g England!

Our second Sunday at sea was beautiful exceedingly. We had service in
the saloon as usual; and, after church, I climbed the mizen, and had
half an hour's nap on the top. Truly this warm weather, and monotonous
sea life, seems very favourable for dreaming, and mooning, and
loafing. In the evening there was some very good hymn-singing in the
second-class cabin.

Early next morning, when pacing the poop, we were startled by the cry
from the man on the forecastle of "Land ho!" I found, by the direction
of the captain's eyes, that the land seen lay off our weather-beam.
But, though I strained my eyes looking for the land, I could see
nothing. It was not for hours that I could detect it; and then it
looked more like a cloud than anything else. At length the veil
lifted, and I saw the land stretching away to the eastward. It was the
island of San Antonio, one of the Cape de Verds.

As we neared the land, and saw it more distinctly, it looked a grand
object. Though we were then some fifteen miles off, yet the highest
peaks, which were above the clouds, some thousands of feet high, were
so clear and so beautiful that they looked as if they had been stolen
out of the 'Arabian Nights,' or some fairy tale of wonder and beauty.

The island is said to be alike famous for its oranges and pretty
girls. Indeed the Major, who is very good at drawing the long bow,
declared that he could see a very interesting female waving her hand
to him from a rock! With the help of the telescope we could certainly
see some of the houses on shore.

As this is the last land we are likely to see until we reach
Australia, we regard it with all the greater interest; and I myself
watched it in the twilight until it faded away into a blue mist on the
horizon.

CHAPTER III.

WITHIN THE TROPICS.

INCREASE OF TEMPERATURE--FLYING FISH--THE MORNING BATH ON
BOARD--PAYING "FOOTINGS"--THE MAJOR'S WONDERFUL STORIES--ST. PATRICK'S
DAY--GRAMPUSES--A SHIP IN SIGHT--THE 'LORD RAGLAN'--RAIN-FALL IN THE
TROPICS--TROPICAL SUNSETS--THE YANKEE WHALER.

_17th March_.--We are now fairly within the tropics. The heat
increases day by day. This morning, at eight, the temperature was 87 deg.
in my cabin. At midday, with the sun nearly overhead, it is really
hot. The sky is of a cloudless azure, with a hazy appearance towards
the horizon. The sea is blue, dark, deep blue--and calm.

Now we see plenty of flying-fish. Whole shoals of the glittering
lit