THE VOYAGE. 



3 



She was brig-rigged forward, and schooner- 

 rigged aft, and running free, was the fastest 

 vessel I ever saw ; and although when on a 

 wind she was obliged to be kept a very clean 

 full, on account of her small hold on the 

 water, yet, by her superior fore-reaching, she 

 more than counterbalanced not laying very 

 close to the wind. Half yacht and half 

 bearer of the owner's estate's produce, she was 

 in no hurry to leave any port that might 

 prove agreeable ; and as she was to touch at 

 almost every principal town on the coast from 

 Valparaiso to Realejo, a distance of forty- 

 five degrees of latitude, I certainly antici- 

 pated a pleasant voyage ; and what com- 

 bination of sea chances could have formed a 

 more favourable anticipation 2 



The almost certainty of a smooth sea 

 (which I only cared about at meal times), 

 the same assurance of a fair wind the whole 

 voyage, a perfect gentleman for host, a most 

 amusing companion for captain, a first-rate 

 cook, an abundant and well-selected larder of 

 preserved good things of every sort ; plenty 

 of live stock, a choice cellar, a good collec- 

 tion of books ; for those who liked them, some 

 of the finest cigars, and a crew of steady, 

 obliging petty officers and able seamen. 



