Asiatic Breezes by Oliver Optic

The next day was Sunday; and, in accordance with the custom from the beginning of the voyage, no unnecessary work was required to be done by any person, and the business of sight-seeing was discontinued. But all were at liberty to observe the day in their own way. Religious services were conducted by the commander on the deck or in the cabin, which were usually attended by all. Most of them went to church on shore when it was convenient; but going to see the edifice or the pictures they did not regard as a devotional exercise.

It was a warm and pleasant day for the seventeenth of January, in latitude 30 deg., about the same as New Orleans or the northern part of Florida; and the service was held in Conference Hall, as the carpeted section of the promenade deck had come to be called. The captain began the exercises by reading selections from Exodus xv.: --