ndle a vessel of a different rig
from that to which he had been accustomed all his life might prove
defective. Many of his contemporaries, as well as he himself, held very
contracted and primitive ideas as to size. They talked of vessels of
400 tons burden as being large, and those of six to seven or eight
hundred were described as leviathans.

Captain Bourne showed signs of depression from the time his belongings
were taken from the object of his devotion. He felt he was parting from
a life-long friend. A Board of Trade certificated chief mate was
engaged to act as "nurse." The crew were signed on, stores shipped, and
after the cargo was all aboard, the _Grasshopper_ crossed the bar amid
much cheering from the people who lined the quays and piers. Moreover,
the occasion was of more than usual interest, for Captain Bourne had
never been off the coast during his whole life. After the tug and pilot
left, a course was shaped towards the hidden mysteries that lay across
the sea. The passage was made quickly, but not without mishap, for the
vessel had struck on a reef of rocks, and it was thought her false keel
and copper had received considerable damage. From the time the vessel
left the port of loading the captain had been little seen. It was well
known that a morbid brooding had taken complete possession of him. He
rarely came to his meals, and when he did he never spoke except to
murmur some words of endearment about the old ship he had been
persuaded to leave. The stranding of his new command was interpreted as
a judgement sent to him for the wrong he had committed in giving way to
pride by forsaking the craft that had carried him so many years in
safety. On his arrival in port several friends paid him a visit, and
were struck with his changed appearance. The mates and steward said
they had observed that there was a difference in him, but the passage
had been so wild and eventful they had never had time to think of it.
After the first two or three days his business visits ashore became
very irregular, and before the cargo was discharged they had ceased
altogether. He was seldom seen either below in his cabin or on deck. He
could not be induced to take his meals regularly, and took to shutting
himself up in his stateroom. A dangerous form of melancholia held him
in fetters, so that when friendly visitors called to see him his
reclusive mood forbade any intercourse with even men who knew him
intimately.

There was much