40 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[July 21. 1855. 



castle, and who had kept the ship's reckoning 

 through the night" &c. Perhaps a greater im- 

 possibility could not be mentioned as a matter of 

 fact ; and how the four naval officers, who are 

 said (preface, p. vii.) to have " finally revised " the 

 work, could have passed over such an egregious 

 error, is of no little surprise to those acquainted 

 ■with nautical concerns ; and it is still rendered 

 more astonishing, as one of them (Mr. Gaze), it Is 

 presumed, would have remembered who then did 

 " keep the log," and also had done the same in all 

 actions for the previous three years. It does not 

 appear to have occurred to either of these gentle- 

 men, that the arduous duty Lieutenant Bell had 

 to perform, rendered it utterly impossible (even 

 if he had been so inclined) for him to have given 

 ' the very least attention to the necessary nautical 

 calculations for that purpose ; his situation being 

 so very remote from all the requisite means to 

 accomplish the same. 



The fact is, that the writer of this notice, very 

 • soon after he had entered the navy In the Are- 

 thusa, was appointed by Mr. George Bell, the 

 master, with the sanction of Sir Edward Pellew, 

 the captain, to " keep the log " in all actions that 

 should occur ; and the same was done with the 

 like sanction by Mr. Thompson, the Master of the 

 Indefatigable. In the action with Les Droits de 

 I'Homme, Lieutenant Bell knew nothing of the 

 situation of the Indefatigable until between 2 and 

 3 a.m. of January 14, when it was reported to 

 him (by the writer of this notice), with a com- 

 mand from Sir Edward " to keep a look out for 

 the land." Lieutenant Bell on being informed, 

 in answer to his inquiry, that we should make 

 the vicinity of the " Penmarcks," said, " Then I 

 must keep a sharp look out," and instantly placed 

 two of the seamen in the forerigging (one on each 

 side) for that purpose. 



This is the simple truth, and can (it Is pre- 

 sumed) be vouched for by living witnesses, not- 

 withstanding the lapse of more than fifty-eight 

 years. It is therefore hoped that should another 

 edition of the biography be wanted, it will be 

 corrected upon this point. R. M. Metcalf, 



Schoolmaster and Assistant-Clerk of the 

 Arethusa, and Clerk and Schoolmaster 

 of the Indefatigable, 1794 to 1797. 

 5. Montpelier Terrace, Walworth. 



AMEBICAN SURNAMES. 



An old bachelor of eighty, named Benjamin 

 Bird, lately married Mrs. Julia Chaff, aged thirty ; 

 an event which, according to the newspapers, re- 

 futes an old proverb. 



General Quattlebum was recently a member of 

 the South Carolina legislature. 



No. 299.] 



Henry Moist was a waterman in this city, not 

 many years ago. 



Mussulman and Turk are Pennsylvania names. 



Mrs. Mary Mock was recently arrested here for 

 assaulting her husband, who thought her quite in 

 earnest ; and Edward Serious, a coloured man, 

 for a violent battery of his wife. 



John Thunder and Son (a Boanerges) were 

 tailors in this city a few years ago ; at a later day 

 a Mr, Thunder was an organist in one of our 

 churches, and a Mr. Loud In another. 



Amongst appropriate names we may Include 

 those of Doctors Physic and Hartshorne, eminent 

 practitioners of medicine here ; and Messrs. Law 

 and Lex of the Philadelphia Bar. We cannot say 

 the same of Dr. Slaughter, a physician here In 

 1830 ; or of Mr. Whale, who has been a dancing- 

 master for many years. 



Nicholas Dabb is a painter In New Jersey. 



John C. Copper is an engraver In this city. 



Sergeant King, of the United States army, died 

 suddenly at Carlisle, Pa., in 1850; and a brother 

 sergeant, named Queen, dropped dead while assist- 

 ing in laying him out. 



Mr. J. H. Clay Mudd was a clerk to Congress 

 In 1849. 



Messrs. Gutelius and Slink were officers of the 

 Pennsylvania legislature In 1849. 



Rev. Mr. Slicer was one of the chaplains to 

 Congress a few years ago. 



Rev. Mr. Yocura officiates at most of the mar- 

 riages in Appleton, Wisconsin. 



Solomon Rake was married In Doylestown, Pa., 

 In 1849. 



Tea was plaintiff", and Phiz defendant. In a suit 

 brought here a few years ago. 



Dr. Toothaker is a physician In this city. 



J. Cain is a broker in Baltimore. 



Charles Bitters died here in 1794. 



In 1853, Mary Elizabeth Buggy died at Mana- 

 yunk, Pa. 



Augustus Cowman RItter died lately in Wash- 

 ington city. Bitter is the German for horseman. 



Sophia Bible administered to her hxisband's 

 estates in Philadelphia in 1849. 



Rev. Jesse Boring, from Georgia, died at St. 

 Louis in 1850. Bishop Capers announced his de- 

 cease to the Conference, of which he was a member. 



Mr. Failing keeps a hotel at Canandagua, New 

 York ; and a Mr. Owings was an insolvent debtor 

 lately, as might have been expected. 



John Augustus Mush died here this year. 



Mr. Gagger was a lawyer In Albany, New York, 

 In 1852. 



Samuel Meek of Georgetown, S. C, advertises 

 that he wishes to purchase fifty negroes. 



A Mrs. Halfman keeps the Halfway House near 

 this city. We have also the name of Double- 

 man. - 



The Oyster family Is a large one In the Interior- 



