332 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[May, 
It was known that the deceased left a wife and several small 
children to mourn his loss, and that they were in a comparatively 
helpless condition. The commodore, who had long been ac- 
quainted with his late secretary, and holding him deservedly in high 
estimation, felt disposed, if possible, to do something on board for 
the rehef of the widow and orphans at home, who had suffered this 
recent and irreparable loss. The officers and crew being assem- 
bled on the quarterdeck, the commodore, whose feelings were 
full to overflowing, explained to them the condition of the family 
of the deceased, and that those who felt disposed might contribute 
something to be forwarded to them. Many tears were seen 
trickling down weather-worn cheeks ; and on a paper carried 
around among themselves, about two thousand dollars were sub- 
scribed for this purpose. 
On the same evening that Mr. Oliver breathed his last, in about 
an hour afterward, another of the crew was also relieved from his 
sufferings by death. But it would be an unpleasant task to follow 
the movements of the Potomac, or to record the bodily or mental 
sufferings of her inmates, in this part of her passage through the 
China Sea. Let it suffice that there still followed, in regular 
routine, the ever-tiring calm ; the light baffling wind ; the sudden, 
but momentary squall ; the hot scorching sun ; the clear and 
glassy sea, &c. ; for of such were the days composed in mi- 
varying succession. Perhaps, for a few moments, four or five 
knots were marked on the line. In the next, the frigate was 
lying motionless — her long and tapering spars reflected in beau- 
tiful outline on the mirror-like ocean — so still — so smooth — that 
she resembled some spectre hanging in the centre of an immense 
crystalline sphere ! 
On Saturday, the fifth of May, the Potomac was in latitude 7° 
42', longitude 105° 59'. The heat still continued intense ; and 
the thinnest clothes were worn, even on duty. The lightest curl 
upon the water was hailed as the harbinger of the coming breeze ; 
and when the lofty sails did fill, joy beamed from every counte- 
nance, animation in every eye, from the slight impulse of onward 
motion ! A few moments, and all was still again ; the sails, with 
scarce a tremour, hung flat against the masts. Then might be 
seen the officers and the men, lying listlessly here and there — 
sighing for the breeze that would not come. 
