so far as that I was with my father; moreover, it was to
be for but one night, and the skipper was far too fine and manly a
fellow to take notice of so insignificant a breach of the unwritten law
as I was committing. My father and I dined with him that night,
incidentally making the acquaintance of Mr Malcolm Adair, the
_Europa's_ first lieutenant; and on the following morning, immediately
after breakfast, I proceeded on board the receiving hulk, reported
myself, then returned to the shore and made my way to Number 3 basin, in
which the frigate was undergoing the process of being rigged and
prepared for sea.

I had not served for two and a half years in the Mediterranean without
learning something of what constituted a good model of a ship, and I no
sooner set eyes upon the _Europa_ than I fell violently in love with
her. She had been launched flying light, and then had been hauled under
the masting-sheers to have her three lower-masts stepped, after which it
had been necessary to move her to another part of the basin in order to
make way for another ship. She had occupied her new berth five days
when I first saw her, during which the carpenters, joiners, and painters
had been busily employed in finishing off her internal fittings; and
when first I beheld her the dockyard people were in the act of warping
her across the basin to still another berth, where she was to receive
her ballast; thus when my eyes first rested upon her she was floating
high out of the water, and I was afforded an excellent opportunity to
view and criticise her lines. She was somewhat shallow of hull and flat
in the floor, to give her a light draught of water, but to compensate
for this she was extraordinarily "beamy," which had the twofold effect
of imparting great stiffness under canvas, and affording fine roomy
decks. Her sides were as round as an apple--not an inch of "straight"
anywhere in them--and, despite her unusual breadth, her lines were the
finest and most beautiful that I had ever seen. She carried a full
poop, the interior of which constituted the captain's quarters--roomy,
light, and airy; and as I noted the length and solidity of her
lower-masts the idea occurred to me that, if the remainder of her spars
were to be in proportion, her sail-spread, combined with her perfect
lines, ought to give her such exceptional speed as would enable her to
do just as she pleased with an adversary.

As soon as she was alongside and made fas