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114 STBAY LETTERS ON EMIGRATION.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
_ It Is Now Four Months Since We Publish...
' The pleasant things will conie afterwards . The low company , and difficulty was of keep an ing old clean oneand , are leaked the most very uncomfortable much . During things the roug on a h weather voyage . our Our berths ship
, were wet , —blanket , mattress , and all soaked through ; but the salt water does to not _j ) g ut ive on cold anything as fresh very would good . , as The all decks you wear are generall is spoiled y . wet With , and much it is no perse use
verance a little washing can be done , but it depends on the weather , and is uncertain . After leaving the Channel we had beautiful weather till we crossed the Linewhen _* we were becalmed for six days ; the water was as
smooth as a mirror , , and not a breath stirring . The very hot weather did not last long ; for a few days we were in a constant stream of perspiration , and had to clothe ourselves as lightly as propriety would allow . On the _hottest
day it happened to be my turn to clean , and I scrubbed a very dirty portion of the lower deck without feeling any the worse for it . I believe exercise in the hot weather is beneficial . Several children died during this part of tlie
voyage . The confined space In which the married people were packed _, rendered the air so unwholesome , that it is not surprising that the people sickened in hot weatherand the poor little ones could not withstand that in
addition to the want of , proper food . We were fortunate in not losing any grown-up people . Near the Line we saw a great many flying fish . They arefrom eight to twelve inches long , white and shining-, and they flew along by
hundreds on the surface of the water , sometimes rising a good way above it . The tropical sunsets were magnificent ; I cannot describe the variety and . beauty of the tints—nothing like it is ever seen in England . The cold
weather came on rap , idly after the hot , and lasted till within a short distance of Queensland . The night on which we rounded the Cape , the most dan . _^ of the the down and told that must
gerous part voyage , captain came us we all remember that we might be in eternity in a short time . He found most of the irlswho are a crazy-headed setracketing about and making a great
noise . g The , way he spoke frightened them , , and some of them began to cry , and did not dare to go to sleep . I slept soundly all night , and found the crisis past and all right in the morning . I had the pleasure of witnessing a little
storm while in the Channel . I believe it carried away a portion of the rigging , but did not do much mischiefj and was not too terrible to admire . I have never seen anything in poetry or prose which adequateldescribes the
beauty of the sea . I have not space to expatiate on it as much as y I should like , but I can say that it is worth all the dangers and disagreeables of a long voyage to see it . During the rough -weather , it literally gathered up into mountains
by the side of the vessel . Sometimes the slanting rays of the sun shining waves throug . h In the fair lig weather ht spray I caused have spent beautiful hours rainbows almost dail to dance in looking along at between it ; when the it :
was too rough to stand , or sit , I tied myself by a strong y rope , of which there are plenty about , and enjoyed it heartily . I have often been the only person on deck except the sailors , and have caught several waves as they dashed over .
I could not stay down stairs . I enjoyed the voyage exceedingly . What we most felt the want of was a matron . A company of young women ought never to he allowed to out without one . The captain tried to supply the
place of one as well as he go could , but he had plenty to do besides minding the girls , and a man cannot do all _tlie little things which a woman can attend to . He called us up in the morning , made us go to bed in good time at niglit ,.
far listened from to wh our at oug comp ht lai to nts have and been tried done to redress among them such ; but a , thoug all he htless could , childish do was : ¦ . sheer set as laziness the Wansfell never g thinking irls . Som how e of necessary them would it was lie to in air bed the all cabins day as throug much h-
as possible . , We suffered no annoyance from the sailors ; they were very _, one quiet , in and a kind stead and y , and unobtru alway siv s e read way y . to Our lend company a hand if had they the saw name you of wanted being '
receive the least d trouble more civil in i the ty than ship , some and it o f the an others advantage , and to were us in favored many ways in many ; we
114 Stbay Letters On Emigration.
114 STBAY _LETTERS ON _EMIGRATION .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1862, page 114, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041862/page/42/
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