The winter passed heavily enough at this dull spot, and without doubt the best hour of the day was that when the drum struck up the "Roast Beef of old England," the certain announcement of a well supplied board, covered with massive plate, and groaning under the weight of the choicest viands the season afforded. Early in the spring the long wished for _route_ arrived for Hull in Yorkshire. When we were on the march through Lincolnshire, a sudden thunder storm came on, accompanied by heavy rain, and we saw a poor girl at work in an adjoining field; but, before she was able to gain a place of shelter from the rain, a flash of lightning struck her on the forehead and killed her on the spot. Her lifeless body was conveyed to the nearest town, to her unhappy relatives. After the expiration of a few days we arrived at Barton, where we crossed the Humber (seven miles down the river) in the regular passage-boats to the place of our destination, having experienced the usual comforts of a march in England: such as good breakfasts, dinners, and a comfortable feather bed every night. Soon after our arrival a detachment was ordered to take charge of some batteries on the right bank of the Humber in Lincolnshire, no great distance from Grimsby; and, for the good of my morals, I was selected for that duty, it being considered by excellent judges that so populous a town as Hull afforded too many temptations for one so young as myself. Every movement to me was a source of pleasure; already my new abode was anticipated, and some highly romantic spot pictured to my imagination. A fancied governor too, surrounded by the inhabitants of the adjacent country looking up with that respect so flattering to one placed in so responsible a situation! The hour of my departure was hailed with joy, and I eagerly jumped on board a small packet procured for the transport of myself and party. The sails being spread out, I felt a secret wish that my brother and another officer had not been on board, so that I might have entered into my important avocations without further delay. We had glided a short way on our course, when the wind changed, and became adverse, and, after a few tacks, I lost my vivacity, my countenance turned pale, and my brother remarked that I was sea-sick. "How can that be," faintly replied I, "when we are only in a river;" although it must be acknowledged that, owing to its proximity to the sea, the water was sufficiently agitated to cause some derangement in the stomach of a landsman.