the ship, sending them to the upper deck
to undergo a salt water bath, which to us all, at that untimely hour,
was a very trying ordeal.

Nine days after our departure from Madeira, we sighted Bermuda. So
calm had been the voyage that I was not troubled by sickness. A dusky
pilot came on board, and conned the ship onward through the Narrows,
and within a few hours we were securely fastened in the camber at the
dockyard. Then came the dispersion. Many ships of the fleet whose
commission was now drawing nigh to a close, were flying their
paying-off pennant, the crews of which were full of gladness at the
'Himalaya's' arrival, with reliefs, and, moreover, she was their
homeward-bound ship. We boys were despatched to H.M.S. 'Terror,' a
receiving ship at Bermuda. Here we were kept three weeks, during
which time the other ships of the fleet steamed in from sea. One day
the 'Emerald' hove in sight. All took an especial interest in this
ship, as we had learned she was the worst ship in the fleet for
boys--quite a 'waker-up.' Certain it was that some of us would be
told off for her.

The dreaded morning came at last, and on the quarterdeck of the
'Terror' we assembled to await our destiny. "Boys whose names I now
mention," said the officer, "will join the 'Bellerophon,' the
flagship of the fleet." Then followed a long list of names.
These 'Bellerophon' boys realised at the time it was better to be
fortunate than rich. In proceeding, the officer said:--"Eight boys
will join the 'Emerald.'" There was a silence that could be felt at
this expression, and all, excepting those who had been told off,
looked downcast and fearful. "Their names are," he continued,
"so-and-so, so-and-so . . . . and Cowling." "And the lot fell upon
Jonah."

It took me many hours to recover from this blow, but the whole of us
received the sympathy of all the other boys, who regarded us as
embryo martyrs. Next day we eight were taken on board the 'Emerald'
in her steam-launch, which came to fetch us. On boarding the ship, I,
in looking round to observe what kind of man it was who wielded the
cane, fell headlong down the hatchway with my bag of clothes. This I
thought was an admirable introduction.

CHAPTER IV

THREE YEARS ON H.M.S. 'EMERALD'

I was ordered to join mess No. 7, to which belonged twenty seamen of
different ratings. According to naval etiquette, the boy, together
with a different seaman each day, who is termed cook of the mess, has