We now directed our ship’s head to the westward, and fell in with the
barques Cherokee and Pamelia. The former had sailed from home some
two years previous; but, mutiny breaking out amongst her crew, she
was run into Mauritius, and all the foremast hands discharged. The
captain shipped a new crew, and was scarce a whit more fortunate in his
selection; as a number of rough alleys, hearing of his reputation as
a harsh man, determined to ship with him, in order, as they said, to
work him up. At the time they shipped they were informed that they were
engaged, not as sailors, but as whalemen. Soon after they got outside,
an order was passed from the quarter-deck to make spun yarn, which they
refused to do, repeating the terms of their engagement. The captain was
forced to succumb, and, consequently, captain and crew were at variance
during the remainder of their stay together. A boat’s crew from her
came aboard our vessel. They were powerful, manly fellows--every one a
thorough seaman, competent to perform his duty anywhere. Some months
after we gammoned her she touched at Vasse, and set several of the
ringleaders ashore.
Aboard the Pamelia we found Mr. Edwards, our former second officer,
acting in the same capacity there. Her mate having left at Vasse, and
gone home in the Dolphin, her former second mate took his berth, and
Mr. Edwards the one left vacant by his promotion. Her crew seemed to
us like old friends, and were greeted as such. They had been cruising
on this coast ever since our departure, had been very successful, and
anticipated a speedy return home. Their third mate had been taken very
ill aboard the ship, and they had but a short time previously touched
at Vasse for the purpose of leaving him, supposing that he could
receive better attention ashore. Soon after they spoke the ship Canton,
and were informed of his death. How the report originated I know not;
for, in the following January, when we touched at that port, he was
alive and well, and had been amusing himself kangaroo hunting.
The Pamelia brought us letters that had been received by mail at Vasse.
As I was one of the fortunate ones, I was much gratified at receiving
good news from home, and had my mind set at rest regarding the welfare
of all my friends for another year.
On the 3d of November we lowered away for blackfish, of which the
waist-boat captured one. A breeze springing up, the boats set their
sails. The starboard-boat, by the carelessness of her manager, was
capsized whilst merrily gliding along in pursuit of the fish, and
her occupants, of whom I was one, got a ducking. When the boat went
over, I was caught by the backstay that secured the mast, and had some
difficulty in disentangling myself under water. The waist boat ran
down, picked us up, and put us aboard the ship, where the whole affair
was made a subject of laughter: this view always being taken of an
accident to a boat where no person is seriously injured.
On Sunday, November the 8th, we sighted sperm whales, and though the
weather was foggy and disagreeable, the boats were lowered; but, after
being down all the forenoon, we returned at 1 o’clock, and ate dinner.
At half past one we dropped boats again, when the waist-boat fastened
to an immense whale, which ran very rapidly; but he soon began to spout
thick blood, and we counted him as ours. On the appearance of blood,
the bow-boat cut her line, and came aboard. The captain, observing that
the whale continued on in his course, lowered away, and lanced him
also; but still he would not turn up, although incessantly discharging
blood from his spout-holes and the various lance-wounds in his body.
Night approached, and still the whale kept going ahead. The rain was
descending in torrents, whilst not the slightest vestige of a breeze
rippled the surface of the water; so the boats, together with their
locomotive attachment, were gradually widening their distance from the
ship. Directly after nightfall, the captain returned with his boat,
leaving directions for the others to keep up good lights in their
boat-lanterns; so that we might very easily know their whereabouts.
On arriving aboard, the bow-boat was dispatched with refreshments and
a couple of bottles of New England rum, to revive those who had been
sitting in their boats drenched to the skin; and, surely, if there ever
was a moment when men needed an alcoholic stimulus to enable them to
withstand exposure, it was on this occasion. Just after the bow-boat
left, we lost sight of the light of the boat-lantern in the distance,
and did not recover it again until midnight, when we discovered
the boats coming toward us, with the dead body of the whale, as we
believed, in tow; but were chagrined to find that they had cut from
him, which, unavoidable as it was, was far from being pleasant, after
the trouble and pains-taking he had caused us. They stated, that they
were out of sight of the ship’s light; that the whale showed no more
signs of exhaustion than at sunset; and, as the weather looked very
threatening, there appeared to be no other recourse left them but to
return: so, after a consultation, in which all hands were included, the
line, not however without many regrets, was severed, and the monster
allowed to go on his way, and die alone--his surviving more than a few
hours being out of the question.
