OLD VOYAGES The Salt Letters. By Christine Balint. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1999. Reviewed by Jeanell Buckley. The purpose of a long journey is to tell the stories that can't be told at home. This comment early in The Salt Letters is what this book is all about. What else is there to do during the relentless discomfort of months at sea, than clean out the cobwebs of the heart? Many a cobweb is blown to pieces here. Poetry and narrative merge in The Salt Letters with intriguing delicacy. It is 1854 and Sarah Garnett is on the Maiden Tide on her way to the new world. She shares the 'single women's quarters' with other British girls and together they endure, as best they can, their grim confinement, and the hazards that go with it. The discomfort of nineteenth century steerage travel can only be imagined, but Christine Balint paints a vivid picture for us. The stench of flooded water closets and the 'little oceans' of ballast. But it must be endured, and like the characters, I found myself gritting my teeth and praying for safe delivery from sickness, injury and the whim of monstrous oceans. Sarah and her companions find depth within themselves to mirror the depth of the ocean which surges beneath them. They talk of their hopes, their fears and the unresolved troubles of their old lives. Routine on board ship is one of work and occasional snatches of pleasure, under the watchful eye of matron. These young women are troubled by what they have left behind in England. Sarah's past is continuously with her, and the relationship with her mother, and her beloved cousin Richard are a source of joy and pain as the ship wends its way southward. The values of the past have failed these women, but they only let go of them slowly as their journey proceeds and the sea air takes it toll. During the journey a sealed trunk is opened spilling, time-capsule like, remembrances of the old world. (The exploratory party to Mars planned for this decade will probably open their luggage in space, and react as these women do. Travel to unimagined distances puts our human aspirations in perspective). As the journey progresses we can see how this perspective is changing. It becomes difficult for these women to think as they did at home, just as it becomes more difficult to brush their hair in the salty air. Sarah and her fellow travellers are not the only characters. The ocean itself is a presence which looms at every turn. The mystical power of nature in The Salt Letters blurs the lines between dream and reality. Murray Bail in Eucalyptus gave us a forest as a character, full of its own stories, waiting to whisper to the patient listener. The ocean, like the eucalypt forest, has its tales to tell. And Balint lets us listen in as it speaks to Sarah Garnett. The strange and wonderful culture of maritime folklore also come to life in the journey. The magical albatross, underwater mountains and the spirits of the drowned loom larger than life on the Maiden Tide, thousands of miles from the civilised world. The sea, a frightening force at the start of the novel, becomes a travelling companion, and the characters learn more and more about it as the journey goes on. Its moods and changes can eventually be read like a language and respected, as it is by the crew. The joys and tragedies received by the sea seem to be lying in wait to be fished out by the travellers. Events which were part of a sea voyage in the age of sail are recreated, including the celebration of the equator crossing. Balint has researched her story well but, thankfully, the historian is kept at bay, leaving plenty of room for the characters to speak for themselves. They are humans in difficult circumstances and we are allowed to feel real compassion for them. The most haunting segments of this book deal with the regrets and emotional baggage which is the lot of all who leave their homelands in search of a better life. Balint's 'single women' are timeless characters whose stories could parallel those of many new migrants today. For this reason, ultimately, the happenings onboard the Maiden Tide are a sideshow. The real journey takes place within Sarah and her companions. Each chapter begins with a letter which is never finished. These are the letters Sarah feels bound to write home, but they're not enough to contain the wonders of her journey. I felt myself being drawn into these wonders, not really understanding, but wanting more. Travelling is not always as comfortable or as safe as we'd want, but we'd all like to emerge with a cache of experiences as rich as this.