Poor short-lived things! what plane we lay!
Ah! why forsake our native home,
To distant climates speed away.
For self sticks close, where'er we roam.
Care follows hard, and soon o'ertakes
The well-rigg'd ship; the warlike steed
Her destin'd quarry ne'er forsakes:
Nor the wind flees with half the speed.
COWPER.
Newton, who had made every preparation, as soon as he had taken leave of
his uncle, hastened to join his ship, which still remained at Gravesend,
waiting for the despatches to be closed by the twenty-four leaden heads,
presiding at Leadenhall Street. The passengers, with the exception of
two, a Scotch presbyterian divine and his wife, were still on shore,
divided amongst the inns of the town, unwilling until the last moment to
quit terra firma for so many months of sky and water, daily receiving a
visit from the captain of the ship, who paid his respects to them all
round, imparting any little intelligence he might have received as to
the probable time of his departure.
When Newton arrived on board, he was received by the first-mate, a
rough, good-humoured, and intelligent man, about forty years of age, to
whom he had already been introduced by the captain, on his previous
appearance with the letter from the director.
"Well, Mr Forster, you're in very good time. As in all probability we
shall be shipmates for a voyage or two, I trust that we shall be good
friends. Now for your _traps_:" then turning round, he addressed, in
the Hindostanee language, two or three Lascars (fine olive-coloured men,
with black curling bushy hair), who immediately proceeded to hoist in
the luggage.
The first-mate, with an "excuse me a moment" went forward to give some
directions to the English seamen, leaving Forster to look about him.
What he observed, we shall describe for the benefit of our readers.
The Indiaman was a twelve hundred ton ship, as large as one of the small
class seventy-four in the king's service, strongly built, with lofty
bulwarks, and pierced on the upper deck for eighteen guns, which were
mounted on the quarter-deck and forecastle. Abaft, a poop, higher than
the bulwarks, extended forward, between thirty and forty feet, under
which was the cuddy or dining-room, and state-cabins, appropriated to
passengers. The poop, upon which you ascended by ladders on each side,
was crowded with long ranges of coops, tenanted by every variety of
domestic fowl, awaiting in happy unconsciousness the day when they
should be required to supply the luxurious table provided by the
captain. In some, turkeys stretched forth their long necks, and tapped
the decks as they picked up some ant who crossed it, in his industry.
In others, the crowing of cocks and calling of the hens were incessant:
or the geese, ranged up rank and file, waited but the signal from one of
the party to raise up a simultaneous clamour, which as suddenly was
remitted. Coop answered coop, in variety of discord, while the
poulterer walked round and round to supply the wants of so many hundreds
committed to his charge.
The booms before the main-mast were occupied by the large boats, which
had been hoisted in preparatory to the voyage. They also composed a
portion of the farm yard. The launch contained about fifty sheep,
wedged together so close that it was with difficulty they could find
room to twist their jaws round, as they chewed the cud. The
stern-sheets of the barge and yawl were filled with goats and two
calves, who were the first destined victims to the butcher's knife;
while the remainder of their space was occupied by hay and other
provender, pressed down by powerful machinery into the smallest compass.
The occasional baa-ing and bleating on the booms were answered by the
lowing of three milch-cows between the hatchways of the deck below;
where also were to be descried a few more coops, containing fowls and
rabbits. The manger forward had been dedicated to the pigs; but, as the
cables were not yet unbent or bucklers shipped, they at present were
confined by gratings between the main-deck guns, where they grunted at
each passer-by, as if to ask for food.
The boats hoisted up on the quarters and the guys of the davits, to
which they were suspended, formed the kitchen gardens, from which the
passengers were to be supplied, and were loaded with bags containing
onions, potatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, and cabbages, the latter in
their full round proportions, hanging in a row upon the guys, like
strings of heads, which had been demanded in the wrath or the caprice of
some despot of Mahomed's creed.
Forster descended the ladder to the main-deck which he found equally
encumbered with cabins for the passengers, trunks and bedding belonging
to them, and many other articles which had not yet found their way into
the hold, the hatches of which were open, and in which lanterns in every
direction partially dispelled the gloom, and offered to his view a
confused outline of bales and packages. Carpenters sawing deals,
sail-makers roping the foot of an old mainsail, servants passing to and
fro with dishes, Lascars jabbering in their own language, British seamen
damning their eyes, as usual, in plain English, gave an idea of
confusion and want of method to Newton Forster, which, in a short time,
he acknowledged himself to have been premature in having conceived.
Where you have to provide for such a number, to separate the luggage of
so many parties, from the heavy chest to the fragile bandbox, to take in
cargo, and prepare for sea, all at the same time, there must be
apparently confusion. In a few days every thing finds its place; and,
what is of more consequence, is itself to be found as soon as it may be
required.
