GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE EXPEDITION 141 



along for possible festive occasions. One of my comrades, who 

 was full of chemical lore, contrived an expedient for preventing 

 the wine from turning to vinegar, which consisted in putting in 

 it some form of lime warranted not to affect the taste and to 

 keep it perfectly sweet. He probably made some mistake in the 

 kind or quantity of lime he used, for the result was to convert 

 what was before a very agreeable drink into a weak acid white- 

 wash, for which the only use was to dose the cook by means of 

 a funnel when it was decided that his cooking was altogether 

 too bad. The remark in his hearing that, " George would have 

 to have some more wine," would always better the diet for some 

 days. 



We set forth on our journey, as will be seen by the date, after 

 the Civil War had begun. Hyatt and I had much debate con- 

 cerning the wisdom of our going, but we concluded that the 

 struggle would probably last for many years, and that we would 

 go through with our training and graduate before going to the 

 task of arms. Neither of us had the least hunger for the busi- 

 ness, which we foresaw would probably break up our careers. 

 My own commonwealth, Kentucky, had determined to remain 

 neutral in the struggle, and it was then believed that it would 

 be some years if at all before she would be involved in it. 

 At any rate, we determined to have a good time in the wilder- 

 ness and forget the discords which had made our days miser- 

 able. I remember being thankful as we sailed out of Eastport, 

 that we should hear no more of it for months to come. 



The outset of our seagoing in the Bay of Fundy was tempest- 

 uous. For some days we had a wild, hard sea, which tried our 

 stomachs sorely, and, what was worse, proved our nice-looking 

 craft to be unseaworthy. We then heard from Skipper Small 

 that the craft was old and had been a bad sailer, so that the 

 owners had put her upon the stays, cut the hull in two, sepa- 

 rated the parts and put in a piece to increase her length by ten 

 feet. This had made her swift, but the job was ill done, with 

 the result that in a heavy sea the joints were strained open. We 



