Early on the morning of January 26th, we spoke and gammoned the barque
La Belle Anna, from Melbourne to Mauritius. Through the kindness of
her captain, who accommodatingly delayed until we had prepared them,
we sent letters home _via_ the Mauritius, which were duly received.
On the same day we captured a shark twelve feet long. The capture
of this fish is effected more in a spirit of mischief than from any
good resulting from it; the sailor deeming him his natural enemy, and
delighting in putting him to the severest torture. Their tenacity of
life is remarkable. I have seen a red-hot iron run directly through the
heart of one of the species, and still he turned and bit at the iron,
grasping its seething surface between his huge jaws and craunching it,
and, vexed at its non-impressibility, lashing his tail with rage. I
have also seen them flayed, and still practising as many contortions
as an eel; if you cut their heads half off, they swim away; and if you
should open the body and allow the entrails to drop out, the creature
seizes them in his jaws and tears them in his agony. The skin is
used as sandpaper, it being covered with prickles. The backbone is
articulated in very small divisions, which enables it to turn with so
much celerity through the water. These joints, which are about an inch
in diameter, and half an inch thick, are collected and strung on an
iron rod, and, when finished, make an odd, though not ill-looking,
cane. Few seamen eat shark; but some months after the capture of the
above-mentioned one, I saw a person who considered their flesh a
dainty. He was captain of a Colonial whaler, and took every possible
means of gratifying this strange appetite. I never saw its flesh cook,
but from those that have, I learn that no amount of cooking changes its
appearance; as, after a day’s boiling, it appears as raw as ever.
On the 28th we sent up studding-sails and began a passage for New
Zealand. The next morning, at daybreak, whilst carrying all sail, we
sighted sperm whales. After a short delay, we lowered for them. The
second mate fastened to a large one, fired a bomb-lance into him, and
had his boat capsized. The crew were picked up and brought to the ship,
also the boat, which was found uninjured. The first and third mates
continued in pursuit of the whales, and, after a short interval, the
latter fastened to the same whale. The fourth mate approached the fish,
and in giving him a lance, got his boat on to the whale’s flukes, and
stove. The boat was towed to the ship; whilst hoisting her aboard, she
broke in two amidships, was condemned as useless, and broken up for
firewood. In the evening we had the whale alongside. The following
morning we began to cut, being surrounded by thousands of sharks. The
boatsteerer, who went down on to the whale to hook on, was seized by a
shark, who caught him by the back of the heel. Fortunately, the man who
attended the monkey-rope attached to the boatsteerer, saw the movement
of the shark and dragged him on deck. The wound inflicted was severe
but not dangerous. Sharks around a whale, generally, are contented
with what they pick up from his carcass, and to the plenitude of this
kind of food for their ravenous appetites, the boatsteerer owes his
safety. In this case the sufferer was barefooted, and his flesh being
covered with spermaceti, probably the shark thought it a dainty piece
of blubber.
The barque Columbus also captured a large whale on this same day. In
1855, this barque visited Vasse and carried away a prisoner, agreeing
to place him aboard some merchant ship, on the first opportunity. This
was accordingly done, for which the captain received, it was said, a
large sum of money--the criminal being well-provided with funds. Whilst
we lay in Vasse, it leaked out, somehow or other, that the government
intended seizing the vessel on her next entry into a colonial port.
When we saw her we gave her the news, and it was timely, too, as they
were just going in to discharge men, whom they had engaged in Vasse the
preceding year.
The ground that we were now on is off Cape Chatham. There we remained
until the middle of February, when, with as much sail set as the old
ship would stagger under, and a westerly gale on the quarter, we
resumed our passage for New Zealand, which had been interrupted by the
appearance of sperm whales. The passage had but little to mark it,
except that we went in the course of it through the northern borders
of the Antarctic Ocean. On the 22d (Washington’s birthday) we entered
the South Pacific, and after a spanking run of fourteen days, we
sighted land and a sail at one and the same time. The sail we knew
to be a whaler, from her boats and davits, and a successful one, too,
by the smoke arising from her try-works--she being evidently engaged
in trying-out blubber. On running across her stern and speaking each
other, both captains answered to the question of “What ship is that?”
“The Pacific.” One, however, belonged to New Bedford, the other to
Hobartown. The preceding week she captured two whales. She reported
that she had been cruising to the southward on the Sullender ground,
in company with the ships James Allen and Alexander, and the barque
Wavelett--that all three of these vessels had been extremely successful
in capturing whales, but that the Wavelett, when last seen, was on a
lee shore, with a large whale in tow, which eventually she cast adrift.
Her position was such that the captain and officers of the Pacific
unite in thinking it impossible for her to have escaped from the peril,
and should she have gone ashore, the rugged and precipitous coast
in the vicinity of Mason’s Bay, where she was last seen, augurs the
destruction of vessel and crew. We made up our minds from this report
that the Wavelett and her crew, who but a short time before had been
enjoying themselves with us in King George’s Sound, had gone to Davy
Jones’s locker; but five months afterward we were agreeably surprised
on picking up a paper published in the Bay of Islands, to find her
reported as lying in port there with considerable increase in her stock
of oil.
