that has most power over his spirit — 
 the lever by which he is most easily moved. 
 
 The 4th of July was honoured with a salute on 
 board of each ship at sunrise, noon, and sunset. 
 Our morning and evening salutes were politely an- 
 swered from the French batteries on shore. The 
 national ensign was displayed at the main and fore 
 masts, and the Union Jack at the mizen. This is 
 all we had in the way of a celebration. Dined on 
 salt junk and hard tack. 
 
 Marseilles, according to tradition, was founded 
 by the Phocians 599 B. C. and in the 154th 
 year of Rome, during the I'eign of the elder 
 Tarquin. It was conquered and made a Ro- 
 man province by Julius Caesar. The conquests 
 of Rome, unlike those of Athens, were of a li- 
 beral and generous character. Conquered na- 
 tions wei"e always in a better condition after than 
 before their subjection to her power, because, in 
 addition to nearly all the privileges which they 
 previously enjoyed, they received the light and 
 refinements of their conquerors. In conformity 
 to this wise and humane policy, Marseilles, in re- 
 turn for the loss of independence, received the 
 letters of Rome, and soon became so distinguished 
 for its schools and the learning of its philoso- 
 phers, that Cicero called it the Athens of Gaul, 
 and others gave it the name of the sister of Rome 
 and rival of Carthage. The Roman nobility were 
 accustomed to send their sons to be educated at
 
 SOUTHERN COAST OF FRANCE. 345 
 
 the Academy of Marseilles. The ancient city was, 
 however, so com|)letely destroyed by the Barba- 
 rians who overturned the Roman empire, tliat, 
 with the exception of the Cathedral already men- 
 tioned, not a vestige of it now remains. 
 
 Having been detained for several days by strong 
 gales, at three o'clock on the morning of the 6th 
 of Julvj all hands were again called to " up an- 
 chor ;" and when I went on deck, the bay of Mar- 
 seilles was far astern, and the ship, with a fresh 
 breeze dead aft, was again staggering through 
 the billowy brine. We sailed all day along the 
 coast of " La belle France," so near as to have 
 a tolerably distinct view of the scenery. It was 
 marked by a character of grandeur rather than of 
 beauty. As far as we saw it on the 6th, it was 
 made up of a range of mountains, generally too 
 bold and rugged to admit of cultivation, present- 
 ing, in their desolate sublimity, a complete con- 
 trast to the lofty hills which form the coast of 
 Catalonia, sprinkled as they are with villages, 
 and smiling to their very summits beneath the 
 hand of cultivation. We saw Toulon as we 
 passed it. The bay is not so large as that of 
 Marseilles ; but as there are no islands to ob- 
 struct the view, the effect is much finer. The 
 situation of Toulon appeared to be far superior 
 to that of Marseilles. 
 
 The appearance of the coast on the following 
 day was very different fiom that which it had pre- 
 sented on the 6th, being far less rugged, and con-
 
 346 FREJUS AND CANNES THE ALPS. 
 
 sequently better cultivated and more thickly peo- 
 pled. We passed several towns and villages, 
 some of which are famous in history, particularly 
 Frejus and Cannes. With these two towns, the 
 name of the greatest General the world ever saw 
 will always be inseparably associated. At the 
 former he landed on his return from the unfor- 
 tunate campaign in Egypt, and set sail an exile 
 to the island of Elba ; at the latter he disem- 
 barked after his escape from the place of his ba- 
 nishment, and commenced his memorable march to 
 Paris. We saw also an old castle in ruins, in 
 Avhich the Man of the Iron Mask is said to have 
 been confined. 
 
 But another prospect was presented to our 
 view, which awakened, at least in my mind, an 
 interest far deeper and more enthusiastic. "■ Italy .'' 
 the coast of Italy, that flower-garden of the arts ; 
 that fairy land of music and of song, of bright 
 skies and sunny looks ?'''' No ; it was a prospect, 
 though less rich in beautiful reminiscences, diviner 
 far, because it shadowed forth more clearly the 
 mysterious power and majesty of Nature"'s GoD. 
 It was the Alps — so famed in history, and so glo- 
 rious in reality — the Alps, whose overpowering 
 grandeur justifies the bold personification of By- 
 ron, when he says their " summits have throned 
 Eternity in icy halls of cold sublimity." They 
 appeared breaking through the distance about 
 twelve o'clock, and were full in sight all the after- 
 noon. Their summits were mineled with the
 
 FIRST VIEW OF ITALY. 347 
 
 clouds, and the snows of a thousand ages were 
 ghttering on their sides. 
 
 " Jamque rubescebat stellis Aurora fugatis. 
 
