KING ON BOARD. 
303 
Chap. XVIII.—B.P.J 
The King made himself thoroughly at home on 
board, walking about the deck quite by himself, ask¬ 
ing questions and chatting pleasantly with both officers 
and men. His manners were so unassuming that he 
soon made himself liked by all on board. As for the 
six men composing the crew of his beautiful “ dory ” 
(or canoe), I suspect they would have been very glad 
to see their boat permanently attached to the ship and 
themselves borne on the books, for the seamen at once 
took charge of them, and by their kindness and hos¬ 
pitality did all they could to make their sojourn on 
board agreeable. 
These men had been selected with great thought¬ 
fulness from among the creole population at Blew- 
fields, as each man spoke English perfectly. Indians 
are usually employed, but on the present occasion it 
was thought more convenient to us to have a crew 
speaking our own language. 
In the evening I invited all the officers to meet the 
King at dinner, so that he might make the acquaint¬ 
ance of every one; and a very pleasant party we 
had. The King astonished us by the pertinence of 
his remarks, even on professional matters in which it 
might have been supposed he could not possibly have 
taken an interest, much less understood. For instance, 
he asked me whether any change had taken place in 
the class distinctions of officers, as he observed all 
ranks at my table. I told him that this unfortunately 
had not yet been effected in our naval service, but 
that I hoped it soon would be, and that I was a strong 
advocate for a general mess, at which all officers could 
