Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 2.djvu/179

 sence. He was seated in a small parlour, with a glass of brandy and water, or at least the remains of it, before him; his feet were on the fender,and several official documents which he had received that morning were lying onthe table. He rose as I entered, and shewed me a short, squarebuilt frame, with a strong projection of the sphere, or what the Spaniards call bariga. This rotundity of corporation was, however, supported by as fine a pair of Atlas legs as ever were worn by a Bath chairman. His face was rather inclined to be handsome; the features regular, a pleasant smile upon his lips, and a deep dimple in his chin. But his most remarkable feature was his eye; it was small, but piercing, and seemed to possess that long-sought desideratum of the perpetual motion, since it was utterly impossible to fix it for one moment on any object: and there was in it a lurking expression, which, though something of a physiognomist, I could not readily decipher.

"Mr. Mildmay," said my skipper, "I am