HOMEWARD BOUND — SOUTHWARD. 289 



in rows along swinging tables, drank our coffee whose main 

 strength lay in the water, and ate our salt junk whose main 

 strength lay in its smell, and between the two worried down 

 some hard tack. The sad ceremony over, we lounged away the 

 time until noon, killing it in ways as various as our natures. 

 Some read, some told yarns, some continually got themselves 

 in places where the}^ were sworn out by the mate on duty, 

 many smoked, and several " fought the tiger " in the hopeless 

 task of winning at " monteJ' At last the dinner hour would 

 come. Then more onslaught — feeble on my part — on the 

 saline hash and " hard tack," while the vessel lurched and 

 the passengers — some of them — swore as they fell against the 

 bunks, or spilt their victuals over themselves or neighbors, 

 while the tables swung like pendulums. This perfunctory 

 meal over, we hied to the deck above to get the fresh air 

 denied us below. More killing of him who cuts down all 

 both great and small, and the time for another meal came, 

 and another return to the comparative pleasure of the deck. 

 The air, which had been sultry and oppressive during the 

 day, would now be stirred by gentle breezes, and, on feeling 

 these to fan their fevered cheeks, the spirits of the travelers 

 would revive from the dreamy listlessness which had per- 

 vaded them during the sun-lit hours. In star-gazing, sing- 

 ing, story -telling, and in another occupation sometimes termed 

 '' tripping the light fantastic toe," the evening wore away, 

 and midnight often found the more obstreperous part of our 

 crowd engaged in their revels, much to the annoyance of the 

 early retirers, who could but illy sleep while such a racket was 

 going on overhead. 



Thus we spent our days on the ocean, twenty-two in all, and 

 wearisome days they were. The same sea-sights, the same 

 people to look at and talk to, the same recurrence of meals 

 composed of a similarity of unpalatable materials, the same 

 diurnal discomforts from the tropic heat. 



