more canvas than she did, having royals and sky-sails fore and aft,
and ten studding-sails; while she, being an hermaphrodite brig, had
only a gaff topsail, aft. Early in the morning she was overhauling
us a little, but after the rain came on and the wind grew lighter,
we began to leave her astern. All hands remained on deck throughout
the day, and we got our arms in order; but we were too few to have
done anything with her, if she had proved to be what we feared.
Fortunately there was no moon, and the night which followed was
exceedingly dark, so that by putting out all the lights and altering
our course four points, we hoped to get out of her reach. We had no
light in the binnacle, but steered by the stars, and kept perfect
silence through the night. At daybreak there was no sign of anything
in the horizon, and we kept the vessel off to her course.

Wednesday, October 1st. Crossed the equator in long. 24° 24' W.
I now, for the first time, felt at liberty, according to the old
usage, to call myself a son of Neptune, and was very glad to be
able to claim the title without the disagreeable initiation which
so many have to go through. After once crossing the line you can
never be subjected to the process, but are considered as a son of
Neptune, with full powers to play tricks upon others. This ancient
custom is now seldom allowed, unless there are passengers on board,
in which case there is always a good deal of sport.

It had been obvious to all hands for some time that the second mate,
whose name was F-----, was an idle, careless fellow, and not much of
a sailor, and that the captain was exceedingly dissatisfied with him.
The power of the captain in these cases was well known, and we all
anticipated a difficulty. F----- (called Mr. by virtue of his office)
was but half a sailor, having always been short voyages and remained at