Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/168

 —When we awoke this morning, rain was falling, and a heavy sea running, but owing to the ship's unusual width, 60 feet, we did not mind the motion, and went down to breakfast in good humor. One of the stewards informs me that he has worked on many ships, and that the "Anchises" is the steadiest of them all. The weather is bad, but not many are seasick A lady at our table has five children and two nurses with her. "And," added her husband, "at sea, five are quite enough." These children are all boys, except one, and this girl is known as Tom, she is such a Tom-boy. The girl knows nothing about girls, and has never played with them, and the mother is rather glad of it: usually a Tom-boy humiliates a mother The passengers are very nice; a better lot than we met on the "Maheno" or "Maunganui." Most of them are making the long journey to England We are now in the great Australian Bight, which, on the map, makes Australia look upside down. The rough weather of the voyage is usually encountered in the Bight In 1806, a certain Captain Bligh was appointed governor of Australia. This is the Bligh associated with the mutiny of the ship "Bounty," one of the most thrilling stories of the sea. Some time prior to 1806, Bligh, as commander of H. M. S. "Bounty," was sent to the South Sea Islands after trees and plants to be taken to the West Indies; the English have always been noted for trying to improve their possessions. I have forgotten the name of the island where Bligh went with the "Bounty," but will call it Island No. 1. He remained there a considerable time; long enough for his sailors