in these reminiscences, sometimes cursing the heat, which was intolerable, and sometimes sighing for a cigar, when we were unexpectedly hailed from the shore. I immediately gave orders to pull for the quay, where I found a negro slave rather neatly dressed in the Turkish fashion, awaiting our approach. Having no idea what his business could be, but supposing that he might probably be the bearer of some message from the admiral, I made signs for him to descend into the barge, which he had no sooner done than, after a most ungraceful salaam, he informed me in wretched mongrel Italian, that he had been sent by his master, who begged I would join him in a pipe and cup of coffee. "And who or where is your master?" I replied, in the same language, which I spoke with nearly the same degree of purity as my sable companion. "El Senor!” replied Blackie, making a pair of huge eyes at my ignorance in not knowing his master by instinct. "El Senor! Eccolo!" he continued, pointing up to the portico of a house which stood near the quay, and where I discovered a dusky-complexioned personage sitting smoking a long Turkish pipe; Eccolo! El Ammiraglio del Porto, si!" Aha!" I replied; "the admiral of the Port! Say to your master that I accept his invitation, and shall join him presently;" and off bolted Blackie, evidently quite pleased at having executed his mission with so much address. Having given strict injunctions to the crew not to leave the barge, and to wait at the quay till my return, I ascended to the Portico in question, where I found the admiral of the Port squatted on a square bit of carpet, a cup of coffee by his side, and a long amber-tipped pipe in his mouth. He was a thick-set, dapper-looking fellow, apparently about middle age; and the expression of his countenance, as far as it could be ascertained through his enormous mustache and grizzled beard, was certainly any thing but preposessing. It seemed to convey at once a most unamiable mixture of conceit, cunning, cruelty, and coldbloodedness; and indeed there was a certain undefinable scowl about his eye which of itself seemed to indicate all these. He was dressed in a lightcoloured frock of figured chintz; and a sky-blue embroidered waistcoat; a pair of loose Turkish-shaped white trowsers and yellow slippers defended his lower extremities, and a red skullcap with a top-knot or tassel of blue silk, adorned his head. a He received me with the usual salutation, and a slight inclination of the body, but without either rising or removing the pipe from his mouth, and requested me to seat myself on bit of carpet which was spread on purpose at his side. A cup of coffee and long cherry-stick supplied with choice tobacco, were speedily supplied by the negro slave; and in a few minutes I found myself sitting crosslegged in regular Turkish fashion, and giving puff for puff with the great Admiral of the port of Algiers. The To afford any thing like an adequate idea of the conversation that passed between us would be impossible. Admiral himself was the chief collocutor, his principal topic being his own wonderful exploits by sea and land; and so marvellous were many of narratives with which he favoured me, that had they been true, he must have been a perfect Alexander for sagacity and prowess. As it was, however, I had no difficulty in setting him down as one of the most egregious bragadocios I had ever met; and I amused myself with playing with him at his own game, and trumping as it were his best tricks. The language in which he endeavoured to make himself understood was not the least ludicrous part of the entertainment. It consisted of a hideous jumble of bad French, and worse Italian, interlarded here and there with a word or two meant for English, and copiously seasoned all over with Turkish or Arabic. I shall never forget his ridiculous appearance, when getting animated in the description of some of his valorous deeds, he brandished his long pipe in the air, his eyes sparkling and his face flushed, and floundered away in his narrative through a maze of languages, not one of which he could be made to understand. At length, having smoked and listened till my patience was fairly exhausted, I pulled out my watch as a sort of prelude to taking leave. It happened that on my watch-ribbon I had a small brass runner, which was made in the form of a snake, and which I had purchased at Portsmouth for a shilling. This elegant ornament having attracted the notice of the Admiral of the Port, he begged to be allowed to inspect it more closely; and as he seemed to admire it excedingly, I thought I could not do better than present it to him, which I accordingly did in as handsome a manner as I could. Such a flattering mark of attention on my part seemed to gratify him exceedingly; and having spoken something in Turkish, our black attendant disappeared into the house, and presently returned with a largesized bottle of ottar of roses. This the worthy admiral