o carry the killed
and wounded below; to be told that I must consider the ship blowing up,
in order to exercise myself in presence of mind, and prepare for a real
explosion; all this I despise, as beneath a true tar and man of valour.

These were my sentiments at the time, and these remain my sentiments
still; but as, while on board the frigate, my liberty of thought did
not extend to liberty of expression, I was obliged to keep these
sentiments to myself; though, indeed, I had some thoughts of addressing
a letter, marked _Private and Confidential_, to his Honour the
Commodore, on the subject.

My station at the batteries was at one of the thirty-two-pound
carronades, on the starboard side of the quarter-deck.[1]

----

[Footnote-1] For the benefit of a Quaker reader here and there, a word
or two in explanation of a carronade may not be amiss. The carronade is
a gun comparatively short and light for its calibre. A carronade
throwing a thirty-two-pound shot weighs considerably less than a
long-gun only throwing a twenty-four-pound shot. It further differs
from a long-gun, in working with a joint and bolt underneath, instead
of the short arms or _trunnions_ at the sides. Its _carriage_,
likewise, is quite different from that of a long-gun, having a sort of
sliding apparatus, something like an extension dining-table; the goose
on it, however, is a tough one, and villainously stuffed with most
indigestible dumplings. Point-blank, the range of a carronade does not
exceed one hundred and fifty yards, much less than the range of a
long-gun. When of large calibre, however, it throws within that limit,
Paixhan shot, all manner of shells and combustibles, with great effect,
being a very destructive engine at close quarters. This piece is now
very generally found mounted in the batteries of the English and
American navies. The quarter-deck armaments of most modern frigates
wholly consist of carronades. The name is derived from the village of
Carron, in Scotland, at whose celebrated founderies this iron Attila
was first cast.

----

I did not fancy this station at all; for it is well known on shipboard
that, in time of action, the quarter-deck is one of the most dangerous
posts of a man-of-war. The reason is, that the officers of the highest
rank are there stationed; and the enemy have an ungentlemanly way of
target-shooting at their buttons. If we should chance to engage a ship,
then, who could tell but some bungling s