The scenes to which I have referred were so real that it seemed as if Johnson, while describing them, must have believed this story himself, and it was interesting to note the effect upon those who heard it for the first time, when, after giving a circumstantial account of the miraculous escape of the serang and himself from the Calcutta prison during the night before they were to be hanged, he would cheerfully remark, “Well, now, I call that a pretty good yarn to spin out of nothing.” Then some one, perhaps a lady, might say, “Why, Captain Johnson, is it not true?” and he would smile pleasantly and reply, “True? Why bless your soul, I never heard of a brig called the _Diadem_, and never was in Calcutta in my life.” He had a number of these stories, and in China we never tired of listening to them. Captain Johnson was an uncommonly able man and a most agreeable companion. He remained in command of the _Invincible_ for several years, and in the early sixties he took in succession three frail wooden side-wheel river steamboats, the _Fire Dart_, _Fire Cracker_, and _Fire Queen_, from New York round the Cape of Good Hope to China, with no accident or mishap--a remarkable achievement. In 1866, Captain Johnson was the navigator, but not in command, of the yacht _Vesta_ in her race with the _Henrietta_ and _Fleetwing_ across the Atlantic. The _Comet_ was 1836 tons register, and measured: length 229 feet, breadth 42 feet, depth 22 feet 8 inches. She was owned by Bucklin & Crane, of New York, and was commanded by Captain E. C. Gardner, late of the _Celestial_, in whose hands she gained a high reputation for speed. The _Sword-Fish_ was owned by Barclay & Livingston, of New York, and was 1036 tons register; length 169 feet 6 inches, breadth 36 feet 6 inches, depth 20 feet. Although not so extremely sharp as the larger ships built by Mr. Webb during that year, she was quite as handsome, and while commanded by Captain Babcock she eclipsed them all in speed. Captain David Sherman Babcock, brother-in-law of Captain N. B. Palmer, was born at Stonington in 1822, and came of a distinguished family, his father being Major Paul Babcock and his grandfather Colonel Harry Babcock of Revolutionary fame. He received the usual New England school education of those days, which appears to have been a sufficient equipment for some of the most useful men that the United States has yet produced.