THE GULF. 



13 



while our vessel had full ten feet draught, she must con- 

 sequently be unloaded before she could enter the river. 

 Further, that where we lay, as well as on the whole 

 shelterless and iron-bound coast to the north and south, 

 no vessel could maintain its ground, should any of the 

 prevailing winds arise. In addition, it was whispered 

 about the vessel, that no inconsiderable quantity of con- 

 traband goods were concealed on board, and that a 

 recent change in the custom house of Tampico, com- 

 bined with the bad name which the Halcyon had already 

 acquired, would probably bring the vessel and all on board 

 into difficulty, in this semi-barbarous country, where law 

 was but imperfectly understood, and still more imper- 

 fectly administered. 



Moreover, the eyes and ears of some of us on board 

 were witnesses of much calculated to throw a yet darker 

 veil over the future. 



Lovely as the weather had been for some time, the 

 signs of a coming change had gradually thickened upon 

 us. The deep blue of the* southern sky had of late, oc- 

 casionally, towards evening, been flickered with one or 

 two light vapoury and feathery clouds, like the tail of a 

 wild horse, or of a comet, seemingly balanced over our 

 heads in the upper regions of the atmosphere. The ces- 

 sation of the steady breeze, the fluctuating calm of the 

 preceding day, the superabundant dews, and more than 

 all, the restless swell now heaving upon the shore from 

 the depths of the gulf, had all betokened to the practised 

 eye and long experience of De Vignes, the near approach 

 of a norte, one of the most dreaded of those violent 

 winds which agitate this land-locked and deceitful sea ; 

 and while others were dreaming of land, he was evi- 

 dently thinking of storm and tempest, and was preparing 

 for it accordingly. Our chain cable was fitted with a buoy, 

 and arrangements made to slip it at a moment's warning. 

 Before he went to his repose, the topmasts and yards 

 were lowered, every sail on board double reefed, and the 

 decks cleared as far as it was possible to clear them. 



With the approach of morning, driving bodies of cold 



B 



