262 TERRIFYING EFFECT OF LIGHTNING. 



ning, is the number of points presented in her struc- 

 ture for the dispersion of the electricit3^ One pre- 

 caution is invariably taken, that is, to remove the 

 pump-spears, and fill their place with swabs, to pre- 

 vent the iron rods actino- as conductors for the 

 electric fluid into the hold of the ship. 



There is something terrifying in such a scene, that 

 carries with it a sense of danger to the sturdiest : no 

 matter how many such outbreaks have before been 

 viewed by the beholder, still an indefinable fear will 

 pervade his system. The gale is a feature to which, 

 in his routine of life upon the ocean, the seaman be- 

 comes accustomed, and only asks for a sh ort warning to 

 battle with it ; but there is somethins^ in the liorhtnins: 

 that makes one feel completely at its mercy, though 

 we know that in this as in all other perilous situations, 

 we are under the protection of the same wise Creator. 



On these grounds we were continually meeting 

 merchantmen bound to and from the various Austra- 

 lian and East Indian ports, and it was a matter of 

 congratulation to us to see that all the swiftest and 

 best of these ships carried our own starry flag, main- 

 taining the pre-eminence of our ship-builders in this 

 far-oflf sea. 



We were now thirty months from home, and as 

 our ship was fitted at the outset to remain from 

 home but forty, this was to be our last cruise; 

 and home was the all-engrossing topic on every 

 tongue, from the captain's to the steerage boys', all 

 uniting in a sincere wish to return, oil or no oil. Our 

 return, which but a short time previous had been 

 commented upon as a vague and distant termination 

 of a protracted voyage, was now viewed as feasible 



