8 



THE GULF. 



feelings, and of our anticipations at this juncture, I offer 

 you the following description of our position. 



The Halcyon was a small, two -masted vessel, of but 

 trifling burden, though, in fact, of far too great a draught 

 for the trade in which it was engaged, as will be seen 

 hereafter. The peculiar details of the rig I spare you ; 

 first, because you would hardly be the wiser for them, 

 and secondly, because I have forgotten them. Our 

 freight below deck consisted of notions, or a mixed cargo 

 of European and American manufacture, suited to the 

 Mexican market. The hold was gorged to the hatches ; 

 the forward deck encumbered with two lage piles of 

 merchandise and lumber, and the cabins, fore and aft, 

 were all filled to a certain extent, much to the discomfort 

 of the live stock on board, under which head our trio, 

 and about forty passengers — inclusive of a woman and 

 child, and exclusive of half a dozen hands attached to the 

 vessel — must be comprised. 



The low aftercabin measured about twelve feet 

 by eight. It was furnished with four confined double 

 berths, each containing a dirty mattress, a blanket, and, 

 on an average, five hundred cockroaches and other 

 creepers. Half a dozen passengers might have been ac- 

 commodated with some decency in this den ; neverthe- 

 less, as it was, it was devoted to the free use of five-and- 

 twenty. In brief, the manner in which the vessel was 

 crammed to repletion with live and dead stock, to the 

 exclusion of any chance of ease, was discreditable to the 

 owners and officers of the ship. But what could we ex- 

 pect from beings such as we now had to deal w 7 ith ! 



The day spent at anchor, within the bar of the Mis- 

 sissippi, had given us some foretaste of our position, and 

 of the character of those among whom we were thrown ; 

 and during the succeeding days, we had ample time for 

 closer observation. 



As to nations and pursuits, there was distinction 

 enough among the forty souls on board : as to character, 

 one term would suffice ; they were rogues all — ourselves 

 excluded. De Vignes, the captain, was a Provencal, 



DSJ 



