332 MY LIFE 



a strong wind, and there was a very choppy sea on, as there 

 often is at Spithead. When the captain's gig came alongside 

 it was difficult to keep it clear of the ship, it was so tossed 

 about in sudden and unexpected ways ; and when the captain 

 had got in, there was a difficulty in getting away, and for a 

 few moments the boat seemed quite out of command and in 

 danger of upsetting. The officers were all looking on with 

 anxiety, and as soon as the boat had got clear away, it was 

 the doctor that spoke, and declared that he never saw such 

 bad seamanship. They were very near losing the captain ! 

 They were a set of lubbers ! etc., etc. 



Finding that I was a bad sailor, I was assured that before 

 we got to Singapore I should be thoroughly seasoned, for the 

 brig was what they called a Simonite, a class of ships named 

 after the designer, which, though stable, were very uncom- 

 fortable in bad weather, having a quick jumping motion, which 

 often made old sailors seasick. I hoped this was exaggerated, 

 but looked forward to the ordeal with some dread. But one 

 day the captain informed me that he had received fresh 

 orders to carry stores to the Crimea, where the great war with 

 Russia was about to commence. He said that he regretted 

 the change, because he much preferred the voyage to Singa- 

 pore and China, and that he also regretted the loss of my 

 company; but as it was, I had better leave the next morning, 

 and that no doubt the Government would provide me a pas- 

 sage in some other vessel. So I bade farewell to him and his 

 officers, none of whom I ever met again. 



On returning to London I at once called on Sir Roderick 

 Murchison, and through his representations I received in a 

 few days a first-class ticket overland to Singapore by the 

 next Peninsular and Oriental steamer, which sailed in about 

 a week, so that I did not lose much time. The voyage was 

 a very interesting one, stopping a few hours at Gibraltar, 

 passing within sight of the grand Sierra Nevada of Spain, 

 staying a day at Malta, where the town and the tombs of the 

 knights were inspected, and then on to Alexandria. But hav- 

 ing by me a long letter I wrote to my schoolfellow, Mr. 

 George Silk, I will here quote from it a few of the impressions 



