travel. They had come to bear Mr. Brown off, an undertaking not without difficulty, seeing that we had not yet passed quarantine.

But the Democratic party of New York when it puts its hand to the plough makes its furrow straight and deep. It had obtained a special permit from the ordinarily inflexible city authorities to allow Mr. Brown, Mrs. Brown, and Miss Brown, forthwith to land in case there were no sickness on board the Britannic. They engaged a doctor at a special fee to visit the ship and give the necessary certificate; and so with the band playing "Home, Sweet Home," the Democratic party madly cheering, and violently shaking hands with the rescued passengers, the tug faded out of sight over the moonlit sea, and we were bereft of Brown.

Fancy Mr. Hansard, who prints our Parliamentary Reports, or one of the firm of Spottiswoode, the Queen's printers, coming home from a trip to Antwerp or Australia, and either the Liberal party or the Conservative party running down to Gravesend with a string band to bear him home in triumph! I am afraid there is no doubt that, by comparison, we as a nation are lethargic in politics.

We were over a thousand souls on board the Britannic, a fearful charge for the under

taking of any one man. For the first few days it weighed heavily on the spirits of our captain, and left him no time for those frivolities by which some captains of big passenger ships round off the sharp edge of official duty. No little tea-parties in the captain's room, no attentions to the fair, no chatting with the brave, and no assumption at the table of the cheery attitude of host. Till we were in midAtlantic the captain's place at the head of the table was, in truth, rarely filled, except in the sense that Banquo sometimes sat at the banquetting board. Occasionally the passengers at dinner became aware of the presence of a tall figure carefully wrapped up, standing by the doorway surveying the festive scene. Some

times It sat in the chair at the head of the captain's table, gloomily ate a dish, and disappeared. At others It shook its head, and stalked forth, wondering how two hundred men and women could eat and drink when the wind was south-east by east-half-east, and at any moment something might happen at the lee scuppers.

This is our captain as he appears "when the stormy winds do blow" and we are near land, in the track of ships and of danger. But when fine weather comes he thaws out, and though always preserving the self-re

corded characteristic of the Duke of Wellington, inasmuch as he "has no small-talk," proves himself a pleasant gentleman, as popular with the passengers as he is with the more critical company of officers and crew.

Of our precious freight of a thousand souls, only a little over two hundred are saloon passengers. The day before we left Liverpool, the City of Rome sailed on the same voyage, having on board 464 saloon passengers. That means an immense amount of discomfort through all stages of the day-overcrowded decks, a scramble in the ladies' saloon, a block in the smoking-room, and two courses of meals, one half waiting while the other half breakfasts, lunches, and dines. It is a great temptation to shipowners to make hay while the sun shines, and in the American passenger department it shines pretty hotly from April to September. On the day the Britannic left the Mersey, with her modest complement of 214 saloon passengers, the White Star Company had upon their books applications for an additional 900 passages. But the company have a rule, which is kept at all costs. The spacious dining-room will seat 220 guests, each having his or her appointed armchair and cubic measurement of table room. Accommodation elsewhere being in proportion, there is no possibility of overcrowding.

I heard a good story of two well-known Americans. They had been accustomed to visit Europe in May, and had competed with each other for the best berths on the Germanic

or Britannic. A having been done by B two years in succession, thought he would be all right in 1884. Accordingly, in March, 1883, he wrote engaging the captain's room and three of the best state-rooms for the first voyage of the Germanic in May, 1884. Flushed with the certainty of triumph, he incautiously mentioned the circumstance to a friend. Pleased with this stroke of real smartness, the friend spread the story, which came to the ears of B, who immediately cabled to Liverpool to secure for himself "the captain's room and three best state rooms on the Germanic's first voyage out from New York, in May, 1884." When in due course A's letter arrived by mail, an answer was sent by return expressing profound regret that the berths named had been already allotted. This is the simple record of a business transaction, and I have seen both the telegram and the letter.

There are very few English among the saloon passengers, only a score as far as I can count; one a member of the House of Commons, who, whilst doubtful as to the

future leadership of his party, is pretty certain the Bankruptcy Bill will fail. There are two Italians who seat themselves outside the saloon, picturesquely draped in party-coloured silk rugs, and look unutterable woe. There are many Germans and one Swede. There is a pretty Servian and a grim Montenegrin, who have settled one phase of the Eastern Question by marrying each other. They have brought with them a middle-aged servitor, who, if his tact were equal to his devotion, would be invaluable. The pretty Servian sits for the most part on deck, her fair face standing even the cruel test of sea-sickness. The one conviction deeply rooted in the mind of the middle-aged retainer is that if madame will only eat, all will be well. He is always turning up with trays of refreshment, chiefly of a fatty substantial kind. He has tried these himself and is well and happy. Why should not madame try them?

By a providential arrangement, madame is spared sight of nearly fifty per cent. of the viands, owing to their premature dispersal over the deck. As soon as the faithful servitor reaches the deck by the companion way, his eyes search out the object of his devotion, and his face lights up with a knowing smile. But a middle-aged servitor cannot fix his eyes on