The bow-boat, after leaving the ship’s side, pulled in the direction
where the boat-lights had last appeared; but it was not until after
they had cut from the fish, that they found the other boats, whose men,
from their fatiguing duty and benumbed members, were not just then
particularly delighted at the idea of pulling ten or twelve miles back
without refreshment: they therefore hailed the arrival of the bow-boat
with acclamation. They hove up; and, after having satisfied their
appetites, the bottle was passed around, and each indulged in a hearty
swig: then, with renewed vigor, they bent to their oars, and regained
the vessel.
This unfortunate result would not have occurred had we had the least
breeze, to keep anywhere in the neighborhood of the boats; nor, had
there been land anywhere within a reasonable distance, the mate,
who in no wise lacks energy, would not have cut; but, under the
circumstances, he acted with discrimination in withdrawing the boats
whilst there was a chance of their doing so with safety. No doubt, had
he remained attached to the whale, it would have been as difficult for
us to find our boats the succeeding day as it was to find the carcass
of the fish, which, despite our utmost endeavors--thoroughly going over
the ground--we never afterwards saw.
How it was that this whale sustained life so long, whilst the vital
current was swiftly escaping from his system, it is difficult to
account for. He was lanced in the same place as other whales we had
taken, and which expired in the course of several hours. It was done,
too, by men who were no novices, either in handling the lance, or
in combating the whale. Not a few shook their heads, mysteriously;
and one, in a spirit of confidence, broadly stated to me, that the
creature was not a whale, but Lucifer himself, who had assumed this
form to puzzle mankind; and hence he accounted for the tenacity of life
displayed. This opinion, of course, I could not subscribe to; but I
found it futile to attempt to satisfy my superstitious shipmate that
all might be produced by natural causes. My opinion being, that the
whale was of such a prodigious size, (every man who was in the boats
stating him to have been the largest of the cachelot species they
had ever seen,) and his vitals were covered with so thick a coat of
blubber, that the lances were of insufficient length to deal a mortal
wound. This view of the matter, after many arguments, _pro_ and _con_,
was finally adopted, as being the most probable of any advanced.
After remaining on this ground a sufficient length of time to assure
ourselves of the improbability of picking up the wounded whale, we
proceeded to the northward, hoping to be more successful off the capes
Chatham and Leuwin. Our passage up was unmarked with incident, except
the capture of a large shark, and the picking up of a dead grampus of
the variety known as the bottle-nose. The shark’s capture is worthy of
mention merely for the method we adopted to kill him. He was struck and
hauled in, and beat over the head with a heavy handspike. The forge
being up, and a good fire burning in it, a bar of iron was heated, and
run directly through his heart, with but little apparent effect; for he
still continued to lash his flukes, and set his jaws upon a piece of
pine board, to which he held fast. His head was then cut off, and his
skin removed; yet every member of his body still retained the power of
motion.
The grampus is a most beautiful fish--the handsomest in form of the
many inhabitants of the deep that it has been my fortune to see. On
account of their shyness, there is great difficulty in approaching
these fish when alive, and consequently very few are taken: even in the
whaling career, seldom does a seaman have an opportunity of examining
one on deck. The one in our possession was about twenty-five feet
long, and as much around the bilge. His skin was smooth, of a shining
black color. His head gradually sloped, until it ended in a long
pointed jaw, resembling that of the porpoise, but which, unlike that
of most other fish in these waters, was not furnished with teeth. No
mark, accounting for his death, was found upon the body: doubtless,
he died from some disease peculiar to the species. The blubber was
several inches thick, which on being tried out yielded three barrels of
colorless, inodorous oil.
We remained off Cape Leuwin but a short time. Seeing a large lone sperm
whale, we lowered away for him, in company with the boats of the barque
Pamelia; but we did not succeed in capturing him. We then, accompanied
by said barque, again steered for our old ground to the southward.
On Sunday, December 6th, just as we had arrived in our latitude
for cruising, we sighted a large lone sperm whale, at 9¹⁄₂ o’clock
in the morning; and by ten--the hour when well-behaved folks in
civilized countries are wending their way to church--we were deep in
the encounter. He occasioned us but little trouble: the first mate
fastening to, and killing him before the other boats could reach the
scene of action, though all pulled with a will. At the moment of
darting the harpoon, the whale struck the boat with his head, knocking
a small hole through her bows, and pitching the boatsteerer, who was
standing up, over the prow of his boat upon the top of the whale’s
elevated huge head; but the imperilled man, with a nimble spring,
quickly regained his legitimate position in the boat, where he very
probably felt much more comfortable than mounted on such a Pegasus.
