Sketches From My Life | Page 2

My only
consolation while recounting facts that will make many parents shudder
at the thought of what their children (for they are little more when they
join the service) were liable to suffer, is, that things are now totally
altered, and that under the present régime every officer, whatever his
rank, is treated like a gentleman, or he, or his friends, can know 'the
reason why.'
I am writing of a period some fifteen or twenty years after Marryat had
astonished the world by his thrilling descriptions of a naval officer's life
and its accompanying troubles. At the time of which I write people
flattered themselves that the sufferings which 'Midshipman Easy' and
'The Naval Officer' underwent while serving the Crown were tales of
the past. I will show by what I am about very briefly to relate that such
was very far from being the case.
Everything being prepared, and good-bye being said to my friends, who
seemed rather glad to be rid of me, I was allowed to travel from
London on the box of a carriage which contained the great man who
had given me the nomination (captains of men-of-war were very great
men in those days), and after a long weary journey we arrived at the
port where H.M.S.---- was lying ready for sea. On the same night of our
arrival the sailing orders came from the Admiralty; we were to go to
sea the next day, our destination being South America.
Being a very insignificant individual, I was put into a waterman's boat
with my chest and bed, and was sent on board. On reporting myself, I
was told by the commanding officer not to bother him, but to go to my
mess, where I should be taken care of. On descending a ladder to the
lower deck, I looked about for the mess, or midshipmen's berth, as it

was then called. In one corner of this deck was a dirty little hole about
ten feet long and six feet wide, five feet high. It was lighted by two or
three dips, otherwise tallow candles, of the commonest
description--behold the mess!
In this were seated six or seven officers and gentlemen, some
twenty-five to thirty years of age, called mates, meaning what are now
called sub-lieutenants. They were drinking rum and water and eating
mouldy biscuits; all were in their shirtsleeves, and really, considering
the circumstances, seemed to be enjoying themselves exceedingly.
On my appearance it was evident that I was looked upon as an
interloper, for whom, small as I was, room must be found. I was
received with a chorus of exclamations, such as, 'What the deuce does
the little fellow want here?' 'Surely there are enough of us crammed
into this beastly little hole!' 'Oh, I suppose he is some protégé of the
captain's,' &c. &c.
At last one, more kindly disposed than the rest, addressed me: 'Sorry
there is no more room in here, youngster;' and calling a dirty-looking
fellow, also in his shirtsleeves, said, 'Steward, give this young
gentleman some tea and bread and butter, and get him a hammock to
sleep in.' So I had to be contented to sit on a chest outside the
midshipmen's berth, eat my tea and bread and butter, and turn into a
hammock for the first time in my life, which means 'turned out'--the
usual procedure being to tumble out several times before getting
accustomed to this, to me, novel bedstead. However, once accustomed
to the thing, it is easy enough, and many indeed have been the
comfortable nights I have slept in a hammock, such a sleep as many an
occupant of a luxurious four-poster might envy. At early dawn a noise
all around me disturbed my slumbers: this was caused by all
hands--officers and men--being called up to receive the captain, who
was coming alongside to assume his command by reading his official
appointment.
I shall never forget his first words. He was a handsome young man,
with fine features, darkened, however, by a deep scowl. As he stepped
over the side he greeted us by saying to the first lieutenant in a loud

voice, 'Put all my boat's crew in irons for neglect of duty.' It seems that
one of them kept him waiting for a couple of minutes when he came
down to embark. After giving this order our captain honoured the
officers who received him with a haughty bow, read aloud his
commission, and retired to his cabin, having ordered the anchor to be
weighed in two hours.
Accordingly at eight o'clock we stood out to sea, the weather being fine
and wind favourable. At eleven all hands were called to attend the
punishment of the captain's boat's crew. I cannot describe the horror
with which I witnessed six fine