sun shines so bright, and the
air is so warm and breathless, that we seem to have every chance of
lying here for the next--Heaven knows how long! In point of time,
you see, our voyage has been very prosperous, and I am surprised
that we have made such good progress, for the weather has been
squally, with constant head-winds. I do not think we have had, in
all, six days of fair wind, so that we have no reason whatever to
complain of our advance, having come thus far in thirty-two days.
You bade me write to you by ships passing us, but though we have
encountered several bound eastward, we only hailed them without
lying to; notwithstanding which, about a fortnight ago, on hearing
that a vessel was about to pass us, I wrote you a scrawl, which
none but you could have made out (so the fishes won't profit much
by it), and a kind fellow-passenger undertook to throw it from our
ship to the other as it passed us. She came alongside very rapidly,
and though he flung with great force and good aim, the distance was
too great, and my poor little missive fell into the black sea
within twenty feet of its destination. I could not help crying to
think that those words from my heart, that would have gladdened
yours, should go down into that cold, inky water.... I pray to God
that we may return to England, but I am possessed with a dread that
I never shall....

I have been called away from this letter by one of those little
incidents which Heaven in its mercy sends to break the monotony of
a sea-voyage. Ever since daybreak this morning an English brig has
been standing at a considerable distance behind us. About an hour
ago we went on deck to watch the approach of a boat which they were
sending off in our direction. The distance was about five miles,
and the men had a hard pull in the broiling heat. When they came on
board, you should have seen how we all clustered about them. The
ship was a merchantman from Bristol, bound to New York; she had
been out eleven weeks, her provisions were beginning to run short,
and the crew was on allowance. Our captain, who is a gentleman,
furnished them with flour, tea, sugar, porter, cold tongue, ham,
eggs, etc., etc. The men remained about half an hour on board, and
as they were remanning their boat we saw a whole cargo of eatables