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rolling over like barrels in the
water, sometimes jumping entirely
out of the element one after
the other like so many sheep
gambolling over a gutter
and they will have a tolerable
idea of ——— what? why of
my scanty meagre powers of
description. So much for
the "Sketch book" to please
my cousin [Bert] — which thou
will find not like thy favorite
Washington's but a book of
only sketches — the fragments
of thought — strung together
helter skelter — sometimes perhaps
a Sermon and [anon] a
song for instance Captⁿ
Crocker has just said he has
Sailed 288 miles in 24 hours
in this vessel which is more than
he ever did in any other and
the day we dined together at
[M^t/r] Hicks he said he had X^d
the Atlantic 138 times and never
was wrecked or met with
any serious accident. This