TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 279 



beasts was on board of the Diana, a corvette bound 

 to the Gaboon. The major had about a dozen of 

 them placed in a large tub and covered up with a 

 tarpaulin, intending to study them. 



"It was very hot; not a heat like this, but like 

 what one feels only in the tropics, and that very likely 

 you will never feel. The douches that the sailors 

 gave to one another, the frequent washings of the 

 deck, sometimes repeated as often as six times a 

 day, nothing was any good ! We were stewing, my 

 children were stewing as if Old Nick had cast us all 

 into his stewpan." 



The old sailor here paused for a minute, and passed 

 his hand over his brow, as if to drive away a painful 

 reminiscence, and then continued his narrative. 



"We had thought of taking a dip overboard, and 

 being towed by a rope ; but there were a lot of those 

 miserable sharks. They caught every morsel thrown 

 overboard before it reached the water ; but this was 

 not sufficient to prevent them from grinning and 

 showing us their teeth in a most villainous fashion. 

 It may be a fine thing to be a sailor, but one does not 

 care to have such fellows for neighbours. So all 

 through the day I looked with the corner of my eye 

 at the major's tub, and thought how much I should 

 like to take a bath in it. The clear water tempted me 

 too strongly. 



" Well, when the night comes, I get up, I proceed 



