SEA AND OCEAN TRAVEL.
The landsman who has never been on a sea-voyage looks with more or
less hesitation at the prospect of making one. His thoughts are
occupied with what he has heard or read of the perils of the great
deep, and he regards with a feeling akin to veneration the bronzed
sailor who has plowed every ocean on the globe, and tasted the
delights of every climate. He questions his friends who have been to
sea before him, and from their varied experience lays up a store of
knowledge more or less useful. He wonders how he will enjoy sailing
over the blue waters, how the spectacle will impress him, and more
than all else he wonders whether or no he will be sea-sick. He busies
himself with procuring a suitable outfit for his nautical journeys,
and in nine cases out of ten selects a quantity of articles he never
uses, and which it is not always easy to give away.
Before the days of steamships a sea voyage was an affair of
considerable moment, as it implied an uncertain period on the waters,
and the passenger was obliged to take along a good many articles of
necessity or comfort, or go without them altogether. Nowadays the
principal preparation is to secure your place and pay for your ticket,
and, unless you are very eccentric in your wishes and desires, you
will find everything you want to eat or drink on board the ship that
is to carry you. In selecting your place, if you are inexperienced in
sea travel, try and get as near the middle of the ship as you possibly
can, and if you are forward of "amidships" you are better off than if
the same distance "aft." In the middle of the ship there is less
motion than elsewhere in a pitching sea, and the further you can get
from the screw the less do you feel the jarring of the machinery. The
rolling is the same all over the craft, and there is no position that
will rid you of it. Several devices in the shape of swinging-berths
have been tried, for the benefit of persons with tender heads and
stomachs, and some of them have been quite successful in smoothing the
rough ways of the ocean, but the steamship companies have been slow to
adopt them, and the old salts do not regard them with a friendly eye.
Close all your business and have everything ready the day before your
departure. It is better to sit around and be idle for a few hours than
to have the worry of a lot of things that have been deferred till the
last.
If you are going on a long voyage by sailing ship and expect to pass
through the torrid and both temperate zones, you should provide
yourself with thick and thin clothing suitable to all latitudes. If
you are a society man of course you will carry your dress suit and a
goodly stock of fine linen to match, but if you are "roughing it," and
have no letters of introduction nor social designs, the dress suit
will be superfluous. Take three or four suits of linen for wearing on
shore in hot countries, a medium suit of woolen for temperate lands
and a thick suit of the same material for high latitudes north or
south. The roughest clothing procurable is what you need for wearing
on shipboard, thin for the torrid zone and thicker for the temperate.
Woolen or "hickory" shirts are the proper things for sea wear, and the
only occasion when you need a white shirt is when you go on shore.
Your own judgment must be your guide as to the proper supply of
collars, handkerchiefs, and the like; don't forget to be well provided
with underclothing, and remember that wool is a much safer article to
wear against the skin than cotton or linen. Take plenty of woolen
undershirts of the lightest texture for hot climates, and of course
you will have thick ones for the cold regions. An umbrella and a cane
are desirable for protection against sun and rain, or dogs and
beggars, when going on shore. A sun hat, or _sola topee_, as it is
called in India, is desirable in the tropics, but there is no need of
taking it along at the start. It can be bought in the first tropical
port you visit, and will be found there at a lower price than where it
is not in regular use.
If you are going to China or India from an American port you need take
only enough shore clothing to last you till you arrive there, as the
tailors in those countries can outfit you very expeditiously, and at
lower prices than you have at home. Of course you should have
something to wear during the day or two it will require them to make
up the goods after taking your measure. They will not give you a very
snug fit, and quite possibly your garments may look as if they had
been made on another man's measure, but if they are comfortable and
succeed in touching you here and there they are about all you can
expect. The Chinese tailor generally suggests "no fittee no takee"
when he measures you, but his ideas of a fit are different from those
of the fashionable clothiers of New York and London.
