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possible for a lad to receive, I had entered the navy as a midshipman,
at the age of fourteen, and had gone out to the Mediterranean in the old
_Colossus_, two-decker, under the command of Sir Percy Fitzgerald,
where, for some two and a half years, we spent our time partly in
chasing the French up and down the great inland sea, and partly in
blockading the port of Toulon, under Sir John Jervis. It was while
engaged upon this latter service that I was so seriously wounded in the
head by a flying splinter that I was invalided home to recover, the
_Colossus_ being opportunely ordered to England at the same time to
undergo a general overhaul and refit.

Of course I had not been in the navy for more than two years without
making a few friends, among the staunchest of whom I reckoned Mr Henry
Vavassour, the first lieutenant of the _Colossus_, and also a friend of
my father. This officer was a very dashing fellow, a prime seaman, and
a cool, courageous, resolute leader of men--he had frequently been
mentioned in dispatches--and I was therefore not at all surprised to
learn, as I now did, that he had gained his post rank and had been given
the command of a fine ship. His letter to me ran as follows:

"My dear Delamere--I think you will be glad to learn that their
Lordships have been pleased to promote me, bestow upon me post rank,
and give me the command of the new frigate _Europa_, just launched at
Portsmouth. She is an exceedingly fine ship of 1216 tons, mounting 38
guns; and, with smart officers and a good crew, I think she ought,
given ordinary luck, to render an excellent account of herself.

"I have been allowed to nominate all my own officers, and I have
therefore entered you on the ship's books, not only for your father's
sake, but also on account of your excellent behaviour while aboard the
_Colossus_; and if, as I hope, you have sufficiently recovered to
join, you will again meet one or two of your former shipmates on the
quarter-deck of the new ship.

"If you feel fit for duty I would very strongly advise you to join at
the earliest possible moment, as at present the _Europa_ has only her
three lower-masts stepped. She is in the hands of the riggers, and I
am of opinion that it would be of the utmost service to you if you
could be on the spot to witness the process of rigging; you would thus
obtain at first hand an insight into details, which will assuredly
stand you i