The ignorance and simplicity of some of the passengers are greater than might be supposed; one said the other day he supposed we had five hundred miles yet to go, and another asked me if America was mountainous.

26th. A tremendous wave broke over us, giving the ship such a shock as laid her down on her side. Great was the confusion; trunks thrown upon trunks, tables, chairs, all forced from their [10] mooring, in spite of bolts and ropes; we were glad to find however that, excepting the fracture of glasses and crockery, no material accident had happened to any one.

About this time an account of each steerage passenger's stock of provisions was taken, and though but three weeks out, several were found nearly exhausted; so improvident had they been.

The following list of sea stores is recommended as sufficient for a steerage passenger.

42 lb. Beef or Pork.
56 lb. Cabin bread (biscuit).
14 lb. Flour.
7 lb. Cheese.
4 lb. Butter.
1 lb. Coffee (ground).
½ lb. Tea.
10 lb. Sugar.
¼ lb. Pepper.
1 lb. Salt.
7 lb. Split Peas.
Bottle of Mustard, about 1s. 6d.
100 Eggs.
2 Bushels of Potatoes.
A few red Herrings.
2 Quarts of Vinegar.
[11]4 Dozens of Porter.
1 Gallon of Spirits.
Some Carrots, Turnips, and Cabbages.
2 lb. Soap.
Some pieces of Tobacco-pipe Clay, which will be found to rub well with sea water in cleansing the skin.
A Tin-pot with cover, in shape like a coffee boiler, with a hook at the side to hang upon the bars of the Caboose grate.
Crockery, Spoons, &c.

A passenger provided as above will not experience want in any common passage, and indeed there are some articles with which he may dispense; as, for example, the Porter; and others he may lessen, as the Potatoes perhaps. With respect to medicine, it may be as well to provide some Epsom salts and magnesia, and a few lemons will be found highly grateful; otherwise the ship always carries a chest containing the common remedies.

31st. The wind blew what the sailors call a strong breeze, which is in fact a gale, from the west; the ship laboured much, and such was the impression upon the minds of many of the steerage passengers, that at night they took leave of each other, thinking it not likely the vessel should live through the night.

[12] June 1st. With the prospect of a protracted passage, an inspection was also judged necessary of the ship's cabin stores; and such waste and extravagance was proved against the Steward, that it was resolved to take into our own hands the ordering of each day's provisions: a meeting was consequently held, an account of stock taken; and ordered, that one of the party by rotation should superintend each day's consumption of food; and also of water, which had likewise been used very extravagantly. Let those going a voyage not only ascertain their sort of Captain but their sort of Steward, upon whom I can assure them a very material share of their comfort will depend.

The general subject of conversation now is, calculating the probable duration of the passage; yet it is essential to comfort during a voyage to abstract the mind as much as possible from such reflections, and to engage it as much as in us lies in some useful studies and occupations—'tis one of the worst to watch the winds and the waves; 'tis one of the most useless, for we cannot command them.