RECOLLECTIONS OF MY FRIGATE.

FROM THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH.

My gallant little hooker-my pride-my heart's delight,

We've weather'd many a gale of wind-we've fought in many a fight: No craft upon the ocean e'er behav'd so very well,

As when we topp'd the mountain sea, or climb'd the rolling swell.

Firm hearts of oak were all her crew-her officers were brave;

Her timbers stout-her bows well form'd to breast the dashing wave;
Her sticks were staunch-her sails well bent-her shrouds taut as a bar;
Proudly she rode-" the beautiful "-ready for peace or war.

But ah! the man-of-war's man is not what he used to be;
For stopping half his quart of grog don't suit him to a T;
And though he gets more cocoa, and additional burgoo,
Jack sorrows for his absent jill, and swears "till all is blue."

The good old days of wad to shot are pass'd off like a dream;

The thick dark smoke of broadsides is exchang`d for scalding steam;
And now, alas! both ships and men when put upon their mettle,
Must start on end from the same cause-hot water in a kettle.

I've often heard the rushing winds piping amongst the gear,
Until we grew, like brothers tried, and I had lost all fear :
'Twas joy to hear its blustering voice give notice of the weather;
Ah, then we've join'd in harmony, and whistled both together.
But soon there 'll be no gear aloft-the day of sails is past;
For ships, like coaches, go on wheels, with a chimney for a mast⚫
The towering canvass all is gone-even the heaven poker
Is chang'd for one of hotter berth, and handed by a stoker.

The raking masts were once the pride of every boatswain's mate;
Yet soon they'll know no raking, but the raking in the grate :
To rake a craft, right fore and aft, was once their hearts' desire;
Instead of firing with a rake, ah, now they rake the fire.

We used to hoist our colours at the peak-end of the gaff;
But like an idle ensign, now 'tis plac'd upon the staff;

On watch I've took my trick at wheel, to steer well I had learn'd;
Ah, me! like tricking watches, now the wheels are engine-turn'd.

I little dream'd when yet a boy-some sixty years ago,
That I should live to see the breeze sustain so great a blow!
Within six points we went close haul'd, but now a ship can fly
Ten knots, and poke her figure-head right slap in the wind's eye.

Yet still my gallant hooker-my pride-my heart's delight;
I'll think of you on many a day, and dream of you at night;
I have your picture on my wall-your model in my room;
And when I die, I hope they'll place them both above my tomb.
JEREMIAH JEwelblock,

Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich.

FOREIGN MISCELLANY.

SPAIN.

THE CHAPELGORRIS.

THE province of Guipuzcoa maintains a whole battalion of these bold and reckless fellows, from 800 to 1000 men strong, and split into several detachments. It is a corps completely sui generis: composed of men of proven gallantry, fit for any task, and wholly sans peur, though by no manner of means utterly sans reproche. If it be necessary to send a dispatch to any remote station, your Chapelgorry is always ready to convey it under covert of the night, be the peril what it may, for half an ounce; and if the distance be within reach of two swift feet between nightfall and daybreak, depend upon it your orderly has slipped within the gates of Elisondo, Pampeluna, or San Sebastian, almost before they are unbolted. He starts upon his hazardous mission unattended, and disdaining to lay aside his distinguishing costume-a large cap of red cloth, called by the Biscayan a chapelgorry, a grey frock, without waistcoat, a pair of red or blue pantaloons, and a girdle fastened round his loins, similar to what a Franciscan brother wears, but nesting half a score cartridges. By his side hangs a bayonet, not unfrequently sheathless; a stout musket is thrown over his shoulder; and if not shoes, alparguras, a species of twisted hempen sandals, upon his feet; but neither these nor his legs seek the covert of a stocking. He bounds across the mountains like a chamois, and will track a horse at full trot. Your Chapelgorry has the appetite of an alderman, and has his heart's content when he can levy gastronomic contribution on the "factious" -a denomination, in his vocabulary at least, familiar to every peasant in the north. He is generally to be found with the advanced guard, or hovering about the flanks of columns under march-stands in high favour with the troops of the line, and always finds a "Hail, fellow, well met!" among them, whether he has a craving stomach or wearied limbs to gratify; and he lives with his comrades on better terms than twin with twin-brother: though with an adversary neither gives nor accepts quarter, be the circumstances what they may. He is devotedly attached to the Christina party; nor would all the gold in Christendom persuade him to shake hands with a Carlist-perchance from his implacable aversion to ecclesiastics of all grades and shades, as well as every peasant, their stedfast adherents; and it would be difficult to say whether he is most hated or dreaded by both. It is very remarkable, that the families of these sworn foes to the cowl and ploughshare suffer no molestation from the Carlists whatever; nay, there is not a single instance on record of their persons or chattels having been exposed to an inroad, though they inhabit the same villages as the "factious" themselves. The Chapelgorry's intimate acquaintance with every inch of ground, and every dweller upon it, has rendered him the most valuable prop which the Christinos and their cause could have prayed for.

