DECEMBER 8.
At three o'clock this afternoon we entered the tropic of
Cancer ; and if the wind continues tolerably favourable, , we
expect to see Antigua on Sunday se'nnight. On crossing
line, it was formerly usual for ships to receive a visit from an
old gentleman and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Cancer: the husband
was, by profession, a barber; and, probably, the scullion, who
insisted. so peremptorily on shaving Sancho, at the duke's castle,
had served an apprenticeship to Mr. Cancer, for their mode of
proceeding was, much alike, and, indeed, very peculiar : the old
gentleman always made a point of using a rusty iron hoop instead
of a razor, tar for soap, and an empty beef-barrel was, in his
opinion, the very best possible substitute for a basin; in consequence
of which, instead of paying him for shaving them, people
of taste were disposed to pay for not being shaved , and as Mrs.
Cancer happened to be particularly partial to gin, the gift of a
few bottles was generally successful in rescuing the donor's chin
from the hands of her husband ; however, to-day this venerable
pair "perdventure were sleeping or on a journey," for we
neither saw nor heard anything about them.