One of those continued and heavy squalls common to the coast set
in on the next day. They are foretold by the rapid falling of the
mercury, and by the wind at first blowing from the south-west with
the greatest intensity from eight to twelve hours, and then, shifting
to the opposite point of the compass, we would have a second edition
of about the same duration; the north-easterly gusts being always
accompanied with torrents of rain, unequalled in violence by any I ever
saw elsewhere. This weather would sometimes last for weeks without an
interval of a pleasant day, and then be followed by a thick mist, which
enveloped everything for five or six days more; thus precluding the
possibility of whaling or the performance of other duties. Some idea
of this miserable weather may be formed, when I state that during the
four months we continued on the coast we were hove-to for fifty-eight
days, and at least half as many more we were prevented from whaling by
the density of the fog. Whenever our barometer foretold such weather,
we shortened sail, until we had nothing spread but a close-reefed main
topsail, main spencer, and foretopmast staysail: with this canvass
we generally managed to sweat it out; although on two occasions we
found even this sail too much, and were compelled to clew up the main
topsail, and heave the ship to under the main spencer. On another
occasion we heard a clap, like the discharge of a gun, and, hurrying
forward, we found our foretopmast staysail blown into shreds.
Of course, little was to be done whilst Boreas was giving vent to his
wrath in this turbulent manner. During the watches on deck it was
really as much as one could do to look out for himself. Then there was
the rigging to keep in repair, preventer-topsail braces to shift and
reeve, besides taking in and putting out the boats: with these, in
themselves trifling jobs, the watch on deck generally became thoroughly
soaked before it was their turn to go below; and then an anxious period
was spent in awaiting a gleam of sunshine to dry their clothes. The
weather being cold, to use their own expression, “water was wet”;
and being in the line of a sea coming aboard was neither safe nor
comfortable. We passed the time away, however, sleeping day after day
about sixteen hours out of twenty-four.
On the commencement of the gale above referred to, we saw a colonial
schooner, belonging to Jacob’s River, New Zealand, square her yards
and run for Mary’s Bay: her captain, on the approach of a gale,
usually running into one of the many safe and pleasant harbors on the
coast, remaining until its violence has ceased, and then popping out
and cruising during the continuance of good weather. This schooner,
Eliza, is manned by New Zealanders--her captain and mate are of the
half-caste. They are a manly people, without much intelligence, but
make excellent sailors and whalemen. The Otago, another schooner, whose
mode of conduct corresponds with that of the Eliza, and also belongs to
the same place, has a Maurii crew, with an English captain and mate.
Some months after this I had considerable intercourse with these very
pleasant people, and shall speak of them more fully as I progress with
my journal.
Some days subsequently we ran in towards the land, and found that
the same storm which had so liberally besprinkled us with rain had
whitened the mountain caps with snow. We ran close in: there being bold
water to the very base of the rocks, capable of floating the largest
line-of-battle ship. The coast is irregular and rocky, possessing no
beach, and only in the bays, which are numerous and safe, affording
facilities for boat landing. The whole face of the mountains, which in
some cases exceed a mile in height, is covered with tall trees. One
of these eminences, when seen from the sea, presents an appearance
precisely like a saddle, and hence was named Saddle Mount; and this was
our landmark for four months: cruising towards and from it--at times
going within a few miles, and seldom in clear weather being out of
sight of it. It can be seen from the masthead a distance of one hundred
and twenty miles, as we proved by experience.
On this ground, in company with us, there were about a dozen English
ships from Sydney and Hobartown. After the lapse of a few weeks, the
ships Alexander and James Allen made their appearance. Both these ships
had run into Stewart’s Island for vegetables, and whilst there they
had lost several men by desertion. From their description, there is
little or no settlement on the island, the country being covered with
the ordinary brush, and therefore presenting scarcely any invitation
to a sojourner. The men who left the ships were put to a hard shift to
sustain themselves. Several of them managed to reach Otago, a town in
the vicinity, where they obtained employment; several left in small
crafts for other ports on the coast; and one, (from whom I obtained
the knowledge of their adventures,) after in vain trying to get along
ashore, shipped in the colonial whaling schooner Otago, where I saw
him. He gave a ludicrous description of their ups and downs. In the
first place, he and another took to the bush for concealment; and, not
venturing to show themselves, they remained concealed till night. It
was intensely cold, and they were obliged to lie on each other to keep
warm. The under place being preferable, and each wanting to secure
it, almost a quarrel was occasioned thereby between them. As soon
as their ship had departed, they came out from their hiding place,
but could find no one to relieve their necessities, nor could they
get employment. They finally joined the natives, who fed and clothed
them. Becoming tired of this kind of life, they eagerly caught at the
offer of a berth aboard a whaler. This poor fellow, my informant,
was almost destitute, and had sent to us for clothing, of which a
bundle was collected for him. He was a German, with a very thick head,
and although the captain of the schooner was disposed to push him
forward, he found little ground for cultivation. He made him steward
of the craft; but he soon destroyed all the crockery ware, and was
so negligent that the captain and mate were compelled to carry their
knives and forks to bed with them, in order to find them when wanted.
