VOYAGE TO ALGERIA. m 



All through Saturday the wind, though somewhat sobered, 

 blew dead against us. The atmospheric effects were ex- 

 ceedingly fine. The cumuli resembled mountains in shape, 

 and their peaked summits shone as white as Alpine snows. 

 At one place this resemblance was greatly strengthened by 

 a vast area of cloud, uniformly illuminated, and lying like 

 a neve below the peaks. From it fell a kind of cloud-river 

 strikingly like a glacier. The horizon at sunset was 

 remarkable spaces of brilliant green between clouds of 

 fiery red. Rainbows had been frequent throughout the 

 day, and at night a perfectly continuous lunar bow spanned 

 the heavens from side to side. Its colors were feeble; but, 

 contrasted with the black ground against which it rested, 

 its luminousness was extraordinary. 



Sunday morning found us opposite to Lisbon, and at 

 midnight we rounded Cape St. Vincent, where the lurching 

 seemed disposed to recommence. Through the kindness 

 of Lieutenant Walton, a cot had been slung for me. It 

 hung between a tiller-wheel and a flue, and at one A.M. I 

 was roused by the banging of the cot against its boundaries. 

 But the wind was now behind us, and we went along at a 

 speed of eleven knots. We felt certain of reaching Cadiz 

 by three. But a new lighthouse came in sight, which some 

 affirmed to be Cadiz Lighthouse, while the surrounding 

 houses were declared to be those of Cadiz itself. Out of 

 deference to these statements, the navigating lieutenant 

 changed his course, and steered for the place. A pilot 

 came on board, and he informed us that we were before 

 the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and that the lighthouse 

 was that of Cipiona. Cadiz was still some eighteen miles 

 distant. 



We steered toward the city, hoping to get into the 

 harbor before dark. But the pilot who would have guided 

 us had been snapped up by another vessel, and we did not 

 get in. We beat about during the night, and in the morn- 

 ing found ourselves about fifteen miles from Cadiz. The 

 sun rose behind the city, and we steered straight into the 

 light. The three-towered cathedral stood in the midst, 

 round which swarmed apparently a multitude of chimney- 

 stacks. A nearer approach showed the chimneys to be 

 small turrets. A pilot was taken on board; for there is a 

 dangerous shoal in the harbor. The appearance of the 

 town as the sun shone upon its white and lofty walls was 



