Captain Enright was very fertile in raising a new amusement directly his passengers began to show signs of boredom. His favourite dodge was to appoint a St. Valentine’s Day, when a letter box was placed in front of the poop and twice during the day the darkey steward, Richard, who was evidently a great character, came round and delivered the Valentines as postman. He was always dressed up for the occasion in some extraordinarily fantastic costume of his own invention—and his antics and fun, quite as much as the contents of his postbag, kept the ship in roars of laughter and most successfully dissipated all signs of boredom and discontent. Here is one account of his doings:— Richard, the coloured steward, made a first-rate walker, dressed in the tip-top style of St. Martins-le-Grand, with gold-laced hat, yellow collar and cuffs to his coat and white tops to his boots: he acted the part of Cupid’s messenger to admiration and drew down thunders of applause. There was a second delivery in the afternoon on the poop, when Richard again made his appearance dressed in full general’s uniform. And it goes on to say:— The Valentines, which were very numerous, contained the usual amount of bitters and sweet, flattering verses and lovers’ vows; some amusing hits at marked propensities and a few rather broad hints at infirmities and habits were all taken in good part and the day passed off most pleasantly. And here is one of the Valentines which Captain Enright received:— To Captain Go-ahead Enright, A1, Ship “Flash of Lightning,” who never cracks on, and is supposed to have at no time seen a moonsail. It is currently reported that he lays to and turns in when it blows a gale. _N.B._—No certain address, but always to be found ON DUTY. =Other Amusements at Sea.= During the time of the Crimea, if there happened to be a soldier or two aboard, a corps of volunteers was raised and drilled daily. A parade in bad weather was a great source of amusement to the onlookers, if not so pleasant for the performers. In the fine weather deck games such as quoits, shovel board and deck billiards were as popular as they are nowadays, but I find no mention of sports, cock-fighting or ship cricket. Below draughts, whist, chess, backgammon and dominoes all had many devotees; and on the homeward passage nap, poker, blackjack, euchre and other gambling games robbed many a returning digger of his pile and sometimes led to such trouble that the captain had to interfere. Under captains of Enright’s stamp, there was very little disorder and the sailing ships seem to have carried a much happier crowd than the auxiliary steamers.