One of the men belonging to the James Allen adopted a novel plan to get
away from the ship. He was a middle-aged man, who had participated in
numerous whaling-voyages. On the Allen he held a boatsteerer’s berth,
but from dislike on the part of his captain, he was broken, and sent
into the forecastle. In his many voyages, he had mastered the language
of the Sandwich Islanders, which is intelligible to the native New
Zealander, and _vice versa_. On the night that he determined to desert,
he procured the paunch of a blackfish, which is readily found on board
a whaler--it being well adapted for making drugs; in it he stowed his
clothes, and firmly securing the aperture, he had an air-tight bag,
with which he succeeded in reaching the shore in safety. Having a good
deal of Yankee shrewdness, and being able to tinker a little, as well
as to converse intelligibly, he managed to get into employment, and was
doing quite well when last heard from.
On the last day of March our mastheadsman sung out, that there were
boats whaling ahead. We stood towards them, and, in the course of an
hour, found that the James Allen’s boats were fast to a large sperm
whale. We kept on running, and sighted more whales. We lowered away
our boats at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon; but at 4¹⁄₂ o’clock
we called them aboard, and stood out to sea. The boats were again
lowered at 5 o’clock; and the third mate, after half an hour’s chase,
struck a noble whale, his boatsteerer giving him both irons clear to
the socket. Scarcely, however, had the second harpoon left his hand
when the boat was struck twice in succession by the whale’s flukes.
The blows were struck between the bow and amidship thwarts, knocking a
large hole completely through her. She soon filled, and capsized. The
crew swam to her, and got upon her bottom; but, there being a heavy
swell on, she continued to roll over and over, the crew following her
as best they could. Several times they regained their position on her;
but just as the other boats approached the scene of disaster, to give
them aid, they discovered that one of their number was missing. At
the same instant the third mate cried out, that some one had hold of
his legs, and urged haste on the part of the approaching boat. Being
a strong swimmer, he managed to keep himself afloat, notwithstanding
the drowning man’s clutch, until they had caught hold of him from
the boat; but then he instantly exclaimed, “He has let go!” The
boatsteerer of the larboard boat dove in, but could see nothing of
him; and his boatmates were forced to return aboard, leaving him at
rest in the sea, over which he had voyaged for years. Upon the boat’s
arriving at the ship, the captain hailed it; and, fearing the worst,
asked if any one was lost. On being answered that John was drowned,
he appeared much affected, and wept like a child. The lost man was a
German, named John Walter, belonging to Hamburg. He was of an amiable
disposition, and had endeared himself by his good qualities to all on
board. He was every inch a sailor, having spent a number of years in
the American merchant-service, wherein, strange to say, he had several
times narrowly escaped drowning. On our first visit to Vasse, he was
also barely saved from a similar fate. It is customary, just previous
to leaving port, to roll the boats over and over in the water, for the
purpose of cleansing them from the sand that is collected in them by
beaching; which is usually done, amid much merriment, by several men
stripping and going into the water for the purpose of conducting the
operation. On the day to which I have reference, John Walter was seated
in a boat, when orders were given to roll her. He remained in her; and
the officer, supposing that he could swim, but did not care to take off
his clothes, ordered the boat-plugs to be drawn out; whereupon she
filled, and rolled over. From his frantic struggles, we then discovered
his inability to support himself. The alarm was instantly given; and a
boat alongside, belonging to the barque Monmouth, of Cold Spring, was
cast loose, and soon had him aboard, totally exhausted. Now, however,
after these hairbreadth escapes, as if fate had such a death in store
for him, he met a watery grave in the broad South Pacific Ocean. Well
may his life be said to have been one of fearful vicissitudes. But he
had not always been alone in his imminent perils; for in one case,
whilst pursuing the hazardous duties of his arduous profession, he
found himself in the middle of the Atlantic, aboard a ship fearfully
leaking. The cargo, which was salt, having got into the pump-wells,
prevented their being used; and it was only by the most strenuous
exertions, that they were enabled to retrace their course, and run
their ship ashore in the harbor of Cadiz.
And now our little circle was broken into by the King of Terrors!
Sailing under the same flag--every day in contact with each
other--depending on the same planks for protection from the wind and
wave,--in the course of the two years that we had been upon the ocean,
warm friendships had sprung up, and “shipmate” was only another name
for “brother.” This accident--one to which we all felt ourselves
liable--excited expressions of feeling, that one would scarcely believe
could emanate from the speakers: men in our line of life seldom making
an undue display of emotion. Every good quality and trait inherent to
the deceased was rehearsed; and in conclusion, all hoped that poor John
was in a better home above; and, if any one on board our ship had a
prospect of a bright hereafter, surely he, the least offender of us all
against the Divine law, would be the one.
On the following morning we ran down and spoke the Allen. They were
cutting in their whale; and the cheerful note of their merry chaunt,
as they worked the windlass, contrasted strongly with our own bitter
feelings and heavy hearts.
The captain gave directions to have all the lost man’s property
gathered together, which was done; and, a few days after, the whole
ship’s company was mustered aft, on the quarter-deck, and all his
effects were disposed of by auction, the captain acting as auctioneer.
Every one bought something--each wishing to secure a memento of the
deceased; and as the bidding was spirited, much more than the intrinsic
value was realized for each article. This is a rule of the sea, but
whether a maritime law or not, I do not know: the money produced by
such sale being handed over to the friends of the deceased, if they can
be found; but if unable to do so, it is usually given to the Seamen’s
Friend Society.