If you carry gloves through the tropics be sure to wrap them well in
oiled silk before starting. It is well to observe this rule with
gloves on all sea voyages, as the marine atmosphere is very injurious
to them.
If you are a smoker carry your own cigars and tobacco. Fine cigars
should be put up in tin or glass, as they are apt to suffer from the
sea air; it is the opinion of many travelers that it is not worth the
trouble to carry good cigars on an ocean voyage, as they are quickly
spoiled, and soon taste no better than common ones. A fine cigar may
be desirable after each meal, but for other times and for "smoking
between smokes" an ordinary one is just as well. The author has tried
all kinds of cigars at sea, and gives his verdict in favor of the
manilla cigar of the quality called "seconds" (understand that the
manilla cheroot is not intended, but only the cigar). Seconds are
preferable to firsts, as they are lighter in size and quality; the
firsts make a very fair after-dinner cigar, and in the Far East many
persons prefer them to choice Havanas. If you smoke a pipe be sure and
have a supply of pipes with perforated covers for use on deck when the
wind is blowing.
For the trans-Atlantic voyage, between America and Europe, there is
very little need of preparation, beyond getting your ticket and
putting affairs in shape for your absence. Take plenty of thick
underclothing, your roughest suit of clothes for wearing on the
voyage, the roughest and heaviest overcoat that you possess for wet
weather, and an equally rough rug or other wrap for keeping you warm
on deck when the north wind blows merrily. If you are of a sedentary
habit buy a steamer chair, and when you buy it make up your mind that
you will occupy it when you want to. A great number of people who say
they "don't want the bother of a chair," or "didn't think to get one,"
are in the habit of helping themselves to the chairs of others without
the least compunction of conscience and without caring a straw as to
the desires of the owners for their property. Women are worse
offenders than men in this matter, and the young and pretty are worse
than the older and plainer. If you have a stony heart you will turn an
intruder out of your chair without ceremony, whatever the age or sex,
but if you cannot muster the courage to do so your best plan is to
send the deck steward to bring the chair, and while he is getting it
you can remain quietly out of sight. When you buy the chair have it
marked with your name or initials, so that it can be easily
distinguished from others of the same shape and color.
You are expected to come to the dinner-table in a black coat on most
of the steamship lines. The rule is not imperative, however, but it is
well to comply with it, as you will encounter many people whose
notions about dressing for dinner are rigid, and, besides, the half
hour spent in arranging the toilet before the bell calls you to the
table is a variation of the monotony of the voyage.
Everything needed for the voyage may be contained in a valise or
"steamer trunk," with a toilet satchel, and all heavy luggage should
be sent below at the dock. A steamer trunk is designed to be stowed
under the berth out of the way; its proper dimensions are 30 inches
long, 15 or 16 wide, and 12 high. Its length or width may be greater,
but its height should not exceed 12 or at most 13 inches, or it will
be often found too large for the space where it is intended to go.
An old valise or sack should be taken along for containing the rough
sea-clothing which may be left with the steamer-chair at the company's
office in Liverpool or whatever port the passenger may land at. There
they remain till his return, in a storeroom specially provided for
them. They should be properly marked, so that the storekeeper will
have no difficulty in selecting them when wanted.
