If one of our party acts as guide, we must be careful to select a polite, tactful, and, above all, a patient and good-natured person. Why?—Because his patience will be severely taxed many times during this trip.
Arriving at the city from which we are to sail, we visit points of interest, the docks especially, and compare our steamer with others, learning what we can about all the ships in the harbor.
If our lesson is well planned, we can accomplish a great deal the day we sail.
CLASS WORK.
After two or three conversational lessons, let pupils begin their diaries (composition books). In these may be written descriptions of what they see, hear, or read about the place being studied or visited.
In most schools will be found one or more pupils who have been upon or crossed the ocean. Let them give both oral and written descriptions of the voyage.
In giving accounts of these journeys, have pupils describe the incidents and details of everyday life on ship-board. They may tell of the ship, its furnishings, rigging, engines, officers and crew.
Let them also describe the dining room, the meals, and the manner of serving.
They may further describe a stateroom or berth, and picture their fellow passengers in words or drawings.
It will greatly cultivate their power of expression to tell how the time on board the vessel was passed, and to narrate any interesting occurrences of the voyage. They may describe the ocean by day and by night; also its appearance in a storm.