MEMOIR. 13 



My shipmates in the ' Zebra ' were particularly kind, gentle- 

 manly, and agreeable. M'K. was my particular friend ; he 

 was the beau-ideal of a naval officer, very handsome, exceedingly 

 lively, with a continual flow of the highest spirits, and a most 

 excellent seaman. He was a native of Ayrshire ; his father was 

 a colonel, his mother a French nun, whom the colonel rescued 

 from some Spanish town during the Peninsular War, and married 

 her. He inherited the good qualities of the Briton with the 

 vivacity of the Frenchwoman. 



Cruising about all the summer and autumn, sometimes with 

 the fleet and sometimes alone, we visited Sicily, Catania, and 

 Palermo, the Greek islands, Paros, Smyrna, the Plains of Troy, 

 Alexandria, &c. 



In November I exchanged into the ' Bellerophon,' liner, 78 



guns. Changing from the little brig of 1 6 guns, the ' Bellerophon ' 



(or Billy rough 'im, as she was commonly called) of 78 guns was 



a new world to me. Such a number of messmates, such superior 



accommodation and comfort, and so little duty to do ! It is a 



great advantage to begin with a small vessel, as one then becomes 



accustomed at once to the roughs of the service, and a youngster 



learns much more in less time. In the ' Zebra ' I was made a top 



and boat midshipman at once ; in a big ship I should have had 



nothing to do for the two first years. In the ' Zebra ' I was mate 



of the watch and kept the log ; x in the ' Bellerophon ' I was about 



the sixth or seventh officer in a watch, though we were in four 



watches instead of three. The captain was an old easy -going man. 



1 The log was a large black hoard four feet long, folding on hinges like a book, 

 ruled with white paint lines, and was marked with a lump of chalk. —Note by 

 C. W. Graham. 



