in the offing, while I performed my task. We entered the port, but on approaching the landing-place, the Turkish authorities came down and warned us not to land, as the plague was raging with great violence, not only in the city, but throughout the island for some time; if, however, I wished to land under these circumstances, I might do so. I gave the Turkish sailors their choice, either to land or be taken back to the frigate, when, without hesitation, they all said "Land us." I did so, and on leaving the boat they expressed themselves, both by gesture and words, as extremely grateful for having been rescued from slavery; the question I had now to discuss with myself was whether I should land or not. Curiosity prompted me, and I had no fear of the plague; so giving the most positive orders to my boat's crew that they were to Jay off, neither to land or hold communication of any description with the inhabitants, and having intimated my wish to the Turkish authorities, I landed; a clear and uninterrupted passage was kept for me by the soldiers all the way to the Governor's house; a long Turkish pipe was put into my hand on landing, as the means of keeping off the infection, and which I pretended to smoke. I was received by the Governor in great state, fresh pipes and coffee were ordered, and he offered me a pinch of snuff out of his box, which set me sneezing violently, a symptom, by the way, said to attend the first appearance of plague. The Governor himself accompanied me to the boat, the road being, as before, lined with Janissaries; when I got to the beach I offered to return the pipe to the Governor's servant, but they insisted on my keeping it, and added a quantity of fruit, &c., in the shape of a present. I took my leave, after hearing repeated the expressions of thanks, which continued as we pulled off from the shore. As we approached the ship, I observed an unusual bustle on board, all hands appeared on deck, and their eyes seemed bent on our boat, with an interest I could not account for; before we got alongside, and when just within hail, the words, "Keep off, keep off," were shouted by a hundred tongues; "you must not come alongside, keep off."-"Why?" "They have the plague on the island." The mystery was now explained in a way not at all to the satisfaction of either myself or the boat's crew. Laying on our oars at a respectable distance, the following dialogue took place between us :

"They have the plague on shore."

"I know they have.'

"You must not come alongside."

"Then what am I to do?"

"We will give you a rope, and tow you astern; here it is. And now make sail."

While towed astern-the ship going five or six knots-the conversation continued by means of a speaking-trumpet.

"Of course you did not land."

"Yes, I did land."

"The Captain desires me to say that you must all of you strip off your clothes, and throw them overboard; and others will be sent to you."

I thought to myself, I shall see you and the Captain hanged before I do any such thing; and I positively refused. The clothes were my own, and I had no hopes of replacing them.

"If you keep me here till I throw my clothes overboard, you may tow away till the day of judgment."

A compromise was then made; the boat's crew stripped off their clothes, and threw them overboard, and there I sat, as sulky as a bear, with my boat's crew all naked, who now joined the rest in pressing me to do as they had done; but I still held firm. At last, as night was approaching, and something must be done, it was proposed to me that my clothes should be fumigated with brimstone and sulphur, and afterwards that I myself should be subjected to the same operation. On this condition, clothes should be sent to the boat's crew, and I should be permitted to come on board; being nearly tired of the joke, and the night coming on, I thought it better to accept the conditions. The ship was hove-to, the boat hauled up alongside, fresh clothes handed to the crew, and I was allowed to go on board, where I was received much in the same manner as a noxious reptile, every one making clear way for me as I proceeded to the lower-deck, where I found the Surgeon, his assistant, and loblolly boys, all busy with their stores, and preparing the fumigating apparatus, to purge me of the plague, and convert me into a sort of red-herring. This process of stripping and smoking was anything but agreeable, and, naked as I was, I started off, and left my toggery with the Doctor and his mates to do what they pleased with. As I passed along, I observed my servant at a distance looking at me as if I had been a wild beast; making a dart, I caught hold of him, and I believe he would scarcely have been more frightened had he found himself in the gripe of the "gentleman in black.' He roared out most lustily, but I gave him to understand that if I had got the plague, he could not escape it; on that point, he should make up his mind, and, in the mean time, he should provide me with clothes, and, what I wanted nearly as much, something to eat.

The smoking ceremony continued so late in the evening that I did not see the Captain that night; but the next morning at breakfast, when relating what had passed the day before, he said, "But what could induce you to land when you knew the plague was raging with such violence?" I gave him my reasons, when he continued, "Of course you did not leave the beach!" When I told him that I had been to the city, and in the heart of the plague, he and all those present increased their distance from me, and their alarm appeared quite ridiculous. Had this been known before, I should probably have been kept with the boat's crew in tow for an indefinite period; as it was, a proposal was made that we should be sent up into the mizentop, have provisions hoisted up in a bucket, and remain there to perform quarantine; as none of us, however, showed any symptoms of plague, the alarm soon died away*.

