. The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897. vigor. Dale used to tell how, on going down0n the gundeck, he saw a guns crew of hismen racing with a crew over in the Serapis tosee which would get loaded first. The shipswere side to side and the guns were muzzle-loaders. Each crew, to get its charge set home,had to poke its long-handled rammer through±he enemys port before it could be insertedinto the guns bore. Fair play, you damned Yankee, roared an?English gunner, poking his rammer throughthe Yankees port. Mind your eye, Johnny Bull, replied theYankee,
. The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897. vigor. Dale used to tell how, on going down0n the gundeck, he saw a guns crew of hismen racing with a crew over in the Serapis tosee which would get loaded first. The shipswere side to side and the guns were muzzle-loaders. Each crew, to get its charge set home,had to poke its long-handled rammer through±he enemys port before it could be insertedinto the guns bore. Fair play, you damned Yankee, roared an?English gunner, poking his rammer throughthe Yankees port. Mind your eye, Johnny Bull, replied theYankee, following the same movement. Alas! the Johnny Bull had been a trifleahead of the damned Yankee, and firing his=gun, he dismounted that on the BonhommeRichard. The British were, in fact, soon quite as suc-cessful in their handling of the, main-deck bat-tery as they had been with that on the lowerdeck. Every twelve-pounder but one on theBonhomme Richard was silenced in one wayand another, and so, too, were the little nine-_pounders on the forecastle. There were then. THE HISTORY OF OUR NAVY 253 but two cannon left in service on the Bon-homme Richard, the two nine-pounders on thefighting side of the quarter-deck. John Paul Jones had been working thesetwo with his own hands, loading one withdouble shot to cut down the enemys main-mast, and the other with grape and canisterto sweep away the crew on her deck. In this desperate strait and when just inthe act of ordering another nine-pounderbrought from the off side that he might use iton the crew of the Serapis, his chief surgeoncame up from below to announce that thewater was coming in so fast as to float thewounded, and to ask that the ship be surren-dered before she sank with all hands. Turning on the surgeon with perfect self-possession. Captain Jones replied, as if as-tounded at the request : What, Doctor ! Would you have me striketo a drop of water? Here, help me get thisgun over. The doctor ran back to the wounded with-out de
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