ized everywhere. On, on we drove into the dense
darkness, with extra lookouts stationed forward, although it was
impossible to see half a ship's length ahead. Timid passengers blanched
with fear, and most of those who had thus far escaped sea-sickness now
succumbed to that dismal disorder. "He that will learn to pray, let him
go to sea," says George Herbert. To undress before taking to one's berth
was quite impossible, since both hands were required to keep the body
from being thrown thither and hither like a ball; but once fairly in the
berth, the friendly brace of the lee-board and the firm gripe of the
metallic bars united, served to keep one in position. Sleep was out of
the question, and so one was forced to exercise as much patience and
philosophy as possible under the circumstances.

Sailing-vessels making this voyage, as we were told, carry casks of
cheap oil, which in some cases they use to still the boisterous sea
about them when "God maketh the deep to boil like a pot." Is it
generally known that our own Benjamin Franklin first suggested, about a
century ago, the carrying of oil to sea by vessels for this purpose? Our
shrewd American philosopher was also the first to propose, about the
same period, that ship-builders should construct the hulls of vessels in
water-tight compartments, thus affording them sufficient sustaining
power to float when by accident portions of the hull became leaky or
broken in. After the lapse of a century both precautions have been
generally adopted. If oil can be used to good effect anywhere upon
troubled waters, we should judge that it might be on the track of
vessels between Tasmania and South New Zealand.

The longest night must have an end. The half-hour strokes of the
sonorous ship's-bell rang upon the ear through the fierce howling of the
gale, until the morning light finally broke, which seemed to be a signal
for the abating of the storm, as by and by the sun rose bright and clear
from behind the yet mountainous waves. No observation had been obtained
on the previous day owing to the cloudy condition of the sky, so that it
was impossible exactly to define our position; but dead reckoning showed
we must be nearing the land, and as the sea began rapidly to subside, it
was evident that we were under the lee of the shore. As the day
advanced, the sun burned away the mist and revealed to us the mountains
of the southern coast of New Zealand, with their tops clad in virgin
white.