his name.
Among my other messmates were John Harris Nicholas, Richard Ragget, John
Drew. A great pet of ours was little Harry Sumner--one of the smallest
midshipmen who ever came to sea. Left an orphan, without a connexion
bound to him by the ties of blood, the poor child had been sent afloat
by his guardians as the simplest mode they could devise of disposing of
him. The event was happy for him, for he soon found many more friends
on board than he ever would on shore, and in a short time there was not
a man of the ship's company who would not have risked his life to shield
him from injury. As I shall have to mention the officers and my other
messmates in the course of my narrative I need not here describe them.

On the 30th, the moment we had cast off the lighters from alongside, we
sailed for North America in company with the Chatham, bearing the flag
of Rear-Admiral Shouldham, who was going out to take the chief command
on that station. The wind continuing fair and the weather fine, we, on
the following day, lost sight of the English shore, which many on board
were destined never to see again--none of us, until months and months
had passed by.

Things had begun to shake a little into their places and the officers
and ship's company to know something of each other by the time that we
had got about three hundred leagues to the westward of Scilly. Instead,
however, of keeping to the southward, where we might have found a
continuance of fine weather, our captain, in his anxiety quickly to
reach the scene of action, notwithstanding the advanced season of the
year, ordered a northerly course to be steered. The consequence was
that we had soon work to try the mettle of all hands. By noon on the
6th of November we fell in with a gale of wind which would as
effectually have blown up the Houses of Parliament as would Guido Faulks
and his barrels of gunpowder, if it could have got under them. Sail was
shortened and all was made snug aloft in time, hat below many an article
took a voyage which terminated in total shipwreck to itself or
neighbours.

"Here comes a combing sea in a vengeance!" exclaimed Delisle, seizing
hold of little Harry to save him from being by chance washed away. We
were standing aft on the quarter-deck. On came the watery mountain with
its curling crest of snowy foam, and, striking the ship with terrific
force and with a noise like thunder, broke over the starboard chesstree,
deluging the decks