the officer of the watch, and Charlie was not last in the fore-top. Business is soon done on board a man-of-war, or stand clear! In less than quick time all was nearly ready for running up the yards, when crash fell poor Summers in the lee-scupper! I saw him fall; he appeared in the act of returning hastily to the top from the yard-arm, when probably the foot-rope slipped through the eye suddenly, which, together with the motion of the ship and his inexperience, or perhaps giddiness, caused his losing both hold and footing, and he fell. He was immediately carried below, where I visited him when relieved from the deck; I had seen the doctor, who spoke of fractured scull, and not an hour to live; indeed there already appeared an end to his bodily and mental sufferings, for death had set his seal, though breathing continued. Had you but seen his marble-like features, to the very lips from whence the blood oozed, and was at times wiped by the hard hand of a messmate, whose rough but subdued voice repeatedly answered to the "How is it with him?" of his shipmates-had you seen the "sick chamber" of this young gentleman, this heir to wealth, this only son, this "common sailor," whose hammock was shortly afterwards, for the first time, lashed by other hands around his bruised form, with a two-and-thirty pound shot at his feet-had you heard the words, "We therefore commit his body to the deep," uttered among strangers-had you seen the eternal waters close over him, as I did,-you would have exclaimed against the harsh dealings of a father; you would have pitied the sorrows of a mother and sister, and a tear might have fallen for the loss of Charles Summers.

M.

ELEPHANT SHOOTING AT CEYLON.

Ir was a calm evening on the 12th of September, 1820, at Sittrawille, a deserted spot some twenty miles inland on the south-eastern coast of Ceylon. There were four of us; we had arrived rather late in the day, after a fatiguing journey, from Pallitospany, and established ourselves under a group of aged tamarind trees, by the edge of a clear lake of moderate extent: on the opposite side of which and in front of us, was a succession of small plains prettily wooded, with high blueish rocks in the distance: a deep forest was all around, separated from the lake by a belt of greensward of from fifty to three hundred paces in depth. Our morning's sport had amply repaid our toil, and we felt more disposed for the quiet enjoyment of the lovely scene before us, than to resume hostilities against all that walks or flies; neither were the dogs nor horses in heart for spirited exertion, and our sable attendants were all busily occupied in preparing their evening meal.

Our amusement then consisted in observing with our glasses the various tenants of the woods as they slowly browsed their way to the water, unconscious of the evil eye watching their every movement. Hogs, deer, and buffaloes appeared associated in friendly communion, and secure in the enjoyment of long undisturbed repose. There were birds too of every size and hue; yet with all this profusion we were still dissatisfied: one

feature so peculiarly Ceylonese was wanting in this living picture, that without it we felt the grouping to be incomplete-not an elephant was to be seen. Twilight was now rapidly drawing on, and we were about to retire to our arbour for the night, when in the jungle over the water to the left something of a dazzling whiteness attracted our attention-it was the splendid tusks of a full-grown elephant, perfect in all his points; but what a time to present himself, just as it was getting dark, and a quarter of a mile between him and us! However, as tuskers are far from common in Ceylon, and this appeared to be a most noble specimen, it was determined to attack him; not a moment was lost in brief preparation. In shirt and trowsers and one gun each, away we started with the wind in our favour, an indispensable advantage. We kept close to the jungle until we reached the spot the elephant had first appeared at, and after one look at our pans committed ourselves to the open ground, walking down right upon him. He was slowly making his way to the lake, with his back to us, now and then stopping to pull a tuft of lemon grass, and raising his trunk in the air to collect intelligence. As we approached him, treading as lightly as possible, a deep low grumbling, not unworthy of being compared to distant thunder, told us his suspicions were awakened; no time then was to be lost, so we moved quicker, when being about twenty yards from him, he all at once wheeled round and with a shrill angry cry that made the woods resound, stalked furiously towards us; I happened to have the first fire-it was a front shot, but his head was too high from his nearness, and my ball entering in the hollow above the eye (a most fatal spot on a proper level) skimmed his brain instead of entering it. S. flashed in the pan, so did E., and it was "sauve qui peut," when T. fired; for one moment the huge brute was stationary, then fell at his full length on the turf-his eyes glazed and legs stretched out, as stiff as if he had been carved in stone-the ball had entered behind the ear, and lodged deep in the brain. Elephant-shooting in cover with clear daylight is sufficiently exciting-by twilight in a plain it becomes nervous; besides, single elephants are considered particularly ugly customers.

