Page:The Poems and Prose remains of Arthur Hugh Clough, volume 1 (1869).djvu/24

Rh marked by a long low line of wood. Between these two islands, commanding the entrance, Fort Sumter was afterwards built, not far from James Island. On the left was Fort Pinckney, built on a small island or sandbank near the city.

'In 1828 we all returned to England. We sailed from Charleston early in June. We greatly enjoyed the voyage; being the only children on board, we were exceedingly petted, and the unusual sights impressed our imagination. I remember very well the floating in quantities on the Gulf stream; also we saw a  and grander still but happily for us only in the distance an iceberg. When at last we came in sight of the South of Ireland, we were met by the Irish fishermen coming out to sell us their fresh fish. Then came the slow creeping up the Channel against a and then a calm, till one night the wind sprang up and in the morning we found ourselves in Liverpool.

'We then went to stay with an uncle in the country, where we met my eldest brother, and found ourselves among nine or ten cousins of different ages. This was quite a new experience to us. Arthur could not enter into the boys' rough games and amusements, and missed the constant companionship of his father. We travelled however for some months from one relation's house to another, and by degrees Arthur became more sociable.

'In October Arthur went to school at Chester, and my father, mother, George and I sailed again to Charleston. This was practically the end of Arthur's childhood.

'Our father was most affectionate, loving, and watchful over his children. It was from him that we received many of the smaller cares which usually come from a mother, especially on the long voyages, during which my mother suffered greatly, when he took the care of us almost entirely, and comforted us in the rough storms. This watchful and tender care for the feelings of others Arthur inherited in the largest degree from