Atlantic gale. The cliffs to the north of Argostoli were in sight,
looming sheer rock above the sea line, and the wind, rapidly
increasing, blew directly on shore, bringing with it a quick, sharp
sea, and getting up before long a cross sea by the repercussion from
the cliffs, so that in the complicated tumult of waters the old, heavy
paddle steamer rolled and pitched like a log, the water pouring over
the bulwarks with every roll either way. Soon, what with the wind and
the sea, she made nothing but leeway. They put her head to the wind,
and we soon found that even to hold her own was more than she could
do, while our port lay ten miles away dead on the beam, and the cliffs
dead astern.

The plunging and rolling of the ship made it impossible to stand or
walk on deck, and I sent Laura and the children to their stateroom and
to bed, lest they break their bones. The wind, a whistling gale, cut
off the caps of the waves and filled the air with a dense spray, and
the main deck was all afloat. There were no orders heard, none given,
nothing but the monotonous beat of the paddles and the roar of the
wind, and the crew were all under shelter, for it was no longer a
question of seamanship, but of steam-power; only the commander pacing
the bridge to and fro, like a polar hear in a cage, and the engineers
changing their watch, broke the monotony of the merciless blue day,
for, except a little flying scud, the sky was as blue as on a summer
day.

I walked aft to the engineers' mess-room, on the upper deck, and found
Blair and the two assistants off duty, seated round the table, not
eating, but mute, with their elbows on the table and their heads in
their hands, looking each other in the face in grim silence. We had
made friends on leaving Corfu, and were on easy terms, so that, as I