CHAPTER XXVIII.
EDGING AWAY.
Right before the wind! Ay, blow, blow, ye breezes; so long as ye stay fair, and we are homeward bound, what care the jolly crew?
It is worth mentioning here that, in nineteen cases out of twenty, a passage from the Pacific round the Cape is almost sure to be much shorter, and attended with less hardship, than a passage undertaken from the Atlantic.

The reason is, that the gales are mostly from the westward, also the currents.
But, after all, going before the wind in a frigate, in such a tempest, has its annoyances and drawbacks, as well as many other blessings.

The disproportionate weight of metal upon the spar and gun decks induces a violent rolling, unknown to merchant ships.

We rolled and rolled on our way, like the world in its orbit, shipping green seas on both sides, until the old frigate dipped and went into it like a diving-bell.
The hatchways of some armed vessels are but poorly secured in bad weather.

This was peculiarly the ease with those of the Neversink.