26 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
They finds themselves and never dies with pip or dys~ 
pepsy.” 
u Hout wi’ yer blaguard pratin’, ye black son of the 
De’il; and mind ye’s no burn the broo’ agen. Ye’re 
speerin’ at yer ugly nose, an’ ne’er ken the eend o’ ye 
whilk is upward. Ye sonsie villain; when I’se need o’ 
yer clatter I’se fetch ye wi’ a rope’s-end. And now gang 
in and see yer dinner is fit for Christian mooths.” 
This salutation from our Scotch mate, drove in the head 
of our poultry man, and we heard no more dissertations on 
sea-fowl during the voyage. At dinner the mate congratu¬ 
lated the company on the excellence of the pea-soup, re¬ 
marking that it “ smacked muir o’ the plaid than usual,” 
because he u had gi’en the cook a crack o’ the claymor on 
his bagpipe ; a keekin, as he war, at things wi’out when 
he should ha’ been o’ stirrinhis meal.” Trifling incidents 
like this occasionally broke the monotony of our weary life. 
Our latitude and longitude were taken daily at twelve M., 
and the report of these and the distance from the islands al¬ 
ways gave rise to some prophetic annnouncements of the 
day and hour when we should anchor in the dominions of 
Kamehameha. The evenings also furnished a few diversions 
and pleasant objects of contemplation. Bathing was one of 
the former. After the shadows of night had set in, we used 
to present ourselves at the mainstays, and receive as much 
of the Ocean as our love of the sublime by the gallon, or 
our notions of cleanliness demanded. And when the hoot¬ 
ing, leaping, and laughing of the ceremony were silenced, 
the cool comfort of the body left the mind in listless quiet¬ 
ude, or to its wanderings among the glories of a tropical sky. 
It was the 24th of December; the mid-winter hour. But 
the space over us was as mild and soft a blue as ever covered 
a September night in the States. The stars sent down a deli¬ 
cate sprinkling light on the waters. The air itself presented 
some peculiar aspects. It w T as more nearly transparent than 
any I had ever breathed ; and there seemed to be woven into 
