THE 'JOHN WESLEY. O 



become rancid, the stench was quite overpowering. 

 It requires a peculiar constitution not to become sea- 

 sick on board, and this is perhaps the most serious in- 

 convenience that the missionaries and their families 

 suffer when going backwards and forwards in her to the 

 Colonies, or from island to island. When we left Syd- 

 ney Harbour, I observed several of our men in unfurl- 

 ing sails, sea-sick, a sight I never before beheld ; and 

 Mr. and Mrs. Harrison were ill during nearly the whole 

 passage. Nor is she, with all these drawbacks, a fast or 

 a good sailer. We w r ere twenty-three days from Sydney 

 to Fiji, a distance of 1,735 miles, and I believe that may 

 be considered a fair average passage. The crew was an 

 extremely mongrel set. There were men of all colours, 

 countries, and religions : black Africans, copper-coloured 

 Chilians, and white Englishmen; Heathens, Mahome- 

 tans, Eoman Catholics, and Protestants. I expressed 

 my surprise that in a vessel belonging to a religious 

 society there should be so mixed a ship's company ; but 

 the Captain thought it rather an advantage than other- 

 wise, offering, as it did, a field for missionary labours 

 during the voyage. Indeed, when not suffering from 

 sea-sickness, Mr. Harrison made some attempts in that 

 direction. 



We endeavoured to make Norfolk Island, but could 

 not fetch it within about one hundred miles. I should 

 have liked to look at that charming spot, which, no 

 longer a convict station, as in days of yore, has lately 

 been given by the Government to the Pitcairners, those 

 much-petted descendants of ' Bounty' mutineers and Ta- 

 hitian women, because their own little island began 



