Excerpt from Letters: Written During an European Tour
Among the many ways in which the hours of the day were spent by the gentlemen was in playing shuffle board, a game very extensively practised by sailors, and requiring considerable dexterity to succeed well at it. A steady eye and a strong wrist are necessary to play it well. I will not attempt a detailed de scription of it.
Of course a great deal of writing was done by members of the party. The majority of persons who go to Europe com mence to keep a journal as soon as they step on the deck of the steamer that is to carry them over. I believe it is estimated that three-fourths of all who attempt to make a record of their doings and seeings while traveling in this country, signally fail to do so. Some drop off very quickly, others linger for a few weeks, but the few only succeed in the undertaking which is so fruitful of satisfaction and enjoyment when completed, but the production of which is attended with much hard labor. On board the Devonia there was the usual quota of journal-keep ers. Quite a number have fallen by the wayside already, others Show unmistakable signs of weariness in their well-doing, and the rest sharpen their pencils, when asked if they intend to keep up their writing during the entire trip, with an air which seems to say, Keep it up? Do I look like a person who does anything by halves ‘3 You evidently are weak-minded. I always carry out whatever I undertake.
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