CHAPTER III 



THE VOYAGE HOME 



Day-Dreams — The Shark and the Dolphin — Yarns — A Hard Hit — 

 The Armourei's Chest — Calcutta — The Marquis Wellesley — The 

 Eeturn — Madras — A Scene in the Water — Trincomalee and 

 Colombo — Bombay and Elephanta — The Straits of Sumatra, 

 and the Captain's Advice — China Seas — A Typhoon — Canton — 

 A Distinguished Naval Officer — Parting — x\n Historical Com- 

 parison — An Agreeable Shipmate — St. Helena — The Chops of 

 the Channel — The Pilot Boat — A Polite Bequest — The Landing 

 — Sentiment. 



During this long voyage, unequalled, perhaps, in its 

 duration since, my thoughts often reverted to my happy 

 schooldays ; and though with something of a latent, 

 lingering desire for their return, I cannot say the com- 

 l^arison was detrimental to the position I then occupied. 

 I had already imbibed a love for the profession, though 

 the little I had seen was of a very monotonous nature ; 

 but I felt pleased with the ^^I'ospect it held out of 

 acquiring knowledge, if not distinction. My young ideas 

 began to expand, and I contemplated the wonders of 

 creation in the vast extent of waters, and in the mag- 

 nificent brilliancy of the heavens, with an ardent 

 imagination. 



At one time I would lean over the tafFrail, and gaze on 

 the untiring, though almost imperceptible, motion of an 

 immense shark, who followed in the wake of our ship for 



