When our ship had nearly reached the mouth of the Mersey, on her outward voyage, the boatswain and his men were busily engaged in lashing everything moveable in its place on deck. “We shall get it to-night,” said that man of the sea; but on the vessel went as smoothly as ever, and everybody was merry at dinner-time, hours after the “Bosun’s” prophecy. We watched the setting sun, and a gorgeous after-glow of purple, grey, and gold. Then came the twilight, and a sense of chilliness. The land on the port-side was lost in a soft grey mist; then it became colder and darker, and we went below. The saloon looked bright and cheerful, with its sparkle of glasses in the swinging racks, and the mellow light of the lamps.

I read for an hour or more, and then “turned in,” heartily glad to think we were having such a smooth and pleasant time, and that the “Bosun’s” prediction had not been verified. I was soon asleep. How long I slept I do not quite remember, but I dreamed that I was falling down a well, and the crash made when I reached the bottom awoke me. I forgot for the moment where I was, but my first impressions were that, Zazel-like, I had been shot out of a cannon, and that I was whirling round chain-shot fashion. Instinctively stretching out my hands, I found myself in my berth, but the ship was plunging and rolling very much, and everything moveable was knocking about in all directions. Another crash, similar to the one which awoke me, told of loose crockery going to destruction in the steward’s pantry.

I spent some time in trying to decide whether the ship was playing at leapfrog, or trying to turn a somersault. A “sea change” put an end to my deliberations. Sleep was impossible, and I was glad when morning came, and I held on to the berth with one hand, and dressed with the other. That man of the sea was right. We had “got” it, and no mistake; and we continued to “get it” until off Cape St. Vincent, when we regained smooth water.

Cape St. Vincent is a rocky bluff, crested with a ruined convent and a lighthouse, the white walls of which gleam out brightly in the sunshine, although we are fully ten miles away. After we have passed it, and look back, it forms a much more picturesque object than when seen directly opposite; and in front of the nearly perpendicular cliffs is a curious cone-shaped rock, and through the narrow passage between this and the mainland, tradition says an American skipper ran his vessel for a wager, and got through safely. The whole coast here is bold and rocky, but not dangerous. Large craft may ride close in under the cliffs.

A few miles further along is Cape Sartenius, a rocky headland, which rises perpendicularly from the sea, and is crowned with a fort and lighthouse; and from this point the rugged coast-line falls away towards Trafalgar Bay and Gibraltar, a distance of nearly two hundred miles. We were fortunate in seeing the red honey-combed rock at Gibraltar in the morning’s sunshine, the pretty little town of St. Roque lying behind across the neutral ground. To the left the cork woods and Algesiraz. Exactly opposite “Gib,” on the African side, is Ceuta, with its lighthouse and fort on the hill, and square flat-topped Moorish houses below; while Apes’ Hill stands up clear and dark against the masses of fleecy white clouds. The straits here are about six miles wide, and it was near this point that the Moors used to cross, Pict and Scot fashion, into Spain in the olden time. Of course, like Mark Twain, we saw the “Queen of Spain’s chair” on the hill behind Gibraltar, and a naturalist friend reminds me that the rock here is the only place in Europe where monkeys and scorpions are naturalised. The wag meant “Rock Scorpions” I suppose, but the monkeys are there all right enough. By the aid of a good glass, we saw patches of cultivated crops on the low coast hills, and whitewashed farm-houses were freely dotted amongst them. Now we were fairly into the blue waters of the Mediterranean, and the coast lines began to recede on either side. Here and there, however, over the coast hills we obtained glimpses of the snow-peaked Sierra Nevada mountains standing out clear and cool against the blue sky.

