Lash him round the arms in time, Douse him well with water. Should he still to sleep incline, Haul the lashing tauter. Should this treatment not succeed, Take no further bother; Go and seek the rest you need; Turn thou in, my brother! The moral--that the midshipman of the preceding watch should turn in without being duly relieved--is questionable; but the hypothetical conditions under which he is ultimately recommended to adopt this course are certainly exceptional. No one could, with any show of justice, accuse him of having failed to make use of every legitimate device to rouse his relief! Contributions were invited, as has been hinted in the editorial preface, from fellows who have gone to sea; and one of these avails himself of the opportunity to draw a comparison between his reception on board his first sea-going ship and that usually accorded to a fresh arrival on board the _Britannia_; considerably to the detriment of the latter. He presented himself, in fear and trembling, on a cold and wet evening, to the officer of the watch, who received him with great courtesy: "Oh, you must be Jones? Come and report yourself to the first lieutenant. What a beastly night for you to join!" "No. 1" greets him with, "You poor little chap, you must be frozen!" calls a senior of the gunroom, and gives strict injunctions that Jones is to be made as happy as possible immediately; and the officer of the watch invites him to share his "watch" dinner at eight o'clock. Jones, pondering over these things, makes some resolutions concerning his future conduct towards his juniors; which, let us hope, he did not fail to carry out. The prosperity and popularity of the beagles in November, 1884, may be inferred from the fact that on one occasion there were no fewer than thirty-four mounted followers, including seven or eight officers of the ship; and a great following on foot besides. Of course, by this time "drags" and badgers had long been abandoned, and the swift and legitimate hare was always the object of pursuit. There usually appeared to be little difficulty in starting one, and not a few instances have occurred of the hounds getting on a fresh scent crossing the original one. November is a good month for beagles; but scarcely as well suited for a trip in the _Wave_. This diversion was, however, arranged on November 8th, 1884, this being a holiday in honour of the Prince of Wales' birthday. The excursion was to Plymouth, and a good number of light-hearted youngsters put down their names for it, recking little of the vagaries of Channel weather at this season. Perhaps the most appropriate and heartfelt description of the cruise is contained in a poem (a long way after Longfellow), which appeared subsequently in the magazine:-- THE "WAVE'S" TRIP TO PLYMOUTH. It was the little tender _Wave_ That sailed the wintry sea; She had on board a score cadets, A goodly companee.