Prayers were read in the morning, and both Captain Guy and Captain Ellice addressed the men feelingly in allusion to their late shipmate's death and their own present position.

A good dinner was also prepared, and several luxuries served out, among which were the materials for the construction of a large plum-pudding.

But no grog was allowed, and they needed it not.

As the afternoon advanced, stories were told, and even songs were sung; but these were of a quiet kind, and the men seemed, from an innate feeling of propriety, to suit them to the occasion.

Old friends were recalled, and old familiar scenes described.
The hearths of home were spoken of with a depth of feeling that showed how intense was the longing to be seated round them again, and future prospects were canvassed with keen interest and with hopeful voices.
New-Year's day came and went, and when it was gone the men of the _Dolphin_ did not say, "what a jolly day it was." They _said_ little or nothing, but long after they _thought_ of it as a bright spot in their dreary winter in the Bay of Mercy--as a day in which they had enjoyed earnest, glad, and sober communings of heart..