The Cruise of the Montauk to Bermuda, the West Indies and Florida

Front matter

REAR-COMMODORE PLATT, N.Y.Y.C, "AT HOME," HAMILTON HARBOR, MARCH 6, IS84. THE Cruise of the Montauk TO BERMUDA, THE WEST INDIES AND FLORIDA BY JAMES McQlJADE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB NEW YORK THOMAS R. KNOX & CO. SUCCESSORS TO JAMES MILLER 813 BROADWAY Copyright, 1884, by JAMES McQUADE TROW'3 PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, NEW YORK. Zo MR. JOHN R. PLATT THE GENIAL "UNCLE JOHN," WHOSE JOYOUS PRESENCE ENLIVENS THESE PAGES, AS HIS UNFLAGGING CHEERFULNESS ENHANCED THE PLEASURES OF A HAPPY VOYAGE, I DEDICATE THIS COLLECTION OF LETTERS, DESCRIBING THE CRUISE OF THE MONTAUK

Preface

. THIS book grew out of a postage-stamp. Possibly the reader may think it might better have remained in embryo, but the mischief is done, and I have written the opportunity for mine enemy — if I have one. A few of these letters were published, at the time of their receipt, in the Utica Observer and Utica Herald. The suggestion that they ought to be collected in a book so tickled my self-esteem that I yielded to the implied flattery ; but not until I had consulted my friends, Mr. E. Prentiss Bailey and Mr. S. N. D. North, editors, respectively, of the journals named, whose favorable opinion reinforced the ap peal to my vanity. Even then I had such misgiving that personal partiality biased their judgment, that I did not decide until the matter was submitted to Mr. Richard H. Stoddard, the poet and accomplished man of letters ; but when his authority confirmed the commendation of the other competent judges I ventured to exhibit my small wares, shifting a portion of the responsibility of presentation from my own, to abler, shoulders. These screeds have no literary pretension. They are VI

PREFACE.

. simply light, gossipy, and perhaps trifling, narrations of what I saw, enveloped in desultory commentaries, without much orderly arrangement and, therefore, inartistic in the book making view. But I have no pride of authorship, and shall be grateful if they find even a moderate share of accept ance. It is proper to say that I alone am accountable for the somewhat peculiar views advanced in discussing various topics (which, I know, run counter to the generally-accepted opinions), and that my voyage-companions are not respon sible for them ; neither are my sponsors, whose encourage ment presents me at the font of literature. In the advocacy of my opinions, I am prone to manifest a certain degree of boldness, which may not always be politic, but I invite for them the same degree of criticism I apply to differing views.

I act on the principle that everything should be weighed in an unprejudiced scale ; that facts, and not mere assertions, ought to form the basis of intelligent opinion ; that clamor should not be accepted as argument ; and that it is well to heed the counsel of St. Peter: "Be always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you." I have taken the liberty of using names with great free dom, in order to give interest to the dry details of a voyage. I trust I have mentioned no name (whether of those we met, or of others, introduced by way of illustration) the owner of which will find cause for offense in its employment. I

PREFACE.

. VII may have written at times with a sharp-pointed pen, but it was dipped in no rankling ink. I am afraid to acknowledge with how much diffidence I launch my first book venture ; I shall not be surprised if it goes down, yet I hope for some propitious breeze of kindly consideration. If I am pardoned for this transgression, I will promise not to offend again — at least until I shall have secured an indulgence from the reading world. J. McQ. New York, November 4, 1884. CRUISE OF THE Schooner Yacht Montauk, N. Y. Y. C, Rear-Commodore S. R. Platt, Owner. Sailed from Pier 3 N. R., February 21, 1884, at 8.45 A.M. Returned (anchored off Stapleton) May 3, 1884, at 11.40 p.m. SALOON. Rear-Commodore S. R. Platt, N. Y. Y. C. {Land and Water Club). Mr. John R. Platt, N. Y. Y. C. {Olympic Club). Mr. Thomas B. Asten, N. Y. Y. C. (Olympic Club).

