men; who have probably heard
the wildest reports of us; to whom we shall assuredly be stranger than
they can possibly be to us. What will the result be? Will it be a
great disappointment, or will its interest equal the expectations it
raises? Probably before this letter is despatched to you, it will
contain an answer more or less explicit to these questions.

_Sunday, November 14th.--Six P.M._--We have just dropped anchor, some
eighty miles from Woosung. I wish that you had been with me on this
evening's trip. You would have enjoyed it. During the earlier part of
the afternoon we were going on merrily together. The two gunboats
ahead, the 'Furious' and 'Retribution' abreast, sometimes one,
sometimes the other, taking the lead. After awhile we (the 'Furious')
put out our strength, and left gunboats and all behind. When the sun
had passed the meridian, the masts and sails were a protection from
his rays, and as he continued to drop towards the water right ahead of
us, he strewed our path, first with glittering silver spangles, then
with roses, then with violets, through all of which we sped
ruthlessly. The banks still flat, until the last part of the trip,
when we approached some hills on the left, not very lofty, but clearly
defined, and with a kind of dreamy softness about them, which reminded
one of Egypt. Altogether, it was impossible to have had anything more
charming in the way of yachting; the waters a perfect calm, or hardly
crisped by the breeze that played on their surface. We rather wish for
more wind, as the 'Cruiser' cannot keep up without a little help of
that kind.

[Sidenote: Aground.]
[Sidenote: Silver Island.]

_November 16th.--Noon_.--A bad business. We were running through a
narrow channel which separates Silver Island from the mainland, in
very deep water, when all of a sudden we were brought up short, and
the ship rolled two or three times right and left, in a way which
reminded me of a roll which we had in the 'Ava' immediately after
starting from Calcutta. On that occasion we saw beside us the tops of
the masts of a ship, and were told it had struck on the same sand-
bank, and gone down about an hour before. Our obstacle on this
occasion is a rock; a very small one, for we have deep water all
around us. However, here we are. I hope our ship will not suffer from