OFFICERS AND CADETS, 1861.
A favourite pastime was sliding down the two parts of the topsail halyards, which passed through a great block within reach of the main-top. You got hold of the two ropes, which ran parallel, about a foot apart, to the bulwarks, one in each hand, twisted your legs round them, and then, embracing the ropes with your arms so as to avoid skinning your hands, down you went like a flash. It was advisable, however, to tie your trousers round the ankles first, or they rucked up and the friction of the rope would inflict a very nasty burn on the leg; one cadet, in fact, was on the sick-list for a considerable time as the result of this manœuvre.
Dear old Dibdin tells us how William, the favoured of Black-eyed Susan, was aloft when she came alongside; upon which,
The cord glides swiftly through his glowing hands,
And quick as lightning on the deck he stands.
No cadet, certainly, except a very green “cheeky new fellow,” would try this experiment, knowing that he would arrive on deck with a good deal more than the cuticle burnt off his “glowing hands”; William, however, came down by “poetical licence,” which no doubt makes all the difference.
If the cadet’s cuticle escaped, however, the clothes, which his parents paid for, did not!
On a fine half-holiday those who did not wish to go on shore would often spend the time aloft with a book; many an hour has the present writer spent at the main-yardarm, where the studding-sail boom afforded a seat of more or less comfort and security, with a book; one arm clasping the lift, legs hanging down below the yard. It probably never occurs to youth that to doze off in such a position would certainly be fatal!
The year 1862 was an eventful one for the Britannia, two most important figures disappearing from her history.
It became known in September that Captain Harris was to leave shortly, and the news came as a sort of shock, he was so completely identified with the institution. The report turned out to be true, and on October 1st he was succeeded by Captain Richard Ashmore Powell. This officer had, in a letter to Captain Harris, dated May 27th of the same year, written as follows: “I am much pleased with the lads from the Britannia; they are well behaved, and are well grounded in the fundamental parts of their profession.”