The Nineteenth Century 159 



interesting, picturesque, and impressive, although the pleasin:able feelings 

 excited by the spectacle were somewhat marred by the fact of one of the 

 crew being whipped and put in irons in consequence of refusing to wash 

 himself and attend service. 



March 8 (Thursday): Neptune today made his promised visit, with wife and 

 attendants . . . and having drunk the health of the captain and passengers 

 of the good ship Panama in a glass of grog ordered up from the cabin by 

 the captain, he and his attendants retired from the quarterdeck to the fore- 

 castle. Here followed the more serious part of the performance. Upon a 

 long plank reaching from the caboose to the forecastle were arranged a 

 number of buckets of water; beneath the plank and upon the stock of 

 one of the guns was prepared a not very pleasant seat, while opposite 

 this seat, in all the terrors of absolute authority, sat Neptune and his con- 

 sort stirrounded by his attendants. On receiving an order to that effect, 

 the attendants brought forward one of the crew who had not before 

 "crossed the hne;" a bandage was placed over his eyes; two or three men 

 held him in his seat with his head back; a dirty, black piece of tarred 

 saü-cloth, about a yard square was placed under his chin, and the barber 

 stands ready with paint brush and tar paü. Neptvme then addresses 

 him some questions and as he opens his mouth to answer it is filled with 

 tar, vdth which his whole face is painted. The long razor is then produced 

 and his face goes through the operation of being scraped, after which 

 three pails of water are thrown suddenly upon him from the plank above, 

 and he is then at Hberty to find his way to the slush barrel and there 

 employ himself for an hour or two in freeing his face from the sticky 

 lather. This operation was performed upon many of the crew besides 

 several forward cabin passengers, and even the second mate himself, 

 who submitted to it quite cheerfuUy and then exerted himself strenuously 

 in bringing others to the same condemnation. Some surrendered themselves 

 with the resignation of martyrs, others struggled and fought; one secreted 

 himself in the rigging, but was obhged to come down; another poor 

 fellow, a French waiter, appeared frightened almost out of his senses; 

 he begged, cried, entreated, implored, offered his purse and all it contained, 

 if they would but release him, and finally went through the operation bel- 

 lowing like a calf. 



(Clarence Blair Mitchell. Mitchell record. [Princeton:] Privately printed, 

 1926. p. 110-112.) 



Clarence Green Mitchell, Columbia 1847, at the age of 23, sailed from New York on the 

 side-wheel steamer Panama under command of Lieutenant Porter, son of David Dixon Porter, 

 the naval ofiBcer. 



The quotations from the privately printed family record are made wâth permission of the 

 author, who reports that the omissions in the original manuscript (indicated here as in the 

 printed text) are of no importance. 



