"We were on our return from Kingston, very deeply laden, when we encountered a severe gale. For some time, we allowed the ship to run with the wind--in order that we might keep on our course; but the storm increased; and this could not be done with safety. We were preparing to lay her head to sea, when a wave rolled over the stern, and swept the decks fore and aft. The captain--my generous protector--and two of the sailors, were washed overboard; and we could do nothing to save them. All three were lost. "I took the ship to Liverpool, where a wealthy merchant succeeded to the captain's property. To make way for some friend of the new owner, I was discharged from the service--after receiving the few pounds due to me as wages. "The commotion caused by the discovery of the Australian gold-fields, had then reached Liverpool; and seamen were shipping to Melbourne, asking only the nominal wages of one shilling a month! I was able to get a situation as second officer of a brig bound for that port. "We had one hundred and twelve passengers; and amongst them was a bankrupt London merchant, emigrating with a large stock of pride, and a small stock of merchandise, to the golden land. He was accompanied by his wife, and a beautiful daughter. To me, this young lady appeared lovely, modest, intelligent; in short, everything that a young man--who for the first time had felt the tender passion, could wish its object to be. "I had frequent opportunities of conversing with her--when she would be seated outside on the poop; and many of my happiest moments were passed in her society, in those delightful evenings one experiences while crossing the Line. "I was at length made perfectly happy, by the knowledge that there was one being in the world who felt an interest in my welfare. "I soon saw that my attentions to his daughter, were displeasing to the proud merchant; and I was told by the girl herself: that she had been commanded to discourage my addresses. "I sought an interview with the father; and demanded from him his reasons for thus rejecting me. I was simply told: that the girl was his daughter, and that I was only a sailor! "That same evening, when on duty, I was spoken to by the captain in a harsh and ungentlemanly manner. I was in no pleasant humour at the time: and to be thus addressed, in hearing of so many people--but more especially in the presence of her I loved--was a degradation I could not endure. I could not restrain myself, from making a sharp and angry reply. "The captain was a man of very quick temper; and, enraged at my insolence, he struck me in the face with his open hand. For this insult, I instantly knocked him down upon the deck. "The remainder of the voyage I passed in irons. On arriving at Williamston, I was sentenced to two months' imprisonment--during which time I was confined on board a hulk anchored in Hobson's Bay.