CHAPTER II 

 La Esperanza 



Monday, May nth. According to a very- 

 flowery Spanish writer, "the glorious star of day 

 arising from a couch of burnished cloud" re- 

 vealed to us a more hopeless confusion on board 

 than ever. The Gurnet dory lashed on deck, 

 looked as big as a Cunarder. The chaos above, 

 however, was nothing as compared with conditions 

 in the cabin below. 



Before anything else could be done, a second 



house cleaning was in order. The bunks on one side 



of the cabin were again cleared for the reception 



of our bottles and jars, boxes, electric lanterns, and 



collecting receptacles of all kinds — our naturalist's 



lazaretto ; the desk, set in the best position for light, 



was already overcrowded with reference books, 



papers, logs, writing utensils, instruments, and a 



multitude of small objects of doubtful use. Our 



trunks and bags were on end and upside down. 



To open any one of them necessitated doing 



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