After leaving the Abrolhas’, we had a strong westerly breeze, which
required us to carry sail pretty stiffly, to avoid the shore; in the
course of which process we sighted the Wollaby group and Wizzard’s Peak
on the main.
Our intention was to cruise here for four or six weeks; but having,
after the lapse of eight or nine days, seen sperm whales which were
going eyes out to the westward, (we lowered for them, but did not get
within miles of them,) on the morning of September 1st, we spoke the
Europa, sold to her captain another boat, and, with strong southeast
trades, took up our line of departure for the westward. Our ship’s
bottom, from long exposure, was very foul, and we tried to make amends
for her dullness by packing her spars full of canvass: main royal,
topmast, lower and topgallant studding sails, all assisting us on our
westerly course; and, although we were not bound directly home, we
were all well aware that space now crossed brought us thitherward, and
would not need to be retraced by us. Hence we entered into the spirit
of the passage with more alacrity than usual. There was, besides, this
other consideration, that we were bound to a port within the precincts
of civilization; which is always a matter of gratification to sailors,
after either a short or long cruise.
At the last farewell visit from the Europa’s crew, we were commissioned
to deliver many a message, both verbal and written, to near and dear
friends of theirs in the States; and they, poor fellows, doomed as they
are, for a year or eighteen months more, cruising off New Holland’s
coast, could not avoid announcing their wishes to be aboard with us.
They, however, bade us “God speed;” and we bade adieu to New Holland
and them both at the same time, hoping to meet the latter again in the
land of Washington, amid pleasanter scenes and under happier auspices
than can be found within the confines of an Indian Ocean whaler’s
timbers.
After bidding adieu to the Europa, we occupied ourselves in sending
aloft studding sails on the fore and main, from the topgallant yards to
the deck; the main royal was bent, a mizzen staysail manufactured and
bent, and under a cloud of canvass, impelled by the gentle trade-wind,
we kept her west-north-west, fully anticipating making Mauritius within
a fortnight; but, like most of our bright anticipations, this was
doomed to be dashed--the trade-winds, most unusually at this season
of the year, persisting in being light, so that it was not until the
21st that we saw the Isle of France. Previous to this, on the 19th, we
sighted and passed close by the Island of Rodrique. This small island
is seldom visited by whalers for supplies, as there is no accredited
American agent resident on it. It however is made famous amongst the
whaling fleet, from the fact of a captain of a New Bedford vessel
having selected a lady of the island, of French parentage, as his
lady love, marrying, and taking her with him to the United States,
to the dismay of the fair sex in his native neighborhood, who had
set their caps for him. This fact is so well known and widely spread,
that I never, whilst in the Indian Ocean, heard the name of the island
mentioned, without being compelled, from politeness, to listen to a
repetition of the love passage.
The following day, at five o’clock in the afternoon, we sighted a
school of sperm whales, consisting of cows and calves. After several
hours chasing, we were obliged to relinquish the pursuit as futile.
On the afternoon of the 23d we stood close in to the land composing the
Isle of France; it is rugged and mountainous, covered by immense fields
of nature’s own green, which we judged to be the different plantations
of coffee and sugar-cane, for which the island is celebrated. At
night we beat to windward, having to direct us the beacons of two
light-houses, which designate the entrance to the harbor. Next morning
we stood into the roadstead, which is easy of access, but only presents
a secure anchorage at certain seasons of the year, being entirely
unprotected from the winds. At 10¹⁄₂ A. M. on the 23d we let go our
anchor, amid some twenty vessels, most of which fly either the French
or English flag--these two nations carrying on the principal trade to
and from the port. These vessels were of the most ancient models, not a
clipper to be seen amongst them; all betrayed too plainly that Yankee
ingenuity had nothing to do with their construction, but that their
models, rig, and lumbering appearance were all owing to some clumsy
English shipwright, or French bungler in the same line.
The town, or rather that part of it which can be seen from the
roadstead, presents anything but a creditable appearance; only
the outskirts can be seen, built on the base of the far-famed and
world-renowned Peter Boite mountain, which rears its cone-shaped
summit aloft in the regions of upper air. Midway up the ascent is a
signal station, which informs those initiated into the mysteries of
the system of signals, of the appearance in the offing of inward bound
vessels; and when these are near enough, by the arrangement of Captain
Marryatt’s signals, consisting of four small flags, or rather three
flags and a whip, they ascertain the name of the vessel, whence from,
her cargo, and to whom consigned.
The entrance to the harbor, which, by the way, appears from the
roadstead tolerably full of shipping, is guarded by two elevated
fortifications and a mole; so that, from the number of fortifications,
I should judge that the harbor was pretty secure in case of assault.
