rded the ship and given
up my papers to the authorities.

So my readers will understand that it was with a heavy heart, yea and
with a great deal of reluctancy, that I entered the navy--that
despite the great flame of enthusiasm that had been burning in my
young life, it dwindled away almost to the point of being
extinguished on this memorable morning; yet something within urged me
quietly on and on till that which was done could not be undone.

I was now sent to H.M.S 'Circe,' the outfitting ship for young
recruits, to get my uniform. On reaching the top of the companion
ladder a ship's corporal (i.e. a naval policeman) approached me and
asked, "Had I any money or jewellery?" If so, it must be kept in his
custody until such time as I should be prepared to join the
mother-ship, the 'Impregnable.' I handed him the eight pence which
I carried in my pocket. After being ordered to read from a board
certain rules and digest them, then came the bath, followed by the
dinner, which latter consisted of a piece of fat pork (called 'dobs,'
I afterward learned, in the training-ship) and a thick piece of
bread, neither of which tempted my appetite.

I ate nothing that day, and when a fortnight later my civilian's suit
was sent home, the sausage rolls which I carried on board with me
were discovered in my pocket. I cannot hope to describe the feelings
through which I passed on this first day. My poor little heart nearly
broke--it was my first lesson in the school of sorrowful tears. "Oh
that I had listened to my parents' advice this morning," was what I
whispered to myself a hundred times before closing my eyes in sleep
that night.

The day wore away slowly--oh, so slowly! I became homesick, and ran
from one port-hole to the other watching the Millbrook steamers pass
to and fro, endeavouring thereby to persuade myself into the belief
that after all I was in touch with home. This gave me a kind of
satisfaction, as it seemed to sever my thoughts, or rather to loose
them, from the floating cage, and link them and my love to home, yea,
and even to the passing steamers.

Just as when a traveller in a foreign land meets with a friend of his
native town, and is filled with delight and fond memories of the
home-land by such an event, in like manner did I regard those
steamers--they were connecting links uniting my heart to my home.
Nor is this comparison overdrawn, for my readers must bear in mind
that I was only a little boy. And how