A PROSPEROUS VOYAGE. 287 



coast. Our meal passed pleasantly ; and while performing 

 the office of host, his brusqueness disappeared, and with it 

 a good deal of the broad dialect. The haggis was excellent, 

 the bacon and chickens were as good, and the West Indian 

 preserves which formed the dessert were of the best qual- 

 ity. As I stretched my limbs under his table in the snug 

 little cabin, after the cloth had been removed, and a kettle 

 of boiling water flanked with lemons had made its appear- 

 ance, I felt satisfied that there were worse lots in the world 

 than commanding a clipper schooner in the West Indian 

 trade. 



As the toddy circulated our companionship increased; 

 and to a question I asked in reference to his success in the 

 last voyage, he made the following statement : " Well, sir, 

 you see a man that commenced the world without a baw- 

 bee. My faither and mither were baith poor; and when I 

 thought I had enough schooling, our family being big, I 

 bound myself as an apprentice on board a bark, called the 

 Uttlmors, that traded out of Clyde to the West Indies. 

 She was one of the old-fashioned sort, and would make as 

 much on a wind as a hay-stack. Still, she was a snug little 

 boat, strong as oak, and dry as could be. On the last run I 

 made in her the captain took sick and died, most before we 

 lost sight of Cantire. This made me second mate, and the 

 former first mate took charge. Our voyage was prosper- 

 ous, and we dropped anchor off Demerara in near the short- 

 est time that then ever had been made. One thing only 

 disturbed the harmony of the passage, viz., the acting first 

 officer was so puffed up with his new post that he neither 

 performed his duty nor would let others do theirs. The 

 temporary captain was, after a deal of forbearance, compel- 

 led to place him under arrest, and prefer charges against 

 him on dropping anchor. The result was, he was dis- 

 charged ; and as the bark was to go to sea immediately, 