It was dark by the time we reached our bivouac, there, we found dinner prepared for us in front of a large fire, and after doing ample justice to the peacock, mulligatawny, and venison steaks, not forgetting a couple of magnum bonums of Sneyd's claret, we sank upon our fresh straw, the stars glimmering through the branches above us, lulled to rest by wild sounds that filled us with delightful anticipations of the dawn-nor were we disappointed.

On referring to my notes I find the elephant to have measured 10 feet 7 inches, from the tip of the shoulder to the ground in a direct line, and 134 inches across the broadest part of the fore foot: his tusks proved to be, the one 6 feet 1 inch, the other 5 feet 10 inches in length; weighing both together 117lbs.

THE CORK BOOTS.

"SAY what you please," said Captain E. to his friend Major S., "say what you please of the sobriety and gravity of the English nation; but however we may flatter ourselves on that head, we do not by any means bear that character amongst foreigners."

"You don't mean to assert, my friend," rejoined Major S., " that we have half the vivacity of the French, or a tenth part of the wit of the Italians; our demeanour is more grave, more thoughtful."

"A fig for your gravity," cried his friend: " did you ever hear of a Frenchman or an Italian playing such pranks, such hoaxes, as some of our regiment did ?-for instance, take the story of the Cork Boots."

"Ha, ha, ha!" roared Major S.; "that really was a capital affair! Do you know that there was nothing during the whole campaign that afforded me so much pleasure, so many agreeable recollections; although begun in a frolic, it was the means of assisting more than one friend, which without the aid of cork boots I never could have accomplished."

"What's that, Ned?" said his uncle, a hearty old squire, and who was as fond of a joke or a merry tale as his nephew" what story is this? I thought thou hadst emptied thy budget long ago."

"Why, uncle," replied Ned," I have hardly had time to give you the whole of my pranks since I left merry England; but speaking, you know, makes the throat dry, so let's have another bottle of claret, and then you shall have the story of the cork boots."

I doubt if it's worth so much," said his uncle, winking at Captain E.; "however, I'll try you once more, in the hope that this story may be something better than your last one." So the wine being put on the table, the fire stirred, and the candles snuffed, Ned without more preamble thus began.

"I dare say, uncle, you will recollect the time when hoaxing was all the fashion in London, and that in one case in particular not only the street in which the person lived, but even those adjoining were absolutely blocked up by the people, who were hurrying, some on foot and others in vehicles of every description, with the innumerable articles which they had been ordered to send in. Well, the English papers which were sent out to Lisbon were quite full of this hoax, and afforded us great amusement at the mess. This was followed by many sage remarks regarding the gullibility of John Bull, till at length I hazarded a conjecture that the Lisbonites might perhaps be successfully imposed upon. A dozen voices immediately scouted the idea;-the thing was impossible; no, none but John, honest simple John, was at all likely to fall into a trap. All this did not discourage me; and after a great deal of talk I at length declared that I would undertake to assemble at a given point ten thousand of the inhabitants of Lisbon, in the expectation of hearing or seeing something very wonderful, and which, of course, they would nenner hear nor see. I had scarcely spoken when bets were offered to me on all hands, and at high odds against my undertaking. I took a few of them, and the remainder was taken by those of my brother officers who, from the confident way in which I spoke, were inclined to risk a small sum for the chance of winning a large one.

This being finished, it was agreed on all hands that the strictest secrecy should be preserved, and that no one should interfere with my arrangements; so, without taking any one into my confidence, I proceeded with my measures accordingly.

"I had bills posted up in the most public streets and squares in Lisbon, announcing that an Englishman in cork boots would, at the height of the tide on the following Wednesday, walk across the Tagus; and inviting all the men, women, and children to come and see so novel a sight, a sight that they might never have it in their power to see again. Wednesday arrived; and as if on purpose to do all manner of justice to bootikins, the heat of the sun was tempered by a fine refreshing breeze from the Tagus. At an early hour all our mess was on the alert to ascertain what was likely to be the result of the experiment; and for a while I was exposed to a hot fire from those who had betted against its success. But the tables were soon turned. Long before the appointed time the population began to pour out of Lisbon; the shops were shut, and every horse, mule, and carriage, which could be had for love or money was put in requisition. It was a glorious day for the boatmen also, who charged double price, for many preferred going by water.

"The place where Cork Boots was to make his debut, was from the garden walls of the fine palace of Belem, three miles from Lisbon; and at this place the Tagus is three miles across. Our Marshal, not thinking he ought to know better than his neighbours, announced his intention of being present; and the Cortes, who were then assembled, on hearing of the Marshal's intention, resolved also to honour Corky with their august presence, and, accompanied by a prodigious tail of attendants, they took their station at the windows of the palace of Belem, which almost touches the Tagus, thus securing to themselves the best situation for seeing everything.

