an affair, but the "moral effect was what was aimed at.

Now Sheriff Heaton, a smooth-faced young man, recently appointed from England, was a very important official in his own estimation, if not in that of Mr. Butt, Town-Crier of Victoria and citizen of the United States, who on more than one occasion had openly indulged in laughter at the Sheriff's selfimportant air in court.

The Sheriff noticed this, and determined to bring that subordinate to account for ridiculing the official in charge of Her Majesty's peace.

"Mr. Butt," he began, pompously accosting him, "I believe you laughed at me in court yesterday."

"Guess I did," coolly replied Mr. Butt, "'nuff to make any feller laugh to see you making such a darned fool of yourself lashed to that big sword."

During our short absence on the present mission, I had an opportunity of observing the native mode of sepulture, which somewhat reminded me of the Chinese mode, except that the latter do eventually inter the body, though the coffin may have lain for weeks, months, or even a year under a tree; whereas in Vancouver the rude coffin is placed above ground on a low scaffolding and left there entirely.

As an illustration of the extraordinary recklessness of sailors, I may mention that about this time the Forwood mail-steamer arrived from San Francisco. As she neared there was an explosion, caused, as we learned, by the third officer and steward having entered the magazine with a lighted candle, which fell into and blew up twenty pounds of powder, killing the steward and dangerously wounding the officer.

T

There was about the same time an accident in H.M.S. Ganges, which supplies a characteristic story of the British tar.

During an evolution a bight of a rope caught round the foot of one Dobbs, captain of the maintop, and took it clean off, but he went on giving orders as if nothing had happened.

"Why, Jack, your foot's off," said one of the men. "I know it is, you; pull up."

However, on being carried to the sick bay, sensation returned, when the pain became so intense that he besought the doctor, with oaths, to cut off his leg, which was accordingly done above the ankle.

After the operation, an officer, with the doctor's consent, gave him a glass of brandy. "Thank you, Mr. Lamb; it's almost worth while to have another leg off for that. My respex, sir."

CHAPTER V

THE LAST VOYAGE

YESTERDAY we left Esquimalt amid general cheering from the Ganges flag and other ships, for much interest always attaches to a homeward-bounder from a foreign station, and I may say, notwithstanding our destination, with regret, for we had greatly enjoyed our time at Vancouver, for which, not without good reason, we all predicted a great future.

And now, on the 1st February 1860, we are once more at sea, and the duties of sea routine, connecting themselves, as it were, with those that ceased a year ago, seem like the edges of a divided wave over a sinking ship, to engulf the year which has been passed, with all its adventures, associations, and interests, all such fading away like a dissolving view; a little image of our life on earth. By help of the new mainmast, at which every one many times a day glances with pride and admiration, we now seek to drive the willing prow through the water as fast as possible, till our own native land once more shall greet the eye.

for

We have a number of "supernumeraries passage home, among them being a marine prisoner under a sentence of court-martial, who was formerly in the 97th Foot, and helped to carry Captain Hedley Vicars out of the trenches at Sebastopol.

At one time Evangelical religious biographies were much in vogue, and good Miss Marsh's memoir of Vicars attained to a very large circulation.

Captain Hornby's head, according to Jack's verdict, was distinctly "screwed on the right way." He understood what he was about, and in his government of the peopled deck acted upon fixed principles, one of which was the primary importance of impressing subordinates with confidence in the abilities of their superiors. Nothing, he thought, could shake confidence more than for the men to see their officer hesitating and undecided, and he even went so far as to say that it was better to persevere in than acknowledge a mistaken order after it had once been given. For instance, I had laid the maintopsail yard for reefing, but badly, as it turned out, for when the men came to lie out, it was found that the yard was not sufficiently clear of the lee topmast rigging, and the captain of the top hailed to ask me to ease it, which I was about to do when stopped by Geoff, who pertinently inquired—

"Did you lay that yard for reefing?"

"Yes, sir, but"

"Quite enough; don't touch it; tell the captain of the top to bear a hand and get his reef in."

Excellent in principle, inconvenient, often dangerous, as uniform practice.

Suppose the officer to be such an ignorant duffer as a certain Lieutenant who gave the order, "Cut the foretopsail tie," when it was reported "jammed aloft," while the sail was being hoisted.

I wonder whether Geoff would have sanctioned the recall of that order.

We were ordered to break our voyage under sail by touching at Valparaiso; but having been obliged to make a long stretch to the westward, found, on nearing land on the starboard tack, that we could easily "fetch" Concepçion, at that time a city of 15,000

inhabitants, situated nine miles from the anchorage in its bay, and 300 miles south of Valparaiso.

We soon learned that our unexpected arrival had spread quite an alarm, even Vice-Consul Cunningham, who had held office for twenty years, being puzzled by our red ensign, previous British naval visitors having flown white or blue.

For more than two hundred years previous to 1864 the British fleet, as personified in its flag-officers, consisted of three divisions, Red, White, and Blue, a classification which was necessary, especially during the great French wars, for ensuring system and order among fleets and squadrons consisting of very numerous vessels, which sailed in two or three lines or divisions.

Each of the three grades of flag-officer was subdivided into the three colours, so a captain who, on reaching flag-rank, became rear-admiral of the blue, if fortunate enough to get command at once or very soon, would hoist a square blue flag at the mizzen, all the ships under his immediate command, whether on his station or in his division, flying blue colours.

Before rising to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue, with his flag at the fore, he would therefore receive two minor or intermediate promotions, namely, rear of the white and rear of the red.

At Trafalgar Lord Nelson was Vice-Admiral of the white.

As our fleets grew numerically smaller this rather complicated system became unnecessary, greater simplicity being aimed at and attained by its abolition in the afore-named year, since which the white ensign has been used exclusively for the royal navy, coastguard, and royal yacht squadron, the blue for the colonies,