After this event, we remained in the locality several weeks. Sometimes
a boat was lowered, and sent into one of the bays a fishing, which
always returned with a number of the finny tribe of different
varieties--cod, trumpeter, blue, white, and red fish. The last fish,
of a red color and covered with fins, was known to the whalemen on the
coast as the devil-fish, and another variety is known as the groper.
It often equals the porpoise in size. All these fish are excellent
eating, and are eagerly welcomed by a person who for months has had
no fresh provision. I one day caught a fish of a bright-red color. On
hauling him up, he extended three feelers from each side of the jaw,
and two beautiful wings from his sides; these wings were bordered with
alternate stripes of red and blue, that rivalled in color the tints of
the rainbow. They were said to be called the garnet by the natives.
The wings I preserved. They are unlike those of the flying-fish, being
circular, and much thicker and stronger. The fish was about five inches
long.
There are plenty of cray or craw fish, and several varieties of eels,
in these bays. The latter are the most disgusting creatures that I
ever saw. On being caught, they expel from their loathsome bodies a
substance resembling milk. The Mauriis eat them; and when we were in
Milford Haven Bay the schooner Eliza’s crew, who were then trying out a
sperm whale, considered them as a delicacy, with no other preparation
than immersing them in the boiling-hot oil. The crayfish belongs to
the lobster family--its claws are somewhat similar, only lacking
the pincer-like appendage. It is of a bright-red color, and is most
luxurious eating. It is plentiful, and easily caught with a net, or
hook and line.
Whilst in these bays fishing, the fresh green look of the vegetation,
and sweet singing of the birds, made us long for a return to a life
ashore. The sailor, if compelled to remain at sea, in all cases
prefers to be far from land, with nothing to meet his gaze but sky and
ocean--land in sight continually recalling home memories, long dwelling
upon which is painful. Another reason, too, why Jack hates land, when
he cannot enjoy a ramble upon it is, that he attributes to it, and
not without reason, either, a miasmatic influence; and, whilst in its
vicinity, every ache or pain is attributed to its vicinage, and he
consoles himself by saying, “I will soon be all right, when we leave
this infernal land and get outside.”
I cannot refrain from remarking on the character of the shipping on
this ground. At this time there were some fifteen vessels cruising
within an area of a hundred miles--three of us Yankees, nine from
Hobartown, two from Yew Zealand, and a brig from Sydney. At daylight
all might be seen busily engaged in hoisting their topsails and
spreading their canvass; during the day using their best endeavors to
get over as much ground as possible. At sundown, sail was shortened
aboard of each. The schooner Otago, at the sunset hour, in fair
weather, presented a strange appearance; always at such times and
in such cases, taking in every rag and laying under bare poles--the
captain assigning as a reason that it saved his sails. This craft
originally came out from New London, Connecticut, as a tender to a
whaler; here she was sold, and during six months of the year was
employed conveying cattle and wool to Sydney, and the balance in
whaling. The Eliza was a craft of much more aristocratic pretensions;
she was a neat and tidy little schooner, and had been originally
constructed as a yacht for Sir John Franklin, when he was governor
of Van Diemen’s Land. After the daring explorer of the frozen North
had removed from the Australian colonies, the Government employed her
as a revenue cutter; but now she had fallen from her high estate
and was employed as a blubber-hunter. But with far greater claims to
pretension, although possessing a much more homely exterior, the old
Prince Regent pursued her course in the same humble pursuit; she had
been built as a yacht for George IV., the profligate, who for years was
prince regent of the British empire. Unlike her royal master, she still
survives with sound timbers, and is a staunch sea-worthy ship, though
of a rather _outre_ model. Two of the Hobartown whalers were clippers,
built in Baltimore; on one of them, the Isabel, I saw the American
coat of arms in full emblazon. These clippers, if they were only built
stronger, would be excellent sperm whalers--being small, light, good
sailers, and easy to work.
Several of the barques on the ground were built in Hobartown, from the
Hobartown model; they had long heads on them, but their sterns, and run
aft, were of a fashion of fifty years since, and, although so recently
built, our old barkey would sail away from them as fast as they could
come on.
From this time, until the middle of May, we remained in the same
locality, experiencing a succession of tremendous gales, from the
north-east and south-west, attended by heavy squalls that made the old
ship ring again. In the interval between their recurrence, we saw sperm
whales two or three times; on one occasion getting to them just in time
to see the barque Runimede’s boats lying by the side of a dead whale.
On another, we lowered away and arrived at the scene of operation in
season to see the Sapphire’s boats capture four. Our mate fastened to
a whale some distance from any of her boats, but it proved to be one
that was already wounded by them; so nothing was left for us but to
cut our line. The irons that our boatsteerer hove into the whale were
recovered when they cut him in. With these irons they fastened to, and
saved, no less than four large whales--a fifth they struck, but he
sounded and carried off all their line. The irons were of the variety
known as the “toggel,” and are an American improvement: the captain
of the Sapphire was so thoroughly impressed with their value that he
repeatedly solicited our captain for more of them. Another improvement
that the American whaleman possesses, is the iron rowlock, in which the
oar works with little or no difficulty. Other nations use the primitive
thole-pin, consisting of pins of hard wood inserted in holes bored in
the boat’s gunwale--the least crabbing of the oar being destruction to
them.
