hauling in for the land, as if anxious to mislead them, by inducing a belief that he was off for the West Indies or Brazil. This was the sum total of the information received from the Liverpool man; but the same afternoon we fell in with an American, who rejoiced our hearts by saying that he had that morning been chased by a vessel answering the description of the felucca, and immediately after we hove about, and stood out to sea again, making sail in the direction indicated. In consequence of our overhauling this vessel, the commodore had put off his dinner for an hour; and when all the ropes had been coiled down, and every thing made snug after tacking, he resumed his walk on the weather side of the quarter-deck, in company with Mr. David Sprawl, the first lieutenant.

The commodore was a red-faced little man, with a very irritable cast of countenance, which, however, was by no means a true index to his warm heart, for I verily believe that no commander was ever more beloved by officers and men than he was. He had seen a great deal of service, and had been several times wounded; once, in particular, very badly, by a grape-shot that had shattered his left thigh, and considerably shortened it, and therefore gave him a kick in his gallop, as he himself used to phrase it, until the day of his death. He was a wag in his way, and the officer now perambulating the deck alongside of him was an unfailing source of mirth; although the commodore never passed the limits of strict naval etiquette, or trespassed beyond the bounds of perfect good breeding in his fun. The gallant old fellow was dressed in faded nankeen trousers discoloured cotton stockings-shoes, with cornholes cut in the toes,- an ill-washed and rumpled white Marseilles waistcoat- and an old blue uniform coat, worn absolutely threadbare, white and soapy at the seams and elbows; each shoulder being garnished with a faded gold lace strap, which confined the epaulets when mounted, and that was only on a Sunday. His silk neckcloth had been most probably black once, but now it was a dingy brown; and he wore a most shocking bad hat- an old white beaver, with very broad brims, the snout of it fastened back to the crown with a lanyard of common spun-yarn, buttoned up, as it were, like the chapeaux in Charles the Second's time, to prevent it flapping down over his eyes. He walked backwards and forwards very quickly, taking two steps for Sprawl's one, and whenever he turned, he gave a loud stamp, and swung briskly about on the good leg as if it had been a pivot, giving a most curious indescribable flourish in the air with the wounded limb in the roundcoming, like the last quiver of Noblet's leg in an expiring pirouette.

Lieutenant Sprawl, the officer with whom he was walking and keeping up an animated conversation, was also in no small degree remarkable in his externals, but in a totally different line. He was a tall man, at the very least six feet high, and stout in proportion; very square-shouldered; but, large as he was, his coat seemed to have been made to fit even a stouter person, for the shoulder-straps (I think that is the name) projected considerably beyond his shoulders, so that they gave the upper part of his figure a sharp ungainly appearance, like the projecting eaves of a Swiss cottage. Below these wide-spreading upper-works he tapered away to nothing at the loins, and over the hips he was not the girth of a growing lad. His thighs were very short, but his legs, from the knee down, were the longest I ever saw in man, reversing all one's notions of proportion or symmetry, for they gradually swelled out from the knee, until they ended in the ankle, which emulated, if it did not altogether surpass, the calf in diameter. But this was not all; for when you looked at him in a front view, his lower spars, from the knee down, were a perfect fac simile of the letter V reversed, that is, with the apex uppermost, while the long splay feet formed the strokes across, or the bases of the letter, into which the shanks or shin-bones were morticed amidships as nearly as may be, so that

the heel projected aft very nearly as far as the toe did forward, as if he had been built after the model of some river-craft, to sail backwards or forwards as might be required, without either tacking or wearing. The feet were conspicuously stuck out before him, and kept cruising about of their own accord apparently, as if they were running away with the man. He had an immensely large head, with a great fell of coarse red hair, which hung down in greasy masses on each side of his pale freckled visage, until it blended into two immense whiskers, which he cultivated under his chin with great care, so that at length he appeared to be peeping through a fur collar, like a Madagascar orang-otang. His eyes were large, prominent, and of a deadly pale blue; his general loveliness being diversified by a most conspicuous squint. He had absolutely no eyebrows, but a curious nondescript sort of tumble-out forehead, as like an ill-washed winter-turnip in its phrenological developments as one could well imagine. As for his nose, it had the regular twist of a rifleman's powder-horn. But his lovely mouth, who shall describe it? Disdaining to claim acquaintance with the aforesaid beak, it had chosen its site under the left eye, so that a line-I here address myself to mathematical readers drawn from the innermost corner of the right eye, and intersecting the tip of the snout, would have touched the right corner of the aforesaid hole in his face- it could be dignified with no other name, for, in sober reality, it more resembled a gash in a pumpkin, made by a clumsy bill-hook than any thing else.

