Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-14

| 1u6I0 IS SOI16 nope OF SAILING V6SSel
leaving for Frisco tomorrow, and if am
not disappointed again in getting my letter
of, viii send it by that route.
A CHINAMAN USHER IN CHURCH..
SUNDAY, Dec. 24.-I am not quite
through yet, for much to our delight the
mail steamer and the Narragansett made
this port last night, and neither of them
had met any bad weather to speak of. The
steamer did not start for six days after the
regular time, because she waited for the
Eastern mail, which was showed in. The
steamer sails for Frisco tomorrow at four
| O'Clock.
l was ashore to chul ch this morning and
found very sweet little place, something
| Ike Franklin. 1t was an elegant little
| church and had a good minister. They had
! quite large organ and a good choir. Two
children were baptized. The sermon was
to children and about Christmas. The
people were very polite 20 me. There was
! a Chinee for usher
! VISIT OF THE KING, QUEEN AND ATTEN-
DANTS-THE CEREMONIES.
AT SEA, Jan. %, 1S72-Lat. 80 deg. S.,
Long. 149 deg. N.-The day before we ex-
| pected to leave Honolulu we also expected
visit from the King and it came with all
| the pomP due such an occasion and lasted
so long we were delayed in our departure
one day. We had made every preparation
to receive him and at the appointed time
the boats sent for him and his attendants
were seen returning. The, officers were
drawn upon the quarter deck to receive
him. The marines were in line and the
band played. The yards of both the Cali
fornia and NarTagansett were manned by
the sailors and as these were dressed in white
the general scene was quite beautiful.
When the King came alongside the boat
swain piped him over. The Admiral re.
ceived the Queen and the Captain the
King and his retinue; the marines presented
arms; drums rolled three times, and the
band played "God Save the King" the ma
tional air of the place. A salute was fred,
and the King with the Queen, and all bis
ministers, and number of ladies, inspected
the ship, and then they all retired to the
Admirars cabin and parto0k of a collation..
Later in the day shrapnel and solid shot
were fired to show the King the effect they
would produce. Then came drill and an
alarm of fire. OF course the latter was only
for the purpose of exhibiting the discipline
applicable to such an emergency. The
King expressed himself highly pleased with
what he had witnessed, and when be went
away the usual appropriate ceremonies
were observed.
sERENADE.
The pilot having come on board and in
formed us that we could not 90 out to Sea
until the following morning, and having
heard that the Queen was very fond Of
music, it was resolved to serenade her that
night. Wilson took his guitar, Adams his
flute, and Ward, Talbot and myself, were,
with Wilson, to do the singing. We
went to the palace, sang and wer invited
in. Wine, champagne, ale and cakes were
passed tC those who desired them. The
Queen and some of her ladies were
very affable to us and entertaining. They
spoke English exceedingly well. Her Maj
esty asked US for our autographs and re-
qEested us to have a group photograph
taken and to send it to her. She then gave
each of us photograph of herself with her
autograph on the back Of it. We left then,
and as We went sang: "God save the
Queen" each feeling that royalty was no
better than ourselves, yet rejoicing in the
possession Of the pictures, something no
one else aboard had.
AT SEA AGAIN.
When | turned out next morning we
were just getting under weigh. As we left
the harbOr we passed the Narragansett,
which, in token of farewell, manned the
rigging and gave us three cheers, which we
returned and so we parted, she bound for
the various islands on the route, and event
ually for Australia; we to Tahiti, as we sup
posed, but as it turned out for Valparaiso.
We got an elegant wind as soon as we got
out, and it lasted without flicker until we
were off Remitera island. When we got
down to the latitude of Tahiti the wind
was not exactly favorable, and so the Ad
miral did not 60 there. 1t was a
pity that we did not 90 there as the island
is one of the most fruitful and beautiful in
the Pacific From the time we left Homo
lulu until we were off Remitera l was fear
fully se2-sick, and had the dyspepsia
awfully. l have, greatly to my delight,
gotten entirely over the sea-siCkneSs, and
my dyspepsia is much better, and so am
on regular duty again. When some miles
from Remitera, we spoke the schooner
"Isabell,' from Australia, an bound to
Frisco, with cargo of wool: She had
already been fifty-four days out and ex-
pected not to reach her destination inside
Of forty more.
AT RENITERA.
In order to get some fresh provisions we
stopped off Remitera and sent in a couple
of boats. We got some chickens, pigs,
yamS, bananas, eOcOanuts, oranges and
lines and all the eggs there were on the
island, consisting of three dozen. We also
got some roasting ears and watermelons that
were quite delicious. You know it is sum
mer down here now, and when the wind
Stacks up it is quite warm. Fortunately for
us we had an elegant wind all through the
TOrrid Zone, so we did not suffer much
from heat.
CROSSING THE LINE, ETC.
We had a great time in crossing the line.
Neptune paid us a visit. He wore a large
tarpaulin looped up at the four corners and
filled with water, and brought with him a
very desirable shaving preparation COM
posed of tar and grease. The Captain in
troduced him to all the officers, and those
who had not been across the line before
were each compelled to treat to bottle of
wine. He made a speech and
singled out those who were new
to the business. When be came
to a greenhorn marine, the man refused to
be set aside, resisted and some Of the ma
rines protected him, but he was taken at
last and suffered for his temerity. Officers
crossing the line for the first time were fur
nished with a certificate that they had paid
their tribute.
Our wind is now about gone and we
are laying to expecting to get a
wind from the northwest which will
carry us right in. There is a calm belt for
about five degrees to each side of the equa-
tor, and one from about 20 degrees to %
degrees south, but at each one of them we
got splendid winds. We expect to get in
by the latter end of February; think the
10Th, as that is my birthday. They talk of
laying off Juan Fernandez long enough to
paint and fix up so as to present a very i'm
posing appearance when we get in.
THOMAS S. PLUNKETT.
WHAT'S THE MATTER?
The Cumberland Spectator, printed at