After a short time the lieutenant rang his bell, and ordered some warm water, to bathe the dog’s eye.  Corporal Van Spitter, as Smallbones was in his hammock, answered the summons, and when he returned aft with the water, he made known to Mr Vanslyperken the mutinous expressions of Jemmy Ducks.  The lieutenant’s small eye twinkled with satisfaction.  “Damned the Admiral, did he!—­which one was it—­Portsmouth or Plymouth?”

This, Corporal Van Spitter could not tell; but it was certain that Jemmy had damned his superior officer; “And moreover,” continued the corporal, “he damned me.”  Now Mr Vanslyperken had a great hatred against Jemmy Ducks, because he amused the ship’s company, and he never could forgive any one who made people happy; moreover, he wanted some object to visit his wrath upon:  so he asked a few more questions, and then dismissed the corporal, put on his tarpaulin hat, put his speaking-trumpet under his arm, and went on deck, directing the corporal to appoint one of the marines to continue to bathe the eye of his favourite.

Mr Vanslyperken looked at the dog-vane, and perceived that the wind was foul for sailing, and moreover, it would be dark in two hours, so he determined upon not starting till the next morning, and then he thought that he would punish Jemmy Ducks; but the question occurred to him whether he could do so or not.  Was James Salisbury a boatswain by right or not?  He received only the pay of a boatswain’s mate, but he was styled boatswain on the books.  It was a nice point, and the balance was even.  Mr Vanslyperken’s own wishes turned the scale, and he resolved to flog Jemmy Ducks if he could.  We say, if he could, for as, at that time, tyrannical oppression on the part of the superiors was winked at, and no complaints were listened to by the Admiralty, insubordination, which was the natural result, was equally difficult to get over; and although on board of the larger vessels, the strong arm of power was certain to conquer, it was not always the case in the smaller, where the superiors were not in sufficient force, or backed by a numerous party of soldiers or marines, for there was then little difference between the two services.  Mr Vanslyperken had had more than one mutiny on board of the vessels which he had commanded, and, in one instance, his whole ship’s company had taken the boats and gone on shore, leaving him by himself in the vessel, preferring to lose the pay due to them, than to remain longer on board.  They joined other ships in the service, and no notice was taken of their conduct by the authorities.  Such was the state of half discipline at the period we speak of in the service of the king.  The ships were, in every other point, equally badly fitted out and manned; peculation of every kind was carried to excess, and those who were in command thought more of their own interest than of anything else.  Ship’s stores and provisions were constantly sold, and the want of the former was frequently the occasion of the loss of the vessel, and the sacrifice of the whole crew.  Such maladministration is said to be the case even now in some of the continental navies.  It is not until a long series of years have elapsed, that such regulations and arrangements as are at present so economically and beneficially administered to our navy, can be fully established.