General James McQuade, N. Y. Y. C. {Carlton Island Club). OFFICERS AND CREW. Captain Peter N. Breitfeld Sailing- Master. M. L. Buttke Mate. Richard Zauk Boatswain. Charles Goldon Quartermaster. Paul Weirauch " Olaf Paulson Able Seaman. John Peterson " Albert Hoch " Diedrich Borneman " August Frata " Louis Krouser Steward. Albert Derr Messroom Steward. William Mayo Cook. Wilhelm Becker Boy. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page

Outward Bound, i Prefatory Apology — Postage-stamps — Renowned Travelers : Sindbad, Gulliver, Munchausen, Marco Polo, the Jesuits — Prester John — The Fog — Fortune in Misfortune — The Compass — Prolonged Send-off — Departure — The Direct Course — A Smiling Sea, i— 13

Chapter II

Washington's Birthday, 14 The Banquet — Toasts — The Day we Celebrate — The City of New York — The Army and Navy — Woman — The Growl of the Hurricane, 14-26

Chapter III

The Storm, 27 No Poppy-juice — Meteorology — Laying to— A Disturbance — Queer Fancies — Optical Delusion— Life Insurance — My Own Funeral —The Flute— Mont Cenis— Old Theatres— The Banshee— A Daughter's Devotion — Corked-up — Seasickness — Depression — The Convent Bell, 27-41 CONTENTS. X

Chapter IV. Page

A Harbor Reached, . . . 42 Still Below— A Dilemma— Short Commons— Under Bare Poles — Monsieur Tonson come again— 29.50 — The Barometer Watch — A let up— Gulf-weed — Flying-fish — Ash Wednesday — Bermuda Light — Hamilton Harbor, . 42_5°

Chapter V

Bermuda, S1 Bermuda — Settlement — Government — Departed Glories — Religion — Revenues — Exports and Imports — Climate — Vegetables — Flowers — Water — Fruits — Dock-yard, .... SI_^4

Chapter VI

Hospitable Bermuda, 65 Letter-writing — Laziness — In re Darrelli — Festivities — Prospero's Grot — The Mess Dinner — Benny Havens, Oh ! — Uncle John — The Happy Valley — Lily Bower — At Home — The Hand- Clasp, .......... 65-83

Chapter VII

At Sea, 84 A Frustrated Conspiracy — Getting Away — A Tortuous Channel — Description of Yacht — A Lazy Life — Lounging Occupation — Cloud Scenery — Amusements — Sartorial — Pills — Detergent, S4-97

Chapter VIII

Basse Terre, . . 98 An Abortive Sunrise — Washing Decks — Sea-ditties — A Shanty Song — Sombrero — Saba — The Rock-sail — St. Eustatius — St. Christopher—Basse Terre— The Yankee Jack-knife — Hurricanes, Floods, and Pestilence — Dulce-domum, .... 98-112 CONTENTS. XI

Chapter IX. Page

St. Kitt's, n3 Iced-water — Teeth — Tonsorial — Sharks — Roses — Pelicans — A Drive— Religions— St. Patrick's Day— Wonderful Adventures with Monkeys, '....... . 1 13—125

Chapter X

Among the Islands, 126 Lunacy — The Old Fire-Laddie — St. Patrick's Day Orations : Ireland : A Brave Girl : Michael Ouigley : A Heroic Woman — Montserrat — Ethiopian Celts — Guadaloupe- — The Caribs — Wind-Rainbow — Dominica — St. Pierre — A Great Loss, . 126-146

Chapter XV

Musical Musings, 191 Our Chum — Thoughts on Music — Ballads — Plagiarism — " Wearing of the Green" — "Sweet By and By" — "Aileen Aroon" vs. " Robin Adair "—" Nearer, My God, to Thee"—" Groves of Blarney" — " Home, Sweet Home" — The Spanish Main — Gulf of Paria — Sunset, 191-209

