been a little more careful before going to bed. On, therefore,
the noise went, for the rest of that night, with great
regularity--slam--slam--slam--defying every attempt to obtain even five
minutes of sleep. With the first gleam of dawn I plainly saw that our
own peccant door was the cause, and I was able by that time, with some
caution, to rise and secure the bolt, and thus relieve ourselves, and
probably our neighbours, from the weary sound.

Sleep, however, on my part was, under any circumstances, out of the
question, for I was under great anxiety lest Papa should be pitched out
of his berth, as he slept in the one above mine. Before retiring for the
night I had consulted the surgeon on the subject, having heard that a
steward had been once thrown out of his berth in this vessel under
similar circumstances. The surgeon assured me that he had never heard of
such an accident, and Papa reminded me that his height would save him
from such a calamity, for the berths being only six feet long he could,
by stretching himself out to his full length, wedge himself in and hold
on by his head and heels, and so, in fact, he did; but many passed the
night on the floors in their cabin, particularly the children, who had
not the advantage of being six feet three. Next morning the surgeon said
he would not himself have slept where Papa did, and I suspect few of the
upper berths were occupied. So much for the value of a medical opinion!

I was very sorry I could not go on deck on either of the following days,
for though the gale had abated, the wind continued sufficiently strong
to keep up a splendid sea. Papa, however, says that it was more the
force of the wind when the gale first began, than the height of the sea
that was remarkable, as the gale did not last long enough to get up a
_proper_ sea, though what that would have been I cannot imagine, as the
effects, such as they were, were sufficiently serious for me. Since
then, things have gone on prosperously, but we have only to-night come
in sight of the lights on Cape Clear. The sea mercifully is somewhat
smoother, and has allowed me to write this long story; and I am going to
bed with a fairer prospect of sleep than I have had for the last few
nights.

_Sunday night, Sept. 12th._--The wind got up again in the night, and has
delayed us much, so that we are still outside the bar of the Mersey:
for some hours it has been doubtful whether we should land to-night in
Old England, or