Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 1.djvu/60

 time to cool the close atmosphere of the berth, the table was covered with a large green cloth with a yellow border, and many yellow spots withal, where the colour had been discharged by slops of vinegar, het tea, &c. &c.; a sack of potatoes stood in one corner, and the shelves all round, and close over our heads, were stuffed with plates, glasses, quadrants, knives and forks, loaves of sugar, dirty stockings and shirts, and still fouler table-cloths, small-tooth combs, and ditto large, clothes brushes and shoe brushes, cocked hats, dirks, German flutes, mahogany writing-desks, a plate of salt butter, and some two or three pair of naval half boots. A single candle served to make darkness visible, and the stench had nearly overpowered me.

The reception I met with tended in no way to relieve these horrible impressions. A black man, with no other dress than a dirty check shirt and trowsers, not smelling of amber, stood within the door ready to obey all and any one of the commands with which he was loaded.