On arriving in town, I took lodgings in the New Exchange Coffee-house in the Strand, being a house frequented by naval officers, and to which Lieutenant Rowley had recommended me. My first care was to purchase a large and strong chest, which having sent to my lodgings, I proceeded to buy linen, bedding, uniforms, books, &c. &c.; and of course, did not forget an elegant hanger, a dirk, and a cocked-hat, richly bound with gold lace.
I was so diligent in this affair, that in ten days I had every thing ready; and, embarking with my luggage on board a Sheerness packet, the same day sailed down the river Thames. After a favourable passage, we arrived at Sheerness; and, as we passed through the fleet, I had the pleasure of seeing my ship lashed alongside the Carolina, having the preceding day come out of dock. As soon as the sloop anchored, I went on board the hulk, and was received with kind encouragement by my superior officers, and with the most lively pleasure by my future messmates. Mr. Rowley very kindly sent the cutter to bring my chest, &c., from the packet; and I was then formally introduced by that gentleman to the midshipmen’s birth. After a jovial evening, spent in festivity and merriment, I retired to my hammock, in which I slept well, notwithstanding the novelty of my situation. The next day was spent in overhauling my chest, as the young tars termed an inspection of its contents; and I had the pleasure to find, that my judgment and taste in the purchases I had made, were universally approved of. Day after day increased the happiness I felt in my novel and respectable situation; and my gratitude to those who were, under Providence, the promoters of my good fortune.
The mess of which I was become a member, consisted of eleven persons; namely, nine midshipmen of different ages, the captain’s clerk, and surgeon’s mate: the latter was a most curious character, a Welshman named Jones; and reminded me, on a very short acquaintance, of Morgan in Roderic Random, whom he resembled in many particulars: and I soon found that he was, like him, a kind of butt for the others to exercise their waggery upon; but in the main he was a good-hearted, inoffensive young man. The captain’s clerk was a genteel youth, who had served under his present commander several years, and was in expectation of being soon promoted to the rank of purser, through his interest. Of the rest, two or three were midshipmen who had also served nearly the limited term; one a master’s mate, and the rest youngsters of different ages. The whole were of good families, and liberally supported by their friends. I was called upon to subscribe my monthly quota towards the mess, which was received by one of the senior members, acting as caterer; and a plentiful sea-stock of all necessary comforts was daily accumulating, preparatory to our approaching cruise in the North-sea, to which station the Astræa belonged.
About a week after my joining the ship, the captain came on board, received me very politely, and gave me the best advice as to my future conduct. He was an old officer who had been at sea from his youth, possessed an excellent heart, and a most conciliating address, blended with the bluntness and unaffected good humour peculiar to seamen. He was advanced in years at the time I served under him; and I perceive by a late Navy List that his long and meritorious services have been rewarded with the post of Governor of the Naval Asylum, an institution which does honour to the country and the government that established it.
CHAPTER VII.
My rapid progress in Navigation.—Become a good Sailor in Theory.—The Approach of a severe Winter somewhat damps my Pleasure.—Begin to repent my Bargain.—Duty excessively fatiguing, and Situation uncomfortable.—Advised to alter my Course.—Appointed Captain’s Clerk, and find myself at home to a Peg.—The Frigate ordered up the River Thames.—I visit London.—Become enamoured of a fair Cyprian.—Desert my Ship on her account.
In a few days, the frigate being completely equipped, was cast off from alongside the Carolina, and all hands being on board, we dropped down to the Nore, from whence we sailed for Yarmouth Roads, where the admiral of the North Sea fleet was then lying; soon after which we put to sea, on a cruise off the coast of Holland. I immediately applied myself assiduously to the study of navigation, in which I was so successful, that I was in a few weeks capable of keeping a dead reckoning. It was required of the midshipmen to deliver in daily at noon, an account of the ship’s course, distance, &c., performed in the last 24 hours. These different calculations, deduced from the remarks on the log-board, were presented to the captain, who, on a comparison of the whole, formed his opinion of the several operators’ ingenuity, and praised or censured accordingly. I had the satisfaction to find that my performances were generally approved of, and gained me much applause from their correctness. This success was probably owing to the advantages I possessed over most of my companions, in point of education, improved by extensive practice in figures, and to a closeness of application arising from my experience in the world, of which they (whose acquirements were merely scholastic) were incapable. I was remarked also for the neatness and perspicuity with which I kept my log-book and journal, which I never suffered, like many others, to be in arrears. I was not quite so happy in my efforts to become a good practical sailor. I learnt indeed, with great facility, the names and uses of every rope in the ship, and could apply to them without hesitation on all occasions, and I had a correct idea of the manœuvres necessary in tacking, wearing, reefing, &c., as far as theory extended; but unhappily my constitution being naturally delicate, and my nerves uncommonly weak, I found myself much embarrassed, when duty or inclination prompted me to go aloft, on which occasions I was subject to a giddiness in my head, which rendered my situation extremely perilous, and