EVERYDAY BASIC ENGLISH
BY
C. K. OGDEN

CONTENTS

	       To the Reader
         I.    The Newcomer                 13
           1.  The Railway Station          17
           2.  The Hotel                    22
           3.  The Bank                     27
           4.  A Meeting in the Street      32
           5.  The Restaurant               37
           6.  The Store                    43
           7.  The Theater                  50
           8.  A Day in the Country         55

         II.   Stories                      65
           1.  The Ruler's New Clothing     70
           2.  The Woman of Ephesus         84
           3.  Stories of Baron Munchausen  92

        III.   Political
           1.  The Kellogg Agreement       106
           2.  The Atlantic Charter        112
		(in parallel)

         IV.   Radio News                  117

          V.   History -- the future of Basic English   135
	       The Shape of Things to Come, by H. G. Wells	

TO THE READER

Basic English, which is used in these pages, is designed to be a second language for all the nations of the earth.

Some persons who have given much time and trouble to the development of an international outlook are shocked by this statement. "Why English," they say, "when it might be possible to put together a language based on European roots which would be equally hard for all?" The answer is that in serious questions the heart has to be ruled by the head, and that it would be very foolish to let a theory about the feelings of our friends make us take decisions which are against their interests.

We are faced with the fact that English is now the natural or political language of over 500,000,000 per- sons. The growth and teaching of these millions has been the work of 500 years, and it has become one of the chief undertakings of the education authorities in at least thirty countries to see that English is used even more widely.

But it takes three or four years to get a working knowledge of English in its present form; and very much longer for the nations of the East and countries not in touch with European learning.

This has been the guiding thought of those who, after working for ten years, have made a selection of the 850 Basic words. The list is printed on the bit of notepaper in front of the book. These 850 words (with their expansions of sense and special uses) do all the work for which 10-20,000 are normally used. The process of selection was a slow one, because, for the purpose in hand, it had to be based on something more than common sense and common needs. Only by making a complex map of the different ranges and levels of language was it possible to see if there was a small group of Basic or key words, and if so, which these key words were. This work was rewarded by the discovery that attention to the structure of facts and statements will make it possible to get a short list of words which, though simple, are of as much use to the man of science as they are to the man in the street.

A learner who is interested in going to the roots of his knowledge will quickly see the value of Basic as an instrument of thought. It is, however, equally possible to take it at its face value as the simplest answer to Babel. Esperanto and other systems of the same sort have been long in the field, but a language which is talked only by a small number of specially interested persons, and is simple only for certain European groups, has little chance of support. Basic, on the other hand, is as simple for a Chinese as it is for a French- man because, in addition to being limited to 850 words, it has no 'verbs'. That is not to say, however, that the reader will come across no 'verb'-forms in these pages. The sixteen 'operators' (put, go, and so on) which, when put with the 'directives' (such as in, out), take the place of 'verbs' (put in= 'insert'; go in= 'enter') are the key to the system.

Basic English is designed in the first place for the needs of radio and talking-pictures, for journeying to other countries, and with the help of special lists for science and trade. It is necessary to make it quite clear that a second language like Basic is not to be judged by its power to give pleasure in itself. Those who are interested in the feeling-value of words will do well, whatever is offered to them in the way of an international language, to get a good knowledge of one or more languages outside their mother tongue. But for the tens of millions who are not specially interested in words, and who make use of language in every way but as an instrument of art, the less time wasted, even in schools, on learning unnecessary tricks, the better.

There are some, however, to whom the simple effect produced by Basic gives more pleasure than all the ornaments and twists of the polished writer. To these it will seem that Basic, in addition to putting an end to the Babel which has kept us back for so long, is giving us a taste of the clear and reasoned use of simple language which may be the mark of the great writers of the future. From the Basic form of Petronjus's "Widow of Ephesus" on p. 84, the arguments for and against the use of Basic by the story-writer may be measured in some small degree.

When the Basic list has been got into the memory -- and there are a number of persons who would be able, if their existence was dependent on it, to do this in two days--the learner will be well on the way to reading Basic. With the right system of training and the necessary phonograph records, a normal learner might get this knowledge in a week. For talking and writing, naturally a longer time is needed. But anyone working hard and doing a Step a day would get through Basic Step by Step in thirty days or The Basic Teacher in forty-five days ; and even a slow-motion learner would not take more than a quarter of the four years which are now looked on as necessary.