These colonial gentlemen are fair whalemen, but do not possess the
energetic, go-ahead spirit of their American cotemporaries. They work
very carefully, and seldom expose their boats or themselves to much
danger; for instance, they never sail on to whales, always taking the
mast down when arriving in their vicinity. I remember hearing the
captain of the ship Pacific remark that he had been whaling, man and
boy, for thirty-five years, during which time he had never sailed on to
a whale, and never had the boat stove in which he was. On the contrary,
the Yankee whaleman, with or without sail, danger or no danger, is
bound to strike the whale, if possible, and for this reason they are
preferred, even in Hobartown, “because,” to use their own expression,
“they will risk more to capture whales.” Several of the captains and
officers of these ships were Americans; and great inducements are held
out by Hobartown owners in the whaling trade, to induce Americans to
embark in their employ.
On the 17th of May, the weather appearing threatening, we signalized
the schooner Eliza, and under the pilotage of her captain, who came
aboard of us, we kept off for Milford Haven Bay, intending to lay there
during the continuance of the gale, and in the meantime to supply
ourselves with wood and water, quantities of which can be had _ad
libitum_ in its vicinity. After beating about with light winds, and
considerable towing with the boats, we contrived to drop our anchor at
8 o’clock in the evening, in sixteen fathoms of water, about a ship’s
length from the shore. Lines were then run from the stern and secured
to the rocks, so that we soon had her snugly moored stem and stern.
The schooner Eliza was, latterly, very successful; having captured two
whales, one of which she lost through stress of weather--the other,
when tried out, furnished sufficient oil to till about sixty barrels,
and her captain informed me would reimburse the owners for all outlay
on the vessel--provisions being very cheap in this part of the world.
Never did I see better meat, or sweeter flour, than the specimens of
each this schooner had aboard; both were the produce of New Zealand,
and the meat, having been but a short time salted, was much better
than ours. As in port anybody is at liberty to board a whaler and get
his dinner, we often availed ourselves of the privilege, as did they
in boarding us; the molasses aboard of our ship being the center of
attraction to them; also the biscuit, which to them is a rarity--they
only using their flour baked into soft bread. All lived alike, fore
and aft. Little discipline prevailed; the captain was called Tom, and
the mate Bill. The shipkeeper and steward were men interested in the
vessel, both old English men-of-war’s men, who had early settled on
the island, and reared families--having married native women. From
these men I learned that a marriage between two of the half-caste was
always barren, never begetting offspring; but a half-caste man or
woman intermarrying with the whites or native New Zealanders, were
remarkable for their number of children. I was much pleased with these
Mauriis; they were intelligent, courageous, and sprightly. Their songs,
delivered with all the gusto of a half-civilized nature, possessed
great interest. In their war songs they become imbued with the spirit
of their music, and perform most curious antics, attended by horrid
contortions of features. Their love songs, too, were accompanied by
numerous gestures, one of them taking the lead, and the others joining
in the chorus. These love songs were said, by those acquainted with
their language, to consist of all that was licentious and disgusting;
but to us who did not understand a word of them, it made very
little difference. They also performed a pantomime, which, from its
ridiculousness, excited our risibilities to prolonged laughter, to
their great satisfaction.
The half-caste consider themselves a peg above the native, and take
good care to let strangers know the distinction. They are a large,
well-built race, and make excellent oarsmen; they are much addicted to
the use of spirits; they lament much their inability to read and write,
stating, in palliation of their ignorance, that when they were children
there were no schools where they could receive an education, but that
the rising generation, by the exertions of the missionaries, enjoyed
the privilege of attending schools.
From us these people obtained tobacco, and captain, mate, and crew
engaged in a game at all-fours for it. They played good humoredly, but
appeared to be wholly wrapt up in the game. I asked the captain how he
managed to preserve subordination where he allowed so much familiarity.
He was a powerful, brawny figure, and a smile passed over his features
at my question; extending his hared arm, corrugated with sinews, he
said, “I play this fellow right and left amongst them, whenever they
make too much noise.” The English part of the vessel’s crew professed
great contempt for these savages, as they called them; but a good
understanding appeared to exist between the parties.
On the morning subsequent to mooring our ship, all hands were called
at daylight, and we had an opportunity to discern the features and
characteristics of the harbor. It proved to be a snug, but not a large
bay, encased by mountains, whose caps were white with snow. The sides
of these cliffs were covered with noble trees of various descriptions;
principal among which is the famed iron-wood, remarkable for its weight
and durability. Several species of pine are also to be found. Scarce
any beach exists, the shores being covered with huge boulders of many
tons weight, evidently displaced by some great revulsion of nature. Few
shells of any beauty are found on the shore--the mutton fish, warrener,
and limpet, being the only conchological varieties that I saw.
Whilst here, half-a-dozen of our men were in the forest cutting
fire-wood, while others were engaged in procuring water. Nothing was
required in the latter case but to scoop a hole in the pebbles on the
beach, and allow the snow-water, as it descended from the mountains,
to run into it; then bail out with buckets and fill casks. Neither was
there any trouble in rafting or towing it; our contiguity to the shore
being such that it was only necessary to run a small tow-line from the
ship, attach it to the raft, and haul it alongside, hand over hand. We
also broke out our meat and coopered it, and then our hard work was
finished.
