8 THE SEA. 



hole and pitfall, and stumbling constantly. * * * And so she goes on staggering, 

 heaving, wrestling, leaping, diving, jumping, pitching, throbbing, rolling, and rocking, and 

 going through all these movements sometimes by turns, and sometimes all together, until 

 one feels disposed to roar for mercy." 



Dickens gives a droll account of a ridiculous situation in which he was placed. " About 

 midnight we shipped a sea, which forced its way through the skylights, burst open the 

 doors above, and came raging and roaring down into the ladies' cabin, to the unspeakable 

 consternation of my wife and a little Scotch lady who, by the way, had previously sent 

 a message to the captain by the stewardess, requesting him, with her compliments, to have 

 a steel conductor immediately attached to the top of every mast and to the chimney, in 

 order that the ship might not be struck by lightning. They and the handmaid before- 

 mentioned, being in such ecstasies of fear that I scarcely knew what to do with them, 

 I naturally bethought myself of some restorative or comfortable cordial ; and nothing better 

 occurring to me at the moment than hot brandy-and-water, I procured a tumblerful without 

 delay. It being impossible to stand or sit without holding on, they were all heaped together 

 in one corner of a long sofa a fixture extending entirely across the cabin where they 

 clung to each other, in momentary expectation of being drowned. When I approached 

 this place with my specific, and was about to administer it, with many consolatory 

 expressions, to the nearest sufferer, what was my dismay to see them all roll slowly down 

 to the other end ! And when I staggered to that end, and held out the glass once more, 

 how immensely baffled were my good intentions by the ship giving another lurch, and their 

 all rolling back again ! I suppose I dodged them up and down this sofa for at least a 

 quarter of an hour, without reaching them once ; and by the time I did catch them the 

 brandy-and-water was diminished by constant spilling to a tea-spoonful." 



What a difference to the accommodations and comfort of most modern steamships, with 

 their luxurious saloons placed amidships, where there is least motion ; their spacious and airy 

 state-rooms, warmed by steam, water laid on, and fitted with electric bells ; their music-room 

 with piano and harmonium, their smoking-room, bath-rooms, library, and even barber's 

 shop. The table is as well served as at the best hotel ashore, and the menu for the day is 

 as extensive as that of a first-class restaurant, while everything that may be required 

 in the drinkables, from modest bottled beer to rare old wine, is to be obtained from 

 the steward. And provided that the passengers assimilate reasonably well, there will 

 be enjoyable games, music, and possibly private theatricals and other regularly organised 

 entertainments. The idea of a " Punch and Judy " in the middle of the Atlantic seems 

 rather funny; but we have known of an instance in which even this form of amusement 

 has been provided on board a great steamship ! On long voyages it is not by any means 

 uncommon for some one to start a MS. daily or weekly journal, to which many of the 

 passengers contribute. Such have often been published afterwards for private circulation, as 

 affording reminiscences of a pleasant voyage. 



Then there is the pleasure of discovering " a sail in sight," and of watching it grow larger 

 by degrees as the vessels approach each other. The " look out " is kept by some passengers 

 almost as persistently as by the sailors detailed for the purpose. Perhaps, again, the captain 

 or officers have let out the fact that they should pass one of their own or some rival company's 



