- ships often make less than a hundred miles a day, and,
when the wind is very unfavorable, lose in twenty-four hours all they have made in three or four days. . . . We are followed every day by the albatross: great birds which sail for hours against the wind without moving a wing. The sailors say that the young, after reaching a certain age, and being made very fat, are deserted by their parents, and have nothing to eat for six months. At the end of that time they are able to fly, and seek food for themselves. . . . In the smoking-room today I heard a man say that every vicious person may be detected by looking at his ears. If the tops of his ears are as low as his eyes, look out for him; he is dangerous.
Monday, February 17.—The manner in which the
male passengers on ships drink coffee in the smoking-room,
after dinner, has been getting on my nerves;
but just as I was working up a fine case of indignation,
I found the custom did not prevail on the "Anchises."
On this ship those men who wish coffee after dinner,
drink it in the dining-room, and none is served in the
smoking-room. You cannot realize how unusual this
new rule is unless you have seen the smoking-rooms of
many ships filled with men drinking coffee after dinner.
I wonder the captain of the "Anchises" dared order the
change, but I have not heard any complaints. . . .
Among our acquaintances are a Mr. and Mrs. Steele,
of Sydney. Mr. Steele has been married twice, and
talks a good deal about his daughter in London, and
