gs were deducted from
my payment, this being the price of my tunic, as I belonged to the
class who were deficient of this article of uniform. Strange to say,
a notice was hung up on the board a few weeks later, stating that
tunics would henceforth be abolished in Her Majesty's navy. Then
followed abundant complaint. "This is a hoax," said one. "Better far
had we spent the twenty-six shillings in sausages," remarked another.
At the time this notice appeared, I had not even tried on my tunic,
and by way of comfort, it was pointed out by the officials that the
tunics might be exchanged for fruit in the West Indies. This did not
appeal very strongly to any.

For a long time a pet goat was kept on board. (By the way, I may say
it was more of a pest than a pet.) It was the most curious animal
that ever I had seen. It took a walk around the lower deck almost
every night, making a dreadful noise which, of course, proved the
means of awaking many sailors. The mess deck in the morning was
usually strewn with boots and shoes, and the general cry was--"Where
are my shoes?" for you may be sure that he who threw such weapons at
the goat would not throw his own. Hence, if a man were looking for
his shoes in the morning, it was a sure sign that he had not been
annoyed by the goat's lower-deck visit during the night, or in other
words, that he was a very sound sleeper.

To the carpenters, however, the goat was useful, as it had a habit of
eating the shavings which fell from their benches. That, to my mind,
was the one redeeming feature of this goat.

While we were at Bermuda it died. Scores of men went to its funeral.
We managed to get a trolly and laid 'Billy' upon it. The procession
was formed, and away we marched through the dockyard. Some of us were
glad that we should see its face no more, others were rather
sorrowful, and expressed their sorrow by wrapping around the goat
their tunics. Never was a goat buried with such honours. I cannot
tell you how many new tunics were buried with it, but there were
many, and when it is remembered that the cost of each was twenty-six
shillings one is right in concluding it was rather an expensive
funeral.

The Third West Indian Cruise.

Away to the West Indies for the third and last time. We caught a
large shark during this trip. Laying at anchor one afternoon in water
which was infested by this class of fish, suddenly someone shouted,
"There's a shark caught astern!" All hands hurried aft