92 REMARKABLE MAN. 



every cockpit in the British navy for now 

 more than a dozen years, and had sur- 

 rounded his name and history with a mist, 

 or romantic halo, in which the real cha- 

 racter of the man was not clearly percep- 

 tible to those, who were scarcely out of their 

 cradle, when the tragedy in which this 

 officer played so prominent a part occurred. 

 Independently of the circumstances of this 

 extraordinary tale, which were but imper- 

 fectly known to us, he was considered a very 

 smart officer was rich in scientific acquire- 

 ments, and had already begun to give proof 

 of them in a nautical survey of the Indian 

 coasts, and in the construction of charts, to 

 the great advantage of the service and the 

 benefit of navigation. What wonder, then, 

 that my curiosity should be excited! or 

 that I should seem to feel pleasure in seeing 

 a person who had already made such a 

 noise in the world, or rather had been so 

 frequently of late the topic of conversation 

 in our little circle. 



