eamship Cienfuegos, the snow-mounds had all
been removed. The mail steamer sailed promptly at the hour assigned,
hauled out into the stream by a couple of noisy little tugs, with
two-inch hawsers made fast to stem and stern. Before sunset the pilot
left the ship, which was then headed due south for Nassau, N. P.,
escorted by large fields of floating ice, here and there decked with
lazy snow-white sea-gulls. The sharp northwest wind, though
blustering and aggressive, was in our favor, and the ship spread all
her artificial wings as auxiliary to her natural motor. We doubled
Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout well in towards the shore, sighting on
the afternoon of the fourth day the Island of Abaco, largest of the
Bahama Isles, with its famous "Hole in the Wall" and sponge-lined
shore. The woolen clothing worn when we came on board ship had already
become oppressive, the cabin thermometer indicating 72 deg. Fahrenheit.
With nothing to engage the eye save the blue sky and the bluer water,
the most is made of every circumstance at sea, and even trivial
occurrences become notable. The playful dolphins went through their
aquatic pantomime for our amusement. Half a dozen of them started off
just ahead of the cutwater, and raced the ship for two hours, keeping
exactly the same relative distance ahead without any apparent effort.
Scores of others leaped out of the water and plunged in again in
graceful curves, as though they enjoyed the sport. A tiny land bird
flew on board, and was chased all over the ship by one or two
juveniles until caught, panting and trembling with the unwonted
exertion. Presently it was given its liberty, partook freely of bread
crumbs and drank of fresh water, then assumed a perch aloft, where it
carefully dressed its feathers, and after thanking its entertainers
with a few cheerful notes it extended its wings and launched out into
space, no land being in sight. The broken mainmast of a ship,
floating, with considerable top hamper attached, was passed within a
cable's length, suggestive of a recent wreck, and inducing a thousand
dreary surmises. At first it was announced as the sea serpent, but its
true nature was soon obvious. At midnight, March 1st, Nassau light
hove in sight, dimmed by a thin, soft haze, which hung over the water,
and through which the light, by some law of refraction, seemed to be
coming out to meet the ship. Overhead all was bright,--almost dazzling
with unnumbered stars and familiar con