and I knew Mr Falcon would be very angry, for they were three of the smartest men in the ship. I was now determined not to run the risk of losing more men, and I ordered the boat's crew to shove off, that I might lie at the wharf, where they could not climb up. They were very mutinous, grumbled very much, and would hardly obey me; the fact is, they had drunk a great deal, and some of them were more than half tipsy. However, at last I was obeyed, but not without being saluted with a shower of invectives from the women, and the execrations of the men belonging to the wherries and _shore_ boats which were washed against our sides by the swell. The weather had become much worse and looked very threatening. I waited an hour more, when the sergeant of marines came down with two more men, one of whom, to my great joy, was Hickman. This made me more comfortable, as I was not answerable for the other two; still I was in great trouble from the riotous and insolent behaviour of the boat's crew, and the other men brought down by the sergeant of marines. One of them fell back into a basket of eggs, and smashed them all to atoms; still the marine officer did not come down and it was getting late. The tide being now at the ebb, running out against the wind, there was a very heavy sea, and I had to go off to the ship with a boat deeply laden, and most of the people in her in a state of intoxication. The coxswain, who was the only one who was sober, recommended our shoving off, as it would soon be dark, and some accident would happen. I reflected a minute, and agreeing with him, I ordered the oars to be got out, and we shoved off, the sergeant of marines and the gun-room steward perched up in the bows--drunken men, ducks and geese, lying together at the bottom of the boat--the stern sheets loaded up to the gunwale, and the other passengers and myself sitting how we could among the crockery and a variety of other articles with which the boat was crowded. It was a scene of much confusion--the half-drunken boat's crew _catching crabs_, and falling forward upon the others--those who were quite drunk swearing they _would_ pull. "Lay on your oar, Sullivan; you were doing more harm than good. You drunken rascal, I'll report you as soon as we get on board." "How the devil can I pull, your honour, when there's that fellow Jones breaking the very back o' me with his oar, and he never touching the water all the while?" "You lie," cried Jones; "I'm pulling the boat by myself against the whole of the larboard oars." "He's rowing _dry_, your honour--only making bilave." "Do you call this rowing dry?" cried another, as a sea swept over the boat, fore and aft, wetting every body to the skin. "Now, your honour, just look and see if I a'n't pulling the very arms off me?" cried Sullivan. "Is there water enough to cross the bridge, Swinburne?" said I to the coxswain. "Plenty, Mr Simple; it is but quarter ebb, and the sooner we are on board the better."