HIS THREE CRUISES 19 



ing his first two cruises had contributed, by example at 

 least, in making him into an officer and a gentleman. 

 During all this time he had studied, and read as widely 

 as opportunity afforded, having had the privilege for a 

 portion of the time of using the books of Midshipman 

 William Irving, a nephew to Washington Irving. 



That the opportunities for instruction on shipboard 

 were, however, very limited is indicated by the following 

 summary of Maury's experience with the school system 

 of the navy. ''The first ship I sailed in", he wrote, "had 

 a schoolmaster: a young man from Connecticut. He 

 was well qualified and well disposed to teach navigation, 

 but not having a schoolroom, or authority to assemble 

 the midshipmen, the cruise passed off without the oppor- 

 tunity of organizing his school. From him, therefore, we 

 learned nothing. On my next cruise, the dominie was a 

 Spaniard; and, being bound to South America, there was 

 a perfect mania in the steerage for the Spanish language. 

 In our youthful impetuosity we bought books, and for a 

 week or so pursued the study with great eagerness. But 

 our spirits began to flag, and the difficulties of ser and 

 estar finally laid the copestone for us over the dominie's 

 vernacular. The study was exceedingly dry. We there- 

 fore voted both teacher and grammar a bore, and com- 

 mitting the latter to the deep, with one accord, we 

 declared in favor of the Byronical method — 



* 'Tis pleasant to be taught in a strange tongue 

 By female lips and eyes'; 



and continued to defer our studies till we should 

 arrive in the South American vale of paradise, 

 called Valparaiso. After arriving on that station, the 

 commander, who had often expressed his wish that we 



