io6 FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
no answer. 'Well, Mr. Clerk, this boy 'ere don't seem 
ter care about speakin' wery much. 'Ave yer not been 
'avin ernough to eat, mi boy, on this 'ere ship ?' At this 
the wretch opens his mouth to reply, and the doctor, who 
has been waiting his chance, jambs the pills between the 
victim's teeth, and the spectators shout with laughter, 
those laughing most heartily who still have the taste of 
the pills in their mouths. 1 
Next comes a consultation about the patient's state of 
health, and the doctor recommends shaving ; his Majesty 
gives his consent, and the novice is seated on a camp- 
stool at the edge of the platform. Behind him a square 
sail is stretched, between the stage and the bulwarks ; this 
has been filled with water, so as to form a large bath. 
At its corners, on the bulwarks, the bears are seated. 
These are boys dressed in Esquimaux seal-skins ; they 
are characters taken from the Arctic play, and add 
greatly to the general effect. 1 
The doctor, as barber's assistant, plunges his great brush 
in the soap-and-water bucket, and smothers the poor fellow's 
head with suds ; and the barber sticks a sheet of paper on 
the boy's chest and scrapes all over his head with the 
wooden razor. This operation is hurried over, for there 
are a lot of other novitiates waiting their turn. The 
shaving done, the doctor quickly tips up the stool with a 
capstan bar, and, without warning, the victim is tumbled 
head over heels into the bath. If he does not fall in 
quite to the bears' satisfaction, they jump on the top of 
l Esquimaux seal-skin dresses brought by some of our crew for use in the 
ice. 
