with twenty angry men, and he knew the passengers would not befriend
him: he therefore deemed it expedient to endeavor to conciliate them
by promises he never intended to perform, and, after a few hours'
confusion, all was again comparatively quiet.

"I could tell you much more about the quarrels and disturbances of
which we unfortunate passengers had to be the passive witnesses, and
which, accustomed as we were to them in the day-time, filled me with
greater horror than I can describe, breaking upon the stillness of
the night, when all was quiet but the troubled ocean, whose murmurs,
instead of arousing, served to lull us into a deeper repose. Yes,
often, when no other sound but the low splashing of the waves
against the side of the ship was to be heard, and we were all either
sleeping quietly, or thinking deeply of home and friends, loud cries
and shouts would reach us, and, in an instant, we would all be
gathered together to inquire into the cause of the disturbance. It
was always the captain and some of the men fighting; and on one
occasion, the battle was so close to us, actually in the cabin,
between the captain and the steward, that I screamed aloud, and do
not remember ever to have been so much alarmed.

"But as my principal object is to make you acquainted with Frederic
Hamilton, and not with _my_ adventures, I will say no more about
Captain Simmons, and his ship, than is necessary in the course of my
tale.

"I was just getting over the unpleasant sensations of sea-sickness,
when, one morning as I was dressing in my berth, a noise of
scuffling on the quarter-deck, over my head, interrupted my
operations. I laid my brush on the table, and listened. At first I