APRIL 23.
A gale of wind began to show itself on Monday night; it has
continued to blow ever since with increasing violence, and is
now become very serious. The captain says that he never experienced
weather so severe at this
season : this is only my usual
luck. Certainly nothing can be more disagreeable than a ship
on these occasions. The sea breaks over the vessel every minute,
and it is really something awful to see the waves raised into the
air by the force of the gale, hovering for a while over the ship,
and then coming down upon us swop, to inundate everything
below deck as well as upon it. The wind is piercingly cold ;
the floors and walls are perpetually streaming. But a fire is quite
out of the question; and, indeed, at one time to-day our eating
appeared out of the question too ; for at four o'clock the
cook sent us word that the sea put the kitchen fire out as fast
as he could light it ; that he was almost frozen, having been for
the last eight hours up to his waist in water, and that we must
make up our minds to get no dinner to-day. However, the
steward coaxed him and encouraged him, and poured spirits
down his throat, and at last a dinner of some kind was put upon
the table ; but it had not been there ten minutes before a tremendous sea
poured itself down the
companion-stairs and through
the hatchway, set everything on the table afloat, deluged the
cabin, ducked most of the company, and drove us all into the
other room. I was lucky enough to escape with only a sprink-ling. We can only cross the cabin by creeping along by the
sides as if we were so many cats. Walking the deck, even for
the sailors, is absolutely out of the question ; and the little cabinboy has so
fairly given up the
attempt, that he goes crawling
about upon all fours. Even our Spanish mastiff, Flora, finds it
impossible to keep her four legs upon deck. Every five minutes
up they all go, away rolls the dog over and over, and when she
gets up again shakes her ears, and howls in a tone of the most
piteous astonishment.