Chapter XVI

Port of Spain , . . . . 210 Discovery of Trinidad — Busy Port of Spain — Race Types — Coolies — Political Ignorance — Vulgarisms in Language — Botanical Gardens — An Impertinent Bird, ..... 210-219

Chapter XVII

Trinidad, 220 Singing-birds — Taxidermy — Metempsychosis — " Keb, Sir ! " — Piratical Attack — Button-hole Oratory — French Courtesy — Pitch Lake — Asphalt — Flying Oysters — Future of Trinidad, 220-228

Chapter XVIII

Through the Caribbean Sea 229 Salutamus — A Corkonian Gaul — The Dragon's Mouth — Columbus —An Apology — The Trade-winds — Navigation — Dead-reckoning— A Timely Warning— Old Fogies— A Tender Hour — The Same Old Moon— Serenade— Uncle John Romantic — Gammon, 229-243 CONTENTS. XIII

Chapter XIX. Page

CURAgOA, 244 The Pilot— Fortifications— The Dock— Peddlers — Custom House — The Church — Geneva — Roman Organ — Jewish Synagogue — Commerce— Pirates — Smugglers —Vegetation — Water — Goats — Municipal Division — Vis Inertiœ — Streets — Romeo and Juliet — Vessels — Venezuela — Slavery — Negroes — Dialect — So-long, 244-261

Chapter XX

Curacoa, Continued, ......... 262 Peter Stuyvesant — Government — Orthoepy — Mr. Gaertse — Wages — Straw-plaiting — Grosira — Venomous Reptiles — Cactus — Zuikertiuntze — A Frugal Repast — Fireworks — The Governor — A Glass of Wine — Religion — Sunday Observance — Light Clothing — A Tableau — Historical Sketch — Arcadia, . . 262-2S1

Chapter XXI

Religious Services, 282 Bird and Beast — Pretty Pets — Misty Fancies — A Cruel Wrong — Palm Sunday — The Thrilling Sea — Church Service — Ave Sanctissima — Prayer — The Sailor's Yarn — Resurgam, . . 282-297

Chapter XXII

Port Royal— Kingston, 298 A Carib Canoe — Port Royal— The Boatswain's Dulcet Cry— Fishserenade— Kingston — Streets — Rodney : Nelson — Market — Shadowy Horse — Soldiers — Drive into Country — Virgil — Sugar-making — Rum — The Passover— Good Friday — The Jews — Nasus Hebraicas, 29S~3'3 CONTENTS.

Chapter XXIII. Page

Jamaica, 3 '4 Historical — Buccaneers — Representative Government — Emancipation — Native Americans — The Suffrage — Educational and Property Qualifications — Humbug — Population — Productions — Coolies — Cemeterial — Religious Divisions — Imports and Exports — Luxurious Bosh, ....... 3J4-331

Chapter XXIV

Into tpe Gulf of Mexico, 332 A Short Sail — Filibusters — Sirens — Sailor's Hornpipe — The Lone Fisherman — New Line to Havana — Easter Sunday — A Miracle — Gulf of Mexico — Gallic Downfall — Chin-music — Havana, 332-340

Chapter XXV

Sunday vs. Sabbath, 341 Exordium — The Decalogue — The Sabbath — Douay vs. King James — The Gospels — Sunday — Constantine — The Reformation — Luther, Calvin, Melancthon — Augsburg Confession — Queen Elizabeth — Old Puritans — New England — Modern Puritans — The Legal Sabbath — Rest and Recreation — Faith — Peroration. 341-358

Chapter XXVI

Havana, 350 The Streets — Soldiers — Policemen — Yellow Fever — The Foul Harbor—Volunteers — A Minder — Aguero — Political — Morro Castle — Jelly-fish — A Night Scene — Domestic Cigars — Whistling- Milk — Oxen — The Spanish Yoke, ..... 359-372 CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XXVII. Page

