Of course I had not been in the navy for more than two years without making a few friends, among the staunchest of whom I reckoned Mr Henry Vavassour, the first lieutenant of the _Colossus_, and also a friend of my father.  This officer was a very dashing fellow, a prime seaman, and a cool, courageous, resolute leader of men--he had frequently been mentioned in dispatches--and I was therefore not at all surprised to learn, as I now did, that he had gained his post rank and had been given the command of a fine ship.  His letter to me ran as follows: