BOARDED BY THE PILOT. 17 



cross. I did not tell her ; and then, having inspected the 

 other dogs, we resumed the upper deck. 



I scarcely know if I ever saw a more graceful thing at 

 sea, the wind blowing fresh, than the advent of the Ame 

 rican pilot on board to take us into New York. With all 

 sail set, her fore-foot often clean out of water, and lying 

 down to every fresh squall that sent her, like a willing steed, 

 leaping over each succeeding wave, she came, giving us 

 an occasional view of every inner plank she had, and of 

 the pilots as they lolled all motionless about her, in very 

 easy and, therefore, graceful positions not a limb stir 

 ring save when the hand at the helm gave the boat her 

 lively duty, and at last brought her up, all shaking, on 

 the leeward quarter of the packet. They did this so well 

 (they knew they did it well), and the sight was so pretty, 

 that I joined in a cheer to them from several of my 

 brother passengers. 



Early on a bright fresh morning, on the 3rd of Septem 

 ber, I was aroused from sleep by my friends either send 

 ing to me, or calling to me, that the coast of the United 

 States was visible. I got up, and, in the clear morning 

 sky, saw the blue outline of a still distant land, and, what 

 to me was also amusing, a bird of the lark species pre 

 cisely like the English bunting-lark, but called in Ame 

 rica, so far as I could unravel their nomenclature, which is 

 far from being correctly descriptive, the " shore lark" 

 come aboard of us wet and tired. On and on we sped, 

 the land looming every moment more distinct, with a 

 light-house visible, till gradually, but charmingly, Long 

 Island on the starboard, and Sandyhook, Navesink, and 

 Staten Island on the port bow, jointly with the shoaling 

 sea, introduced us to the magnificent harbour of New York. 



