Wednesday, August 28.—Bright, elastic morning, with a gentle breeze
from the S. E. Suspended the second lieutenant from duty for remaining out of the ship during his watch without leave and sending off a midshipman to keep it, in violation of the general orders of the ship, and justifying the act when called on in my cabin for an explanation. Coaling and watering. To-day the story of two men-of-war being off the bar, said to have been brought by a fisherman, is discredited. It dwindles down to one merchant ship having been seen. As no sail has been signaled it is probably the story of the three white crows. At all events we are nearly ready for sea and shall try to get out tomorrow. In the afternoon I took a walk on shore, strolling along the beautiful avenue leading from the Government house northward. It is a fine beaten track lined with cottages on either side, many in a very dilapidated condition. Nature seemed unwilling to admit of even the intrusion of so much cleared space as was necessary for the road, and the rich, dark soil on either hand pushed its magnificent forest trees and undergrowth in a wilderness of green to the very margin of the road, and little or no cultivated land enclosed, and this wilderness seemed to be alive with birds and insects; among the former, the parrot seemed to be the most numerous and most lively, with its cheerful note. Evening, black clouds, threatening rain.
from the S. E. Suspended the second lieutenant from duty for remaining out of the ship during his watch without leave and sending off a midshipman to keep it, in violation of the general orders of the ship, and justifying the act when called on in my cabin for an explanation. Coaling and watering. To-day the story of two men-of-war being off the bar, said to have been brought by a fisherman, is discredited. It dwindles down to one merchant ship having been seen. As no sail has been signaled it is probably the story of the three white crows. At all events we are nearly ready for sea and shall try to get out tomorrow. In the afternoon I took a walk on shore, strolling along the beautiful avenue leading from the Government house northward. It is a fine beaten track lined with cottages on either side, many in a very dilapidated condition. Nature seemed unwilling to admit of even the intrusion of so much cleared space as was necessary for the road, and the rich, dark soil on either hand pushed its magnificent forest trees and undergrowth in a wilderness of green to the very margin of the road, and little or no cultivated land enclosed, and this wilderness seemed to be alive with birds and insects; among the former, the parrot seemed to be the most numerous and most lively, with its cheerful note. Evening, black clouds, threatening rain.