advance of
them. To-day the order of things is reversed, and we are now twelve
hours behind our friends at home. Having quitted one side of the map
of the world (according to Mercator's projection), and entered upon
the other half, we begin to feel that we are at last really 'homeward
bound.'

At four a.m. Powell woke us with the announcement that the boiler-tube
had again burst, and that we had consequently ceased steaming. Letting
off steam, and blowing out the boiler, made a tremendous noise, which
aroused everybody in the ship. It was a lovely morning, but a flat
calm, and the sun rose magnificently. The few light clouds near the
surface of the water caught and reflected the rays of light most
brilliantly before the sun itself appeared, and assumed all manner of
fanciful shapes.

About six o'clock a very light breeze sprang up, which increased
during the day; but the sea remained perfectly calm. We think we must
have got into the trade again. This weather is indeed a luxury after
all the knocking about we have lately gone through; and I feel as if I
could never rest enough. The constant effort to maintain one's
balance, whether sitting, standing, or moving about, has been most
fatiguing, and the illness of the children has made matters worse.
Baby is, I hope, now quite out of danger.

_Saturday, January 13th_.--The engineers made up their minds that we
were in the trade winds again yesterday, and that we should not want
the engines for some days. They therefore did not hurry on with the
repairs as they should have done. This morning there was a calm, and
when Tom ordered steam to be got up at once, the reply was,
'Please, sir, the engine won't be ready till night.' This was
annoying; but they worked extra hard all day, and by 4 p.m. steam was
raised. At six a nice little breeze sprang up, which freshened during
the evening, and at midnight orders were given to stop steaming.

We had another bad night of it--a head wind, the sea washing over the
decks, everything shut up, and the thermometer standing at 90 deg..

_Sunday, January 14th_.--I was on deck at 4 a.m. The Southern Cross,
the Great Bear, and the North Star, were shining with a brilliancy
that eclipsed all the other stars.

During the day the wind freshened to a squally gale. Sometimes we were
going ten, sometimes thirteen, and sometimes fifteen knots through the
water, knocking about a good deal all the while. Service was an
impossibility; cooking a