160 Crossing the Line 



1850 



Wednesday, November 6. Crossed the equator at about 11 p. m. "Old Nep" 

 came on board and efiFectively "shaved" the starboard watch, vi^hich was 

 below at the time. The larboard watch being on deck, escaped entirely. 



( James F. Munger. Two years in the Pacific and Arctic oceans and China, 

 being a joimial of every day life on ... a whaling voyage. Vernon [Oneida 

 County, New York,] 1852. p. 13.) 



Somewhat eloquent understatement. 



1851 



... In the Small Cause Court at Madras in September, 1851, the Captain and 

 First OfiBcer of the True Briton were separately sued by a passenger named 

 King, a ship's steward, who had been lathered with a mixture of flour and 

 water and well drenched in salt water in a "crossing of the line" diversion 

 on board that ship. . . 



The full text of the story is included in the case of Lieutenant Maw under date of 1801, is 

 referred to here in chronological order, but is better read in the fuller report set forth as integral 

 part of the 1801 article. 



1853 



April 2nd. The weather hot and salty with frequently showers. To day we 

 crossed the line, that imaginary boundary between the hemispheres called 

 "the line," once the terror of Greenhorns on the accounts of the visits of his 

 aquatic majesty, old Neptune, vdth the usual accompanyments of shaveing 

 and ducking etc. 



(Bluejackets with Perry in Japan. A day-by-day account kept by Master's 

 Mate John R. C. Lewis and Cabin Boy William B. Allen. Edited with an 

 Introduction, by Henry F. Graff. Bulletin of The New York Public Li- 

 brary. V. 55, no. 1, Jan. 1951. p. 15. ) 



Did "old Neptune, with the usual accompanyments of shaveing and ducking" come aboard 

 on this trip? Or, didn't he? 



In 1853, or certainly in the minds of Lewis and Allen on this trip, "Greenhorns" were the 

 "poUywogs" of our day. 



c. 1855 



On the 13th of December [1860], we crossed the equator in longitude 24° 

 30' west. The weather was delightful; pleasant breezes and sunshine; the 

 heat not uncomfortable, but just enough to make thin clothing desirable. 

 Old Neptune did not favor us with a visit, although rather fearfully expected 

 by some. This practice, we beheve, has become obsolete, and we rejoice 

 heartily at it, for a more barbarous one never was invented. 



Barney was very anxiously and busily engaged during the middle and 

 morning watches, and most of the day, in looking for the "line" as we crossed 

 it. He had talked of nothing else for several days, and was keeping a bright 



