a peopled city--a barren rock into a source of admiration and delight. Nay, search into Nature for a few minutes, and you rise a better man. Dive into--" What the conclusion of the doctor's rhapsody may have been is not known; for, stamping too energetically upon the seaweed on the edge of the rock, his foot slipped, and he disappeared, with the perpendicular descent and velocity of a deep-sea lead, into the water alongside of it. Marshall, the coxswain, who had been astonished at his speech, to which he had listened with mouth open for want of comprehension, quite forgot the respect due to an officer, at this unexpected finale. "Watch, there, watch!" cried the man, and then threw himself down, and rolled in convulsions of laughter. Price and Willy, whose mirth was almost as excessive, did, however, run to his assistance, and caught him by the collar as he rose again to the surface, for it was considerably out of his depth; while the deaf purser, whose eyes had been fixed on the ground, in deep attention to catch the doctor's words, and whose ears were not sufficiently acute to hear the splash, looked up as they were going to his assistance, and asked, with surprise, "Where's the doctor?" The sides of the rock were so slippery, that the united efforts of Price and Seymour (whose powers were much enfeebled from extreme mirth) were not sufficient to haul Macallan upon terra firma. "Marshall, come here directly, sir, and help us," cried Willy,--an order which the coxswain, who was sufficiently recovered, immediately obeyed. "Give me your hand, Mr Macallan," said the man, as the surgeon was clinging to the seaweed; "it's no use holding on by them slippery _hanimals_. Now, then, Mr Price--all together." "Ay, and as soon as you please," called out the malicious boatkeeper of the gig--"I seed a large shark but a minute ago." "Quick--quick!" roared the surgeon, who already imagined his leg encircled by the teeth of the ravenous animal. By their united efforts, Macallan was at last safely landed--and, after much sputtering, blowing, and puffing, was about to address the coxswain in no very amicable manner, when the purser interrupted him. "By the powers, doctor, but you took the right way to have a close examination of all those fine things which you were giving us a catalogue of; but now give us the remainder of your speech--you gave us a practical illustration of diving." "What sort of sensation was it, doctor?" said Price. "You recollect Shakespeare--and `O, methinks what pain it was to drown'--Let me see-- something--" "Pray don't tax your memory, Price; it's something like our country,-- past all further taxation." "That's the severest thing you've said since we've sailed together. You're out of humour, doctor. Well, you know what Shakespeare says: `There never yet was found a philosopher'--something about the toothache. I forget the words."