OUR FIRST CALLINO-PLACE. 87 



fifty, pounding and bruising the ill-used sea in her 

 path, and spreading before her broad bows a far-reaching 

 area of snowy foam, while her wake was as wide as any 

 two ordinary ships ought to make. Five or six times a 

 day the flying East India or colonial-bound English ships, 

 under every stitch of square sail, would appear as tiny 

 specks on the horizon astern, come up with us, pass like 

 a flash, and fade away ahead, going at least two knots 

 to our one. I could not help feeling a bit home-sick 

 and tired of my present surroundings, in spite of their 

 interest, when I saw those beautiful ocean-flyers devour- 

 ing the distance which lay before them, and reflected 

 that in little more than one month most of them would 

 be discharging in Melbourne, Sydney, Calcutta, or some 

 other equally distant port, while we should probably 

 be dodging about in our present latitude a little farther 

 east. 



After a few days of our present furious rate of speed, 

 I came on deck one morning, and instantly recognized 

 an old acquaintance. Eight ahead, looking nearer than 

 I had ever seen it before, rose the towering mass of 

 Tristan d'Acunha, while farther away, but still visible, 

 lay Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands. Their aspect 

 was familiar, for I had sighted them on nearly every 

 voyage I had made round the Cape, but I had never 

 seen them so near as this. There was a good deal of 

 excitement among us, and no wonder. Such a break in 

 the monotony of our lives as we were about to have was 

 enough to turn our heads. Afterwards, we learned to 

 view these matters in a more philosophic light ; but now, 

 being new and galled by the yoke, it was a different thing. 

 Near as the island seemed, it was six hours before we 

 got near enough to distinguish objects on shore. I have 



