He brought orders for us to go up to London; and, the wind being fair, and
almost a gale, we got under way, and were off as soon as possible. The
next morning we were in the straits of Dover; the wind light, but fair.
This was at a moment when all England was in arms, in anticipation of an
invasion from France. Forty odd sail of vessels of war were counted from
our ship, as the day dawned, that had been cruising in the narrow waters,
during the night, to prevent a surprise.

We worked our way up to London, with the tides, and were carried into
London dock; where we discharged. This was my first visit to the modern
Babylon, of course; but I had little opportunity of seeing much. I had one
or two cruises, of a Sunday, in tow of Cooper, who soon became a branch
pilot, in those waters, about the parks and west end but I was too young
to learn much, or to observe much. Most of us went to see the monument,
St. Paul's, and the lions; and Cooper put himself in charge of a
beef-eater, and took a look at the arsenals, jewels and armoury. He had a
rum time of it, in his sailor rig, but hoisted in a wonderful deal of
gibberish, according to his own account of his cruise.

Captain Johnston now got a freight for the ship, and we hauled into the
stream, abreast of the dock-gates, and took in shingle ballast. The
Prussian, Dane, second mate, and the English cooper, all left us, in
London. We got a Philadelphian, a chap from Maine, who had just been
discharged from an English man-of-war, and an Irish lad, in their places.
In January we sailed, making the best of our way for the straits of
Gibraltar. The passage was stormy--the Bay of Biscay, in particular,
giving us a touch of its qualities. It was marked by only two incidents,
however, out of the usual way. While running down the coast of Portugal,
with the land in sight, we made an armed felucca astern, and to windward.
This vessel gave chase; and, the captain disliking her appearance, we