According to the regulations on board of East India ships, Forster
messed below with the junior mates, midshipmen, surgeon's assistant,
etcetera; the first and second mates only having the privilege of
constantly appearing at the captain's table; while the others receive
but an occasional invitation. Forster soon became on intimate terms
with his shipmates. As they will however appear upon the stage when
required to perform their parts, we shall at present confine ourselves
to a description of the captain and the passengers.
Captain Drawlock was a man of about fifty years of age. Report said
that in his youth he had been wild, and some of his contemporary
commanders in the service were wont to plague him by narrating divers
freaks of former days, the recollection of which would create any thing
but a smile upon his face. Whether report and the other captains were
correct or not in their assertions, Captain Drawlock was in appearance
quite a different character at the time we introduce him. He was of
sedate aspect, seldom smiled, and appeared to be wrapt up in the
importance of the trust confided to him, particularly with respect to
the young women who were sent out under his protection. He talked much
of his responsibility, and divided the whole of his time between his
chronometers and his young ladies; in both of which a trifling error was
a source of irritation. Upon any deviation on the part of either, the
first were rated carefully, the latter were _rated soundly_; considering
the safety of the ship to be endangered on the one hand, and the
character of his ship to be equally at stake on the other. It was
maliciously observed that the latter were by far the more erratic of the
two; and still more maliciously, that the austere behaviour on the part
of Captain Drawlock was all pretence; that he was as susceptible as the
youngest officer in the ship; and that the women found it out long
before the voyage was completed.
It has been previously mentioned that all the passengers were on shore,
except two, a Presbyterian divine and his wife, the expenses attending
whose passage out were provided for by a subscription which had been put
on foot by some of the serious people of Glasgow, who prayed fervently,
and enlivened their devotions with most excellent punch. The worthy
clergyman (for worthy he was) thought of little else but his calling,
and was a sincere, enthusiastic man, who was not to be checked by any
consideration in what he considered to be his duty; but although he
rebuked, he rebuked mildly, and never lost his temper. Stern in his
creed, which allowed no loophole by which the offender might escape,
still there was a kindness and even a humility in his expostulation,
which caused his zeal never to offend, and often to create serious
reflection. His wife was a tall, handsome woman, who evidently had
usurped an ascendancy over her husband in all points unconnected with
his calling. She too was devout; but hers was not the true religion,
for it had not charity for its basis. She was clever and severe; spoke
seldom; but the few words which escaped from her lips were sarcastic in
their tendency.
The passengers who still remained on shore were numerous. There was an
old colonel, returning from a three years' furlough, the major part of
which had been spent at Cheltenham. He was an Adonis of sixty, with
yellow cheeks and white teeth; a man who had passed through life doing
nothing; had risen in his profession without having seen service, except
on one occasion, and of that circumstance he made the most. With a good
constitution and happy temperament, constantly in society, and
constantly in requisition, he had grown old without being aware of it,
and considered himself as much an object of interest with the other sex
as he was formerly when a gay captain of five-and-twenty, with good
prospects. Amusing and easily amused, he had turned over the pages of
the novel of life so uninterruptedly, that he had nearly arrived at the
last page without being conscious that the finis was at hand.
Then there were two cadets from the college, full of themselves and
their own consequence, fitted out with plenty of money and plenty of
advice, both of which were destined to be thrown away. There was also a
young writer, who talked of his mother Lady Elizabeth, and other high
relations, who had despatched him to India, that he might be provided
for by a cholera morbus or a lucrative post; a matter of perfect
indifference to those who had sent him from England. Then, let me see,
oh! there were two officers of a regiment at St. Helena, with tongues
much longer than their purses; who in the forepart of the day
condescended to talk nonsense to the fairer of the other sex, and in the
evening to win a few pounds from the weaker of their own.
But all these were nobodies in the eyes of Captain. Drawlock; they were
a part of his cargo, for which he was not responsible. The important
part of his consignment were four unmarried women; three of them were
young, good-looking, and poor; the other ill-favoured, old, but rich.
