y stowed, with hawsers
coiled down on top of it until the boat's stern was barely a couple of
inches out of water.

"Shove off and give way, men!" I exclaimed, as my foot touched the
thwart; the bowman shoved the boat's head off, the oars dropped into the
phosphorescent water with a luminous splash, and we pulled down the
harbour in the direction indicated by Mr Annesley. We pulled steadily
on until all the hawser in the boat had been paid out, when we let go
the kedge, and hailing the frigate to "heave in," paddled back
alongside.

While running out the kedge, I had observed a boat pulling toward the
"Juno," and when we reached the frigate, we found this craft alongside.
In the meantime the frigate had been hove off the bank without much
difficulty, and the tide acting strongly on her hull the moment that she
floated, she had drifted down to her kedge, which had been lifted, and
the anchor having been tripped as she drifted over it was once more let
go, just as we got alongside. The launch, not being required any
farther at the moment, was passed astern, the crew being first ordered
out of her. In order to regain the frigate's deck, it was necessary for
us to pass over the boat alongside, which was lying in the wake of the
gangway, and as we did so, I noticed that the eight men composing her
crew were unmistakably French, and that, strange to say, they were fully
armed. This struck me as so singular a circumstance, that I resolved to
have a good look at the other individuals who had come off to us, and
who were doubtless on deck in confabulation with the skipper. I found
them, as I expected, on the quarter-deck, talking to the captain and the
first lieutenant. There were two of them, apparently French officers;
but the one who was talking spoke excellent English, and was, at the
moment when I drew near the group, explaining to Captain Hood that, in
compliance with a regulation of the port, and the commanding officer's
orders, it would be necessary for the ship at once to proceed higher up
the harbour to the quarantine ground, there to perform ten days'
quarantine, and that he, the speaker, was deputed to pilot the ship then
and there to her new berth.

"Phew!" ejaculated the skipper. "Quarantine, eh? with all these people
on board; this is a pretty business, truly. I can't understand it at
all; there is no sickness at present at Malta, and we carry a perfectly
clean bill of health. Surely there must be a m