of the vessel having sent many persons to
their cabins, while others were totally deprived of all appetite. An
elderly gentleman, who sate upon my left hand, complained exceedingly
of his inability to partake of the good things before him; and one or
two left the table in despair. Again we sought the deck, and saw the
sun sink behind an ominous mass of clouds; the sky, however, cleared,
and the stars came out, reviving our spirits with hopes of a fine
night. Unfortunately, soon after nine o'clock, a heavy squall
obliged us to go below, and one of my female friends and myself took
possession of a state cabin, and prepared to seek repose.

It was my first voyage on board a steamer, and though the tremulous
motion and the stamping of the engine are anything but agreeable, I
prefer it to the violent rolling and pitching of a sailing vessel. We
were certainly not nearly so much knocked about; the vases of flowers
were taken off the mantel-piece, and placed upon the floor, but beyond
this there were no precautions taken to prevent the movables from
getting adrift; every thing remained quiet upon the tables, a
circumstance which could not have happened in so heavy a sea in any
vessel not steadied by the apparatus carried by a steamer.

The _Phenix_ laboured heavily through the water; a torrent of rain
soon cleared the deck of all the passengers, and the melancholy voices
calling for the steward showed the miserable plight to which the male
portion of the party was reduced. Daylight appeared without giving
hope of better weather; and it was not until the vessel had reached
the pier at Havre, which it did not make until after three o'clock
P.M. on Monday, that the passengers were able to re-assemble. Many
had not tasted food since their embarkation, and none had been able to
take breakfast on the morning of their arrival.

And here, for the benefit of future travellers, it may not be amiss
to say, that a small medicine-chest, which had been packed in a
carpet-bag, was detained at the custom-house; and that the following
day we experienced some difficulty in getting it passed, being told
that it was contraband; indeed, but for an idea that the whole party
were going on to Bombay, and would require the drugs for their own
consumption, we should not have succeeded in rescuing it from the
hands of the Philistines. The day was too far advanced to admit of
our getting the remainder of the baggage examined, a mischance which
detain