In other words, if, in all countries, less than 1 % of the school-time of boys and girls under 14 was given to Basic, it would be possible for us to have a common language. In a number of the countries where education has gone farthest, every man has been forced for over a hundred years to give three of his best years to training for war. Is it not possible that those who have less education will give a small part of this time to building up peace before another hundred years have gone by?

The purpose of the present book is to give the learner a number of examples of the right use of Basic for a number of different purposes. For talking, these examples are limited to everyday needs. In the examples of writing a wider field is covered. We see how the 850 words may be used for story-writing, for making an international agreement, and for all sorts of news. News is given under the heading 'Radio News'. The examples would do equally well for newspaper purposes, but in our view the connection between Radio and Basic is a specially important one. We are not in debt to any special newspaper for the news here printed; in a sense, however, we are in debt to all of them, and for this reason it is hoped that the examples are representative enough to be taken by the reader as a true test.

In this fourth printing of the book the two stories from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen are an addition to Part II, and the Atlantic Charter, done in parallel. The Atlantic Charter is of special interest because it was first printed in parallel form (full English on one side of the page, and Basic on the other) in a White Paper, at the request of Mr. Churchill, after his Committee of Ministers had come to the decision that it would be right to give the system government support. Readers desiring to make a test of their knowledge of Basic may put the Charter into Basic for themselves and then make a comparison between their attempt and the parallel here printed, which was given the approval of the experts.

C. K. OGDEN.    

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I . THE NEWCOMER

The Newcomer stories are by linkage to System of Basic English.

2. THE HOTEL        

         Hotel Porter: Have you taken a room, sir?
         Mr. Anyman: No. Put my things down here while I
           go to the office. (To woman at office) Have you a
           room for one?
         Woman at Office: We're very full up this week. I have
           no small rooms at all at present. How long are you
           going to be here?
         Mr. Anyman: For two weeks probably.
         Woman at Office: I'll let you have a room with two
           beds at a special price till Monday, and after that we
           will be able to give you a small room. Will that be
           all right?
         Mr. Anyman: I'm very much against moving if there's
           any possible way out of it. I was hoping to get
           everything out of my boxes after the journey. Have
           you no other suggestion to make?
         Woman at Office: No, that's the best I am able to do.
           Every other hotel in London is full up in the same
           way. In fact, quite a number of persons have been
           sent on to us.
         Mr. Anyman: That's the worst of London at this time
           of year. Well, I'll have to take what there is. Is this
           room quiet ? That's the great thing.
         Woman at Office: Yes, very ; it's at the back. And so's
           the other one. In fact, they're two of the quietest
           rooms in the hotel.
         Mr. Anyman: And has it got a bathroom?
           Woman at Office: The room you're going into today
           has. The smaller one hasn't, but it's only one door
           off the public bathroom. And all the rooms in the
           hotel have telephones.
         Mr. Anyman: Good. And the price?
         Woman at Office: The room with the bathroom is
           fifteen shillings. The other will be ten shillings.
         Mr. Anyman: That's without any meals?
         Woman at Office: Yes. Meals are separate.
         Mr. Anyman: All right, I'll take the room.
         Woman at Office: Will you put your name in the
           book, please?
         Mr. Anyman: Certainly.
         Woman at Office: The room is on the second floor,
           near the lift. Here's your key. Let me have it back
           when you go out.
         Mr. Anyman: I will. A friend may be coming in to see
           me between six and seven. If he does, will you let
           him go straight up to my room?
         Woman at Office: Certainly. The porter will take you
           up if you are ready to go now.
         Hotel Porter: Your boxes will come up separately.
           This is the room, sir.
         Mr. Anyman: Is it possible to get the window open ?
           It's very warm in here with the heating.
         Hotel Porter: Is it open enough now ? This window's
           very stiff, and that's the best I'm able to do.
         Mr. Anyman: That will be all right.
         Hotel Porter: I'll send the girl to you.
         Servant: Have you everything, sir?
         Mr. Anyman: Yes, but there doesn't seem to be a bell
           of any sort in the room.
           Servant:  All orders are sent Over the telephone, sir.
           You get through to the porter's office.
         Mr. Anyman: I see. I have some dirty things. How do
           I send them to the wash?
         Servant. if you make out a list, I'll put them in a
           parcel for you, sir, and send them off tomorrow.
           They will be back on Saturday.
         Mr. Anyman:  Good. And then another thing. When
           are the shoes taken for cleaning?
         Servant: If you put them outside your door at night
           the boot boy will do them when he comes round
           early in the morning.
         Mr. Anyman:  Oh, one minute. There's no soap in the
           bathroom.
         Servant: I'll go and get you a bit flow. We've had very
           little time to get things straight in this room.
         Mr. Anyman: Well, I'll be going out in a short time.
           Where's the writing room?
         Servant: On the first floor. But there are writing-tables
           in all the public rooms.
         Mr. Anyman: May I have a cup of tea at eight tomorrow
           morning?
         Servant: Yes, sir. I'll be back with your soap in a
           minute or two.
         Hotel Porter: Here are your boxes, sir. The boy got
           the numbers mixed, or you'd have had them before.
         Mr. Anyman: Good; and while you are here, will you
           see what has gone wrong with the electric light over
           my bed ? It's probably the bulb, because the other
           light is all right.
         Hotel Porter: That's what's wrong, sir. I'll have to put
           in another.
         Mr. Anyman: Now I'm going to take a rest. If any one
           comes, the office is to say that I will not be in till six.
         Hotel Porter: Yes, sir.

