VOYAGE TO ALGERIA 157 



place. Our speed had fallen from eleven knots to two. 

 I went again to bed. After a space of calm, wlien we 

 seemed crossing the vortex of a storm, heavy tossing re- 

 commenced. I was afraid to allow myself to fall asleep, 

 as my berth was high, and to be pitched out of it might 

 be attended with bruises, if not with fractures. From Fri- 

 day at noon to Saturday at noon we accomplished sixty- 

 six miles, or an average of less than three miles an hour. 

 I overheard the sailors talking about this storm. The 

 "Urgent," according to those that knew her, had never 

 previously experienced anything like it.* 



All through Saturday the wind, though somewhat so- 

 bered, blew dead against us. The atmospheric efl'ects 

 were exceedingly fine. The cumuli resembled mountains 

 in shape, and their peaked summits shone as white as 

 Alpine snows. At one place this resemblance was greatly 

 strengthened by a vast area of cloud, uniformly illumi- 

 nated, and lying like a neve below the peaks. From it 

 fell a kind of cloud- river strikingly like a glacier. The 

 horizon at sunset was remarkable — spaces of brilliant green 

 between clouds of fiery red. Eainbows had been frequent 

 throughout the day, and at night a perfectly continuous 

 lunar bow spanned the heavens from side to side. Its 

 colors were feeble; but, contrasted with the black ground 

 against which it rested, its luminousness was extraor- 

 dinary. 



Sunday morning found us opposite to Lisbon, and at 

 midnight we rounded Cape St. Vincent, where the lurch- 

 ing seemed disposed to recommence. Through the kind- 



^ There is, it will be seen, a fair agreement between these impressions and 

 those so vigorously described by a scientific correspondent of the "Times." 



