The daily gazette., 1880-06-22
Our London Letter.

NEWS FROM THE OLD WORLD AN
OCEAN voYAeE-BY A DELAwAREAN,
Special Correspondence OF the Gazette.
s.r CHAaiNa Cross HOTEL,
LONDON, June 10, 1880.
After an exceptionally smooth voy-
age of fifteen days we find ourselves in
this great bewildering city of London,
of which we will have something to
say later.
A ship of greater length than an Or
dinary Philadelphia square, and of the
power of between four and fiue thou.
sand horses, is thing not to be trifed
with, even by old ocean. Yet, to give
us hint Of his power, the sea sent one
of his waves over the twenty-four feet
that raised US from his bosom and
swept the decks clean from stern to
stern. Sea sickP Well, I reckon we
were. That is, most of the saloon pas
sengers were safely slowed away in
their berths, but as for as we were old
sailors and preferred remaining ON
| deck.
Most Of the passage, however, was
serene, and the fraternal spirit of the
passengers was soon developed in ac-
quaintances, intimacies and friendships
Of surprisingly rapid growth.
Jacks famous "bean stalk" Is some
what suggestive of these intimacies.
Reverend fathers, gray haired gentlemen
and ladies and gay lads and iassies were
soon engaged in games OF shufileboard,
quoits, &C., on the capacious deck, ami
all was merry as the marriage bell"
First Sunday out every one was too
much troubled with nausea to remem-
Der il was Sunday. Second SUNDAY a
general desire was expressed for Divine
| Service. 1t was afraid that the English
ship required the services of the English
| Church, but as there was no Episcopal
Clergyman on Boald the lot fell 10 a
Methadist aud a Baptist mialster, both
| OF whom needed some instruction. On
the whole the services we're satisfactory,
and we all felt the better of them.
Second day out, the cry OF "Wbale %
brought every one to the side of the shin
to see the "spouts," about a halt mile
distant. A school of whales was seen
Dext day, but too far away to make much
OF them. We atterward had fine view
OF monster that raised about forty feet
OF himself out of the ater several
times as though he was on exhibition.
lie was so nt ar that we could see his
eyes. Until near mid-Ocean, sharks,
sword-fish, one dolplain and few preai
sun f1sh were seen, but there were
neither fishes nor ships TO be seen in
mid-ocean. For few days We sailed In
what seemed a world by ourselves, with
The g eat arch of the sky resting on the
blue waters. The sun rose as from a
bath, and at night dropped into the
ocean so completely that we were almost
surprised to see 1t again unquenched and
10 all its glory.
Passing the Banks OF Newfoundland the
air grew as chilly as winter. Oyerc ats
| and wraps were in demand and those who
were no provided with them suffered
| from the cold. The captain and all his
! available force were all night on the
watch for icebergs: but happily none
were encountered.
The far away green fields, the
nodding wheat, the rich cloyerblooms,
where the singing bee gathered honey;
luscious strawberries snd blushinp
cherries that made our own home like
fairy land seemed then but the visions of
! a dream.
On the fourteenth day out, the rocky
coast of Ola Eogland was hailed with a
shout OF joy. From Lands End, all
along fhe coast for mole than two hum
dred miles, rock barrier of chal6 for
nation rises from the ocean TO an almost
perpendicular height of from twenty to
wn hundred feet. At every town, al.
mos apevery village. the black guns of
her 1lssty gfln deh On the Isle
of Wight Her Majestv's summer castI,
vas pointed out. Charming Brighton
was passed so near that we could almost
look into the windows. Fashion is in
London just now, and Brighton is tor
saken.
Ou the third Sunday out, we entered
;he mouth of the Thames and landed
wo hundred and eighty head of cattle at
Gravesend, whence we took oars for
Londop, twenty miles distant.
Here We got he first sight of English
rural homes, every one of which In a
model. A trim, two stOried cottage. sci
III plat OF flowers and shrubbery, with
green fields converging The land is
level aud Is called the "downs," being
something ike our marshes without
their mud and wet pla ces.
The farm di Vlsions are green. wall
Kept hedges, occasionally a ditch, aud
every fed is shaded aud ornameDted by
one OF more Spreading oaks. Most of
the land is used for dairy purposes, ana
the cattle are of the Devon and Durham
types. The fields were gay with those
pests of our Delaware farmers, the gol-
den buttercup and snowy daisy, but
mere were no other weeds or bushes,
and the cultivation is clean and tho,
rough. The wheat Is not We. in grain.
The grass corresponds with our middle
May growth, and the oats do not fairly
cover che ground. The season in six
weeks later than ours. T.