We left Sheerness last Saturday week, and had awful weather round, having to put back three times, once into Deal on the Monday, into Folkestone on Tuesday, and into Dungeness on the Wednesday, arriving here on Thursday; the distance is 105 miles and we were 109 hours steaming fullspeed all the way. The wind was dead against us, and it commenced to increase as soon as we had passed Dover on the Saturday night, in the morning it had increased to a gale, and we found ourselves close into the coast of France. At 10 o'clock on Sunday the Captain gave orders to put back for theDowns, but the wind arose to a hurricane and we could make no head way against it. At Midnight the ship passed through a Cyclone, which caused the sea to come right over her and go down into the Engine room, through the hatchways, nearly putting out the fires; the Life boat cutter was smashed to atoms, and the Jib boom carried away with all the Head Sails, so that the ship drifted along under a single storm stay sail. She rolled fearfully all night, I was pitched out of my Hammock two or three times, and think it was the most fearful night I ever passed in my life. Several ships were wrecked close to us, and it was considered the roughest night on the Southern coast for the last eight years.

We reached Deal on the Monday and waited until the storm abated, there were hundreds of vessels of all nations at anchor in the Downs. Directly we dropped ours the Scientific blokes made a rush for the railway station, and came on to Portsmouth by train, arriving two days before us. They lay about sea sick during the gale and the sailors did make game of them.