114 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



Valparaiso-Harbor, 

 October the 23d, 24th and 25th, 1851. 



Having arrived here yesterday (the 22d), I hasten to 

 continue this letter; the pen burns in my hand, for I wish 

 that the message of good cheer, which I now write down, 

 could at this moment be in your hands, assuring you that 

 the hardest part of our voyage is now ended. 



On August the 15th we caught sight of an immense 

 ' ' Northcaper, " which came close to our ship early 

 in the morning, while we had a momentary calm 

 and bright, pleasant weather. This large fish emerged 

 now and then so that we were able to see its greenish- 

 black back, which measured about twenty feet in length. 



The next day, August the 16th, at half-past six o'clock 

 in the evening, there was born a son to a former citizen of 

 Berlin, Elwanger by name, an event which was celebrated 

 on the following Monday by raising the flag on that beau- 

 tiful, bright day. 



Following the light winds on Monday, August the 18th, 

 we were unexpectedly compelled to make the acquain- 

 tance of a storm, such as the Southern Atlantic produces. 

 It struck us during the night, and differed much from 

 previous ones which we had experienced. In our opinion 

 it was so severe that we coulc not imagine anything 

 worse. Now, every one of us has become wiser— as the 

 terrific tornadoes which we experienced dno, left us to 

 believe that the first one, South of the Equator, was, after 

 all, not of so awful a nature, though it was violent enough 

 to un-roof houses and up-root trees on the shore. This 

 storm came from Southwest and was accompanied by a 

 heavy rain; about noon following it had subsided suf- 

 ficiently to permit the setting of sails. On Tuesday, Au- 

 gust the 19th, we had to meet another loss in the death of 

 a passenger, Odin by name, a Saxon, who passed away 

 during the forenoon, having suffered long and intensely 

 from gout and scurvy. There was already the foot-print 

 of the "reaper" upon him when he came on board our 

 vessel, and it is hardly probable that his life would have 

 been prolonged even if he had remained on land. His 



