A DEATH AND FUNERAL.
The progress of the "St. Jean d'Acre" did not appear to me to be very speedy after our departure from Cadiz until we arrived off Cape St. Vincent. The vessel was propelled solely by the steam-screw. She was large and heavy, and the weather was quite calm, so that sails were useless. I did not regret the delay, for I could not be in more agreeable society, and I never experienced any tendency whatever to sea-sickness. However, just as we sighted St. Vincent, a strong and very favorable breeze sprung up, and the sails were ordered to be set. Whilst all hands were engaged aloft, I was sitting on the quarter-deck, enjoying the novelty of the scene before me, and admiring the celerity with which the work was accomplished. The men were beginning to descend, when a poor fellow named Parkes dropped from a great height. I think he fell from what is termed the mizen-topsail-yard, and he came down very close to me. I instantly took him under the armpits and drew him lengthways on his back. He muttered, "Too much tobacco," and died instantly. It appeared that he had been cautioned by the medical officers against the excessive chewing of tobacco, but his neglect of the warning, and a persistent indulgence in the unwholesome mastication, produced a very fatal fall. In the evening of the following day, his body was committed to the deep. It was sewn in his hammock, in which a large cannon ball was also enclosed. The band played some mournful music whilst the corpse was conveyed to a grating, on which it was laid, covered with the British flag. The officers were in full uniform, and all the men not actually engaged in navigating the ship came on deck. The chaplain read the Burial Service of the Church of England, substituting "the deep" for "the ground," and the grating and flag were then released from their horizontal position, and the body, slipping from between them, sank into the ocean. The ceremony was extremely solemn and respectful; but as soon as it concluded, the band went down between decks and commenced playing very lively tunes, and the crew betook themselves to dancing and other pastimes incident to an hour of merry "sky-larking." I believe that in the navy and army it is deemed desirable to discourage the continuance, after discharging the last duties to the deceased sailor or soldier, of gloomy thoughts or dismal recollections.