FRIDAY, FEB. 6. Our barometer vaticinated correctly last evening. The storm which it pred ted came punctually as an executioner to his condemned culprit. It lasted through the greater part of the night, and left us with a heavy head-sea. Going on deck this morning I found it extremely difficult to preserve my balance, and brought up in the scuppers, though I have been on sea-legs between fifteen and twenty years.

A long line was floated astern this morning, with hook and bait, for an albatros. Several of these noble birds were sailing in our wake. One of them took the hook, and as he was drawn slowly towards the ship his female companion followed close at his side. When lifted in she looked up with an expression of anxiety and bereavement that would not dishonor the wife of his captor in a reverse of circumstances. We found in his shape some resemblance to the wildgoose, but much larger in head and body, and with a longer wing. The hook had not injured him, and though his wings, which measured twelve feet between their tips, were pinioned, he walked the deck with a proud defiant air. His large eye flashed with indignation and menace. His beak was armed with a strong hook like that of the falcon, his plumage was white as the driven snow, and the down on his neck soft as moonlight melting over the verge of an evening cloud.

He was captured by one of our passengers, who now proposed to kill him for the sake of his wings. But the sailors, who always associate something

sacred with this bird,

interfered. They predicted nothing but head winds, storms, and misfortunes if he should be killed; and unlocking his wings, gave him a toss over the ship's side into his own wild element. His consort, who had followed the ship closely during his captivity, received him with outstretched wings. She sailed around him as he lighted, and in her caressing joy, threw her soft neck now over this wing and now over that. In a few moments they were cradled side by side, and he was telling her, I doubt not, of the savage beings he had been among, and of his narrow escape.

Live on ye bright-eyed pair; the deep
Is yours, each crested wave shall keep
Its vigils o'er your cradled sleep.

SATURDAY, FEB. 7. We have made but very little progress during the last two days. A slant of wind has occasionally favored us, but with the countercurrent, it has been about as much as we could do

to hold our own.

What we gain when the wind hauls we are sure to lose when it returns to its old position. It is in our teeth, and has been there, with brief variations, for the last six days. Unless it changes we may box about her till doomsday.

Out on Cape Horn! Had it shoved itself between Pandemonium and Paradise, Milton would never have expected Lucifer to weather it. He would have senthim across the Isthmus of Panama. There ought to be a ship-canal there; not for demons, but for men. If Cheops could build himself a tomb which the rays of the new-risen sun should greet before they touched the lyre of Memnon; if Brunell could arch a pathway under the Thames for the multitudes of London, with navies on its bosom; and if Whitney can run a railroad from the Atlantic board to Oregon through the Rocky Mountains, surely the civilized powers of Europe, and those of America combined, can cut a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. I only wish all who oppose the project were obliged to double Cape Horn; they would give in before they got round, if not, a jackass might take lessons from their obsti nacy.

I have swept, with the telescope, the whole horizon to find our little attendant bark, but not a vestige of her is to be seen. We parted with her two days since at nightfall. But she is still, I doubt

not, afloat, and will again loom to light. Courage, my little fellow; you may outdo us yet―—

156

CHAPTER V.

PASSAGE FROM CAPE HORN TO VALPARAISO.

GALE. HABITS OF THE ALBATROS AND PENGUIN. THE SEA
-THE SEA OFF CAPE
HORN. SLEET AND HAIL.-FAREWELL TO THE CAPE.-DIRECTIONS FOR
DOUBLING THE CAPE.-GALE IN THE PACIFIC.-APPEARANCE OF THE
STARS. A RAINBOW.-DIVINE SERVICE. -THE RAZOR AT SEA. THE
LITTLE BARK.—PLUM PUDDING AND TRIPE.-THE CORDILLERAS.—AR-
RIVAL AT VALPARAISO.

Amid the storm, an iceberg's form
Came tumbling through the ocean,

So like the cape in hue and shape.
Our crew, who watched its motion,
While rounding-to beneath our lee,
Declared the Cape had put to sea.

SUNDAY, FEB. 8. The severity of the weather and the heave of the sea prevent our holding divine service to-day. May each heart silently erect within itself an altar on which to offer the oblations of contrition, gratitude, and faith. Religion is a mission from Heaven to the heart of man; and when taken away from that heart, and shrined in stately temples and sumptuous altars, it loses its vitality and power. No floating censer or pealing organ can have the moral efficacy of that still small voice of the Deity, which speaks in the whispers of the human conscience.

The gale which we have had for several days veered last night, and brought the heave of the sea