troyd by name--following up his
self-introduction with the information that Captain Dacre had not yet
come down from town, but might be expected on board in time for dinner.

It was just beginning to rain rather sharply again, or I should have
been disposed to remain on deck for a while and improve my acquaintance
with this genial-looking sailor; as it was, I merely paused beside him
long enough to note that the deck between the foremast and the mainmast
seemed to be crowded with rough, round-backed, awkward-looking men,
having the appearance of navvies or something of that kind; also that
the main hatch was partially closed by a grating through an aperture in
which, at the after port angle of the hatchway, other men of a like sort
were passing up and down by means of a ladder. The mate caught my
inquiring glance as it wandered over the rough-looking crowd, and
replied to it by remarking:

"Miners, and such-like--a hundred and twenty of 'em--going out to
develop a new mine somewhere up among the Himalayas, so I'm told.
Rather a tough lot, by the look of 'em, Mr Conyers; but I'll take care
that they don't annoy the cuddy passengers; and they'll soon shake down
when once we're at sea."

"No doubt," I replied. "Poor fellows! they appear to be indifferent
enough to the idea of leaving their native land; but how many of them, I
wonder, will live to return to it. Steward," I continued, as I turned
away to follow the man who was carrying my hand baggage below for me,
"is there anyone in the same cabin with me?"

"No, sir; you've got it all to yourself, sir," was the reply. "There
was a young gent," he continued--"one of a family of six as was goin'
out with us--who was to have been put in along with you, sir; but the
father have been took suddenly ill, so they're none of 'em going.
Consequence is that we've only got thirty cuddy passengers aboard,
instead of thirty-six, which is our full complement. Your trunks is
under the bottom berth, sir, and I've unstrapped 'em. Anything more I
can do for you, sir?"

I replied in the negative, thanking the man for his attention; and then,
as he closed the cabin-door behind him, I seated myself upon a sofa and
looked round at the snug and roomy apartment which, if all went well, I
was to occupy during the voyage of the ship to India and back.

The room was some ten feet long, by eight feet wide, and seven feet high
to the underside of the beams. It was set athwartships, instea