hundred years, judging by the coins and the vast quantities of household
materials unearthed; and so some persons have no difficulty in
accounting for the peculiarities of the pilot colony. Speculations of
this sort are, however, somewhat beside the mark. It is only certain
that the pilots lived amongst themselves, intermarried, and kept their
habits and dialect quite distinct. When a pilot crossed the line a
hundred yards west of his house, he met people who knew him by his
tongue to be a "foreigner."

My particular friend among the pilots was a very big man, who used, to
amuse us much by the childish gravity of his remarks. He was a remnant
of a past generation, and the introduction of steam shocked his
faculties beyond recovery. He would say: "In the old times, sir, vessels
had to turn up here. It was back, fill, and shiver-r-r all the way; but
now you might as well have sets of rails laid on the water and run the
ships on them. There is no seamanship needed." He never quite forgave
the Commissioners for deepening the river. As he said in his trenchant
manner: "There used to be some credit in bringing a ship across the bar
when you were never quite sure whether she would touch or not; but now
you could bring the 'Duke of Wellington' in at low water. These
kid-gloved captains come right up to their moorings as safe as if they
were driving a coach along the road." He was quite intolerant of
railways, too; but then his first experience of the locomotive engine
was not pleasant. Somehow he got on to the railway line on a hazy night;
and just as the train had slowed down to enter the station the engine
struck him and knocked him over. The engine-driver became aware of a
brief burst of strong language, and in great alarm called upon two
porters to walk along the line to see what had happened. They did so of
course, and when they got to the place of the accident the light of
their lanterns revealed the pilot perfectly sound and engaged in