River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-02-02

4
not slow to express among themselve:
the opinion that it was not best for q
sea-captain to take his family with
him on voyage. 1t was boldly as
serted that the ship and passengers
stood in great peril because of the
presence of these two ladies, it must
be evident to any keen minded, thought.
ful person, that the performance OF
! his duty as captain would be greatly
neglected; that his family would re.
ceiye the attention which his ship
ought to have. In fact it was very
doubtful, in the minds of these pas
sengers if sea-captain ought to have
family. Ellis ship should be his
family" "His heart should never have
a traitorous thought away from his
ocean home" ITO say the least, it
was certainly most unpleasant to sit
near him and be utterly ignored. "
''How could the steam ship company
allow such imposition" Such was
the tone of the grave and serious
charges that found liberal expression.
Whether the captain received knowl-
edge of these charges, and wisely
sought the most rigorous discharge of
his duties in the management OF his
ship. or whether the good ship did
really follow the mysterious paths of
the billowy ocean by instinct, never
became fully known to the perplexed
minds of the passengers. Suffice it to
say, in full accord with the predic-
tions of the captain, the ship Ancho-
ria, as was stated at the outset, sight
ed the northern coast of Ireland on
the morning of the 9th of September,
as perfectly sound and seaworthy as
she had been at the beginning of the
voyage; nor, of the two hundred or
more passengers, was there a single
life sacrificed, either by neglect of du.
morning, this morning of the 9th of
September, and as the mists were
drawn up by the suns rays that at
times stole out from beneath the gray
mantle in the eastern sky, there was
revealed to the passengers most
beautiful sight. 1t seemed as if the
land, as it lay there but a short dis
lance from the vessel, had arisen in
the night from the depths of the sea.
Like fairy land it appeared to the
weary eyes of the sea-sick passengers.
Those beautiful green banks, that
rose SO rapidly from the blue waters,
how gracefully they swelled out into
mounds of ever-changing forms. Far
up into the gray mists, hillock and
hollow, cliff aud ravine united to
form slopes of every degree of deflec-
ton. Here and there, upon gentler
inclines, patches of yellowish green
stubble alternated with plats of bright
est green verdure. Little, old-fashion-
ed, white cottages, with green blinds,
lay scattered about in most novel con-
confusion. Neither brush nor tree in
tercepted the sight to every inch of
surface. Only the dark green cover
ing, that appeared in the distance,
like beautiful film-like layer of moss
half concealed the brown rock and
seemed ever to stretch itself over the
yellow stumble. On the ship the pas
sengers had cOngregated upon deck,
and gaZed with admiration upon the
noble view. Those who had been sea-
sick were suddenly cured by complete
fOrgetfulness of their troubles, as
they lost themselves in the observa-
tion of the charming scenery. Little
groups of friends, or best acquaintan-
ces collected at various portions of
the deck, and pointed out to one an.
other the sights that most attracted
their attention. Their CHEEKY voices
and bright faces attested how fully
they appreciated those precious mo-
ments. All about them were the nov
elites of another world, a world which
to most of them had been hitherto
known only through the medium of
| books and verbal descriptions. Even
these books and tales had made them
happy in the mental pictures which
the imagination could bring them. In
reading or listening, their hearts had
warmed with the hope of likewise,
some future day, becoming an eye.
witness; and now, at length, this
witching time had come upon them
with all its wonderful realities; and
the views of the eye lay superimposed
upon those oft-wrought scenes of the
Imagination, and produced, in double
foIce, the citation and enjoyment of
those pleasant moments. 1t seemed
like dream, and yet the senses at
tested how perfect was its reality.
There would be no rude awakening
from this. Those scenes, though some
were even then recedipg from actual
sight in the distance, would always re-
main indelibly written upon the pages
of memory and, unlike all other books,
this one, composed of the ever chang
ing views that appeared in the prog
ress of the journey, might be read at
will, again and again, with a like
pleasure, but without fatigue. Thus
in rapt appreciation, sometimes sunk
into revery, frequently aroused to
bursts of applause by the sudden ap.
pearanee of some striking object, the
merry groups cared for little else save
to indulge their sense OF sight to its
utmost extent.
Meanwhile the beautiful ship kept
ploughing her way through the calm
blue water that stretched out behind
it, far away into the hazy distance.
and there, with an apparent curving
of its surface, met the horizon, leav-
ing the impression that just beyond
lay the descent of the hill into which
the waters seemed gradually to rise.