the_gneech | Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!

Happy birthday to

graveolent

Having a strong or unpleasant smell.
—Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon, c. 1850

No Pleasure Cruise

On this date in 1840, a French diplomat known as the Chevalier de Bacourt left England for America. He described his ship's steerage section in a letter: "The engine and 'menagerie' occupy the centre [near] the cabins of the domestics, those of the crew, and the kitchens. … God help the nervous invalids who live there. In this space are packed together eighty-five passengers — men, women, and children — and ninety-two of the crew … justly celebrated for their disagreeable odor. Then there are two cows, twelve pigs, ten sheep, twenty-five chickens, and as many ducks, geese, and turkeys. … Imagine all these drinking, eating, sleeping, crying, singing, bellowing, bleating, and add to this the noise of the engine and the orders for the management of the vessel. Imagine yourself shut up in a stateroom seven feet long, seven feet wide, and seven feet high, and you will have a correct idea of the pleasure of the voyage. … If the sea is rough half of these people are sick, and so are the animals; then it becomes an infernal abode."

On the other hand, you get free cable and pay-per-view.

-The Gneech