know that he was to be active in the performance of the
duty on which he was about to be sent. On this occasion I made an odd
discovery. Bob had profited by the dimensions of his lower garment,
which had been cut for a much larger boy (one of those who had broken
down in essaying the true Doric of "Sir"), by stuffing it with an old
union-jack-a sort of "sarvice," as he afterwards told me, that saved
him a good deal of wear and tear of skin. To return to passing events,
however; when Robert had been duly kicked, he turned about manfully, and
demanded the captain's pleasure. He was told to bring the largest and
fairest pumpkin he could find, from the private stores of Mr. Poke, that
navigator never going to sea without a store of articles that he termed
"Stunin'tun food." The captain took the pumpkin between his legs, and
carefully peeled off the whole of its greenish-yellow coat, leaving it
a globe of a whitish color. He then asked for the tar-bucket, and, with
his fingers, traced various marks, which were pretty accurate outlines
of the different continents and the larger islands of the world. The
region near the south pole, however, he left untouched; intimating that
it contained certain sealing islands, which he considered pretty much as
the private property of the Stunin'tunners.

"Now, Doctor," he said, pointing to the pumpkin, "there is the 'arth,
and here is the tar-pot--just mark down the position of your island of
Leaphigh, if you please, according to the best accounts your academy has
of the matter. Make a dab here and there, if you happen to know of any
rocks and shoals. After that, you can lay down the island where you were
captured, giving a general idee of its headlands and of the trending of
the coast."

Dr. Reasono took a fid, and with its end he traced all the desired
objects with great readiness and skill. Noah examined the work, and
seemed satisfied that he had fallen into the hands of a monikin who had
very correct notions of bearings and distances, one, in short, on whose
local knowledge it might do to run even in the night. He then projected
the position of Stunnin'tun, an occupation in which he took great
delight, actually designing the meeting-house and the principal tavern;
after which, the chart was laid aside.

CHAPTER XIV. HOW TO STEER SMALL--HOW TO RUN THE GAUNTLET WITH A
SHIP--HOW TO GO CLEAR--A NEW-FASHIONED SCREW--DOCK, AND CERTAIN
MILE-STONES.

Captain Poke no longer delibera