40 



NARRATIVE OP A 



companied by rain and occasional flashes of lightning. 

 In a short time we were visited by one of those tremen- 

 dous thunder-storms which are prevalent in the Tropics- 

 The thunder, at first only heard faintly and at a distance, 

 now rolled in awful peals over our heads ; the rain fell 

 like a cataract, and the glare of the lightning-flash was 

 dazzling and incessant. 1 heartily wished myself on 

 shore, and thought of Don Francisco. The small and 

 rather crowded cabin was intolerable from the heat and 

 smell of bilge-Water, while the state of the weather ren- 

 dered it impossible to remain on deck. About day-break, 

 the storm had entirely ceased ; the sky cleared away, and 

 the sun shone out in all his brightness. The steam was 

 then put on ? and the vessel started. It appeared that our 

 detention was a fortunate circumstance, for had the storm 

 overtaken us at sea } the consequences might have been 

 fatal. 



We proceeded on our voyage without the occurrence 

 of any incident worth noticing, except an occasional 

 squabble between the captain and the men. It was evi- 

 dent that the former was very deficient in the knowledge 

 of his profession, and still more so in energy aud firm- 

 ness of character. The sailors were not slow to discover 

 this, and, in consequence, paid no deference to his au- 

 thority. They used to say that they had three captains 

 on board : the captain proper, the pilot, and the agent of 

 the company, who had come with us. These three as- 

 sumed the command occasionally; thus affording the 

 men a pretext for not attending to the orders of either. 

 We also had on board one of those troublesome subjects 

 to be found in the crew of every vessel, a shrewd dispu- 

 tatious fellow, whom we used to call the lawyer sailor. 

 This man used to set the others on, while, for his own 

 partj he always kept on the right side of the law, and out 

 of the reach of punishment. 



The next morning early I was agreeably surprised by 

 hearing the chirping of birds } and, looking out of the 



