language, and who do not associate much with each other except locally, but the English and American see enough of each other to get together in pronunciation.
Friday, January 10.—Last night I laid my case before
the chief steward, and he said he would fix me up;
that he would take me out of 27, where Mr. Bond devotes
the nights to snoring, and put me in No. 7, with
Mr. Martin. I went to bed in No. 7, complimenting
the chief steward for his disposition to please the passengers,
but in ten minutes Mr. Martin began snoring,
and I spent the night trying to decide if his snore was
not rather more rasping than that of Mr. Bond. At a late
hour I dressed and retreated again to a sofa in the music-room.
But I have not lost my temper; I am rather
disposed, on the contrary, to laugh at myself for spending
a large amount of money in an attempt to have a
"good time.". . . The sea has been smooth today
and we are all much more comfortable, although I do
not believe anyone is getting his money's worth. About
the only excitement on board is the fact that a flock of
albatross are following us. I have always understood
that albatross are rather scarce at sea, but certainly
twenty are in sight as I write this. They often fly
within twenty feet of the ship, and we have opportunity
to examine them carefully. They follow the ship for
hours without moving a wing; they seem to fly by
taking advantage of the wind. . . . We saw several
whales today, and the captain, at whose table we sit,
says he once ran into one, and was compelled to back
out of it.
