A MID-WINTER OCEAN VOYAGE. 1% 
lowed their good example. We were steaming away from Hat- 
teras, when the demon of the stormy cape sent some of his 
specimen blasts after us. Our captain deemed it best to “lie 
to” awhile until that ‘little spell of weather” was over, 
During the night nearly all the passengers were more or less 
sick, and the cold was sufficient to freeze water on the deck of the 
steamer from stem to stern. The next day the weather was all 
that could be desired; the atmosphere calm, agreeably cool and 
bracing, while the sea was as smooth, quict and peaceful, as if it 
had not yet been awakened from a night of profound repose and 
quiet sleep. 
The ‘‘ City of Savannah ” is one of a line of steamers built and 
owned by the Georgia Central Railroad Company, for the trans- 
portation of passengers and freight between Savannah and New 
York. At an expense of one million of dollars—being one-fifth 
of its capital—it secured the building at Chester, Penn., of four 
steamers, named respectively, the “‘City of Macon,” the “ City 
of Columbus,” the ‘‘ Gate City,” and the * City of Savannah.” 
They are all substantially alike, and the last was placed upon the 
line in the summer or fall of 1878, and the first about a year 
previous. ; 
Our steamer was almost a novice upon the ocean, A few months 
before in the State of Pennsylvania, and from the west bank of 
the river Delaware, it first took to the water. Yet how grandly, 
with an air of conscious power, it made its way over the path- 
less, fathomless and boundless sea! When no land-marks are 
seen upon the horizon’s verge, and no guiding stars in the sky, 
it still speeds confidently and unerringly on its way over the 
trackless wilderness of water. ; 
Born to an inheritance of labor, the author experienced a new 
‘sensation—he had nothing to do. He determined therefore to 
‘make the acquaintance of the ship, and thus utilize some of his 
