which had gone before it; absolutely you could not see the breadth of the ship from you; and as we had not taken the sun for five days, we had to grope our way almost entirely by the lead. I had the forenoon watch, during the whole of which we were amongst a little fleet of fishingboats, although we could scarcely see them, but being unwilling to lose ground by lying to, we fired a gun every half hour, to give the small craft notice of our vicinity, that they might keep their bells a-going. Every three or four minutes, the marine drum-boy, or some amateur performer, for most sailors would give a glass of grog any day to be allowed to beat a drum for five minutes on end,-beat a short roll, and often as we drove along, under a reefed foresail, and close reefed topsails, we could hear the answering tinkle before we saw the craft from which it proceeded, and when we did perceive her as we flew across her stern, we could only see it, and her mast, and one or two well swathed, hardy fishermen, the whole of the little vessel forward being hid in a cloud.

"I had been invited this day to dine with the Captain, Mr Splinter, the first lieutenant being also of the party; the cloth had been withdrawn, and we had all had a glass or two of wine a-piece, when the fog settled down so thickly, although it was not more than five o'clock in the afternoon, that the captain desired that the lamp might be lit. It was done, and I was remarking the contrast between the dull, dusky, brown light, or rather the palpable London fog that came through the sky-light, and the bright yellow sparkle of the lamp, when the second lieutenant, Mr Treenail, came down the ladder.

"We have shoaled our water to five fathom, sir-shells and stones. Here, Wilson, bring in the lead.'

"The leadsman, in his pea jacket and shag trowsers, with the raindrop hanging to his nose, and a large knot in his cheek from a junk of tobacco therein stowed, with pale, wet visage, and whiskers sparkling with moisture, while his long black hair hung damp and lank over his fine forehead, and the stand-up cape of his coat, immediately presented himself at the door, with the lead in his claws, an octagonal shaped cone, like

the weight of a window sash, about eighteen inches long, and two inches diameter at the bottom, tapering away nearly to a point at top, where it was flattened, and a hole pierced for the line to be fastened to. At the lower end-the butt-end, as I would say-there was a hollow scooped out, and filled with grease, so that, when the lead was cast, the quality of the soil, sand, or shells, or mud, that came up adhering to this lard, indicated, along with the depth of water, our situation in the North Sea; and by this, indeed, we guided our course, in the absence of all opportunity of ascertaining our position by observations of the sun. The Captain consulted the chart- Sand and shells; why, you should have deeper water, Mr Treenail. Any of the fishing-boats near you?'

"Not at present, sir; but we cannot be far off some of them.'

"Well, let me know when you come near any of them.'

"A little after this, as became my situation, I rose and made my bow, and went on deck. By this time the night had fallen, and it was thicker than ever, so that, standing beside the man at the wheel, you could not see farther forward than the booms; yet it was not dark either, that is, it was moonlight, so that the haze, thick as it was, had that silver gauzelike appearance, as if it had been luminous in itself, that cannot be described to any one who has not seen it. The gun had been fired just as I came on deck, but no responding tinkle gave notice of any vessel being in the neighbourhood. Ten minutes, it may have been a quarter of an hour, when a short roll of the drum was beaten from the forecastle, where I was standing. At the moment, I thought I heard a holla, but I could not be sure; presently I saw a small light, with a misty halo surrounding it, just under the bowsprit- Port your helm,' sung out the boatswain; 'port your helm, or we shall be over a fishing-boat!' A cry arose from beneath; a black object was for an instant distinguishable, and the next moment a crash was heard; the spritsail-yard rattled, and broke off sharp at the point, where it crossed the bowsprit; and a heavy smashing thump against our bows told in fearful language that

we had run her down. Three of the men and a boy hung on by the rigging of the bowsprit, and were brought safely on board; but two poor fellows perished, with their boat. It appeared that they had broken their bell, and although they saw us coming, they had no better means than shouting, and showing a light, to advertise us of their vici

nity.

"Next morning the wind once more chopped round, and the weather cleared, and in four-and-twenty hours thereafter we were off the mouth of the Elbe, with three miles of white foaming shoals between us and the land at Cuxhaven, roaring and hissing, as if ready to swallow us up. It was low water, and, as our object was to land the Emissary at Cuxhaven, we had to wait, having no pilot for the port, although we had the signal flying for one all morning, until noon, when we ran in close to the green mound which constituted the rampart of the fort at the entrance. To our great surprise, when we hoisted our colours and pennant, and fired a gun to leeward, there was no flag hoisted in answer at the flag-staff, nor was there any indication of a single living soul on shore to welcome us. Mr Splinter and the Captain were standing together at the gangway- Why, sir,' said the former, this silence somewhat surprises me: what say you, Cheragoux? to the government emissary or messenger already mentioned, who was peering through the glass close by.

