Sometimes a distant sail, gliding along the edge of the ocean, would be another theme of idle speculation. How interesting this fragment of a world, hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence! What a glorious monument of human invention, 65 which has in a manner triumphed over wind and wave; has brought the ends of the world into communion; has established an interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south; has diffused the light of knowledge and the charities of cultivated life; and 70 has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier.

We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea, everything that breaks the monotony of the 75 surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been completely wrecked; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by 80 which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of shellfish had fastened about it, and long sea-weeds flaunted at its sides. But where, thought I, is the crew? Their struggle has long been over, - they have gone down amidst the roar of 8 their bones lie whitening among the caverns Silence, oblivion, like the waves, have closed over them, and no one can tell the story of their end. What

the tempest, of the deep.

74. Descried (“To make an outcry on discovering something for which one is on the watch; then simply to discover." Wedgwood), discerned at a distance. Notice the old spelling of this word and of fancy, in the stanza at the beginning of the sketch.

75. Monotony (Gr. μóvos, single; Tóvos, note, tone), sameness, want of variety.

76. Expanse (Lat. ex, out; pansum, opened, spread), a surface widely outspread.

79. Spar. In nautical phrase, a long beam, a mast, yard, boom.

83. Flaunted. To flaunt is properly to wave to and fro in the wind, to move about in a showy manner so as to be seen like a banner in the wind.

sighs have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at the deserted fireside of home! How often has the mis- 90 tress, the wife, the mother, pored over the daily news, to catch some casual intelligence of this rover of the deep! How has expectation darkened into anxiety, — anxiety into dread, and dread into despair! Alas! not one memento may ever return for love to cherish. All that may ever be known is 95 that she sailed from her port, " and was never heard of more!" The sight of this wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. This was particularly the case in the evening, when the weather, which had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave indications of one of those sudden 100 storms which will sometimes break in upon the serenity of a summer voyage. As we sat round the dull light of a lamp in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, every one had his tale of shipwreck and disaster. I was particularly struck with a short one related by the captain.

105

"As I was once sailing," said he, "in a fine stout ship across the banks of Newfoundland, one of those heavy fogs which prevail in those parts rendered it impossible for us to see far ahead even in the daytime; but at night the weather was so thick that we could not distinguish any object at twice the u length of the ship. I kept lights at the mast-head, and a constant watch forward to look out for fishing-smacks, which are accustomed to lie at anchor on the banks. The wind was blowing a smacking breeze, and we were going at a great rate through the water. Suddenly the watch gave the alarm uč of 'A sail ahead!'. - it was scarcely uttered before we were

91. Pored. To pore is to look close and long, to read or examine with steady or continued attention.

107. Banks of Newfoundland. These banks form one of the most extensive submarine elevations on the globe. They are between 600 and 700 miles in length, with a depth of water varying from 10 to 160 fathoms. The famous Grand Bank swarms with cod and almost every other variety of fish.

112. Fishing-smacks; small vessels, usually sloop-rigged, used in the fisheries.

114. Smacking, making a sharp, lively sound.

upon her.

She was a small schooner, at anchor, with her broadside towards us. The crew were all asleep, and had neglected to hoist a light. We struck her just amidships. The force, the size, and weight of our vessel bore her down below 120 the waves; we passed over her and were hurried on our course. As the crashing wreck was sinking beneath us, I had a glimpse of two or three half-naked wretches rushing from her cabin; they just started from their beds to be swallowed shrieking by the waves. I heard their drowning cry mingling with the 125 wind. The blast that bore it to our ears swept us out of all farther hearing. I shall never forget that cry! It was some time before we could put the ship about, she was under such headway. We returned, as nearly as we could guess, to the place where the smack had anchored. We cruised about 130 for several hours in the dense fog. We fired signal-guns, and listened if we might hear the halloo of any survivors; but all was silent, we never saw or heard anything of them more."

