The sister service, however, bade us a hearty farewell; having got steam up, and sails set, in less than forty minutes after the Admiral's signal, three-times-three lusty cheers burst from the manned yards and rigging of the "Ajax" and "Hogue," as we swept swiftly past, which were returned with such right good will, that we made but a very hoarse return to a last parting cheer from the forts at the mouth of the harbour. The church bells softened and died away in the distance; streets, villas, and shipping grew indistinct; the fast-receding shores dwindled to a narrow strip; the long blue undulating line sank below the horizon; and we were fairly standing out to sea. We steamed away, ate and drank, and preached to the fishes occasionally, as the breeze freshened rather disagreeably; until, on entering the Bay of Biscay, it began to blow in hard earnest, and by the fourth day had risen to a furious gale; mountains of waves reaching often to the yard-arms, and squalls coming on so suddenly, as to cause serious fears lest the masts should go overboard. At last it blew a perfect hurricane, with such a tremendous sea running as I had never witnessed in crossing the Atlantic before. In the height of the howling din and confusion, the tiller ropes broke, and were righted, after some time, with great difficulty. All night the violence of the storm was unabated; the sea washed the decks every other wave; the tiller ropes again gave way, and once more we were drifting before the tempest. It was impossible to stay below in such a state of peril and uncertainty, and all the officers assembled on deck. The roaring of the wind through the rigging was so deafening, that we could not make ourselves heard, and all stood in silence watching the storm. One of the sailors aloft, whose perilous position we had been remarking, was jerked off the main-topsail yard-arm, and falling on the deck with a fearful crash, was killed on the spot. The foretop-mast was sprung, and immediately afterwards the mess-room ports were stove in, and floods of water poured through, and surged from side to side of the cabin with the heavy rolling, breaking over the table at every lurch. By the glimmer of a single lamp, officers and men hazarded neck and limbs in desperate attempts to secure, and lash together, the large hampers, chests, and heavy casks of sea-stores, which were dashed violently up and down the stateroom. After seeing all secured, and making a meal of biscuit and salt beef as we stood, bare-legged and soaked to the skin, we waded to our flooded berths, and turned in for the night, though the uproar was so terrific that it was impossible to sleep. In the midst of the din, came another astounding crash of barrels and chests broken loose; some bursting through the cabin doors as if they had been chip. Officers and men, dressed and undressed, turned out, and all were again at work lashing and making fast.