NORTH AFRICA.

THE BEY OF CONSTANTINA.

"After waiting twelve days at Constantina, I received orders from the Bey to go and meet him at his quarters up the country. With these orders he sent me a large tent, and a suite of servants magnificently attired, to wait upon me. We were three days on our journey, and were received at U. S. JOURN. No. 83, Oct. 1835.

R

me.

every station (douar) on our route, with marked attention; ourselves and our quadrupeds being housed and boarded without a dollar of expense to The people of the country are naturally of an hospitable turn of mind; and if they are not in circumstances to do the rites of hospitality befittingly, they avoid dwelling near the high roads. On the third day we reached the spot where the Bey was encamped; and so immense a host of all kinds and descriptions had collected upon it, that it wore the appearance of a large town. Upon receiving intelligence of my approach, the Bey came out to meet me, followed by his whole suite, greeted me with much cordiality, and ordered a tent to be pitched for me adjoining his own. Near it was a stable with sixty beautiful horses in it; at some little distance stood a second, in which I observed some magnificent mares; and there was a third tent, in which horses for ordinary use were kept. The Bey's own tent was gorgeous and of splendid dimensions, and had a door on one side communicating with the tents reserved for his women; there was another tent next the Bey's, which was used as a kitchen, but closed to all but the women.

"I was told that vapour-baths also formed part of his field-equipments, his personal incumbrances being sufficient to load twenty camels when he left Constantina. A countless number of tents, occupied by his agents and servants, were grouped round his own; there was one, too, which served the purpose of a coffee-house, and in which every officer was allowed to take his coffee, free of expense. Behind the whole lay the tents for the cavalry and other troops on service. Altogether there was a numerous corps with him. The cavalry maintain themselves at their own cost, save and except on the day when they take up fresh quarters; the remainder receive a month's rations: though I should add, that when the cavalry arrive at new quarters, the inhabitants of the place are obliged to supply them with victuals.

66

The Bey is a man of middling stature, with a fair complexion embrowned by exposure to the sun; he has large hazel eyes, and a beard of so jet a black, that I should be inclined to consider it the effect of some dye. He has a Cashmere shawl wound round his head; his dress is embroidered with silk ornaments according to the Algiers fashion, and a fine woollen and silk hak or frock is thrown over them. He wears no arms but when on horseback, on which occasions a splendid sword in a gold scabbard dangles by his side. At every place where he has a fixed residence he has a large store of arms at hand, which his followers carry when he rides out. He receives fifteen persons at his table every day, and about twenty more dine at a second table. Every one who is desirous of an audience, whether man, woman, or even child, is admitted into his presence, received with great affability, and whatever representation they may have to make is listened to with invariable attention. He knows every corner of his dominions as accurately as if he had a topographical map of it lying before him. When he arrives at any position occupied by his army, he has it drawn up in two lines, inspects them in succession, and deals out his salutations right and left, agreeably with Eastern custom. His horse also salutes the troops, in common with his master, by raising his fore-feet on whatever side the Bey may be in the act of greeting them: to this he must have been regularly trained."-(From the Notes of a Moor of distinction.)

RUSSIA.

CAUCASIAN FORTRESS.

"Prosecuting our excursion on the other side of the Caucasus, we reached Vladikawkas, a small fortress of no great extent, lying on the Great Military Road which leads from the south of Russia into Grusia. It is a species of

quadrangular redoubt, defended by bastions, and mounted with light fieldpieces; the ramparts are of earth, and have suffered much from wind and weather, and the ditch that runs round them is neither deep nor broad, but well protected by palisadoes. The Terek flows close to the fortress, which lies at the foot of the Caucasus. Though comparatively insignificant, it has fully answered the purpose of keeping the wild mountain tribes in check. They have been also compelled to deliver a certain number of individuals as hostages; these are confined in a building which has been erected and fitted up for their use, and are constantly kept under the Commandant's surveillance. The garrison itself is composed of the two battalions of what is called the Vladikawkasian garrison regiment; their commandant is the regular commandant likewise of the fortress, and has besides a regiment of Cossacks of the Don under his orders: their quarters are in barracks without the walls of the fortress; they are fenced round with strong wickerwork. The remaining equipments of the place are some field-artillery, under the command of a subordinate officer, a detachment of artillerymen, and a company of pioneers. The interior of the fortress contains barracks of wood built on a regular plan, a large hospital, and several neat, smart-looking houses for the accommodation of the Commandant and officers. The Commandant's residence is constructed on some rising ground at the eastern extremity of the place, and affords a complete view of everything within the walls. To these may be added a convenient inn for the use of travellers, some booths for the Russian dealers, who keep them well supplied with provisions, liquors, and other necessaries; and a stone church, of somewhat large dimensions.