The servants who wait upon you will expect a reward for their
attentions, and you will be flying in the face of a long-established
custom if you fail to give it. On the English steamers half a
sovereign (ten shillings English) is the proper fee for the
room-steward on the voyage either way, and the same to the
table-steward. You will not diminish the attention upon you if you say
to these men at starting that you will remember each of them with a
ten-shilling piece, provided you are satisfied with them; they know
what to expect and will act accordingly. On the French and German
steamers a ten-franc piece is the usual fee to each of the servants
above mentioned. The "boots" expects a five-shilling or a five-franc
piece, according as the steamer is English or French, provided he
polishes your boots during the voyage, and the man in charge of the
bath comes along for a similar amount if you make regular use of his
services. If you frequent the smoking-room the steward in charge of it
expects to be remembered with a half crown, and a similar coin will
not be refused by the deck-steward who looks after your chair. None of
these fees should be paid until the last day of the voyage and the
service of the men has ended. It often happens that the room-steward
is very attentive through the voyage and in every way satisfactory; he
answers your bell promptly and you consider him a model servant, but
if you give him his fee before he has carried your impedimenta on deck
it is quite possible that you will carry them yourself or hire another
man to do it. His interest in you has ceased and he is looking after
somebody who hasn't yet rewarded him. The same thing may happen with
the table-steward, and he cannot hear your summons after he has been
paid off, though before that event he was the very beau ideal of all
you could wish.
It is always well to provide yourself with the money of the country
you are going to, or with that of the nationality of the steamer. On
an English ship, take ten pounds or so of English money, to cover all
your fees and extras, and to have a supply on landing until a visit
can be made to the banker. On the French steamers, take a
proportionate amount in francs, and on the German steamers, a supply
of marks will be quite in order. You can get this cash at a
money-changer's without as much trouble as you will have in case you
find no one on the steamer to make change for you, and the discount
will be less.
The perils of the transatlantic voyage are now practically reduced to
the dangers resulting from fog on and near the banks of Newfoundland.
The ships performing the service of the best of the lines are built so
strong that no wind to which the North Atlantic is accustomed can
injure them, and the captains are men of experience and ability. But
the fog is an evil which will not disappear at our bidding; the most
intelligent commander is helpless in the fog, and he cannot be sure at
any moment that he is not rushing to destruction upon a pitiless
iceberg, or dashing forward to collide with another ship, in which one
or both of the unlucky vessels may be lost. The ice is probably the
greater of the dangers, as the steamers give warning of their presence
to each other by the sound of whistles or fog-horns, and of late years
there has been an attempt to establish steam lanes across the
Atlantic, so that steamers going eastward should be several miles from
the track of those that are westward-bound. The iceberg hangs out no
lights and blows no whistle, and the first warning the captain can
have of its presence is when its white outline looms through the fog
less than a ship's length ahead. Many a steamer has had a narrow
escape from destruction, and not a few have been lost by encounters
with the ice. Of those that have never been heard from it is
conjectured that the majority were lost by collisions with the ice, as
in most instances it was abundant at the time of their disappearance.
The ingenuity of man has been taxed to avert the dangers from the ice
and fog, but thus far comparatively little has been accomplished. At
times the density of the fog is so great that the eye cannot penetrate
it more than twenty yards; experiments have been made with the
electric light, but the result has not been favorable to its general
adoption. A careful observation of the thermometer will sometimes show
the proximity of a berg, as the melting ice causes a fall in the
temperature of the water, frequently amounting to ten or twelve
degrees, and sometimes there will be a chilly blast of air, that says
very plainly there is ice in the vicinity. The early summer months are
the most dangerous on the score of ice, but the bergs abound till late
in autumn; they come from the west coast of Greenland, where they are
broken off from the immense glaciers that flow down from the interior
and push out into the sea. The great polar current carries them
southward, past Labrador and Newfoundland, till they are thrown into
the warm waters of the Gulf-stream and there melted away. They rarely
go further south than to the fortieth parallel, but are sometimes
drifted as far east as the Azores.
By taking a course that will carry them to the south of the Grand
Banks the steamers might avoid the fog and its consequent dangers;
some of them do so, and others advertise that they will. After they
get at sea the mind of the captain sometimes undergoes a change, and
the ship is headed so that she passes near Cape Race. The more to the
south a ship is kept the longer will be her course, and in these days
of keen competition to make the shortest passages the temptation is
great to run away to the northward as far as possible. The author was
once a passenger on a steamer that laid her course within fifty miles
of Cape Race, although he had been assured at the office of the
company that she would "take an extreme southerly course," and the
promise to do so had been inserted in the advertisements. A passenger
ventured to say as much to one of the officers and to ask if the
managers of the company had not ordered the southerly route. "The
captain commands here," was the reply, "and the managers have nothing
to do with his course; he can run wherever he pleases, and trust to
Providence for the result."