"I shall not soon forget the scene which presented itself to our view. In place of ten thousand there were fifty thousand people assembled ; and the variety of their dresses, and the mingling of the different groups together would have formed a most enchanting subject for the painter. There one might see ladies in the most elegant costume mixed with the veil and mantilla of the lower orders; friars and officers -sellers of cakes and confectionery-venders of lemonade-criers of iced water-mingled with the military bands that serenaded the multitude; the little town of Belem was all agog-never had it been so gay. In short, my dear uncle, never was a hoax more charmingly arranged.

"Three o'clock was the time fixed for Corky to take his leave of the land. As the hour drew near, the populace began to look out for his arrival, and to wonder what could detain him. Expectation sat on every face: the Tagus spread out her silvery bosom as if inviting her expected guest; but still he came not. The Marshal began to look grave, and took out his watch; so did his suite, so did the Cortes, and so did all those who had watches. The populace began to murmur, and to gesticulate no class of people seemed pleased, but those who had commodities to sell.

"At length, as if by magic, sundry bills were posted up in different parts of the place, announcing that the gentleman with the cork boots was in despair at not being able to step across the Tagus that day, as

the boot-maker had just sent him intelligence, that the French army having burnt down all the cork trees, he had not been able in all Lisbon to procure as much as would finish them.

"On learning this announcement, the Marshal and his suite descended from the palace with all imaginable gravity, and mounting their horses set off quietly and composedly towards Lisbon, as if the disappointment had arisen from accident; the Cortes followed in a similar manner; but, when the mass of the people found that they had been hoaxed, the burst of wrath and indignation which broke from them was really tremendous. The clenching of fists and teeth, and the sparkling of thousands of black eyes, while they vowed vengeance against the hoaxer, made me feel somewhat uncomfortable: but the secret was well kept; so, I had the double pleasure of winning my bet, and of having many a hearty laugh with my friends at the admirable manner in which the hoax had succeeded. The Portuguese, however, have neither forgotten nor forgiven it; and to this day, you cannot offend an inhabitant of Lisbon more, than by asking him if he had seen the man with the cork boots walk across the Tagus."

J. W., R.N.

MEMOIRS OF GENERAL AND FLAG OFFICERS RECENTLY DECEASED.

THE LATE ADMIRAL SIR FRANCIS LAFOREY, BART., K.C.B.

THE subject of this memoir entered the Royal Navy early in life. In 1791, having arrived at the rank of Commander, he was appointed to H. M. sloop Fairy, served in her on the Leeward Island Station for two years, and was then despatched to England with an account of the capture of the Island of Tobago. On the 5th June, 1793, he was promoted to Post-rank, and shortly after had the command of the Carysfort, of 34 guns; d on the 29th May, 1794, captured the Castor, French frigate, of 32 guns a d 200 men, sixteen of whom were slain, and nine wounded. The Carysfort lost but one man killed, and six wounded. The Castor had formerly been a British ship, captured by the French, regularly condemned, and recommissioned in their service, yet the Navy Board put in a claim for her to be restored to the British service on payment of salvage; but, on the matter coming before the Admiralty Court, Sir James Marriot, the judge, decided she was a lawful prize, and the whole value was decreed to the captors. Captain Laforey afterwards had L'Aimable, Beaulieu, and Scipio, in the West Indies. In the latter ship he was very active, in conjunction with Commodore Parr and Major-General Whyte, in the capture of the Dutch settlements of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, in 1795. Immediately on succeeding to the baronetcy, Captain Laforey was appointed to the Hydra; and, while cruizing off the coast of France, in company with the Vesuvius bomb, and Trial cutter, he, on the 1st of May, 1798, discovered a French frigate, a corvette, and a cutter. After a long chase, the former was brought to action by the Hydra, who succeeded in drawing her on shore near Havre, and, with the boats of his small squadron, destroyed her. She proved to be the Confiante, of 36 guns, and a crew of 300 men, the greater part of whom got on shore. The corvette contrived to escape; but the cutter shared the fate of the frigate. After serving two years on the Leeward Island Station, in the Hydra, Sir F. Laforey took the command of the Powerful, 74, and was employed in the Baltic; and afterwards under the order of Admiral Sir Charles Pole, in Cadiz Bay. In 1805, Sir Francis