CHAPTER X.
A pressgang; beaten off by one woman--Dangers at Spithead and Point--A treat for both parties, of _pulled chicken_, at my expense--Also gin for twenty--I am made a prisoner: escape and rejoin my ship.
I must now relate what occurred to me a few days before the ship sailed, which will prove that it is not necessary to encounter the winds and waves, or the cannon of the enemy, to be in danger, when you have entered his Majesty's service: on the contrary, I have been in action since, and I declare, without hesitation, that I did not feel so much alarm on that occasion, as I did on the one of which I am about to give the history.

We were reported ready for sea, and the Admiralty was anxious that we should proceed.

The only obstacle to our sailing was, that we had not yet completed our complement of men.

The captain applied to the port-admiral, and obtained permission to send parties on shore to impress seamen.

The second and third lieutenants, and the oldest midshipman, were despatched on shore every night, with some of the most trustworthy men, and generally brought on board in the morning about half a dozen men, whom they had picked up in the different alehouses, or grog-shops, as the sailors call them.