. Reminiscences of the Baltic fleet of 1855 . eneral quarters was a sham ora reality. The fire bell in the middle of the nightsounds uncommonly weird and alarming. Therudely awakened sleeper cannot for a time graspwhether the ship may not actually be on fire ; butalarm is speedily dispelled by the sense of securitywhich the assurance of united action and disciplineimparts. BALTIC FLEET OF 1855. 41 But it must not be supposed that life on board agreat man o war is one eternal and monotonousround of duty and drill. There is much leisure,and all sorts of games and amusements practisedto kill time
. Reminiscences of the Baltic fleet of 1855 . eneral quarters was a sham ora reality. The fire bell in the middle of the nightsounds uncommonly weird and alarming. Therudely awakened sleeper cannot for a time graspwhether the ship may not actually be on fire ; butalarm is speedily dispelled by the sense of securitywhich the assurance of united action and disciplineimparts. BALTIC FLEET OF 1855. 41 But it must not be supposed that life on board agreat man o war is one eternal and monotonousround of duty and drill. There is much leisure,and all sorts of games and amusements practisedto kill time, and lighten existence. In every mess kindly chance always supplies a certainnumber of cheery and sometimes eccentricindividuals, whose function it is to keep thingsmoving. In such a great community as the crew■of the ;i Duke, all sorts of individual characterwere to be found ; hence, to study the idiosyn-crasies of ones shipmates was a diverting recrea-tion for those so inclined. To this object I shall•devote the next 0 II A P T E E VI. SHIPMATES. MONG our sailors and marines were many-splendid specimens of the genus homo ; andit is a proud consolation to know that, inthese latter days, not only is there no deteriorationin the physique of our navy men, but some say it iseven finer than ever. The training- of men fromboyhood is the means by which this is the type of our sailors naturally changes andvaries with the times, and the man of the iron cladis unquestionably different from his wooden Availpredecessor. Among the petty officers and the Baltic Fleet we had many tars, clean-shaven,with long- locks curled and oiled, just as in Nelsonsdays—barring- the pigtails. These were menessentially of the type of which Dibdin sang-—theBen Bobstays, and Jack Backstraws of among; the ordinary seamen we had manymerchant sailors, or pure landsmen, who. in severalrespects, still lacked the true characteristics ofnavy men. Yet, it wa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectnavalmedicine, bookye
