with some home-baked brown
bread, and milk from the cow. The farmer's wife, who was a hale, buxom,
youngish-looking woman, and had only nine children, brought out chairs and
benches. We had some madeira with us, and we made delicious whip-syllabub.
The nice, well-baked and wholesome brown loaves, with the milk and cream,
were too good for city aldermen, but quite good enough for sailors. We did
ample justice to the good wife's fare, of which she partook with her
mother, who was sixty-five, and had eleven boys and nine girls all living.
Nine of the former were on board different men-of-war, and the other two
working with their father on the farm. "And," added the poor woman, with
an anxious, smiling face, "whenever we see a squadron of King's ships
arrive we expect a son." The girls, with the exception of three who were
married, were out in respectable families. We made a trifling purse, which
we gave to a fine boy about eleven years old for himself and brothers;
recompensed our good hostess, shook hands, and departed in peace and good
fellowship.

Two days later I went on board the _Alexandria_ frigate for a passage to
my proper ship, which we fell in with soon afterwards off the Black Rocks.
I found her a fine, first-class frigate, but, alas! I also found she only
sailed like the launch, stern foremost. The captain, a jolly, little,
fresh-faced, rather corpulent man, welcomed me with a smile, and after a
short conversation relating to the ship he inquired the news, on which I
presented him with the latest newspaper. The surgeon, a delicate, pale
young man, came up to me and asked me to the gun-room. On entering it he
introduced me to my future messmates. The second lieutenant was a
fine-looking young man, highly connected, but unfortunately disgusted with
the Service, and too fond of a very strong north-wester, which soon
destroyed him, as he died a few months after I joined the frigate. The
third lieutenant was a person of great consequence in his own opinion, and
always imagined himself in the right. He was, nevertheless, an active
officer and knew his duty. The master was a hardy north countryman, and
knew what he was about. The marine officer was a well-informed, sensible
man; the mids were a fine set of lads, ripe for mischief and alert on
duty. The ship's company were, generally speaking, good and willing
seamen, and I thought myself fortunate in being first lieutenant of such a
ship and of having intellectual mes