Then there came both great and small, Handsome, ugly, short, and tall; Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, Friends, relations, and many others. Some were dressed in Sunday's best, Gaily, too, were all the rest. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, Friends, relations, and many others. But a lady who was present By the crowd was jostled so, That she kept treading, treading, treading On the king of Otahei_ty_'s toe! On his bad toe! On the king of Otahei_ty_'s toe! I grieve that I should mention it, Or that it should be heard; It was not her intention; it Was not, upon my word. The king he had an ugly corn, Which sorely did him fret; If you had heard the row he made You never could forget. Now, the king, in a terrible riot, Sang out to his guard down below, Saying, "Rascals, how can you keep quiet? Some villain has trod on my toe! Go out into all my dominions, Search well every corner and cell! If I find out the rascal who's done it, By Jingo, I'll tip it him well!" But a guard who stood close by, And cared for no man, cared for no man, Said, "So please your Majes_ty_, That's the woman! That's the woman!" The king then took her by the hair, And would not let her go, Saying, "Madam, please to recollect You trod upon my toe!" A lord-in-waiting took an axe And chopped her skull in two. The king then, with a gracious smile, Said, "Thank you; that'll do!" This remarkable effusion was always listened to with breathless interest, the callous monarch's final pronouncement being greeted with thunders of applause. Another ditty which was in great request was a bloodthirsty piratical song, with a good swinging chorus:-- Hurrah! for a life of war and strife, A pirate's life for me! My barque shall ride the foaming tide, The demon of the sea. "Brave Broke" of the _Shannon_ was as popular as in "Tom Brown's Schooldays"; and there was a youth--said to be partially of Swiss extraction--who gave a song with a most piercing "yodel" to each verse; and there were a great many verses. The other cadets greatly envied him this accomplishment, and the messroom would sometimes resound with embryo endeavours to produce a similar result; causing, on one occasion, a sudden eruption of the lieutenant on duty, who blew a boatswain's whistle to attract attention, and declared that a repetition of these singular noises would involve a muster of the cadets on deck. The _Britannia_ was, as has been stated, fully rigged in those days; and the cadets were allowed, and encouraged, to go aloft at all times: the "cheeky new fellows," indeed, had to go over the topmast head every morning, _nolens volens_.