146 THE CALL OF THE SEA 



sails ; round went the white basins, and the 

 steward with the mop ; and few passengers would 

 have cared to have gone overboard, when at the 

 end of three hours' misery, the captain proclaimed 

 that they were running into still water off Bou- 

 logne. 



Robert Smith Surtees. 



The Atlantic Passage <:::>• •«;:y 



(From Americatt Notes) 



A HEAD-WIND ! Imagine a human face upon 

 the vessel's prow, with fifteen thousand Sam- 

 sons in one bent upon driving her back, and hitting 

 her exactly between the eyes whenever she attempts 

 to advance an inch. Imagine the ship herself, with 

 every pulse and artery of her huge body swollen 

 and bursting under this maltreatment, sworn to go 

 on or die. Imagine the wind howling, the sea 

 roaring, the rain beating : all in furious array 

 against her. Picture the sky both dark and wild, 

 and the clouds in fearful sympathy with the waves, 

 making another ocean in the air. Add to all this, 

 the clattering on deck and down below ; the tread 

 of hurried feet ; the loud hoarse shouts of seamen ; 

 the gurgling in and out of water through the scup- 

 pers ; with, every now and then, the striking of a 

 heavy sea upon the planks above, and the deep? 

 dead, heavy sound of thunder heard within a 



