29(J PKAIEIE AND FOREST. 



schooner was momentarily in peril. Next morning 

 dawned bleak and wild, the waves tumbled over one 

 another, the larger swallowing up the lesser for want 

 of something else to satisfy their devouring inclina- 

 'tion. This day and several others were only a repe- 

 tition of the first night; no reckoning could be ob- 

 tained ; still we stood upon our course. With half an 

 eye I could detect that our skipper was uneasy, and 

 anxious again for a glimpse of the old familiar sun. 



One of our sails had been blown to ribbons, and 

 our bowsprit became partially sprung, still as long as 

 we had plenty of sea-room all was comparatively 

 safe ; sailors' ingenuity had obviated temporality the 

 injury of the latter, and the sail-room had supplied 

 fresh canvas. The fourth evening the gale exhausted 

 itself about midnight, and I, who had not closed an 

 eye during these days, experienced a few hours of the 

 balmiest sleep that ever fell to the lot of storm-tossed 

 mariner, notwithstanding that there was not a dry 

 stitch, even among the bedding, on board the Alert. 

 How often do I think of the affectionate kind mother 

 of my childhood, and her anxiety that her boy should 

 not sleep in damp sheets ! Could she see or know 

 the trials and hardships which he, with others, have 

 encountered in his journey through life, her maternal 

 solicitude would receive a severe shock. Truly the 

 journey of life is a rough path, made up of storms and. 

 sunshine, wintry snows and tropical showers ; one 

 time ascending hills, the next descending; fortune 

 smiling to-day, frowning to-morrow ; ignorant of what 

 the future has in store for us ; but, doubtless, all is 

 for the best, and those troubles and temptations which 

 in our spleen we grumble at, are but intended to fit 



