ned by tea, sugar, Harvey's sauce, pickles,
pepper, and other products of the arts of peace. In a word, and not to
dwell too long on the purely piratical part of our preparations for the
voyage, we doubled the number of our packages at this hospitable country
house, before we left it for Mangerton-on-the-Mud, and the dangers of
the sea that lay beyond.

At Mangerton we made a second piratical swoop upon another
long-suffering friend, the resident doctor. We let this gentleman off,
however, very easily, only lightening him of a lanthorn, and two
milk-cans to hold our freshwater. We felt strongly inclined to take his
warmest cape away from him also; but Mr. Migott leaned towards the side
of mercy, and Mr. Jollins was, as usual, only too ready to sacrifice
himself on the altar of friendship--so the doctor kept his cape, after
all.

Not so fortunate was our next victim, Mr. Purler, the Port Admiral of
Mangerton-on-the-Mud, and the convivial host of the Metropolitan Inn.
Wisely entering his house empty-handed, we left it with sheets,
blankets, mattresses, pillows, table-cloths, napkins, knives, forks,
spoons, crockery, a frying-pan, a gridiron, and a saucepan. When to
these articles of domestic use were added the parcels we had brought
from Bristol, the packages we had collected at the country-house, the
doctor's milk-cans, the personal baggage of the two enterprising
voyagers, additions to the eating and drinking department in the shape
of a cold curry in a jar, a piece of spiced beef, a side of bacon, and a
liberal supply of wine, spirits, and beer--nobody can be surprised to
hear that we found some difficulty in making only one cart-load of our
whole collection of stores. The packing process was, in fact, not
accomplished till after dark. The tide was then flowing; we were to sail
the next morning; and it was necessary to get everything put on board
that night, while there was water enough for the Tomtit to be moored
close to the jetty.

This jetty, it must be acknowledged, was nothing but a narrow stone
causeway, sloping down from the land into the sea. Our cart, loaded with
breakable things, was drawn up at the high end of the jetty; the Tomtit
waiting to receive the contents of the cart at the low end, in the
water. We had no moon, no stars, no lamp of any kind on shore; and the
one small lanthorn on board the vessel just showed how dark it was, and
did nothing more. Imagine the doctor, and the doctor's friend, and