The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-03-25
NOTES FROM EUROPE.
NUMBER TWO.

NUMBER TWO.
, At the close of his letter as Yesterday ar
pearing, We left Major Curtis noting fror
the deck Of the steamer Europe the CLEAN
Of liaht With which myriad Infusoria painte
the wave crests that we're in the ships wake
} We resume there and follow him to La bell
France
i In the cabin We have some forty passengers
about equally divided between French ant
English, With one Spaniard and two Germans
ex President Mllard Fillmore and lady, DR.
White snd wife, and Miss -Dobbins Ia mag
ni6cent singer all Of Buffalo, New York
Mr. Leavitt and family OF New York City
Jules Hauell and daughter, Of Philadelphia
and Mrs. Vale, of ST. Louis, are to me thu
most pleasant Of the passengers. There is ,
] little Frenchman from Porto Rico, nance
4 Jaubat. who is very much liked; and . Nam
sellee Natalia Dumas, an actress ofthe French
theatre in New York, who adds to the gene
ral stock Of pleasure. by her freedom Of man
ners and persistent efforts TO talk English.
On deck we provenade with the ladies
often under d1iculties Of wet and wind
and when the sea il smooth enough and
skv fair, play ''tourner," game Of pitching
dollars into various holes in box. There i,
q library on board SO we do not lack for
books, but ~ reading and writing are hard or
the head aud eyes, there is not much of either
done. The meals are 30 arranged, rs to keep
us at table ~ long as possible, and thus keep
4 time from hanging heavy on our hands; ai
least one is almost compelled to think tha,
such is the case. As soon as we rise in the
/ morning, We 60 to the table and get cup oil
4 coffee, with nothing but bread. At nine and
halt We have breakfast, which consists oil
half a dozen dishes, each one eaten singly,
and forming separate course, winding up
with fruit, nuts and coffee. This generally
CONSUMES an hour. At one o clock we take
lunch Of crackers, sardines, cold meat. ETC.,
preceded by very yesk ''bouillon'' or soap,
prunes. At four and half dinner is served
! and as this is the great event Of the day. all
who are able to get out Of their staterooms
are present 1t consists of about . dozen
dishes, each served as at breakfast, sneIy
vi the exception that the Said 10 served With
! the roast meat. The bill Of fare is about the
same rs at an ordinary first class hotel, save
j that there is not 20 much variety, ~ of course
here could not be where one has TO 70
tn ough the whole bill Of fare; for il you do
not partake, Of course you have to wait while
the others do. Very plain and simple dishes
come on the table SO highly ornamen,ed as
not to be recognizable from their appear1nce.
Dinner occupies sbo, two hours; and then =,
eight the bell rings again for . very light tea.
at which bu. few par,ake. At eleven the
lights are pat out in the staterooms, and all
bnt one in the cabin; and if persons sit IN by
the solitary light after that hour. they are ex
ected TO be very quiet, SO as not to interfere
with the slusnber Of those no desire 10 sleen.
AT breakfast and dinner an ordinary clare,
vine is furnished ad libitum, and One wineA
can be purchased at about e-half the usual
prices at our hotels.
, All the passengers express themselves very
mu. b pl. aks vi the table. attendance, anu
the vessel generally. Those on board who
have sailed before, say she rolls less than an,
slip they were ever on. All the lamps are
hung in gimblcs, that is, so that they swing
in every direction, and being made very heavy
below the point on which they are hung.
they are always right side up. All toilet ar
tieles are fixed IN rncks, and on stormy nights.
one wishes he was elso hxedin something, u
hold him still: as the motion Of the vesse,
-folls him backward and forward 20 rs to en-
tirely prevent sleep. Our vessel up TO Mon.
day night, when we we're ten days out, vas n
great success for this seasoa oi the year, and
We we're in high hopes that we should make
Brest In twelve days from New York but
about O'Clock on that evening, there were
two or three tremendous blows heard in the
engine room. and then the noise or escaping
steam, and then the engine s,apped. We all
displayed as little alarm as possible, but hur
Fied on deck, and we're assured by the officers,
that there was no more danger, but something
had happened to the machinery. We soon
l armed thtt Il e main shaft was broken. and
/ that we SHOULD have to rely on our sails to
reach land. All we're somewhat disappointed.
but expressed themselves we'll pleased to get
OF so we'll. as one or two more revolutions
Of the. engine would probably have sent some
parts OF it flying through the boat. The bed
plate on which the shaft rests is also broken,
and the whole thing seems .haken TO pieces
We have fortunately had favorable winds
since, and they have Just fixed up the star
board engine, so that it can BE- used in case OF
storm when near the coast. We are now
Thursday, 18th, about = hundred and twenty
miles from Brest, which place we hope to
reach sometime 10 morrow.
Friday, l7th.-The engine worked so we'll,
they kep.it going sll day yesterday, and having
strong Gnd favorable wind, We came in sight
Of the light house on the island Of L Oousant
off Brest about o'clock last night, having
made about one hundred and forty miles dur.
ing the day, which was much better than We
dared to hope. ~ that time however. the
wind was blowing 20 strong, a. to render
1t unsafe TO enter the harbor Of Brest in our
crippled condition; and the captain concluded
to run on up the English channel, the wind
being favorable, to the port Of Cherbourg. Ii
| seems that nearly all the ports in the English
channel are rather hard to enter. ~ the Ab
! hing and. flowing Of the tide IN the ocean
creates = current up and down the thaut ell
i which vessel, to . certain extent. has to
tcross In e1teSi.g port. We steamed away uI
the channel therefore, with all sail set, and
made about eight knots IN hour - N
About y 2. =. something happened 70 the
engine, and it was stopped from that time
until about eight O'Clock this morning, when
it vas agsin started. About 10 D clock we
came in sight Of LES Casquets," an English
isle, near the coast Of France and during the
day, passed also the English islsud Of Alder
! ing. both being In plain sight, but y mile ol
! two to our right. During the afternoon the
main land hove in sight, and before dark the
! position Of Cnerbourg was pointed out.
Some apprehension was felt by the passen
gers, as to our being able to enter the hnrbof
especially - W. bad had . signal flying al
day for .pilct, and as yet had seen none
Our Capsaip was raised At this place, how
barbor, piloted u in. and " esa3s selfhor q
small boat was alongside, and the officer il
charge Of her hailed us. and asked lpni
string Of questions, noting down the answer
in little book. The questions related Il
the vessel. ~ "where FROM" .'captain;'
"length Of time OUT ''where bound,n ant
why We came in here" &c; bnt followed b,
such - .have you any sick?f' .'have yeu an,
negroes on board?' ..any does?s s.an,
horsssY; &e. Our Captain Is thorough sea
man, and received The cross Of the lsgiou Ia