he poop, whither he had rushed up
from below as soon as he had finished his calculation on the log slate,
dancing about the deck with excitement; and, then he banged his fist
down on the brass rail with a thump that almost doubled it in two, while
his wiry billy-goat beard bristled out and wagged to and fro. "Brace up
yer yards sharp, an' keep them bowlin's taut! Lay her ez near due north
ez she'll fetch, an' we'll fix her on a bee-line fur 'Frisco. An', say,
Flinders!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"Send up y'r to'gallants an' r'yals, ez soon ez ye ken; an' let her
rip!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

"An', main deck, below thaar!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" shouted back Jan Steenbock, who was on duty here, and
was already seeing about getting abaft the upper spars for spreading
more sail, having overheard his order to the first-mate--"I vas here,
sir!"

"Call all hands to liquor up, sirree. It ain't every day, I reckon, we
gits round the Horn!"

A wild cheer burst from the men, who had clustered in the waist in
response to this summons; and the good news of getting round the Cape
and having a double allowance of grog proving too much for the majority,
the rest of the day was spent in a sort of a grand jollification, the
skipper and first-mate `carrying on' in the cabin, while the crew made
themselves merry in the fo'c's'le, whither an extra bottle or two of rum
had been smuggled, having been got out of the steward by the expeditive
of a little `palm oil' and wheedling in about equal proportions.

I think I may say, without exaggeration, that, with the exception of Jan
Steenbock, the second-mate, who showed himself a regular steady fellow
all through the voyage, Tom Bullover, and lastly, though by no means
least, myself, there was not a single sober man on board the ship that
evening, all being more or less under the influence of liquor, from the
steward Morris Jones--who, mean Welshman that he was, seemed never loth
to drink at any one else's expense--up to Captain Snaggs, who, from
being `jolly' at `eight bells,' became still more excited from renewed
applications of rum by midnight; until, at length, early in the middle
watch, he rushed out on deck from the cuddy absolutely mad drunk.

He was in a state of wild delirium, and his revolver, ready cocked, was
in his hand.

"Snakes an' alligators!" he yelled out, levelling the weapon at the
mainmast, which he mistook for a figure in the half-light of morning,
which was just then begi