164 
GALE. 
Chap. X. 
attendant, walked np to the head of the table as 
the others had done. The ceremony of questioning, 
drinking, eating, and pocketing was gone through 
a second time, and then, with many low bows and 
expressions of thanks, the great man and his at- 
tendants took their departure for the shore. 
Dec. 21 st . — We weighed anchor this morning as 
usual at daylight. We were now in what is called 
the Suwo-nada Sea. It is wide, has few islands, 
and is connected with the Pacific Ocean by a wide 
passage known as the Bun-go Channel. We were 
too far from the land to note anything worthy of 
interest on its shores. This sea is chiefly remark- 
able for gales of wind of great violence, owing, 
probably, to the Bun-go Channel forming a sort of 
funnel between this Inland Sea and the Pacific 
Ocean. We were destined to experience one of 
these gales on the present occasion. It com- 
menced in the morning, and by the afternoon had 
increased to a hurricane. The wind was not 
steady, but came down in fearful gusts, strong 
enough, almost, to blow any one overboard who 
ventured on the poop of the vessel. A trysail, 
which had been set, was riven from the sheets, and 
its block shaken with fearful violence and thrown 
into the sea. The scene reminded me of a power- 
ful bulldog tearing and shaking a cat, and then 
casting it away in anger when he had deprived it 
of life. In this state of things the ‘England’ 
made but little headway, and it was determined 
that we should look out for a safe anchorage for 
