The sky seems to have dropped into the sea, and now joins the roaring waves as they rush along.

The blackness of the night is impenetrable, save as the lights from the ship gleam for an instant into the moving mass of water.

Now and then a wave, rearing its crested head higher than the rest, breaks in spray upon the deck.
The wind seems eager to hurl every movable object from the vessel, but as everything is fast, it must be content to shriek in the rigging and to sweep out into the darkness, and lend its madness to the sea and sky.
But let us leave this awe-inspiring uproar and go down into the saloon.
Here we come into another world, a world of light and peace and contentment.

The drawn curtains exclude the sight of the angry elements without, and save for the gentle rocking of the ship and the occasional splashing of water against its sides, we can easily imagine that we are a thousand miles from the sea.

Passengers sit at the long tables, reading or chatting.