KECOLLECTIONS OF THE AUTHOR 



BY CAPTAIN H. C. ST. JOHN. 



I HAVE been asked to jot down some few reminis- 

 cences of my father. I was only eighteen when 

 he died, and as I had been to sea for four years, 

 my recollections of him are almost those of a 

 child. 



I remember him a slight, active man, of 

 middle height, wiry and strong, with a handsome, 

 animated face, blue eyes, and a singularly sweet 

 smile. He became bald early, which showed to 

 advantage the intellectually -formed head. In 

 disposition he was calm and collected, and I 

 never remember him violently excited about 

 anything. When young, I have always heard 

 he was gay, mixing a great deal in society ; but 

 my own recollections of him are as a thoroughly 

 domestic man, devoted to his children, natural 

 history, and sport. Perhaps he was rather too 

 indulgent a father, for we boys had little difficulty 



