The other, his friend and companion, was taller By five or six inches, at least, than the smaller;-- From his air and his mien It was plain to be seen, That he was, or had been, A something between The real "Jack Tar" and the "Jolly Marine." For, though he would give an occasional hitch, Sailor-like to his "slops," there was something, the which, On the whole savoured more of the pipe-clay than pitch.-- Such were now the two men who appeared on the hill, Harry Waters the tall one, the short "Spanking Bill." To be caught in the rain, I repeat it again, Is extremely unpleasant on Salisbury Plain; And when with a good soaking shower there are blended Blue lightnings and thunder, the matter's not mended; Such was the case In this wild dreary place, On the day that I'm speaking of now, when the brace Of trav'llers alluded to quickened their pace, Till a good steady walk became more like a race, To get quit of the tempest which held them in chase. Louder, and louder Than mortal gunpowder, The heav'nly artill'ry kept crashing and roaring, The lightning kept flashing, the rain too kept pouring, While they, helter-skelter, In vain sought for shelter From, what I have heard term'd, "a regular pelter;" But the deuce of a screen Could be anywhere seen, Or an object except that on one of the rises, An old way-post show'd Where the Lavington road Branch'd off to the left from the one to Devizes; And thither the footsteps of Waters seem'd tending, Though a doubt might exist of the course he was bending, To a landsman, at least, who, wherever he goes, Is content, for the most part, to follow his nose;-- While Harry kept "backing And filling,"--and "tacking,"-- Two nautical terms which, I'll wager a guinea, are Meant to imply What you, Reader, and I Would call going zig-zag, and not rectilinear. But here, once for all, let me beg you'll excuse All mistakes I may make in the words sailors use 'Mongst themselves, on a cruise, Or ashore with the Jews, Or in making their court to their Polls and their Sues, Or addressing those slop-selling females afloat--women Known in our navy as oddly-named boat-women. The fact is, I can't say I'm vers'd in the school So ably conducted by Marryat and Poole; (See the last-mentioned gentleman's "Admiral's Daughter,") The grand _vade mecum_ For all who to sea come, And get, the first time in their lives, in blue water; Of course in the use of sea terms you'll not wonder If I now and then should fall into some blunder, For which Captain Chamier, or Mr. T. P. Cooke Would call me a "Lubber," and "Son of a Sea-cook."