M.D. is rejected; notwithstanding I have been connected with quarantine and lunacy, and ought therefore to be well up in both sanity and insanity. We have a well-supplied medicine-chest belonging to the yacht, but that is of the allopathic complexion, while Uncle John is a homœopathist. Nobody knows how to administer the dose prescribed by allopathy, while Uncle John is as skillful as Hahnemann himself. Still we go in for discipline, and if we are to be dosed, insist upon the regular ship's medicine-chest, according to the number and direction; so between the rival schools of allopathy and homoeopathy we consult neither and take no medicine. The result is, we are all well, except Uncle John, who is not going to take the trouble of bringing medicine aboard for nothing, and affects a slight illness in order to demonstrate the efficacy of his own prescriptions. It must be admitted, however, that he is not a homœopathic bigot. He yields to a limited extent on the question of pills, and is a great advocate of the virtues of those made according to the formula of Dr. James, by a prescription which has been handed down among the traditions of the Woodmarket. Uncle John always keeps them on hand. Through love of my old home, as soon as I learned that they were made in Utica, I took some of the pills myself, although I needed no medicine at the time. I don't know what they are intended for; I didn't find out.

The other guest of our princely host is an old friend of Uncle John's, now holding a responsible place in the government of New York City. They formerly owned a yacht together, and were chums when members of the Volunteer Fire Department in its palmy days. Their reminiscences of stirring incidents, when the old department was in its glory, are highly interesting, and serve to while away many an hour be fore we turn in at night.

It would be hard to find four voyagers who get along bet

ter together than we do. We discuss religion and politics without rancor, air a great deal of knowledge of law, physic, and divinity, and descant learnedly on fashion and the musical glasses. What we don't know about seamanship might be learned from the cook of an Erie Canal lake-boat, who is a seafaring man. There is but one thing to mar in the slightest degree our perfect harmony; but a shadow will intrude even in the best-regulated and brightest circles. Notwithstanding

their intimate friendship for years, there occasionally crops out a jealous feeling between Uncle John and the Commissioner, which is painful to the Commodore and myself. This baleful influence is-dominos.

Uncle John, who is fertile in preparations, has another special compound, for which he claims great erasive and purifying virtues. It is called detergent, and he claims that, if given a fair trial, it would clean out the Philadelphia city government, or make the Utica Gulf (redolent of Governor's veto) smell sweet. It is good for almost every purpose except eating, and I am not sure that he would not recommend it, for depilatory as well as detersive powers, against hairs in country-hotel butter. One evening closing in cloudy and unpleasant, the Commodore gravely asked Uncle John if he wouldn't please bring a pinch of detergent on deck and clean up the nasty weather.

7

CHAPTER VIII.

BASSE TERRE.

An Abortive Sunrise-Washing Decks-Sea-ditties-A Shanty SongSombrero-Saba―The Rock-sail-St. Eustatius-St. ChristopherBasse Terre-The Yankee Jack-knife-Hurricanes, Floods, and Pestilence-Dulce-domum.

1

ST. CHRISTOPHER (St. Kitt's), March 16, 1884. OFTEN, when at sea heretofore, have I promised myself a first-class view of sunrise, but something always happened, or didn't happen, to prevent this enjoyment. Usually the insignificant obstacle was my failure to get up in time. It is not so easy to " rise up William Reilly" on a passenger steamer; but there is comparatively little difficulty aboard a yacht, particularly when one occupies a state-room aft, when all that is necessary is to turn out from the bunk into the companionway, and then, in three steps, the deck is reached. Besides, the preliminaries of toilet arrangement, putting up the back hair and curling the front, are not de rigueur. There is a Spartan simplicity of attire maintained, not customary where there are many observers on deck. I had, on rare occasions, seen the sunrise on shore-returning from parties, traveling by rail, or attending early church service-but a full-dress sunrise at sea I had never witnessed, although many opportunities had offered during years of travel. So I determined to secure a front seat-like a church elder at a "Black Crook" performance away from home-and take in an uninterrupted view of the gorgeous spectacle. I had been so derelict in

attendance at the levees of his solar majesty all my life, that I resolved to make reparation by early presence at this late day (repenting, like the elect member who goes straight to heaven by the eleventh hour, gallows air line) and therefore arranged to be called in season.

Accordingly I was notified one morning by the Commissioner-whose expansive and handsome presence occupied a considerable portion of the quarter-deck, airily arrayed in voluminous envelopment à la mode de lit-that the sun was about to rise, and would be glad to see me on deck. I mounted the companion-way, protruded my ivory bang through the opening, and saw, lighting up the eastern sky, a faint pink suffusion, the precedent promise of the advent of the god of day (which I take it is the correct reportorial style, according to the late lamented Micawber). I waited patiently for a long time, but no sun appeared. I couldn't have displayed more patience had I been like some young fellow waiting outside a church-door, while the clergyman preached a long-winded evening sermon at his best girl inside. Meantime the moon was yet shining refulgent, high above the western horizon; holding her own with true feminine pertinacity, bright as if she were engaged for just one more waltz before retiring. The pink suffusion continued, with fluttering suspicion of a crimson flush, like a trace of raspberry syrup in a circus lemonade, but still the sun lingered below the sea, as if reluctant to appear, blushing at being caught with his rays down, in the morning by the bright light. I think I waited two décolleté hours to see that sun rise, and then withdrew. I suppose that, on account of some derangement of scenery, the performance for my special benefit has been postponed until a more favorable occasion. The fact is, the faint reflection came an hour or so before the sun was ready to turn out, and the Commissioner, whose habits do

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not make him familiar with early morning appearances, being unaware of that atmospheric peculiarity, treated me as a sluggard and waked me too soon. When the luminary did rise, he was smothered behind a pillow of cloud which hid him from view until long after breakfast. Perhaps he took his own breakfast in bed. But I saw some delicate tints of green, saffron, ashes-of-roses, red, yellow and écru, which fully repaid my devotion to his worship, the sun, for they gave me glowing ideas for a scarf, before which I purpose to make Uncle John pale his ineffectual fires, when I return to New York, where silks are cheap.

The Persians at Ispahan salute the rising sun with flourish of trumpets. I won't adopt that cult unless it is changed to the setting orb, to suit my convenience. Pompey said that more worship the rising than the setting sun, but he had in view the distribution of offices. I'll stay with the minority; I feel more at home. I haven't essayed the sunrise act since this failure, and, as it is doubtful if I make another effort, you may imagine, if you please, all kinds of eloquent and felicitous descriptions and credit them to me. One can always describe better without seeing. Then the imagination is not clogged by the trammels of accuracy, as are the utterances of agitators, reformers, editors, revivalists, auctioneers, and members of Congress. I think I should recog

nize the face of the morning sun if I should happen to see him, though when we met 'twas in a cloud. However, if I am behind in attendance at the lever du soleil, I make it up by being punctual at the couchée. While I may not see him rise, I am always on hand at sunset.

Speaking of rising. I had the best of the sailors that morning. They didn't have the opportunity to waken me, as is their spiteful usage. It is their barbarous custom to stamp around overhead, disturbing my innocent slumbers,