NO EMIGRATION. 5 



fire ; this appearance is caused, apparently, by the ship s 

 side dashing the salt water into air-bubbles : some assert 

 that this fiery appearance arises from a kind of animalcules, 

 but this opinion is evidently erroneous, for these animalculae 

 are never numerous enough in the water in any one place, 

 and but occasionally to be met with at all, when these 

 sparkles are everywhere to be seen in the night in salt 

 water. The air from the waves which break at the ship s 

 side, on leaning over, rises in the face like the steam from 

 heated water. The vessel now made a good deal of water 

 , when the sea was rough. 



j The captain swears and storms like a madman; at one 



/time cursing the men (by-the-bye, some of them were 



D a stupid set of fellows), then the ship, and the weather, 



I and almost in the same breath saying, they could not have 



had a better day for the work they had to do, and that we 



had been highly favoured throughout : so inconsistent is 



human nature ! 



We were often compelled to u lay to,&quot; in which there is 

 little danger in any moderate gale, provided you have plenty 

 of sea-room to drift, and the vessel has far less motion than 

 if sailing in the same wind, or in a calm. In one of the 

 late gales the tiller rope broke, when it threw down, and 

 very much cut and bruised, the man steering. My butter 

 was all spoiled through the warm weather, not having been 

 potted close, and sufficient salt put in it. 



Squalls, calms, head winds, &c. continue, and the captain 

 says he never experienced so much bad weather and oppos 

 ing winds before. A disagreeable life on board in such 

 seasons : perhaps you are pitched head-foremost against 

 one side of the vessel by a &quot; sea-lurch,&quot; or a roll, and 

 before you have time to recover your legs, tumbled to the 

 other side ; or at dinner, the dishes and plates with their 

 contents are suddenly dashed to the floor, when the potatoes, 

 &c. are rolling about from one side of the vessel to the 

 other, as if playfully amusing themselves ; and, while at 

 tempting their recovery, you roll after them, or tumble 

 headforemost, to the no small amusement of the rest of 

 the company. 



We continued to experience westerly winds, which retarded 

 our progress greatly, a proof of which was, that we spoke a 

 brig from New York, bound to Buenos Ayres, out only eight 

 days, and it took us three weeks to get into port; indeed, 



c 