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"Why, mi Lieutenant, I don't certain dat all ish right on sore dere.' "No,' said Captain Deadeye; 'why, what do you see?'

"It ish not so mosh vat I shee, as vat I no shee, sir, dat trembles me. It cannot surely be possib dat de Prussian an' Hanoverian troop have left de place, and dat dese dem Franceman ave advance so far as de Elbe autrefois, dat ish, once more?'

"French,' said Deadeye; 'poo, nonsense; no French hereabouts; none nearer than those cooped up in Hamburgh with Davoust, take my word for it.'

"I sall take your vord for any ting else in de large vorld, mi Capitan; but I see someting glance behind dat rampart, parapet you call, dat look dem like de shako of de infanterie

5

légere of dat willain de Emperor Napoleon. Ah! I see de red worsted epaulet of de grenadier also; sacre, vat is dat pof of vite smoke?"

"What it was we soon ascertained to our heavy cost, for the shot that had been fired at us from a long 32pound gun, took effect right abaft the foremast, and killed three men outright, and wounded two. Several other shots followed, but with less sure aim. Returning the fire was of no use, as our carronades could not have pitched their metal much more than half-way; or, even if they had been long guns, they would merely have plumped the balls into the turf rampart, without hurting any one. So we wisely hauled off, and ran up the river with the young flood for about an hour, until we anchored close to the Hanoverian bank, near a gap in the dike, where we waited till the evening.

"As soon as the night fell, a boat with muffled oars was manned, to carry the messenger on shore. I was in it; Mr Treenail, the second lieutenant, steering. We pulled in right for a breach in the dike, lately cut by the French, in order to inundate the neighbourhood; and as the Elbe at high water is hereabouts much higher than the surrounding country, we were soon sucked into the current, and had only to keep our oars in the water, pulling a stroke now and then to give the boat steerage way. As we shot through the gap into the smooth water beyond, we then once more gave way, the boat's head being kept in the direction of lights that we saw twinkling in the distance, apparently in some village beyond the inner embankment, when all at once we dashed in amongst thousands of wild-geese, which rose with a clang, and a concert of quacking, screaming, and hissing, that was startling enough. We skimmed steadily on in the same direction-' Oars, men! We were by this time close to a small cluster of houses, perched on the forced ground or embankment, and the messenger hailed in German.

"Qui vive!' sung out a gruff voice; and we heard the clank of a musket, as if some one had cast it from his shoulder, and caught it in his hands, as he brought it down to the charge. Our passenger seemed

a little taken aback; but he hailed again, still in German. 'Parole,' replied the man. A pause. The watchword, or I fire.' 'We had none to give.

Pull round, men,' said the Lieutenant, with great quickness; 'pull the starboard oars; we are in the wrong box; back water the larboard. That's it! give way, men.'

"A flash-crack went the sentry's piece, and ping sung the ball over our heads. Another pause. Then a volley from a whole platoon. Again all was dark and silent. Presently a field-piece was fired, and several rockets were let off in our direction, by whose light we could see a whole company of French soldiers standing to their arms, with several cannon, but we were speedily out of the reach of their musketry; but several round shots were fired at us, that hissed, recochetting along the water close by us. Not a word was spoken in the boat all this time, but we continued to pull for the opening in the dike, although, the current being strong against us, we made but little way; while the chance of being cut off by the Johnny Crapeaus getting round the top of the embankment, so as to command the gap before we could reach it, became every moment more alarming.

"The messenger was in great tribulation, and made several barefaced attempts to stow himself away under the stern sheets.

"The gallant fellows who composed the crew strained at their oars until every thing cracked again; but as the flood made, the current against us increased, and we barely held our own. Steer her out of the current, man,' said the lieutenant to the coxswain; the man put the tiller to port as he was ordered.

"Vat you do soch a ting for, Mr Capitan Lieutenant ?' said the emissary. Oh! you not pershave you are rone in onder de igh bank. How you shall satisfy me, no France infanterie légere dere, too, more as in de fort, eh? How you sall satisfy me, Mister Capitan Lieutenant, eh ? "Hold your blasted tongue, will you,' said Treenail, and the infantry légere be damned simply. Mind your eye, my fine fellow, or I shall be much inclined to see whether

you will be légere in the Elbe or no. Hark!'

