Our captain was a jolly old man, and uncommonly fond of "sky-larking".

He gave us leave to do what we liked the day we crossed the line; so, as there were a number of wild spirits among us, we broke through all the ordinary rules, or, rather, we added on new rules to them.
The old hands had kept the matter quiet from us greenhorns, so that, although we knew they were going to do some sort of mischief, we didn't exactly understand what it was to be.
About noon of that day I was called on deck and told that old father Neptune was coming aboard, and we were to be ready to receive him.

A minute after I saw a tremendous monster come up over the side of the ship and jump on the deck.

He was crowned with seaweed, and painted in a wonderful fashion; his clothes were dripping wet, as if he had just come from the bottom of the sea.

After him came another monster with a petticoat made of sailcloth and a tippet of a bit of old tarpaulin.
This was Neptune's wife, and these two carried on the most remarkable antics I ever saw.