Produced by deaurider, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) +-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber's note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ [Illustration] BLUE JACKETS; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF J. THOMPSON, A. B. AMONG "THE HEATHEN CHINEE." A NAUTICAL NOVEL. BY EDWARD GREEY. [Illustration: Chinese characters] (SUNG-TIE.) IN ONE VOLUME. BOSTON: J. E. TILTON & CO. 1871. [_All Rights Reserved._] Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by EDWARD GREEY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Shanley & Lynch, Print, 39 Vesey St., N. Y. PREFACE The most cruel and ignominious punishment man can inflict upon his fellow men, is still enforced in the English Naval Service; though many indignantly deny it, and stigmatize this story as "a libel on the British Navy." Unfortunately for "Blue Jackets" this is not so, and the novel is founded on facts, as I have been in the service, and, on many occasions, seen sailors subjected to most painful degradation at the caprice of those, who, because they were officers, seemed to forget that the men possessed feelings in common with them. As facts are the best proofs, I quote the "London Daily News," November 7, 1870, which records that on October 30, 1870, a scene, similar in barbarity to the one described in the fifth chapter, occurred in Plymouth Sound, England, on board the "Vanguard" (Captain E. H. G. Lambert), "within hearing of a large number of women and children, who were waiting permission to go on board the iron-clad." It may interest readers to know, that the adventures of J. Thompson, A. B., among "The Heathen Chinee," are not entirely fictitious, the descriptions of the peculiar habits of "The Coming Man" being from personal observation during a lengthened sojourn in China. EDWARD GREEY. NEW YORK, _January 1, 1871_. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. I. WOOLWICH DOCKYARD AT NOON.--A DESERTER FROM H. M. S. STINGER 1 II. THE BOATSWAIN'S TEA-PARTY.--ENGAGEMENT OF J. THOMPSON, ABLE SEAMAN, AND MISS MARY ANN ROSS 10 III. THE COURT-MARTIAL ON BOARD H. M. S. VICTORY 16 IV. THOMPSON GETS INTO A DIFFICULTY WITH THE REGULAR ARMY.--AMATEUR THEATRICALS, AND A SURPRISED PARTY 23 V. THE MERCIFUL SENTENCE IS CARRIED OUT 32 VI. H. M. S. STINGER LEAVES FOR THE CAPE.--SOME OF THE LETTERS WRITTEN UPON THAT IMPORTANT OCCASION 37