en Lord Melville, then First Lord of the Admiralty, to my great
surprise and delight, put into my hands a commission for a ship going
to the South American station, a quarter of the world I had long
desired to visit, my first thought was, "Where now shall I manage to
find a merry rascal of a monkey?" Of course, I did not give audible
expression to this thought in the First Lord's room; but, on coming
down-stairs, I had a talk about it in the hall with my friend, the
late Mr. Nutland, the porter, who laughed, and said,--

"Why, sir, you may buy a wilderness of monkeys at Exeter 'Change."

"True! true!" and off I hurried in a Hackney coach. Mr. Cross, not
only agreed to spare me one of his choicest and funniest animals, but
readily offered his help to convey him to the ship. "Lord, sir!" said
he, "there is not an animal in the whole world so wild or fierce that
we can't carry about as innocent as a lamb; only trust to me, sir, and
your monkey shall be delivered on board your ship in Portsmouth
Harbour as safely as if he were your best chronometer going down by
mail in charge of the master." Accordingly he was in a famous
condition for his breakfast next morning, when the waterman ferried
him off from Common Hard to the hulk, on board which the officers had
just assembled. As the ship had been only two or three days in
commission, few seamen had as yet entered; but shortly afterwards they
came on board in sufficient numbers; and I have sometimes ascribed the
facility with which we got the ship manned, not a little to the
attractive agency of the diverting vagabond, recently come from town,
the fame of whose tricks soon extended over Portsea; such as catching
hold of the end of the sail-maker's ball of twine, and paying the
whole overboard, hand over hand, from a secure station in the rigging;
or stealing the boatswain's silver call, and letting it drop from the
end of the cat-head; or his getting into one of the cabin ports and
tearing up the captain's letters, a trick at which even the stately
skipper can only laugh.

One of our monkey's grand amusements was to watch some one arranging
his clothes bag. After the stowage was completed, and everything put
carefully away, he would steal round, untie the strings, and having
opened the mouth of the bag draw forth in succession every article of
dress, first smell it, then turn it over and over, and lastly fling it
away on the wet deck. It was amusing enough to observe, that a