FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97  
98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   >>   >|  
ken to bed by Peter Anderson and Ben; and at last there were but four or five left. One of these was the other boatswain's mate of the ward. I knew very little of him at that time, except that his name was James Turner. He was a very quiet well-behaved man, and seemed to be more fond of sitting or walking alone than of being in company; never was known to drink too much; and, indeed, as boatswain's mate, was more relied upon by Anderson than even Ben was--although, perhaps, Ben was his more constant companion. The conversation relative to the particulars of the battle of the Nile was resumed, and Anderson observed-- "What an awful sight it must have been to behold the blowing up of the 'L'Orient' French three-decker, with upward of a thousand men on board! Merciful Heaven! so many poor fellows launched into eternity in one moment! They say there were but seventy-three saved." "There were nearly as many souls lost when the 'Royal George' went down at Spithead, with all the fleet at anchor round about her," replied Ben; "were there not, Turner, for you were on board of her?" "Yes, I should think there were," replied Turner; "but it is impossible to say how many people were on board at the time." "Messmate," said Anderson, "as all the noisy ones are gone, and we shall be able to hear you, suppose that you let us know all about it? I have heard a good deal, but, I suspect, not the rights of it." "With all my heart," replied Turner. "It was a sad affair, and was all owing to the pride of an officer, who was not much of a sailor, at all events." I drew nearer, that I might not lose a word of what Turner said; and then he narrated, in the following words, THE LOSS OF THE "ROYAL GEORGE" "Well, messmates, the 'Royal George' was a hundred-gun ship; and what we don't often see now, when I first belonged to her her guns were all brass. We had brass twenty-four-pounders on our quarter-deck, forecastle, poop, and main deck, brass thirty-twos on our middle deck, and brass forty-two-pounders on our lower deck. In the spring of '82, when we were at Plymouth (about six months before she sunk), it was considered that the brass forty-twos on the lower deck were too heavy for her, so they were put on shore, and we had iron thirty-twos instead. I don't think, myself, it made much difference in the weight of metal, and we were sorry to
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97  
98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Turner

 

Anderson

 

replied

 
George
 
boatswain
 

pounders

 
thirty
 

narrated

 

behaved

 

hundred


messmates
 

GEORGE

 

nearer

 

rights

 

suspect

 
sailor
 

events

 

officer

 

affair

 
considered

months

 
Plymouth
 

difference

 

weight

 

spring

 

twenty

 

belonged

 
quarter
 

middle

 

forecastle


Orient

 

French

 

decker

 

behold

 

blowing

 

company

 

upward

 

fellows

 

launched

 

Heaven


Merciful

 

thousand

 

constant

 

companion

 

relied

 

conversation

 
observed
 

resumed

 

relative

 

particulars