It was about the middle of June, and very hot during the day time, but chilly at night. The sea is of the most emphatic blue when you look down into it, but has a purplish glow towards the horizon. The sunsets are occasionally very beautiful, with their tints of crimson, salmon, grey, vermilion, and gold. It is pleasant at sunrise, after a bracing salt-water bath under the hose-pipe, to watch the silvery dolphin as they follow each other in line and play around the bows of the ship, at times leaping clear out of the water. The velocity of these creatures is wonderful; they gambol around a ship, and keep up alongside without any apparent effort. A few black and white sea-gulls are the only aËrial visitors, except that now and then flying fish are seen skimming the surface of the blue water with their glistening wings. In some places they may be seen by the hundred, rising in flocks from the water, to escape their enemies below. They fly for a distance of two or three hundred yards, rising and falling in a sinuous manner; and occasionally they dip into the crest of a wave for a moment, to moisten their wings, which enables them to prolong their flight. Many were washed or flew on board during the night, and were very delicate in flavour. The sailors say they fly at the lights, and thus fall on deck, which may be the fact, as it was only after dark that any were caught in this manner. Some specimens were sixteen inches in length, but about half that size appeared to be the average.

We caught a passing glimpse of Galita and Malta on our way. Both were once little more than barren rocks; indeed, Galita is so still; but Malta has been improved by cultivation, and now yields much of the early vegetable produce brought to the Paris and London markets. Tradition hath it that formerly vessels trading to Malta were obliged to bring a certain quantity of earth with them, so anxious were the Maltese to improve their tiny farms.

Port Said was our first stopping place; and, after a fortnight afloat, we were glad to see the lighthouse, like a yellow speck on the horizon. We went ashore, and saw the town, which stands close to the sea-beach, and by the entrance to the canal, with which it is contemporaneous. Behind, as far as one can see, stretches the arid desert itself. The old Arab town of square, flat-topped houses, is nearly a mile away to the right. The new town consists mainly of shops and hotels, with the exception of the consular residences, the hospital, and post-office.

I visited the hospital, with the young Irish ship’s doctor as a companion, and among the inmates saw an American suffering from fever and chronic rheumatism. In one of the cells, guarded by a couple of Arab sentries, we found a young, fair-haired, blue-eyed Greek sailor, who had murdered an Arab girl through jealousy the night before. I was struck by the gentle, inoffensive expression on his face; but I suppose he did not deserve the pity I felt for him. A public square, planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers, forms an oasis in the midst of the desert of dusty streets, and white-washed or stucco houses. Most of the houses are two-storied, and furnished with cool, shady verandahs; and in some cases they are covered with the green drapery of a large convolvulus, which adds much to the picturesque effect of walls and fences throughout the place. In the gardens, bananas, date-palms, bamboo, and other vegetation common to hothouses at home, here grow in the open air, with no other protection than that afforded by a belt of tall reeds. Nothing is produced here, even the necessary fruits and culinary vegetables being brought from Malta, or the Mediterranean ports. Soil and fresh water for the little gardens has to be procured from Ismalia, fifty miles away.

In the markets we found plenty of ripe grapes, fine pomegranates, water-melons, and great pithy-skinned oranges. Vegetables consisted of lettuce, onions, beet, the Egyptian turnip-rooted kind, peas, okre, and gourds. Most of the stands were attended by lazy Arab women, of various ages, who sat cross-legged among their goods, and kept off the flies with switches of horse-hair. A tight-fitting cap, ornamented with little gold coins, covered their heads, and their figures were enshrouded in great black cloaks, reaching to their heels.

We saw some old Arabs watering the hot and dusty streets with sea-water, which they carried in large skin “bottles,” slung behind them, so that the march of modern progress has not yet obliterated all the old customs and utensils of these singularly primitive people. We took about a hundred tons of coal on board here. This was brought to the side of the vessel in lighters, and carried up sloping planks by some fifty or sixty swarthy fellows, who kept up a droning chant the whole time. They each carried up about a hundred weight at once in a basket; and the whole gang reminded one of a colony of black ants, as they swarmed up one plank in quick succession, and trotted down another, after disposing of their dirty load. Perhaps the Pyramids, and other gigantic architectural erections, were reared by myriads of ant-like workers, similar to these we now saw.

