"I have been but little in," said Ninian hastily...

ban_leodhasach sent me a link to this video of a ship experiencing some rough seas. It's a *car ferry* that's pitching like that, on the passage between Wellington (North Island, NZ) and Picton (South Island, NZ). It's a ship that used to travel across the Minch, the bit of sea between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish mainland.