THE VOYAGE. 21 



gale. Our stores have held out well, and the cook has served 

 us excellently, giving us, particularly, nice fresh rolls, soups, 

 omelettes, and puddings. We have hardly tasted our cured 

 meat, and with this and our hard bread we are now helping 

 out some of our more unfortunate neighbors. Split peas and 

 portable soup (bouillon), with fresh and dried fruit, have 

 been valuable stores ; even our friends in the cabin have been 

 gladly indebted to us for the latter. Don t forget when you 

 come to sea to have plenty of fruit. 



As the captain desired us to use the quarter-deck privi 

 leges, we have associated as we pleased with the first-cabin 

 passengers, and found several valuable acquaintances among 

 them. (Friend, rather, I should call one now.) 



Our room-mate, a young Irish surgeon, is a very good 

 fellow, apparently of high professional attainments, and pos 

 sessed of a power of so concentrating his attention on a book 

 or whatever he is engaged with, as not to be easily disturbed, 

 and a general politeness in yielding to the tastes of the 

 majority that we are greatly beholden to. He is a devoted 

 admirer of Smith O Brien, and thinks the Irish rising of 48 

 would have been successful, if he (O B.) had not been too 

 strictly honest and honorable a man to lead a popular revolt. 

 Of what he saw and knew at that time, he has given us some 

 interesting particulars, which lead me to think that the revo 

 lutionary purpose, insurrection, or at least the insurrectionary 

 purpose, and preparation was much more general, respectable, 

 and formidable, than I have hitherto supposed. 



Of his last winter s passage, in an emigrant ship, across 

 the Atlantic, he gives us a most thrilling account. 



He had been appointed surgeon of a vessel aK&ut to sail 

 from a small port in Ireland. She was nearly ready for sea, 

 the passengers collecting and stores taken on board, when 

 some discovery was made that involved the necessity of 



