The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-18 00:00:00

VOYAGE HO.

;EAT EASTERN.

The following account of the last voyage of the Great
Eastern from New York to Liverpool was written by a
passenger, and published in the New York, _Presbyterian :
—Upon men absorbed in the contemplation of the issues of
rebellion against the institutions of freedom it were cer-
tainly more and worse than impertinent to obtrude an ac-
count of an ordinary passage of the Atlantic. My apology
for the apparent intrusion is, that ours was not an ordinary
passage. A voyage in the Great Eastern cannot, in the
present state of Transatlantic navigation, bo regarded as an
ordinary voyage ; and ours was, I am happy to say, per-
formed on the Great Eastern. In every respect it was a
memorable voyage. In respect of speed, it will compare
favourably with the best trips of the swiftest transatlantic
steamers, under the most favourable circumstances. The
passage from New York to Liverpool was made in nine
days and twelve hours. The ship's log exhibits the follow-
ing rate of speed per day, the distance run being in nau-
tical miles, which, be it remembered, are about one-
sixth more than an English mile :-350, 350, 343, 295, 312,
325, 335, 320. These high figures on the log are inter-
spersed with such notittice nautim as the following
Squally ;" high, rolling sea ;" " fresh gale, and beam
sea ;" "strong gale, with terrific squalls ;" "strong breeze,
and hard squalls." These notes on the log remind me o
the Scotch minister's sermon on the plague, preached seve-
ral years after the plague had pi evailed, The good old man
had put his hand rather far down in the " barrel," and thus
had got into a region fertile in anachronisms. In the course
of delivery he denounced his hearers for their ungodliness,
and, to their astonishment, told them that their present
plague was a judgment upon them for their sins. When
asked by his elders, who were greatly alarmed by the dis-
course, where the plague was, he replied, " I dinna ken, ex-
cept it be in the sermon l" The same remark may be made
by the passengers of the Great Eastern, on her late trip, in
reference to the" strong gales" and " terrific squalls" recorded
in her log. They ken nothing about them except that they
are on the log. They were occasionally awaked to a con-
sciousness of the fact that they were at sea, and that there
were both wind and waves outside, by the whistling of the
cordage, or the initial effort of a hat or cap to make its
escape overboard, or by the pitching and plunging of some
passing ship, as she reeled and staggered over the billows;
but apart from such instruments of suggestion and com-
parison, it was difficult to disabuse the mind of the impres
sion that the noble ship was moving along the smooth
waters of the Hudson or the Delaware. Nothing but a
ground swell, with its broad shoulders, and freight of
minor waves, seemed capable of the majesty of their mighty
momentum, as they washed athwart her pathway, were
impotent to mar a promenade upon her specious deck, or
move the dishes upon her sumptuous tables. The whole
scene was more like life at a watering-place than life at
sea. The pleasure of the trip was greatly enhanced by the
kind, considerate, gentlemanly attentions of our excellent
commander, Captain Paton. Throughout the passage
he acted upon the principle that it was as much his
duty to promote the comfort and happiness of his passen-
gers as to secure their safety ; and I feel that it were a
grave omission not to make record of the parental care with
which he watched over and ministered to all classes of his
passengers. Remembering that those who sailed with him
had souls as well as bodies, he made provision for their
spiritual as well as their physical wants. Each of our two
Sabbaths brought with it the most ample and commodious
arrangements for public worship, both in the first cabin and
steerage. On the latter day there were no fewer than four
services—one in the first cabin, one in the steerage, and two
on deck. The former of the two deck services was one
of the captain's own devising. After what I have said
above, it were almost supererogation to give the public
my opinion of the Great Eastern. My opinion may be
inferred from my purpose—a purpose entertained by all
who sailed with me, viz., to sail in no other ship if it be
possible to obtain a passage in her returning to Ame-
rica. This purpose was universal. I met with no pas-
senger who was not filled with admiration for this mar-
vellous ship. Hitherto she has been on probation, but it is
my persuasion that her probation is ended, and that the
verdict of her passengers on her late trip from New York
will very soon be the verdict of the public. In view of the
many humiliating failures of "eminent correspondents," I
am aware of the risk I run in entering upon the sphere of
the prophetic ; but, notwithstanding the risk incident to
prophecy, I venture to predict that before 10 years the At-
lantic will bear on its bosom many steamers of the class of
the Great Eastern. No man can tread her decks, as she
glides in majesty over the deep, without feeling that he has
beneath him the only suitable vehicle yet devised for con-
tending with old ocean in his crested might. In her naval
architecture she has reached a point from which an enlight-
ened age will not suffer it to recede. Transatlantic steamers
of smaller dimensions are as certainly doomed as have been
the triremes of Caesar and Anthony, or the immobile hulks
of Drake and Nelson. The Great Eastern had demonstrated
the practicability of vessels of her class—and it were
crime against the progress of the race, and a sin against
the science of the nation, not to sustain her.

CO UN2.RI MARK.L S.

~.___

NEWCASTLE—SATURDAY.
The supply of wheat to-day was moderate, with a quick
sale, and the prices of last week were rather exceeded.
Flour firm, and the turn dearer. Grinding barley at full'',
last week's quotations. Oats, beans, and peas steady, and
the prices of last week were obtained.