We must give precedence to wealth and age. The lady last mentioned was
a Miss Tavistock, born and educated in the city, where her father had
long been at the head of the well-established firm of Tavistock,
Bottlecock, and Company, Dyers, Callenderers, and Scourers. As we
before observed, she was the fortunate sole heiress to her father's
accumulation, which might amount to nearly thirty thousand pounds; but
had been little gifted by nature. In fact, she was what you may style
most preposterously ugly; her figure was large and masculine; her hair
red; and her face very deeply indented with the small pox. As a man,
she would have been considered the essence of vulgarity; as a woman she
was the quintessence: so much so, that she had arrived at the age of
thirty-six without having, notwithstanding her property, received any
attentions which could be construed into an offer. As we always seek
most eagerly that which we find most difficult to obtain, she was
possessed with _une fureur de se marier_; and, as a last resource, had
resolved to go out to India, where she had been informed that "any thing
white" was acceptable. This _passion_ for matrimony (for with her it
had so become, if not a disease) occupied her whole thoughts; but she
attempted to veil them by always pre tending to be extremely sensitive
and refined; to be shocked at any thing which had the slightest allusion
to the "increase and multiply;" and constantly lamented the extreme
fragility of her constitution; to which her athletic bony frame gave so
determined a lie, that her hearers were struck dumb with the barefaced
assertion. Miss Tavistock had kept up a correspondence with an old
schoolmate, who had been taken away early to join her friends in India,
and had there married. As her hopes of matrimony dwindled away, so did
her affection for her old friend appear, by her letters, to increase.
At last, in answer to a letter, in which she declared that she would
like to come out, and (as she had long made a resolution to continue
single) adopt one of her friend's children, and pass her days with them,
she received an answer, stating how happy they would be to receive her,
and personally renew the old friendship, if indeed she could be
persuaded to venture upon so long and venturous a passage. Whether this
answer was sincere or not, Miss Tavistock took advantage of the
invitation; and writing to intimate her speedy arrival, took her passage
in the Bombay Castle.
The other three spinsters were sisters; Charlotte, Laura, and Isabel
Revel, daughters of the Honourable Mr Revel, a _roue_ of excellent
family, who had married for money, and had dissipated all his wife's
fortune except the marriage settlement of 600 pounds per annum. Their
mother was a selfish, short-sighted, manoeuvring woman, whose great
anxiety was to form establishments for her daughters, or, in other
terms, remove the expense of their maintenance from her own to the
shoulders of other people, very indifferent whether the change might
contribute to their happiness or not. Mr Revel may be said to have
long deserted his family; he lived nobody knew where, and seldom called,
unless it was to "raise the wind," upon his wife, who by intreaties and
threats was necessitated to purchase his absence by a sacrifice of more
than half her income. Of his daughters he took little notice, when he
_did_ make his appearance; and if so, it was generally in terms more
calculated to raise the blush of indignant modesty than to stimulate the
natural feelings of affection of a daughter towards a parent. Their
mother, whose income was not sufficient to meet the demands of a
worthless husband, in addition to the necessary expenses attendant on
three grown-up women, was unceasing in her attempts to get them off her
hands: but we will introduce a conversation which took place between her
and a sedate-looking, powdered old gentleman, who had long been
considered as a "friend of the family," as thereby more light will
perhaps be thrown upon her character.
"The fact is, my dear Mr Heaviside, that I hardly know what to do. Mr
Revel, who is very intimate with the theatre people, proposed that they
should try their fortune on the stage. He says (and indeed there is
some truth in it) that, now-a-days, the best plan for a man to make
himself popular, is to be sent to Newgate, and the best chance that a
girl has of a coronet, is to become an actress. Well, I did not much
like the idea; but at last I consented. Isabel, my youngest, is, you
know, very handsome in her person, and sings remarkably well, and we
arranged that she should go on first; and if she succeeded, that her
sister Charlotte should follow her; but Isabel is of a very obstinate
disposition, and when we proposed it to her, she peremptorily refused,
and declared that she would go out as governess, or any thing rather
than consent. I tried what coaxing would do, and her father tried
threatening; but all was in vain. This was about a year ago, and she is
now only seventeen; but she ever was a most decided, a most obstinate
character."
"Very undutiful, indeed, ma'am; she might have been a duchess before
this:--a very foolish girl, indeed, ma'am," observed the gentleman.
"Well, Mr Heaviside, we then thought that Charlotte, our eldest, had
the next best chance of success. Although not by any means so
good-looking as her sister; indeed, to tell you the truth, Mr
Heaviside, which I would not do to every body,--but I know that you can
keep a secret, Charlotte is now nearly thirty years old, and her sister
Laura only one year younger."
"Is it possible, madam!" replied Mr Heaviside, looking at the lady with
well feigned astonishment.
