most picturesque manner. By the help of the gentlemen, and their minute directions when to lift up our feet and when to put them down, some of us ladies found our way to the forecastle, and there witnessed one of the most beautiful and curious appearances of the ocean. The mass of foam caused by the motion of this vast body was all as brilliant as sunlight upon a body of diamonds, with the additional beauty of rapid, graceful motion. The tops of the waves, to a great distance, were all lighted, and, what was still more curious and beautiful, a party of porpoises playing round the ship were perfectly imbedded in fire, as it were; and whenever they darted forward, or to a distance at the side of the vessel, they looked like comets. I enjoyed all this beauty, wildness, and novelty excessively and am very glad to have seen such an exhibition of one of the wonders of the ocean. Poor Anna is too feeble, and it was too late at night for her to have seen it.

June 20th. One of the serious teachings in life has passed before us, and it certainly ought not to have been witnessed without touching some chord, or producing some good effect. I have often watched, while sewing on deck, a little boy about five years old, amongst the steerage passengers, who seemed most particularly robust, active, and playful. We heard a few days ago that he was sick with a cold. Mrs. Marshall sent some suitable medicine and the stewardess went to see about him. His mother is excessively reduced by seasickness, and seemed to have no perception or knowledge what she should do for him; and though the. Captain directed an emetic, and her companions urged her to give it, I believe nothing was done for the poor little fellow, and he gradually grew worse and at last died of the croup.

The last day he lived they kept him a great deal upon deck, because, they said, he wanted air, and it was awful to see his sufferings, and to know he was so soon to enter upon another existence.

The parents were very anxious, after his death, to have some service performed. The weather was windy, gusty and rainy, but to soothe their feelings, they and their friends and as many others as found room stood in the companionway and Mr. Ticknor read the funeral service. It was almost oppressively solemn to hear it in the solitude of this vast world of waters, with no other sound but the rustling voice of winds and waves, and to think that, though the little frame was to be committed alone to the stormy deep, what an incomprehensible change had been wrought in the real existence; a few hours before, suffering, ignorant, trammeled now it was safe, happy, free.

June 24, 5 o'clock P.M. The pilot on board, and we shall soon, I trust, reach our port. I have had more fear of the channel than of the whole of the rest of the passage, and cannot but be thankful that we are so nearly safe. We came in sight of land yesterday, and today, of course, have found the greatest interest in watching our prog*ress and learning the different portions of the coast. We reached Holyhead early today and have been striving to get round it against a strong head wind. It has made it a rough and laborious day for the Captain and men, and I think they all felt it a great relief and comfort to get a pilot before dark. It was quite exciting to watch the little boats at a distance, and conjecture whether either of them would prove to be the pilot. And then it was a pretty sight, when one really approached us, to see it dancing on the tops of the

waves, with so light and rapid a motion, its form relieved against a very clear and deeply coloured sunset sky.

The moment that the pilot touched the deck was the subject of another interest, for it settled the question of the lottery. This is not an uncommon amusement on board these packet ships, and is easily described. Cards are provided, marked with the date of some day and a nautical quarter of it, including five or six days, any one of which may possibly be the day of arrival. These cards are distributed among the passengers, who give $2.00 for each, taking as many as they please. Some are given to the officers of the ship and to the stewards, who do not pay. The whole of the money so collected goes to the person who holds the ticket marked with the day and quarter when the pilot comes on board. If he had come up the side of the ship only one quarter of an hour earlier than he did, I should have been the winner; but the quarter of the hour gave it to Mr. Hagan, and, having enjoyed the fun of anticipation and expectation, I certainly did not regret the money.

We are tossing and tumbling about sadly, the wind is pretty strong, and dark, heavy clouds are gathering. How glad I am that we are so near Liverpool.

Liverpool, June 27th, 1835. — I never can measure or describe the deep, unutterable joy and thankfulness which I felt when I saw my husband and children safe on the stone pier, day before yesterday, and when I, too, stood once more upon the solid earth. My last memoranda give some slight hint of the sad struggle we had to get round that horrid Holyhead, tacking all day of the twenty-fourth and fighting both wind and waves. It was an anxious day to the Captain; and though he was relieved a little by the presence of the

pilot, yet, almost immediately after, the wind, still so absolutely against us as that but for skill and science we must have been blown out to sea again, rose rapidly, so that by ten o'clock it was an absolute gale.

It was a fearful night, so dark and thick that an unpracticed eye could not distinguish anything, the ship rolling and tossing violently, and the noise and uproar of the elements appalling. The pilot soon ascertained that it was not possible to pass the bar of the river till at a certain state of the tide and by daylight; and so in the midst of the gale, almost within sight of the haven, we were obliged to 'lay to' for several hours. We went to bed as usual, for, though anxious, none of us ladies knew then the whole extent of our danger, and in 'lying to' the ship was more steady. There was no diminution of the wind, and the Captain did not leave the deck a moment.

