- end_line
- 2590
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 2542
- text
- still; but as, while on board the frigate, my liberty of thought did
not extend to liberty of expression, I was obliged to keep these
sentiments to myself; though, indeed, I had some thoughts of addressing
a letter, marked _Private and Confidential_, to his Honour the
Commodore, on the subject.
My station at the batteries was at one of the thirty-two-pound
carronades, on the starboard side of the quarter-deck.[1]
[1] For the benefit of a Quaker reader here and there, a word or two
in explanation of a carronade may not be amiss. The carronade is a gun
comparatively short and light for its calibre. A carronade throwing a
thirty-two-pound shot weighs considerably less than a long-gun only
throwing a twenty-four-pound shot. It further differs from a long-gun,
in working with a joint and bolt underneath, instead of the short arms
or _trunnions_ at the sides. Its _carriage_, likewise, is quite
different from that of a long-gun, having a sort of sliding apparatus,
something like an extension dining-table; the goose on it, however, is
a tough one, and villainously stuffed with most indigestible
dumplings. Point-blank, the range of a carronade does not exceed one
hundred and fifty yards, much less than the range of a long-gun. When
of large calibre, however, it throws within that limit, Paixhan shot,
all manner of shells and combustibles, with great effect, being a very
destructive engine at close quarters. This piece is now very generally
found mounted in the batteries of the English and American navies. The
quarter-deck armaments of most modern frigates wholly consist of
carronades. The name is derived from the village of Carron, in
Scotland, at whose celebrated founderies this iron Attila was first
cast.
I did not fancy this station at all; for it is well known on shipboard
that, in time of action, the quarter-deck is one of the most dangerous
posts of a man-of-war. The reason is, that the officers of the highest
rank are there stationed; and the enemy have an ungentlemanly way of
target-shooting at their buttons. If we should chance to engage a ship,
then, who could tell but some bungling small-arm marks-man in the
enemy’s tops might put a bullet through _me_ instead of the Commodore?
If they hit _him_, no doubt he would not feel it much, for he was used
to that sort of thing, and, indeed, had a bullet in him already.
Whereas, _I_ was altogether unaccustomed to having blue pills playing
round my head in such an indiscriminate way. Besides, ours was a
flag-ship; and every one knows what a peculiarly dangerous predicament
the quarter-deck of Nelson’s flag-ship was in at the battle of
Trafalgar; how the lofty tops of the enemy were full of soldiers,
peppering away at the English Admiral and his officers. Many a poor
sailor, at the guns of that quarter-deck, must have received a bullet
intended for some wearer of an epaulet.
- title
- Chunk 2