It is to be hoped that the great companies will some day make an
agreement, and keep it, that they will all take the southerly course
and make an end of a competition that is dangerous in a certain
degree. They would be greatly aided to such an arrangement if the
American government would withdraw its offer to give the carrying of
the mails to the company making the shortest average of passages
across the Atlantic. Public opinion might also do something in this
way, but, unfortunately, public opinion happens to be in favor of the
most rapid transit, and looks upon safety as a minor consideration.
Whenever the majority of travelers shall think more of the pleasure of
staying longer on the earth than of going over its surface at the
greatest speed there will be a move in the right direction.
But do not disturb yourself with unpleasant thoughts of what may
happen in the fog. Remember, rather, that of the thousands of voyages
that have been made across the Atlantic only a few dozens have been
unfortunate, and of all the steamers that have plowed these waters
only the _President_, _City of Glasgow_, _Pacific_, _Tempest_, _United
Kingdom_, _City of Boston_, and _Ismailia_--seven in all--are unheard
from. The chances are thousands to one in your favor, and if this does
not satisfy you, try and recall the philosophy of the man who said it
was none of his business whether the ship was in danger, as he had
paid his fare to the company and they were under obligations to carry
him safely to the other side. If the wind rises to a gale, don't worry
in the least, and if you have any doubt about the matter ask your
room-steward what the appearances of things are to a sea-faring man
like himself. Quite possibly his answer may be in the substance, if
not in the words, of the mariner's song:--
"A strong nor'-wester's blowing, Bill;
Hark! don't ye hear it roar now!
Lord help 'em, how I pities them
Unhappy folks on shore now!"
When a steamer is in a rough sea, especially if she is lightly laden,
the screw is frequently out of water for several seconds at a time.
Relieved from the resistance of the water, the screw whirls with the
rapidity of lightning and gives the stern of the ship a very lively
shaking. This is called "racing," and it is anything but pleasant, but
there is a comforting assurance when you hear it that everything is
all right and the machinery in order. Whenever you hear the racing of
the screw in rough weather you will hear a welcome sound. If a wave
seems to hit the ship a staggering blow, and send her half over, do
not listen for a commotion and spring from your berth, but bend your
ears to catch the sound of the engine, and when you hear its "choog!
choog!" you may make yourself easy. In rough weather or in smooth, the
first thing to listen for on awaking is the engine, and when you hear
its steady breathing and feel its great heart pulsating, as if it were
the vital force of an animate being, you may turn and sleep again,
satisfied that the ship which carries you "walks the water like a
thing of life" and is bearing you safely onward to your destination.
Inventors have busied themselves to devise something that should put a
stop to the racing of the screw, with its liability to derange the
machinery and its certainty of disturbing the nerves of excitable
passengers. Several plans have been tried, but, up to the date of
writing this volume, none of them have proved successful. Somebody
will doubtless accomplish the desired result before the end of another
decade, and when this is done he should give attention to the jar
caused by the machinery. It is hardly reasonable to expect that a
fast steamer will ever go over the water with the steadiness of a
sailing-ship, and with no perceptible jarring, but so much has been
done in the last twenty-five years in smoothing the ways of the ocean,
and the vessels that plow it, that the scheme here suggested is by no
means impossible.
While sitting on deck some afternoon you may be at a loss for a
subject to think about. Busy yourself with imagining what will be the
style, model, speed, and propelling force of the transatlantic ship of
twenty, fifty, a hundred, and five hundred years hence! Here is enough
to occupy you for many hours, and perhaps you may devise something
that will benefit the human race, and, also, not the least
consideration, put money in your pocket.