Cuban Customs, 373 Slavery — Shopkeepers — Convicts — Cigars — Lotteries — Sunday — The Cathedral— A Full Day's Work— Bull-fights— The Pilgrimage — Succotash — Echoes of Travel — Beautiful Faith — The Germans — Emblems — Catalans — Exit Romeria, . . . 373-391

Chapter XXVIII

Mr. Poynings Roggster, 392

Chapter XXIX

Florida, 406 Departure from Havana — Cuba Pobre — Rotten Currency — Fishing — Mourning Pharos — St. Augustine — Jacksonville — Palatka — A Gentle Swear — A Cow Railroad — Minorcans — Fruitful Florida, 406-419

Chapter XXX

Home Again, 4-0 A Red-letter Day — Song of the Legion — Homeward Bound— The Maypole — Drunkenness — Temperance vs. Teetotalism — The Bible — False Prophets — Mohammedanism — The Bishop's Temperance Sermon — Puns — Erasmus in Praise of Folly — The Montauk Song — Finis, 420-441 Lord Bateman was a noble lord, A noble lord of high degree ; He shipped himself on board a ship, Some foreign country he would see.

Chapter I. Outward Bound

Prefatory Apology — Postage-stamps — Renowned Travelers : Sindbad, Gulliver, Munchausen, Marco Polo, the Jesuits — Prester John — The Fog — Fortune in Misfortune — The Compass — Prolonged Send-off — Departure — The Direct Course — A Smiling Sea. Hamilton, Bermuda, February 28,-1884. When I accepted the invitation of my kind friend, Commo dore Platt, to accompany him in his yacht on a winter's cruise to the West Indies, you asked me to write you from beyond the seas, so that you might receive letters embellished with foreign postage-stamps. I was somewhat nettled at this request to drop a line merely to hook up varied postal de signs from abroad, for it implied incapacity to make my cor respondence interesting, assuming that all the value would be on the outside, like a new hat on the head of a dude ; so I resolved, in a spirit of pique, to essaythe writing of letters that would have intrinsic value as well as outside stamp at tractions.

Whether I shall succeed is problematical. My literary ability is of doubtful merit, and if I have any skill at all it is not in the line of description ; at least I have never made an attempt in that direction, and have grave distrust of powers which have not been exercised by, nor subjected to the test of, experience. I have traveled in many lands, but never wrote anything from them save infrequent laconic epistles to the family, containing nothing important except requests for further remittances. But I shall make an effort on this cruise (the greatest effort of my life) under an extraordinary stimu lus. I shall dip my pen in the fountain of deep affection, and bring loving inspiration to the surface of these letters. If I fail to make them entertaining, you will at least receive the objects of your desire — -the postage-stamps.

If you should happen to find anything attractive, I shall be fully recom pensed, in whatever pleasure you may derive from their perusal, for the pains I shall take to render them worthy your acceptance. It is possible that I may be able to present some jottings of personal observation not absolutely devoid of novelty, as few, except those who have visited them, are familiar with the West Indies. Europe is so well known, through the multitude of descriptions by tourists, that it is difficult to pick up anything noteworthy in its well-gleanod fields ; but we are comparatively so uninformed regarding the islands I am about to visit, that something may be found to communicate not altogether trite and common-place. I have had a thrilling ex perience already ; nothing remarkable in the occurrence itself, for the winds have blown and the waves have rolled ever since "the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters," but it was a novel encounter with a hurricane in a smaller vessel that I had ever been in before during a gale.

The attempt to convey an idea of the little unpleasantness through which we passed will involve my experimental effort at de scription, and if I succeed, I shall be encouraged to proceed with less difficult subjects. Not that I would be presump tuous enough to venture upon describing a storm at sea, for it would require an able writer to portray by adequate ex pression that sublime exhibition of majestic force. I shall simply tell you how I felt about it. I do not expect in this brief voyage to meet with wonderful adventures, such as are recorded in the veracious chron icles of Sindbad the Sailor, or Gulliver's travels. I take occa sion to remark here that, when a boy, before the days of dime novels and the trashy compounds that now supply the youthful mind, I devoured the pages of Gulliver.

