Jem !" Then she rose, clasped her hands,
and fell senseless on the deck.

When I got to my berth my messmates
welcomed me like a brother. They looked
like banditti, dressed only in shirt and
trousers, handkerchiefs tied round their heads,
pistols and cutlasses in their belts, their
faces black with smoke and gunpowder,
several with large plasters on their cheeks.
There was only a candle in a purser's
lantern burning here and there, but the
flaming Turkish vessels cast every now and
then a red glare into the berth. I found three
of my own messmates were killed. When
the purser's steward sent down the monkeys
brimful of wine, we drank round to the
memory of our good old captain, and all who
had fallen that day. Then we went on deck
to survey the scene of battle. Our ship was
half cut to pieces, and the least breeze of
wind would have sent both our mizen and
main masts overboard. There was nobody
on deck but a boatswain's mate and the
captain, who were watching a squadron of
Turkish boats near the eastern shore of
the bay. Thousands of poor wretches were
floating on pieces of wreck. Astern of us
lay the Albion (seventy–four); her hull
having the marks of a sound battering.
Directly ahead of us lay the Asia, with
her mizen over her side. Of the Turkish
fleet, only eighteen small vessels were left.
The French admiral's flagship had all
three masts shot away. The Russians
were an hour later than we were in
getting into action; but they silenced the
forts admirably, and took off from us a great
part of the heavy fire.

About six o'clock, Admiral Codrington
came on board to see our dying captain;
he praised us for our hot and steady fire.
Just after he left, all hands were turned
up to clear wreck, for both masts were in
danger; but we were all so worn out that,
after a trial, we had to give it up for
that night. About ten o'clock, cries under
our stern of "Ali–Mahomet," roused us,
and we looked and saw two Turks clinging
to the rudder. We were forbidden to
help them, and in about five minutes first
one let go and then the other, and crying
"Ali, Ali!" they sank. Half an hour
after, we were hailed from the Asia, and
the admiral called to us to take care of a
burning frigate that was bearing down upon
us. In a moment we beat to quarters, and
every one was at his gun as if for a second
battle; but just as the burning ship neared
us, the Russian fleet poured an immense
broadside into her and she blew up with
a great explosion. At daylight we began
to clear wreck, till all hands were
summoned to muster on the quarter–deck,
while the captain, the purser, doctor, and
captain's clerk, scored off the names of the
killed, in red ink. We found our loss to be
twenty–six killed, and thirty–three wounded.
The allied squadron returned altogether
one hundred and fifty–two killed, and four
hundred and seventy–three wounded.

A goat and kid that we had on board
ran about the decks during the whole
action and were unhurt. Two ring doves in
a cage above the fore grating also escaped
uninjured, though men were killed close
by. As I was descending the after ladder,
I met two men carrying the dead body of
my poor messmate, in a purser's bread bag.
I made them lay the body down between
two guns, and while my mess was at breakfast,
I got a spare hammock and sewed the
corpse in it. I then got a friend to help
me sling two thirty–two pound shot to
poor Tom's feet, and at the gun–room port
we read the service and let the body slip
into the blue water. In another moment
all hands were piped and we were at work
at the rigging, swearing and whistling like
the rest. It was Sunday morning. Turkish
vessels continued to blow up at intervals;
the men got so accustomed to them that
at dinner the only remark at another bang,
was, "Hurrah! There's another of the
beggars blown up."

That forenoon the body of our captain was
put into a puncheon of rum, and stowed
down at the bottom of the spirit–room, to
be taken home. At five o'clock in the
afternoon, the captain turned all hands up,
and read us a general order from the
admiral, thanking us for our conduct. We
gave three cheers, and the captain ordered
us a double allowance of grog. On the
Thursday afterwards, we set sail for Malta.
A fortnight before, the Genoa had left
Valetta a gallant man–of–war; she was now
a battered old hulk, with stumps for masts,
her sides patched with sheet lead and
planks, and a largo cannon–shot sticking
in the right breast of her figure–head.

SHOOTING STARS.

WE have seen that Chladni, in his
"Reflexions on the Origin of Divers Masses of
Native Iron, and Notably of that Found by
Pallas in Siberia," published in 1794,
considered shooting stars to be exactly the
same as meteors, fireballs, or bolides, only
passing at great distances from the surface