deal of dust; but
it makes the deck white, which is the grand point aimed at. The wings,
the store-rooms, and the cockpits, undergo a similar dose of rubbing
and scrubbing; in short, every hole and corner of the decks, both
above and below stairs, as folks on shore would say, is swept, and
swept, and swept again, on a Sunday morning, till the panting sweepers
are half dead; indeed, the rest of the ship's company are worried out
of all patience, from eight o'clock to half-past ten, with the eternal
cry of "Pipe the sweepers!" followed by a sharp, interrupted whistle,
not unlike the note of a pet canary.

What with cleaning the decks and cleaning themselves, the watch below
have fully enough to do to get all ready by five bells. It must be
remembered, too, that they have had the morning watch to keep, since
four o'clock, and the whole trouble of washing the upper decks,
shaking out the reefs, stowing the hammocks, and coiling down the
ropes; all easy matters of routine, it is true, but still sufficiently
tiresome when multiplied so often.

At the appointed hour of half-past ten, to a single stroke of the
bell, the mate of the watch, directed by the officer on deck, who
again acts in obedience to the captain's orders, conveyed to him by
the first lieutenant, calls out,--

"Beat to divisions!"

It should have been stated, that, before this period arrives, the
mate of the decks and the mate of the hold, the boatswain, gunner, and
carpenter, have all severally received reports from their subordinates
that their different departments are in proper order for inspection.
Reports to the same effect being then finally made to the first
lieutenant by the mates and warrant-officers, he himself goes round
the ship to see that all is right and tight, preparatory to the grand
inspection. I ought also to have mentioned that the bags of the watch
below are piped up at ten o'clock, so that nothing remains between
decks but the mess-tables, stools, and the soup and grog kids. Long
before this hour, the greater number of the whole ship's company have
dressed themselves and are ready for muster; but the never-ending
sweepers, the fussy warrant-officers' yeomen, the exact purser's
steward, the slovenly midshipmen's boy, the learned loblolly boy, and
the interminable host of officers' servants, who have always fifty
extra things to do, are often so sorely pressed for time, that at the
first tap of the drum beating to divisions, these idl