"'Something occurred during the day to prevent the funeral taking
place at the usual hour; and the ceremony was deferred until long
after sunset. The evening was extremely dark, and it was blowing a
treble-reefed topsail breeze. We had just sent down the top-gallant
yards, and had made all snug for a boisterous winter's night. As it
became necessary to have lights to see what was done, several signal
lanterns were placed on the break of the quarter-deck, and others
along the hammock railing on the lee-gangway. The whole ship's
company and officers were assembled; some on the booms, others in
the boats; while the main-rigging was crowded half-way up to the
cat-harpings. Overhead the mainsail, illuminated as high as the yard
by the lamps, was bulging forwards under the gale, which was rising
every minute, and straining so violently at the main-sheet, that
there was some doubt whether it might not be necessary to interrupt
the funeral in order to take sail off the ship. The lower-deck ports
lay completely under water, and several times the muzzles of the
main-deck guns were plunged into the sea; so that the ends of the
grating on which the remains of poor "Dolly" were laid, once or
twice nearly touched the tops of the waves, as they foamed and
hissed past. The rain fell fast on the bare heads of the crew,
dropping also on the officers during all the ceremony, from the foot
of the mainsail, and wetting the leaves of the prayer-book.
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