"Yes, indeed," replied the lady, who had forgotten that in telling her
daughters' secrets, she had let out her own; "but I was married so
young, so very young, that I am almost ashamed to think of it. Well,
Mr Heaviside, as I was saying, although not so good--looking as her
sister, Mr Revel, who is a good judge in these matters, declared that
by the theatre lights Charlotte would be reckoned a very fine woman. We
proposed it to her, and, after a little pouting, she consented; the only
difficulty was, whether she should attempt tragedy or comedy. Her
features were considered rather too sharp for comedy, and her figure not
quite tall enough for tragedy. She herself preferred tragedy, which
decided the point; and Mr Revel, who knows all the actors, persuaded
Mr Y--- (you know whom I mean, the great tragic actor) to come here,
and give his opinion of her recitation. Mr Y--- was excessively
polite; declared that she was a young lady of great talent; but that a
slight lisp, which she has, unfitted her most decidedly for tragedy. Of
course it was abandoned for comedy, which she studied some time; and
when we considered her competent, Mr Revel had interest enough to
induce the great Mr M--- to come and give his opinion. Charlotte
performed her part as I thought remarkably well, and when she had
finished she left the room, that Mr M--- might not be checked by her
presence from giving me his unbiassed opinion."
"Which was favourable, ma'am, I presume; for, if not fitted for the one,
she naturally must have been fit for the other."
"So I thought," replied the lady, to this polite _non sequitur_ of the
gentleman. "But Mr M--- is a very odd man, and, if I must say it, not
very polite. What do you think, Mr Heaviside, as soon as she left the
room he rose from his chair, and, twisting up the corner of his mouth,
as he looked me in the face, he said, `Madam, it is my opinion that your
daughter's comedy, whenever she makes her appearance on the boards,
will, to use a Yankee expression, _be most particularly damned_! I wish
you a very good morning.'"
"Very rude indeed, madam; most excessively unpolite of Mr M---. I
should not have thought it possible."
"Well, Mr Heaviside, as for Laura; poor thing! you are aware that she
is not quite so clever as she might be; she never had any memory: when a
child, she never could recollect the evening hymn if she missed it two
nights running; so that acting was out of the question with her. So
that all my hopes of their forming a splendid establishment by that
channel have vanished. Now, my dear Mr Heaviside, what would you
propose?"
"Why, really, ma'am, it is so difficult to advise in these times; but,
if anxious to dispose of your daughters, why not send them out to
India?"
"We have thought of it several times; for Mr Revel has an uncle there
unmarried, and they say very rich. He is a colonel in the Bombay
marine, I believe."
"More probably in the Bengal army, ma'am."
"Well, I believe you are right; but I know it's in the Company's
service. But the old gentleman hates my husband, and will not have any
thing to say to him. I did write a very civil letter to him, in which I
just hinted how glad one or two of my daughters would be to take care of
his house; but he never condescended to give me an answer. I am told
that he is a very unpleasant man."
"A difficult thing to advise, ma'am, very difficult indeed! but I can
tell you a circumstance which occurred about five years ago, when a
similar application to a relative in India was made by a friend of mine.
It was no more attended to than yours has been. Nevertheless, as it
was supposed the answer had miscarried, the young lady was sent out to
her relative with a decent equipment, and a letter of introduction. Her
relation was very much surprised: but what could he do? he could not
permit the young lady to remain without a roof over her head; so he
received her; and as he did not like to say how he had been treated, he
held his tongue. The young lady in the course of three months, made a
very good match; and is, to my knowledge, constantly sending home India
shawls and other handsome presents to her mother."
"Indeed, Mr Heaviside, then do you advise--"
"It is difficult, extremely difficult to advise upon so nice a point. I
only state the fact, my dear madam: I should think the colonel must feel
the want of female society; but, God bless me! it's nearly two
o'clock.--Good morning, my dear Mrs Revel--good morning."
"Good morning, my dear Mr Heaviside; it's very kind of you to call in
this sociable way, and chat an hour or two.--Good morning."
The result of the above conversation was a consultation between Mr
Revel and his wife upon their first meeting. Mr Revel was delighted
with the plan, not so much caring at the disposal of his daughters as he
was pleased with the idea of annoying his uncle, from whom he, at one
time, had had great expectations: but, as it was necessary to be
circumspect, especially with Isabel, Mr Revel took the opportunity of a
subsequent visit to state that he had received a letter from his uncle
in India, wishing one of his daughters to go out and live with him. In
a few months he read another letter (composed by himself, and copied in
another hand), earnestly desiring that they might all come out to him,
as it would be much to their advantage. The reluctance of the two
eldest was removed by pointing out the magnificent establishments they
might secure: the consent of Isabel by a statement of difficulty and
debt on the part of her parents, which would end in beggary if not
relieved from the burden of their support.
By insuring her life, a sum of money sufficient for their outfit and
passage was raised on Mrs Revel's marriage settlement; and the three
Miss Revels were thus shipped off by their affectionate parents, as a
"venture," in the Bombay Castle.