I confess these stories, for a time, put an end to all my fine fancies. The storm increased with the night. The sea was 135 lashed into tremendous confusion. There was a fearful, sullen sound of rushing waves and broken surges. Deep called unto deep. At times the black volume of clouds overhead seemed rent asunder by flashes of lightning, which quivered along the foaming billows, and made the succeeding darkness doubly 140 terrible. The thunders bellowed over the wild waste of waters, and were echoed and prolonged by the mountain waves. As I saw the ship staggering and plunging among these roaring caverns, it seemed miraculous that she regained her balance, or preserved her buoyancy. Her yards would dip into 148 the water her bow was almost buried beneath the waves. Sometimes an impending surge appeared ready to overwhelm

:

119. Amidships. (Nautical.) In the middle of a ship; half-way between the stem and the stern.

128. Put the ship about. Change her course by tacking.

147. Impending (from Lat. in, on, upon, over, and pendere, to hang), hanging over, threatening.

her, and nothing but a dexterous movement of the helm preserved her from the shock.

When I retired to my cabin, the awful scene still followed 150 me. The whistling of the wind through the rigging sounded like funereal wailings. The creaking of the masts, the straining and groaning of bulkheads, as the ship labored in the weltering sea, were frightful. As I heard the waves rushing along the sides of the ship, and roaring in my very ear, it seemed 155 as if Death were raging round this floating prison, seeking for his prey; the mere starting of a nail, the yawning of a seam, might give him entrance.

A fine day, however, with a tranquil sea and favoring breeze, soon put all these dismal reflections to flight. It is c impossible to resist the gladdening influence of fine weather and fair wind at sea. When the ship is decked out in all her canvas, every sail swelled and careering gayly over the curling waves, how lofty, how gallant, she appears, how she seems to lord it over the deep!

I might fill a volume with the reveries of a sea voyage, for with me it is almost a continual reverie, - but it is time to get to shore.

165

It was a fine sunny morning when the thrilling cry of "Land!" was given from the mast-head. None but those 170 who have experienced it can form an idea of the delicious throng of sensations which rush into an American's bosom when he first comes in sight of Europe. There is a volume of associations with the very naine. It is the land of promise, teeming with everything of which his childhood has heard or 175 on which his studious years have pondered.

From that time until the moment of arrival, it was all

153. Bulkheads, board partitions making water-tight compartments in a ship.

156. Death were raging, etc. Personification (from personify, Lat. persona, a person, and facere, to make). It consists in representing inanimate objects or abstract notions as endued with life and action like a person, or possessing the qualities of living beings.

165. Lord it over. To act as a lord, to rule despotically.

feverish excitement. The ships of war, that prowled like guardian giants along the coast; the headlands of Ireland, stretching out into the channel; the Welsh mountains, tow- 180 ering into the clouds, all were objects of intense interest. As we sailed up the Mersey, I reconnoitred the shores with a telescope. My eye dwelt with delight on neat cottages, with their trim shrubberies and green grass-plots. I saw the mouldering ruin of an abbey overrun with ivy, and the taper 185 spire of a village church rising from the brow of a neighboring hill, — all were characteristic of England.

The tide and wind were so favorable that the ship was enabled to come at once to the pier. It was thronged with people; some idle lookers-on, others eager expectants of 190 friends or relatives. I could distinguish the merchant to whom the ship was consigned. I knew him by his calculating brow and restless air. His hands were thrust into his pockets; he was whistling thoughtfully, and walking to and fro, a small space having been accorded him by the crowd in 195 deference to his temporary importance. There were repeated cheerings and salutations interchanged between the shore and the ship, as friends happened to recognize each other. I particularly noticed one young woman of humble dress, but interesting demeanor. She was leaning forward from among the 200 crowd; her eye hurried over the ship as it neared the shore, to catch some wished-for countenance. She seemed disappointed and agitated, when I heard a faint voice call her name. It was from a poor sailor who had been ill all the voyage, and had excited the sympathy of every one on board. When 205 the weather was fine, his messmates had spread a mattress for him on deck in the shade, but of late his illness had

182. Mersey (mir'zee), a river in England. It expands into a large estuary or arm of the Irish Sea, forming Liverpool harbor. Reconnoitred (Lat. recognoscere, to take notice of again; Fr. reconnaître, to recognize), examined carefully.

185. Abbey (Fr. abbaye; from Syriac abba, father), a monastery or similar building for persons of either sex, governed by an abbot or abbess.