Open Sea). We spent the morning in buying interesting things that we had forgotten to buy before. It was the last chance to acquire continental merchandise at con- tinental prices. Hannibal bought some shirts, ties, and stationary supplies. He also bought a pair of pajamas, the like of which never dared to put its head in the door of an Ottoman temple. There are black things all designed with green vines, scarlet and orange tropical birds, and far eastern dancing girls. We also inspected the Aorangi more closely and nosed around our quarters suspiciously, like old maids search- ing for old beaux. The result was highly satisfactory. A many-decked vessel of 17,000 tons displacement fitted out like the flagship of El Capitan Don Alonzo Estaban San Salvadore. Singing birds hanging in her salons, a thousand stewards all running around doing nothing with the smartest finesse imaginable- and in her and through her opened the portals of one comfortable-looking cham- ber after another. She got off at twelve-twenty, slightly behind time. A very gay sight and either a little sad or a little merry according to your lights. A crowd of about four hundred people lined the new C.P.R. quay holding ends of brilliantly coloured streamers, which were passed over the distance separating them from their friends_ on the boat. As she pulled out of the mooring the streamers broke gently one by one. The band struck up Auld Lang Syne. The voyage was on. We stopped for four hours in Victoria to pick up 12