Two mail steamers entered the Canal before us, and it is a very odd sight to see the masts of the first one gliding away to the left, nothing else being visible but the flat sea of sand as far as the eye can reach. Pilots are necessary for the Canal, and notwithstanding their special knowledge and skill, vessels frequently get aground. Coaling over, we get under way and enter the strip of salt water which connects the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Suez, passing through the flat desert, a distance of about eighty-seven miles. The completion of this undertaking, apart from facilitating European and Eastern commerce, has also, if local report speaks truly, benefited the climate of the district as well; a current of cool air is now attracted along its route, and the precious burden of the rain-clouds has also been brought to this tract of arid sands, which previously were almost entirely destitute of showers. Another benefit to the dwellers on its shores is the fish which travel along this strip of water-way and so are caught close to the doors of those who live or who are employed along its banks. At five mile intervals along the banks are stations for signalling purposes, and as the strip of seaway is not broad enough for two vessels to pass each other, the Canal is widened at each “gare,” so that one vessel can make fast while the other passes. The whole thing is regulated by a simple telegraphic and signalling system. Nearly all these stations have little gardens, but the prettiest of them all in this way is that at the old Arab town and ferry station of Kantara, through which many caravans pass on their way to and from Cairo. Here is a tiny hotel, and several little whitewashed houses with shady verandahs laden with climbing plants of various kinds. One of the houses is sheltered by a row of poplars, and the colour and fragrance of the oleanders were delightful. The Arabs call this flower the “Rose of the Desert,” and certainly at this little oasis it might fairly be said that the desert had been made “to blossom as the rose.”

We reached here at sunset, and the air was deliciously cool and fresh, and a sight of the dark green poplar trees was most cheering and home-like. Crickets chirped in the sand, and the splashing of the fish in the Canal was heard very frequently after we had made fast for the night. The tints on the vegetation and sand-hills by the banks just before sunset are most lovely, and the sunsets themselves very gorgeous as seen through the clear dry air. Two of the firemen had to be placed in irons soon after leaving Port Said, to prevent them from leaping overboard or injuring themselves. They were literally maddened by some villanous spirituous drink which had been smuggled on board during the hurry and bustle of coaling in the morning. Here and there we passed the bodies of dead camels, on which wolfish-looking dogs or vultures regale themselves. Flocks of flamingoes were seen in the distance. As the air becomes clearer after sunrise the distant sand-hills resemble islands in a broad lake or sea, an effect due to mirage; indeed, the semblance of a flat expanse of water lying in the full sunshine near the horizon is so perfect as to deceive all but the experienced. The hills of loose sand close to the banks of the Canal are swept quite smooth by the winds in some places, while here and there the surface is rippled like a snow-ruck, and the foot-prints on these “sands of time” made by the passing Arab are singularly like those made in frozen snow.

At one of the stations an old Arab offered a basket of very fine fish for sale which he had caught in the Canal the night before. We got a view of the Khedive’s Palace and M.F. de Lessep’s residence at Ismalia just before running through the “Bitter Lakes,” and reached Suez before sundown. The passage through the Canal takes about two days, as the rate of progress is necessarily slow to avoid washing down the banks, and there are frequent stoppages.

Suez is a larger town and much older than Port Said, but its inhabitants depend almost entirely on the few residents connected with the Canal and Railway to Alexandria, and the pilgrims who land here on their way to Mecca and Medina, the birthplace and tomb of their Prophet. After leaving Suez the climate becomes hotter every day. The coast-line is backed by barren looking copper-coloured mountains, and the air smells hot and dry, like that of the greenhouse devoted to the cactus family at Kew. Two or three steamers with pilgrims on board for Suez were seen.

