Them to our kitchens, generally contrived to render
the greater portion uneatable. The advantage of rising from table with
an appetite is one which I have usually tried on board ship, having
only in few instances, during my numerous voyages, been fortunate
enough to find food upon which I dared to venture.
The more I have seen of government ships, the more certain I feel that
they are not adapted to carry passengers. The authorities appear to
think that people ought to be too thankful to pay an enormous price
for the worst species of accommodation. The commandants have not
been accustomed to attend to the minutiae which can alone secure the
comfort of those who sail with them, while the officers, generally
speaking, endeavour to show their contempt of the service in which
they are sent, against their inclination, by neglect and even rudeness
towards the passengers.
While on board the Berenice, the following paragraph in a Bombay
newspaper struck my eye, and as it is a corroboration of the
statements which I deem it to be a duty to make, I insert it in this
place. "The voyager (from Agra) must not think his troubles at an
end on reaching Bombay, or that the steam-packets are equal to the
passenger Indiaman in accommodation.
