90 Voyage of the Novara. 



Schiller's beautiful poenij punished the dallying of the son 

 of the MuseSj whose fate, as compared with the actual politi- 

 cal circumstances of Germany, suggests but too many painful 

 analogies ! 



On 6th December the frigate was made ready for pro- 

 secuting her voyage, and the same evening all was ataunto. 

 The following morning we were to be towed out of the many- 

 coved port, till quite clear of " the Heads." The steamer, 

 however, sustained an accident to her machinery, and we 

 had her services little more than half a day. Early on the 

 7th, a breeze had sprung up from S. W. by S., accompanied 

 by squalls and rain, which gradually freshened into squally 

 weather from the S., and determined the Commodore to 

 make all sail at once. Already, even while we were still in 

 the port, the weather began to be stormy ; we had to take 

 in a reef in the mainsail, and by 9 a.m. found ourselves out- 

 side of ''North Head." By the afternoon the low flat coast 

 of Australia had sunk below the horizon, and the south wind 

 had now become a gale. It seemed as though winds and 

 waves had conspired to put to the severest test the operations 

 of the caulkers, carpenters, and sail-makers of Sydney. But 

 although the frigate rolled tremendously, and the frequent 

 squalls propelled the sea against her hull with frightful vio- 

 lence, she did not ship a drop of water below. The repairs 

 in dock had been most effectually performed. After a couple 

 of days both wind and sea fell, the sun shone out with the 

 mildness of early spring, and we bowled along in the most 



