7i ALONG THE FLORIDA KEEF. 



sheet, and his " Ready about, sir ! Hard a lee, 

 sir ! Haul it is, sir ! " were all delivered with a 

 precision that w^ould have done credit to a fifty- 

 gun frigate. 



The commodore took great pride in the lio- 

 setta, which the doctor had decorated. She was 

 painted a rich vermilion outside, white within, 

 her seats cushioned, and the guards and bulk- 

 head ornamented with attractive pictures from 

 the doctor's brush. Tin cans had been inserted 

 beneath the decks, so that she was a life-boat as 

 well as a picture of beauty. Busby did not 

 fancy her name, Jftosetta, and after a race in 

 which Tom sailed her to victory in half a gale, 

 and brought her in half full of water, he re 

 christened her the Roaring Gimlet, .as being 

 characteristic of her method of boring through 

 the waves under a press of canvas. 



The commodore had quarters in a large ram- 

 bling building outside of the fort, where, in one 

 end, he had a room fixed up, from which led 

 a little balcony. From here he could see a 

 weather-vane, set by the compass, on the top of 

 the building, and here, according to his own ac- 



