o like the life, and generally arranged some way of spending each
day agreeably. We had a fair library, chess, backgammon, whist, etc.,
and when we got into the Tropics and had occasional calms, we went out
in the captain's gig; then further south we had shooting matches at Cape
pigeons and albatrosses, and in all our amusements the captain and
Lapworth took part.

There were not many incidents on the voyage worthy of note, but I will
mention the most interesting of them which I can recollect. The first
was when we encountered a white squall about a week out from England. It
was a lovely evening, a slight breeze sending us along some four knots
under full sail. We were lounging on deck watching the sunset, and
occupied with our thoughts, when suddenly there was a cry from the "look
out" in the main fore-top which created an instantaneous and marvellous
scene of activity on board. It was then that we witnessed the first
example of thorough seamanship and discipline; the shrill boatswain's
whistle, the captain shouting a few orders, passed on by the mates, a
crowd of sailors appearing like magic in the rigging, and in another
instant the ship riding under bare masts; a deathlike stillness for a
few seconds, and then a snow white wall of foam, stretching as far as
the eye could reach, came down upon us with a sweeping wind, striking
the ship broadsides, and over she went on her beam ends. Half a minute's
hesitation or bungling would in all probability have sent us over
altogether. There was a shout to us novices to look out--away went deck
chairs and tables. The Misses Hunt--poor old ladies--who had been
quietly knitting unconscious of any coming danger, were unceremoniously
precipitated into the lee scuppers. I seized the mizen-mast, while C----
falling foul of a roving hen-coop, grasped it in a loving embrace, and
accompanied it to some haven of safety, where he stretched himself upon
it until permitted to walk upright again. The officers and crew appeared
like so many cats in the facility with which they moved about; so much
so that deciding to have a try myself, I was instantly sent rolling over
to the two old ladies, creating a shout of laughter from all hands. The
squall lasted about half an hour, and was succeeded by a fine night and
a spanking breeze.

[Illustration: HARPOONING A SHARK.]

Another bit of excitement was the harpooning and capture of a shark
which had been following the ship for days. This is always