Naval rite of passage: Crossing the Line. Johnny is dunked in a bath of bilge water when he first crosses the equator. Sailors are dressed as sea gods Neptune, Amphitrite and Triton. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by W. Read after an illustration by Thomas Rowlandson from Alfred Burton's The Adventures of Johnny Newcombe in the Navy, Simpkin, London, 1818.
Naval rite of passage: Crossing the Line. Johnny is dunked in a bath of bilge water when he first crosses the equator. Sailors are dressed as sea gods Neptune, Amphitrite and Triton. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by W. Read after an illustration by Thomas Rowlandson from Alfred Burton's The Adventures of Johnny Newcombe in the Navy, Simpkin, London, 1818.