In the Track of the Troops by Robert Michael Ballantyne (fantasy books to read TXT) 📖

tap, `the proverbial two-inch plank
between me and death is here increased to somewhere about thirty
inches.'

"In this soliloquy I referred to the _Thunderer's_ armour-plates, of
from ten to twelve inches thick, which are affixed to a timber backing
of eighteen inches in two layers. With such a backing of solid
comfort between me and `death,' I felt soothed, and dropped asleep.

"It was Saturday night. On Sunday morning I was awakened by a rushing
of water so furious that I fancied the sea must have proved more than
a match for the 12-inch armour and 18-inch backing; but a moment or
two of attentive reflection relieved me. Your friend Firebrand's
voice was audible. I listened. He muttered something, and yawned
vociferously, then muttered again--`Splend--propns--a--yi--a--ou!'

"`Splendid proportions!' he resumed again, after a pause, during which
the rush of water became more alarming, sundry gasps and much hard
breathing being mingled with it,--`Mag-nificent,' continued Firebrand
in the low calm tone of a contemplative connoisseur; `couldn't have
believed it if I hadn't seen it. Quite Herculean!'

"From all this I came gradually to understand that some of the
officers were performing their morning ablutions with sponge and
towel, while Firebrand was looking languidly over the edge of his
hammock, indulging in a critical commentary.

"Just then I was surprised to hear a muffled thunderous bang! It was
the big drum, and, next moment, the ship's band announced itself with
a single bar, excellently played, of `God Save the Queen.'

"Every Sunday, I found, was begun by a careful and minute inspection
of the crew and ship. After breakfast the captain, followed by all
his chief officers, went through every hole and corner of the mighty
iron fabric. I followed in his wake. At first the thought did not
occur to me, but after all was over it struck me that this act was
somewhat appropriate to the day. The great _Thunderer_ had, as it
were, gone into a condition of introspection.

"It was a species of self-examination on the part of the great
war-ship, through the medium of its mind--the captain. Here was the
father of a tremendously large family going the rounds on Sunday
morning to observe whether his moral precepts and personal example
during the week had been attended with appropriate results--to see
that his `boys' were neat and clean, and ready for church, and that
they had arranged their rooms before breakfast.

"First of all, the men were mustered (by bugle) on the upper deck,--
marines on one side, blue-jackets on the other. Then we walked slowly
along the front ranks and down the rear, with critical eyes. I
observed a crooked collar; the captain observed it too, and put it
straight: I saw an ill-put-on belt; the captain also saw it, pointed
and referred to it in an undertone. A hole in a pair of trousers I
did not observe, but the captain saw it, and commented on it in a
somewhat severer manner. Nothing was passed over. Every brawny,
powerful, broad-shouldered blue-jacket there was, in nautical
phraseology, overhauled from stem to stern. A comment here, a word of
approval there, or a quiet reprimand, was all that passed, but, being
uttered to the attentive ears of the responsible officers, this was
sufficient. After inspection, the men were dismissed, and the captain
with his following descended to the interior of the ship. It would
take reams of paper, my dear Jeffry, to refer to all that was said and
done. I must give you but a brief outline. We went along the sides
of the vessel, where the arms were ranged, and any speck of rust or
appearance of careless treatment of the polished and glittering
weapons was noted, and the responsible officer called then and there
to account. So was it in every department. The _Thunderer_ lies low,
as I have said; much of her is below water, therefore light is scarce
and valuable. During our perambulation we came to some machinery and
bulkheads, etcetera, which were dingy in colour. `Paint them white,'
said the captain to the officer of each department; `I don't point out
details, but use as much white paint as you can. It makes the ship
look light and cheerful.' Every order given was emphatic yet
considerate; given to the officer in whose department the hitch
occurred, and retailed by him to subordinates who knew well that they
would come to grief if they did not make a note of it. Many of the
`departments' were so well managed that no fault at all could be
found, and it was evident that the captain, in such cases, found a
pleasure in `giving honour to whom honour was due.'

