Howard letters 1850s

the other the coast of Ireland. We soon lost sight of the coast of Scotland, but kept the bold rugged coast of the north of Ireland in view nearly all day. The swell from the Atlantic here was most trying. All the passengers were ill. I felt very ill all day. Friday. A most beautiful day, clear and calm & bright, sunshiny and joyous. We saw two Dolphins sporting in the water, they dashed about on the wave & then throug the wave, & seemed mightily to enjoy themselves. Our vessel is going at the rate of 9 knots or miles an hour. I have found out already that I ought to have kept out a lot of very warm clothing and all my wrappers. I have had a very warm great-coat lent me by one of the passengers. If any of you go to sea, have pea-jackets well lined, and made of a thick felt or a Witney. Saturday. Plain, smooth, pleasant sailing. We make about 9 1/2 knots per hour to-day. What little wind there is, is against us as we should make 11 or 12 miles per hour. Sunday. Very rough, boisterous weather, our ship rolls & pitches tremendously Every moveable thing on board, is rolling & rattling about. I we on deck and lay down watching the rolling and heaving sea. Its a fine and noble sight to see our good ship cleave herself through the boiling and foaming ocean. Our ship looks like a nut shell on the broad expanse of the troubled and roaring ocean. We had two services to-day. In the morning in the saloon

and in the evening somewhere in the fore-part of the vessel I attended neither, I felt too unwell, and besides at my best I can't stand the close saloon. The weather is still rough & boisterous. The spray is thrown over even the promenade part of the deck, and you soon get wetted through there. I feel too ill to write more to-day. Monday. A most calm and delightful day, the morning set in cloudy, but it has cleared off. We are very well attended on board the vessel, and the general arrangement is good. Nobody is neglected. The berths are very clean. The cooking is excellent. Each day there is a bill of fare. We breakfast at 8 o'clock, Lunch at 12, Dine at 4, Tea at 6. For breakfast we get Tea and Coffee, and Chocolate, Sausages, pickled salmon, sprats, ham, cold fowl, etc. For lunch, soup, and cold meats of every description. For dinner fish, soup, fresh meat of every sort and kind, pies, and stews, pigeons, fowls, ducks, geese, and turkeys. We have fish enough packed in ice to last us the journey. All the fresh things are kept in ice. First-rate confectionary, ices, creams, tarts, pies, and jellies of every sort. The fish is always salmon one day, and turbot the next. The captain is a nice, pleasant, and gentlemanly man. When he laughs he has three wrinkles which run from about his eyes, in this respect whenever I see him smile he reminds me of you. While I lie on

deck. I can see 7 miles of ocean whichever way I look. You would be surprised at the delightful feeling of security and safety one has in a snug, tight craft like this, and yet thinking all the while, at the nearest we are more than 1000 miles from land. When I am well I wish you were all here to enjoy with me, it is so new and strange, and pleasant. We saw two vessels in the horizon to-day, they were both "homeward bound! "I forgot to say I saw two petrels yesterday. We are mak[ing] about 10 knots an hour. The farms and benches are unscrewed, and moved on one side. We have a band upon deck, and dances of every sort, quadrilles etc. It makes it very lively and cheerful. I have some very nice pleasant companions in my cabin. One Scotch clergyman, a Mr. John McLeane, who is going by appointment of the Bishop of Toronto to a living near London, county of Middlesex. Another inmate of my cabin is a gentleman Captain Salvadore de Candia. He was Captain of the first Maltese Ship that ever went to China, for which government awarded him a gold medal. He is going to an appointment by government to be commander of the Welland docks, forts and canals. An important office. He takes his wife and family with him. Also his wife's two sisters. His wife is an Irish lady. They are exceedingly nice pleasant & first class people. I like them better than any on board. They are Roman Catholics. The other in my cabin is an old Canadian Scotch Farmer. He has a farm about 7

miles from Toronto. He says that farming pays about 20 per cent; or rather from 06 to 20 per cent. Store keeping is the only occupation in Canada that pays better. He says he kept a store at Toronto for some years, but much prefers farming. Tuesday. I have my breakfast in my cabin always. To-day it is comprised of two cups of tea, and two plates of toast and ham, and some very good butter. No bad breakfast for so bad a sailor. I can't stand the saloon, the smell of the different eatables is too mighty for me. So I have all my meals either in my own cabin or in Aunt's. We get a bill of fare to order what we want without getting the scent of the various viands. By the bye, I forgot to tell you the water we get on board is excellent. It is a dense fog this morning. The mist falls like rain. Every few minutes we blow off steam as a signal. This is done in foggy weather both day and night to prevent collision. The Captain told me we should run down small sailing vessels and feel the shock ourselves very lightly. Our ship is so sharp she would cut like a knife. Of course if we ran against a large vessel it would be a case for both of them. I went to the fore-part of the vessel this morning about 1/2 past 12 o'clock, just after lunch time. I saw two or three stormy petrels only a few yards off. The fore-castle men told one that it was a rough

on Sunday that they could not stay on the fore-castle or they would have been washed over-board. They were obliged to come as far back as the ladder for the waves swept over the fore-castle breast high. I saw them break over from the after part of the ship, but did not think them so fierce and high. Even now the wind is so rough, no ladies can stay on deck, so there will be no dancing on the deck. We have up two jib sails, some yard, and two boom sails. We are making about 11 miles per hour at present. We are sailing North west by west. Wednesday. Last night I was awoke by the portmanteaus &c in the cabin all rolling about, and also by the rush and roaring of the waters, positively it was a difficult to lie in bed. Some of the passengers got rolled out. If it was difficult to lie in bed, it was still more difficult to dress, this last was down-right hard work. If you bent over the washing-stand, you stood a good chance of being pitched therein, and from thence back you went to the other side of the cabin. All this is jolly for those that like it, but when I feel bad from the movement of the vessel and get pitched about that way, it makes me savage, and I exhibit in words, and show a good deal of bad temper, this will not surprise you, I feel quite sure. I went up on deck just before dinner time, and I could hardly stand