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II . STORIES
The Ruler's New Clothing

    In the old, old days there was a great Ruler who took so much pleasure in new clothing that all his money went on dress. He was interested in his army, and the theatre, and driving in the woods, only because these things gave him a chance of going about in his new clothing. He had a dress for every hour of the day. In the same way in which one says of other rulers, "He is with his wise men," in this country one said, "The Ruler is in his dressing-room."
    There were amusements of all sorts in the great town where the ruler was living; numbers came from other parts of the country every day to see it ; and among them one day two bad men. They said they were makers of cloth and that they were able to make better materials than had ever been seen before. Not only were the colours and designs unequalled, but the clothing which was made of the materials had a special quality which made it unable to be seen by the very foolish or by anyone who had been unwisely put in authority.
    "That clothing is the very thing for me," said the Ruler to himself "If I had it on, it would be possible to see which men in my country are not good enough for the positions they are in. I will be in no doubt as to which are the wise men and which are the foolish ones. Yes ; it is most important for me to give an order to have some of that material made for me.
    He gave the two had men much gold so that the work might he started straight away.
    They did put up two machines, and kept up a fiction of working, but they had nothing at all in the place where the thread is put. At the start they made a request for a great amount of the most delicate silk and the best gold thread, all of which they put into their bags while they went on working at the untouched machines far into the night.
    It came into the Ruler's head that it would be wise to is have some idea how the cloth-makers were getting on with the cloth. But the thought that anyone who was foolish or wrongly placed in authority would not he able to see it gave him a strange feeling. He was certain that there was no need to have fears for himself but even so he came to the decision that he would send some other person first to see how it was getting on. The strange power of the material was common knowledge in the town, and everyone was very ready to see how foolish all the others were.
    "I will send the head of my government," said the Ruler to himself "He is an old and true servant. He will be best able to see what the material is like, because he is a man with brains and no one is better at his work than he !"
    So the good old man went into the room where the two false cloth-makers were working at the machine without thread.
    "Whatever is wrong ?" said the old man to himself his eyes opening very wide. "Why, I don't see a thing !" But he took care not to say so.
    The two bad men went on talking : Would he be good enough to come a little nearer ? Didn't it seem to him a good design and first-rate colouring ? They were pointing at the machine, which had no thread on it. The poor old man's eyes were fixed on it hard, but he was unable to see anything, because there was nothing to see.
    "Oh, dear, what am I to do ?" he went on to himself "Is it possible that I am a foolish man? I have never been of that opinion and it will have to be kept dark. Am I no good at my work? It will not do at all to say that I am unable to see the materials."
    "You don't say anything about the material, sir, said the one who seemed to be making cloth.
    "Oh, it is surprising! Quite without parallel !" said the old man, looking through his glasses. "This design and these colours ! It will certainly come to the ears of the Ruler that I am very much pleased with the material."
    "We are most happy that you say so," said the bad men, and then they gave the names of all the colours and went into all the details of the strange design. The old man gave great attention to what they said so that he would be able to say it all over again when he got back to the Ruler.
    Then the bad men went on to make requests for more money, more silk, and more gold, so that they might go on making the cloth; but they put it all in their pockets —- not one thread was ever put into the machine, though they went on as before making cloth at a machine which had no thread in it.
    A little later the Ruler sent another high government servant to see how the material was getting on and if it would be ready before long. He had the same experiences as the first man. He took one look, and then another, but there was only a machine without any thread on it so he saw nothing at all.
    "Isn't this bit of cloth of the highest quality ?" said the bad men together stretching it out before him and giving an account of the unparalleled design and col- ours which were not there to be seen.