It is very easy to remark the difference between the English and
American method of transacting harbor business. If we had anchored near
an American city, within the jurisdiction of the quarantine physician,
our anchor would have scarcely left the cat-head, ere he would have
boarded us and been satisfied as to our general healthiness; but here,
from half-past 10 until 3 o’clock, we were left in a blessed state
of uncertainty as to whether we should communicate with the shore or
remain stationary; when the dilatory physician boarded us, and, after
marshalling the crew aft and satisfying himself as to our general
sanitary condition, gave us a red flag to fly at our fore royal truck,
which was our certificate of health, and guaranteed to us permission
to transact business with the city. Those vessels that are condemned
by the port physician as unfit to enter into communication with the
inhabitants of the island, are removed to the quarantine ground, about
a mile below our anchorage, where, at present, some dozen vessels lie,
guarded by the police boat, that prevents any interchange of goods that
may lead to the introduction of infection into the port.
The port officer, who accompanied the physician, left with us a small
book containing the harbor laws and regulations, for the government of
vessels of all nations which anchor within its precincts. These laws
are printed both in French and English, and purport to emanate from
Sir John Higginson, lieutenant-governor; they are comprised mostly
of stringent quarantine restrictions, which led me to suppose that
at some earlier period they had suffered severely by the importation
of dreadful contagious diseases, which I can easily imagine would
find abundant food amid the miscellaneous population, assisted as it
naturally would be by the extreme heat of the climate.
Beside these, there are a series of signals for the preservation of
vessels in the roadstead during the months which are most liable to
typhoons or hurricanes. This period extends from the 1st of December to
the 1st of April; at the first signal the captains of all vessels lying
in the roadstead are compelled by law to resort to their respective
ships; other signals are for the increase of ground-tackle, shifting
of anchorage, and, finally, getting under weigh, when a longer stay in
the roadstead would prove dangerous.
At 8 o’clock in the evening we heard the report of the evening gun
which enjoins all keepers of public houses, and other places of
business, to close their doors; a heavy penalty being imposed upon
any person transacting business of whatever kind after gun fire. At 5
o’clock A. M. the morning gun is fired, when all are at liberty to open
their doors, and resume their respective avocations.
On the 25th we thoroughly washed our ship, sending ashore several
times during the day. When the first boat came off with provisions,
comprising meat and vegetables, a boy, who constituted one of the
crew, was exploding with suppressed laughter, which occasionally would
escape him notwithstanding his utmost efforts. On being questioned as
to the cause of his mirth, he proceeded in a very naive and humorous
vein to describe his trip to the market for meat. After selecting what
was wanted for the ship’s consumption, a Lascar backed it, which was
all very well; but no sooner had he started, than another of the same
race jumped up from his squatting posture, and, by a series of thumps
and rib ticklings, forced the one who acted as pack-horse into quite
a nimble pace for an indolent Asiatic. The thumps and rib ticklings,
which seemed a grave matter of business between the contracting
parties, excited the fancy of our Yankee boy, who had never seen or
heard of such a man-persuading operation; hence his violent merriment.
The meat which we procured is known by two sobriquets, being called
indifferently, “buffalo” and “cape beef.” The animals are procured
either from the Cape Colony, or the Island of Madagascar. I saw a
number of them yoked together, performing the heavy draughting to and
from the plantations and warehouses. With the exception of the hump, I
could perceive no difference in form between them and our own cattle.
This hump is situated on the spine directly over the fore shoulders;
in shape it resembles a mound, being conical as it approaches its
summit, and in a full grown animal attains a height of from eight to
twelve inches. The flesh of the hump is said to be esteemed a great
dainty, and I have no doubt of it from the fact that whilst lying here
not a particle of that portion of the animal came aboard our ship, it
commanding a higher price than the other portions, and, therefore, was
too expensive provender for sailors.
I have heard this meat reviled over and over again, as being tough and
anything but nutritious; but I disagree with its detractors, as I found
it sweet, tender and palatable, although it is very far from being fat.
Besides fresh meat we were enabled to obtain sweet potatoes--the
murphies not being raised here--and so we were fain to put up with
their yellow prototypes; they were much the same esculent as we
formerly procured in the Island of Lombock. Carrots, and the various
garden vegetables, too, were procurable, and the most original
turnips that it ever fell to my lot to behold. In form they resembled
a pine-apple, and were of a deep purple color. Attracted by their
savory look, I essayed to peel one with my pocket knife, but found
such a proceeding not to be accomplished with ordinary tools; with
the assistance of a sharp hatchet, I managed to remove the jacket,
and was rewarded for my pains by a mouthful of the hardest chewing
commodity that ever was put between my masticators; it reminded me of
the occasion, when a boy, I attempted to crack a hickory nut between my
teeth.
