ge taken aboard. The next morning, we took the first train
to Dona Cecilia, and were on board the boat at nine o'clock. We had been
told that the sailing would take place at ten, but, on arrival, found
that they were waiting for cattle which were being brought across
country. One hundred and twenty head were to make our chief cargo, and
they were expected at six a.m. Nothing, however, was to be seen of them
in any direction. We had taken breakfast, and it was almost twelve
o'clock before the first signs of the animals were to be seen. Meantime,
at eleven, a norther appeared, and we were informed that it would be
impossible to leave short of twenty-four hours. Besides our company,
there were three first-class passengers--a sort of German-Austrian baron
and his lady, and a contractor, who was taking a force of hands to
Yucatan for farm labor. Eighty-three of these hands were our third-class
passengers; they had been picked up all along the line of the Tampico
Branch of the Central Railway, and few of them realized the hardships
and trials which lay before them. We were assured that more than half of
them would surely die before the end of their first year in Yucatan. As
we could not leave until the norther passed, it was decided not to take
the cattle on board until next day. Thus we spent a day as prisoners
on the boat, standing in the river. In the morning the water was still
rough and the wind heavy, but at 9:30 the loading of the animals began.
They were brought out on a barge, about one-half of the whole number to
a load; tackle was rigged and the creatures were lifted by ropes looped
around their horns. The first few were lifted singly, but after that,
two at once. While it sounds brutal, it is really a most convenient
method, and the animals, though startled, do not seem to be injured in
the least, nor indulge in much kicking. By 11:40 all were loaded and
we were ready for our start. We had to wait until the customs-house
inspector should come on board to discharge us, and this was not done
until half-past one. We sailed out, between the jetties, at two o'clock,
and found the Gulf rough, and a high wind, which continued through most
of our voyage. The smell from the cattle was disagreeable, and between
it and the roughness, all were seasick before the first afternoon was
over.

Captain Irvine is the youngest captain of the Ward Line, being but
twenty-six years of age. He has followed the sea since he was thirteen
y