Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 3.djvu/104

 every thing connected with the service, he was perfectly ignorant of. I had heard him spoken of asa good officer, before he joined us; and I must, in justice to him, say that he was naturally good tempered, and I believe as brave a man as ever drew a sword.

He seldom made any professional remark, being aware of his deficiency, and never ventured beyond his depth intentionally. When he came on the quarter-deck, he usually looked at the weather main-brace, and if it was not as taut as a bar, would order it to be made so. Here he could not easily commit himself; but it became a bye-word with us when we laughed at him below. He had a curious way of forgetting, or pretending to forget, the names of men and things, I presume, because they were so much beneath him; and in their stead, substituted the elegant phrases of "What's-hisname," "What-do-ye-call'em," and "thing-umbob."

One day he came on deck, and actually gave