Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/196

 scheme did a lot for humanity, but probably no one knows who they are; hundreds of men had a little to do with it The captain says a ship loaded with frozen meat arrives in England from Australia or South America every day of the year The "Anchises," on its last voyage out to Australia, was in a great storm in the Bay of Biscay, and the ship's doctor was seasick four days. "Tell me," I said to the doctor today, "how a big storm at sea looks." "Blessed if I know," he replied; "I was sick in bed; I didn't see anything of it." My dining-room steward says the captain is always sick for a day or two after leaving port, but the other ship employees deny this. They say that on leaving port the captain has his meals served in his room, which is near the bridge, and thus the story of seasickness started We have had a bad sea all day, with drizzling rain. Not many are sick, owing to the ship's unusual steadiness. It rolls and pitches, but gently, and I wonder the "Anchises" is not famous the world over for its unusual sea-going qualities. Some ships cut up at sea, however carefully they were built, while occasionally one will prove unusually steady. The "Maunganui" was a big ship, and very handsome, but it had a certain little movement of its own that was atrocious. While lying in my bed, the ship came up under me in such a way as to make me feel as though I were hanging on a clothesline, with the back of my head dangling against my heels The English have many customs and pronunciations I do not understand. How much do you suppose a hundredweight is in England? Not a hundred pounds, but a hundred and twelve pounds.