During his last trip from home, however, his old milk purveyor had died; and, as such animals are rather scarce in the West Indies, he was not able to procure one either for love or money at Grenada, and was at a complete nonplus till we got to Saint Vincent. Here, fortunately, or unfortunately as it happened eventually for the poor cow, the captain heard at the last moment of a fine Alderney which a planter was anxious to dispose of, and had brought down to the town to send off to Barbadoes, hoping to find a market there for her. Captain Miles, therefore, at once closed with the planter, and the last of the launches conveying the rum puncheons to the _Josephine_ brought off in addition this cow. But, taking an animal of this sort away from the shore, and out to a ship lying some distance from the land is one thing, and getting it on board is another! This the captain found presently, when, having completed all his business ashore and cleared the last of his cargo, he was rowed out in his gig to regain the vessel. He had intended making sail the moment he stepped on the deck again; but, instead of finding everything stowed and the anchor tripped ready for the _Josephine_ to start on his arrival, he saw that her cable was still out, while the barge containing the cow was yet alongside. Captain Miles was awfully angry. Everybody could see this; as he ordered the men in the gig to row her astern, and in a very harsh tone of voice, as he scuttled up the side-ladder and turned into the main- deck port; hook on the falls ready for hoisting her up again to the davits. "Mr Marline!" he cried out to the first mate when he reached the deck, "what is the meaning of this? I expected you'd have been all ready to sail, and here is that launch alongside yet and the cargo not aboard!" "All the rum's in, sir," replied Mr Marline quietly, for he was a dry old stick and seldom said a word more than necessary. "But the cow, man, the cow!" retorted the captain. "Why is she not hoisted inboard as well?" "We couldn't manage her, sir," replied Mr Marline with a sly grin. "The brute butts everybody that comes near her." "Why didn't you sling her?" inquired Captain Miles. "We tried to, but couldn't," said the mate. "She kicks so that she tumbled back twice and nearly went into the sea." "Oh, you're all a parcel of nincompoops!" exclaimed the captain quite roused at this. "I'll show you how a seaman can manage it!" With that, catching hold of the side lines, he went down the ladder again like winking and into the launch alongside. Here, the cow, which looked even more enraged than Captain Miles, stood in the centre of the boat, with the negroes who had pulled out the live load from shore, standing up in the bows and on the gunwales, so as to be out of the reach of the infuriated animal, which every now and then made a rush at some black leg or other, making the owner yell out and try to avoid the butt.