We experienced several continuous and heavy rain storms, accompanied
by violent squalls; as these would pass over, the rainbow, by which
they were always followed, reflecting on and illuminating the green
sides and white caps of the hills, presented to our admiring eyes, a
grand, imposing and beautiful sight. I know of nothing that I ever saw
that more fully impressed my mind with the omnipotence of the Creator
than did this splendid work; and I have found myself again and again
aroused from my admiration to answer the self-imposed question, “Could
any man, after gazing upon such an appearance, candidly feel himself
an atheist;” and, after arguing the matter pro and con, could find no
excuse for such unbelief.
It is usual in port, during the night, to stand what is called the
“anchor watch,” consisting of two men; the members of the crew, fore
and aft, participating in it. In this port, which was considered so
out of the way as to present no inducements for desertion, to allow
the officers the whole of the night undisturbed, the watches were all
imposed upon the boat-steerers and foremast hands. On the night of the
22d, the watches were set as usual. Everything was quiet until morning,
when the whole of us were aroused by the first officer awaking, and
finding nobody on deck, and the starboard boat gone, which had been
allowed to remain alongside. On mustering all hands, five of the
foremast men were discovered to be amongst the missing. Their names
were Joseph Riley, of Patterson, New Jersey; Charles W. Baylis, of
Rochester, New York; Harvey W. Miller, of Weymark, Weymouth County,
Pennsylvania; John Roberts, an Englishman, and David Jones, a Welshman.
The three former had sailed from the United States with us; the two
latter were British convicts--Roberts, whom we shipped in Vasse, and
Jones, who had joined the ship at King George’s Sound. They had taken
the boat, furnished with oars and sails, and all the other furniture
belonging to her; also a tub of tow-line and the ship’s spyglass; and
from the appearance of our bread and harness casks, had liberally
supplied themselves with provisions. The absence of any officer on deck
afforded them time to safely convey their clothes and bedding off;
and so equipped, they left us, in an obscure bay, hundreds of miles
from any settlement, on a stormy coast, in an open whale-boat. No one
ever expected to hear aught of them afterwards; but as my narrative
progresses, a recountal of their adventures will be elicited: for the
present we will leave them and return to our barque. On discovering
the loss of his men the captain stormed; but finding that the whole
procedure had been carried on with the utmost secresy, and that few,
if any, of those remaining, were cognizant of more than the mere
desertion of the men, he allowed it to drop, and little was said about
them thereafter, until circumstances obtruded them on his notice. It
will be observed that Kedge Anchor has at length managed to get away,
on this, his third attempt, having endeavored to get clear from us in
Vasse, and Balli, and now, in the most unpromising place of all, has
succeeded. He was the possessor of two or three English sovereigns;
and this circumstance must have caused the others to enlist him in the
enterprize, as they knew his uselessness too well to count on his being
of service to them.
On the afternoon of the 23d, the barques Isabella and Lady Emma
anchored in the bay, and, soon after, the schooner Otago--making, in
all, five of us moored in this shelter. The Otago reported having
spoken the James Allen. She had taken three hundred barrels of oil,
including the whale we saw her capture, during the present month. The
captain of the Otago also reported having fallen in with the lower
mast of a vessel of about three hundred tons, evidently carried away
in a gale from some ship. They managed to get it in tow, but the line
parting, they took no further trouble with it. This circumstance
elicited our fears of a terrible misfortune to one of the whalers on
the ground, and whether American or English we were unable to surmise.
We have never to this time been able to discover to whom it belonged,
though it certainly had not belonged to any one of the whale-ships we
had been in company with, as we saw them all afterward.
The Lady Emma, a few days since, put into Open Bay, where three of
her men deserted. In the vicinity of this bay there is a settlement
containing eight Mauriis. This is the only settlement on the coast,
from Jacob’s River to Cook’s Straits--Milford Haven being no exception
to the rule, as no white or civilized natives exist in its whereabouts.
Some of the wild natives have been seen here. During a former voyage,
part of the crew of the barque Runimede, whilst cutting wood, were
driven to the beach by these savages.
The next day, being Sunday and so stormy that we could not enjoy
ourselves ashore, a number of us spent it aboard the Eliza. We were
the more easily induced to do this from the fact of her having a
French cook, who left the Alexander at Stewart’s Island and joined the
Eliza. He was discharged from the Alexander, and the oil belonging to
him was rolled ashore. Here he professed to be very happy; and, as he
was thoroughly master of his business, he was much esteemed by those
whom he catered for. I was much surprised at the palatable, and even
luxurious, taste of the salt-beef, after having been manipulated by
him, compared to that which had undergone the same operation by the
hands of our own cook. Although I may have been prejudiced, or the
superiority of the viands had rendered my appetite fastidious on that
particular day, yet certainly, the fare was such as not to have been
laughed at, even at the table of a first-class hotel. There were wild
ducks, wild pigeons, wood-hens, noble fish from the bay, excellent
corned-beef, and, to crown all, a noble plum-duff; and we did good
justice to the repast. At supper we drank, as a beverage, a decoction
of a New Zealand plant, which is used throughout the island instead
of tea. It possesses an aromatic taste, and the little I partook of
enlisted me in its favor; but how a continued use of it would answer, I
am at a loss to say. The Frenchman said that he had used it for several
months, and preferred it, for his own consumption, to tea produced in
China. As he was a Parisian, and a restaurateur into the bargain, I do
not see that I could quote better individual authority.
