OCR Text |
Show L ETTER XIV. nwrunN TO A!\trm tcA. P rovidence, R. I. Seventh mm1tlt ( Jllly) 3rd, 1840. Mv DEAR FRIEND, In order to bring our narrative to a satisfactory close, I must make a few remarks respecting our voyage home, which none of our company are in much danger offorgctting. It was a time, generally speaking, of quiet enjoyment ; though we could not but watch with some sorrow and anxiety, the apparent descent of our two invalids, towards "the valley of the shadow of death." Our course, for the first day, lay to the eastward, llnd gave us the opportunity of surveying a considerable part of the northern coast of Cuba. We obtained a good view of the entrance of the harbor of Matanzas, about fifty miles east of Havana. The mountains which rise behind it are of greater elevation than any land in Cuba, which we had before seen. One of them, remarkable for its square outline, recalls the idea of a loaf of bread, and is called, "El pan de Matanzas." We now took our last leave of Cuba, and turned towards the north-east, our course lying through the channel which separates the dangerous RETURN TO AME RICA. 223 shores of Florida, from the still Ill ore 1.a t a I rock · s o 1. the Bahama Islands. The wind \Vas. con t rary, an(I we should hav.e made slow progress, as we 1t eat a 1o ng from one stde of the channel to .,1 n o tlt er, h ac1 1· t not been for the Gulph stream ' wh1'c]1 some o f us h a d , more than once, en.co~ntered as an enemy, but which now proved an e~ectt ve friend, in impelling us forward, four knots 1~ the hour, in our right course, by the mere force of 1ts current. This stream is by the mariners technically called the " Gulph;" and is remarkable for .the. f~e!]uent and sudden changes of weather to wbtch It IS perpetually liable. The following portrait of it, which served to amuse some of om company, is said to be quite accurate. Of all the creatures here below Or virtuous, or vicious, 0 Gulph of gulphs, full well we know Thou art the most capricious. ' We have seen thee locked in a hopeless calm And tossed with waves prodigious, ' "\Vc have felt thy gentle breeze's balm And thy fi tful blast litigious. ' '\Ve have shuddered at thy ugly frown, When all thy soul was spiteful, And have watched thy malice melting down, To radiant smiles delightful. One moment-all thy charm is gone, Thy looks are most distressing ; The next-thou hast thy dimples on, Each sailor-boy caressing. We have stood aghast at thy leaden vest, Thy darksome shroud of mourning- In ultra-marine, we have seen thee dressed, The heaven and earth adorning. Thy bosQm boils with love or hate, As thy restless passions waver; Thy voice is the thunder of regal state, Or a gentle lady-like quaver. |