114 Crossing the Line 



1817, continued 



stopped tlie blows of the soldiers. What prodigies this magic metal every 

 where performs I 



The other officers came next; and each, as he answered the priest, was 

 requu^ed to swear never to kiss a sailor's wife. To kiss was not precisely the 

 term employed, but I substitute it for a more tickhsh expression, used by 

 the sailor-priest, to signify nearly the same thing. One of our number, by 

 way of joke, desired the oath to be repeated to him a second time, but with- 

 out pronouncing it himself, as if apprehensive lest he should break it. 'You 

 run no risk,' said the too indulgent parson to him in a whisper; 'swear at 

 any rate. Oaths have long been in fashion; you know what they are worth 

 by the yard; and when there is need for it, I promise you a total absolution. 

 Swear, to satisfy my neighbours;' added he; 'for my part, I am determined 

 to continue a bachelor.' 



Decorum, which must be kept up even in the least serious matters, for- 

 bade that any of us should receive the total ablution. Perhaps our liberahty 

 abated the temptation to laugh at our expense. Be this as it may, that part 

 of the ceremony was reserved for the sailors, who, seated over the large tub, 

 were in a moment plunged into it, and could not extricate themselves with- 

 out the utmost efforts and the most grotesque contortions. 



But an unexpected incident suspended the ceremony, and excited mur- 

 murs. Each looked at the other, inquiring what was the matter, and learned 

 with astonishment that one of the uninitiated, proud of the office which he 

 held on board, refused to submit to the established practice; and that, armed 

 vvdth a formidable weapon, he was preparing to repel the attack of all the 

 combined devils and their thousand prongs. All hurried to the spot, and in 

 the kitchen our astonished eyes beheld a hero. Such appeared the great 

 A.jax of yore, when, with javelin poised, he checked the progress of Hector 

 and his victorious Trojans. His left foot was planted on a carronade. which 

 served for a rampart to the culinary hero: the white cap of his profession 

 covered his radiant head, and defended his brow, befeathered with the down 

 of his innocent victims. An apron, of equivocal colour, was gracefully thrown 

 over the shoulder of the puisued warrior, and resembled a drapery à la 

 Grecque. His eyes flashed indignation; and his face and attitude expressed 

 impatience for the fight. In his hand he held a pointed spit, whereon was 

 impaled a meagre tm^key, which, with his head tm-ned toward the assailants 

 of his executioner, seemed to bid them beware of the traitor, and to fear a 

 fate similar to lois own. In vain did tlie pipes of the pumps drench tlie 

 unruly cook with salt water, which mingled with the sauces he had pre- 

 pared, without making them any the worse; in vain were threats pronounced 

 on all sides: firm as a rock amid the dashing billows, his eyes stiU flashed 

 defiance. 'I wiU certainly dispatch some of you,' at lengdi cried he, in a 

 voice of thunder: 'and were you twenty times as numerous, you shall not 

 make me submit to the ignominious laws which you have been pleased to 



