The "Grantully Castle." 



To return to our departure : the last good-byes 

 have been uttered, the doors of the carriages are 

 slammed, the whistle sounds, and off we go, soon 

 developing that alarming broad-gauge rapidity 

 for which the Great "Western was remarkable, 

 dashing through Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Somer- 

 setshn-e with a haste, a hurry which seemed 

 quite unnecessary considering the immense distance 

 of travel which lay before us, and the considerable 

 period of time which Ave had to do it in. Dart- 

 mouth, so familiar to the }'achtsman, is reached all 

 too soon. There lies the Gninfulhj (JastJe, well 

 known to fame as the ship in which ]\Ir. Gladstone 

 sailed when he made his celebrated "perij)lus" 

 round Great Britain. A good-looking ship, sitting 

 gracefully on the Avater, Ijut small to my eye, 

 more accustomed to the giants of the P. and 0., of 

 the Cunard, and of the White Star Lines, in AA'hich, 

 Avhen I liaA'e on former occasions crossed the 

 ocean, it has l^een my fortune to travel. But the 

 Aveather appears to be set fair, the sun is bright 

 and Avarm, the sea smooth, and in tine Aveather 

 and calm AA^ater a little ship does as Avell as a big 

 one. Soon recede, from many a longing and 

 lingering eye on board, the beautiful harbour, 

 the green DcA-onshire cliffs, and a calm and 

 moonlit midnio-ht sees us well off Usliant. The 

 CrrcnttiiJly Castle found the Bay of Biscay in a 

 humour of comparative moderation ; not that 

 it was by any means amiable or attractive, on the 

 contrary, it quite sustained its morose and un- 

 genial character. The captain, indeed, expressed 

 the opinion that it Avas as smooth as a mill-pond, 



