no THREE DAYS AND THREB NIGHTS UN BOARD A STEAMER. 



and moaning in concord. We congratulated them on the present harmony 

 of their opinions, and desiring the steward to bring forth some of his 

 good cheer, were in the act of putting a glass of Guinness's good stout to 

 our lips, when a tremendous sea struck the larboard quarter, and in a 

 moment the two stern dead-lights were dashed in and the cabin covered 

 with water ;''catching up one of the dead-lights in our arms, while the 

 steward took the other, we stumbled over the wreck of men and luggage 

 that now covered the floor, and succeeded in fixing them before another 

 heavy sea struck the vessel's stern, and which, had the dead lights not 

 been replaced, would have filled the cabin with water. After this was 

 accomplished, we commenced lifting up carpet bags, portmanteaus, 

 broken tables, stools, &c., and succeeded in restoring order to the cabin. 

 The steamer was now riding more easily, and the passengers were sit- 

 ting on the lower tier of sofas in a most piteous and dilapidated condi- 

 tion. The soldier said, that had he known we were to have had an 

 Atheist on board, he would not have come with her — that he doubted 

 not this was a judgment for the horrid blasphemies that had been 

 uttered during dinner ; the dealer in pigs denied that it was anything but 

 the usual course of nature ; the papist said, it was, he doubted not, for 

 the purpose of hindering the soldier's return to oppress his poor country- 

 men; while the traveller's clerk and the perfumed gentleman begged of 

 them to hold their tongues, the former remarking that the present was 

 a time fitter for each man to spend at his devotions, than in impious and 

 useless recriminations, the latter saying that, on his part at least, the 

 going to sea at all was a tempting of Providence, as he had a wife and 

 three little children, who he feared, after this night, would be left desti- 

 tute upon the world, and vowing that, if it was his lot ever to set his 

 foot on terra firma again, he would leave the sea to those that 

 liked it. We got our plate and glass replenished, and leaving three of 

 them groaning and the other three at their devotions, lighted another cigar, 

 and went upon deck to ascertain why the vessel was now riding so 

 smoothly ; we had been in the dark some time, and in the darkness 

 vainly attempted to solve the problem — the wind was apparently as high 

 and the sea as rough as ever, yet the water broke more rarely over the 

 vessel, and she rode more easily. We were unwilling to break the charm 

 that appeared to us enhanced by silence in asking any question of the 

 pilot, who was now alone on the quarter deck, until we had resolved in 

 our mind every possible reason without being able to convince ourselves 

 of the solvency of any of them, when, turning to the pilot, we were in- 

 formed that, upon getting to Ailsa, the channel appeared so rough as to 

 make it dangerous to continue longer to bear up against it, and that the 

 helm had been put up and the vessel brought round — that we were now 

 running for Lambash Bay — that the commotion in the cabin had been 

 caused by two tremendous seas which had struck the vessel in the act of 

 putting round, and hsd almost foundered her. We continued our course 

 for some time ; the captain came on deck and asked whether or not the 

 light had been seen — but was answered that it had not ; from all the 

 calculations that could be made, it was now thought we must be in the 

 A-icinity of Penda, but as no light could be seen on account of the dark- 

 ness, it was judged advisable not to attempt Lambash, but to run for the 

 Cambraes. Accordingly, the pilot steered for the channel, and about three 



