If these points are satisfactory, or nearly so, lie should endeavour to get his passage on fair terms, but not screw down too low, as even the best captains, if you do so, will take it out of you in some way or other. I should think that sixty or seventy pounds ought to be a fair price for a single man, in a poop cabin; and that about one hundred and twenty pounds would be enough for a married couple, in the stem cabin: but of course this varies according to the competition, and so will be higher at one time than another. With respect to the mode of living,[1] I think it would be enough to have an understanding with the captain, that there should be on board the ordinary quantity of live stock, preserved meats, preserved potatoes, wine, and beer, and to let him know that you do not want or care for champagne, or humbug of that kind, but that you expect that a table will be kept fit for a lady to sit down to. I should not recommend asking for any written agreement on the subject; if he be a respectable man, what I have said will be quite enough; and if not, he will not be bound by any agreement, which, practically, it would be almost impossible to enforce. In fact, a passenger is always more or less in the power of the captain; and where a man is so, the most likely way of being ill-treated is to show distrust. The best time for leaving England is from June to November.
- ↑ It might be well for a person, having a family, to bring out a box-full of fresh eggs, rubbed over with lard, and stored in salt or melted lard; also a couple of dozen pounds of sago, which, though very cheap, is sometimes neglected by captains of ships; and a little arrow root.
