{"id":"01KG8AMFC66F5VYB101F971Y2A","cid":"bafkreibr3pfn6bdh7g7xt5eubi2gv7xsffbsul6vrcqdbuhc5yxdrppvvi","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2590,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.270Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":2542,"text":"still; but as, while on board the frigate, my liberty of thought did\r\nnot extend to liberty of expression, I was obliged to keep these\r\nsentiments to myself; though, indeed, I had some thoughts of addressing\r\na letter, marked _Private and Confidential_, to his Honour the\r\nCommodore, on the subject.\r\n\r\nMy station at the batteries was at one of the thirty-two-pound\r\ncarronades, on the starboard side of the quarter-deck.[1]\r\n\r\n [1] For the benefit of a Quaker reader here and there, a word or two\r\n in explanation of a carronade may not be amiss. The carronade is a gun\r\n comparatively short and light for its calibre. A carronade throwing a\r\n thirty-two-pound shot weighs considerably less than a long-gun only\r\n throwing a twenty-four-pound shot. It further differs from a long-gun,\r\n in working with a joint and bolt underneath, instead of the short arms\r\n or _trunnions_ at the sides. Its _carriage_, likewise, is quite\r\n different from that of a long-gun, having a sort of sliding apparatus,\r\n something like an extension dining-table; the goose on it, however, is\r\n a tough one, and villainously stuffed with most indigestible\r\n dumplings. Point-blank, the range of a carronade does not exceed one\r\n hundred and fifty yards, much less than the range of a long-gun. When\r\n of large calibre, however, it throws within that limit, Paixhan shot,\r\n all manner of shells and combustibles, with great effect, being a very\r\n destructive engine at close quarters. This piece is now very generally\r\n found mounted in the batteries of the English and American navies. The\r\n quarter-deck armaments of most modern frigates wholly consist of\r\n carronades. The name is derived from the village of Carron, in\r\n Scotland, at whose celebrated founderies this iron Attila was first\r\n cast.\r\n\r\n\r\nI did not fancy this station at all; for it is well known on shipboard\r\nthat, in time of action, the quarter-deck is one of the most dangerous\r\nposts of a man-of-war. The reason is, that the officers of the highest\r\nrank are there stationed; and the enemy have an ungentlemanly way of\r\ntarget-shooting at their buttons. If we should chance to engage a ship,\r\nthen, who could tell but some bungling small-arm marks-man in the\r\nenemy’s tops might put a bullet through _me_ instead of the Commodore?\r\nIf they hit _him_, no doubt he would not feel it much, for he was used\r\nto that sort of thing, and, indeed, had a bullet in him already.\r\nWhereas, _I_ was altogether unaccustomed to having blue pills playing\r\nround my head in such an indiscriminate way. Besides, ours was a\r\nflag-ship; and every one knows what a peculiarly dangerous predicament\r\nthe quarter-deck of Nelson’s flag-ship was in at the battle of\r\nTrafalgar; how the lofty tops of the enemy were full of soldiers,\r\npeppering away at the English Admiral and his officers. Many a poor\r\nsailor, at the guns of that quarter-deck, must have received a bullet\r\nintended for some wearer of an epaulet.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ3RR4R8SYRASCT3K24X","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFC6DJZAXPFRCPJTRK78","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFC6WKYGRGKS5AQM62A4","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.278Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:44.534Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}