r's side, chattering with their English comrade till it was far
past bed-time, for we shall be off at three to-morrow morning.

The steam in the boiler first warns of the coming bustle as its great
bubbles burst inside, and rattle the iron plates. Then, being more
frequent and tighter bound, they give out a low moaning, hidden rumble;
and if the boat touches the side of the steamer, there is a strong
vibration through all her sonorous planks, until some tap is turned in
the engine, and the rush of steam leaps into the cylinder as if indignant
at its long restraint. You had better get up now (there is no dressing,
for the simple reason that there has been no undressing), and in two
minutes you are fresh and hearty, though it is only a few hours since you
dropped to rest.

Rouen looks as if it would be all that is pleasant for a sailing-boat to
rest in. Never was a greater deception. It is difficult to find an
anchorage, and impossible to get a quiet berth by the quay. The bustle
all day, and the noise all night, keep you ever on the tenterhooks;
though, as these discomforts are caused by the active commerce of the
port, one ought to bear them patiently.

In one of the numerous _melees_ of barges, boats, and steamers whirling
round and round, amid entangled hawsers, and a swift stream, we had at
last to invoke aid from shore, and a number of willing loungers gladly
hauled on my rope. Some of these men, when I thanked them, said they had
more to thank me for,--the books I had given them in my voyage up.
Still, with all this aid, the Rob Roy was inextricably entangled with
other heavier craft, and, in shoving her off I tumbled overboard, and had
to put up with a thorough wetting; so, after a warm bath ashore, more _a
la mode_, I returned to my little cabin for a profound sleep.

Rain, almost ceaseless for a whole day and night, had searched the
smallest chink, and trickled ungraciously into my very bed-room. But I
suspended an iron tea-cup in the dark just over my body, so _that_ one
little stream was intercepted. This was the first really hard pressure
of wet on the Rob Roy, and all the defects it brought to light were
entirely remedied afterwards at Cowes.

On each of the four preceding nights I had been aroused for the next
day's work at three, or two, or even one o'clock, in the dark, and yet
for one night more there was to be no regular repose.

My mast had been made fast to the quay wall, but in forgetful