"We all pricked up our ears, and strained our eyes, while a bright, spitting, sparkling fire of musketry opened at the gap, but there was no ping pinging of the shot overhead. They cannot be firing at us, sir,' said the coxswain; none of them bullets are telling here away.'

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"Presently a smart fire was returned in three distinct clusters from the water, and whereas the firing at first had only lit up the dark figures of the French soldiery, and the black outline of the bank on which they were posted, the flashes that answered them shewed us three armed boats attempting to force the passage. In a minute the firing ceased; the measured splash of oars was heard, as boats approached us.

"Who's there?' sung out the lieu

tenant.

"Torches,' was the answer.

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"All's well, Torches,' rejoined Mr Treenail; and presently the jollyboat, and launch and cutter of the Torch, with twenty marines, and sixand-thirty seamen, all armed, were alongside.

"What cheer, Treenail, my boy?' quoth Mr Splinter.

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Why, not much; the French, who we were told had left the Elbe entirely, are still here, as well as at Cuxhaven, not in force certainly, but sufficiently strong to have peppered us very decently."

"What, are any of the people hurt?'

"No,' said the garrulous emissary. 'No, not hurt, but some of us frightened leetle piece-ah, very mosh, je

vous assure.'

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·

Speak for yourself, Master Plenipo,' said Treenail. But, Splinter, my man, now since the enemy have occupied the dyke in front, how the deuce shall we get back into the river, tell me that?'

"Why,' said the senior lieutenant, we must go as we came.'

"And here the groans from two poor fellows who had been hit were heard from the bottom of the launch. The cutter was by this time close to us, on the larboard side, commanded by Mr Julius Cæsar Tip, the senior midshipman, vulgarly called in the ship Bathos, or the art of sinking, from

a table, a blazing wood fire roaring in the chimney. He was a genteel, slender, dark man, with very large black mustaches, and fine sparkling black eyes, and had apparently just dismounted, for the mud was fresh on his boots and trowsers. The latter were blue, with a broad gold lace down the seam, and fastened by a strap under his boot, from which projected a long fixed spur"

"Nothing very noticeable in all this," said Mr Bang.

"Possibly not, my dear sir," I replied; "but to me it was remarkable as an unusual dress for a militaire, the British army being, at the time I write of, still in the age of breeches and gaiters or tall boots, long cues and pipeclay-that is, those troops which I had seen at home, although I believe the great Duke had already relaxed a number of these absurdities in Spain."

"His single-breasted coat was ⚫ buttoned close up to his throat, and without an inch of lace except on his crimson collar, which fitted close round his neck, and was richly embroidered with gold acorn and oak leaves, as were the crimson cuffs to his sleeves. He wore two immense and very handsome gold epaulets.

"My good boy,' said he, after the officer who had captured me had told his story so your Government thinks the Emperor is retreating from the Elbe ?'

"When we arrived there, we found ten Blankenese boats, two of them very large, and fitted with sliding platforms. The four field-pieces were run on board, two into each; one hundred and fifty men embarked in them and the other craft, which I found partly loaded with sacks of corn. I was in one of the smallest boats with the colonel. When we were all ready to shove off, Lafont,' said he, are the men ready with their couteaux ?'

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'They are, sir,' replied the sergeant.

"Then cut the horses' throats-but no firing.' A few bubbling groans, and some heavy falls, and a struggling splash or two in the water, showed that the poor artillery horses had been destroyed.

"The wind was fair up the river, and away we bowled before it. It was clear to me that the colonel commanding the post had overrated our strength, and, under the belief that we had cut him off from Cuxhaven, he had determined on falling back on Hamburgh.

"When the morning broke, we were close to the beautiful bank below Altona. The trees were beginning to assume the russet hue of autumn, and the sun shone gaily on the pretty villas and bloomin gartens on the hill side, while here and there a Chinese pagoda, or other fanciful pleasure-house, with its gilded trellised work, and little bells depending from the eaves of its many roofs, glancing like small golden balls, rose from out the fast thinning recesses of the woods. But there was no life in the scene-'twas ' Greece, but living Greece no more,'-not a fishing-boat was near, scarcely a solitary figure crawled along the beach.

(

"What is that?' after we had passed Blankenese, said the colonel quickly. Who are those?' as a group of three or four men presented themselves at a sharp turning of the road, that wound along the foot of the hill close to the shore.

"The uniform of the Prussians,' said one.

"Of the Russians,' said another. "Poo,' said a third, it is a picket of the Prince's;' and so it was, but the very fact of his having ad vanced his outposts so far, shewed how he trembled for his position.