    "I am certain that I am not a foolish person," was the man's thought, "so the only possible reason for this is that I am not good enough for my position ! It is very strange, though ! Rut the only thing to do is to keep it dark !" So he said that the material he did not see had his highest approval and gave every sign of his pleasure in the bright colours and the new design. "There is nothing like it !" he said to the Ruler. Everyone in the town was talking about this material, which was outside all comparison.
    Now the Ruler came to the decision that it would be a good thing to see it before it was taken off the machine. So in the company of a number of his friends, among them the two good men who had seen this cloth of no substance before. he went to see the false, low-down cloth-makers, who were working their hardest at the machine which had no thread in it.
    "It is beautiful !" said the two upright men. "Only see, O most High ! What a design ! What colours !" And they made a motion of the hand in the direction of the unthreaded machine.
    "What!' said the Ruler to himself "I see nothing at a1l. This is serious ! Am I a foolish person ? Have I no right to be Ruler ? Why, this is the worst experience I have ever had !"
    "Why, there is no cloth like it !" said the Ruler, "It has my highest approval !" And he gave every sign of being pleased, keeping his eyes fixed on the unthreaded machine. Nothing would make him say that he was unable to see anything.
    Everyone was looking with great attention, but saw nothing more than all the others. But they all said, with the Ruler, "There is no cloth like it !" And they put forward the suggestion that he might be dressed in this unparalleled cloth at a great event which was about to take place, when he and his servants would go publicly through the streets. 'It takes one's breath away ! What taste ! What quality !" went from mouth to mouth ; they were all equally pleased with it The Ruler gave the two bad men high positions and ornaments for their buttonholes, and the name of no 'Cloth-makers-in-Chief
    The men were working all night before the day on which the event was to take place, burning sixteen wax lights so that everyone would see how great was their desire to get the Ruler's new clothing ready. They went no through the motions of taking the cloth off the machine. It was cut out in the air with great scissors and they were stitching and stitching with needles without any thread in them. At last they said, "Now the Ruler's new clothing is ready !"
    The Ruler, with the highest in the land, went to them himself, and the two had men put an arm out in the air as if they were stretching something out before him, and said: "See, these are the trousers, this is the coat, here is the over-dress !" and so on. "It has as little weight as an insect's net. It might seem as if one had nothing on, but that is a sign of its quality !"
    "Yes !" said all the men-in-waiting, but they were unable to see anything, because there was nothing to see.
    "Will you, 0 most High, be so good as to take off your clothing ?" said the false cloth-makers, "so that we may put on the new dress here before the great looking-glass."
    The Ruler took off his things, and the two men seemed to give him one after the other the new bits of clothing they had gone through the fiction of making. They seemed to put something round his middle, and do something into a knot : this was the long train stretching out at the back, and the Ruler had a look at himself from all angles in front of the glass.
    "What a picture the Ruler is in his new clothing ! How beautiful it makes him !" was the cry all round. "What a design and what colours ! This dress is everything which is to be desired !"
    "The jeweled cover which is to be supported over you is waiting outside," said the manager of public events.
    "I am ready," said the Ruler. "Isn't the clothing well cut ?" And then he gave himself another turn in front of the glass so that he might seem to be looking at his new things.
    The special servants who were to take the train of the dress went down low and made a motion as if they were lifting it from the floor, and then went forward with their hands in the air. It would not do to let it get about that they did not see anything.
    Then the Ruler went on his way under the jeweled cover and everybody in the streets and at the windows said, "How bright the Ruler's new clothing is ! What a train ! And how well cut the dress is !" Nobody would let it seem that he was unable to see anything, because this would make it clear that he was a foolish man or not good enough for his position.
    The Ruler's clothing had never before made such a great effect.
    "But he has got nothing on," said a little boy.
    "What a thing for the baby to say," said his father and in a low voice one person said to another what the boy had said. "He has nothing on ; a little boy says he has nothing on !"
    "But he has nothing on !" came at last in a cry from everyone.
    The Ruler was twisting his body about as if in pain, because it was clear to him that it was true, but he said to himself "It all has to go on now ; " so he went forward stiffer than ever, and the men-in-waiting went on supporting the train which was not there.

