o send down my hat. Is my
hat upon deck? Have you seen my hat?" "Your hat, sir," replied the son
of Neptune, with infinite _sang-froid_, "has got under sail, and I
should not be surprised if it made port before you." Here he changed the
subject, by hailing the man on the forecastle. "Tom, where is the
strange sail?"--"Sheered off to leeward; but she is a Frenchman, by the
cut of her gib," replied the sailor. "Steady," said our naval commander,
and on we went; but by no means steadily, for I never saw a little bark
more unsteady, though she really seemed to dive through the water like a
duck. Morning now began to dawn, which only threw light (as even the
captain confessed) upon the heaviest sea he had ever seen. The black
clouds seemed to fly, and the thunder and lightning to rend the very
atmosphere asunder. Our distant haven was in sight; but the wind was
foul, and it was therefore impossible to avoid making several tacks
before we could get in. Our poor fellows, what from fear, cold, hunger,
want of sleep, and being wet through, were completely worn out. I kept
my station the whole night, more from fear than from any attachment to
it; although I certainly did not feel the great alarm that was so
visibly depicted on the countenances of most of my comrades. From
extreme cold, and being quite wet through, I cut but a sorry figure by
the time we began to near the land. The prospect, from about three or
four miles off, was extremely beautiful. Some little cottages studded
the high and lofty rocks, and, here and there, small bays and little
villages enlivened the scene, and consoled us with the idea that we were
not going to be landed on a barren rock. We soon after saw the extensive
town of Guernsey. Part of it seemed hanging on an eminence, and the view
of the old castle, which is built of stone, and calculated to buffet
with many a wintry storm, was extremely picturesque. In the distance we
could see Fort George; and, in ten minutes after, we ran into the bay,
which, being sheltered and protected by surrounding high lands, was
tranquil indeed, when compared with the main ocean. Boats were in
attendance, and we soon set our wet limbs on _terra firma_. Having
landed, I could not help viewing my person, of which I at all times had
a good opinion. I looked, for all the world, like a squeezed lemon, or
the bag of a Scotch pipe; and I should have been glad to have taken the
edge off my appetite, and the dirt off my clothes, inst