Captain Leitch Said That He Would Be The Last Man To Quit
The Ship, And He Kept His Word; But
The excitement, anxiety, and
subsequent exposure to cold and fatigue, more especially in his search
after the survivors of the
Ill-fated Arctic, brought on a malady from
which he was severely suffering.
We had only sixty passengers on board, and the party was a remarkably
quiet one. There was a gentleman going to Paris as American consul, a
daily, animated, and untiring advocate of slavery; a Jesuit missionary, of
agreeable manners and cultivated mind, on his way to Rome to receive an
episcopal hat; two Jesuit brethren; five lively French people; and the
usual number of commercial travellers, agents, and storekeepers,
principally from Canada. There were very few ladies, and only three
besides our own party appeared in the saloon. For a few days after leaving
Halifax we had a calm sea and fair winds, accompanied with rain; and with
the exception of six unhappy passengers who never came upstairs during the
whole voyage, all seemed well enough to make the best of things.
A brief description of the daily routine on board these ships may serve to
amuse those who have never crossed the Atlantic, and may recall agreeable
or disagreeable recollections, as the case may be, to those who have.
During the first day or two those who are sea-sick generally remain
downstairs, and those who are well look sentimentally at the receding
land, and make acquaintances with whom they walk five or six in a row,
bearing down isolated individuals of anti-social habits. After two or
three days have elapsed, people generally lose all interest in the
novelty, and settle down to such pursuits as suit them best. At eight in
the morning the dressing-bell rings, and a very few admirable people get
up, take a walk on deck, and appear at breakfast at half-past eight. But
to most this meal is rendered a superfluity by the supper of the night
before - that condemned meal, which everybody declaims against, and
everybody partakes of. However, if only two or three people appear, the
long tables are adorned profusely with cold tongue, ham, Irish stew,
mutton-chops, broiled salmon, crimped cod, eggs, tea, coffee, chocolate,
toast, hot rolls, &c. &c.! These viands remain on the table till half-past
nine. After breakfast some of the idle ones come up and take a promenade
on deck, watch the wind, suggest that it has changed a little, look at the
course, ask the captain for the fiftieth time when he expects to be in
port, and watch the heaving of the log, when the officer of the watch
invariably tells them that the ship is running a knot or two faster than
her real speed, giving a glance of intelligence at the same time to some
knowing person near. Many persons who are in the habit of crossing twice
a-year begin cards directly after breakfast, and, with only the
interruption of meals, play till eleven at night. Others are equally
devoted to chess; and the commercial travellers produce small square books
with columns for dollars and cents, cast up their accounts, and bite the
ends of their pens. A bell at twelve calls the passengers to lunch from
their various lurking-places, and, though dinner shortly succeeds this
meal, few disobey the summons. There is a large consumption of pale ale,
hotch-potch, cold beef, potatoes, and pickles. These pickles are of a
peculiarly brilliant green, but, as the forks used are of electro-plate,
the daily consumption of copper cannot be ascertained.
At four all the tables are spread; a bell rings - that "tocsin of the
soul," as Byron has sarcastically but truthfully termed the dinner-bell;
and all the passengers rush in from every quarter of the ship, and seat
themselves with an air of expectation till the covers are raised. Grievous
disappointments are often disclosed by the uplifted dish-covers, for it
must be confessed that to many people dinner is the great event of the
day, to be speculated upon before, and criticised afterwards. There is a
tureen of soup at the head of each table, and, as soon as the captain
takes his seat, twelve waiters in blue jackets, who have been previously
standing in a row, dart upon the covers, and after a few minutes of
intense clatter the serious business of eating begins. The stewards serve
with civility and alacrity, and seem to divine your wishes, their good
offices no doubt being slightly stimulated by the vision of a douceur at
the end of the voyage. Long bills of fare are laid on the tables, and good
water, plentifully iced, is served with each meal. Wine, spirits,
liqueurs, and ale are consumed in large quantities, as also soups, fish,
game, venison, meat, and poultry of all kinds, with French side-dishes, a
profusion of jellies, puddings, and pastry, and a plentiful dessert of
fresh and preserved fruits. Many people complain of a want of appetite at
sea, and the number of bottles of "Perrin's Sauce" used in the Cunard
steamers must almost make the fortune of the maker. At seven o'clock the
tea-bell rings, but the tables are comparatively deserted, for from half-
past nine to half-past ten people can order whatever they please in the
way of supper.
In the America, as it was a winter-passage, few persons chose to walk on
deck after dinner, consequently the saloon from eight till eleven
presented the appearance of a room at a fashionable hotel. There were two
regularly organised whist-parties, which played rubbers ad infinitum.
Cards indeed were played at most of the tables - some played backgammon - a
few would doze over odd volumes of old novels - while three chess-boards
would be employed at a time, for there were ten persons perfectly devoted
to this noble game. The varied employments of the occupants of the saloon
produced a strange mixture of conversations.
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