Select Literature.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 447, 17 January 1867, Page 3

Select Literature.

CROSSING THE LINE (From. “ Fifteen Tears of the L fe of a Sailor,” published in the South London Chronicle. IT was decided, as we approached the Equator, that we should pay the usual tribute to old Neptune, it this part of his wide domain, and shave all the youngsters we had on board. Af we had about fifty supernumeraries, ofli cer and men, besides our own crew, the majority of whom had never crossed the Equator, the occasion promised plenty o: fun, and the preparation! we made tc carry it out were ou a grand scale. The parties who were to act the different parti of the programme were picked out fron among the crow, with due regard to theii several qualifications : thus, old Neptune was personified by a grey-headed old tar and Amphitrite by a youngster ; the doc tor was a red-nosed gunner’s mate, whc would make you swallow pills, from e 321 b shot to a common bolus, with perfec indifference, providing you could gulj them down ; then came the barber, a crue wretch, armed with three great razor; made of hoop-iron, one smooth, the nex a terrible instrument, being very much like the teeth of a handsaw —destined to rub off some portions of the chcc-ks of the worst characters who were to be shaved. When I saw the barber’s third razor, I inwardly thanked my lucky stars that 1 had crossed the line, and was consequently exempted from shaving. The policemen were numbered off, the bears were also prepared for hugging Neptune’s favorites, and the tar-barrel was ignited the night before, and sent overboard to invite Neptune’s visit. Shortly after the barrel was put overboard, upon a raft constructed for the purpose, Neptune, who was out on the jib-boom iu the dark, hailed with a loud voice—- “ Ship ahoy!” The captain answered through his ipeaking-trumpet,— “ Hilloa!” “ What ship is that ?” “ Alecto.” “ Have you any of my apprentices on board ?” “ Yes.”

“How many?” Here a correct list was produced, and Neptune was invited to come on board to inspect the same. Ho accordingly came over the bows, with wife and youthful son; Neptune having long curly locks, made out of oakum, a tin crown, and other ornaments upon his person, and carrying a trident in his hand, with a fish stuck upon it; and his wife and son being suitably attired. They were met by the captain and Neptune’s staff, namely, the doctor, barber, police, bears, and all those who had before crossed his boundaries. A gun-carriage being provided for the accommodation of Neptune and his suite, on which they were mounted, and attended by the only musician we had in the ship, the procession started from one side of the forecastle to the quarter-deck, where Neptune halted and drank the captain’s health in a tumbler of rum. He then complimented ail his former acquaintances upon their appearance, expressed himself highly pleased with their conduct during the time they had been sailing about his wide domain, and asked very affectionately after the dear young children he was going to initiate into tbe mysteries of his society. He assured the captain he would not fail to be on board at 9 o’clock on the following morning, hoping there would be plenty of salt water, pills, draughts, lather, razors, and restoratives provided for the comfort his dear children whom be proposed

then to visit. The captain having pledged his word that all should be ready, Neptune shook hands with tho eaptaia, mounted his sar, in which were several bottles of rum, mysteriously conveyed there during the dialogue, and was then dragged by the white bears—men dressed in well-washed sheepskins—back to the forecastle, to carouse for .the rest of the evening.

Uu tiiu ioiiowuig mormng tne spare saus were got up and spread from one side oi the paddle-box to the large boat amidships, thus forming a pit of canvas capable of containing a body of about 40 tons oi water, and quite sufficient to bold ten or twelve men at once. The pumps were then set to work, and the sails soon filled with water. At 9 o’clock Neptune came on board, and was received with tremendous cheering, after which he mounted the bridge or platform extending from one paddle-box to the other, and commenced his operations; the captain being required to furnish a list of all those who had not crossed the Line. These were given in charge of the constables to be kept below until called for. They were then brought up blindfolded, one at a time, and placed upon a chair upon the bridge over the sailbath, and Neptune began to interrogate them:—

“Well, my man, what is your name?’’ The moment the man opened his month to answer, a nauseous pill was thrust into it by the doctor, under pretence that he was hoarse, or some other excuse ; at the same moment a branch pipe of water, which one of tho doctor’s assistants held in his hand, with his linger over the top of it, was unstopped, and a stream spurted into his mouth to wash the pill down. If he took the medicine properly, that is to say, with good humor, he was pronounced healthy, and committed to the barber, with orders to use No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 razor, according to the character the captain gave him. If a good one, ho was lathered with tar, soap, tallow, pease-soup, and other ingredients, mixed up in a pot, and then the barber adroitly managed to scrape a little off his cheeks and introduce it into his mouth, ears, &c. Ho was—still blindfold—next pitched off the bridge into the water, where he had to undergo the operation of washing, and the white bears there seized and hugged him according to Neptune’s instructions. Wo to the poor L-llow who might have offended the captain or crew on the passage out! Neptune would admonish himthe doctor would pronounce him ill from all sorts of diseases, and dose him accordingly; the barber would declare his beard the hardest he ever met with, and scrape him unmercifully with No. 3 razor, and stuff him with lather, to the intense delight, of course, of all those for whoso benefit Jthe luu is got up ; and when he is finally capsized into tho water, the five bears give him such an affectionate hugging as to give him cause to remember old Neptune as long as he goes to sea. After passing through this ordeal they have nothing to do but look on and laugh at the others. When they are all shaved, the main brace is spliced, and Jack enjoys himself for the remainder of tho day. The next morning all traces of the fun are lost, except on the poor fellows who had come under the denominatou of unruly ; they usually carry the marks of No. 3 razor on their checks some time after they have got the tar off