15 
through the streets to the sound of music, stopped and danced 
before some of the houses, and collected money. They also had 
a boxing match between two boys, which was conducted as a re¬ 
gular combat. As soon as one boy was down, his antagonist ceased 
to strike, and his second helped him up. One, however, did 
strike a blow while the other was down, whereupon several of 
the bystanders rushed upon the offender, held him fast, and gave 
him so many punches in the ribs that he was completely dis¬ 
comfited; and this terminated the fray. In the harbour about one 
hundred and fifty men were shipped as recruits for the 8 9th re¬ 
giment, stationed in the East Indies. They came from the de¬ 
pot at the Isle of Wight, and appeared to be very weak and mi¬ 
serable. 
The Marquis Palm ell a, who resided in the same hotel with 
me, set out on the 3d of May with his family, a wife, eight chil¬ 
dren, and a numerous suite, for London. I paid him a visit, and 
was introduced to his lady, a very beautiful woman. The mar¬ 
quis, who is very generally esteemed, suffered considerably dur¬ 
ing the last Portuguese counter-revolution, and was kept prisoner 
for several days. During his. stay at this placejie has constantly 
had two honorary sentries, and an hour before his departure, a 
company of fifty marines, with three officers, and the band in full 
uniform, marched in front of the hotel, and remained as a guard 
of honour until he left Portsmouth. It was with real pleasure 
that I remarked the excellent condition of this corps. 
The royal marines, whose barracks I visited, and saw the men 
defile, have an exceedingly fine appearance, and are highly es¬ 
teemed. The officers are promoted according to seniority; but 
since the peace, the corps has been much reduced, and the officers 
are old in their grades. The officers also are mostly persons with¬ 
out influence, and enter the royal marines because unable to pur¬ 
chase rank in the army. The barracks for the soldiers did not 
altogether please me: they are better regulated and kept more 
cleanly in the Netherlands. It is a good regulation that the bed¬ 
steads are iron, and that every man lies alone; but it is very bad 
on the other hand, that they cook in the same room. 
I visited, in company with Captain Ryk, the Ganges, a ship 
of the line of eighty-four guns, built a few years since by Indian 
workmen, entirely of Teak-wood. This hard and heavy timber 
is not only very lasting, but has also the great excellence of not 
cracking in a warm climate. We were received on board the 
ship with great attention, in the absence of Captain Campbell, by 
Lieutenant Wright, who did the honours in a very friendly man¬ 
ner. I cannot sufficiently admire the neatness observed in this 
ship. They have an excellent mode of taking care of the rings, 
bolts, weapons, and other iron, brass, and copper utensils, on 