This was a noble fish, and yielded us over one hundred barrels of sperm
oil, valued, at the time we left home, at about sixty dollars a barrel;
making, in the aggregate, the snug sum of six thousand dollars. A very
creditable day’s work: but, then, it has to be divided into so many
shares, that those who undergo the peril and discomforts of making the
capture come in for the smallest portion of the gain. The shipowners,
sitting at ease in New Bedford, grasp thousands, whilst Jack and his
coadjutors can reckon their proportion without very largely intruding
on the scores. Thus it is throughout the world: he who does least, is
paid best. Intellect overbalances mere physical exertion; and thus it
ever will, and ever should do in the promotion of great enterprises.
On the 14th we again met whales, which were not seen until within the
ship’s length of us. Our boats were lowered away in haste. A moment
afterwards, those of the Pamelia, who was not more than a mile distant
from us, were also in the water. Our bow-boat fastened ten minutes
after striking the water, and in an incredibly short time the whale was
dead, and ours. The remaining boats continued in pursuit of the school,
and got near enough to enable the boatsteerers to dart, though at long
distances, and without producing any other effect than a pricking of
the prey, at which they raised up their huge bodies, and with their
flukes thrashed the sea all around them into a boisterous foam. Finding
it useless to continue the pursuit, the boats came aboard, and the
ship’s head was put in the direction of the whales. We then proceeded
to cut in. The Pamelia, meantime, ran down to us; when, with a
disinterestedness uncommon to rival whalemen, our captain informed hers
of the direction in which the whales had gone. Not being encumbered, as
we were, with a whale in tow, she soon passed us. An hour afterwards we
saw her lower away and capture a whale, which, as ours done for us,
yielded in the neighborhood of one hundred barrels of oil: the whales
of this ground all averaging about the same quantity. They are larger,
in general, than I have seen them in lower latitudes, besides being
always in better condition than when found in a warmer climate, and
their blubber on the application of heat almost wholly dissolving into
oil.
On the 19th we again saw the same school. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon
the waist-boat fastened, was stoven by the whale’s flukes, and her
crew obliged to swim for their lives, when they were picked up by the
starboard-boat, and carried to the ship. The other boat then went on
to the whale, and her boatsteerer darted at him half-a-dozen times in
succession, but without effect. Night approaching, we were compelled
to desist. Early the next morning we saw a large whale alone--lowered,
and the waist-boat fastened. She continued attached for some time,
when, her line being nearly run out, the larboard boat’s was bent on to
it. By mistake, a line that had been exposed to the weather, had been
put into the waist-boat, in lieu of her line that was carried off the
day before. The mate, finding that his own line was fast running out,
attached a drug to it--hoping that by its resistance in the water the
whale would be to some extent forced to moderate his soundings. The old
line, unable to endure the strain caused by the drug, parted; and away
the whale went to windward eyes out, with a speed that, to the chagrin
of all, defied pursuit. So, here was the third whale, this season,
lost by the one boat. Oil reviewing this journal, it will be seen in
the preceding pages, that a singular fatality has attended all the
operations of this boat since we left home. When under the management
of Mr. Edwards, (our former second officer, and as good a whaleman as
ever stepped into the head of a whaleboat,) she was capsized. Under her
present manager, she had her line taken by a whale, off Cape Chatham,
where she was also capsized. In the Bight, the whale was only saved
by the timely arrival of the bow-boat with its line. The large whale
that went off spouting blood, was fastened to from her; the whale of
yesterday, that capsized her; and that of to-day, that parted her
line--go to make up a catalogue of misfortunes that the annals of
whaling-voyages can scarcely equal. And all her disasters--capsizing,
losing her whale, losing her line, and being stoven--arose, not from
incapacity on the part of her officers, but from a combination of
unforeseen circumstances, which it would have been in vain for the most
experienced whaleman to guard against.
On the last day of December we experienced the initiation of a gale,
which lasted, in incessant violence, until the 6th of January, ’58, but
doing no injury to us, further than shipping a heavy sea that cleared
away our gangway, and deluged our decks, fore and aft, without so much
as saying, “By your leave.” We kept on one tack, heading constantly to
the north and westward.
On the 10th we sighted Baldhead but a short distance off. We stood in
for it; and in the evening the captain lowered away, and proceeded,
through Frenchman’s Bay and the Sound, to the town of Albany: the ship
standing off and on, with the cable bent on to the larboard anchor, so
us to be ready to let go in case of emergency. In the bay we found at
anchor the barque Margaret, of Liverpool, from Adelaide for Mauritius.
