"In playing with his little brothers and sisters upon deck by moonlight, when the ship was lying tranquilly in harbour, the energy and elasticity of his movements sometimes carried him so far beyond his mark, that he fell overboard; but this was far from being a misfortune; he learned to swim and to have no dread of the water; and when a rope was thrown over to him, he took hold of it like a man, and ran up it like a cat: In a short time he was able to mount up the gangway steps quicker than his master, or even than the first lieutenant."

Image used by kind permission of Lisette Flinders Petrie.