4 A SPRING TOUR IN PORTUGAL. 



say, that for a thorough sea-going, steady, trustworthy, 

 vessel wherein to cross the Bay of Biscay in doubtful 

 weather, commend me to the Shannon and its excellent 

 commander, Captain Jellicob. Of 3,472 tons burden, of 

 800 horse-power, with a crew (including engineers, 

 stewards, cooks, butchers, &c.) numbering 130, with ample 

 accommodation for 350 passengers, with ventilation both 

 in saloon and cabin exceptionally good, this really fine 

 ship, from her great size and appearance of solidity, in- 

 spires confidence in her strength and endurance, and is 

 better calculated to reassure timid passengers who are 

 about to cross the wide Atlantic, than are the brighter, 

 smarter, more elegant, but smaller and less substantial 

 steamers which sail from the same port for the calmer 

 waters of the Mediterranean. Nor will the traveller re- 

 gret that the Brazilian mail packets make no pretensions 

 to compete in the numbers they carry with the large 

 steamers which ply between New York and Liverpool; 

 for these latter are sometimes crowded with 800 passengers, 

 who (as I have been assured by a suffering eye-witness) 

 were necessarily herded together like cattle, with scarcely 

 room to move. Whereas the officers of the Shannon in- 

 formed me that the greatest number ever conveyed by 

 their vessel on one occasion amounted to 450, who, from 

 some political reason, hurried back to Europe en masse 

 from Brazil. 



Our tour of inspection round our floating home brought 

 before us indeed the more salient points of her construc- 

 tion and arrangement ; but so bewildering were the many 

 staircases and tiers of cabins, that it was not till we had 

 been a day or two on board that we could find our way 

 without difficulty to saloon, and cabin, and deck. The 

 large saloon is admirably constructed deep down in the 

 after part of the vessel, with two tiers of cabins and a 

 gallery running round. By this arrangement there is 



