W. p. SNOW lOI 



Off Cape Horn ^c:^ -<cy <i> 



(From A Two Years^ Cruise off Ticrra del Fuego) 



p) Y this time it was blowing very hard, and the 

 huge seas, hke rolling Alps, with broad and 

 deep valleys of a quarter of a mile breadth be- 

 tween, came in an almost unbroken meridional 

 line towards us. I soon found that we could run 

 on no longer. In the hollow of the seas we were 

 almost becalmed, while on their summit the wind 

 caught us as though about to lift ship and men 

 into the air and send all to instant destruction. 

 The wild scud was flying fast ; the sea-birds swept 

 round and round us, each time narrowing their 

 circle, as these birds almost always do when a 

 severe gale is approaching. The high and rugged 

 land on our left was capped in clouds, and every- 

 thing had within the past hour assumed a threaten- 

 ing and gloomy look. 



On the particular night of which I am speaking 

 1 was fatigued, and sore, and cross, and despond- 

 ing. If I attempted to rouse myself and take a 

 few spasmodic steps along the deck, a sudden lift 

 of the sea would send me flying in a frantic 

 manner, and with bursting force, against some 

 fixture of the ship. If I held fast by the rigging 

 or the Ijulwark rail, and glanced upon that wild 