I never believed all the marvels contained in Swift's great work. I regarded Gulliver as some graduate of Trinity College, Dub lin, sent out as a special correspondent, by an enterprising newspaper, on a political survey, who drew upon his imagination to offset the drafts on his publisher. It is now generally conceded — except out in Kansas, where they still read the agricultural columns in farmers' journals — that the adventures of Baron Munchausen are fabulous. Mungo Park told the truth, perhaps, about the compassionate negro women ; but I never credited the description of certain animals by Vol taire. The voyages of Captain Cook are full of interest ; and funny things were "did" by Captain Kidd " as he sailed." The invasion of Mexico by Cortez afforded material for nar ratives of absorbing interest ; only excelled in modern times by the thrilling adventures of the daring Sergeant Bates, who fearlessly invaded the United States with a United States flag, and ran the risk of having it seized for debt at a village tavern.

Pizarro is a figure enchanting to the young reader, who is afflicted by the sorrows of Cora. The travels of Father De Smet among the Indians beyond the Rocky Mountains, are highly entertaining ; as are the accounts of the discovery of Peruvian bark by the Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay. It is the bark of a tree. Rome was saved by the hissing of geese, but it remained for the Jesuits to work a miracle and make a tree bark to chase away fever. It may have been a deception, however, for there is a story told (possibly an invention of the Pope Joan order) that the bark was produced by one of their own Or der, an Irish priest named Ouinquin, suffering from the influ enza. He is supposed to have been a relation of a sailor nicknamed Tar Ouin, a beastly fellow, mentioned unfavor ably by Shakespeare and other chroniclers of the times, but who, if he lived in our day, would probably become a candidate for the Legislature on the Reform ticket.

There are cer tain antiquated notions about the sanctity of the marital rela tion which, in the progress of the age, require readjustment. Some, however, readjust themselves without regard to law. I don't expect to see anything in my travels so strange as the land described by Prester John, in his letter to the Em peror Manuel Comnenus, which is supposed to have been written by his private secretary, one Morey. The Morey letter is still preserved in the tomb of Barnum as a memento mori. I shall not give all the marvelous things he says in this letter of Prester John, for the Morey writes, the less I believe, but here are some extracts. He commences mod estly enough : "John, Priest by the Almighty power of God and the Might of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to his friend Emanuel, Prince of Constantinople, greet ing, wishing him health, prosperity, and the continuance of Divine favor."

His household service was performed by a small staff, con sisting of the following servants : " Seven kings wait upon us monthly, in turn, with sixty two dukes, two hundred and fifty-six counts and marquises ; and twelve archbishops sit at table with us on our right, and twenty bishops on the left, besides the patriarch of St. Thomas, the Sarmatian Protopope, and the Archpope of Susa. Our lord high steward is a primate and king, our cup-bearer is an archbishop and king, our chamberlain a bishop and king, our marshal a king and abbot." The palace in which " our Supereminency " resides is par tially described as follows : " Ceilings, joists, and architrave are of Sethym wood, the roof of ebony, which can never catch fire. Over the gable of the palace are, at the extremities, two golden apples, in each of which are two carbuncles, so that the gold may shine by day, and the carbuncles by night.

The greater gates of the palace are of sardius, with the horn of the horned snake inwrought, so that no one can bring poison within." "The other portals are of ebony. The windows are of crystal ; the tables are partly of gold, partly of amethyst, and the columns supporting the tables are partly of ivory, partly of amethyst. The court in which we watch the jousting is floored with onyx, in order to increase the courage of the combatants." This description of his house maybe exaggerated. There is always a little latitude given in these matters. Perhaps this was an advertisement of sale on a mortgage given to his plumber to pay for stopping a leak in the water-pipe. The territory of Prester John contained a variety of animals, as will be seen by the following list, which reads like one of Faughpore's menagerie posters : " Our land is the home of elephants, dromedaries, camels, crockadiles, meta-collinarum, cametennus, tensevetes, wild apes, white and red lions, white bears, white merles, crickets, griffins, tigers, lamias, hyenas, wild horses, wild oxen, and wild men, men with horns, one-eyed, men with eyes before and behind, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, pygmies, forty-ell-high giants, Cyclopses, and similar women ; it is the home too of the phenix, and of nearly all living animals.

