Page:Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow monochrome.djvu/74

 blanket, buffalo robe, and a supply of provisions. I had heard tell of deck passage—I had read of deck passage, but when I experienced deck passage, with its peculiar make-up, on this voyage, I could truly say, with the Queen of Sheba, "the half had not been told;" and I felt assured that the other half never could be told. And, after all, the almost unbearable discomfort I experienced on the voyage was not attributable particularly to deck passage, but to the unpleasant peculiarities of the situation. I was surrounded with a huddled crowd of rough, uncouth people, very filthy in their appearance and habits. We had a long passage of about six weeks, in which we encountered storms and tempests, and suffered much for want of fresh water, and also a sufficient supply of food. For further particulars I transcribe the following letter written to my aunt in Ohio:

My Dear and Highly Respected Aunt:  With pleasure I improve the present opportunity in fulfilling the promise made at our last interview. You see by this heading, I am in the city of London, the great metropolis of the British empire. The thought that I am between four and five thousand miles from the home of my childhood and all of my early, fond associations, very naturally prompts the question, Why am I here? To me, a question of no small magnitude—one, the results of which probably lie far in the future. In answer to the foregoing I would say, I am here because God has spoken, and raised up a Prophet, through whom He has restored the fulness of the everlasting Gospel, with all its gifts, powers, ordinances, and blessings; with a proclamation to all peoples, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven  is at hand." In the providence of God, I have been called as an ambassador, to bear this message to the nations of the earth, which I realize devolves on me a great responsibility which I cannot discharge without the aid of the Almighty.