Norway, Sweden, into Russia, through its immense extent to the Caspian Sea, visiting the great fair of Nizni Novogorod. We made our way across the Caspian from Astrachan to Asterabad and were caged for a day in the latter town in a sort of wooden structure, in the middle of the only square, and pelted diligently by the hospitable inhabitants with rotten eggs and bad oranges, soft things no doubt, but not the less trying to the temper. Thence we went from the north to the south of Persia, intersecting Kourdistan and Louristan, in the former of which lively spots I found poor Conolly's prayer book, and was shewn by an interesting Kourd the very tree to which he and poor Studdert were tied and foully murdered, the Kourd said because they would not become Mussulmen: we had no intention of being turncoats either, but I expect we owed our whole skin to our poverty, possessing little more than our rifles, horses, and a change of clothes, one shirt off, and another shirt on; I don't mean to say, fair reader, that these were all we started with, but, certainly, they were all we had left, and the Kourds may have reasoned that it was hardly worth risking three of their precious lives in exchange for ours, the value of our possessions included. They all dread the shining of a copper cap. They saw the glare of our caps once, but to this day I do not know how we escaped.

A SURPRISE. -GOOD NEWS FROM HOME.

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However, I was talking, or rather, writing of post bags. We made two attempts to get across land to India from Persia, but failed in both, and at last I found myself landed with a whole skin in Bombay, and calling at the post office, had such a mountain of letters emptied into the palanquin, that I was bothered; no other word will express the sensation. It was, I confess, an anxious moment, when I turned them over to make out from whom they came, and to try and guess from the external marks whether the news was good or bad. At last I began naturally at the wrong end; opening the latest first, and soon became interested upon finding the name of my nearest lady relative, coupled with the Christian name of a man of whom I had never heard. "Dear so and so" was 66 nice," and "they were so happy," and they had written home from such and such a place, and were going to do so and so, in fact, there was no mistaking that a wedding had taken place; but who the "dear, nice," happy man was, and what his name, I had no more idea than the man in the moon. I was thankful indeed that there was no other news, not a single black seal after so long a time, and among a very large circle. The black, however, came only too soon in our own small one; but that has nothing to do with the present voyage.

Well, we wrote letters and smoked, and congratulated ourselves upon the success of our first stage: although nothing at all out of the way, it was the finest passage I had made-eight days and twentyone hours from Waterford Hook to the Rock. We found that the schooner that ran away from us in the morning was the "G," Ryde Club, 160 tons, going out to meet her owner at Malta. She was to sail as soon as she got her coals and water, in the morning, so we determined to start at the same time, and have a bit of a regatta. The Royal Yacht schooner, "L," yawl," and a small schooner yacht, came in about dusk. It blew very hard from the W. in the night; glasses falling.

Tuesday 16th. Strong westerly wind, squally, aneroid down to 29.62: filled up our coals and water; got some fresh provisions; bought an octave of sherry, which was decidedly bad, left my card at the Governor's-good manners! At halfpast one the small schooner got under weigh, and a little after two we sighted our anchor, having first tied down a reef in the mainsail and got our small jib out, as it was blowing fresh. As we passed the "G" she was just leaving her berth, but for some reason she made a tack in the roads, which gave us a start. Stood on starboard tack till we could clear Europa Point; then "jibe oh,"

WE LEAVE THE ROCK.

66

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a critical job in a large schooner when it is blowing hard, and in this case it nearly cost us a man, as he stupidly got foul of the main sheet as it came over. I thought at least his leg was broken, but he providentially escaped with rather a sore bruise. The "G" came round the Point about ten minutes after us, and making a shorter reach, jibed to windward of us. We then fell to work, hoisted the Eva's rags, set square sail and foresail; but the "G-" got her sails set quicker than we did, and no doubt overhauled us. The squalls came heavily off the Rock, convincing me if I had a doubt, that the trysail, and not the mainsail, is the canvass for a schooner running when it is blowing heavily. The weight of your boom guyed out to leeward, by not only burying your lee-quarter, but by making her gripe against the helm, retards her more than the extra extent of canvass or motive power compensates for. My theory is, that the more upright you can keep a vessel in the water, the faster she will sail. Her lines are designed for an upright position, not for one with her lee rails washing. Parties (who I humbly say, know nothing about it) talk of "carrying on," as the term is. All very fine in the smooth water of the Solent; but running in a heavy sea, you may carry on too much for speed.

I believe a vessel would often go faster, not to speak at all of either comfort or safety, when blowing heavy with a wind right aft, with only such canvass as you can put on your foremast. Look at a vessel (fore and aft schooner yachts I am writing of) lying at anchor: you want to list her over for some reason or other. What do you do? Guy your main boom out to whatever side you want to sink, that will give her, generally speaking, at least, a streak list, if not more. Well, what will it do in a heavy sea, where it has the weight of winds and canvass to help it? The more list to leeward you give her, when the greatest pressure is on the aftersail, as it is when running on the mainsail, the greater tendency there will be to broach to against the helm, which, acting solely from resistance, must retard the vessel's progress. It is not, generally speaking, thought advisable to run a vessel under her square-sail only, unless in extreme cases when it is blowing too hard to set any after-canvass; in case of any accident happening which might render it necessary to heave her to, head to wind, in which event the after or main canvas is wanting. Here your trysail comes into play; you get rid of the weight of

your boom to leeward by crutching him to midships (if you can manage to do so to windward, so much the better), you have a lofty narrow sail made