She had sprung her mizzenmast in the recent severe westerly gale, and,
the wind being directly in her teeth, she put in here for shelter.
On getting into the sound they found that the Prince of Wales had
sailed for Callao, and therefore her crew were at liberty. Most of the
hangers-on that had composed part of the population, when we last were
here, had departed in the American ship Kensington. This ship had as
passengers three hundred Chinamen, who intended landing at some port in
these colonies; but, on account of a legislative enactment forbidding
the ingress of these people into the country, she had already met with
great difficulty in getting rid of them.
A day or two before our arrival, the natives came into the town, with
portions of cotton canvass, and numbers of spermaceti candles. They
reported that fragments of casks and barrels were strewed around the
beach in every direction. The fact of her carrying cotton canvass
augurs that the wreck must have been an American vessel, as those
of other nations carry hemp almost exclusively. These evidences of
shipwreck were found on a part of the coast contiguous to the White Top
Rocks, which is justly accounted a most dangerous locality, and has in
more than one instance been the theater of similar disasters.
And now I shall touch on another subject, which reflects but little
credit on the parties concerned, either as Americans, or as honest men.
It is simply this:--At the sound our captain found a letter from the
consular agent at Freemantle, directed to the captain of any American
whaler who might first touch at the port. The purport of the missive
formed a caution to the barque Pamelia’s master not to enter any port
in the Australian colonies, as her smuggling tobacco on her last visit
to Vasse had been divulged, and vessel and cargo thereby forfeited to
the crown. The other party concerned, to whom the tobacco had been
delivered, and placed aboard the brig Champion, had had his brig
seized, and was heavily mulcted beside, for his part in the nefarious
transaction. He is a man well to do, and at the time of the smuggling
was fulfilling heavy contracts with the English government; supplying
them with timber for the construction of the railroad from Adelaide to
Melbourne.
This is no unusual method of turning a penny, amongst those who
visit this coast; and I have seen more than one instance of it. In
some cases, the authorities wink at the fraud committed against the
government; and, as the party who is fortunate enough to escape
conviction trebles or quadruples the amount of his outlay, the
temptation is strong to engage in the illicit traffic.
Beside this budget of shipping news, it was said by the inhabitants of
Albany, that gold in considerable quantities had been discovered by
shepherds, about one hundred and fifty miles distant in the interior,
and that a party was preparing to visit this El Dorado.
At 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the 11th the boat returned; and,
bracing forward, we stood to the westward, in hopes of seeing the
Pamelia before she went into port; for we knew that it was the
intention of her captain to touch at Vasse about the middle of the
present month. On our passage we fell in with the barque Eagle, of New
Bedford. She was employed in cutting a whale she had taken the day
previous, and, as the weather was anything but good, she was having a
dirty time. We afterwards learned that she had lost the greater part
of the head in the operation. After a short time spent in company with
her, and learning that the Pamelia had been seen a few days before, we
resumed our course, and the day succeeding spoke her, and communicated
the intelligence we had received at Albany. It was timely, too, as
they were now bound in, and twenty-four hours’ delay might have been
productive of serious consequences. On the 18th, her captain, knowing
full well that to enter a port in the vicinity would be madness, made
himself dependent upon the various ships on the ground to contribute
a quota in the supply of water, &c., to enable him to take a short
cruise, and reach the Mauritius. In pursuance of this idea, on the same
day a raft of casks, in tow of one of the Pamelia’s boats, was brought
alongside of our vessel, and made fast; then, according to orders,
they were hoisted in. Our crew had an inkling of the affair, but said
nothing, until they were ordered by the first officer to fill these
casks, belonging to another ship, with the water from our own casks,
which it had caused us so much labor and trouble to procure, and which
would have to be replaced from one of the wells on the coast, under a
burning sun, and through scorching sand. Under these circumstances, a
flat refusal was accorded to the order; because we did not deem that
our engagement obliged us to supply another ship with water, unless she
was in absolute distress. All hands aboard, except the first and second
officers, united in this view of the case. The mate expostulated, but
found it useless. A messenger or spokesman was then dispatched to the
captain, who acted with moderation; and the whole matter was amicably
adjusted by the captain of the Pamelia complying with our terms; which
were, that we should be paid for the trouble we would have in replacing
the water. As soon as this was understood, all hands turned to. The
casks were filled, rafted, and towed aboard the Pamelia in double-quick
time; and our boat returned with money and several boxes of soap as a
compensation.
