118 Crossing the Line 



1822, continued 



L'un après l'autre, ils sont conduits, au pied de l'autel, sin: lequel un tronc 

 vient d'être placé. Ceux qui y déposent une offrande s'en tirent avec quel- 

 ques gouttes d'eau versées dans la manche de leur habit. Ceux qui oublient 

 cette formahté substantielle, sont plongés dans la cuve. 



Quant aux soldats, on se contente de les baptiser en bloc, en braquant 

 sur eux, la pompe à incendie. Finalement, à bord, personne n'eut un fil 

 de sec. 



Le soir, quelques jeunes soldats, qui avaient fait partie d'xme troupe de 

 comédiens ambulants, nous jouèrent, avec assez de goût, une petite pièce 

 intitulée: Le Savetier et le Financier. La fête se termina par im bal, qui se 

 prolongea, jusqu'à minuit, sous im ciel d'une idéale sérénité. 



(Christophe Paulin de la Poix, chevalier de Fréminville. Mémoires du 

 . . . capitaine des frégates du Roi. Edited by E. Herpin. Bibliothèque 

 de la revolution et de l'empire. Paris, 1913. v. 7, p. 104-7.) 



Another account by de Fréminville is given above under 1802. 



August 12th — On Monday, the 12th, we crossed the equator, in long. 26° 

 42' w. Agreeably to ancient usage on such occasions, we were honoured by a 

 visit from Father Neptune, who courteously bid us welcome into the southern 

 hemisphere; in return for which civihty, his health was drunk, if not in am- 

 brosial nectar, at least in beverage which sailors are quite as fond of. The 

 usual ceremony of shaving and ducking the novitiates was then performed 

 with the customary solemnities, consecrated by copious hbations. Having by 

 these indispensable rites propitiated the favour of our tutelar deity, he most 

 graciously took his leave, wishing us a prosperous voyage. We therefore 

 advanced with confidence into the southern section of his realm. 



(Benjamin Morrell. A narrative of four voyages to the South Sea . . . 

 from the year 1822 to 1831. New York, 1832.) 



This, the first of the four voyages, seems the only one thus honored. 



1823 



On the 11th of October we crossed the Equator, at twenty-five degrees west 

 longitude, reckoning from Greenwich. Having saluted the southern hemis- 

 phere by the firing of guns, our crew proceeded to enact the usual cere- 

 monies. A sauor, who took pride in having frequently passed the line, 

 directed the performance with much solemnity and decorum. He appeared 

 as Neptune, attired in a manner that was meant to be terribly imposing, 

 accompanied by his consort, seated on a gun-carriage instead of a shell, 

 drawn by negroes, as substitutes for tritons. In the evening the sailors repre- 

 sented, amidst general applause, a comedy of their own composition. These 

 sports, while they serve to keep up the spirits of the men, and make them 



