THE NUMA/^ 



77 



and taciturn that he seldom opens his hps^ but 

 to place a pipe between them ; whilst our Irish 

 comrade is full of his native humour, and keeps 

 us all alive with singing the Groves of Blar- 

 ney/^ and The boys of Kilkenny are roving 

 young blades/^ This calm, notwithstanding 

 the music, is exceedingly tiresome. Once 

 within the trades, a passage to Lima in a fort- 

 night is almost certain ; but here we are rocking 

 and flapping our sails idly, in what sailors call 

 the doldrums, watching all day in vain for the 

 slightest ripple on the water, and wishing with 

 all our hearts for a gale of wind from the right 

 quarter. 



I amuse myself by firing at a mark, with a 

 rifle and pistol, I read Don Quixote in Spanish, 

 and count the hours between breakfast and din- 

 ner, and then between dinner and tea. Yesterday 

 a strange fish appeared astern, and a boat was 



