Unfairly sent to the mast-head as punishment, midshipman Peter Simple is so numb from being wet and cold that he is unable to move or respond when the first lieutenant finally calls him down.
One of the topmen then came up, and perceiving my condition, hailed the deck, and said he believed I was dying, for I could not move, and that he dared not leave me for fear I should fall. O'Brien, who had been on deck all the while, jumped up the rigging, and was soon at the cross-trees where I was. He sent the topman down into the top for a tail-block and the studding-sail haulyards, made a whip, and lowered me on deck. I was immediately put into my hammock; and the surgeon ordering me some hot brandy and water, and plenty of blankets, in a few hours I was quite restored.
— Frederick Marryat, Peter Simple