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2 . The Women of Ephesus

    There was a woman of Ephesus, so noted as an example of true married love, that other women came from miles round to see her. So naturally, at the death of her loved one, it was not enough for her to do only as others would have done: go after the dead, with hair hanging loose, giving herself blows in public view. She went with the dead man into the death place itself, a stone room under the earth such as the Greeks made, and seating herself at his side, gave herself up to crying, day and night.
    Her father and mother and other relations did everything possible to keep her from the pain she was causing herself and from the death which would in a short time overtake her through need of food, but she would not be turned from her purpose. In the end the government authorities went away, unable to do anything, and slowly she got through her fifth day without food, with everyone feeling for her deeply and respecting her as an example to all her sex -— a woman without parallel.
    A servant girl, true to the last, was seated by the unhappy woman's side, crying when she did, and keeping the light in the death place burning. Only this one story went round the town, and all were in agreement that it was an unequalled example of true married feeling and love.
    While this was going on, the Roman ruler of those parts gave orders for some wrong-doers to be nailed up with arms outstretched, at the back of the little house where the woman was crying over the body which had such a short time before been a man. One of the military was ordered to see that no one took the bodies down to put them under the earth. The night after, this man saw the light clearly among the trees, and the cries of the unhappy woman came to his ears. He was as interested as other men in what went on round him, and he had a great desire to see who it was and what was going on. So he went down into the death place, and when he saw it was a woman and good-looking, he was in doubt as troubled as if he had seen some unnatural sign, or a shade from the land of the dead. But when he took in the details of the outstretched body the woman's eyes wet with crying and her face marked by her finger-nails, the reason was clear -— she had been overcome by her burning desire for the dead man.
    He took his poor little meal into the place of death, and said everything in his power to make the crying woman see how foolish it was to give herself up to hitter feelings and let her heart be broken by crying. All men, he said, came to the same end and the same last resting-place. But she was made angry by such common comfort. Her blows only got more violent, and pulling out her hair she put it on the body stretched before her.
    But even all this did not make the man go away ; he went on with his attempts to give the young woman food, using the same arguments, till the servant girl, giving way to the smell of the wine, put out her hand for the kindly offered food. Then, stronger after the food and wine, she did her best to overcome her friend's desire for death. "What good will come," she said, "if you do go without food till you are dead, if you do give yourself up to a living death, and put an end to yourself before the hour designed for you to be parted from your body ? Is it possible for your pain to give any pleasure to the body or mind of a man who is dead and gone to his rest? Why not make a new start ? Why not put from your mind this false idea of being true in love, which only women have, and take pleasure in the light of day as long as the Great Ones let you ? This body itself is a sign that we are wise to make the most of our existence."
    Suggestions to take food or go on living generally have some effect. The woman, greatly in need of food and drink after five days, let her desire for death be brushed on one side and took the food as readily as the servant girl who had given way before her.
    Well, it is common knowledge that a person becomes open to other desires when the need for food is no longer strong. Now all the man's earlier arts, which had kept her from death, were used to make her his. This good and true woman saw that he was a pleasing young man, and not foolish. The servant girl was of the same opinion and put her in mind of the words : "Will you not give way even to a love which is pleasing to you ? Will your eyes be shut for ever to whose country you are in ?"
    Why make the story longer ? Having overcome one part of her person, the man went on in the same way and overcame the rest.
    The father and mother of one of the men who had been put to death saw that little care was being given to keep the place under observation, and took the body down to put it under the earth. The morning after, when the man saw that one of the bodies was gone, he was in no doubt as to what his punishment would be. He went to the woman with his story. It would be better to put an end to himself with his blade, he said, than let his punishment be fixed by the military authorities, So she would have to make room for her lover, who would in so short a time be joining her earlier love in that sad place.
    But the woman's heart was as kind as it was true. "Let it not be, she said, "that I see before me at the same time the dead bodies of the two men who are most dear to me. It is better to let a dead body be nailed up than put to death a living man.
    And acting on these words, she went on to say that he was to take the body from its resting-place and put it up in the place where the other had been. He took this wise suggestion for his profit, and the day after there was a question for all: how had the dead man got himself nailed up on the place of punishment?

