I need scarcely mention, that the lieutenants and other commissioned officers cannot be ‘served up’ in this way, which is almost a pity, for they are sometimes as abominably lazy as the most pudding-pated midshipman of their watch. It too often happens that, instead of being the first, they are the very last persons to relieve the deck. There is hardly any thing more annoying than being detained on deck half an hour, and sometimes more, for want of our relief, after the watch we have kept is ended. This extra, and most tedious period, often looks longer than double the same length of time passed in our own proper turn of duty; and the dislocation of temper it produces is very difficult of repair. Many a time and oft, when I have been kept waiting for the officer who was to relieve me, long, long beyond the proper time, I have inwardly sworn deeply, that, if ever I came to the command of a ship, I would reform this intolerable abuse; and I flatter myself I made good my promise. I gave positive orders, and took measures to have them duly obeyed, that the usual mustering of the watch whose turn it was to come on deck, should take place, not, as it generally does, at the half hour, but exactly at ten minutes after the bell struck, which announced the close of the preceding watch. And I directed—and carefully enforced my directions—that this ceremony of mustering the fresh watch should take place under the superintendence of the officer whose turn of duty it now became. Thus, the deck was always relieved considerably within a quarter of an hour after the former watch was ended. In addition to this, I made it an invariable rule, the instant it struck eight in the evening, to begin mustering the people of the First watch, of course under the superintendence of the lieutenant of that watch: so that the men who were to be called up at midnight might tumble into their beds at once, and have their full period of four hours’ rest before being ‘turned out’ to keep the Middle watch. I take the liberty of recommending these plans to my brother-officers afloat, as, I can assure them, they answer exceedingly well in practice. The officers and midshipmen are divided into three watches, as I have described above; but the crew, in most ships, are divided into only two watches. By taking a good deal of care, however, in arranging the people properly, the seamen and marines, almost in every case, may likewise be put at three watches, instead of what is termed ‘watch and watch,’ which is simply, turn about.