hands in their pockets, or leant against the wall, trying to look
perfectly indifferent as to the event; some of their neighbours smiling
satirically at their folly. Old farmer-looking bodies, grumbling at the
crush, mingled with Yankees, toothpick in hand, ready for business;
sturdy Englishmen whom one knew appreciated creature comforts; and dapper
little Frenchmen, hungry yet polite. Here stood a bright-looking
Irishwoman, who vainly tried to restrain the impatience of five or six
children, whose faces still shone from the friction of their morning
ablutions; there, an old woman, well-nigh double with age, who, rather
than be separated from the two stalwart sons by her side, was going to
end her days in a strange land. Here was a group of bright, chatty little
French Canadians, with the usual superabundance of earrings and gay
ribbons decorating their persons; there, a great raw-boned Scotchwoman,
inwardly lamenting the porridge of her native land, frowned upon the
company.

The bell ceased, and--"Presto!" all were seated, and turning over their
plates as if for a wager. Then came a confused jumble of tongues, all
talking at once; the rattle of dishes, the clatter of knives and forks,
and the rushing about of the boy-waiters. It required quick wit to choose
a breakfast dish, from the "White-fish--finanhaddy--beefsteak--cold
roastbeef--muttonchop--bacon--potatoes--toast--roll--brown-bread-or-
white--tea-or-coffee," shouted breathlessly by a youth on one side, while
his comrade screamed the same, in a shrill falsetto, to one's neighbour
on the other; their not starting simultaneously making the confusion
worse confounded. Such was the economical mode of setting forth the bill
of fare on the _Manitoba_. There were three hundred and fifty people
on hoard; more than one-third of whom were cabin, or would-be cabin,
passengers. The accommodation being insufficient, some were camping on
the upper deck, some in the saloon, many on the stairs, and others