Tossing about on the roaring sea;
From billow to bounding billow cast
Like fleecy snow on the stormy blast."
Steaming down the river we landed quite a lot of stowaways at Broughty Perry about 4.30 P. M., just as it was becoming dark. Tea was served at five,—my first meal on board the Aurora.
The Captain and myself sat on the starboard side of the table. Wm. Adam, the mate, Alexander McKechnie, second mate, and Wm. Smith, chief engineer, sat on the other side.
Immediately after tea, I went to my room as we were crossing the bar and going out into a gale of wind. Everything was tumbling about, and knowing that in a very short time I should lose all interest in my surroundings, I began making things secure.
There were two berths. My bed was in the upper as it had a porthole, and most of my belongings were stowed in the lower.
A lot of tobacco had become loose, so I put the little packages of it between my bed and the side of the ship. The port was not screwed very tight and leaked badly for a week or so. This saturated the tobacco and generated an odor which added nothing to my comfort. The motion becoming very pronounced, I turned in, and being tired, slept well.
