GAMBLING AND BETTING. 179 



the party dispersed. The proprietors of the table, not 

 having been more than two hours at play, had won over 

 £i,400y the duke having contributed £800, and the 

 unhappy viscount ;^300. The oddity of the story lay in 

 the fact that the duke himself had brought these rascals 

 and their play appliances down with him. 



There are worse dangers, however, than the fascination 

 of gambling, and worse disasters than any loss of money. 

 My third brother, who had commenced his seafaring 

 career as a midshipman in the service of the old East 

 India Company, used to tell a tale of a tragedy, the 

 chief scenes of which took place upon a vessel of which 

 he was chief officer, though only twenty-five years of 

 age. It was a fine vessel, one of Mr. Green's, bound to 

 Sydney vui the Cape, and then for Madras. The 

 commander was a popular young officer, who in a 

 previous voyage had become enamoured of a fascinat- 

 ing young widow, who had a child of about six years 

 old, and had married her. In less than a month from his 

 marriage he took this new command. I went on the 

 vessel from Blackwall to Plymouth to see the last of my 

 brother. At Plymouth the captain joined the ship with 

 his wife, but there was not sufficient accommodation on 

 board for the nurse and child. The lady indignantly 

 refused to make the journey without her child, and the 

 result was that the ship sailed with the captain, while 

 his wife and her child remained behind. 



The captain was a handsome and gentleman-like 

 fellow, and an experienced seaman. Amongst the 

 passengers was a captain of the English army, who had 

 with him his wife and family of young children, the 



