28 ISLES OF SUMMER. 



water, flowing in a stream a thousand times larger than the Mis- 

 sissippi river, from liot e(|aatorial regions, is always warm, and 

 the air, loaded with ozone, saline and other health imparting 

 ingredients, is as warm and pleasant as that which Ave breathe 

 at our best seaside resorts in summer ; storm-caught and ice- 

 coated vessels run into it to thaw out."' But alas! all our ideals 

 vanish into thin air and disappear forever the moment we at- 

 tempt to seize them with our hands of flesh. The beautiful 

 vision of the Gulf Stream exists for us no more. It will never 

 return. We have been there. We were from eight to ten hours 

 crossing it at an oblique angle. We rolled and tossed "in and 

 over" it to the content of our hearts and the disturbance of our 

 stomachs. As it piled up its huge waves higher than our ship, 

 one after another of the passengers seemed to have "a call '' to 

 go somcAvhere else, and left the deck, first bending over the guard 

 rail, Avitli their faces turned mysteriously towards the angry 

 waters, Avith an ;ig(Miizcd exijression; as though they had caught 

 sight of some large sea serpent. One gentleman Avas asked by 

 an innocent sym})athizer if he Avas sick. The quick and forcible 

 reply seemed to be perfectly satisfactory, '"Do you think I am 

 such a d — n fool tluit I am doing all this for fun?" Having 

 personally paid unwilling triljute to Neptune, Ave turned our back 

 upon tlie foam-crested billows and took refuge in our little sar- 

 dine box below, Avhere, Avitli the port hole closed, Ave lay above 

 the heaving l)osom of this enchanting ocean-river. And noAv, 

 ever and anon, upon all sorts of occasions, the Gulf Stream, disen- 

 chanted, calls up the same memories and fills us Avith the same 

 feelings of thankfulness and gratitude Avhich Sancho Panza 

 experienced Avhenever he thought of the blanket in Avhich lie 

 Avas ingloriously tossed in the yard of the Spanish inn. The 

 steamer in Avhich Ave left Ncav York, had carefully hugged the 

 shores of the Atlantic States and kept out of it, and we skirted. 