It may seem, to a disinterested reader, that our thus refusing to
supply the wants of a countryman, in this far off sea, was niggardly in
the extreme. But the master of the Pamelia was unpopular over the whole
ocean, and our men were affected with the general opinion respecting
him. They alleged that he had came aboard our ship some months before,
and remonstrated with our captain against the quantity of provisions
he allowed to his crew; stating, at the same time, that he (meaning
himself) did not give his men all they wanted: which assertion one
would indeed find no difficulty to believe on hearing his crew talk,
who represented their fare to be extremely meagre.
This was the nearest approach to insubordination that had thus far
occurred amongst us; and which, if our captain and officers had been
bullying, threatening men, might have been lashed into a mutiny, that
in the eyes of justice they would have been held responsible for:
because it was certainly due to every man aboard, that the captain
should have stated his intention of furnishing another ship with water,
and his reasons for so doing--appealing at the same time to what would
be the sense of our own necessities, if placed in such a situation; and
then not a man aboard would have raised a dissenting voice, or spoken
of remuneration. It is, however, a mistake too often committed by
shipowners, shipmasters, and ship’s officers, to think that the sailor
has neither part nor parcel in the concerns of the ship or voyage, and
that the disposal of his time is altogether at the pleasure of his
superiors; and thus they conduct themselves toward him, treating him
with no more deference than they would accord to a dog aboard the ship;
and in this way are sown the first seeds of mutiny, which spring up,
bear fruit that come to maturity, and destroy the original causes of
their production.
On the 19th we gammoned with a barque belonging to Fairhaven. This
circumstance is only worthy of notice from its being the first
opportunity we had, since leaving home, of seeing that peculiar
creature known amongst seafaring men as the spread eagle; which
consists in a human being lashed to the rigging by his wrists, when,
as the case may be, he is punished with the lash, made to stand for
an immoderate length of time on one leg, or his arms seized at such
a height that he can but just rest on the tips of his toes. In the
present case the culprit was forced to stand on one leg, shifting at
periodical times; and was thus punished for thirty-six hours. He
was quite a lad, and his offence was said to be the participating in
a fracas in the forecastle. Whether just or unjust, the application
of this harsh and cruel punishment recoiled upon the captain, as a
few weeks afterward, when several of her crew deserted from her in
Bunbury, he could not replace them: notice of this circumstance having
got ashore--whether from our crew or hers, I cannot say; but it was
all-sufficient to deter any of the men ashore from engaging with her
captain, as they answered his proposals to them for that purpose with
scorn and insult.
On the 22d we saw sperm whales going off to windward at a tangent. We
lowered, but found it useless. Two days afterward we squared away for
Bunbury. In the afternoon we doubled Cape Naturaliste at a slashing
pace, knocking twelve knots an hour out of the old ship. That night
we came to, with our head-yards aback; and the following morning cast
anchor off the town. Our first job, after anchoring, was to heave our
maintopmast up, and substitute a new fid for the old one. This was but
little trouble. On extracting the old fid, we were at a loss to account
for the mast having so long remained upright, with such a miserable
support: the weight of the topmast having crushed the stout oak fid
almost completely through--but a few inches of solid wood remaining to
sustain it.
Almost as soon as the boat could convey them to us, fresh beef and
vegetables were brought aboard; proving that, when inclined to purchase
it, meat was no article of scarcity in this market.
After adjusting our topmast, we went ashore to fill our casks with
fresh water. A well had been constructed since we were here a year ago;
the captains of the different whaleships touching at the port having
subscribed to a fund for its erection. It was larger and much more
convenient than those at Vasse; and, as the distance to the beach was
not so great as at that place, we had little fault to find with it, and
soon conveyed on board over three hundred barrels of water.
On the 28th the brig Lochinvar arrived from Freemantle, in ballast, for
the purpose of loading lumber, and conveying passengers to Adelaide.
The lumber consisted altogether of the native mahogany, and was
intended for sleepers to the railway there. The passengers were charged
ten pounds sterling per head for their passage--a distance of fifteen
hundred miles. Rather a contrast to our own cheap steam-conveyances,
where comfort to the traveller can be procured at so moderate a rate.
On boarding the Lochinvar we found a former foremast hand, belonging
to the Pamelia, acting as her second mate. Her crew consisted of
several hands on wages of six pounds sterling per month; the balance
was composed of sailors and landsmen, the former of whom were on mere
nominal pay--their compensation being but one shilling per month--while
the latter were obliged to pay down seven pounds, and agree to assist
in loading the brig. These men were actuated in thus shipping, at such
a trifling rate, by a desire to get away from this section of the
country: they viewing Adelaide and its vicinity as a land of promise.
