62 Crossing the Line 



1792, continued 



a great deal of applause, and a copious quantity of grog, and I hear 

 her stammering away in the steerage. 



"She has done me the honor of calling in my cabin, and drinking 

 a stiff glass of grog; at the same time assuring me, by a mortal squeeze 

 of the hand, that she was sure, "I loved a sailor dearly," and that she 

 hoped, "sailors and soldiers would always fight hard and drink hard 

 together." I shewed my approval by another glass of grog; and, I 

 am very well assured, we parted friends; and where was the harm 

 of it? For when sailors and soldiers have the privilege (of the day) 

 to do their best to be happy, it is the duty of every man ( that is only 

 an allowed superior) to endeavour to make them so. 



"I wonder from whence this curious custom arose; but I am sure 

 it is so rooted a one that, if a ship was not to be granted it, it would 

 occasion a dangerous cabal amongst the crew. Who knows but 

 Vasco de Gama, who was always so happy in a ready thought, might 

 have been the f ramer of it, to keep up the hearts of his men, previous 

 to his doubling the Cape in his great perilous voyage? But, whoever 

 he was, he had a wise head; for long voyages require a bustle every 

 now and then to keep the devil out of the sailors heads. Trade vidnds 

 are pleasant, but too insipid; a ship is sometimes a month without 

 having occasion to touch a rope; and sometimes so becalmed, as 

 to be almost as long without advancing a degree; of course a languor 

 ensues; which is a time for bad men to be thinking evil themselves, 

 and working it up in others. In foul weather they have enough to do; 

 but it would be a good practice on a calm evening to pipe all hands 

 to drum, fife, and dance; for what can be more harmless than kick- 

 ing bad thoughts out of the head than the cheerful sound of the 

 drum, exhilarated with a well-timed glass of grog, or more salutary 

 caUibogus * ( which is never spared in this ship ) . When they are 

 tired with dancing, they should be encouraged to sing and tell tales; 

 there are always some capital fellows in this way, and I have often 

 listened with deUght to the rude unlettered songs of the forecastle, 

 and to the brave soldiers upon nightly guard. 



"Thus, my friend, have I endeavoured to describe, as faithfully 

 as I can, what I have now twice been an eye witness of; and I am 

 persuaded (though I have often heard it ridiculed), when con- 

 ducted with the laugh and manner of this day, it is not only useful 

 amongst the men, but as well worth seeing as a farce, and was per- 

 formed by characters as valuable as any in the world — by British 



* So called by sailors, spruce-beer mixed with grog. 