We have some people subject to us who feed on the flesh of men and of prematurely born animals, and who never fear death. When any of these people die, their friends and relatives eat him ravenously, for they regard it as a main duty to munch human flesh. Their names are Gog and Magog, Anie, Agit, Azenach, Fommeperi, Befari, Conei-Samante, Agrimandri, Vintefolei, Casbei, Alanei. These and similar nations were shut in behind lofty mountains by Alexander the Great, toward the North. We lead them at our pleasure against our foes, and neither man nor beast is left undevoured if our Majesty gives the requisite permission. And when all our foes are eaten, then we return with our hosts home again." This is an economical way to dispose of prisoners ; it saves the cost of transportation and maintenance.

Instead of being compelled to maintain them, they maintain you. Had this system been in operation during our war, we would not now be compelled to endure the infliction of flatulent political orators who ruthlessly "proceed to state and relate how our poor prisoners suffered at Andersonville." In the list of monsters I find no mention of the accident-insurance agent. He must be a modern animal. Would that he were of the Megatherii or Plesiosauri. I fancy that Prester John was a mythical potentate, al though the indefatigable traveller Sir John Mandevil explains his priestly title, and Marco Polo identifies him with a Tartar Khan. Uncle John (no relation of Prester John) remarked that if the description of this truculent despot be correct, he must have been a hard case ; a sort of austere Khan.

I don't know what he meant ; it was some poor pun, I suppose. My main reason for doubting the existence of this mighty monarch is the claim put forth in this extract from his letter : " All riches such as are upon the world, our Magnificence possesses in superabundance. With us no one lies, for he who speaks a lie is thenceforth regarded as dead ; he is no more thought of, or honored by us. No vice is tolerated by us." Surely this must be a forgery. The idea of a country where nobody lies. We cannot grasp it in our favored land, where nearly everybody lies ; except railroad managers who become millionaires. It is evident that Ireland was within his dominions, for he says, " Our land streams with honey, and is overflowing with milk. In one region grows no poisonous herb, nor does a querulous frog ever quack in it ; no scorpion exists, nor does any serpent glide among the grass, nor can any poisonous animals exist in it, or injure any one."

Yet, in the face of this, the Irish St. Brandan sailed away from the land of my forefathers in search of Paradise, and found it somewhere east of Ireland. The Green Isle itself would have been selected as the site of Paradise but for a climatic obstacle : the snake who tempted Eve couldn't live on Irish ground. I mention this to rebut the claim put forth by certain over-zealous members of the Land League, that Ireland was actually the Garden of Eden until the landlord came in. As St. Brandan found Paradise in the East, there is no use of my looking for it in the West Indies. Besides, my paradise nearer home is good enough for me. You must not expect me to discover Atlantis or the For tunate Isles, for I shall be too busy, keeping an eye on the steward to see that he has the mineral-water box packed with ice, and jealously watching the cook lest he delay the dinner; which duties devolve on me as navigator of the ship's saloon.

Still I shall send you something that may vary the dull ex panse of news in the Utica newspapers, regarding the color of Reuben Snif kin's new barn on Quality Hill, the quantity of doughnuts contributed at Elder Silas Tartough's donation party at Empeyville, or conveying the startling intelligence that Ellie Dodkins had gone to spend two days with Daisie Schlunker at Log City. You know we intended to sail on the nth of February, and the yacht was at the dock that day, with stores aboard, patent-leather pumps packed, and everything ship-shape, ready for the voyage. I provided a sou'wester (a head cover ing of oiled silk, something like a poke-bonnet with a long cape, a sort of cross between a coal-scuttle and a sun-um brella), water-proof boots (the maker wants me to mention his name here, but I won't), and a heavy india rubber overcoat, formerly lyricised as hooptedoodendoo.

