and nautical skill required
to extract propelling power from winds determined to be dead ahead. How
nicely the sails must be set at the sharpest angle with the course of
the vessel, and sometimes that course itself varied a point or two to
make them draw at all; how often they must be shifted, or reefed, or
furled; how much labor and skill must be put in requisition to secure a
very slight addition to the speed of the ship--all this I am not seaman
enough to describe, though I can admire. And during the entire voyage,
with its many vicissitudes, I did not hear one harsh or profane word
from an officer, one sulky or uncivil response from a subordinate. And
the perfection of Capt. Comstock's commandership in my eyes was that,
though always on the alert and giving direction to every movement, he
did not need to command half so much nor to make himself anything like
so conspicuous as an ordinary man would. I willingly believe that some
share of the merit of this is due to the admirable qualities of his
assistants, especially Lieuts. Duncan and Hunter, of the U. S. Navy.

In the way of food and attendance, nothing desirable was wanting but
Health and Appetite. Four meals per day were regularly provided--at 8,
12, 4 and 7 o'clock respectively--which would favorably compare with
those proffered at any but the very best Hotels; and some of the
dinners--that of the last Sunday especially--would have done credit to
the Astor or Irving. Of course I state this with the reservation that
the best water and the best milk that can be had at sea are to me
unpalatable, and that, even when I can eat under a deck, it is a penance
to do so. But these drawbacks are Ocean's fault, or mine; not the
Baltic's. Many of the passengers ate their four meals regularly, after
the first day out, with abundant relish; and one young New-Yorker added
a _fifth_, by taking a supper at ten each night with a capital appetite,
after doing full justice to the four regular meals. If he could only
patent his digestion and warrant it, he might turn his back on
merchandise evermore.

The attendance on the sick was the best feature of all. Aside from the
constant and kind assiduities of Dr. Crary, the ship's physician, the
patience and watchfulness with which the sick were nursed and tended,
their wants sought out, their wishes anticipated, were remarkable. Many
had three meals per day served to them separately in their berths or on
deck, and even at unseasonable