128 THE BOY CAPTAIN.

omission. It is said that, before the British naval muti-
nies of 1797, the bells were struck as on the ships of other
nations; but in one of these mutinies the signal agreed
upon was the stroke of five bells, half-past six in the after-
noon. When that signal came the mutineers rose to slay
the officers. In the fight which followed, the officers
upon one ship were driven over the starboard side, and
the mutineers for a time were in possession of the craft.
When order was restored throughout the navy the stroke
of five bells in the second dog-watch was dropped from its
place in sequence, although at all other times it is used.
The stroke in the British navy for half-past six in the after-
noon is one bell, at seven two bells, and half-past seven
three bells ; but at eight it is eight bells. From that hour
until the second dog-watch again, the sequence of strokes
is the same as in our navy.”

«That is a singular way of keeping alive the memories
of a mutiny.”

“Tt is still further remembered, if tradition is to be
trusted, for the common practice in the British navy of
having officers assemble on the port side of the ship, and
men on the starboard, is also traced to the same cause.
For nearly an hundred years the starboard side, whence
the officers retreated before the mutineers, has been es-
teemed disgraced, and only just now is the British navy
returning to the custom of other navies, and making the
starboard the ‘dress’ side of the ship. In our war
vessels, and I suppose it is the same all over the world,
the captain’s orderly keeps the time, and reports to the