Isle of Wight
The island off the south coast of England, near Southampton.
Today: Isle of Wight, England
A free ticket on an early pleasure cruise
William Makepeace Thackeray (“Mr. M. A. Titmarsh”), Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo, 1846, on his P&O voyage of 1844 · voyage of 1844; preface and book published 1846
The sun brought all the sick people out of their berths this morning, and the indescribable moans and noises which had been issuing from behind the fine painted doors on each side of the cabin happily ceased. Long before sunrise, I had the good fortune to discover that it was no longer necessary to maintain the horizontal posture, and, the very instant this truth was apparent, came on deck, at two o'clock in the morning, to see a noble full moon sinking westward, and millions of the most brilliant stars shining overhead. The night was so serenely pure, that you saw them in magnificent airy perspective : the blue sky around and over them, and other more distant orbs sparkling above, till they glittered away faintly into the immeasurable distance. The ship went rolling over a heavy, sweltering, calm sea. The breeze was a warm and soft one; quite different to the rigid air we had left behind us, two days since, off the Isle of Wight. The bell kept tolling its half hours, and the mate explained the mystery of watch and dog-watch.
The sun brought all the sick people out of their berths this morning, and the indescribable moans and noises that had been coming from behind the fine painted doors on each side of the cabin happily stopped. Long before sunrise, I had the good fortune to discover that it was no longer necessary to keep the horizontal posture. The very instant this truth was clear, I came on deck, at two o'clock in the morning. I saw a noble full moon sinking westward, and millions of the most brilliant stars shining overhead. The night was so calm and pure that you saw them in magnificent airy depth: the blue sky around and over them, and other, more distant stars sparkling above, till they glittered away faintly into the endless distance. The ship went rolling over a heavy, sweltering, calm sea. The breeze was warm and soft, quite different from the harsh air we had left behind us two days before, off the Isle of Wight. The bell kept tolling its half hours, and the mate explained the mystery of the watch and the dogwatch.