in Newgate, decorated with a yellow jacket, and pair of fetters, on
board of a vessel of three hundred tons burthen, bound to New South
Wales. We sailed for Sydney, where I had been recommended, by the
gentleman in a large wig, to remain seven years for change of air. The
same night that the vessel came into the cove, having more liberty than
the rest of my shipmates (from my good behaviour during the passage), I
evaded the sentry, and slipping down by the cable into the water, swam
to a ship lying near, which, I had been informed, was to sail on the
ensuing day for India.

"The captain being very short of hands, headed me up in a cask; and,
although the vessel was not permitted to sail until very strict search
had been made for me, I was not discovered, and it was supposed that I
had been drowned in making the attempt. Aware that it would not be good
for my health to return previously to the expiration of the seven years,
I determined to learn a new _profession_--that of a sailor, for which I
always had a predilection; besides, it quieted my conscience as to the
impropriety of not submitting to the just punishment of the law, as you
will acknowledge that seven years at sea, and seven years'
transportation, are one and the same thing. From Batavia I went to
Calcutta, and worked before the mast in the country vessels to Bombay
and the Persian Gulf, for four years, when I thought myself capable of
taking higher rank in the service, if I could get it; especially as I
had picked up sufficient navigation to be able to work the ship's
reckoning.

"At Calcutta, I obtained a situation as second mate of a fast-sailing
schooner employed in the smuggling of opium into China, and, after three
voyages, rose to the office of chief mate. Had I remained another
voyage I should have been captain of the vessel; but my seven years were
out, and I was anxious to return to England, and look the _Robin Red
Breasts_ boldly in the face. I had saved enough money to pay my
passage, and was determined to go home like a gentleman, if I had not
exactly gone out in that character. What little cash remained after my
passage was paid, I lost at play to an army officer, who was returning
in the same ship.

"When I landed at Portsmouth, I retained a suit of `long togs,' as we
call them, and, disposing of all the rest of my stock to the Jews, I
started for London. On my arrival I found that my father and mother
were both dead, and I was medita