OFFICERS' MESS 55 



eyes at this jeu d' esprit , if so it may be termed, of the 

 doctor's, as I turned from them and made my exit. 



The captain and the purser, of whom I had akeady 

 taken leave, were on shore ; and my chest and hammock 

 being let down into the boat, I walked over the ship's 

 side, not unobserved by my old friends, the caj)tains of 

 the forecastle and foretop, who stood waiting on the 

 gangway, and doffing their hats begged to have the 

 honour of shaking hands with me, as I had done with the 

 gunner and boatswain ; this I did with a full heart, and 

 jumping into the boat had time enough to subdue my 

 over-wrought feelings before I reached the Indiaman, 

 which had dropped down from AVhampoa that morning, 

 and to whose captain I reported myself as his intended 

 passenger. 



The captain received me very courteously, and con- 

 signed me to the care of the third mate, who presided 

 over the secondary portion of the officer's mess — the first 

 and second living entirely at the captain's table ; it there- 

 fore consisted of all the junior officers and an assistant- 

 surgeon. With these I soon made myself at home, 

 although I had to put up with no little bantering from 

 one or two of them, who were foremost in evincing their 

 jealousy and dislike of his Majesty's uniform ; and I had 

 to answer to a not very polite sobriquet derived from 

 the name of the King's ship I had left. 



We sailed, in company with my old ship, through the 

 Straits of Sunda to Bencoolen, where the captain of the 

 Dedaigneuse joined us. From thence we took our 

 departure, in company with a large fleet of India- 

 men, across the Indian Ocean, without convoy ; and. 



