THE VOYAGE HOME. 205 



On the 12th our cases one containing five pairs of 

 antlers and five headskins, directed to that master 

 of his profession, Mr. A. H. Wood, taxidermist, of 

 Painted Post, N. Y.; one to J. W. Davis, Burlington, 

 N. J., and the third to the writer at Lancaster, Pa., 

 were stowed away in the hold of the great steel 

 steamer, together with 3,000 tons of pyrites ore; the 

 hatches were clamped down, and on Tuesday morn- 

 ing, just as we were about to hoist anchor, the coast 

 steamer Virginia Lake hove in sight, bound for St. 

 John's. Things were beginning to be interesting. It 

 would require three days to load the Silvia (perhaps 

 four), and three days for the Virginia Lake to reach 

 St. John's. Mr. Kepler, always magnanimous, and 

 full of ways and means as Newfoundland is of 

 caribou, ptarmigan and codfish, said as he stood upon 

 the dock: "Well, boys, though we have made ar- 

 rangements for having our baggage forwarded to New 

 York, your time at home is more valuable than mine ; 

 you have business to look after, I have none; I will 

 go on the Virginia Lake to St. John's, and be ready 

 for the Silvia when she comes, and we Avill be sure 

 nothing will happen to our baggage. I will not re- 

 port for duty on the Avalon, then I need not desert 

 at Boston." We exchanged bon-voyage, and both 

 ships sailed out of the harbor at the same time he 



