Travellers Stories | Page 4

by their mother's side in the old sofa, that same
comfortable old sofa, which might have listened to many pleasant and
interesting stories that will never be told.
Mother, said Frank, you have often promised us that some time you
would tell us about your travels in Europe. This is a good stormy
evening, and no one will come in to interrupt you; so please, dear
Mother, tell us all you can remember.
It is now, boys, five years since my return from Europe. Much that I
did and saw while there I forget. However, as I have been lately
looking over my hasty journal, I will see what I can remember.
On the first of August I set sail in the steamer Caledonia for England.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, we were out of sight of land; one by
one, we had taken leave of every object which could be seen from the
departing vessel; and now nothing was visible to us but the sky, the
ocean meeting it in its wide, unbroken circle the sun gradually sinking
in the west, and our small but only house, the ship. How strange, how
sublime the scene was! so lonely, so magnificent, so solemn! At last the
sun set, gilding the clouds, and looking, to my tearful eyes, as if that
too said farewell! Then the moon appeared; and the long, indefinite line
of light from where her rays first touched the waters to our ship, and the
dancing of the waves as they crossed it, catching the light as they
passed, were so beautiful that I was unwilling to leave the deck when
the hour for rest arrived.
The wind was against us, and we did not get on very fast; but I enjoyed
the novel scene the next day, and passed all my time on deck, watching
the sailors and the passengers, and noticing the difference between
Englishmen and Americans.
On Sunday it was very cold, and the wind, still contrary, rose higher
and higher; it was impossible to set any sail, but I still kept on deck,
and thus avoided sickness. Soon after breakfast I saw a white foam
rising in different places occasionally, and was told that it was whales
spouting; I saw a great number, and enjoyed it highly. Presently some
one called out, "An iceberg!" and, far off against the sky, I saw this
floating wonder. It was very beautiful; such a dazzling white, so calm
and majestic, and so lonely; it was shaped, as I thought, like an old
cathedral, but others thought like a sleeping lion, taking what I called

the ruined tower for his head and mane.
Soon after this, the man on the lookout cried, "Steamship America;"
and in a few moments more we saw her coming swiftly towards us with
her sails all set, for the wind was fair for her. Captain Leitch then told
me that he should stop his vessel and send a boat on board, and that he
would send a letter by it if I would write one quickly; to others he said
the same thing. In a moment the deck was cleared, and in a few more
moments all had returned with their letters; and never was there a more
beautiful sight than these two fine steamers manoeuvring to stop at a
respectful distance from each other; then our little boat was lowered,
and O, how pretty it was to see her dancing over the rough waves to the
other steamer! We sent to the America the sad news of the loss of the
Kestrel. After what seemed to us a long time, the boat returned and
brought papers, &c., but no important news; and in a few moments the
two steamers courtesied to each other, and each went on her way.
After six days, the waves had risen to a terrible height; the wind was all
but a gale; the ocean, as far as one could see, was one roaring foam;
one after another the angry billows rose to the height of twenty or thirty
feet, and rolled on, curling over their green sides, and then broke with a
voice of thunder against our vessel.
I crawled out of the cabin, assisted by two gentlemen, and from the
lower deck saw the sublime commotion over the bulwarks, when the
ship rolled over on the side where I was sitting. The sea broke over our
vessel repeatedly; it went over the top of the smoke pipe, and struck the
fore-topsail in the middle but did, not hurt either of them. The fourth
officer was washed out of his berth by a sea when he was asleep. One
of the paddles broke, but in a very short time was replaced. One of the
wheels was often