ON LEAVE FOR TWO YEARS
Riding accident at Cawnpore—Foot seriously injured—Get two years’ leave
of absence—Voyage to Cape Town—On to Australia—A strange cabin
ABOUT three months after our return to Cawnpore I was able to move about
a little on crutches, but not to go to parades for some months more, nor
to sleep nor rest on my left side. At last I managed to resume the
command of the regiment and to carry on the orderly room duties, and
finally to attend parades mounted; but I could not carry my sword,
although my wound was by this time quite healed up, for the parts were
so tender and sensitive that I could not bear the weight and friction of
my sword against my side. My orderly, therefore, always carried it for
me. On the very first ride I attempted to take into the country, my
horse shied while passing a bullock-dray on a small, low bridge (not
more than three or four feet high), slipping his hind legs over the
bridge and falling backwards right over with me. We both came down
together, and my right foot stuck in the stirrup, until the weight of my
body carried it clear away. My ankle was much sprained in consequence,
but I got up at once and managed, with the assistance of two officers
who were with me, to mount again and to ride home. I sent at once for
our surgeon, who ordered me to keep quiet and to bathe my ankle
constantly in cold water under a pump. For days and weeks I thought very
little of my accident, but my ankle and leg swelled very much and got
worse and worse, with much pain, for many months afterwards. Various
lotions were applied, but I got no better, and as my general health now
began to fail, I was frequently confined to bed for weeks, and almost to
the house for twelve months.
I now seriously began to think of getting leave of absence, and in
December of this year (1844) I consulted our surgeon, Dr. Davidson,
accordingly, and he said there would be no difficulty in granting my
request. So he at once wrote an official letter recommending me for
leave of absence to proceed to Calcutta for the purpose of appearing
before a medical board, and that letter I myself (as commanding officer)
forwarded to the Adjutant-General of H.M. Forces in India for the
consideration of the Commander-in-Chief, and in the next General Orders
my name appeared for leave to Calcutta for the purpose above stated.
In January, 1845, I took public leave of the officers of my regiment in
the messroom, and with Captain Waddy (who also got leave of absence),
Mrs. Waddy, and their children, left Cawnpore for Calcutta. We travelled
together as far as Benares. There I took passage in one of the
well-found and comfortable public river steamers, but Captain Waddy and
family hired a budgerow and soon followed with the current, but did not
reach Calcutta till a fortnight after us. I had previously written to my
friend and agent, John Allan (one of the wealthy merchants of the “City
of Palaces”), telling him that he might expect me, and requesting him to
make every inquiry for passages for us to Sydney or to any part of
Australia. He received me most kindly, and insisted on my taking up my
quarters under his hospitable roof. He told me there was no chance of a
direct passage to Australia, but that he had written to Mauritius and to
Singapore to inquire if we could get passages in a vessel from either of
these places for our destination.
Meantime I reported my arrival to the military authorities, and was told
a medical board would assemble on a given day, and that I had better
call on Dr. Murray, Inspector of Hospitals and chief of the Medical
Department. I did so, and after a conversation, in which I expressed my
wish to be sent to Sydney, where my family then was, he said he was
afraid he could not recommend me to be sent there, as his instructions
were to send officers who received long sick-leave direct to England. I
explained that that would not suit me at all, as to see my wife and
family was of more importance to me than even my health. He then said he
would consider it and would give me an answer the next day. I called the
following morning, and he told me that in the event of my medical board
recommending me for leave of absence, he would request I might be sent
to Sydney. A few days afterwards I appeared before the board, and after
they had asked me a few questions my leave was granted for two years, to
proceed to New South Wales for the recovery of my health.
By this time Mr. Allan had received answers to his letters to Singapore
and to Mauritius informing him there was not the slightest chance of
finding passages from either of those places to Australia; he therefore
advised me to go at once to the Cape of Good Hope, where we would be
sure to find vessels for Sydney, as many of the English traders for that
port called at the Cape for supplies. A fine ship was ready to sail in a
few days for England, touching at Mauritius and at the Cape, so the
Waddys and I secured our passages at once, with the understanding that
we might leave either at Port Louis or at Table Bay, but when we arrived
at the former there was no prospect of a passage for any port of
Australia, so we proceeded in a few days to Cape Town. There we landed
and took up our quarters at a most excellent lodging-house; with us were
two officers of the Madras army, one of whom was a medical man, well
acquainted with my late brother, and he was most kind and useful to me.
We were there for a week or ten days, and there being still no hope of a
passage, we all made up our minds to leave our lodgings and to go
together and occupy a very nice and partly furnished house in the
country, five miles from Cape Town.
There we lived comfortably for another ten days, when Captain Waddy
returned in a great hurry from the town one day to tell us that the ship
_Penyard Park_ had just arrived, bound for Sydney; she had put in for
supplies, but was so full that he was afraid we should have some
difficulty in getting passages. We at once determined to take our
chances, no matter how limited the accommodation. Captain Waddy started,
intending to go on board and to secure, at any price, the best cabins he
could get for us. In a few hours he was back, and told us he had had
much difficulty in securing for us two cabins at exorbitant prices—one
cabin for himself and family on the lower deck, with scarcely any light
or air, and for me, the second mate’s cabin, of only five feet long and
four feet wide, leading from the quarter-deck into the poop, and where
it was impossible for me in any way to stretch myself or lie down at
full length. For this I was asked to pay seventy pounds, while Captain
Waddy was to pay eighty for his. But we could not help it, and Captain
and Mrs. Waddy made up their minds to go at any price, and to put up
with any inconvenience, rather than lose the chance and remain behind,
uncertain as to when another opportunity might offer, and for the same
reasons I decided to accompany them. The captain, Sam Weller, came on
shore to receive our money, and not one farthing less would he take.
The passengers were a poor and humble set. The food was indifferent, but
the captain was a most attentive and first-rate seaman, and was never
absent from his deck when his services were required. We sailed from the
Cape about the end of April. My first night on board the _Penyard Park_
was very miserable. I am six feet two inches, and could not stretch my
legs, and was obliged to lie all doubled up in a most intensely
uncomfortable position. I could not help complaining next morning. The
captain said he was very sorry, but could not help me. At last a
good-natured doctor said, “Well, Colonel Anderson, I’ll see if I can
help you.” He then consulted his wife, and soon returned to say that, as
his cabin was next to mine, he would order the carpenter to cut a hole
through the partition above the level of his bed and raise my bed to
that height, then to place over him a box long enough to receive my
legs, and thus lengthen my bed as much as necessary. This novel mode of
accommodation was soon completed by the carpenter, and from that day I
was comparatively comfortable in my little cabin, and more than glad to
hear that, although my box and my extra length were over the good
doctor’s legs every night during the voyage, he felt no inconvenience
from the intrusion.
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