urged me to accept, as a compensation for my valuable present; and it will readily be supposed that this was a sort of traffic into which I had no objection to enter. Indeed, as the liberality of mine host seemed to indicate that exchanges were to be the order of the day, I was willing to carry them a little farther, and began to contemplate the possibility of bartering my regulation sword for the admiral's Turkish sabre. This sabre, which appeared to be of great value, had attracted my attention from the very first; and on a closer examination I found it to be a 66 right Damascus," the hilt ornamented with precious stones, and the crimson velvet scabbard richly inlaid and worked with gold. The difference between the worth of this and my own miserable regulation spit was certainly considerable; but I thought that the man who could give a bottle of ottar of roses for what was little better than an old brass but ton, could not have any very perspicuous ideas on the subject of relative value. I accordingly opened the affair by stating that it was customary in England to exchange swords as a mark of friendship, and that, though I set considerable esteem on mine, which was of great value, yet I could not think of neglecting to pay this national compliment to a man who had shown ne so much kindness. "I, therefore, signor," I continued, in my mongrel French-Italian, "beg to present you with my sword, and shall be glad to have the honour of wearing yours in return;" and having in the meantime unfastened the buckle, I took my sword by the point, and handed it over to him with much for mality. Here, however, I reckoned without my host; for it appeared the wily admiral knew the value of a Damascus blade as well as I did. He accordingly screwed his face into a most ungainly look of regret, and told me he was sorry he could not exchange swords, as his was a present from the Dey, who would certainly have his head taken off should he presume to part with it. "I am sorry for this, on your account," I replied, "as you will lose the opportunity of possessing one of the best swords that ever graced a sailor's side. Look ye now, signor: pray unsheath that thing of yours, and only compare the shapes of the two wea pons. Why, yours is quite useless for fighting, and with mine I could easily defend myself against a dozen such. You seem incredulous, signor. Pray stand up, and I shall explain what I mean. There, signor! Now, suppose this pillar of your portico a man armed with a sword such as yours. I would go at him thus”—and forthwith I commenced lunging carte and tierce at the pillar with all the grace and agility of an Angelo, springing from one side of the portico to the other, in order to display to the utmost effect the advantages of my weapon. The scene was so extremely ludicrous, that having commenced it in frolic, I could not resist continuing it for the enjoyment of the joke. Round and round the portico I skipped, thrusting at every thing that came in my way; mine host, notwithstanding all his valour, evidently in no small trepidation, taking care to keep always opposite to me, with his eye fixed on mine, and his sword raised to the position of " prepare to guard;" while the terrified black slave, who doubtless thought I had gone mad, jumped aside with a loud squeak at every successive lunge I made. I was in this situation, my face flushed with exercise, my cocked-hat lying on the ground, and my naked sword performing all sorts of ludicrous girations round the head of my host, who was now reduced to a state of extreme terror, when who should appear at the entrance of the portico but the admiral, who chanced to be passing at the time on his return from the palace. I shall never forget his look of amazement at thus catching me engaged, as he supposed, in single combat with a man of such importance as the Admiral of the Port. In an instant my sword was in its sheath; and the cordial manner in which I shook hands with my entertainer seemed in some measure to relieve the admiral's anxiety. However, he spoke not a word; so, snatching up my hat, I saluted him respectfully, and rushing down to the quay, was soon standing ready to receive my freight, in every sense of the phrase "as stiff as a midshipman." As soon as we were outside the Mole, I explained the whole circumstance to the admiral, who, after reprimanding me for quitting the barge, could not help joining the rest of the party in a hearty laugh at the expense of his namesake of the port. The Dey having, with no very good grace, acceded to the terms proposed by the admiral, our blockading duty at last ceased, and it was not long till we sailed for Malta, leaving, when we left Algiers, all our fondly cherished hopes of promotion, fame, and prizemoney. During our passage to Malta we touched at Tunis; and though our stay there occupied only six-and-thirty hours, an event occurred which, even at this distance of time, I cannot look back upon