room and mess-room. In
the bay is the second Ganges, now a sort of mother-ship for
mine-sweepers and trawlers, and one of the busiest places one can
imagine. The King not long ago dined aboard this ship, and is said to
have expressed great interest in the work carried on from the Ganges.

VII. "GENTLEMEN, 'THE KING'"

There are many traditions to which the Royal Navy still clings, and
there are messes afloat and ashore where it is manifest that time has
not withered impressive and picturesque features of the days of the
wooden warships. For instance, no layman can help being struck by the
British naval officers' toast to the King. And the other toasts are
offered with such splendid solemnity and grace that it makes one wish
that something of the sort could be done at even the minor affairs where
civilians are gathered. Of course, the Londoner and the man from
Manchester offers his toast at a great banquet, as they do in New York
and other American cities to the President of the United States. But
although it takes no longer at a naval mess, there is a something about
it which places the civilian in the shade. With the Navy it is a mess,
and not a dinner where there are many strangers, and every officer has
been doing this since he was a boy.

John Bull's naval officers are men who admit the faults of their
country. They have travelled, and have seen a good many other countries
and peoples. From Osborne and Britannia days sincerity seems to have
been inculcated into them. The discipline is inflexible, but kindly. The
captain of a "Dreadnought" will take pains to ask a young midshipman to
dine with him, and there exists a wonderful thoughtfulness on the part
of the officers for the men. British naval officers are lovers of
sports, and, having believed the Germans good sports before August,
1914, they cannot condone attacks on non-belligerents or the shooting of
nurses. His Majesty's naval officers do great things without talking
about them, and at dinner one of the star heroes of the war may be in
the next chair to you, but you certainly will not hear it from him.

Opposite me sat a man who had faced death with Scott on the Polar
expedition. It was after I had left the mess that I learned this from
one of his friends. But at a mess you may hear stories of men who are
absent. It was at dinner aboard one of the great, grey sea-fighters that
we laughed at the yarn of a young middy, in charge of one of the cutters