 Cum procul obscures coUes, liumilemque videmus 
 Italiam. Italiam primus conclamal Achates ; 
 Italiam lajti socii clamore salutant." 
 
 The morning of the 8th of July disclosed to our 
 view the Italian coast ; and though my interest in 
 gazing on it arose from different causes, it was not 
 less enthusiastic than that of TEneas and his com- 
 panions, when they fancied that they should find 
 within its territories the long promised spot where 
 the image of their own Troy should cause them to 
 forget their wanderings and their woes. Their 
 feelings were prompted by anticipation ; mine by 
 memory. It was not, however, " low Italy" (hu- 
 milemque Italiam) tliat we saw. The coast, 
 where we made it, was a succession of lofty moun- 
 tains, whose sides were thickly sowed with vil- 
 lages, and the whole scenery presented such a 
 combination of wild sublimity and romantic beau- 
 ty, as no man, witli any taste for the charms of 
 nature, could behold without the deepest and 
 purest emotions. 
 
 The first sight of such a country as Italy cannot 
 fail to produce strong feelings in a mind acquaint- 
 ed with its history and sensible to moral great- 
 ness, physical beauty, or the lighter graces of ele- 
 gant literature and the fine arts. The recollec- 
 tions connected with Italy are more varied, nu- 
 merous, and interesting than those which anv
 
 348 FEELINGS AND REFLECTIONS ON 
 
 Other portion of the globe would awaken. True, 
 our strongest and purest religious associations 
 take a different direction. Palestine is a name 
 dear to every Christian. Patriarchs and prophets 
 have hallowed it with their presence and their 
 labours. There Christ's own voice was heard, 
 and there his Apostles thundered, wept, and 
 warned. Greece too wakens powerful associa- 
 tions. The Greeks were in many respects a more 
 wonderful people than the Romans. They pos- 
 sessed more genius, more impetuosity, more quick- 
 ness, more of that ethereal spirit which makes 
 men perceive and relish beauty in its ten thousand 
 forms. The period, however, during which they 
 figure in history, is comparatively short. But 
 Italy — when has it ever ceased to be an object of 
 deep and absorbing interest ? At what period, 
 during the long series of ages which have elapsed 
 since the first Grecian colony was planted upon 
 its shores, does not its history afford matter for 
 profound and profitable reflection .'* The Grecian 
 colonists, those adventurous and hardy pioneers of 
 civilization in various countries, who established 
 themselves upon the coast of Italy, formed re- 
 publics where commerce, philosophy, letters, and 
 the arts flourished as in their natal soil. Rome, 
 in her three grand estates, kingly, republican, and 
 imperial — how vast and diversified is the field 
 which her history opens to our contemplation. 
 And when at length her colossal power, already 
 tottering beneath the weight of its own corrup-
 
 THE FIRST VIEW OF ITALY. 349 
 
 tions, is subverted by the Northern Barbarians, 
 in a far-off corner of her territories, Venice rises 
 Phncnix-like from the ashes of the empire, and 
 liberty, patriotism, and virtue find a safe asylum 
 within her sea-washed walls. The histories of the 
 Italian republics of the INIiddle Ages, of the gi- 
 gantic power, and the no less gigantic corruptions 
 of the Papal See ; of the revival and spread of 
 learning, of the origin and growth of modern art, 
 and finally of the various political revolutions of 
 later times, are all replete with lessons of the 
 highest practical wisdom and prudence. And 
 even in her present politically scathed and de- 
 graded state, Italy still clings, with a tenacity 
 which no power can weaken, to the only precious 
 inheritance which she has left. She is still the 
 venerable depository of antiquity, and the inner 
 sanctuary of the arts. Her cities and villages, 
 her churches, palaces, and acadeniies are filled with 
 the memorials of ancient greatness, and the pro- 
 ductions of modern genius. 
 
 I shall close this volume with the following elo- 
 quent passage, extracted from an article in the 
 British Critic on Cramer^s Description of Ancient 
 Italy. " In whatever light," says this able and 
 learned writer, " we view the history of Italy, 
 whether we look to its former political power, or 
 to its spiritual dominion in later times; whether 
 we consider it as the land of patriots and heroes, 
 or as the nurse of poetry and the arts ; whether 
 we view it in the splendour of its glory, or pro-
 
 350 HISTORY OF ITALY. 
 
 strate and debased as it is at present, there is a 
 charm in the name of Italy, which few are philo- 
 sophical enough to resist ; and there is surely in- 
 struction to be drawn from its history, which no 
 philosophy can present in more strong and lasting 
 colours." 
 
 BND OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLET, 
 
 Dorset-Street, Fleet Street.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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