I was stupefied at once--I thrust the entire morsel (about half a pound)
into my mouth. I made no attempt to swallow, or to masticate it, but
left it there for many minutes, burning, burning! I had no skin to my
palate for seven weeks after, and lived on rice-water during the rest
of the voyage. The anecdote is trivial, but it shows the power of Julia
Jowler over me.
The writers of marine novels have so exhausted the subject of storms,
shipwrecks, mutinies, engagements, sea-sickness, and so forth, that
(although I have experienced each of these in many varieties) I think
it quite unnecessary to recount such trifling adventures; suffice it to
say, that during our five months' trajet, my mad passion for Julia
daily increased; so did the captain's and the surgeon's; so did Colonel
Lilywhite's; so did the doctor's, the mate's--that of most part of
the passengers, and a considerable number of the crew. For myself, I
swore--ensign as I was--I would win her for my wife; I vowed that I
would make her glorious with my sword--that as soon as I had made a
favorable impression on my commanding officer (which I did not doubt to
create), I would lay open to him the state of my affections, and demand
his daughter's hand. With such sentimental outpourings did our voyage
continue and conclude.
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