got into my clothes. In the
after-cabin, under the superintendence of the able and energetic
navigating lieutenant, Mr. Brown, a group of blue-jackets were working
at the tiller-ropes. These had become loose, and the helm refused to
answer the wheel. High moral lessons might be gained on shipboard, by
observing what steadfast adherence to an object can accomplish, and
what large effects are heaped up by the addition of infinitesimals.
The tiller-rope, as the blue-jackets strained in concert, seemed
hardly to move; still it did move a little, until finally, by timing
the pull to the lurching of the ship, the mastery of the rudder was
obtained. I had previously gone on deck. Round the saloon-door were
a few members of the eclipse party, who seemed in no mood for
scientific observation. Nor did I; but I wished to see the storm. I
climbed the steps to the poop, exchanged a word with Captain Toynbee,
the only member of the party to be seen on the poop, and by his
direction made towards a cleat not far from the wheel. [Footnote: The
cleat is a T-shaped mass of metal employed for the fastening of
ropes.] Round it I coiled my arms. With the exception of the men at
the wheel, who stood as silent as corpses, I was alone.

I had seen grandeur elsewhere, but this was a new form of grandeur to
me. The "Urgent" is long and narrow, and during our expedition she
lacked the steadying influence of sufficient ballast. She was for a
time practically rudderless, and lay in the trough of the sea. I
could see the long ridges, with some hundreds of feet between their
crests, rolling upon the ship perfectly parallel to her sides. As
they approached, they so grew upon the eye as to render the expression
'mountains high' intelligible. At all events, there was no mistaking
their mechanical might, as they took the ship upon their shoulders,
and swung her like a pendulum. The deck sloped sometimes at an angle
which I estimated at over forty-five degrees; wanting my previous
Alpine practice, I should have felt less confidence in my grip of the
cleat. Here and there the long rollers were tossed by interference
into heaps of greater height. The wind caught their crests, and
scattered them over the sea, the whole surface of which was seething
white. The aspect of the clouds was a fit accompaniment to the fury
of the ocean. The moon was almost full--at times concealed, at times
revealed, as the scud flew wildly over it. These things app