cattle were carried on board, and butchered as re-
quired. Meals were kept going in the saloon nearly
ail the time, as when the ship was crowded three or
four tables were set for each meal, so that breakfast
crowded on luncheon, and luncheon on dinner. On
this trip there were nine tables in all, but I have fre-
quently seen the tables all laid twelve times each day.
The steerage passengers were treated more like beasts
than human beings ; to the shipowners they were but
so much freight, to be carried at so much a head.
Their sufferings, and whether they lived or died, were
matters of their own. They were bedded like swine,
and fed like swine. Instead of a trough, a broad,
board shelf was suspended from the ceiling, which
served as a table, greasy and clothless, furnished with
tin plates and cups, and pewter spoons, and on which
were placed huge pans or kettles of food, stews, beans,
and the like. Droves, one after another, were let in
through a gate, and after they had fed a while they
were driven out by their sooty overseers.
Out of the regions of ice and snow, out of boister- ous waves and cold stinging air, we pass Cape Hat- teras, and dropping down the Florida coast and across the gulf stream, sail into an unruffled sea, into the soft, southern, aromatic air, down into the seaweeds, and through the haunts of nautilus, and flying fish, which in their attempts to scale the ship often drop upon the deck; down among the ever-green isles where were enacted the initial tra2;edies of Ameri- can race-extermination. Spring succeeds winter and summer spring. The polestar pales behind us. The air first softens, then grows languid, and finally pul- sates with heat. Flannels and heavy clothing are laid aside ; clean calico dresses and summer bonnets take the place of woolen gowns and hoods, and the experi- enced male travellers sport their white pantaloons, linen coats, and straw hats. Out under a burning sun, and into hot sea-breezes, and from shivering in
