LIFE ON BOARD THE CHANNEL. 13 



I may as well take this opportunity to say some- 

 thing about the cooking and manner of living. The 

 kitchen is a small Avooden house, well secured by clamps 

 to the deck, as a safeguard against the force of the seas 

 that break over the ship. It was divided into two 

 parts ; one for the cabin passengers, the other for the 

 steerage passengers and crew. The provisions were 

 good and plentiful. Coffee was served out every morn- 

 ing, though, to be sure, one had to drink a great deal 

 of water to get at the coffee ; but I had always been 

 used to strong coffee, and future experience in the back 

 woods taught me that, when drunk scalding hot, it 

 requires a good palate to distinguish between strong 

 and weak coffee. 



It was evening when we approached the French coast, 

 which first appeared as a bluish line, that grew larger 

 and larger : before dark, we came near enough to Calais 

 to distinguish the steeple and houses. Looking over 

 towards England, we could see nothing beyond the two 

 lights near Dover. On the following morning, we 

 were nearer to the coast of England, whose majestic 

 chalky cliffs were tinged rose-color by the morning 

 sun. In the evening we passed the Isle of Wight, and 

 the Avind changing, we did not clear the Channel till 

 the 27th May. 



We were now on the broad ocean; a number of 

 fishing-boats enlivened the prospect with their many- 

 colored sails, sometimes white, sometimes yellow, red, 

 and even black. The sea was green, and the color 

 especially beautiful under the bows and stern ; the 

 picture was further animated by a number of porpoises 

 and albicores leaping from wave to wave. I saw 

 2 