Soon after the Lochinvar came to anchor a derrick was rigged, a cart
conveyed ashore, and they at once proceeded to get off timber--engaging
all the unemployed ones in the place (and they were not a few) to
assist in the operation. Their plan was, to take one of their boats,
which was broad in the beam, and furnished with lockers, containing
air-tight cylinders; then they would lash around it, and over it,
as much mahogany as she would be buoyant under; and as this wood is
extremely heavy, and sinks like a stone, their load was not a large
one. Then they would pull off to the brig, where it was soon hove in
by the aid of the derricks. One stick escaped from its lashing when
alongside the brig, and a boy, who belonged ashore, dove down, and
attached a rope to it in four and a half fathoms of water, which is
equal to twenty-seven feet; hence this was somewhat of an exploit.
One day when the workmen employed on the beach had lashed the timber
to the boat, and had pushed her off--several of them wading a short
distance to give her an impetus--two of the men were observed
struggling, as if to keep themselves afloat. Both disappeared; but one
rose again in an instant, and grasped the boat. The other was not seen
for some minutes. On searching, his lifeless body was discovered. He
was a good swimmer, and a few strokes would have saved his life; but
he had been drinking to excess a short time before the accident, and
to this was attributed his inability to help himself. His body was
conveyed to the jail, cast into a rude mahogany box, and buried within
a few hours afterwards: the climate here forbidding the keeping of a
corpse more than twenty-four hours.
Two days’ liberty was allowed to each watch, and as, after we left the
year previous, two whale-ships, on the recommendation of our captain,
had visited the port, our advent created no surprise. Ships and sailors
had become familiar sights, and the inhabitants were not as ready to
spend their money, or listen to our yarns, as they were on our former
visit. In the town things had changed but little--no improvements,
no marriages, and no deaths during our absence. Therefore, as there
was little either to interest or divert us, a number of our crew who,
during the previous visit were enjoying themselves with rational
pleasures, in the absence of former novelties, flocked to the
groggeries and passed their time there. Apart from the general jokes
and antics of seamen, one circumstance only, worthy of note, occurred;
that was the mulcting of one of the publicans for allowing two of our
men to play cards in his house; their laws prohibiting card playing
even for amusement.
On the 1st of February the barque Iowa came in and gave liberty, so
that there was quite a number of us ashore for several days; but after
that we became tired of listlessly walking through the sand, and
preferred remaining aboard the ship.
On the 5th our men proceeded some ten miles up the river to the
village of Australind. On our way up we passed several grazing farms
stocked with noble cattle. Along the river thousands of birds were to
be seen, amongst which our pilot pointed out, as peculiarly worthy
of notice, the black and white swan. Arriving at Australind we found
ourselves in a beautiful country, excellently cultivated, appearing
as an oasis in the sandy district that surrounded it. We had received,
or understood that we had received (and certainly such was the gist
of the message conveyed to us), an invitation from the proprietor of
a handsome garden in the vicinity to visit him, and help him to eat
some of his abundant fruit, partake of dinner with him, and generally
enjoy ourselves at his expense; he wishing no other return than the
pleasure of playing the host to an assemblage of Neptune’s sons. This,
even to our unsophisticated ears, sounded almost too disinterested for
the inhabitants of Australia. Nevertheless, having little else to do,
we determined to face the music, providing ourselves with plenty of
biscuit in case of disappointment. We landed and went up to milord’s
house, which proved to be a neat and substantial brick edifice, and,
with the assurance of invited guests who had come ten miles to please
their host, we approached the door. We found that the individual who
was so liberal in his promises was absent, and in his stead his home
was garrisoned by a party of women, the young and pretty of whom were
kept in the background by the high shoulders and higher cap of an
old dame, whom I afterwards understood was a genuine specimen of the
English titled lady; but I doubt it--as I have always understood that
the matrons of England were distinguished for their hospitality, and
this lady certainly possessed no such quality; as, with a vinegar
aspect, she informed us of the absence of her spouse, looking at us
meanwhile as if she thought us a party of marauders come to storm
her vineyard. She indulged in remarks which, without misconstruing,
easily made known to us her desire for us to begone; but we were of
too turgid a composition to comply with her wishes. We had come for
a day’s pleasure, and we were bound to have it whether my lady was
desirous or not; and we did have it too, for the butler, and several
others, finding that we were in no hurry to decamp, to relieve the old
lady from the infliction of looking on such barbarians as we, made
a virtue of necessity and asked us down into the vineyard. Here the
gardener, as if to make amends for the churlishness of the others,
took considerable pains to show us over the grounds, and gave us full
permission to regale ourselves with as much fruit as we could eat. We
took him at his word, and soon were deep in the discussion of splendid
