s which presented
themselves to view around him. The rows of dingy-looking warehouses
dimly seen through the smoke along the shores of the river; the ranges
of barges, lighters, and wherries lying at the margin of the water
below; the bridges, stretching through the murky atmosphere across the
stream, with throngs of people upon them passing incessantly to and fro;
the little steamers, long and slender, and blackened by smoke, shooting
swiftly in every direction over the surface of the water; and the spires
and domes of the city seen on every hand beyond the nearer
buildings,--attracted by turns the attention of our travellers, and
excited their wonder.

In a very few minutes, however, after the boat had left its first
station, she seemed to be approaching another landing-place, and Rollo
was very much amused to observe how the steamer was manoeuvred in
coming up to the landing and making fast there. The pilot who had the
command of her stood upon the wheel house on one side, and gave his
orders by means of little gestures which he made with his fingers and
hand. The helmsman, who stood at the wheel in the stern, watched these
gestures, and regulated his steering by such of them as were meant for
him. There were other gestures, however, which were meant for the
engineer, who had charge of the engine. This engineer, however, could
not see the gestures of the pilot, for he was down among the machinery,
beneath the deck; and so there was a boy stationed on the deck, near an
opening which led down to where the engineer was standing; and this boy
interpreted the gestures as the pilot made them, calling out to the
engineer the import of them with a very curious drawling intonation,
which amused Rollo very much. Thus, when the steamer approached the
land, the boy, watching the fingers of the pilot, called out, with
intervals of a few seconds between each order, in a loud voice to the
engineer below, as follows:----

"EASE--ER-R-R!"

Then, after two or three seconds,----

"STOP--ER-R-R!"

Then again,----

"BACK--ER-R-R!"

The engineer obeyed all these orders in succession as they were thus
announced to him; and the steamer was brought up very safely to the
landing, although the person who controlled her motions could not see at
all where he was going.

When the steamer was thus, at length, moored to the landing, a number of
the passengers stepped off, and a great many others got on; and,
immediately afterwards, the