ck to bid good-by. Some cried, others laughed, and
many more _tried_ to laugh. Some that seemed to relish repetition, or were
carried away by enthusiasm and the excitement of the hour, shook hands
over, and over again with the same person. At 3:00 o'clock p.m., the
gangway was lowered and the cables were removed. A shock, a boom, and the
vessel swung away and glided into the river! The die was cast, and our
fate was sealed. Shouts and huzzas rent the air, as the steamer skimmed
proudly over the waves, while clouds of handkerchiefs, on deck and upon
the receding shore, waved in the air as long as we could see each other.
Down, down the river glided the steady "Manhattan," and our thoughts began
to run in new channels. "Good-by! dear, sweet America," thought we a
hundred times, while we watched the retreating shores; perhaps our
thoughts were whispers! Europe with its innumerable attractions, its Alps,
Appennines and Vesuvius, its castles, palaces, walled towns, fine cities,
great battle fields, ancient ruins and a thousand other milestones of
civilization, lay before us; but a wide Ocean, and all the dangers and
perils of a long sea voyage lay between us and that other--longed for
shore.

The question whether we would ever realize the pleasure of a visit to the
Old World, was now reduced to the alternatives of _success_, or _failure
by accident or disease_.

Sea-Sickness.

I had labored under the erroneous impression that sea-sickness was bred of
fear and terror, and would attack only women (of both sexes) and children
of tender minds and frail constitutions. But, when the waves commenced to
roll higher, and the ship began a ceaseless rocking, which was in direct
opposition to the wants and comfort of my system, as all manner of
swinging ever was, I began to have fears that it was not _fright_, but
_swinging_, that made people sick at sea. The inner man threatened to
rebel, and I made my calculations how much higher the billows might swell,
before stomachs would be apt to revolt. We sailed out of sight of the land
before dusk, by which time, however, numbers of ill-mannered stomachs had
given evidence of their bad humor. Though I nodded but once or twice to
old Neptune, during the entire voyage, still I suffered much during the
first five days, from the pressure of intense dizziness and headache,
occasioned by the incessant rocking of our vessel upon the restless
waves. We had a very fine passage, as the sailors