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3 . Stories of Baron Munchausen

The Baron's horse in trouble.
    I went off on a journey to Russia, in the middle of winter, because I rightly said to myself that the roads, which in the opinion of those who had been on them were uncommonly bad through the north parts of Germany, Poland, Courland and Liyonia, would naturally be smoother when they were covered with ice and snow. I went on horseback, because it is the simplest way of getting about—though only if man and horse are in good condition. I had only thin clothing on, and the further I went to the north-east the more conscious I became that I was not warmly enough dressed. How much worse in the cold weather of that hard winter was the experience of a poor old man whom I saw resting on the road in an open stretch of country in Poland, feeble, shaking with cold, and with his body almost uncovered ! I was moved with a desire to do something for the poor man. Though I was feeling the cold myself I put my coat over him, and when I had done this kind act there came to my ears straight away a voice from the sky, saying:
    "You will be rewarded, my son, for this in time."
    I went on it became dark and night overtook me. There was no sign of a house, no sound of a living being. The country was covered with snow, and I had never been on the road before.
    Tired, I got off my horse and put the guiding-bands round what seemed to be the pointed end of the stem of a broken tree, coming up through the snow. Placing my firearms under my arm, where they would be safe, I took my rest on the snow, and had such a good sleep that I was conscious of nothing more till it was full daylight. It is hard to give any idea of how great my surprise was when I saw that I was in the middle of houses, and had been sleeping by a church. My horse was nowhere to he seen, but shortly after, he made a sound over my head. Looking up, I saw him hanging by his leather head-band from the highest point of the church. The position was now very clear to me; the houses had been covered with snow in the night ; a sudden change of weather had taken place; while sleeping, I had softly come down to earth as the snow got less and less; and what in the dark I had taken to be the broken stem of a little tree coming up through the snow, was the topmost point of a church.
    Without wasting any time, I took one of my guns and sent a ball through the head-band, cutting it in two, so that the horse came down. Then I went on with my journey.
The Baron takes part in a war
    When Gibraltar was cut off by the Spaniards, I went on one of the food ships under Lord Rodney, to see my old friend General Elliot, who did so well against the attacking Spaniards there that his name will go down in history. After we had got over the natural pleasure produced by the meeting of old friends, I went to see the condition of the military force in the place, and to see the operations of the Spaniards, for which purpose the General went with me. I had taken with me from London a first-rate long-distance glass, got from Dollond, by the help of which I saw that a thirty-six pounder was about to be fired straight at us. I gave this news to the General, and looking through my glass he saw that I was right. Straight away, with his authority, I gave orders for a forty-eight pounder to be got from a nearby gun position, placing it with such care (and truly I may say that I am without an equal in this branch of military science) that I was certain there would be no error.
    I went on watching the Spaniards till I saw the match so placed at the touch-hole of their gun ; at that very second I gave the sign for our gun to be fired.
    About half-way between the two guns, the balls came against one another with very great force, and the effect was truly surprising. The Spaniards ; ball was sent back so violently that, in addition to crushing the head of the man at the gun, it took off the heads of sixteen others, sending them through the air in the direction of Africa. Before it got to Barbary, it took away parts of three vessels, which were in the harbour, one in front of the other, and then it went 200 miles inland, where it came down, falling through the roof of a farmer's house. After causing the loss of her only tooth to a poor old woman there who was on her back, it at last came to rest in her throat. By chance the farmer came back at this minute, and after all his attempts to take out the ball had been without effect, the bright idea came to him of driving it with a hammer into her stomach, so that it might slowly be taken into her system, in the normal process of digestion. Our ball did very good work, for it not only sent back the other in the way I have said, hut, as was my design, it took the gun off its support, driving it against the side of a ship, where it came down with so much force as to make a hole through the base. The ship quickly became full of water and went down, taking with it 1000 Spanish sailors and a great number of army men.
    This was certainly a most surprising bit of work. I will not, however, take all the credit myself; my powers of invention were responsible for the idea in the first place, but I was helped a little by chance, for I later made the discovery that the man firing our forty-eight pounder, had, in error, put in twice the normal amount of powder. But for that we would never have done so much better than seemed possible -— specially in sending back the Spaniards' ball.

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