As for the rest of the men, they have recovered somewhat and go about their work much as usual, bar the chanties, and I had lately another chance for a word with honest Paddy. “What do you think of this affair?” I asked him. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised,” he answered. “How is that?” wishing to sound him. “Mr. Rarx has always seemed a pretty decent fellow.” “Decent fellow!” he replied. “Say, look here, I didn’t say much about him to you the other day, but I’ll tell you what now, there’s not a single man in the fo’c’s’l what’ll say a good word for him, ’ceptin’ that he’s a fine sailor-man. His temper’s hell,” he went on, and I expected to hear of some more fine examples of discipline, for we were on the fore-castle-head and not likely to be seen, when “Come, come, Paddy, this ain’t the dog-watch,” broke sharply in, and we perceived the stalwart shoulders of the bosun rise above the ladder, which, of course, ended the conversation. My wife is rapidly recovering from her nervousness, having in this respect exhibited almost miraculous recuperative powers. What a trying, not to say a terrible, position for a woman to be placed in! What a miserable termination to a voyage undertaken solely for pleasure! Indeed, though, while we have enjoyed the sea as much, perhaps more, than we ever did before, there have been so many adverse conditions on board with which we have had to contend, that, after all, this is a more or less appropriate termination to the passage. When Louis was first put into the lazarette my wife didn’t like it at all, as our room adjoins it, though separated by a stout partition or bulkhead; we have allayed her fears, though, and we never hear so much as the clink of the chain from the Frenchman, even at night. It is fortunate that our relatives have no suspicion of our position. We are now permanently three hands short, for old Neilsen is still so seedy that his most arduous tasks are making sennit and mats and pointing and putting Turk’s-heads on ropes. At noon we found that a strong southwesterly current had retarded us, and we are not as far north by half a degree as we supposed. Precisely the same weather conditions prevail, this great ocean being still in a state of absolute rest. The wind is now east; an advantage, as it allows every sail to draw. Latitude, 2° 49′ south; longitude, 112° 30′ west. +August 21+