Smyrna--Visits to Jewish families--Uproar in the Synagogue--Aged females-Schools--The Pass- over-Asia Minor-Syria Palestine-Jerusalem- Missionary labors in Greece--Reasons for returning to America-Memorials of missionary brethren- Whole number of Jews in the world--The ten tribes CHAPTER I. VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. Departure from Boston-Gulf-Stream-A storm-The Western Islands-African Coast--Lesser incidents of the voyage -Sea stores-Condition of Seamen-Arrival at Gibraltar. At sea, N. L. 40° 51'. w. L. 35°. October 4, 1826. MY DEAR E. THE Atlantic I have expected to find like Israel's "waste howling wilderness," spread out as a trial of patience, before entering the promised land. Short be our passage, is the prayer of the voyager, and shorter still, you may add, be the story of it. Yet, since you have requested to share in the benefits of my pilgrimage, think not to stand with me on Mount Zion, without first learning something of the inconveniences and trials encountered by the way. I wrote you from Boston, Saturday, Sept. 16, that we (Rev. Elnathan Gridley and myself,) were already embarked for Gibraltar, in the brig Glide, Capt. Richardson. We hoped to have unmoored during the night, but the Sabbath sun rose upon us while we still lay at anchor. The owner came on board, to give his final instructions; and I had an opportunity of exchanging a farewell gaze with the friend, who, so much in the spirit of that hastening era, has sung "the Age of Benevolence."* The church-going bell sent also its soften * Rev. Carlos Wilcox. It was not until my return to America, that I learned the loss which sacred poesy and the cause of his great argument, had sustained in his death. 2 ed notes of parting amongst the islands, where we lay becalmed for several hours. Just at evening, a fresh breeze springing up, we took our departure from the light-house, and by Monday noon, were a hundred miles at sea. Our captain's wish was to keep out of the Gulf stream, and near the northern edge; as he considered the additional rate of the current (one or two knots, i. e. miles, an hour) more than compensated by the increased exposure to squally weather within. The north-east equinoctial wind drove us off, however, from our course, and it was not many days before we found ourselves in the stream. Our approach to it was apparent, from the great quantities of weed, (brought probably from the coasts of Southern America,) as well as from the blueness of the waters, and still more from their increased temperature. My thermometer, which I kept constantly employed, showed the highest temperature to be 79°.* I had no opportunity of repeating the experiments, which have been made to ascertain the depth of the stream.— You know it has been compared to a river of warm water, running like oil upon the surface of the ocean, and gradually becoming broader and more shallow, as it proceeds. During the first week, our progress was but slow ; and on Monday the 25th Sept. we were overtaken by a severe gale. This compelled us to lie to, under a single close-reefed topsail, for many hours. We landsmen slept little that night, and the seamen manifested considerable apprehension. For most of the follow *The average of the ocean at a distance from land, and without the gulf, was between 71o and 72". ing day, the wind continued to blow with unabated violence, though the sun was shining in all his clearness, and scarcely a cloud was to be seen. When at the last our fears began to subside, we gazed with admiration on the mountain waves, crested with snowy whiteness, and of the purest green beneath. Among them, ever and anon, you fix your eye on one far higher than the rest, which comes threatening to overwhelm you, until at the vessel's side, it sinks down submissively, and bears you up on high! But I will not tire you with an often and usually an ill-told tale. Description is in vain to convey an adequate idea of such a scene. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." Since the gale, we have been favored with a fine westerly wind, which has wafted us in our course at the rate of seven or eight knots in the hour. I am quite surprised at the effect of a few days familiarity with sea life. Already I feel myself almost as much at home, as though I were on land. But I hear the order, "Give the people their supper," which is always a prelude to our own. From my resting place upon the fathomless ocean, over, I know not what, leviathans and monsters of the deep, I must, therefore, bid you good night.Under the protection, however, of Him, who is with you, the Watchman, and with us, the Pilot of Israel, our sleep may be alike, sweet and secure. At Sea, October 6. To-day, for the first time since we left Boston, have we had a sight of land. It is the island of Corvo, the most easterly and northerly of the Azores. Flores, a much larger island, is also just visible in the horizon. More than half the breadth of the Atlantic is now passed over. Wearied with looking out, even for a few weeks, on the wide waste of waters, it is grateful in the extreme, to meet with these fixed and verdant objects, planted in the midst of the ocean. Yet I suppose the experienced mariner would rather forego this pleasure, in order to avoid the storms which often gather around them. Straits of Gibraltar, October 21. Having passed Corvo and Flores, we had a distant view of Terceira* and Gratiosa, and ran a little to the southward of St. Michael and St. Mary. We came so near St. Michael's, that we got becalmed under the land, and could see, with our glass, the churches and dwelling houses, the cattle feeding in the pastures, and the laborers busied in the fields. These islands, you are aware, are volcanic, and their surface very irregular. They are laid out into numerous little enclosures, which are exceedingly fruitful, and are now as green as our gardens in May. The vine and the orange are the principal articles of cultivation. After our equinoctial, and the more violent storm of the 25th, we had eight or ten days of favorable wind, and delightful weather; then succeeded a third gale, more severe than the first, but in neither did we carry away any thing of consequence. This morning, at the earliest dawn, we came in sight of the African coast. It was truly a splendid spectacle to witness the sun, slowly rising from behind the distant hills, which appeared, from their elevation and * Terceira is the island which has so successfully resisted the tyranny of Don Miguel. |