36 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
the occasion, and ordered all the hands, who were 
not free of the Greenland Sea, to come before him. 
One at a time they were brought into his pre¬ 
sence, and each submitted to his humorous inter¬ 
rogatories, and to the coarse operation of shaving. 
As the non-freeman entered, he was received with 
seaman-like courtesy by his majesty, whose so¬ 
lemn demeanour and grotesque habit, and whose 
efforts at politeness and most awkward bows, were 
as much at variance as any specimen of the ludic¬ 
rous could well, present. Neptune was a striking 
figure; his back carried a huge hunch, and his swol¬ 
len bandied legs rivalled the diameter of his body. 
He was clothed in a naval dress, augmented by a 
cloak and an immense wig, of which a swab formed 
the tail. His assistant, whose office it was to per¬ 
form the shaving operation, was dressed in a neat 
suit (with the exception of some embellishments) 
of white nankeen, and formed a singular contrast 
to his acknowledged sovereign. His lather was a 
mixture of soot, grease, tar, and other filth, scraped 
up for the occasion ; a tar-brush was the utensil 
with which it was applied, and a coarse piece of 
iron-hooping, the substitute for a razor. When 
the lathering commenced, various questions were 
proposed by Neptune, respecting the man’s occu¬ 
pation, station and country ; and if the unlucky 
fellow happened to give an answer, the brush inva- 