"`Some men,' said Firebrand, who chanced to be close to me, and to
whom I commented on the advantage of thorough obedience, `some men,
however, carry this quality a little too far. I knew of a man once,
named Billy Ewart, who prided himself greatly on the care with which
he fulfilled every part of his duty, so that it was impossible for the
strictest disciplinarian to find fault with him. He had charge of the
main deck. One day the Admiral inspected the ship, and took occasion
to praise Billy Ewart for cleaning so well the main deck and
everything connected with it. "The only dirty things I see," he said,
pointing to a hen-coop, "are the legs of your geese." This was, of
course, a joke, but it preyed on Billy's mind, and at next inspection
he had the geese whitewashed and their legs and bills blackleaded.
Poor Billy had no peace after that; even at the theatres, when he
chanced to be observed there by his mates, one would call to another,
"I say, Jack, who whitewashed the geese!"'

"As Firebrand concluded, we had completed the inspection of the main
deck, and descended to the lower deck, where the men lived and messed,
and where a clean and trim blue-jacket--`cook of the mess' for the
day--stood at the head of each table. The tables and cans and tins
and platters and men were required to be as clean and bright as a new
pin. Then on we went to the berth of the warrant-officers, and after
that down still lower to the engine-room. There the chief engineer
came to the front and became responsible for the mighty cranks and
gigantic cylinders and awe-inspiring beams, and complicated mazes of
machinery, which raised him, in my mind, to little short of a
demigod--for you must know that I, like yourself, am full of
admiration and ignorance in regard to engineering forces. Next we
went to the lowest depths of all, among the boilers, which appeared to
me like an avenue--a positive street, sir--in Pandemonium. It was
here that the tremendous explosion occurred in July 1876, when upwards
of forty men were killed and many wounded, the captain himself (who
was in the engine-room at the time) having narrowly escaped
suffocation. Thereafter, the magazines of shot and shell were
visited, and, in short, every hole and corner of the ship, and thus in
an hour or so it was ascertained that the Nelsonian demand, and
England's expectation, had been fulfilled,--`every man' had done `his
duty,' and the great ironclad was pronounced to be in a healthy,
Sabbatic state of mind and body.

"In this satisfactory frame we finally went to the fore part of the
ship, where we found the crew assembled, and where, standing at the
capstan, the captain read the Church of England service, the responses
being effectively rendered by the stalwart crew. In regard to this
service I will only remark that I observed the introduction of a
prayer which was entirely new to me, namely, that for the blessing of
God on the ship, its crew, its duties, and its destination, to which I
could and did, with all heartiness, respond `Amen,' because as long as
God's blessing rests on the _Thunderer_ she will not be sent out to do
battle in an unrighteous cause.

"Next morning I had an opportunity of witnessing the big-gun turret
drill.

"It was an imposing spectacle, a fine display of the power of mind
over matter. Force, might, weight, appeared to have attained their
culminating exemplification here, and yet the captain said to me that
his 35-ton and 38-ton guns are mere pistols to the things which are
being prepared for vessels of our navy yet to come.

"My dear fellow, do you know what a 38-ton gun means? Have you ever
seen one? Can you appreciate the fact that its weight is equal to
thirty-eight carts of coals? Did you ever see the powder with which
it is fed? One grain of it was given to me as a great favour, by the
chief gunner's mate--I think that is his correct title, but am not
quite sure. He presented it in a cardboard box. I now send you its
portrait."

[_Facsimile of a grain of powder for the 38-ton guns of the
Thunderer--actual size_.]

"Here it is, as large as life--really so, without a touch of
exaggeration. I have measured it carefully with a tape foot-rule, and
I find the dimensions to be five inches and a quarter in
circumference.

"It is a solid cube of gunpowder. The cartridge which holds this
powder is a pillow, an absolute bolster, of some three feet in length
and twelve inches in diameter. It had need be, for the shell which it
is meant to propel is the size of a small boy and the weight of an
average ox, namely 814 lbs. The length of each 38-ton gun is nineteen
feet, and its range about 6000 yards. Just try to imagine an ox being
propelled through space, between three and four miles, at a rate which
I don't recollect, and which doesn't signify. Try also to remember