Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/473

 returned to the docks at 5:10, after eight very delightful hours in Palermo. The boatman was waiting, and the old guide went aboard with us, carrying Adelaide's great collection of fruits and flowers. During our absence we had taken on six hundred more steerage passengers, and their friends surrounded the ship, in boats. In half an hour the big ship backed out of the harbor, and pointed its nose for New York.

—I think every man believes his "luck" is atrocious, and that he rarely gets an "even break." But I am perfectly satisfied with what they have done to me on the "Canada." It is a new ship of fourteen thousand tons, and there are only fifty passengers in the first cabin. As a result, we have plenty of room, and the officers give us whatever we want. I have a room to myself on the best deck, and Adelaide has another just like it next door. Between our rooms there is a private bath, which has been turned over to us for good measure. On most ships the beds are hard. On the "Canada," our beds are provided with springs, and we have real bedsteads. I have two windows in my room, and Adelaide has two in hers; our bath-room is as big as a stateroom, and is provided with a shower-bath, in addition to the usual tub In the dining-room, we have a table to ourselves; a small table for two, with a side electric light, in addition to the ceiling lights. On our table twice a day are quart bottles of red and white wine, always full. This wine is free; it is a feature of all French boats.