124 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



once hard and fast ashore in one day. I was on a 



visit to Bob S 's brother at Magdalen, and among 



the amusements of the season was boating : most un- 

 seasonable work it was just then, for the weather was 

 bitter cold. We started, a lot of us, intending to 

 navigate the river as far as Ely. None of us hap- 

 pened to know anything about nauticals, so we 

 blindly submitted ourselves to the guidance of a 

 fresh man who wore a remarkably hard-a-weather 

 pilot-coat, and waddled in walking like a man unused 

 to terra firma. He took the command as naturally 

 as possible never dreaming of so far doubting our 

 judgments as to mistrust his own ability. We had 

 hardly got well away when a squall laid us right 

 over, and fairly swamped the boat. This we regarded 

 as an accident that might overtake the most skilful ; 

 and I verily believe that we even the more highly 

 esteemed our Palinurus on account of the coolness 

 which, we must all do him the justice to say, he 

 exhibited. But when, soon after, he ran us regularly 

 under water, we began to be suspicious, and hints 

 flew about that he had undertaken more than he was 

 up to. On this Mr Tarpaulin, with all imaginable 

 complacency, asked us what the row was about, and 

 whether we thought that any of us would have done 

 better, if this had been the first time in our lives 

 that we had exercised naval command. After this 

 confession we were no more surprised at accidents. 

 We regarded it as rather an easy let off that the con- 



