STATEN ISLAND OUR DESTINATION. 29 



remains of the original forests, forts on each side pro- 

 tecting the entrance, the bright blue heavens above, 

 and rustling waves beneath, melted my heart, and made 

 me long to be alone. I ran aloft, and looked with 

 enchanted, and, why should I deny it, with moistened 

 eyes, on the beautiful country which seemed openino* 

 her arms to receive us — and the question rose unavoid- 

 ably : " Why is not that my home, and why must I leave 

 all my heart holds dear to purchase such a sight ? " The 

 sailors, who came running up the rigging like cats, 

 disturbed my meditations. The anchor was dropped, 

 and the sails furled. A boat under a yellow flag came 

 off from Staten Island, to inquire after our healths. 

 Luckily all our sick had recovered, and all the party 

 looked in good condition ; so that the good doctor, in 

 spite of a pair of hexagonal spectacles, could not find a 

 trace of the late sickness, and left the ship with the 

 words "All's well." In the evening, H., the doctor, and 

 I plunged overboard to bathe. We were not allowed 

 to leave the ship till the morrow, when a schooner came 

 to take us all with bag and baggage to a large square 

 block house, about a hundred yards from the shore, to 

 undergo a short quarantine, and to show whether our 

 luggage contained any thing liable to duty, or requiring 

 washing. The customs' examination was not severe, 

 and nobody had to pay ; the dirty clothes were more 

 strictly examined, and large buckets were brought, that 

 those who had neglected to wash their clothes on the 

 passage might do so now. As we quitted the " Consti- 

 tution," where we had passed sixty-four days of mingled 

 joy and sorrow, taking leave of her crew was, to me at 

 least, like taking leave of old friends, and as the boat 

 3* 



