The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-05-01
4 Letter from "Ro6 Roy,o Dedt-
eatcd TO "MacShdHe."
SHIP ACAPULCO,
EinDSfnn I,,raf,,


Kingston, Jamaica, April IL 1874
DRAR FREEMAN-It is a great sight To sea ,he
sea and be sea-sawcd to death. Our shIp sheni6
be called Acapulco, o, as $50 out of 400 passen-
after we left Sandy Hook. We left New Ys,S
at p M. and we have made 24o Iles or fo,yr
degrees,eVery day, until to-day, directly south.
southwest, steering for Jamaica, having pass IS
ed the east end OF Cuba. We didn't see any
belligerent war vessels, nor anything else ex,
cept few porpoises and about q dozen sailing
vessels, which We sighted since we left Nora
The ship on which we snil is $40 foet long. 20
reet vide and 80 feet decp.has 5000 tonnage
O00 worth of freight aboard; accommoSstss o
this trip 100 cabih and 1l6 steerage passengers
good. We ate thirteen times at once, as the
lrlshnan said. Ny two little girls were sick
Ior nve days, ont are well enough now. AS for
the contrary, do love the ocean. 1t looks like
Byron says, 1t is blue. That is the reason. 1
suppose, so many get the blues when riding
over its white-capped billows.
Cuba, the land of fuss and feathers" looms
up beautifully and prominently above the hor-
above the surface to be distinctly seen in the
distance.
The weather here is very hot and sultrv.-
Summer came on us in u hurry, On Saturday
night snow and sleet fell and covered the deck.
Wind cold and strong for two days, when II be-
came warm from east, and then from south
east. Now 1t is as warm as GeheHnd in cool
weather: we have had rather rough voyage
much easier tordise the Tind here than in Cam
daY asked an Irish sailor if " e We're in the
tOTrId zone yet, and his reply was sure, an
it's not for me to know the names of the ISL
ands the world over" knew of course where
we were. as they can't lose me so long as the
stars shine, and merely asked the question for
the fun of the thing. I asked a Dutch sailor If
the lighthouse on Castle island was where
Our Fritz lmprIIsfSned Isf' % Napoleon. and his an
on the Rhine 2" and he replied, 'Yawv' said,
They call it WtHtam's Hole, don't they ?" and
n nn hRr NaAS q
There is Il small island forty miles south OF
Hayti, called Nevassar, containing about 600
square miles, that produces "guanO." An an
tcrprising Yankee eIploI ed it few years ago
and now he is making fortune out of the am
mOnia treasures. We passed within a few miles
of this island this morning. Where the sea
birds incubate their young is open question
WashiL gt ton Township Literary Society. Hence
l propose the following: DO sea-birds drop
out by the heat1" Now pitch into this ques-
ton.
Is 1900 feet from the level or the the top
of the mountains, il will stand out prominent
ly on the horizon all afternoon. We will reach
Kingston at p. IN, but we cannot enter the
harhor until morning, as pilots will not work
As my present epistle must close before We
enter Kingston, l must tll up with other mat
ter and leave description or that city for fu-
/ forgot to say that nearly every kingdom,
nation and under the canopy of heaven
are here represented. Even the Southern Con-
federacy has its representatives l learn that
ID, Pacific q
q nephew or JET. Davis wife. We have Irish
Dutch, Welsh, Spanish, French, Italian and ia
psnsse on board-seyen OF the latter being on
their return home from a three years English
learning visit to New Iork-and yet so far from
confusion or jargon being the rule, every one
seems to understand evcry body else. We also
have opera singing every night which operates
considerably on the auricUlar senses, aud is as
good Tor a TOOL as II physic As for reading, we
have bound volumes or all the pictorial and
other magazines, the American Encyclouedia,
girls and boys papers, the Scientific American
The Aldine, and indeed almost everything but
daily and county papers and home news We
have even an aristOcracy on board. I'll tell
You why. A Boston lady and the wife of a
spanish doctor were very sociable the first day
or bwo, aud sang opera music together bnt II
kind OF leak ed out that the tUife only 0tGssi
so-in fact that she was u cOncubiHc, or what is
more commonly known as nuR, ph dit Ddce-
which little episode caused = chilling GOODNESS
to spring up, even in this tropical climate
Can such things he and not oercOme us, like
summer cloud, without our special wond.r!"
Every hing has Il soul except a corporation
hence this ship has a genial soul, yclslIsd Capt.
Willis Howcs, better known rs tue Wandering
Jcto. He say he is travelling it!cOO., but know
enough to say that he has been on the ocean
for fifteen years, was a naval officer during the
war, and is omphatically the most genial soul
on board. We have another. tname unknovn)
who leads in the musical entertainments, and
who is the second best man on the vessel. Chas
G. Lima, the first officer, first mate, is also
splendid gentleman. and ought to he the COM
mander OF some first class steam ship.
Yours, &c, Rob Roy.