Thus I
was beaten at all points; the eatables were too strong for me, the
drinkables too--too--I can find no appropriate epithet--probably too
artificial. I consoled myself with the prospect of dinner; but, alas,
too soon this sweet vision faded into thin air! On the sixth day I made
my first appearance at the covered table, and could not help at once
remarking the cloth which had been spread over it. At the commencement
of our journey it might perhaps have been white; now it was most
certainly no longer of that snowy hue. The continual pitching and
rolling of the ship had caused each dish to set its peculiar stamp upon
the cloth. A sort of wooden network was now laid upon it, in the
interstices of which the plates and glasses were set, and thus secured
from falling. But before placing it on the table, our worthy cabin-boy
took each plate and glass separately, and polished it on a towel which
hung near, and in colour certainly rather resembling the dingy floor of
the cabin than the bight-hued rainbow. This could still have been
endured, but the article in question really did duty _as a towel_ in the
morning, before extending its salutary influence over plates and glasses
for the remainder of the day.

On making discoveries such as these, I would merely turn away my eyes,
and try to think that perhaps _my glass_ and _my plate_ would be more
delicately manipulated, or probably escape altogether; and then I would
turn my whole attention to the expected dishes.

First came soup; but instead of gravy-soup, it was water-soup, with rice
and dried plums. This, when mingled with red wine and sugar, formed a
most exquisite dish for Danish appetites, but it certainly did not suit
mine. The second and concluding course consisted of a large piece of
beef, with which I had no fault to find, except that it was too heavy for
one in my weak state of health. At supper we had the same dishes as at
dinner, and each meal was followed by "tea-water." At first I could not
fancy this bill of fare at all; but within a few days after my
convalesence, I had accustomed myself to it, and could bear the sea-diet
very well. {20}

As the rich owner of the vessel was on board, there was no lack of the
best wines, and few evenings passed on which a bowl of punch was not
emptied. There was, however, a reason found why every bottle of wine or
bowl of punch should be drunk: for instance, at our embarkation, to drink
the health of the friend