, an adventure with an Irish Guinea-man,
whose cargo my right honourable captain converted to the profitable uses
of himself and his country. Another of these vessels had been fallen in
with by one of our cruisers, and the commander of His Majesty's sloop
_Humming Bird_ made a selection of some thirty or forty stout Hibernians
to fill up his own complement, and hand over the surplus to the admiral.

Short-sighted mortals we all are, and captains of men-of-war are not
exempted from this human imperfection! How much, also, drops between
the cup and the lip! There chanced to be on board of the same trader
two very pretty Irish girls of the better sort of _bourgeoisie_; they
were going to join their friends at Philadelphia: the name of the one
was Judy, and of the other Maria. No sooner were the poor Irishmen
informed of their change of destination, than they set up a howl loud
enough to make the scaly monsters of the deep seek their dark caverns.
They rent the hearts of the poor tender-hearted girls; and when the
thorough bass of the males was joined by the sopranos and trebles of the
women and children, it would have made Orpheus himself turn round and
gaze.

"Oh, Miss Judy! Oh, Miss Maria! would ye be so cruel as to see us poor
craturs dragged away to a man-of-war, and not for to go and spake a word
for us? A word to the captain wid your own pretty mouths, no doubt he
would let us off."

The young ladies, though doubting the powers of their own fascinations,
resolved to make the experiment; so, begging the lieutenant of the sloop
to give them a passage on board, to speak with his captain, they added a
small matter of finery to their dress, and skipped into the boat like a
couple of mountain kids, caring neither for the exposure of legs nor the
spray of the salt water, which, though it took the curls out of their
hair, added a bloom to the cheeks which, perhaps, contributed in no
small degree to the success of their project.

There is something in the sight of a petticoat at sea that never fails
to put a man into a good humour, provided he be rightly constructed.
When they got on board the _Humming Bird_, they were received by the
captain, and handed down into the cabin, where some refreshments were
immediately prepared for them, and every kind attention shown which
their sex and beauty could demand. The captain was one of the best
natured fellows that ever lived, with a pair of little sparkling black
eyes that