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233 I bore up with fortitude against this unexpected reverse of fortune; and, conscious of its feeing unmerited, made no attempt to avert the blow by mean submission, to which I could not stoop. I therefore cheerfully took my watch on deck, and, when not so engaged, amused myself below with a book, or in ruminating (as usual with me,) on the instability of human affairs, and the vicissitudes of my own life in particular. It was not the least of my consolations in this distress, that I received every day at noon half a pint of excellent rum, with a dram of which I fortified myself occasionally during the night watches, for as we approached the channel of Old England, we once more experienced a sudden change of climate, and the weather became intensely cold.

About a fortnight after the event I have just related. Captain King, finding I was perfectly reconciled to my new duty, and that I offered no apology, as he perhaps expected I would, sent for me one morning, and ordered me to attend in the cabin every day at nine o'clock, for the purpose of writing as usual. As I did not conceive myself justified in refusing, I complied, and paid every attention to his commands. The boatswain's mates, understanding how I was again employed, desisted from calling me up to pump ship for several nights; when by some means Captain King hearing of this fact, actually gave orders that I should regularly turn out