grapes, water and musk-melons, mulberries, bananas, and peaches. There
were acres of grape vines--the proprietor cultivating them for the
manufacture of wines. They were splendid specimens; and as they were a
novel dish to us, we were not the most moderate consumers of them, as
the skins that strewed our paths testified. The mulberries were larger,
but much tarter than ours at home. The bananas were not of so good
a flavor or such a size as those we had seen at Balli. The gardener
informed me that the banana plant bore the whole year round. The fruit
is preceded by a splendid flower resembling the dahlia in color, but
treble its size. Besides these fruits the usual garden vegetables were
growing, amongst which I noticed the tomato, and, strange to say, the
taste of its raw fruit was pleasanter and more refreshing than that of
the more valued kinds I had been eating. Deeming this a freak of my
palate, I mentioned it to my companions as singular: several of them
said that such was precisely the case with them, and they preferred it
to the other fruit. After several hours spent in rambling, we returned
to the house for the purpose of procuring a draught of water, which
was drawn from a well by means of a hydraulic pump, and which, by the
way, was the only spot where I procured a good, cool drink of water
in New Holland. We were again attacked by the old lady, who, to some
extent, apologizing for her brusqueness in the morning, very plainly
intimated that, for a suitable return, she could supply us with a
repast. Like most sailors, having receptacles capable of and requiring
more substantial food than fruit after our exercise, we closed with
her very liberal offer, and were soon seated at a table furnished with
excellent edibles, bread and butter, milk, jam, and other articles,
making together a first rate supper. On our taking leave we gave to
each of the underlings who had been attentive to us some tobacco. They
informed us that their master had been unavoidably called away from
home on business, and stated that had he been present we should have
passed a very pleasant day. Giving the gentleman the benefit of this
assertion, we took leave of his estate, embarked in our boat, and
directed her head towards Bunbury. We reached the ship at nightfall and
were pretty well wearied with our jaunt. Those of our shipmates who had
remained aboard, had prophesied in the morning the miscarriage of our
proposed pleasure; but as we kept our own counsel, they were none the
wiser of our experience of old English hospitality, and they expressed
some chagrin that they had not formed part of our expedition.
On the following day and night a collation was spread aboard the Iowa,
and to it flocked all the wit and beauty of the neighborhood. After
they had satisfied their appetites they resorted to our ship. Music
was in demand, and the quarter-deck was made a stage on which New
Holland’s damsels and Yankee whaling officers were vieing in displaying
their individual grace and activity as disciples of Terpsichore. The
ladies looked very well, and talked equally so, with the exception of
a remark one let slip; but then some allowance must be made, as she
did not know that any one was listening. Indeed, I hardly know whether
I am justified in betraying the failings of the fair sex. However, I
was never celebrated either for wisdom or prudence, and I shall not
in this case exercise a virtue to which I have no claim; so here it
is, and if any attach blame to the lady for it, I can only answer him
or her with the motto of the knights of the garter, “_Honi soit qui
mal y pense_,” or “Evil be to him who evil thinks.” But here is a
long dissertation without the conversation, which if any lady reads,
I know that her patience will be exhausted, so I needs must proceed
with my disclosure. Two ladies who had just sat down to rest themselves
after the dance, engaged in conversation, and, in the course of it,
one stated that she felt sea-sick. “I feel a little qualmish, too,”
returned the other, “and I have heard that brandy was good for it. I
wish that I had brought a bottle in my pocket. Indeed, I intended to,
but forgot it.” Remark is needless, and superfluous. The refreshments
at this entertainment were coffee and cake; unlike that at Vasse, where
spirituous liquors flowed as freely down male and female throats, as
whiskey down an Irishman’s gullet at a wake.
On the Thursday following was the anniversary of their annual races,
at which prizes are offered by the government to the victor. These
prizes are given for the purpose of inducing the settlers to pay
attention to the improvement of their stock. To avoid the confusion and
irregularity which generally prevailed among the inhabitants on these
occasions, and in which our men would be too apt readily to join, we
hastened our departure; and, accordingly, on Tuesday, after having had
our vessel searched by the government officials, we got under weigh,
and stood down the bay towards Vasse. Soon after the Iowa followed our
example; and, with a head wind, which forced both of us to beat, we
pursued the same direction. We soon weathered our companion, and left
her far in the distance. The following morning, at 11 o’clock, we let
go our anchor off the town of Vasse, where we found three barques and
two ships: all whalers--all carrying the star-spangled banner--all
belonging to New Bedford, and all, except one, clippers. Every year the
number of old-fashioned ships is decreasing, and wedge-shaped craft
taking their place: the whaling-service (a branch of commerce the last
to countenance innovation) fast yielding to the march of improvement,
and adopting the modern model--a long head, a clean run, and a round
stern.
