Or maybe serious Tars momentarily overcome by the awe and spectacle of it all. A cask of rum is a cask of rum after all and beggars can?t always be choosers in such situations. My guess is that there wasn?t a full bottle or cask of anything left anywhere in Nelson?s fleet after the enormity of the Trafalgar victory was realized.
And after returning to Portsmouth, there probably wasn?t a drop of grog to be found anywhere in the land. Britannia did rule the waves at that point, absolutely, and probably not a sober soul to be found for weeks. Party time, methinks.
Scamp