_July 2nd._[B]--Up at 5.30. The Duke, Lady Green, Sir Henry, Mr. Wright, Edward, all engaged in the transport department, with Mr. Trowbridge in observation; incessant activity. The Queen Anne coach was in readiness at 7.30, and in half an hour more we were discharged at the Inman wharf. There was a great flotilla--five large steamers leaving at the same period for Liverpool, and there was the usual throng at the landing-places of friends to bid "good-bye" to those who were about to cross the Atlantic. The steamer we had selected belonged to the Inman line, and whatever there may have been wanting to the eye on board, compared to the trimness and paint of the Cunard steamers, there was nothing to regret in our accommodation or service. There were so many passengers that the dining-saloon, illuminated by the electric light--which was also used for the purpose of lighting the engine-room and the lamps in the corridors--would not contain them all at the same time, and so there were two messes for dinner. Epergnes filled with the most beautiful flowers were ranged in order, and a rampant war-steed composed of white roses was displayed on the table. I am not about to give a log-book, or to trespass on the patience of my readers by an account of such an ordinary event as a passage home. The second day after we left New York was the anniversary of Independence, July 4th, and the day was duly celebrated by the citizens of the United States, who constituted the large majority of our fellow-passengers. The "stars and stripes" were hoisted at the main, and the cabin was draped with British and American flags. But there was no speechifying, and the spread-eagle was content with moderate flights; a recitation and a song or two, and the fire of champagne corks, being the only indications of an extraordinary festivity. About this time of the year the Atlantic, in the latitudes which we traverse, is rather vexed of fogs; and if one be disposed to low spirits, I know nothing which weighs upon him more than the sound of the fog-horn. But what must it be for the captain, who is perforce obliged to go at full speed, or as near to it as he can, with the expectation every moment of some startled cry from the bow "Sail right ahead!" Nor is it quite out of the running that an iceberg may be taking a sail across his course. Fortunately we had no experiences of the kind; and as night was falling on the 10th July land was in sight. The lights of the Fastnet were seen through drifting haze, and about 10 o'clock at night the "_City of Berlin_" steamed through a rising sea, with a strong beam wind, into the roadstead of Roche's Point, burned her rockets, and laid-to for the steamer to take the mails, and those passengers who had decided to land, on shore.