“‘What do you take his age to be?’ “‘Sixty,’ said I, ‘or perhaps sixty-two.’ “‘Forty,’ replied Sir Basil, ‘forty, and no more.’ “‘Picture to yourselves my amazement. I shall not easily forget Admiral Baldwin. I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a seafaring life can do; they all are knocked about, and exposed to every climate and every weather till they are not fit to be seen. It is a pity they are not knocked on the head at once, before they reach Admiral Baldwin’s age.’” CHAPTER IV PROMOTIONS As Lieutenant, Francis Austen had very different experience and surroundings to those of his days as a midshipman. For three years and more he was in various ships on the home station, which meant a constant round of dull routine work, enlivened only by chances of getting home for a few days. While serving in the _Lark_ sloop, he accompanied to Cuxhaven the squadron told off to bring to England Princess Caroline of Brunswick, soon to become Princess of Wales. The voyage out seems to have been arctic in its severity. This bad weather, combined with dense fogs, caused the _Lark_ to get separated from the rest of the squadron, and from March 6 till the 11th nothing was seen or heard of the sloop. On March 18 the Princess came on board the _Jupiter_, the flagship of the squadron, and arrived in England on April 5 after a fair passage, but a voyage about as long as that to the Cape of Good Hope nowadays. Francis notes in the log of the _Glory_, that while cruising, “the _Rattler_ cutter joined company, and informed us she yesterday spoke H.M.S. _Dædalus_”--a matter of some interest to him, as Charles was then on board the _Dædalus_ as midshipman, under Captain Thomas Williams. Captain Williams had married Jane Cooper, a cousin of Jane Austen, who was inclined to tease him about his having “no taste in names.” The following extract from one of her letters to Cassandra touches on nearly all these facts: “SUNDAY, _January 10, 1796_. “By not returning till the 19th, you will exactly contrive to miss seeing the Coopers, which I suppose it is your wish to do. We have heard nothing from Charles for some time. One would suppose they must have sailed by this time, as the wind is so favourable. What a funny name Tom has got for his vessel! But he has no taste in names, as we well know, and I dare say he christened it himself.” Tom seems to have been a great favourite with his wife’s cousins. Only a few days later Jane writes: “How impertinent you are to write to me about Tom, as if I had not opportunities of hearing from him myself. The _last_ letter I received from him was dated on Friday the 8th, and he told me that if the wind should be favourable on Sunday, which it proved to be, they were to sail from Falmouth on that day. By this time, therefore, they are at Barbadoes, I suppose.”