Many reflections are suggested by these relics. Marryat probably wore them while he wrote some of his novels. Do any of those amazing scenes which he so graphically describes still linger in the lenses? Shall we, if we put them on, be able to see Mr. Midshipman Easy strutting about with the Articles of War under his arm, and laying down the law to his superiors, or murmuring, "Duty before decency" as the unlucky Mr. Biggs stands trouserless on the gangway? Or shall we see that marvellous picture, dear to every seaman, presented in "Peter Simple," where the _Diomede_ just weathers the point, and her courses fly in shivers as she scrapes clear? Well, well, if they were known to have such properties, those spectacles, it is to be feared, would not last long! [Illustration: A TYPICAL FOURTH TERM GROUP: "PASSING OUT" CADETS, 1893. _Photo: Smale & Son, Dartmouth._] Another gift to the _Britannia_ in the 'nineties was the magnificent model of the ill-fated _Victoria_, made for the Naval Exhibition of 1891, and presented by Messrs. Armstrong and Co. It fills up one side of the model room, and must have taken some getting in there; but sailors do not stick at trifles: if you confronted them with a camel and a needle, they would immediately set to work to rig the necessary tackle for "reeving" the camel through the eye. The _Britannia_ did not escape discussion in the papers during the 'nineties. On January 10th, 1891, a correspondent, under the pseudonym of "Blue Jacket," starts the question of the cadets' food, stating that he understands it is far from satisfactory, and inquires whether it is as good as they had in their former schools. "A. L. M.," a former _Britannia_ boy, says he always found the food good and abundant--and he ought to know. "A Parent" says his boy informs him that the victuals are of the most inferior description, the butter and meat being often uneatable; and alleges that some cadets who complained of the butter on one occasion were punished. Possibly "A Parent's" son may not have been quite ingenuous. Any complaint would be promptly investigated by the officer of the day, and, if well founded, immediate steps would be taken to remedy the matter; an unfounded complaint, on the other hand, particularly if reiterated, would be a likely occasion for a small dose of "fours," as a reminder not to be unduly troublesome. The allegation that boys who made justifiable complaints about food were punished for it requires something more than the authority of "A Parent's" son to make it go down. "Navilus" does not convey the impression that there is anything wrong with either the quantity or quality of the food; on the contrary, he is rather enthusiastic about it.