Barrett has entertained me with some ghost stories, well authenticated
and printed for private circulation. I have begun writing this to-day
because there seems some chance of posting it on Saturday or Sunday,
when Sir Leonard and Lady Tilley and two sons are to be landed at New
Brunswick as we pass down the Straits of Belle Isle, I think. I shall
not see your birth-place as we shall be too far off.


_Friday, 22nd._--I went upon deck after breakfast in a great hurry
to see an iceberg. I was greeted with great kindness by every one after
my three days' seclusion, and thoroughly enjoyed the day and the ocean
for the first time. It was very cold but clear and sparkling, and there
was no motion to speak of; after the gale, and the great hills and
valleys of the Atlantic roll in a storm, it seemed impossible it could
be so smooth; but we are to have every experience of weather, as a fog
came on and we steamed very slowly and blew fog signals for an hour!
However, the sun broke forth and lifted the curtain of fog, and within a
quarter of a mile we saw a beautiful iceberg twelve or fifteen hundred
feet deep, they said, and so beautiful in its ultra marine colouring.
The shape was like a village church somewhat in ruins. Miss Fox, a
sister of Caroline Fox, is on board and sketched the icebergs and the
waves during the storm very cleverly. They were also photographed by Mr.
Barrett and a professional. After dinner we were all on deck again and
watched for the lights on the coast of Labrador, which mark the entrance
into the Straits of Belle Isle, and at last a twinkle caught my eye and
we all greeted it with joy! Isn't it wonderful that a ship can be
steered across that vast expanse of water straight to this light, in
spite of clouds and storms and without the sight of sun or moon or
stars? If I was teaching a class I should quote this as a good
illustration of "God's mysterious ways." We wander on through all the