2 



HOW TO AVOID SEA-SICKNESS. 



deck of the steamer without an overcoat of any kind, and 

 was warm and comfortable, as if it were an evening in 

 June instead of January. In two days more linen cloth- 

 ing was gladly substituted by the less prudent of our com- 

 pany, including myself, for flannels, and the pitch trickled 

 from the seams of the ship, and from her rigging, under 

 the unrelenting heat of a tropical sun. But the air was 

 always pure, soft and exhilirating, the heat not in the least 

 enervating, and the effect of the gradual transition was not 

 unlike the delightful sensations of a warm bath, protracted 

 through a series of days instead of minutes. No stimu- 

 lants afford such delightful sensations. I had srnall occa- 

 sion for sleep, to which I did not devote on an average 

 more than three hours out of every twenty-four, nor did I 

 suffer any inconvenience from the want of it. I always 

 awoke refreshed and hungry. 



Neither was I sea-sick. I discovered soon after our de- 

 parture the propriety of adopting the following precautions, 

 to which I presume I owe my exemption from this com- 

 mon terror of inexperienced sea voyagers. In the first 

 place, I was careful never while sitting in the cabin, to rest 

 my feet upon the floor, but always to stretch them upon 

 the sofa or a chair ; in the next place, I always seated 

 myself so that the roll of the ship should pitch me from 

 side to side, and not forward and backward. In the third 

 place, whenever I felt in the least unsettled, I was careful 