I have not worn them yet, but I feel the nautical influence of possession, and already speak of north as " noathe," and no longer verdantly talk of going down-stairs to take something. All we needed for a start was a nor'westwind (we don't say northwest in the navy) and the lifting of a pertinacious fog, which stuck like a book-peddler, or a porous plaster to a gauze undershirt in August. We waited patiently for ten days, but the fog didn't lift as much as a shoveler in the street-cleaning brigade ; nor did the wind shift, but was as obstinate as Carl Schurz in his adherence to one political party. That nor'wester sulked away up in Alaska or somewhere else, utterly disregarding our bland invitations to pay us a visit east and join in a send off. We had a send-off every day ; our friends congregating in hilarious numbers, devouring the ship's stores, and wishing us bon voyage with kindly fervor and unabated enthusiasm which seemed to grow with what it fed upon.

That send-off became as monotonous as the Mulligan letters, sermons de scribing the novel horrors of intemperance, or diatribes on the infamy of Governors who pardon men improperly sen tenced so as to override our liberties with convict votes. Undaunted by the unpropitious weather, our visitors continued to throng to the send-off, making away with edibles, bib ables and fumibles, and heartily promising to call again to-morrow, with an alacritous cheerfulness and sympathetic vigor that evinced the greatest interest in our detention. We were enabled during this sluggish period to feel the force of La Rochefoucauld's apophthegm, that we always derive more or less consolation from the misfortunes of even our best friends. Yet we found much comfort in these visits, without which our stay, tied up to the dock, would have been ex tremely dull, dreary, and disagreeable.

The tie that bound us so long to that send-off was a strong one, not easily broken. The delay, although vexatious to the voyagers, had its compensation for me, as it enabled me to attend a ceremony where my presence was particularly desired by those inter ested. It was a coincidence worthy of attention, that the very afternoon of this event the wind veered around suddenly, coming out of the northwest, the skies cleared, and we were permitted to depart, as if the weather had been waiting for this event before giving us a clearance to sail. Whether this was a providential interposition, as was claimed by some pious ladies who had assailed Providence with prayerful im portunity, I am unable to say. I have not the ear of the Court, and am not consulted regarding the framing of decrees at Special Term ; but it certainly was remarkable that the clearing of the sky and the performance of this ceremony were coincident.

It was regarded as an auspicious omen, not only because the opportune detention rendered my par ticipation possible, and spared the disappointment that ab sence would have caused ; but because of the superstition connected with the old saying, " Happy the bride the sun shines on." I bought a compass. Not a large one, for I am not strong enough as a mariner yet to wrestle with a full-sized instru ment, but a miniature affair, to hang on my watch-chain as a charm. I can get points in navigation on that compass ; I could see them as soon as I put it on. What is a sailor without a com pass ? Having shipped behind the mast, that guide became indispensable. Without it, I might have lost my bearings in tacking up Broadway, and strayed into Trinity Church in stead of the Stevens House, or gone ashore at the City Hall, and been wrecked on promontorial Hubert O. Thompson.

At length, on the twenty-first day of February, A.D. 1884, the good schooner yacht Montauk, flying the broad pennant of Rear Commodore Samuel R. Platt, New York Yacht Club, left her berth, at Pier 3 North River, and sailed away. As we were towed out of the slip before nine o'clock, it was too early for our friends to give us the final send-off; for which extensive preparation had been made, with full-dress rehear sals and consumption of genuine properties, every day for nearly two weeks. As they were not present to receive any thing else, we gave them the slip ; that is, we left it behind, and they can occupy it if they pay wharfage. That send-off was linked sweetness (with a dash of bitters and bit of lemon peel) long drawn out. It must be adhering to the vicinity of South Ferry yet. It certainly did not come off.