Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-06-23

MADEIRA.
Imaginative reader! have you ever been IN
gale of wind on the edge Of the Bay OF Biscay!
T not, and YOU are fond Of variety, 1t is really
worth your while TO take trip to Lisbon or
Madeira, for the chance OF meeting with one.
Calculate YOUR season well in December or ia
mary, when the Southwestern has properly set
in. and YOU will find it one Of the finest and
mos, uncomfortable things in the world. My
pale lasted from Saturday ill Wednesday even
ing, which is something long perhaps for a
nv usement, but ~ gave ample room Tor obser-
walton and philosophy. think still hear that
ipeffabe hubbub of plates and glasses breaking,
chairs and tables falling, women screaming,
sailors piping, officers swearing, the wind whist
ling, and the sea roaring, which awakened me
abou, two O'Clock on Monday, from one of those
sweet dreams, wherein, through infinite chan
pes and indistinct combinations of imagery,
thy loved form, Eugene, for ever prevails in its
real and natural beauty. The Atlantic was
gushing in through my port in very refresh
inp manner and rbbing and flowing under and
around nv bed with every roll of the ship. My
clothes were floating on the face of the waters.
turned to sleep again, but the sea came with
tina, awful dead slcdge-hammer beat, which
makes lsndsman's heart tremble, and the i'm
pertinent quotation OF some poor scholar IN the
next cabin about guatuor ant septem dgRoS,
brushed every atom OF Morphic dust from my
ewes. sal bolt upright, and Tor some time
contemplated, by the glimmering OF the sentry's
lantern, the huge disarray of my pretty den;
6sh,d Tor nv clothes, but they were bathing;
esssyed 10 rise, but could find no resting place
70, Inc sole of rheumatic foot However,
vas somewhat consoled BY sailor who came
IN haze out the wafer at day break" fine
breeze. sir, ouv it's dead on end for us; and TO
BE- sure. minds the Apollo and thirty-two mar
eban,uen were lost somewhere IN these here
nar,s" II was kindly meant Of Jack, no doubt,
,houob he was out in his latitude by eight de-
grves at least.
Think never shall forget the scene OF beau
" and terror which presented llseli TO me on
deck. Every thing, indeed, became tame by
Ionp, familiarity, and the old mariner has no
eve for any Thing in gale except his topmasts;
bnt 10 the fresh and apprehensive mind, what
Is there on land so unspeakahly grand as
storm ON the ocean? The lone ship under tire
,ble reefcd topsais and staySails lay grooming
like gigantic skeleton IN agony; dreadful
hedge nr wall Of waters confined the horizon 10
hundred wards around us; the sea as black as
death, save when, as each enormous wave rose
on high, the furious blast caught up ITS long
ores, of foam, and dashed IL into atoms oil smo-
XIV mist. The sun shone out with wild ap-
nearance at intervals; and the rays oil iiSht, re-
frac red by the spray shower, formed themselves
into fairy arches of prismatic coloring IN every
direction as far as the eye cohld IeaCh. oh
Tuesday the wind luled for some tine, but al
nigh, il blew again as before; and on Wednes-
d,r we had succession Of squalls at intervals
= Sh1 no
o,her which exceeded in violence any thing |
could have imagined. Under the last OF them
tbe ,oD. ral,aut masts qui,ered like reeds, the
shrouds gave music like Eoilah harps, ana inc
owes of ,be silen' veterans were fixed anxlousIy
aioo 7, .,as the diving blast Of Africus; the
rain came down in torrents, the wind Tell, and
,vs wore left a, the mercy of dead mountaine-
Gus swell of furlong in length, which put the
good ship almost on her beam ends.
Buonaparte had the credit oil saying that
There was but one step from the sublime to the
ridiculous, there were precisely seven on board
His Maies,v's ship. On deck all was terrible
or lovely; in the cabin every thing was absurd
mr. disgusting. 1t IS idle to attempt the descrip-
t;on. for the thing has been done before; carpets
cut up, water dashing to and fro, headlights
in, lack.ustre lamp, sea-Pye, men and wo-
men hungry and thirsty and nauseatic, proJec-
tions of plates, chairs, knives, servants, soup,
wives together with husbands, and all other APP
.,urtenances under Ice lurch, ill-humor, ha-
tired, vomiting, malice, and all uncharitable-
ness. formed the grand feature of the picture.
cannot go on with the details; mems refngit;
dislike dwelling on the inhrmites OF humanity
Ths wind came round fair, the sea fell
,r,oo,b. the sun shone brightly, the sky was
n;,hont a cloud for week afterwards, and on
,he las, day Of 1924 we made and passed Porto
Sarto and shrouded in clouds, Madeira rose
before Us.
ocean. thou paradise of the Atlantic! | have
no hear, to take up my pen to write oil the Gays
which spent in thee: surely they were days
Of epchaa,men, intercalated in the year OF com
mon reality, ethereal moments lslanaed IKE
thysef. in the vast sea Of time! Dear England
thou ar, noble country, wise, powerful ahe
yirtuous-but thou hast no such purple "a'e'
as those which swell towards Funchai; tho'
has, no such breezes of intoxication as tnost
which then famed my cheek and carrieo am
NATION TO my heart: thou hast no over archeo
avenues of vines, no golden clusters OF orange