yes and tell where the deepest water lay by the smell of the air and
the taste of his tobacco.

The passage across the Gulf of Bothnia was somewhat rough, and most of
the passengers were sea-sick, owing, no doubt, to the short chopping
motion which prevails on board of all kinds of sea-going vessels in
these inland seas. Having performed various voyages in various parts
of the world, I was, of course, exempt from this annoyance; but my
digestion had been impaired in Russia by the vast quantity of tea,
cucumbers, veal, cabbage-soup, and other horrible mixtures which I had
been forced to consume while there, and which now began to tell on my
constitution. Notwithstanding repeated doses of cognac, taken from
time to time as I walked the decks, the sea began to whirl all round,
the clouds overhead to swing about at random through the rigging, and
the odor of the machinery to produce the strongest and most
disagreeable sensations. I went below to see how things looked there;
but, finding the atmosphere dense and the prospect gloomy, returned in
great haste and looked over the bulwarks to see how fast we were going
through the water. While thus engaged, an amusing thought occurred to
me. Suppose the mermaids who lie down in the briny depths form their
ideas of the beauty of the human countenance from the casual glimpses
thus afforded of our features, would it be possible for the most
susceptible of them to fall in love with us? The idea was so droll
that I was almost convulsed with laughter; but, not wishing to attract
attention by laughing aloud at my own thoughts, I merely clung to the
bulwarks and doubled myself up, trying to avoid the appearance of
eccentricity. At or about the same moment, the old Finnish pilot, with
whom I had formed an acquaintance, came along, and said
good-naturedly, "Hello, sir! I dink you pe sea-sick." "Sea-sick?" said
I, a little nettled. "Oh no, Herr Pilot, I'm an old sailor, and never
get sea-sick." "Vel, I dought you was sick--you look bad, sir,"
answered the good old pilot; "de sea is very rough, sir." Here the
steamer took a notion to pitch down into the water and jump up again
suddenly, and then rolled on one side and then on the other, and at
the same time a number of the passengers began to make grotesque and
disagreeable noises, which amused me so much that I had to turn away
my face and look at the water again to avoid laughing. "Sir," said the
old pilot, who observed the contortions of