Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/171

 eyes. He looked very cunning, and every inch a savage. As he and his suite came over the gangway and stood on deck, the ship’s pet, Sydney, a beautiful, large Newfoundland dog which had been presented to the commodore  by the governor of Australia, got sight of him. The chief’s appearance did not make a very favorable impression on Sydney, for the dog kept in front of him, growling and looking savagely at him. When within a few feet of the dog the king took the front end of his maro and  shook it at him. The dog grabbed it and tore it entirely from his body. The king was so frightened that he fell on the deck. One of the quartermasters seized the dog by the collar, and, by order of the commodore,  put him in the brig.

I believe Sydney was the first dog that the king had ever seen. He soon recovered from his fright, and, with his suite and Mr. Whippy, was shown over the ship. He took a great fancy to the ship’s wheel, and wanted the  captain to make him a present of it. He was very much astonished when told that we steered the ship with it. When he saw the battery he wanted to know if the guns were not black dogs. Two of the guns were fired off, double shotted. Seeing the balls skip over the surface of the water and throw up its spray into the air, he was  greatly surprised, and requested that no more guns be  fired. They were much pleased with the ship and everything they saw. Lunch was served for them in the wardroom, of which they partook most heartily, evidently  enjoying it much, especially the nuts and raisins and  some old Dutch cheese. The military exercises of our marines, their marching, counter-marching, halting, and