72 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. IV 



perhaps, those who were not fortunate enough to be 

 living hard and getting fatigued every day in the boats 

 were yawning away their existence in an atmosphere 

 only comparable to that of an orchid-house, a life in view 

 of which that of Mariana in the moated grange has its 

 attractions. 



For instance, consider this extract from the journal 

 of one of the officers, date August 1849 : 



"Rain! rain! encore et toujours I wonder if it is 

 possible for the mind of man to conceive anything more 

 degradingly offensive than the condition of us 150 men, 

 shut up in this wooden box, and being watered with hot 

 water, as we are now. It is no exaggeration to say hot, 

 for the temperature is that at which people at home 

 commonly take a hot bath. It rains so hard that we 

 have caught seven tons of water in one day, and it is 

 therefore impossible to go on deck, though, if one did, 

 one's condition would not be much improved. A hot 

 Scotch mist covers the sea and hides the land, so that no 

 surveying can be done ; moving about in the slightest 

 degree causes a flood of perspiration to pour out ; all 

 energy is completely gone, and if I could help it I would 

 not think even ; it's too hot. The rain awnings are 

 spread, and we can have no wind sails up ; if we 

 could, there is not a breath of wind to fill them ; and 

 consequently the lower and main decks are utterly 

 unventilated : a sort of solution of man in steam fills 

 them from end to end, and surrounds the lights with a 

 lurid halo. It's too hot to sleep, and my sole amusement 

 consists in watching the cockroaches, which are in a state 

 of intense excitement and happiness. They manifest 

 these feelings in a very remarkable manner a sudden 

 unanimous impulse seems to seize the obscene thousands 

 which usually lurk hidden in the corners of my cabin. 

 Out they rush, helter-skelter, and run over me, my table, 

 and my desk ; others, more vigorous, fly, quite regardless 

 of consequences, until they hit against something, upon 



