ceremony of father Neptune and his train appearing on board to demand largess for

invading his briny

kingdom, our captain commemorated the occasion by simply stretching a thread across
the glass of his
telescope, which he endea voured to persuade the ladies, when they saw it through
the instrument, was the
veritable line ; and with one or two of our fair friends it went down remarkably
well. Of course we all enjoyed
the joke ; and no doubt all were better pleased than if they had been subjected to
the bar barous custom of
being shaved with a rusty iron hoop and drenched with water.
Sailed merrily through the south-east trade- winds. Saw shoals of flying - fish ;
caught a few , and found them
very delicate food. Weather warm , with occasional showers , which made the air
feel humid and every thing
muggy. Every body airing their linen and bedding ; the ship looking like rag -fair.
In eleven days from the
equator we crossed the tropic of Capricorn. Found the influence of the trade-winds
as high up as 25° south
latitude, within two degrees of the South American continent. The vessel sailed so
steadily that we dispensed
with the battens around the cabin table. The passengers began to feel the monotony
of life on board ship :
love-making and mischief making the order of the day, for wantof better to do.
Most passengers of an intellectual turn of mind, who have never been a long voyage
before, plan out all sorts
of tasks to be accomplished, and resolve to apply themselves studiously to their
books on the passage out.
We have never known an instance wherein one tenth part of such resolutions have
been carried into effect.
And how is it possible in these Australian ships, where they are so crowded ? There
is a continued turmoil in
them from six in the morning till ten at night, which not only disturbs all
application to studious pursuits, but
prevents the enjoy ment of ordinary light reading. This, coupled with the heat
during the first fifty days of the
voyage, when the thermometer ranges from 750 to 85° under the awning,throws a
lassitude over both mind
and body which pros trates the most active temperament, during which pe riod the
only occupations
practicable are those of eating, drinking, and sleeping. Every body knows or has
been told that there is no
place like shipboard to obtain an insight into your neighbour's real character. The
reason of this is, because
the intellectual part of our nature lies dormant, and we become known to each other
through our
propensities, which cause us to display more broad and evident traits of character
than the purely moral or
intellectual. Pent up as we necessarily are at sea within the narrow compass of a
ship’s cabin, and with
scarcely any outward incidents to counteract the selfishness of our nature, it is
not to be wondered at that the
individual character will appear in a different phase from what it assumes on
shore. Hence the main -spring of
the animal functions, eating, becomes the ruling passion ; and man's belly for the
time being is his god. Herein
lies the cause of nine teen out of the twenty quarrels which notoriously occur on
board ship. From stem to
stern the quality and quan tity of food has always been a matter of contention be
tween the dispensers and the
receivers. We have seen Jack raise the growl of mutiny because his junk was bad ;
we have seen steerage
passengers pitch the casks of mag goty biscuit overboard, and demand fresh bread
from the captain in
language not to be trifled with ; and we have seen poor deluded intermediates call
the captain to account at
the end of the voyage for the musty provisions doled out to them ; ay , and even
the most amiable disposition
in the cabin is not proof against the dire effects of an unsatisfied appetite..
When under its influence, bright
eyes and fond lips are then more prone to look with devotion upon the wing of a
fowl than the face of a lover ;
and jealousy will often send a pang through the stomach — we had almost said the
heart — when the captain
sends a fa vourite tit-bit of turkey to some one on the other side of the table.
To resume our log.
We had sailed out of the S.E. trades and got into variable winds ; the weather
became unsteady, and we made
a zig -zag course for a few days. The intermediate passengers grumbled at their
rations becoming of inferior
quality ; and there were symptomsof the water getting scarce ; the captain pacified
them by stating that he
would put in at the Cape to refresh the ship’s stores. As the details of our log
are here given with a view to
initiate all classes of passengers into the mys teries of a long voyage, we shall
be excused by adverting in this
place to the condition of these intermediate passengers for the benefit of future
emigrants; particularly as so
many vessels now sail from English ports for these colonies fitted up to carry one
class of passengers only,
whose dietary scale and accommodation are similar to what was provided on board our
ship for the
intermediate passengers.
Those who have made a long voyage at sea are well aware that attendance and a
proper regulation of the
meals on board constitute the first desideratum towards the com fort of the
passengers. Hence a cabin -
passage is always high, in consequence of table- furnishing expenses, stew ards’
wages, &c. , besides wine,
spirits, and beer. But amongst the class of passengers referred to, from the small
amount of passage-money
paid, no stewards can be pro vided to attend the table, to draw the water issued
daily, or the provisions
weekly, or to take them to the galley to be cooked ; consequently, every passenger,
male and female, must