Experiences on the Voyage. 
11 
that I had so often spent in completely different surroundings, in quite 
another frame of mind. Ought I to regard this stormy anniversary an 
omen for my future? 
43. On the 3rd January the sky cleared and with it the .troubled faces 
of the passengers. We found ourselves in the latitude of Madeira. The 
thermometer already registered IG 3 R. in the shade. The stoves were 
banished from the cabins, and everybody was busy getting his summer 
clothing out of t lie boxes and trunks, while the sun, with all its warmth 
and animation, now beamed upon the passengers numbed with cold, care 
and anxiety. Our pale young lady with the limpid eyes, which the 
awful days had almost dulled, again took her place with us. Only poor 
Hancock still lay groaning in his berth : the storm had mercilessly missed 
him alone whereas in the case of us others it had driven away the last 
vestiges of sea-sickness. 
44. If Mrs. Roth well had hitherto regarded the disinclination for 
food on the part of her boarders with inward satisfaction, her face now 
took on an appearance quite opposite to that of the cheery skies, her 
former sunny aspect changing to one of heavy thunder clouds: for the 
cook could hardly meet the impetuous demands of the famished folk, and 
scarcely an evening passed but an echo of the recent storm sounded over 
to us from the Captain’s cabin. 
45. The deck was henceforth my home which I could only be induced 
to leave by the bell for table, and the craving for a rest. Now for the 
first time I learnt what real life and activity on board a ship meant, and 
watched with delight the discipline and order that, through the forceful 
command of the Captain, reigned over everything- Almost every day 
the deck was scoured, every morning before daybreak it was swilled. 
In storm or calm, by day or night, a single word drove the sailors as 
quick as thought to the extreme end of the rigging, and the hardly ten-to- 
twelve year old apprentices, up the very tops of the masts. 
4G. The long drawn-out though recently freed waves towered 
majestically aloft, and seemed desirous of swallowing the vessel gliding 
down into their deep furrows. The water had already assumed its 
beautiful indigo colour, and whole herds of sporting Dolphins or Sea-hogs 
( Delphinus Delphis) suddenly emerged above the surface, and then as 
quickly dived into the unfathomable depth, until a number of the festive 
party would be hit by our weapons, when together with the whole 
school, it would clear away for good. We were still accompanied even 
by some sea swallows which now and again when tired would settle on 
the sails for rest. Woe to the daring individual who might venture to 
kill one of these birds: the anger of the entire crew would embitter his 
every moment of the voyage, for sailors recognise in them the ghosts 
of their deceased mates who always accompany their former ship. They 
are a peculiar people, these sailors: in their conceits and dispositions 
quite a true image, but mostly a reversed one, of the prevailing weather. 
The Storm is their real element, the inert Calm their time for growling 
and for indolence, until, on the sound of the cease-work bell of an 
evening, they collect on deck and try to while away the hours and 
discontent in winding off their yarns. At such times, often as an 
attentive but unobserved listener, T enjoyed their powerful descriptions 
of adventures experienced and storms successfully encountered, or else 
amused myself with their still more vivid chanties. On week-days one 
