3-074-880 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fancy-Dress Ball on board H.M. troop-ship Serapis, on Crossing the Line, 1883. 'Some of the troops sent out from England in the past autumn for the relief of those serving in India have been obliged to go round the Cape, a voyage of fifty days, on account of the cholera in Egypt and the quarantine regulations embarrassing the route by the Suez Canal. The 43rd Light Infantry were thus conveyed to Madras by the well-known Indian troop-ship, H.M.S. Serapis, which had, of course, to cross the Line [ie the equator] twice on this voyage. On the second occasion of crossing, which happened on Thursday, Oct. 26, the officers and ladies, and other passengers on board this ship, got up a fancy-dress ball, which was very pleasant and amusing. Much ingenuity, as well as taste, was shown by many ladies and gentlemen, in contriving a variety of fancy costumes made out of the limited materials to be got from the wardrobes of passengers at sea. We are indebted to Lieutenant F. G. Cardew, of the 43rd, for a sketch of this lively scene'. The traditional "Crossing the Line" ceremony is a naval and seafaring rite of passage that commemorates a ship's first crossing of the Equator. From "Illustrated London News", 1883.