The wind when we reached the deck was rapidly increasing and had knocked us off to south again, with a bad, greasy look to windward, and it was raining heavily. The men were hauling on the lee maintop-gallant-clew-line and buntlines, while Mr. Rarx was settling away the halliards and swearing that never, since Noah took charge of the ark, was there a slower gang on a ship’s deck, as he ordered four hands aloft to put the gaskets on the sail, the wind blowing their oil-skin jackets up over their heads as they trotted up the ratlines, exposing them to a hard drenching in the pelting rain. During the forenoon watch we sighted a sail, which was doubtless the “Judas Dowes” again. It is astonishing how enormously a slight elevation will add to the visibility of objects at sea. From the deck, for instance, this vessel was sunk to her royals, and at the moment it was utterly impossible to tell whether she was a ship or a bark; but by mounting to the top of the wheel-house, only seven feet above the deck, all three of her upper topsails were in plain sight. We saw Louis Jacquin fly into a regular Frenchman’s passion yesterday afternoon while shifting the sails. He was at the lee upper mizzen-topsail yard-arm, putting the finishing touches on some gear, when the second mate shouted up to him, “All ready to sheet home?” To which he answered, “All ready, sair”; evidently misunderstanding the question; for no sooner did those below man the sheet on which Louis was seated than crack! went that individual’s black head against the under side of the yard, and he was then thrown off to leeward, only preventing himself from going over for good by a piece of wonderful agility. Oh, what a rage he was in! He thought that Mr. Rarx did it intentionally, and the atmosphere smoked with foreign imprecations; and even at that distance we could see his angry blue eyes (he has china-blue eyes and raven hair) snapping and popping away as he roared down, “Eh! well, sair; what is zee mattair below? Do you want to heave me ovair side wiz your sheet?” and it was several hours until he recovered his composure.