On the 25th we lowered away two boats, and manned them with the
starboard watch, bound up the river, or sound, as the Mauriis call
it--bent on a day’s recreation. Guns, ammunition, and fishing-tackle,
were provided--also a good stock of eatables. After ten miles’ pulling,
we arrived at the head of the river, where we landed, and built a
fire. Previous to our trip to this locality, our curiosity had been
excited by the description of a falls, which, according to the account,
rivalled Niagara in magnitude. The Mauriis stated, that it fell from
a height of nine hundred feet, in an immense volume; and I fancied,
previous to having seen it, that I should have to chronicle in my
log-book the existence of the greatest falls in the world in this
out-of-the-way corner. I went, and saw it. Its height was about three
hundred feet--it first falling from the summit of a high mount into a
basin about a hundred feet below, and then descending into the river.
Its appearance was handsome; but, having been prepared from hearsay
to see something momentous, I must confess that I was disappointed,
and under the influence of chagrin did not appreciate it as fully as
it deserved. On our way up the river we saw numerous minor falls,
descending hundreds of feet from the summits of the cliffs. The river
was alive with porpoises and cowfish; whilst ducks, gulls, and pigeons,
skimmed over its surface. Those of the party who were provided with
fire-arms penetrated into the bush. Soon the crack of their pieces
announced their success in finding game. As the sun indicated the
hour of noon, one by one they straggled in to the fire, more or less
successful, according to their expertness in handling their guns. Their
game comprised ducks, pigeons, and woodhens, besides several varieties
we knew no name for. The ducks were about of the same size and
appearance as the wild ducks of the Northern States. The pigeons were
like our wild pigeons. The woodhens resemble in appearance a pullet
of the common barnyard breed. They do not fly, but run with excessive
swiftness, dodging here, there, and everywhere, in a manner to puzzle
any one. They are attracted by fire, and a number of them came around
ours. If not startled, they displayed little fear, approaching within a
short distance of us with the utmost indifference. These birds can be
easily domesticated; and aboard the schooner they had several running
about in their hold, in company with other fowls. All the birds
mentioned, when dressed and cooked, were palatable and appetizing.
Whilst on this island myself and another were left ashore, the rest
having gone to the main with the boats. Through an oversight, they
took the water-keg along with them, leaving us unprovided with water.
We immediately searched for a spring, or some other depository of the
priceless liquid, but it was in vain. As we had but a short time before
been freely eating of salt junk, our thirst became intolerable, so that
we even went so far as to drink of the water of the river, which was
salt and brackish. After we had thus suffered for several hours, one
of the boats returned, and supplied our want. Never before in my life
did I taste so grateful and sweet a draught as I imbibed at that time
from the most ordinary of boat-piggins. This was the nearest approach
to deprivation of water for any length of time that I ever experienced.
If any person should wish to be pestered with a gnawing, unquenched
thirst, let him follow our example by eating about a pound of salt
meat, and then sitting for hours on an island where no water is to be
found, except such as will have a tendency to aggravate his thirst.
After the arrival of the English ships, our nights were passed in
an excess of mirth. The rainy weather preventing any amount of work
being performed during daytime, their listlessly lolling about the
ship made the men feel prime for sport at night; and as none of our
ship’s company, since the desertion of our men, were allowed to leave
her after twilight, by common consent our barque became the rendezvous
for all; so that, about half an hour after supper, whole boats’ crews
would come aboard. One night I counted seventy men in our forecastle.
Each vessel contributed its singers, and the choral performances were
really a diverting medley. The cook of the schooner, being French, sang
the Marseillaise for us; a German sang the Fatherland; a Portuguese,
I know not what, but, like all the others, he was loudly applauded
for his performance; the Mauriis, Sandwich and Navigators’ Islanders,
all sang their respective songs; whilst English, Irish, Scotch, and
Americans, also gave vent to their national melodies--Rule Britannia,
Erin go Bragh, Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled, and the Star-spangled
Banner, or Hail Columbia, followed each other--one song being as good
as another, so that it had a tune to it. Amongst the Lady Emma’s crew
were four excellent singers, who had practised together, and performed
very creditably; so that we were not without good singers. Instead
of spirituous drink, we indulged in a beverage, known as switchell,
concocted of molasses, vinegar, and water, with the addition of a
little ground ginger. At a late hour we separated, without being
muddled, as is usual in many, in fact most, assemblages of the like
character amongst people who profess more morality than the sailor. On
these occasions all was mirth and jollification: discipline, for the
time-being, was set aside, and the utmost good-feeling pervaded the
company.
