340 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



river, carrying the Croton Aqueduct on fourteen arches. 

 The view from this bridge is splendid. After a pleasant 

 walk through the park I returned to the hotel by the same 

 route as yesterday. 



Saturday, the 31st— on board of the "Arizona," Capt. 

 Maury. At last, about half-past ten, in the midst of a 

 gay crowd of restless passengers, some of whom seem 

 never to have been on board of a vessel before, we are 

 about to set out. The captain appears and upon a sign 

 the minor officers call out their routine-orders, upon which 

 the. gang-bridges are drawn, the cable-ropes loosened, 

 while shouts of farewell and waving of handkerchiefs con- 

 tinue. Now a single stroke of the bell gives the signal 

 that all is in readiness for the departure and immediately 

 the immense wheels on either side begin to turn, slowly 

 at first, then faster and faster do we glide from the dock 

 into the beautiful Hudson river. The friends of our four- 

 teen hundred passengers combine once more in a long, 

 deafening Hurrah, whose echoes seem to reverberate from 

 all the four points of the compass, while the white hand- 

 kerchiefs, like so many doves of peace, signal their silent 

 but heartfelt farewell to the crowds on board the fleeing 

 vessel, which soon passes the Battery, the south end of the 

 city of New York. By half-past two we reach Sandy 

 Hook, and the pilot leaves us to our own resources. The 

 sea is quiet, though the horizon is by no means clear. Ow- 

 ing to the overcrowded condition of the steamship we had 

 to share our state-room with a third passenger, an Ameri- 

 can named Hagar. Strange to say, while most passengers 

 braved the evening breeze, everybody seemed to have 

 turned into his bunk soon after dark, and by ten o'clock 

 everything was so quiet that one might suppose that there 

 were not more than a dozen persons on board. 



During the fourth and fifth day we passed the West 

 Indies, of which the mountain views, the fire of Cape 

 Maisi and Cape Tame Marie on Hayti, as well as the 

 Guano Island Navaza, attracted my special attention. 

 "We met the company's steamers "Ocean Queen" and 

 "Henry Chancey," both within talking distance, which 



