en, to take my
passage in a ship of the line going to Bermuda. The gun-room was given
to us as our place of residence, the midshipmen belonging to the ship
occupying the two snug berths in the cockpit.

Among so many young men of different habits and circumstances, all
joining the ship at different periods, no combination could be made for
forming a mess. The ship sailed soon after I got on board, and our
party, during the voyage, was usually supplied from the purser's
steward-room. I have thought it very wonderful, that a mess of eight or
twelve seamen or marines will always make the allowance last from one
week to another, and have something to spare; but with the same number
of midshipmen the case is very different, and the larger the mess the
more do their difficulties increase; they are never satisfied, never
have enough, and if the purser will allow them, are always in debt for
flour, beef, pork, and spirits. This is owing to their natural habits
of carelessness; and our mess, for this reason, was particularly
uncomfortable. The government was a democracy; but the caterer had at
times been invested with dictatorial powers, which he either abused or
was thought to abuse, and he was accordingly turned out, or resigned in
disgust, at the end of two or three days.

Most of my mess-mates were young men, senior to me in the service,
having passed their examinations, and were going to America for
promotion: but when mustered on the quarter-deck, whether they appeared
less manly, or were in fact less expert in their duty, I know not; but
certain it is, that the first lieutenant appointed me mate of a watch,
and placed several of these aspirants under my orders: and so strong did
we muster, that we stood in each other's way when on deck keeping our
watch, seldom less than seventeen or eighteen in number.

In the gun-room we agreed very ill together, and one principal cause of
this was our short allowance of food--daily skirmishes took place, and
not unfrequently pitched battles; but I never took any other part in
them than as a spectator, and the observations I made convinced me that
I should have no great difficulty in mastering the whole of them.

The office of caterer was one of neither honour nor emolument, and it
was voluntarily taken up, and peevishly laid down on the first trifling
provocation. With the ship's allowance, no being less than an angel
could have given satisfaction. The division of beef and co