ny opportunities of hearing from this voluble person
of the magnificent mismanagement shown by the way the transports were
kicking about in different parts of the Bosphorus and in the Black Sea.
Many of them would sail to Kertch or Sevastopol and come straight back
without their cargoes being broached. They anchored in a snug spot
where the shore was easy of access, and would remain for months in
peaceful indolence. The _Boadicea_ had been dismantled, and her anchor
was never seen for six months. How the men were to be kept employed
became a tax on the resources of the officers. Her sails, ropes and
rigging had been thoroughly overhauled, repaired and made equal to new,
and the hull showed indications of great taste and care. Not a speck of
dirt or disorder could be seen anywhere; and notwithstanding the jolly
entertainments, vocal and otherwise, they had on board each others'
vessels almost every night, the life of inactivity became so dreary
that they longed for the time when orders would be given to proceed to
the Crimea. It was not mere change they longed for, but they craved to
see the fighting on shore, and, better still, the bombardment of towns
and ports by the warships from the sea. Many of the merchant sailors
would have enjoyed taking part in the struggle.

Although the life at the Scutari anchorage had become a weary monotony,
it was not without incidents of excitement. Constantinople at that time
was overrun with the most daring brigands, who paid irregular visits to
the different roadsteads between midnight and the early hours of the
morning. They were armed with the most deadly weapons, and their secret
movements frequently evaded every precaution of watchfulness. The
sneaking caique, manned by accomplished emissaries handling muffled
oars, was rowed through the anchorage in advance, and for the purpose
of finding out the most vulnerable object of attack. Occasionally they
selected the wrong ship, and met with a sudden determined resistance
from the crew, who were eager for an opportunity of wreaking vengeance
on a gang of murderous ruffians who kept the men of the whole
mercantile fleet in these waters in a state of perpetual expectancy.
Most ingenious methods were planned for their destruction. An anchor,
for instance, would be hanging to the rail of the topgallant
forecastle, or the cathead, and, as the caique came dropping down with
the current, if they drifted her under the bow, the stopper and
shank