The next day liberty was allowed; and, as there was a report of a
prize-fight to come off during the day, almost everybody that had
liberty went ashore. There were seven ships in the harbor, (the Iowa
having arrived the preceding evening), and therefore the number going
ashore formed quite an army--no less than one hundred and thirty. The
prize-fight, however, took place at so early an hour, and at such
a distance from the town, that our countrymen were prevented from
witnessing it. But the day passed off pleasantly, and with moderation,
as far as regarded the imbibition of spirits: no one of the whole
motley assemblage, comprising natives of almost every clime, having
gone beyond the proper bounds.
During the next week I saw one of the participators in the brutal
contest above alluded to. He presented appearances of severe
punishment. On stating my surprise that he was at large, when the fact
of the fight was so well known to the authorities, I was informed that
the law had no power over the combatant, unless he were caught in the
act.
Amongst the celebrities in this village are the post-master and
school-mistress. The former is as deaf as a post, and it is only by
raising the voice to a high pitch that the least intelligence can
be communicated to him. My patience was well-nigh exhausted in an
attempt to inform him of the miscarriage of several of my letters from
home; but he either could not, or would not, be made to understand my
complaint, and consequently I received no satisfaction.
The school-mistress, from her position, was of course a wonder of
learning and profundity. Being desirous of a conversation with her,
(the more so, because, apart from her implied erudition, she was a
pleasant-looking and blooming damsel,) an officer of one of the ships
scraped an acquaintance with her. She was in nowise loath to enter
into conversation, and in a few minutes both were deep in argument.
During the colloquy, the mate had occasion to mention Samson’s feat of
destroying the harvest of the Philistines by attaching firebrands to
the tails of foxes. This, to his surprise, was received as something
novel; and the fair questioner expressed a desire to know who Samson
was: wishing to be informed whether the scene of his exploits was the
United States, and whether he was a native of our country. I need not
say that D---- was taken all aback. At first he thought that the lady
was making game of him; but the look of childish wonder and simplicity
that she wore on her countenance forbade such a conclusion. He was so
surprised at her ignorance of Holy Writ, that he did not endeavor to
enlighten her, but allowed her fancy to roam free over the subject,
and, as soon as he could with credit, took his departure: fully
convinced that, whatever were the acquirements of the preceptors of
youth, who teach the young idea how to shoot, and wield the scholastic
birch in New Holland, they at least had not advanced so far as to make
the Bible one of their school-books.
I noticed this strange unacquaintance with Holy Writ in more than one
individual in the colony. I have no doubt they can manage to live
without it--as far as their idea of life comprehends “living”; but how
they can manage to die happily without it, I cannot conceive.
Another fact I must notice; that is, the great number of males and
females living together in couples as man and wife, but whose union
has not been sanctioned by a performance of the sacred marriage rite.
The men who come out here usually bring their wives along, if they
are voluntary emigrants; and if convicts their helpmates occasionally
follow them--preferring to share the exile of their husbands rather
than spend a lone life in their native home. In the latter case they
are allowed to consort together, provided the prisoner by a course
of good conduct has merited and received a “ticket of relief.” Not
unusually when any of these females are removed by death, they are
replaced by mistresses, who assume all the privileges of the departed,
as well as the maternal government of the children, if there should be
any; in which latter relation they in most cases act prudently: for
children are here an element of wealth as soon as they arrive at an
age at which they are qualified to help themselves--there being plenty
for them to do, if only these nominal mothers and their husbands are
disposed to teach them to labor.
This state of affairs does not appear to be looked upon by the
inhabitants as criminal, neither is it made a matter of scandal--both
parties being allowed to enter society without reserve. These are harsh
assertions, I am aware; but, ere they were written, their asperity
was well digested, both by myself and scores of others, who, not from
hearsay, but from observation and unrestricted intercourse among these
people, are confident they do not do them injustice. The climate is
blamed by them for their predisposition to sensuality; and the law is
anything but lenient to the offender in such cases: the violator of a
female, when brought before a court of justice, being always punished
by death.