r to suffer any
pain, and at the expiration of an hour, the bodies were lowered down,
placed in coffins, and sent on shore for interment.

On my arrival in England, nine months after, I acquitted myself of my
promise, and paid to the mother of William Strange upwards of fifty
pounds, for pay and prize-money. I told the poor woman that her son
had died a Christian, and had fallen for the good of his country;
and having said this, I took a hasty leave, for fear she should ask
questions.

That the execution of a man on board of a ship of war does not always
produce a proper effect upon the minds of the younger boys, the
following fact may serve to prove.

There were two little fellows on board the ship; one was the son of
the carpenter, the other of the boatswain. They were both of them
surprised and interested at the sight, but not proportionably shocked.
The next day I was down in one of the wings, reading by the light of
a purser's dip--_vulgo_, a farthing candle, when these two boys came
sliding down the main hatchway by one of the cables. Whether they saw
me, and thought I would not 'peach, or whether they supposed I was
asleep, I cannot tell; but they took their seats on the cables, in
the heart of the tier, and for some time appeared to be in earnest
conversation. They had some articles folded up in a dirty check shirt
and pocket-handkerchief; they looked up at the battens, to which the
hammocks are suspended, and producing a long rope-yarn, tried to pass
it over one of them; but unable to reach, one boy climbed on the back
of the other, and effected two purposes, by reeving one end of the
line, and bringing it down to the cables again. They next unrolled the
shirt, and, to my surprise, took out the boatswain's kitten, about
three months old; its fore paws were tied behind its back, its hind
feet were tied together, and a fishing-lead attached to them; a piece
of white rag was tied over its head as a cap.

It was now pretty evident what the fate of poor puss was likely to be,
and why the lead was made fast to her feet. The rope-yarn was tied
round her neck; they each shook one of her paws, and pretended to cry.
One of the urchins held in his hand a fife, into which he poured as
much flour as it would hold out of the handkerchief, the other held
the end of the rope-yarn: every ceremony was gone through that they
could think of.

"Are you ready?" said the executioner, or he that held the line.

"All ready," re