Diary of Charles Francis Adams, 1861
d
1861-05-02
My night was restless and cold,and toward morning I was very seasick. The wind was sharp from the northward, and we had a few flakes of snow falling all day. I did not rise until nearly noon, when the motion had somewhat diminished but it was rather uncomfortable all day. There was no sea however, as the wind came from the land. Captain Moody is a civil and very gentlemanly commander, and our accommodations are as good as the steamer yields. How different from the way in which my father started nearly forty four years ago on his return from the same mission. What a leap have all the arts of civilized travelling taken i the interval. I find here citizens of various nations. English, French, Spanish, Germans and Americans, many of whom speak of crossing and recrossing every year much as if this trip of three thousand miles was a mere ferry. It took us sixty days to get over from London. The Persia came out from Liverpool the other day in eight and a half. We made very good progress, and as we neared the Nova Scotia coast the motion became so easy as to cease to affect us.