19G NFAV ZEALAND. 



that one of the most boisterous ones certainly could 

 not be a hymn ! The royal party did not return 

 on shore till past midnight. 



2Qth. — In the evening, with a gentle land-breeze, 

 a course was steered for New Zealand ; and as 

 the sun set, we had a farewell view of the mount- 

 ains of Tahiti, the island to which every voyager 

 has offered up his tribute of admiration. 



December 19th. — In the evening we saw in the 

 distance New Zealand. We may now consider 

 that we have nearly crossed the Pacific. It is ne- 

 cessary to sail over this great ocean to comprehend 

 its immensity. Moving quickly onwards for weeks 

 together, we meet with nothing but the same blue, 

 profoundly deep ocean. Even within the archi 

 pelagoes, the islands are mere specks, and far dis- 

 tant one from the other. Accustomed to look at 

 maps drawn on a small scale, where dots, shading, 

 and names are crowded together, we do not right- 

 ly judge how infinitely small the proportion of dry 

 land is to the water of this vast expanse. The me- 

 ridian of the Antipodes has likewise been passed ; 

 and now every league, it made us happy to think, 

 was one league nearer to England. These Antip- 

 odes call to one's mind old recollections of child- 

 ish doubt and wonder. Only the other day I look- 

 ed forward to this airy barrier as a definite point 

 in our voyage homeward ; but now I find that it 

 and all such resting-places for the imagination are 

 like shadows, which a man moving onward cannot 

 catch. A gale of wind, lasting for some days, has 

 lately given us full leisure to measure the future 

 stages in our long homeward voyage, and to wish 

 most earnestly for its termination. 



December 21st. — Early in the morning we en- 

 tered the Bay of Islands, and being becalmed for 

 some hours near the mouth, we did not reach the 



