CHAPTER VII.

COUSIN SIMEON.

ONE Saturday the mail-wagon brought us something interesting a letter from Cousin Simeon: the whole family, my Aunt, her two daughters, Uncle John and myself, soon got together to hear it read. It ran thus:

Dear Mother,

First let me tell you, what you will be right glad to hear, that my health is quite restored. I am so fat and red-faced that when I look into the glass I say, "Is this really I, Simeon Hartwell, whom all the Doctors could'nt save?" What a blessing, Mother, it is to have flesh; I can now sit or lie without complaint of bones. But my clothes, which were made for Simeon the lean, are much too tight for Simeon the fat. I arrived here only ten days ago; having had a long passage of fifty days. This country is so unlike the one I have been accustomed too, that I seem almost to be in another world, and I have much to say about it: but let me first tell you somewhat of our voyage out. For some days after I left my native land I was very sick, and kept in my berth; I thought I should die, and never see my dear friends again. The Captain, a rough talking, but at heart,

I believe, very kind man, did what he could for me, and at last, after much persuasion and some threats, got me up on deck. What a sight was there for a landsman! nothing but water, water, far as the eye could see. I looked in all directions for land, but could see none. I lay down on the deck and felt alone, without a friend in the world. I am almost ashamed to say that I shed tears; but I was so weak, so comfortless. I can even now hardly bear to think of the state I was then in, and will say no more about it. Soon I got appetite for food, and strength, and began to feel an interest in the weather, which is a very important thing at sea, where one is so left to the mercy of the winds and waves. Indeed, Mother, I felt the truth of what you have so often told me; that we are always dependent on a higher Being; and I resolved, if health was again given me, to devote more of my time and thoughts to Him. We had many calm, hot days before we got into the trade winds. Some days were dreadful; all around and over us hung white clouds quite motionless; the ground-swell of the sea hove lazily along, and the sails flapped idly against the masts. The vessel could not be steered, and swung round and round to all points of the compass. Oh, these calm days at sea are hardly endurable. We looked anxiously in every quarter for wind, and felt our utter helplessness; a little motion in the clouds gave us hope; and when I saw far off that darkening and rippling of the waters which denote the coming breeze; when at last it came, cooling my cheek and filling the sails, I felt the beauty of that passage in Genesis, "The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." We were, as my journal says. for I have kept a journal since I have been well enough to write, which will, I hope, some day amuse you – we were twenty-five

days in what sailors call the "variables," before we got into the trade winds, and sometimes, I thought we should never get to our journey's end. We did, however, at last get the "trades," and went merrily along before a steady north-east breeze.

I have learnt enough of navigation on this voyage, to know that every Captain should have a chronometer to ascertain the longitude: but our Captain had none and seemed quite uneasy; not without reason I believe, if there is any truth in these words printed on the cover of his nautical almanac: "The seamen knows that his lat

itude is sure to know also, that his longitude is correct, is the strongest feeling of his heart, except his love for his wife and bairns." If you and sisters don't know about longitude and the use of a chronometer, Uncle John, who knows a lit le of everything, can explain the matter to you. By the Captain's reckoning we were west of the Cape de Verd Islands; but he was mistaken, for lo, one day, about sunset,. land appeared right ahead. It was covered with fog and we were very near it. What a time there was then! "Starboard the helm, pull in the studding sails," hurra boys. The vessel was hauled close by the wind, (ask Uncle John again,) and we tacked about all night listening to the unpleasant sound of breakers under our lee. The night seemed very long, and I, with the crew, watched till dawn of day. Truly it was an exciting scene; the wind increased in violence and our situation was a dangerous one. About midnight a light appeared at the mast head, and the sailors whispered anxiously together. Morning however came at last, and by the blessed light of day we saw land again. We ran down before the wind, through a passage among the islands there are ten in all. We sailed nearest to

St. Nicholas, and it looked barren enough, being mostly a mass of high rocks with little appearance of vegetation. We saw no signs of inhabitants, though there are some on the southerly part. St. Nicholas is, I suppose, the patron saint of the island: if the inhabitants ever thank him, I think they must say. "Thank you for nothing St. Nicholas." Barren as this land looked, I rejoiced in the sight of it; for it had a firm, fixed appearance, unlike the restless ocean, and I felt that I was still in the old world I had known so long. We soon lost sight of it, and in some fourteen days afterward we crossed the equator, which, as the geography books say, is "an imaginary line."

Here we had abundance of rain, awful looking clouds such as I never saw before, and thunder and lightning with heavy squalls of wind. But I cannot describe these things to you here; you shall read of these and many more in my Journal; of the vessels we saw at sea, of monstrous whales and sharks, and porpoises; of beautiful dolphins and flying fishes, of tropic birds and Mother Cary's Chickens. Perhaps, Mother, you will say, as the Scotch woman did to her son who told stories of the wonders he had seen. "Ye may hae seen mountains of sugar and rivers of milk, but ye'll ne'er gar me believe ye hae seen a fish that could flee." I should have said before, that after I got an appetite, I began to rummage among my stores and made sad havoc : before we reached south latitude I had devoured all but it did'nt matter much, for my appetite was so great that nothing came amiss; beef, pork, or ship bread. The Captain used to say, it did him good to see me eat. - One morning at dawn of day, I was called out of my berth to see land once more; and I can assure you, I did not loiter. There

it lay, a long, low line of coast; a glad sight to me; and close alongside our vessel was a fishing boat of strange construction, being formed of five or six round logs fastened together making a kind of raft, on which were three negroes and a tub to contain fish. It had one large triangular sail, and is called, as the Captain says, a catamaran. Every wave washed over it, and the men were in water nearly to the knee half the time. Soon, as we sailed toward the land, I saw the City of Pernambuco, with ships lying in the harbor; and a little way north of it, on a hill, the City of Olinda. They looked very pretty and neat, especially the latter, all the buildings being white among dark green foliage. About 8 o'clock a pilot, rowed by four half naked negroes, came off to take us into port: how unlike was he to the one who, fifty days before, brought us out. He wore pumps and white stockings, yellow trousers, a blue nankin frock coat, the skirts reaching to his heels, a white waistcoat, and a white hat. Such as he was, however, he took us safely into the inner harbor; where about sixty vessels of many nations, lay moored alongside of each other, for the harbor is small. The scene was interesting enough to me. Many different national flags fluttered in the wind, and all around I heard shoutings in unknown tongues. About musket-shot from us, lay the beehive of a city swarming with negroes. I got on shore soon as possible, and was quite disappointed in one respect for this City of Pernambuco, which appeared so neat, seen at a distance, proved very dirty on actual inspection. With some difficulty, I found my way to the house of the American merchant, to whom I had a letter he received me very kindly, and invited me to lodge in his house; but I have slept every night on board the vessel, for I feel quite at home there