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with the wind again & striking the vessel in the stern. The day before i had been in the habit of going aft to get out of the way of the waves that would wash over the bow of the vessel & to day I did the same thing thinking the wind had changed when all at once a large wave came washing over the stern and striking me from head to foot. I went forward & was not know to go aft again while the waves were high. The sea soon grew calmer & everything went on in a monotinous way that was very tiresome indeed till we "sighted" land. We souls once in a while see a ship or a steamer sometimes two or three at a time & again not see anything for a day or two. Most of the vessels we passed were at a distance only one or two came near enough for us to see the men on board. We passed over the Newfoundland Banks after we had been out four or five days & then saw a great many small schooners fishing. The water was a light blue color on the banks on account of its being shallow. In midocean it is a dark blue. I spent a great deal of time looking over the side of the vessel watching the waves roll & dash into foam as the vessel would strike them & look beautifully blue as the sun would shine through them. Itwwas very fine at night to see the Phosphorus sparkle in the water as it would dash by the side of the vessel. It is one of the greatest sights in the world to see an ocean steamer plough through the waves of the great Atlantic. After we had been out eleven days we all at once saw the dim outlines of land ahead of us & it grew more and more distinct till we could see the surf dash upon the rocks & see the hills look green with grass. The land we saw was the most Westerly point of Ireland where the cable is landed. We saw the towers where the European end of the cable comes in & our steamer sent up her flags so the men in the tower would know her & and the newspapers the next morning throughout the civilized world published the arrival of the Palmyra off Queenstown. We had but short time to see the Irish coast as it soon grew dark but it was one of the most beautiful sights I ever beheld. the surf was dashing high up the huge rocks whose tops were covered with green grass & beautiful hills were towering