VOYAGE TO ALGERIA. 123 
ever placed a boat at my disposal. Four hardy fellows 
and one of the ship's officers jumped into it; my luggage, 
hastily thrown together, was tumbled in, and we were im- 
mediately on our way. We had nearly four miles to row- 
in about twenty minutes; but we hoped the mail-boat 
might not be punctual. For a time we watched her 
anxiously; there was no motion; we came nearer, but the 
flags were not yet hauled in. The men put forth all 
their strength, animated by the exhortations of the officer 
at the helm. The roughness of the sea rendered their 
efforts to some extent nugatory: still we were rapidly 
approaching the steamer. At- length she moved, punctual 
almost to the minute, at first slowly, but soon with quick- 
ened pace. We turned to the left, so as to cut across her 
bows. Five minutes' pull would have brought us up to 
her. The officer waved his cap and I my hat. "If they 
could only see us, they might back to us in a moment." 
But they did not see us, or if they did, they paid us no at- 
tention. I returned to the Urgent, discomfited, but 
grateful to the fine fellows who had wrought so hard to 
carry out my wishes. 
Glad of the quiet, in the Sflher afternoon I took a walk 
toward Europa Point. The sky darkened and heavy squalls 
passed at intervals. Private theatricals were at the Con- 
vent, and the kind and courteous governor had sent cards to 
the eclipse party. I failed in my duty in not going. St. 
Michael's Cave is said to rival, if it does not outrival, the 
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. On the 28th Mr. Crookes, Mr. 
Carpenter, and myself, guided by a military policeman who 
understood his work, explored the cavern. The mouth is 
about 1,100 feet above the sea. We zigzagged up to it, 
and first were led into an aperture in the rock, at some 
height above the true entrance of the cave. In this upper 
cavern we saw some tall and beautiful stalactite pillars. 
The water drips from the roof charged with bicarbonate 
of lime. Exposed to the air, the carbonic acid partially 
escapes, and the simple carbonate of lime, which is hardly 
at all soluble in water, deposits itself as a solid, forming 
stalactites and stalagmites. Even the exposure of chalk 
or limestone water to the open air partially softens it. A 
specimen of the Redbourne water exposed by Professors 
Graham, Miller, and Hofmann, in a shallow basin, fell 
from eighteen degrees to nine degrees of hardness. The 
