AMUSEMENTS ON BOAED. 31 



of the Scomberida. A "Portuguese man-of-war" has also 

 been constantly in sight. What a strange little creature 

 it is, with its ruby-tinted sail ! resembling a miniature 

 boat, the ship of some diminutive sprites who have 

 stolen away for a sail upon the golden- sheened element ! 

 What a world of wonder we live in, and how little do 

 we understand it, after all ! and where are its astound- 

 ing freaks so wondrously exhibited as at sea ? To view 

 these extraordinary works, if man will only think but 

 that is the point : who thinks ? must make him less 

 earthly than he is, and draw his heart closer to the 

 great Creator. 



Fine weather and favourable breezes still stop with 

 us ; we have had amateur theatricals, tableaux vivants, 

 readings, and lectures on board. It is surprising how 

 time flits by. In fact there can be no question on the 

 subject this is the voyage now to take for pleasure ; 

 for altnough twenty -two days seem a long time to 

 spend at sea, everything passes so harmoniously and so 

 regularly, that the traveller can scarcely trust his 

 memory when he finds that he has been so long absent 

 from home. To invalids, I feel convinced the voyage 

 would be most beneficial, and it requires only to be 

 more extensively known to become more practised. 



Sailors' ingenuity is certainly most wonderful : to 

 see the flush- deck abaft the gangway turned into a 

 theatre or reading-room, with flags of all nationalities 

 shutting out the night air, and resplendent stars of 

 bayonets, and other glittering and handsome devices, 

 arranged and ready for use in the short period we are 

 at the tea-table, certainly has a look of enchantment. 



Mr. E. M. Ballantyne, the author of so many 

 successful boys' books, gave us this evening (sixteen 



