But at 12 we are in total darkness - the ship rolls and pitches
- every now and then a sea strikes her, and burr - hush - swish - goes the
water over her sides or bows, and along her decks.
Then the men above run about, ropes are pulled, sails set or taken in,
and a general hullabaloo goes on - no doubt in the interest of the
passengers - but very disagreeable. Then the boatswain's whistle - Pee-
ee-ee ah! Pee-ee-ee ah-h-h! - every now and then wakes you up. Light is
a comfort, and darkness at sea seems to aggravate the strange feeling
which now and then affects you, as you think you are following a great
road without track or guide - save that which the stars, if visible, and
the previous day's observations afford.
"On Saturday morning (10 August) I was called up to see the Great
Eastern: and certainly an immense steamer was making its way eastward,
about 15 miles due north of us. You will see by the date of her arrival
if she was the object we saw or not. Saturday was very cold. We had
heard at Queenstown, from a note from Capt. Stone to Judkins, that
icebergs had been seen on the homeward passage, and at 3 o'clock we saw
ahead of us something which looked like the wreck of a steamer - but
which was pronounced to be ice.