Lips he had none; and the first impression on one's mind when you saw him, was, Bless me what an oddity! - the man has no mouth until he did make play with his potato-trap, and then it was like a gap suddenly split open in a piece of mottled freestone. It was altogether so much out of its latitude, that when he spoke, it seemed aside, as the players say; and when he drank his wine, he looked, for all the world, as if he had been pouring it into his ear. As he walked, he vehemently swung his arms backwards and forwards, as if they had been paddles necessary to propel him ahead, carrying on leisurely when he first turned, but gradually increasing his pace as he proceeded, until he sculled along at a terrible rate.

So now if the admiring reader will take the trouble to dress this Adonis, I will furnish the apparel. Imprimis, he wore a curious wee hat, with scarcely any brim, the remains of the nap bleached by a burning sun, and splashed and matted together from the pelting of numberless showers, and the washing up of many a salt-sea spray, but carefully garnished, nevertheless, with a double stripe of fresh gold-lace, and a naval button on the left side. Add to this, an old-fashioned uniform coat, very far through, as we say; long-waisted, with remarkably short skirts, but the strap for the epaulet new and bright as the loop on the hat; and then swathe him in a dingy white kerseymere waistcoat, over which dangled a great horn eyeglass, suspended by a magnificent new broad watered black ribbon; and, finally, take the trouble to shroud the lower limbs of the Apollo in ancient duck trousers, extending about half-way down the calf of the leg, if calf he had, leaving his pillar-like ankles conspicuously observable; and the aforesaid reader will have a tolerably accurate idea of the presence and bearing of our amiable and accomplished messmate, Mr. David Sprawl.

Rum subject as he certainly was to look at, he was a most excellent warm-hearted person at bottom, straight-forward and kind to the men, never blazoning or amplifying their faults, but generally, on the other hand, softening them, and often astonishing the poor fellows by his out-of-the-way and unexpected kindness and civility, for he plumed himself on the general polish of his manners, whether to equals or inferiors, and they repaid the compliment by christening him, at one time, " Old Bloody Politeful," and "Davie Doublepipe" at another, from a peculiarity that we shall presently describe.

This remarkable personage was possessed of a very uncommon accomplishment, being a natural ventriloquist, having two distinct voices, as if he had been a sort of living double flageolet, one a falsetto, small and liquid, and clear as the note of an octave flute; the other sonorous and rough, as the groaning of a trombone. In conversation, the alternations, apparently involuntary, were so startling and abrupt, that they sounded as if ever and anon the keys of the high and low notes of an organ had been suddenly struck, so instantaneously were the small notes snapped off into the lower ones, so that a stranger would, in all probability, have concluded, had he not known the peculiarities of the beauty, that a little midshipman was at one moment squeaking up the main hatchway from the hold, and at the next answered by a boatswain's mate on deck. Indeed, while the commodore and his subaltern pursued their rapid walk, backwards and forwards, on the quarter-deck, the fine manly sailor-like voice of the old man as it intertwined with the octave flute note and the grumbling bass of David Sprawl, like a three-strand rope of gold thread, silver thread, and tarry spun-yarn, might have given cause to believe that the two were accompanied in their perambulations by some invisible familiar, who chose to take part in the conversation, and to denote his presence through the ear, while to the eye he was but thin air. However, maugre appearances and the oddity of his conformation, friend Sprawl was physically the most powerful man on board.

