256 CAPTAIN MACNAMARA. 



sometimes will do unaccountably as the 

 poet so beautifully likens them to the dis- 

 tant thunder in the dying wind and I as 

 instantly resolved to act upon it It was 

 this : In my early manhood I had attended 

 a ball at the Benevolent Society's rooms at 

 Portsea, where I had met many of the dock- 

 yard officials and their families, also some of 

 the most respectable tradesmen in the town. 

 There were generally a few naval officers 

 present, and they were mostly, with one or 

 two exceptions, of the civil department that 

 is, doctors and pursers. The admission was 

 by tickets. On one occasion the room was 

 crowded with beauty, if not fashion ; the 

 music was delightful ; the votaries of Terp- 

 sichore were giving full play to their ec- 

 static enjoyment the evening was advanc- 

 ing, when, hearing some rather loud talking, 

 I turned my head towards the folding doors 

 that formed the entrance, and saw there a 

 post-captain in full uniform, whom I imme- 

 diately knew to be the celebrated duellist, 



