These were the true country answers, such as one almost always receives, and before long we had a proof that our skipper was not far wrong in his philosophy. A little cloud, which on oiu setting out had seemed to hang quite innocently on the opposite side of the hman, began soon to develope itself in a threatening manner, and before we were half way across we were met by a violent storm. The wind had raised such great clouds of dust from the steppe, that the town of Akerman, that a little while before had been full in sight, disappeared from our eyes ; the direction of the wind suddenly changed, and as we were quite unprepared for such an occiurence, we should have been upset in a moment, had not fortunately some ropes given way, and our whole rigging gone overboard, so that we drove without mast or sail before the storm. A voungPolish nobleman, who had put on a very anxious look, while the weather was yet fair, now gave himself up for lost, and broke out into bitter lamentations. He could not bear the sight of the sky and the water, but lay down in the bottom of the boat, and hid his face in his leathern travelling pillows, but every moment kept jumping up again and gazing fearfidly at the waves, which were as black as pitch. Now he said his prayers in Polish, and now in French, declaring all the while that he did not care for himself, only he grieved for the sake of his good mother, and his poor peasants, and thereupon he began again so piteously to bewail his hard fate, that his servant, who had hitherto been eating contentedly enough his bread and bacon, now bethought himself to cry with his master. I told him to be of good courage, for that the other people in the boat by no means considered our case as desperate. ' ^7/," he replied, " Ces gens la vans pcrdront letir vie pour une verre d^eau de vie. 0 ma mere ! helas mes jmuvres gens !"
Our situation was really imcomfortable enough : our boat was in a deplorable condition, the heavens were as black as ink, the dark muddy water of the liman boiling like a sea, no shore was to be seen before or behind us, and worst of all our sailors were Russians ! — We were also aware that at this Dniester-ferry, the post-boat had more than once gt)ne down with all that it contained.