Thus beloved by the men, to his brother officers he was the most obliging and accommodating creature that ever was invented. Numberless were the petty feuds which he soldered, that, but for his warm-hearted intervention, might have eventuated in pistol shots and gunpowder; and the mids of the ship absolutely adored him. If leave to go on shore, or any little immunity, was desired by them, "Old Bloody Politeful" was the channel through which these requests ran; and if any bother was to be eschewed, or any little fault sheltered, or any sternness on the part of the commodore or any of the lieutenants to be mollified, in fine, if any propitiation of the higher powers was required, who interceded but "Davie Doublepipe?" In a word, men and midshipmen would have fought for him to the last gasp; and although they did laugh a little at his oddities now and then, they always came back to this, "He is the best seaman and the bravest man in the ship," as indeed repeated trials had proved him to be.

The remarkable couple that I speak of continued to stump along the quarter-deck, backwards and forwards, very rapidly; and at the end of every turn, Sprawl, in place of tacking with his face to his companion, invariably wore with his back to him, and so lumbersome and slowly, that the commodore usually had wheeled, and stood facing him, ready to set forth on his promenade, long before Mr. Sprawl came round; so, that, while his back was towards him, he had an opportunity of giving his broad shoulders a quizzical reconnoitering glance, which he instantly exchanged for the most sedate and sober expression, when our friend at length hove about and fronted him. This contrast between the fun of the commodore's expression when his subaltern's back was towards him, and its solemnity when he turned his face, was most laughable; more especially, that he always met Sprawl, as he came to the wind, with a sidling bow, before he made sail in his usual pace, which slight inclination was usually answered by the lieutenant with a formal inclination of his strange corpus, whereby he stopped his way for a second or two, by which time Sir Oliver had filled on the other tack, and shot three or four strides ahead, so that Sprawl had to clap the steam on at a very high pressure, in order to scull up alongside of his superior, before he arrived at the other wheeling point, the break of the quarter-deck.

The postponed dinner-hour having at length arrived, the commodore,

making a formal salaam to Mr. Sprawl, dived to enjoy his meal in solitary happiness, and nothing particular occurred till the following morning.

The next forenoon I was the officer of the watch, and, about nine o'clock, the commodore, who had just come on deck, addressed me: -"Mr. Brail, do you see any thing of the small hooker yet, to windward there ?"

"I thought I saw something like her, sir, about half an hour ago, but a blue haze has come rolling down, and I cannot make any thing out at present."

"She must be thereabouts somewhere, however," continued he, "as she was seen yesterday by the Yankee brig, - so keep by the wind until four bells, Mr. Brail, and then call me, if you please."

66

Ay, ay, sir;" and I resumed my walk on the weather-side of the quarter-deck.

As the breeze freshened, the mist blew off, and, unexpectedly enough, although we knew she must be in our neighbourhood, in half an hour afterwards the felucca was seen about three miles to windward of us, staggering along before it like a large nautilus under her solitary lateen sail, and presently she was close aboard of us.

I was looking steadfastly at the little vessel as she came rolling down before the wind, keeping my eye, somehow or other, on the man that was bending on the ensign haulyard. He immediately began to hoist away the ensign, until it reached about half-way between the end of the long drooping wirelike yard and the deck, where the man jerked it upwards and downwards for a minute, as if irresolute whether to run it choke-up, -or haul it down again; at length it did hang half-mast-high, and blew out steadily.

My mind suddenly misgave me, and I looked for the pennant; it was also hoisted half-mast-Alas! alas! poor Donovan," I involuntarily exclaimed- but loud enough to be overheard by the commodore, who stood by-"another victim to this horrid coast."

"What is wrong, Mr. Brail ?" said Sir Oliver.

"I fear Mr. Donovan is dead, sir. The felucca's ensign and pennant are half-mast, sir."

"Bless me, no-surely not," said the excellent old man, "hand me the glass, Mr. Brail. Too true-too true-where is all this to end?" said he with a sigh.

The felucca was now within long pistol-shot of our weather-quarter, standing across our stern, with the purpose of rounding-to under our lee. At this time Sir Oliver was looking out close by the tafferel, with his trumpet in his hand. I was still peering through the glass. " 'Why, there is the strangest figure come on deck, on board the Midge, that ever I sawwhat can it be? Sir Oliver, will you please to look at it?"