Soon after leaving the island, a large flight of hawks settled on our yards and rigging in the night, some of which were taken and easily tamed: they were all of dove colour. These birds, in large flocks, follow the migratory birds, quails, doves, &c., in the autumn, when they go to Africa, and in the spring, when they return to Europe; at these seasons, the islands that lie between the opposite coasts are visited by

* Many scientific men of modern times deny altogether the possibility of communicating the plague by touch; and consider it as a periodical epidemic.—ED.

myriads of these birds; they generally remain only long enough to repose, but the inhabitants make them pay toll for their resting-place. Our ship was afterwards struck by lightning, which had so much effect on several of the men aloft that they were unable to come down, and were lowered on deck; one of them had nearly lost his sight, but they all ultimately recovered.

On our return down the Mediterranean, there was not much to excite attention. Our Captain being a musical man, and some others in the gun-room having a taste of the same kind, a sort of amateur party was got up in the evening in the gun-room. Our Gunner was a

good violin player, and consequently leader of the band; he had, unfortunately a propensity for mixing his grog rather strong, and in the course of our réunions he generally got drunk, consequently he was excluded from these meetings, to their great detriment, and they were nearly discontinued. One evening our Marine officer was discoursing eloquent music from his clarinet, which stimulated the similar propensity in the Captain, who said he would go below on condition that the Gunner should not be of the party. On my assurance that he should be excluded, the Captain's violoncello was sent down to the gunroom, and a sort of concert was set a-going of instrumental and vocal music, in which our Purser took a principal part, being, as he said himself, a better singer than Incledon, with whom he had once been a shipmate. The party had scarcely commenced one of Pleyell's symphonies, when the Gunner's fiddle was heard scraping away outside, and he worked himself up to such a state of excitement that he sent in to beg permission to join the party, and, without waiting for consent, made his appearance, and joined in the piece in the course of execution. When it was finished, the Purser gave us his song; at the conclusion, the Gunner begged permission also to sing, and directly commenced the ditty, the burthen of which expressed in the chorus is

"Than be that hateful fellow,

That's crabbed when he's mellow;"

all of us endeavouring to stifle a laugh at the allusion, while the singer was all contentment and delight. This was the last of our musical parties.

Although no practical musician myself, I am very fond of being a listener, and can imagine no better resource for the long and leisure hours of a voyage. I conceive it to be desirable that such taste should be cultivated among the sailors; I therefore have learned with satisfaction that Hullah's system of class instruction has been introduced at the Royal Naval School, where the boys will receive it as part of their education. The most approved and popular sea-songs will be harmonized for several voices, and additional force be given to them. Although we may fall far short of the Germans and Italians in the knowledge and practice of music generally, yet we may fairly boast of having no rivals in nautical songs. Dibdin may be called the poetlaureate of Neptune, and he has been worthily supported by Calcott and a host of others, while the field is still open for their successors. On board of a man-of-war, in long voyages and fine weather, there is abundance of leisure, and surely there can be no more rational or better means of employing it than by getting up catches and glees or cho

russes, in preference to listening to impossible yarns or performing practical jokes. Let us only imagine that the system of vocal music is completed, and then conceive what a soul-stirring effect it would have to hear the whole ship's company of a three-decker going into action join in the chorus of "Rule Britannia*!" Vocal music has the preference to instrumental as of more general effect and application, and has the advantage of every man carrying his organ within his chest; therefore, less liable to accidents. But instrumental music should not be neglected at the Naval School, with a view to the formation of bands on board ships of war. The knowledge and command of the violin should be enforced; beside being the first of all instruments, and essential in the formation of amateur parties, such as I have just described, the fiddle on board of a man-of-war is not simply a luxury, but almost a necessary of life. There is no way in which Jack likes to close his evenings better than with a hop, and he is no ways fastidious about his partners.

