―――― THE MAN WHO MENDED THE BOILER. “Mr. Benbow, the engineer of one of the steamers in which the rescue of General Gordon was attempted, arrived in London yesterday. Mr. Benbow was engineer of the steamer on which Lord Charles Beresford performed his deeds of gallantry on the Upper Nile; and among his friends he is popularly known as ‘the Man who Mended the Boiler.’ He has come to this country in response to an official telegram.” Come, all ye Britons, brave and bold, Whilst I this story do unfold―― (A better tale is seldom told) The Man who Mended the Boiler! An Engineer as deft as brave, With a name that smacks of the salt sea wave, And a heart as staunch As the hull of his launch; And whenever Britons must meet the foe, May they have such fellows as brave Benbow, The Man who Mended the Boiler! ’Twas with the Nile fleet he set out, With Lord Charles Beresford, gay and stout, Midst the cataract’s roar, and the Arabs’ shout, The Man who Mended the Boiler. Khartoum and Gordon ahead did lie, When a plate in the boiler did start and fly, With a puff and a crack, And the pace did slack, And the Arabs howled at that bang and that puff, But they knew not that handful of tars so tough, Nor the Man who Mended the Boiler! Whilst the jubilant Arabs did howl and dance, He surveyed the smash with a workman’s glance, And saw at once that they couldn’t advance, With a big blank hole in the boiler. Did he turn up the job like a muff? Oh, no! That wasn’t the fashion of brave Benbow, Midstream and still He worked with a will Through a dark Nile night and by morning’s light, He had patched up everything right and tight The Man who Mended the Boiler! The Arabs looked from the sandy strand, And thought that the Britons were brought to a stand; But those Britons they did not understand, Nor the Man who Mended the Boiler. Up steam once more! Midst a roar from the shore, Away up the Nile the steamer bore. Let each brim a glass, Whether lad or lass, In a health to Lord Charles and his gallant crew, With a bumper to Benbow stout and true, The Man who Mended the Boiler! _Punch._ April 25, 1885. ――――:o:―――― THE BAY OF BISCAY, O! Loud roared the dreadful thunder, The rain a deluge showers, The clouds were rent asunder By lightning’s vivid powers; The night both drear and dark, Our poor devoted bark, Till next day, there she lay, In the Bay of Biscay, O! * * * * *