hing to look at, or think about--nothing to
do. I have every reason to assert the contrary of this to be the case.
Of course I had plenty to do in learning my profession; I did not forget
to make ample use of my master's gift--my sextant; and in this Mr
Henley gave me all the assistance in his power. I never failed to make
use of it on all occasions, so that in a short time I became a very good
observer. I do not say this as a boast, but that others may understand
what may be done by attention and perseverance. Sills and Broom used to
say that it would be time enough by-and-by to begin learning navigation,
and so weeks passed away, and they knew nothing whatever about it.

With regard to objects to be noted at sea, I will only touch on a few of
them. The form of the waves varied much as we advanced southward. In
the Bay of Biscay they had been exceedingly irregular, and now the
crests formed almost straight lines, only one sea now and then rising
above his fellows like some huge marine monster, and rolling on in
potent majesty, till lost to sight in the distance. The clouds, too,
were even for a time varying; one day especially I remember remarking
some masses of clouds collecting in the east--Mr Waller called them
lightning clouds--their shadowy parts were of a peculiar steel blue,
while the brighter portions glowed with a fleshy tint. At dusk,
catching the reflection of the sun, they seemed to shine out of the dark
sky like pale spectres of gigantic size, casting their supernatural
lights over the waves. At midnight the expected lightning burst forth
with as almost terror-inspiring grandeur; sometimes eight or ten flashes
of forked lightning darted forth at once, lighting up the whole ocean,
and showing the dark banks of clouds assembling in the distance. Even
when the lightning ceased, so great was the phosphorescence of the
ocean, that, as the ship surged onward through it, she seemed to be
throwing off masses of sparkling gems from her bows; and as I was
looking over the side, I observed a huge shark, or some other ocean
monster, swim by amidst a blaze of light. The clouds, like the waves,
grew more regular as we sailed south, and at length formed long parallel
lines, radiating out of the north-east, and converging into the
south-west points of the horizon--finally forming one unbroken sheet
over the Canary Islands.

The great difficulty of making observations at sea, except with a
sextant--and such, it