Did you ever hear of such d----d villains? By this means,
they saved hundreds of men, and only lost half a dozen dogs--fact,
by G----; only ask Sir Sydney Smith; he'll tell you the same, and a
d----d sight more."
The volubility of his tongue was only equalled by the rapidity of his
invention and the powers of mastication; for, during the whole of this
entertaining monodrame, his teeth were in constant motion, like the
traversing beam of a steam boat; and as he was our captain as well as
our guest, he certainly took the lion's share of the repast.
"But, I say, Soundings," said he, addressing himself familiarly to the
master, who had not been long in the vessel, "let us see what sort
of stuff you have stowed the fore-hold with. You know I am a water
drinker; give me only the pure limpid stream, and a child may lead me.
I seldom touch liquor when the water is good." So saying, he poured
out a tumbler, and held it to his nose. "Stinks like h----! I say,
master, are you sure the bungs are in your casks? The cats have been
contributing to the fluid. We must qualify this;" and having poured
one-half of the water, which by the by was very good, he supplied the
vacancy with rum. Then tasting it, he said, "Come, Miss Puss; this
will rouse you out, at any rate."
A moment's pause, while he held the bumper before his eye, and then,
down it went, producing no other emotion than a deep sigh. "By the by,
that's well thought of--we'll have no cats in the ship (except those
which the depravity of human nature unhappily compels the boatswain to
use).
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