Captain Tait was a
favourite with Sir Thomas Maitland, High Commissioner of the Ionian
Islands - King Tom as he was called - who frequently took passage
in the LARNE. King Tom knew every inch of the Mediterranean, and
was a terror to the officers of the watch. He would come on deck
at night; and with his broad Scotch accent, 'Well, sir,' he would
say, 'what depth of water have ye? Well now, sound; and ye'll just
find so or so many fathoms,' as the case might be; and the
obnoxious passenger was generally right. On one occasion, as the
ship was going into Corfu, Sir Thomas came up the hatchway and cast
his eyes towards the gallows. 'Bangham' - Charles Jenkin heard him
say to his aide-de-camp, Lord Bangham - 'where the devil is that
other chap? I left four fellows hanging there; now I can only see
three. Mind there is another there to-morrow.' And sure enough
there was another Greek dangling the next day. 'Captain Hamilton,
of the CAMBRIAN, kept the Greeks in order afloat,' writes my
author, 'and King Tom ashore.
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