"She is as fine a little craft as I could wish for, but," he added, "the
commander is one of the oddest fish I ever fell in with. He has not
been to sea for a number of years, and having, as he says, turned his
sword into a ploughshare, has devoted his mind to farming and rural
sports. Unwilling to tear himself altogether from his beloved beeves
and sheep, and pigs and poultry, he has brought them along with him, and
has converted the little ship into a regular Noah's ark. The boats are
turned into sheep-pens and hen-coops, and the decks cumbered with
ox-stalls and hay-stacks. If the latter, in the meantime, do not catch
fire, the admiral, when he comes to inspect us, will order them and the
greater portion of the live-stock to be landed, and we shall probably
benefit by the remainder, as they must be killed for want of food, so we
have said nothing to him as yet on the subject; but Haultaut, our first,
grumbles and looks askance at the beasts every time he goes along the
deck, and declares that the ship is more like a Thames barge than a
man-of-war, while Grummet, the boatswain, grins ominously at them, and
tells the butcher to keep his knife sharp, as he will have work enough
on his hands before long. Old Babbicome is afflicted, it seems, with
absence of mind. The day after he joined the ship he sang out to a
midshipman, `Let my cab be brought round to the door.' The youngster
stared. `Do you hear? What did I say?' `You desired to have your cab
brought round to the door, sir,' answered the midshipman, trying to
stifle his laughter. `Ah! did I?' exclaimed the commander. `Well,
possibly. It's no easy matter to change one's mode of expression on a
sudden. I mean, man my gig; I am going on shore.' The first day he
attempted to carry on duty, he threw all the crew into convulsions by
shouting out, `Wo-ho! wo-ho, there! I mean, avast hauling, you
lubbers!' and he swore and stamped with rage when he saw the men
tittering near him, and wanted to know what they were laughing at."

Probably, we shall hear more of Commander Babbicome. Murray's account
highly amused his friends.

"Well, Alick, you may possibly pick up a few wrinkles which may be of
use to you when your time comes, and you settle down on the Highland
farm you used to talk about," said Jack, laughing.

"I would sacrifice so remote a benefit for the sake of having the ship
look rather more like a man-of-war than she does at present," answered
Murr