t, most of the time half under
water. A hurricane blew during the greater part of the voyage, and in
ten days after leaving Algoa Bay we were off Cape L'agulhas, or 300
miles further from our destination than when we started.

I should not have been so much annoyed, had there been anything to eat
or drink; but the beer was all finished in three days: wine there was
none, with the exception of a composition of Cape stuff, that had been
shaken up into the appearance of a pot of blacking, and was very like
vinegar in taste. A dish of pork swimming in its own fat was our usual
meal, with the exception of some mutton, which I declined, in
consequence of having seen the sheep die a death all but natural. This
fate was only prevented by the wonderful activity of a sailor, who acted
as butcher, and who, on seeing from aloft the state of affairs, came
down one of the back stays by the run, and stuck his knife into the--I
am afraid to say which--sheep, or mutton. He declared, however, that it
was sheep, while the fat Dutchman "verdamt" it was mutton. A jury, of
the captain and mate was called, who took evidence, and decided that the
sheep had been fairly killed.

Another delicacy with which we were favoured was some water in which a
cabbage was daily boiled; this composition the captain dignified with
the name of soup; it came day after day, and was worse each time--while
around the taffrail ten more cabbages hung.

I was sitting one day beside the Dutchman, improving my knowledge of his
language, when I noticed that he had been for some time looking with a
melancholy sort of face at this row of esculents. Our eyes met, and he
asked me, with an expressive voice, "if I liked cabbage-soup?" I met
him more than half-way, and said, "No; and if you are only a man, we
won't have any more." We understood one another immediately, and met on
that evening by appointment, when the halter of each vegetable was
quickly cut, and they all dropped with a cheerful splash into the sea.
Suspicions there might be, and were, respecting the guilty party, but no
certainty.

We were all alarmed one day by the mate reporting that there was a deal
of water forward amongst the coals; so all hands set to work to get the
coals out, and then to look for a leak; which proceeding was not
accomplished without considerable risk, as the sea was tremendous, and
the little brigantine, being only about 140 tons, made very bad weather
of it. Fortunately t