On our return to Port Mahon, we found Lord St. Vincent's flag flying in the Argo, 44 guns; the fleet being at sea. In a few days it appeared off the port, and we were ordered to join it. One day, our frigate being the look-out ship, we discovered five sail, evidently menof-war, to windward, for which we made the signal. The Admiral immediately made sail, detaching some of the best sailers in pursuit. The evening of the next day brought us up with this light division of the enemy, and we succeeded in capturing three fine frigates and two brigs of the large class, having on board Rear-Admiral Perry. They were all sent to Mahon, and were immediately purchased into the Navy. I had boarded one of the brigs, the Salamene, to take possession, and found as a passenger an immense ape, which we transferred to our frigate, of which he remained a denizen for many years. One day afterwards I had this monkey dressed up in a fine scarlet coat, with blue facings, cocked hat, &c., feather, sword-belt, &c., and having tied his hands behind him, sent him on deck, where he strutted about as proud as a peacock. Poor B, the Marine Officer, no sooner saw this figure paraded than he changed colour, got exceedingly indignant at what he supposed an insult on his corps, and made a formal complaint to the Captain. I was sent for, and found our chief looking very grave and important, at which I could not forbear smiling. After some talk and explanation, the animal was sent for, and he entered the cabin in full costume, and with all the solemnity of the monkey tribe. It was too much for the gravity of even a Captain's cabin; all present, with the exception of poor B-, burst into an immoderate fit of laughter: I bolted out of the cabin, leaving the Captain, the Marine, and the monkey to settle the matter, of which I heard nothing more.

The French fleet from Toulon had slipped out and evaded us, and we were now in full pursuit down the Mediterranean. The enemy had succeeded in passing the Gut, but on our arrival off Gibraltar, the wind, that hitherto had been in our favour, chopped round, and became con

* At the surrender of Malta, in 1800, when the French prisoners were embarked in the harbour of Marsa Muschett, there were 2000 of them in the boats at a time. As they put off from the shore they all joined in the Marseillaise, a Serjeant in the leading boat giving the time, and although the voices were for the most part untutored, the effect was very powerful.-ED.

272

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE EARLY LIFE of a sailor.

[JUNE, trary, and the fleet was either tacking or lying-to in Tetuan Bay. Our ship had been tacking about, and coming into the bay, the Captain came on deck in full dress, for waiting on the Admiral, for whose flag I was then conning the ship, when the Captain, immediately taking my place, said, "I will con the ship." He had not been long in his position when we approached the old Prince, of 98 guns, then lying-to; as we were running to leeward of her, I ventured to observe that we were passing rather too close: for this I was snubbed with "When I want your opinion, Sir, I will ask for it." He had scarcely said this when the Lieutenant of the watch of the Prince hailed us, and said, "You will be on board of us, Sir!" Although he was not snubbed like myself, his caution was equally disregarded, and, in consequence, in a few minutes we were alongside the Prince, going about at the rate of seven knots. Her channels being below the main-deck ports, her sheetanchor just took the lanyards of our weather rigging, cutting the whole away as if with a knife; the Prince's Lieutenant very coolly saying, "I told you so, Sir." To save the masts we were instantly obliged to lower the topsails and wear ship, bringing the damaged side to leeward, and saw the extent of the mischief. The Captain went off directly in his boat, leaving me to repair the mischief occasioned by his blunders and obstinacy.

The French fleet had picked up a Spanish squadron at Carthagena, and another at Cadiz after passing the Straits, and had steered for Brest, while we were detained within the Mediterranean. The wind at length changed; we were able to pass the Gut, and pursued the enemy's fleet with all the speed we could; but arriving off Cape Finisterre, we met a frigate from England, with the intelligence that the enemy's fleet was all snug at anchor in Brest; in consequence, the great body of our fleet was ordered to England, and we were anticipating the pleasure of revisiting home, when, to our great mortification and annoyance, we were ordered back to Lisbon.

REMINISCENCES OF THE LATE WAR OF SUCCESSION IN PORTUGAL; AND OF OPORTO, DURING THE SIEGE OF 1832 AND 1833.

BY CAPTAIN A. J. HIPPISLEY.

(Continued from No. 220, page 450.)

FOR a long period prior to the close of December, 1832, all parties in the city of Oporto had been taking a retrospective view of the changes and occurrences of that memorable year, and many a sage citizen recounted them with much interest. Some augured good, others foreboded evil; but all condemned the proposed dissolution of the convents and monasteries, and prognosticated that such a step, if then enforced by the infant Government of Doña Maria, would ere long lead to a counter-revolution, and that Portugal would again be drenched with the blood of contending factions. The more prudent portion of