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a fanciful breeze carried us , and then died away , leaving us within Neptune ' s dominions , exposed to the usual freaks of sailors when the line is crossed . These freaks , however , aspire to the dignity of sacred rites , but have been so fully described by others , that I will only devote a few lines to them . The fun consists in lathering with
tar , shaving with a rough iron , and ducking in a pail full of water , all those who have not crossed the equator on any previous occasion ; the passengers are amenable as well as the sailors . Like other places , however , bribery sways here the men who officiate , and induces them to do their spiriting gently . The people into whose hands you fall are Neptune ' s attendants , one being his barber , who shaves you , the
other " the bear , " who ducks you in the pail , whilst the monarch himself sits on his throne , with his consort , Amphitrite , by his side , beholding the spectacle , with the serenity of the Homeric gods watching the battles on the Trojan plain . The attache , of course , liad gained over all the officials , including even the redoubtable Ennosigseus , so consequently was lightly shaved , and when pitched
into the pail of water , passed very easily through Bruin ' s clutches . I , however , could not afford to bribe , and was being led to certain discomfiture , when a fraternal recognition by his majesty , caused an immediate change in my position , and , instead of ordering me to execution , the king inquired kindly after my health , and observed , that
as I had no beard yet , it would be a pity to spoil my smooth visage . The barber's face fell at this , and he " rebelliously reproached the monarch , who , enraged , returned his observations in oaths , and ordered that beard-stripping functionary to be degraded . The barber was accordingly flung into the pail , whilst I escaped the indignities practised upon my fellow men .
It was long before we again caught a breeze , and got clear of the unpleasant calms that invariably harass a sailor on his passage through the " horse latitudes . " At last we fell in with the southwest trades , and went away at a slashing pace towards Bio de Janeiro , on nearing which a sharp look-out was kept on all vessels , since we
might , by some fortunate chance , capture a slaver , although such luck rarely fell to the lot of mail packets , especially those of the tortoise or Pump order ; she , nevertheless , had once before taken a prize , and had nearly caught ten others ; the ludicrous way in which these " narrow misses " were often recounted by the skipper , much
reminding one of the boy who " almost" got a pie . " Papa , I nearly got a pie to-day !" " How was that , my dear ? " " Why , I met a pieman , and I said to him , ' Will you give me a
pie ? ' He said , 'No : ' but if he had said c Yes , ' I should have got it !" A light breeze was moving us leisurely along , when a trim schooner that had been lying under the land , altered its course , and came steering towards us . She was a low-hulled vessel , with long raking masts , and possessed , from stem , to stern , every quality of a fast sailer . Unsuspicious we jogged on quietly , when the schooner tack-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
a fanciful breeze carried us , and then died away , leaving us within Neptune ' s dominions , exposed to the usual freaks of sailors when the line is crossed . These freaks , however , aspire to the dignity of sacred rites , but have been so fully described by others , that I will only devote a few lines to them . The fun consists in lathering with
tar , shaving with a rough iron , and ducking in a pail full of water , all those who have not crossed the equator on any previous occasion ; the passengers are amenable as well as the sailors . Like other places , however , bribery sways here the men who officiate , and induces them to do their spiriting gently . The people into whose hands you fall are Neptune ' s attendants , one being his barber , who shaves you , the
other " the bear , " who ducks you in the pail , whilst the monarch himself sits on his throne , with his consort , Amphitrite , by his side , beholding the spectacle , with the serenity of the Homeric gods watching the battles on the Trojan plain . The attache , of course , liad gained over all the officials , including even the redoubtable Ennosigseus , so consequently was lightly shaved , and when pitched
into the pail of water , passed very easily through Bruin ' s clutches . I , however , could not afford to bribe , and was being led to certain discomfiture , when a fraternal recognition by his majesty , caused an immediate change in my position , and , instead of ordering me to execution , the king inquired kindly after my health , and observed , that
as I had no beard yet , it would be a pity to spoil my smooth visage . The barber's face fell at this , and he " rebelliously reproached the monarch , who , enraged , returned his observations in oaths , and ordered that beard-stripping functionary to be degraded . The barber was accordingly flung into the pail , whilst I escaped the indignities practised upon my fellow men .
It was long before we again caught a breeze , and got clear of the unpleasant calms that invariably harass a sailor on his passage through the " horse latitudes . " At last we fell in with the southwest trades , and went away at a slashing pace towards Bio de Janeiro , on nearing which a sharp look-out was kept on all vessels , since we
might , by some fortunate chance , capture a slaver , although such luck rarely fell to the lot of mail packets , especially those of the tortoise or Pump order ; she , nevertheless , had once before taken a prize , and had nearly caught ten others ; the ludicrous way in which these " narrow misses " were often recounted by the skipper , much
reminding one of the boy who " almost" got a pie . " Papa , I nearly got a pie to-day !" " How was that , my dear ? " " Why , I met a pieman , and I said to him , ' Will you give me a
pie ? ' He said , 'No : ' but if he had said c Yes , ' I should have got it !" A light breeze was moving us leisurely along , when a trim schooner that had been lying under the land , altered its course , and came steering towards us . She was a low-hulled vessel , with long raking masts , and possessed , from stem , to stern , every quality of a fast sailer . Unsuspicious we jogged on quietly , when the schooner tack-