without feelings almost approaching to horror. We lay at anchor in the bay of Tunis. It was a lovely evening even for that lovely clime. A gentle aromatie breeze blew from the shore; the sun, which had considerably declined towards the west, cast a hue of bright purple over the beautifully outlined hills along the coast of Barbary; and the smooth mirrory surface of the sca reflected in a subdued tint the intensely deep blue of the firmament. The day had been scorchingly hot; and to breathe the cool evening wind, and gaze upon the 'gently rippled waters, was unspeakably refreshing. I have seldom seen the sea more irresistibly tempting; its tiny waves, sparkling in the oblique rays of the declining sun, broke round the sides of the ship, so gentle, so cool, so inviting, that we almost fancied we could interpret their melodious murmurings into the words of Goethe's Naiad It "Lures thee the nether-heaven not, Lures thee thine own fair image not, was, in one word, exactly the sort In order to prevent accidents, it was customary in the flag-ship, as I believe it is in most others, to regulate the time during which the crew shall remain in the water by the beat of drum. When the hands were turned up to bathe, no one was allowed to plunge overboard until the drum had beat; and when the second roll was heard, it was a signal for all to return on board. Accordingly, on the present occasion, as soon as the second roll had beaten, the sports were broken off, and every one made for the ship. I was among the first to arrive; and I was sitting on the gun-room stern-port, just preparing to resume my clothes, when I observed a man who had been farther out than the rest, making all speed to gain the ship. There was no mistaking his lusty strokes and peculiar mode of swimming it was Wilson, the marine. He might be still about an hundred yards astern of the ship, swimming strong nd rapidly, when suddenly I observed him throw himself half out of the water, sink again, and commence to struggle violently. I did not wait to consider the probable cause of these movements in one who was so noted for his aquatic skill. Before the cry, "a man drowning," was out of the mouth of the signal-man who was stationed at the poop, I was again over board; and the boat sent to pick him up had scarcely left the ship's side when I had arrived within a few strokes of the spot where he lay. The poor fellow still continued to struggle convulsively; his head thrown backwards, and his countenance considerably distorted. In my anxiety to save him, instead of keeping off, as I ought in prudence to have done, and catching him by the arm, I swam straight up to him. In an instant I was in his grasp. Before I could take any measures to save myself, his brawny arms were twined round my body, and pressed my breast against his, with such supernatural strength, as almost to deprive me of the power of respiration. To move in the slightest degree was impossible; I could not even find breath to call for assistance, and the water washed incessantly over my mouth in such a manner as almost to choke me. Every one must have experienced, when suffering extreme pain, that a certain degree of relief is obtained by grasping firmly in the hands or arms any object, no matter what. An opportunity of bracing up the nerves and muscles to their extreme tension is thus afforded; and though indeed the pain itself is not alleviated, the power of endurance is increased. And thus I suppose it was with the unfortunate marine. While he held me in his mus. cular embrace, he ceased to struggle as he had previously done, and the features of his face became in some degree less distorted, though they still wore the expression of extreme anguish. Almost the only motion he made was an occasional convulsive start; after one of which he would continue to press me still more firmly than before, and I could distinctly feel, against my naked bosom, the throbbing of his heart-now strong and rapid; now languid and intermitting. The boat, which had put off to our assistance, was now rapidly approaching; two pulls of the oars would have brought it to our side. The poor fellow clasped me to his breast more closely than ever; he seemed to be in an agony of pain; his eyes started in their sockets, and the blue veins swelled upon his forehead. It was but for an instant. With a suddenness which I can compare to nothing but the snapping of an overstretched bowstring, his herculean gripe in an instant relaxed; I felt his heart give one dreadful, indescribable, convulsive quiver against my breast, and he sunk back among the water. That quiver of the heart! I shall never forget it! I knew not then, and I know not now the many intricate movements of the human mechanism-those convulsed pulsations, and trembling ebbings of the blood-which are said to betoken dissolution; but no sooner did I feel that dreadful quiver than I KNEW that it was death. "He is dead!" I exclaimed, when I was