CHARACTERS. A POET. 27 



the breeny ailiment, and bears us on with velucitay twarrd 

 th expectant shoorres of Albeeon s eel. Ah ! what a grrand 

 expanse it is of weeld- washing waterrers ! Deleeghtful 

 waytherr, pon my worrud.&quot; He is a good fencer, boxer, 

 card player, and trickster ; a safe waltzer, even in a rolling 

 ship, and, when half-seas over, dances a jig, hornpipe, or 

 French pas seul, and turns a pirouette on the top of the cap 

 stan ; plays a cracked clarionet, and can get something out 

 of every sort of musical instrument; he spouts theatrically, 

 gives imitations of living actors, sings every thing, improvises, 

 and on Sunday chants from the prayer-book, so that even 

 then the religiously inclined may conscientiously enjoy his en 

 tertainment. A most rare treasure for a long passage. Some 

 of our passengers declare they would have died of dulness if 

 it had not been for him ! 



There is another Irishman (from the North), who has 

 written a poem as long as Paradise Lost, the manuscript of 

 which he keeps under lock and key, in a small trunk, at the 

 head of his bed, and, as they say, fastened to a life-preserver. 

 It is never out of his head, however, and he manages to find 

 something to quote from it appropriate to every occasion. 

 You might suppose he would be made use of as a butt, but 

 somehow he is not, and is only regarded as a bore. I incline 

 to think him a true poet, for he is a strange fellow, often 

 blundering, stupidly as it seems, upon &quot; good hits,&quot; and, 

 however inconsistently, always speaking with the confidence 

 of true inspiration. We have a godless set around us, and 

 he is very impatient of their card-playing and profanity par 

 ticularly if the weather is at all bad declaring that he is not 

 superstitious, but that he thinks, if a man is ever to stand by 

 his faith, it should be when he is in the midst of the awful 

 ocean, and in an unlucky ship. &quot;Nay,&quot; he asserts again, 

 &quot; he is not superstitious, and no one must accuse him of it, 



