Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 1.djvu/214

 menagerie, for I found between sixty and seventy. midshipmen already assembled. They were mostly youngsters, followers of the rear-admiral, and had seen very little, if any, service, and I had seena great deal for the time I had been afloat. Listening eagerly to my " yarns," the youthful ardour of these striplings kindled, and they longed to emulate my deeds. The consequence was, numerous applications from the midshipmen to be allowed to join the frigates on the station; not one was contented in the flagship; and the captain having discovered that I was the tarantula who had bitten them, hated me accordingly, and not a jot more than I hated him.

The captain was a very large, ill-made, broad-shouldered man, with a lack-lustreseye, a pair of thick lips, and a very unmeaning countenance. He wore a large pair of epaulettes; he was uritable in his temper; and when roused, which was frequent, was always violent and overbearing. His voice was like thunder, and when he