lifted into the boat in a state of complete exhaustion. Impossible," said the officer in charge; "he has not been three minutes in the water, and you held him up manfully, my brave fellow!" "It may be, sir,” I replied; "but he is dead!" "Nonsense!" said the officer; "it is merely exhaustion, and we shall bring him round presently. What reason have you to suppose him dead ?” "Sir, I FELT HIM DIE!" As I anticipated, it proved on examination that the poor fellow had died in a fit. All attempts to resuscitate him were fruitless; and as we consigned his body to the deep, the somewhat unusual expression was on the lips of many-"He FELT him die!" Often, and often since then, when anything has occurred to trouble my sleep, I have fancied myself in the gripe of the dead marine, and have awakened in an agony, as I felt the dreadful quiver of his heart. We sailed next evening with the land breeze for Malta; hoping that "the little military hot-house," as Lord Byron calls it, would afford us some recreation to make up for the monotonous duties of the last four months. After a pleasant trip, we, accordingly, made this far-famed island; but had no opportunity of judging of its appearance from the sea, as it was towards sunset before we reached Gozzo, and quite dark when we ran into the harbour. In this, however, we were perhaps fortunate, as the harbour of Malta, at night, presents one of the most striking scenes I almost ever witnessed. On either side of the harbour, the ground rises high, and is covered with houses, from which, and from the streets, innumerable lights are seen shining brightly in the surrounding gloom, and reflected from the surface of the water beneath. As the night, on which we made our entrance, chanced to be more than usually dark, nothing but these lights was visible. The houses, the ramparts, the quays, the water of the harbour itself, all were hid in the most impenetrable obscurity; and the lights appearing to hang, like so many clusters of the stars, in middle air, produced a very extraordinary, nay almost magical effect. Add to this the incessant chiming of bells, with which our ears were saluted from every corner of the town-for the season had been long dry, and the honest Maltese were ringing night and day for rain-together with the monotonous indistinct hum which is always heard in the neighbourhood of populous cities, and some idea, though an imperfect one, may be formed of the harbour of Malta by night. The only scene I ever saw at all resembling it, is in the metropolis of Scotland; a city which seems to combine, within itself, the most striking beauties of many of the celebrated towns of Europe. Here, if the spectator, in a very dark night, take up his station between the old and the new towns, in what is called, I believe, the North Loch, he may witness an effect very similar to that which I have attempted to describe as existing at Malta; with this difference, that at Edinburgh the ground does not rise so high as at Malta, and the lights of La Valetta have the appearance of hanging more immediately over the head of the spectator, than those of the new, or even of the old town. As we run up towards our anchorage, there was something so extremely puzzling in the number and variety of lights by which we were surrounded, that it was in vain we endeavoured to form any idea of the extraordinary place into which we had got. Nay, even those of our messmates who had before visited Malta could not bring themselves to agree about the different localities; one maintaining that such and such a light was that of the Nix Mangiare Stairs, another, that it was that of the Harbour Master, and a third that it was that near the tomb of Old Balls. When we got to our station, finding that it was just nine o'clock, the admiral gave orders to fire the evening gun; and so noiselessly had we made our approach, that this was the first intimation the ships in the harbour had of our arrival. Scarcely had the report of our gun rung through the city, when we were visited by a boat which came on purpose to inquire who had had the insolence to interfere with the commanding officer's privilege. When the officer in charge, however, was informed that he was on board the Admiral, it may be supposed he did not proceed with his interrogatories. After all was made snug for the night, we retired to our hammocks, determined to take advantage of the first blush of morning to gratify ourselves with a peep at the far-famed Malta. The senior officer in port always fires the morning and evening guns. THE PRESENT IS NOT A CRISIS. THE crisis of a fever is that stage of the complaint at which it is decided whether the malady will prove fatal, or the patient be restored to former health. It is that period during which the family of the sufferer watch the serious and thoughtful countenance of the physician with an inquiring attention, as anxious as that with which the votary of superstition gazes on the |