VOYAGE TO RIO. 



27 



boisterous fishes. The rough work then be- 

 gan, with such of Neptune's darlings as had 

 not crossed the line. The having been sub- 

 jected to a similar seasoning on crossing the 

 tropic, in a passage to the West Indies, does 

 not exempt those only half-initiated unfortu- 

 nates who are for the first time crossing the 

 equator into another hemisphere. All hands, 

 old and young, great and small, must be blind- 

 folded in turn, and led between two constables 

 into Neptune's august presence, like a wild ele- 

 phant between two tame ones. Here the apo- 

 thecary feels the patient's pulse, and detecting 

 at once his malady, in a twinkling administers 

 a pill of no savoury stuff for his benefit. This 

 calls of course for a remonstrance, upon which 

 a paint brush of tar is crammed into the 

 speaker's open mouth to settle his stomach, 

 and his face is bedaubed all over besides. Finally, 



