on, is the most
desperate drinker of tea in all England. When the cups and saucers are
cleared away, a conversazione is held in the cockpit. Sam Dobbs is the
best listener of the company; Dick Dobbs, who has been a yachtsman, is
the jester; Bob Dobbs, the merchant sailor, is the teller of adventures;
and my friend and I keep the ball going smartly in all sorts of ways,
till it gets dark, and a great drought falls upon the members of the
conversazione. Then, if the mermaids are anywhere near us, they may
smell the fragrant fumes which tell of sacrifice to Bacchus, and may
hear, shortly afterwards, the muse of song invoked by cheerful topers.
Thus the dark hours roll on jovial till the soft influences of sleep
descend upon the tuneful choir, and the cabin receives its lodgers for
the night.

This is the general rule of life on board the Tomtit. Exceptional
incidents of all kinds--saving sea-sickness, to which nobody on board is
liable--are never wanting to vary existence pleasantly from day to day.
Sometimes Mr. Migott gets on from taking a nap to having a dream, and
records the fact by a screech of terror, which rings through the vessel
and wakes the sleeper himself, who always asks, "What's that,
eh?"--never believes that the screech has not come from somebody
else--never knows what he has been dreaming of--and never fails to go to
sleep again before the rest of the ship's company have half done
expostulating with him.

Sometimes a little interesting indigestion appears among us, by way of
change. Dick Dobbs, for example (who is as bilious as an Indian nabob),
is seen to turn yellow at the helm, and to steer with a glazed eye; is
asked what is the matter; replies that he has "the boil terrible bad on
his stomach;" is instantly treated by Jollins (M.D.) as follows:--Two
teaspoonfuls of essence of ginger, two dessert-spoonfuls of brown
brandy, two table spoonfuls of strong tea. Pour down patient's throat
very hot, and smack his back smartly to promote the operation of the
draught. What follows? The cure of Dick. How simple is medicine, when
reduced to its first principles!

Another source of amusement is provided by the ships we meet with.

Whenever we get near enough, we hail the largest merchantmen in the most
peremptory manner, as coolly as if we had three decks under us and an
admiral on board. The large ships, for the most part paralysed by our
audacity, reply meekly. Sometimes we meet with a foreigner, and get