New-York daily tribune., 1851-09-29
LETTER FROM BAYARD TAYLOR.
LIFE or THE ATLANTIC
Editorial Correspohdenee OF The Tribuhe
LIVERPOOL, England, Sep, II, 1851.


thing one might as well write an account OF amp,
from Canal.st to Coney Island, as Of voyage
across the Atlantic. The gbooAs OF al ii~A'
ner of tourists have made everybody idD'i"a'
with the course Of incidents from per 10 per
the disappearance Of ones native shoie dh1 '"'
conlng-On OF -ea-sckness--touchins ei''o.io.'
and deadly nausea--pofpolses ana 'he "ui'
Strearn-fors on the Newfoundland ban"S-ge''
hans whale or a vessel within nall ana theh
great blank of blue water, over which the Foy-
aoe,,. non ol,des with scarce awOrd oi record, il
old u,zen Head or Cape Clear comes out OF the
,oi., and inspires him with fresh gush Of TO
mantle sentiment II IS not 50 common, now
ever. for travellers TO ENJOY the trip, unless IN
aoticjoation or remembrance For my part, after
considerable experience Of the Atlantic and Pa-
e,6c Oceans, the Meditenapean, Caribbean and
Gulf of Mexico, never fully knew the pleasures
of seattle, nor appreciated the endless vareiy
and beauty of sea scenery, until the present time
Nv log, therefore, may still interest the curious
landsman. inasmuch as promise not to get sea
sick, see whale, or speak vessel, until reach
the end.
We left Philadelphia, you remember, on the
asth ult There was not ripple IN the CLASSY
Delaware, nor a cloud N the sky, as the beautiful
hills of the Pennsylvania shore dropped behind
NJ and the Atlan,ic's sentlnels slept at the gates
of the bay as we passed them az midnight for
three or four DAYS we sailed on a trOpic sea.
The sun came up flaming over the sharp RIM OF
the horizon, wheeled round his course and sank
broad and clear IN our wake. Our great ship
rocked gently TO the lazy pulsatlons OF the
oceans heart---a luling, not disturbing motion
and we IOurneyed III serene and perfect re-
nose "Oh, Rest 20 weary hearts thou art most
dear" sang spirit shut out from Paradise bat
there can be no deeper rest than that which de-
scends alike on heart, brain and limbs. One must
have whlrled for year or two IN the very vortex
of our American life, TO taste the rcpose OF the
ocean in It's refreshing fulness:
DUTY and Care fade far away;
What Toll may be we cannot guess
With all the monOtony Of its calm the tran
qail expanse OF the Ocean is INFINITELY sugges-
tive When the land has disappeared. you are
anoat in space your vessel Is planet wheeling
its way through blue ether But It is a planet of
which you are the creator, and a, your will It's
orbit may touch the shores of many distant re-
giOns, passing through zones OF heat and cold,
of light and darkness. During those Summer
days in the Gulf Stream, IT seemed to need but
swerve of the Prov to bring all the lands of the
Old and New Continents within our reach Cross
the distant rise of the horizon, glide down the
watery slope beyond, and you touch the Pillars
of Hercules Wonder lies Tenerife and there the
,ungles OF Senegambia here on our right, under
sba no n
perpetual yerdure of the Antilles When the
fogs of Newfoundland lift like an arch, and
keen northwester comes straight down from
Labrador, look to the north, and YOU will hear
in fancy the hollow booming of the surf IN Ice
landic hords and cavems At least, the sound
came to my ear as ] was pacing the deck with
Mungo Park, and listening to his descriptions of
lie in the high Arctic region, under the savage
shores of Boothla and among the ice'ieldS OF
Prince Regents Inlet. 1t was not the ghost OF
the African traveller that told me these things,
but his near relative, the worthy Surgeon OF the
CITY of Manchester
One must cross the Atlantic more than once,
before his mind can take IN satisfactory idea of
its immensely On my frs, voyage | could not
BY any possibility imagine myscli more than MY
miles from shore. The ship went on from day
20 day. hut Tor all that there was land luSt be-
hind the horizon Even when the sight OF the
Irish Coast gave me vivid sense OF distance
from home. the impression was enc OF time. not
Of space All the Atlantic was embraced IN
one horizon sometimes calm, SomeamoS aglta-
ted, but always the same sphere OF SKY and
water. Nowit is grand andbeauriul eXpanSe
over which | cannot leap IN thought so readily
l must pass great tracts OF smooth and gently
undulaiing water, dark, wintry wastes, hecked
with wreaihs OF snow logs that take away all
sense of place and time and myradS OF rolling
hills, that flash and foam and sparkle as they
lift the vessel, as on the boss of a vast shield
till can look over the blue convex 10 It's outer
edge Then the alterations OF light and dark
ness, each heightened by the sea, which, spouse
of the sky, copies It's hgh,eSt change the sun
sets, transmitting both water and air the bright
paths trodden hy the moon-paths which do not
cease at the horizon, but project forward beyond
the earth, into the mysterious depths of the
heavens. Whittier do they lead
At sea, YOU look on the lie from which you
have emerged. as one looks from a mountain top
on his native town 1t is astonishing how ia>,
your preludiccS relax after the land has sunk
Ii the BRAN could work IN such whirl rs Il
must bear during heavy sea- there would be no
such place ON shore for the historian and the
PHILOSOPHER. But the stomach, unfortunately, Is
your petted organ, YOU must give !, your FIRST
care. Your mental enjoyment must be almost
entirely of a sensuous stamp. Nou take IN, with
out STINT, the glory of the sea. lose Yourself IL
delicious reyerie, star, thousand tracks of
though, which nigh, lead to better and grander
truths than you have We, attained bu; You can.
not follow them. The spirit Is willing, but the
flesh is too weaA