A suburb extends between the fortress and the river Terek: it consists of two quarters; the one containing in front the barracks for the company of pioneers, together with several shops erected by Russian dealers and Mosdok traders, one of whom keeps a billiard-table; and in their rear, two rows of small but rather pretty houses, with yards attached to them, in which the married soldiers reside. The other quarter consists of a number of insignificant, dirty tenements, inhabited by about thirty families of the Ossete tribe, who have sought refuge from the pillage and murderous violence to which they were obnoxious on the part of other tribes of mountaineers whom they had offended. They employ themselves in cultivating the ground, and rearing cattle, but derive a very bare subsistence from these pursuits, for they are naturally of an indolent habit, and are under constant apprehension that their vindictive fellow-countrymen will pay them a visit even in this protected haunt.

"Immediately adjoining the fortress are some large kitchen-gardens, which have been made on either side of the road from Mosdok to this station, and belong to the officers and privates. Every kind of vegetable, but more particularly cabbages and potatoes, thrive admirably on this soil. The late Major-General Del Pozzo, who, previously to becoming Commander-inChief along the whole line of the Caucasus, had been Commandant at Vladikawkas, planted the productive orchard under the walls of the place which still goes by the name of the Commandant's Orchard.'"-(From the Diary of a Russian Traveller.)

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.

Dr. Alexander's Evidence in the Case of the late Colonel Greswolde. MR. EDITOR,-The Editor of the London Medical Gazette, in order to prove the impartiality and honesty of his publication, having withheld my reply to the observations on my evidence on the recent trial in the case of the late Colonel Greswolde (formerly Capt. Wigley), as contained in No. 42 of the Gazette, I trust you will allow a corner in the United Service Journal to the following facts :

On the 7th of May, 1827, Capt. Wigley was thrown from a raised footpath into the street, so as to pitch on the back part of his head. This injury was soon followed by fits and delirium, for which he was successfully treated. The delirium set in on the 14th, and ceased on the morning of the 16th of May, on which day (about 3 P.M.) I arrived at Macclesfield, and found Capt. Wigley still in bed, but free from delirium, and perfectly rational. I now carefully examined him, and immediately afterwards collected from his medical attendants and others worthy of belief every particular connected with Capt. W.'s illness and treatment.

Having satisfied myself on every point relating to Capt. W.'s condition previous to, and after my arrival at Macclesfield, I returned to Nottingham, where, on the fifth day after my arrival, I granted the following certificate:

"I hereby certify having carefully examined Capt. Wigley, and find that he has been labouring under epileptic fits, followed by delirium, in consequence of a fall on the head, and I am of opinion that he will not be fit to resume his duties in a less period than three (and not six, as stated in the Gazette) months."

If Capt. W. had come to head-quarters for re-examination, it would have taken him more than forty miles out of his road, a measure, in his then weak state, I did not wish to recommend. As to the fits being epileptic or otherwise, the learned judge stated that it was of no consequence, for if it was proved that Colonel Greswolde had been subject to fits of any kind before the policy was concluded, the jury would find for the defendant.

Every medical officer knows that it is not unusual to certify to what they had no personal cognizance of; and where officers are always arriving from our various and distant colonial possessions in ill-health, it is impossible to certify except from the reports of others. For several years I have been a member of a Board of Medical Officers who meet twice a week in Berkeleystreet for the purpose of certifying concerning the health of officers, and it is as common to certify with regard to that we have not seen, (and could not see unless we possessed the property of ubiquity,) as otherwise. The certificate on which so many foolish hopes were hung, was neither loosely nor ambiguously worded, and under similar circumstances I would again grant exactly the same form of document. That counsel for the defendant, or those interested in the Eagle Office, should have found fault with it, or with my explanation of the circumstances under which it was granted, need excite no wonder.

No. 44 of the Gazette states, that my evidence was copied from the Times -a most impudent and barefaced assertion, for that excellent journal contains a most correct account of my evidence, and one totally at variance with that of the Gazette, which states that I appeared to give evidence on one side only-that the certificate was "got up," and that I was obliged to confess having granted it without due caution—all which assertions are not found in the Times, but in the Gazette. This said most honest and accurate