On the last Sunday we lay in the haven, all hands from each ship went
ashore, numbering about one hundred and thirty souls. We provided
ourselves from our ship with potatoes, biscuit, a piece of salt pork,
and a saucepan filled with molasses. We soon had a rousing fire
going; and the Mauriis were immediately on the _qui vive_ for the
collecting of mutton-fish, warreners, and limpets, which they quickly
detected, although to our unpractised eyes there was no appearance
of shellfish. These creatures they detached from the rocks, not
without exerting considerable force, as they adhere with tenacity. The
mutton-fish is quite large, weighing from four to eight ounces. The
warrener is smaller, and inhabits a cone-shaped shell. The shell of the
mutton-fish, which is similar in shape to that of the clam, is single,
having a number of holes in the anterior part, through which the
animal breathes; the lower part of its body presenting the appearance
of a large leathern sucker. The limpet has a three-sided shell, and
is much smaller than either of the others. All these shells are of an
inferior pearl; useless, on account of its frangible construction, for
manfacturing any of the various articles for which the true pearl shell
is used. These shellfish, after being captured, are torn by the natives
from their habitations, and eaten, alive and kicking, with apparent
epicurean relish. This practise of devouring the struggling animal, at
first, seemed revolting to me; but upon reflection I remembered the
cool indifference with which we dispose of the bivalves, which possess
feeling equally with the mutton-fish, but have not the same energetic
way of displaying it.
One of our party volunteering to act as cook, after sufficient of
these fish were procured and deprived of their shells, contrived to
make us an excellent dinner--we doing justice to a chowder prepared
from these creatures, beside having them raw, roasted, and in the
shell. The molasses was converted into candy and handed over to the
Mauriis, who, until they had disposed of it within their capacious
maws, had neither eyes nor ears for anything else. Our dinner ended,
we wended our way up the bay. This was a task of no little difficulty,
the beach being covered with huge masses of granite, worn smooth by
the percolation of water; these were to be ascended, descended, and
occasionally circumnavigated, so that several hours were devoted to
perambulating but a short distance. Our object was to collect specimens
of the green stone, which is washed down from the mountains, and, by
the continual friction of the water, assumes a circular and polished
shape. This stone is used for ornamental purposes, in the decoration of
their persons, by the Chinese and Mauriis--they using it for ear-rings,
necklaces, and nose pendants. Half way up to the summit of the mountain
that frowns above our barque, as she lies at anchor, there is a quarry
of this substance, which I should venture to call serpentine, but for
its extreme obtusity. I said that there was a quarry, but I have only
the authority of the Mauriis for my assertion; I went to the spot, and,
from observation, decided that if it had been worked, it must have
been at some time beyond the recollection of any of my informants.
This bay, twenty years ago, was the rendezvous of a sealing party,
who successfully operated in their business, living ashore until the
rainy season approached, when they boarded their crafts and sailed for
home. A whaling company, also, had a try-works ashore, where many a
fine jacket of blubber has been converted into oil; as these men might
have, occasionally, found time hanging heavy on their hands, to them
may be attributed the working of the mountain, carrying such specimens
as they pleased to their homes, for gifts or sale to the various
tribes along the coast. The seals becoming scarcer every year, and the
increase of whale-ships rendering the capture of the fish less a matter
of certainty than formerly, the bay fisheries were deserted, and ever
since it has been resigned to its original inhabitants, except when
some old and barnacled whale-ship touches at it, or the schooners of
the Maurii run in for protection from the weather. Nothing illustrated
to me the slight influence exerted by man here, more strongly, than the
fact of the smaller birds (those, from their size, too insignificant
for the attention of the gunner), viewing man without the slightest
fear, flying around and around one, and alighting on the person, as if
desirous of forming an acquaintance; having had no experience of the
refinement of cruelty inherent to man, they do not fear him. I do not
wonder at the sealers and whalemen deserting this vicinity when they
found that their game had left, as there is nothing either inviting or
enticing to induce a stay on these shores. The ground can never be made
serviceable for cultivation, as it is broken and uneven to an extreme
degree; scarcely a foot square can be found without a variation in the
grade of its surface.
We remained in this bay seventeen days, every succeeding twenty-four
hours seeing some new creature, or meeting with some novel adventure.
One day a gust of wind would come rushing down the mountains, and carry
away our stern moorings, from the intense strain thrown upon them by
the ship’s swinging. Another day all were interested by the capture
of a female shark, from whose body were taken seventeen small sharks.
These creatures were put in the deck tub, where they swam around with
surprising celerity. They were each about six inches long, without
teeth, but betraying their origin by snapping at anything they could
reach with their toothless gums.
I cannot take leave of Milford Haven Bay without stating my conviction
of its superiority to any port that I had previously visited, with the
exception of Balli. This was the opinion of all, and often afterwards,
when we were on the eve of making an insignificant port on the
Australian coast, have I heard it said, “I wish we were going ashore in
Milford Haven; because there you can see something.” You can procure no
liquor there, whilst here nothing new is to be seen, and rum stares you
in the face at every footstep.
On the 2d of June the Isabella hove up her anchor and stood out of the
bay. She soon lost the breeze, and was endangered by her proximity
to some reefs at the mouth; but a few hours subsequently she was
enabled to resume her course. We, and the rest of the shipping, taking
advantage of the same breeze, squared our yards, and were soon merrily
bowling out to sea, far from the abode of sand flies, and mosquitoes,
which had no mercy on us whilst in the bay.