At Dartmouth, a day or two before the ship started, I found that William had expended some money on a quantity of stuff rolled up like balls of black ropeyarn.  I exclaimed with astonishment, “In the name of goodness, are you going to chew or smoke all the way to Australia?” for the commodity was the good old pig-tail tobacco.  He said, smiling, “This is to make friends with the sailors:  I intend to learn something about a ship by the time we reach our destination.”  I dare say the worthy skipper of the good ship Janet Mitchell, should he be still alive, has some recollection of him.  His mode of proceeding, as he told me, was first to secure the good graces of the crew through the persuasive medium of the pig-tail; then, to learn the name and use of every rope, and of every part of the ship’s tackle from stem to stern.  He soon acquired the art of splicing and reefing, and was amongst the first to go aloft in a storm, and to lend a hand in taking in topsails.  When I arrived in Melbourne at a later period, several of his fellow-passengers spoke to me with praise and wonder, referring to his activity, and readiness to leave an unfinished meal, on the slightest indication of danger or difficulty.  His journal of this voyage, is now before me, from which I extract a few remarks:—­

1852.  October 1st.—­Left Dartmouth—­Slightly sick for the first few days—­My brother much more so, but got right again—­Foretopmast carried away by a squall, just at the crosstrees, bringing down with it the main top-gallant mast—­’We look a precious wreck! ’—­Remember the Honourable Michael de Courcy, brother of Lord Kingsale, saying to me on the quay at Dartmouth, the day before we sailed, that the first gale would carry away the fore-top-gallant mast—­I believe the Janet Mitchell is quite a new ship, on her first voyage—­The remark speaks well for the judgment of a young officer.

19th.—­Sailors prigged some spirits in the hold and got very drunk—­A passenger so drunk that he became mad, and was put in irons.

20th.—­Sailors not yet recovered from their drunkenness—­A naval captain, passenger on board, insulted by one of them; struck him with his fist and cut his face open.

22nd.—­Fine weather—­Getting hot—­Latitude north 21, longitude west 36—­The Great Bear getting low—­Sunsets and risings very fine, particularly the former.

November 1st.—­Shark taken, of which I had a large share and rather enjoyed the novelty of the feed.

5th.—­Crossed the Line—­Sailors shaved and ducked a good many—­Tom and I got off very well. (Query—­effects of the pig-tail?)

16th.—­Stormy weather—­Obtained some books on navigation and studied trigonometry.

20th and 21st.—­Passed Tristan da Cunha, Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands, about 37 south latitude, 12 longitude west.  —­Saw a great many whales, mostly sperm, thousands of birds, albatross, Cape pigeon, and many others, the names of which I am ignorant of.