as much as possible; vomits and purgatives occa fionally, and properly administered, may be ferviceable. When you get to the warm latitudes and trade winds, which blow from the N. E. and E. N. E. you will feel yourself grow uncommonly heavy and drowsy every day, which you must not indulge: in fine fair weather it is healthy to rife early in the morning, and very pleasant to walk the deck, at least I always found it fo; to behold the fun, that grand and most resplendent luminary of heaven, emerging from the azure horizon, gilding the ocean with a glittering hue; to view the beauteous dolphin giving chase to myriads of flying fish, promiscuously rifing and skimming the air like birds, to evade them; with sharks, porpoises and bonnettas innumerable all around, seeming to welcome each newborn day, are objects grateful to the eye, pleasing to the mind, and truly delightful! But should storms prevail to anger the dreadful ocean, and change the delightful scene from gladness to horror, your mind will be impressed with ideas of a different nature, the jarring elements will fill your foul with wonder and terror! What a beautiful and surprising structure is a well built ship! Wherein we can swiftly and securely travel in defiance of the winds and waves, over the most dreadful monsters of the deep, and visit the remotest quarters of the globe. 1 " Eye natures walks, shoot folly as it flies, It 1 / It was always a most pleasing satisfaction to me when in one of those floating habitations, in the midst of feeming danger, thinking momently she would overset, to find her steadily return to her original position, and force her way through feas foaming with madness in almost opposite direction to the winds: to fink unhurt between faline rolling hills, and rise and glide again triumphant over the furious tops of liquid mountains. By night, too, the grand and awful beauties of the deep are a luxury to the most rustic mind; but to the man who is contemplatively inclined, they produce the most sublime fenfations, and are sources of extreme delight; the changes and variety of colours of the waters, and the sparkling particles like fire often attracted my attention; sometimes I have been almost induced to think I was failing through a flaming phosphorus. I shall here submit an extract from a poem which I wrote on my first voyage. When Sol, each day, withdrew his beams of light, 1 As you probably, may call at Madiera, I will give you an idea of that small Island by an extract from my journal. As foon as we came to anchor oppofite Madeira, a small African island, situated in about 32°, N. latitude and 16°, 50 W. longitude, we got into the small boat, thinking to go on shore without ceremony; but before we got half way, to our great astonishment, a fmart firing from the fort obliged us to return to the ship; sometime after, a low, fat, swarthy man, who could fpeak a little broken English, accompanied by two curious ill-looking fellows, yellow, tall and meagre, with black ragged coats and gold lace hats, small fwords, &c. &c. boarded us; we were informed by the fat man, (who was their linguist) that they were customhouse officers, and that we should have waited till they boarded us, and got their fees, which was a few pounds of falt beef, or pork; in short, as foon as they had got a piece of beef and a few glasses of port, they departed well pleased; in like manner they paid their devoirs to each ship (the fleet consisted of one hundred and eighty fail). We then with difficulty got ashore, the swell or furf at the beech being always so strong, that small boats would be dashed to pieces if great care was not taken to keep them a float some distance from the shore: people passing and repassing, are obliged to be carried on men's shoulders to 1 4 to and from their boats; several lusty yellow fellows stand naked from morning 'till night for that purpose, and are well paid by the different passengers. The chief produce for exportation is wine of an excellent flavour and quality, instead of turning four by heat like other wines, this improves vastly in warm climates the older it becomes, and is an excellent medicine, I am informed, in intermitting fevers; there are as different qualities of this wine as there are of rum or brandy: London particularly is the best, and is fold for about forty pounds sterling per pipe. The capital is Fonchial, and contains about five hundred houses; the natives are Portuguese, and dress in the fame uniform of their custom-house officers; their characteristic is, that they are poor, proud, fuperstitious and treacherous; the finest of their women, some hundreds of them, are cooped up in convents; what pity that fine young women should be compelled to whither out their days in such inglorious dens of folitude? Deluded to think their prayers cannot reach heaven if not offered in goals: I was grieved to the foul whenever I saw any of them peeping through their horrid iron grates-I suppose it is a passage in St. Paul that induces them to live this recluse life, where he recommends a married life, but says, " a single life is better". If so, they are sadly deceived, for the sense of that cafe is plain from many other parts of the gofpel B 3 gospel, and is to the following purport : "That single christians during persecution can pass through adverse fortune better than those who have mates and children to provide for;" in many parts of fcripture a single life is condemned, and marriage strongly recommended, particularly to "young women". And furely it is a violation of the Almighty's command not to " increase and multiply;" for those who receive life should give life to others. I was hurt very much whenever I saw any of their bald-pated hypocritical guardians, called fryars: those artful dogs are numerous, and frequently parade the streets in procession with an air of folemnity; the poor deluded nuns think those rogues are all faints, by whom they are taught to believe that fuperftition, ignorance and folly, are beaming virtues; and no doubt but many of the poor beings, as flesh and blood, secluded from all other society, thinks it no fin to become dupes to the prostitution and lust of those libidinous scoundrels; their chapels are tolerably elegant, and adorned with images of pure gold. I was introduced to several of the English merchants there, and treated with much hofpitality and politeness; they have delicious fruit, and every luxury they can wish for. I took a ride to the English Conful's, which is a mile from town, where he has an elegant rural feat; the country is beautifully variegated with vineyards, cascades, and limpid rivulets, On |