though I endeavoured by perseverance to overcome this weakness, I could never totally banish the timidity with which I was affected. On this account, though I continued indefatigable in every other point of my duty, I desisted, particularly in blowing weather, from ascending “the high and giddy mast;” and I am firmly persuaded that it is only by going to sea at a very tender age, that youth in general are rendered callous to danger, and insensible of those fears, to which I was at all times more or less subject. It is also probable that the various excesses in which I had indulged since I first quitted my friends, had contributed to impair a constitution naturally fragile, and to relax still more the nervous system. Our first cruise produced no incident worth notice. We maintained our station, when the weather would permit, off the Texel, and were frequently so near the land, that we could distinguish and count the Dutch fleet, lying at anchor in that harbour, from our mast-head: but Mynheer was not disposed to put to sea, of which event we were ordered to convey immediate intelligence to the admiral. The winter was now approaching, and there was every appearance of its proving unusually inclement. During this cruise, we lay-to for twenty-one successive days, in a tremendous gale from the N. E., with only a storm jib, and fly-sail set; and although we were in no immediate danger, having good sea-room, and a tight ship, I found my ardour for a sea-faring life considerably abated. I was obliged to turn out of a warm bed at 12 or 4 o’clock in each night, to take my watch, the hardship of which duty was a severe penance upon me. The excessive cold, added to loss of rest, produced a drowsiness which rendered me incapable of resisting the inclination I felt to sleep, whenever I could retire to a private spot unobserved; which was generally in the long-boat, under a gun carriage, or some such hiding place. I was, however, frequently discovered in my retreat, by accident, or by the mischievous information of some watch-mate, whose hardy frame was proof against fatigue. On those occasions the lieutenant of the watch would order the rest of the midshipmen to throw a horse-bucket of salt-water over me, which did not fail to awaken me quickly: but on starting up, shivering and amazed, I could never ascertain the perpetrators of this ablution, who having disappeared, would come up to me, very gravely condoling on my misfortune, which they stated to proceed from a grampus having blown over me from alongside. This piece of sea wit, which I soon understood, produced a general laugh at my expense; how ever I was as ready at other times to practise the same exploit upon some other unlucky sleeper; and my chief consolation was, that the farce always ended with the sufferer being ordered to take off his wet clothes, and turn in to his hammock, which sometimes saved two or three hours on deck. At other times, sleeping on our watch, or other instances of remissness in duty, were not so slightly passed over; we were sometimes sentenced to sit on the main-top-mast head, for two, four, and sometimes eight hours; at other times to sit on the weather cat-head, exposed to a cutting wind; and other similar punishments, depending on the humour or severity of the officer of the watch. In addition to the hardships and fatigues of duty, I began to find my situation in the mess grow daily more irksome. I soon perceived that a midshipman’s birth (or mess-room) is an epitome of the world at large, the weaker party goes to the wall, and is subject to many insults and impositions from those who are his superiors in seniority, strength, or interest. There were also frequent instances of intrigue and treachery; and as among so many persons there must be various dispositions, there were not wanting envious and malicious minds, whose delight was in fomenting mischief and detraction. Being naturally of a peaceable turn, hating nothing so much as a life of dissension, and abhorring tyranny of every description, I now wished myself emancipated from this state of bondage, as to me it seemed; and I discovered, when too late, that “all is not gold that glitters,” and that the situation of a midshipman (which I had once considered the summum bonum of honour and happiness) was not, any more than others, wholly free from care and inquietude. However I continued to weather the gale, as well as I could; and conscious of the rectitude of my intentions, suffered patiently those little mortifications I had not power to avert.
After a cruise of two months, we returned to port, when I had the pleasure of hearing from my respected friends in S⸺shire. Our stay in Yarmouth roads was short; we put to sea again in company with several smaller vessels, of which our captain was commodore. A violent storm, however, soon dispersed our little squadron, and we at length with much difficulty gained the river Humber, from whence we returned to Yarmouth. During this winter we were continually at sea, except for very short intervals; and the oldest seaman in the ship declared they had never known a more tempestuous season. Several fine frigates, sloops, brigs, &c., were lost in the North Sea, and on the northern coasts of England. My hardships, of course, rather increased than diminished, and I heartily repented the step I had taken; not that I disliked the service, or the mode of living on ship-board; but I found myself unequal to the duty of watching, &c., and was also uncomfortably situated with respect to my messmates, whose manners and ideas of enjoyment did not coincide with mine. The notion of finding pleasure in books was ridiculed by them; and I was sometimes told that I ought to have been a parson; but it was agreed on all sides, that I was better adapted for a clerk than a sailor. These hints and suggestions were not thrown away upon me; I felt the force of their justice, and longed for an opportunity of ameliorating my situation which at length, to my great joy, unexpectedly occurred.