Among the visitors from the coast were great brown locusts, a humming-bird hawk moth, and one or two small birds. A quail flew on board, and flitted about the deck for two or three days. Another little bird, as elegantly shaped as a lark, stayed on board for several days; it was brown in colour, with almost black wing-tips; it had a band of white just above the tail, and this gave the bird a characteristic appearance, especially during its jerky red-cap like flight.

We went into Aden, and I never felt the heat so much anywhere before or since. It is a huge Dutch oven of sunburnt rocks without a sign of vegetation as seen from the harbour. It is astonishing how soon one begins to take a personal interest in a ship on which a long voyage has to be made. The second mate was the skipper of a China trader, and tells me of the palmy days before the Canal was opened, and when freights were £12 a ton. One of the quartermasters was an ex-royal yachtsman, a civil and obliging old fellow, with a sharp eye for grog. One of the stewards has been a photographer, and another is a hairdresser—rather a luxury to have aboard ship. The old Welsh stewardess was a character, with nightly tendencies towards hot rum and water and old superstitious stories of the sea. The captain is a fat, red-whiskered old sea-dog, who knows all about everything, but evidently never enjoyed an introduction to Mr. Lindley Murray in his youth. His politics are peculiar, and his motto appears to be that of the ultra radicals, “Down with everything what’s up.”

Penang was our next stopping-place, and we got ashore for two days, and enjoyed a walk around the town and a ride to the “Falls” and the “Hill.” Two days afterwards we stepped on to the Pile wharf at Tanjong Paggar or the “fenced cape” at Singapore, and our experiences of the tropics really began. The voyage for two days down the Straits of Malacca had been very pleasant, and we thoroughly enjoyed the smooth blue sea and clear sky, flecked now and then by tiny fleets of junks with their mat sails of a soft golden hue, reminding one of cornstacks at home. Bukit-Jugra, Cape Rachardo, and Mount Ophir towering up above the horizon behind the town of Malacca itself, were distinctly seen ere we reached the numerous islets near the entrance to the harbour and roads at Singapore.

A long sea voyage has its pleasures as well as its drawbacks; and in travelling eastward, more especially, it is quite possible, after crossing “the Bay,” to get a smooth voyage all the way. There are times when the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the China Sea lie sleeping in the sunshine, and a steamer runs as smoothly as a canal boat. Of course a yachtsman of the old sea-dog school is disgusted with this sort of fine weather sailing; but it is most pleasant to passengers on board steamships who can lie and read under the cool side of the awning, drinking in the fresh ozonised sea air, untroubled for the nonce by the cares of business or the whirl and bustle of the town.

A curious feeling comes over one on viewing the boundless ocean for the first time on a calm, cloudless day. It makes one feel extremely small to gaze on what appears to be the eternity of sea around, with not a speck or a sail to break the view on all sides. Then when a breeze springs up a sense of freedom animates the breast as the vessel rushes through the water and shakes the milk-white foam from her bows, as though also glad to be free. The pleasure is akin to that of the saddle. The exhilarating motion of the ship stirs one’s blood and sends it coursing through one’s veins, as she “walks the waters like a thing of life,” and the strong pure breeze fans our cheeks and the cool spray comes in our faces like a shower of dew. Well might Ruskin give our English pastime of yachting the first place amongst recreations. Nothing can be more refreshing than to stand on board a tight little vessel when there is, according to the poetry of youthful memory,

In the joy of the moment you do not wonder at the sea-fights, the brave sailors, and the corsairs of old; the men who love the sea and can struggle with it through all its moods and phases, will be brave anywhere. If the sea does not nerve a man to brave actions, nothing else ever will. Life on the sea is most refreshing to the average landsman, and on board ship time flies more pleasantly perhaps than anywhere else, if it be true that “sweet do nothing” is the acme of enjoyment. What an appetite the sea-breezes give one for breakfast, which is perhaps of all meals that least enjoyed by inland residents on shore. Our floating cities are the triumphs of modern civilised ingenuity; and during propitious weather in a warm climate, life afloat possesses for the time a freshness and novelty unobtainable elsewhere.