At four o'clock both tides and light favoured our progress, and we once more got under weigh. The passengers were all stirring, some with a vivid sense of extreme danger, and the rest of us from a desire not only to see what was about us, but to be ready to land. About five o'clock I went up to the door of the companionway, and the scene was truly frightful. The bare masts and wet rigging and deck, the enormous waves, which seemed higher than any I had ever seen before (because we could compare them with objects on shore), and the solitude, which struck me more because the day before many ships and smaller vessels had been in sight, and because now, with land all around us, I expected to see still more. The wind still roared, and the fog still hung thick about us; but though indispensable that the pilot should see some landmarks, he said we could hold off no longer, and, making a long tack, prepared to cross the bar. Just then, by

God's merciful care, the clouds lifted enough to enable him to steer, and we rushed through the mouth of the river, crossing the bar with the whole fury of the blast about us, as if we were to be swallowed up by the raging waves, which came towards us with their wide caves open, like the jaws of a monstrous beast. The appearance of the waves was most strange to us, having become accustomed to the deep green of the open ocean, for they were so yellow and so thick that they looked like masses of sand, as if the spirit of the storm had scooped up the bed of the river to envelope and destroy us. But the gallant ship withstood these great dangers, and with a few sails set drove up the river at the gentle rate of eighteen knots an hour, twelve from the wind and six from the tide.

At six o'clock we had a sort of breakfast, not in the usual neat and exact order, but enough so for such a morning, and the Captain then came down for a moment or two, looking excessively worn and exhausted by the night of watching and anxiety. He said he would give $5.00 to be, at that moment, in port, and that if we had struck the bar, no two timbers would have held together two minutes.

As we approached the city, we found the shores and wharves lined with people watching our progress; and in the city the wharves, docks, ships, and roofs of houses were quite filled with anxious spectators. What a comfort it was to look at the firm set earth and the nice houses, and to think, "Tonight we shall have a quiet bed.' We were all collected upon deck, rejoicing in our safety, for the gale was over, and examining the city; when, as we arrived opposite to the stone pier, the pilot gave the order to let go the anchor, the enormous chain cable rolled out with a most frightful noise, which was, of itself, alarming enough to ignorant ears;

but I was still more startled to see the sudden appearance of anxiety among the sailors at the windlass, and the pilot rushing to them at his best speed. I knew something had occurred, and mentioned my alarm to Lord Powerscourt, whose arm I held at that moment; but he said little, not thinking it worth while, probably, to increase my fears. In another moment the other chain cable rushed out, with the same horrid noise, and an instant after we were safely at anchor. The alarm has since been explained to me, and my fears were not imaginary, though they were ignorant. The first anchor got entangled in the chain, and for a moment the second got caught in the first, so that, if their weight had not cleared them, the ship would have gone against the stone pier and been terribly injured, though probably not lost.

During this most disagreeable interval we saw a steamboat approaching us, but it was so tossed by the rough waves that it was far from agreeable to think of going down the side of the ship to it. However, things are generally worse in anticipation, and so, though the wind was still very violent and the boat very wet, we ladies and the children were so well guarded and cared for that we were but little incommoded, and when I saw my children safe on shore, and stood myself upon the noble pier, I looked back upon the turbulent waters and our sea-house with a feeling of gratitude and security such as I never experienced before. Carriages (shabby enough, to be sure) were waiting on the pier, and, bidding our fellow passengers good-bye, we drove to the Adelphis Hotel (where our rooms had been engaged for us by Mr. Gair), feeling every instant a refreshment and comfort that one can experience only after a month's confinement on shipboard.

The rest of that day (the twenty

fifth, Thursday) we gave to resting, eating, bathing, and sleeping, all great luxuries. Anna we found so feeble and unable to bear exertion that that evening we sent for Dr. Bickersbeth to ascertain what sort of treatment was wisest and would restore her strength most rapidly. He ordered quinine and plenty of beefsteak, and she has already gained visibly. Though my history of our voyage has taken so much room, I have hardly mentioned either of the children. They have been perfectly good, and given as little trouble as possible. Anna was very patient through long indisposition and great discomforts; and Lizzy has been a gay, happy plaything every moment. The weather has been too damp and windy, ever since we landed, to allow her to go out, and so she has begged many times to 'go up a deck'-'Please, Catty, go up a deck.' Mr. Gair came in soon after we reached the hotel to congratulate us on our safety, and, two

hours after, Lord Powerscourt and Mr. Miller; but I was thankful to feel that the rest of the day would be entirely quiet.

Yesterday (Friday, the twenty-sixth) the natural languor and fatigue after such excitement and the month of sea life were heavy upon us all. Mr. Ticknor, however, was obliged to go to the Custom House, and when he sent home our luggage I was obliged to unpack and get some clothes for the children. Mr. Marshall and Miss Perit were my only visitors. We were hearing constantly the most terrible accounts of the storm on land, as well as at sea; but at sea the losses have been terrible. Three large vessels have been wholly lost very near Liverpool, and one of them came round Holyhead with us, and therefore must have been wrecked near us. It makes me shudder to think of the dangers we were in, and inexpressibly grateful for the kind providence which preserved us.