WHALING VOYAGE. 
893 
we most loved ? We therefore passed homeward with 
faltering steps, uncertain as to what fate had befallen 
those we thought most of, feeling with the poet that— 
s Tis sweet to hear the honest watch-dog’s bark 
Bay deep-mouth’d welcome as you draw near home ; 
’Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark 
Your coming, and shine brighter when you come. 
And we could scarcely sustain ourselves when we 
thought of returning to a desolate home. When I 
approached the old house which I had left, and saw it 
possessing the same precise appearance as it had done 
on my departure, I felt my nerves strengthened— I 
approached the door, but not without misgivings— I 
knocked, it was immediately opened,— the smiling face 
and beaming eye, which I had often seen in my dreams, 
stood in firm health before me— I embraced, I quickly 
inquired if all was well. With the affirmative, I sunk 
on the old sofa, and with heartfelt gratitude humbly 
thanked Him who had preserved me through the various 
strange vicissitudes of a South- Sea Voyage. 
LONDON: 
PRINTED BY MANNING AND MASON, 
IVY-LANE, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
