Notes of an Overland Journey Through France and Egypt to Bombay | Page 8

in despair. Again we sought the deck, and
saw the sun sink behind an ominous mass of clouds; the sky, however,
cleared, and the stars came out, reviving our spirits with hopes of a fine
night. Unfortunately, soon after nine o'clock, a heavy squall obliged us
to go below, and one of my female friends and myself took possession
of a state cabin, and prepared to seek repose.
It was my first voyage on board a steamer, and though the tremulous
motion and the stamping of the engine are anything but agreeable, I
prefer it to the violent rolling and pitching of a sailing vessel. We were

certainly not nearly so much knocked about; the vases of flowers were
taken off the mantel-piece, and placed upon the floor, but beyond this
there were no precautions taken to prevent the movables from getting
adrift; every thing remained quiet upon the tables, a circumstance
which could not have happened in so heavy a sea in any vessel not
steadied by the apparatus carried by a steamer.
The _Phénix_ laboured heavily through the water; a torrent of rain soon
cleared the deck of all the passengers, and the melancholy voices
calling for the steward showed the miserable plight to which the male
portion of the party was reduced. Daylight appeared without giving
hope of better weather; and it was not until the vessel had reached the
pier at Havre, which it did not make until after three o'clock P.M. on
Monday, that the passengers were able to re-assemble. Many had not
tasted food since their embarkation, and none had been able to take
breakfast on the morning of their arrival.
And here, for the benefit of future travellers, it may not be amiss to say,
that a small medicine-chest, which had been packed in a carpet-bag,
was detained at the custom-house; and that the following day we
experienced some difficulty in getting it passed, being told that it was
contraband; indeed, but for an idea that the whole party were going on
to Bombay, and would require the drugs for their own consumption, we
should not have succeeded in rescuing it from the hands of the
Philistines. The day was too far advanced to admit of our getting the
remainder of the baggage examined, a mischance which detained us a
day at Havre, the steamer to Rouen starting at four o'clock in the
morning.
The weather was too unpropitious to admit of our seeing much of the
environs of the town. Like all English travellers, we walked about as
much as we could, peeped into the churches, made purchases of things
we wanted and things we did not want, and got some of our gold
converted into French money. We met and greeted several of our
fellow-passengers, for though little conversation, in consequence of the
inclemency of the weather, had taken place on board the _Phénix_, we
all seemed to congratulate each other upon our escape from the horrors
of the voyage.
The gale increased rather than abated, and we now began to entertain
fears of another day's detention at Havre, the steamer from Rouen not

having arrived; and though we were very comfortably lodged, and
found the town superior to the expectations we had formed of a
sea-port of no very great consideration, we had no desire to spend more
time in it than we could help.
Havre appears to carry on a considerable commerce with India, several
shops being wholly devoted to the sale of the productions of the East,
while the number of parrots and monkeys to be seen show that the
intercourse must be very extensive. The shops had a very English air
about them, and though the houses were taller, and rather more
dilapidated in their appearance, than they are usually found at home,
they reminded us of familiar scenes. Hamlet was announced for the
evening's performance at the theatre, and but for the novelty of dining
at a _table d'hôte_, we might have fancied ourselves still in England.
The Hotel de l'Europe is the best in Havre; there are several others very
respectable, and more picturesque, from the ancient style of the
building: all were full, intercourse with Havre being on the increase.
English carriages were arriving every hour; the steamer from
Southampton brought an immense number of passengers, and travellers
seemed to flock in from every part of the world. We were amused by
seeing a well-dressed and well-mannered Russian lady, at the _table
d'hôte_, fill her plate half-full of oil, and just dip the salad into it.
It was the first time that one of my friends and myself had ever visited
France, and we endeavoured as much as possible to accommodate
ourselves to the manners of a strange country. We could not, however,
entirely give up