r
ablutions, rendered doubly necessary in consequence of the atmosphere
of coal-dust which we breathed. Not that it was possible to continue
clean for a single hour; nevertheless, there was some comfort in
making the attempt.

There were eight cabins in the _Berenice_, besides the three
appropriated to ladies; these were ranged four on either side of
the saloon, reaching up two-thirds of the length. The apartment,
therefore, took the form of a T, and the upper end or cross was
furnished with horse-hair sofas; upon these, and upon the table, those
passengers slept who were not provided with cabins. Many preferred the
deck, but being washed out of it by the necessary cleaning process,
which took place at day-break, were obliged to make their toilettes
in the saloon. This also formed the dressing-place for dinner, and the
basins of dirty water, hair-brushes, &c. were scarcely removed from
the side-tables before the party were summoned to their repast. The
preparations for this meal were a work of time, always beginning at
half-past one; an hour was employed in placing the dishes upon the
table, in order that every thing might have time to cool.

The reason assigned for not putting Venetian blinds to the cabin-doors
was this: it would injure the appearance of the cabin--an appearance
certainly not much improved by the dirty sail which hung against our
portal. The saloon itself, without this addition, was dingy enough,
being panelled with dark oak, relieved by a narrow gilt cornice, and
the royal arms carved and gilded over an arm-chair at the rudder-case,
the ornaments of a clock which never kept time. All the servants, who
could not find accommodation elsewhere, slept under the table; thus
adding to the abominations of this frightful place. And yet we were
congratulated upon our good fortune, in being accommodated in the
_Berenice_, being told that the _Zenobia_, which passed us on our way,
had been employed in carrying pigs between Waterford and Bristol, and
that the _Hugh Lindsay_ was in even worse condition; the _Berenice_
being, in short, the crack ship.

Every day added to the heat and the dirt, and in the evening, when
going upon deck to inhale the odours of the hen-coops, the smell was
insufferable. When to this annoyance coal-dust, half an inch deep,
is added, my preference of my own cabin will not be a subject of
surprise. With what degree of truth, I cannot pretend to say, all
the disagreeable circumstances s