The commodore took the glass with the greatest good humour, while he handed me his trumpet, "Really," said he, "I cannot tell- Mr. Sprawl, can you?" Sprawl-honest man - took his spell at the telescope-but he was equally unsuccessful. The figure that was puzzling us, was a half-naked man in his shirt and trousers, with a large blue shawl bound round his head, who had suddenly jumped on deck, with a hammock thrown over his shoulders as if it had been a dressing gown, the clew hanging half-way down his back, while the upper part of the canvass shroud was lashed tightly round his neck, but so as to leave his arms and legs free scope; and there he was strutting about with the other clew trailing away astern of him, like the train of a lady's gown, as if he had in fact been arrayed in what was anciently called a curricle-robe. Over this extraordinary array, the figure had slung a formidable Spanish trabuco, or blunderbuss, across his body; and one hand, as he walked backwards and forwards on the small confined deck of the felucca, held a large green silk

umbrella over his head, although the sail of itself was shade enough at the time, while the other clutched a speaking trumpet.

The craft, freighted with this uncouth apparition, was very peculiar in appearance. She had been a Spanish gun-boat-originally a twin-sister to one that we had, during the war, cut out from Rosas bay. She was about sixty feet long over all, and seventeen feet beam, her deck being as round as her bottom; in fact she was more like a long cask than any thing else, and without exception the roomiest vessel of her size that I ever saw. She had neither bulwarks, nor quarters, nor rail, nor in fact any ledge whatsoever round the gunnel, so she had no use for scuppers. Her stern peaked up like a New-Zealand war-canoe, tapering away to a point, which was perforated to receive the rudder-head, while forward she had a sharp beak, shaped liked the proa of a Roman galley; but she was as strong as wood and iron could make her her bottom being a perfect bed of timbers, so that they might almost have been caulked and tight as a bottle. What answered to a bowsprit was a short thick thumb of a stick about ten feet high, that rose at an angle of thirty degrees to the deck of the vessel; and she had only one mast, a strong stump of a spar, about thirty feet high, stayed well forward, in place of raking aft, high above which rose the large lateen sail already mentioned, with its long elastic spliced and respliced yard tapering away up into the sky, until it seemed no thicker than the small end of a fishing-rod, which it greatly resembled, when bent by the weight of the line and bait. It was of immense length, and consisted of more than half a dozen different pieces. Its heavy iron-shod heel was shackled by a chain a fathom long, to a strong iron bar, or bolt, that extended athwart the forepart of the little vessel, close to the end of the bowsprit, and to which it could be hooked and unhooked, as need were, when the little vessel tacked, and it became necessary to jibe the sail.

The outlandish-looking craft slowly approached, and we were now within hail. "I hope nothing is amiss with Mr. Donovan ?" sung out the commodorc.

"By the powers, but there is though!" promptly replied the curious figure with the trumpet and umbrella, in a strong clear voice. A pause.

All our glasses were by this time levelled at the vessel, and every one more puzzled than another what to make of this.

"Who are you, sir?" again asked the commodore. Donovan, sir?"

"Where is Mr.

Here Mr. Binnacle, a midshipman on board, hailed us through his hand, but we could not hear him; on which the man in the hammock struck him, without any warning, across the pate with his trumpet. The midshipman and the rest of the crew, we could see, now drew close together forward, and, from their gestures, seemed to be preparing to make a rush upon the figure who had hailed.

Sir Oliver repeated his question "Who are you, sir?"

"Who am I, did you say? That's a good one," was the answer. "Why, Sir Oliver," said I, "I believe that is Mr. Donovan himself. Poor fellow, he must have gone mad."

"No doubt of it - it is so, sir," whistled Sprawl.

Here the crew of the felucca, led by little Binnacle, made a rush, and seized the lieutenant, and having overpowered him, they launched their little shallop, in which the midshipman, with two men, instantly shoved off; but they had not paddled above half-a-dozen yards from the felucca's side, when the maniac, a most powerful man, broke from the men that held him, knocked them down, right and left, like so many nine-pins, and, seizing his trabuco, pointed it at the skiff, while he sung out in a voice of thunder-"Come back, Mr. Binnacle; come back, you small villain, or I will shoot you dead."