Travel Diaries and Journals

26

part of the time and seemed to be amused at what was going on and I saw him stop to look and speak to No1. as we called him, the Chief Mate, but all the officers took good care to keep out of the reach of the water that was flying about in all directions, in the neighborhood of the waist of the ship. They probably enjoyed the sport as intensely as anyone in their youthful sailorhood.

In trying to get away after his exit from the sail of water one man had broken his toe and was long lame in consequence but that was an accident, no real suffering can result from the water alone which is dashed about, any old dress is worn for the occasion and the water is warm enough although not very clean, it takes some time however to free the hair from the grease and filth. Some Maltese sailors that we had on board and not standing in very high favours with their shipmates, suffered severely, as I saw the marks of the razor on their chin for long afterwards, and one was in the sick list in consequence for sometime.

Some people have expressed their disbelief that our noble and manly "hearts of oak" which our sailors are supposed to be made of (the ships are made of Iron now) would carry their sports and amusements to such an extent, but I have given as an exact account of the ceremony as it was possible for a person in my position to get at, and there are plenty of my shipmates still alive that can vouch for its correctness, one smart little fellow who was on that voyage captain of the mizen top, was afterwards long master of a fine Smack sailing out of Yarmouth harbour, and whose name was Womack. We had fine and good men on board real sailors, and I know entitled to be called