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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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Official Photograph, U. S. Navy 



splashes prom gunfire: target practice at SEA 



To the layman these splashes seem uncomfortably close to the observation ship, from which 

 the photograph was taken. Note the muzzles of the big guns at the top of the picture. 



at the head of the long line. As it fell 

 astern, a hoarse voice was heard from 

 the bridge and a masquerader in spun- 

 yarn wig and whiskers cried that at 8 

 o'clock of the following morning Nep- 

 tune would come aboard. 



The formula is unvarying. In all the 

 years and on all the thousands of ships 

 the wording has hardly changed. 



SHIPS SURRENDERED TO NEPTUNE'S 

 NAVIGATOR 



So, at 8 o'clock of the morning of 

 January 24 every ship in the fleet checked 

 her way, while a ponderous figure, topped 

 with a gilded crown, climbed aboard from 

 the chains and marched down the deck 

 at the head of his crew. 



The men grinned at Neptune and Am- 

 phitrite and the court jester and the rest, 

 of course. That is American fashion. 



For all that, there was an element of 

 solemnity as well as of fun in the cere- 

 monial. It seemed to link these young- 



sters with Drake and Morgan and the 

 others who first sailed these seas. 



The captains turned over their ships to 

 Neptune's navigator, who took the bridge. 

 The crew moved to the forward decks, 

 where the tanks had been built. The court 

 criers began to read the names of those 

 who had never crossed the Line before. 



Ordinarily this performance is some- 

 what drawn out. When there are but 

 two or three to admit to Neptune's realm 

 the monarch's ingenuity is taxed to give 

 them a fitting initiation. But Neptune 

 had too much work before him on this 

 occasion to give his humorous inclina- 

 tions free rein. On some of the battle- 

 ships 1,400 men were to be ducked, and 

 few vessels had fewer than 200. 



Only the first two or three victims 

 heard the speeches put in Neptune's 

 mouth by tradition. After that quantity 

 production was the rule. The courtiers 

 and dentists and doctors rolled up their 

 sleeves and fell upon the neophytes. 