On Monday morning we arose with the intention of doing a great deal
of work--thinking to get off all our water in the course of the day.
In pursuance of this resolution two boats were manned, and we went
ashore with a raft of casks in tow, passing up the inner harbor. (But
as we were to go ashore in a few hours on liberty, and would then
have more leisure for inspection, we omit further description until
then.) There were several hundred ships lying here, independent of
the coasting-craft, and therefore on arriving at the watering-place,
which consisted of an aqueduct with a single nozzle, we found it
surrounded by seamen of every nation, hose in hand, patiently waiting
their turns, while being scorched by the burning rays of a tropical
sun. Finding that in all probability the greater part of the day would
be consumed ere we should have an opportunity to fill our casks, the
starboard-watch returned to the ship, in order to make preparations to
go ashore on liberty; which being soon completed, a boat was manned,
and away we went for a day’s enjoyment after eight months of sea-life.
On our way in we passed a series of parti-colored buoys, placed so as
clearly to define the entrance to the harbor. About two miles from the
landing there is a curious contrivance of wicker-work, with a bell in
it, familiarly known as the Bell Buoy; and a little further in, the
Powder Boat, into which all vessels entering the harbor are compelled
to deposit their powder. The entrance to the harbor is moderately wide,
but still no vessels enter without the aid of the steam tow-boat, which
they may however dispense with on leaving. Every vessel in the harbor
is compelled to anchor with two stream and two bower anchors.
And now we were amongst the shipping: for the most part, great,
lumbering, unsightly sugar-boxes. There, the aristocratic title, the
Earl of Derby, proclaimed the Briton; the Napoleon was undoubtedly
Monsieur’s craft; the Esperanza, the Don’s; and Peter of Hamburg,
Mynheer’s. But amid them all rose the lofty tapering spars of the
brigantine Penney, of New York; and, on a nearer approach, we could
examine the beautiful lines of her symmetrical hull, giving evidence
of the handicraft of a Baltimore shipbuilder--and such was her class:
a Baltimore clipper of the handsomest model. To-day she flew our
glorious ensign (the stars and stripes) for the last time; having been
sold to the British government, to be used as a revenue-cruiser. Her
purchasers, a few days before her delivery to them, having assiduously
substituted, for the Eagle on her stern, the British Lion, desired
to fly that ensign at her mizzen peak; but the crew in charge of her
(two full-blooded Americans) would not allow them to do so whilst they
remained on board, and persisted in flying the star-spangled banner
until the last day, when they left the vessel just before it was hauled
down.
Near the brigantine lay a three-masted schooner, also a creditable
specimen of American naval architecture, and which was likewise sold
during our stay in the port. Several other Americans came in: one,
the Spitfire, of Boston, last from Calcutta--in distress, leaking
badly--a noble clipper-ship, of two thousand tons; and the barque
Agnes, of and from New York, whence she had been seventy-six days on
her passage--also a handsome clipper. Besides these, several clippers
came in under the French flag, which, on inquiry, we were informed had
also been built in the United States of America. It was a matter of
congratulation to us, so far from home, to know and feel our national
superiority in the construction of that noblest of structures, viz., a
clipper-ship, and at the same time to feel the proud consciousness that
all the world admitted it.
Just above the harbor there is a dry dock, on which quite a number of
vessels were hauled up for repairs.
Our boat now glided up to the steps of the landing, which we mounted,
and once more trod upon terra firma. From the different languages that
fell on our ears we were at a loss to tell what countrymen we were
among. First, from the number of turbans and white robes, with the
faultlessly regular oriental features, we were induced to think that we
had landed amid an Arabian population; then, the vast number of gaudy
caps, surmounting shaven crowns, caused us to change our opinion, and
imagine the greater portion of the mass before us derived from farther
down the Malabar coast; but, again, we saw the barbaric ornaments,
dusky features, and scanty clothing of the Madagascar native, followed
by the various Hindoo tribes, representatives of the other East India
colonies belonging to Great Britain; and next the Chinese, the Malay,
the Creole (a production of the amalgamation of some one of these races
with the European); then, lastly, there were the French and English,
intermingled with people from every civilized country of the globe:
and hence it may well be imagined, from these incongruous features of
the populace, that the commingling of all their different languages
must produce a most Babel-like confusion. Then the donkeys, too, which
at all times of day are about the docks in great numbers, added their
harmonious voices to the confused din. At the moment of landing, I
was struck with the sparsity of the white population. It was only at
rare intervals, as I penetrated into the city, that an European face
could be seen; and I have walked for hours in utter ignorance of my
whereabouts; for, although I frequently inquired of whomsoever I met, I
was unable to find one who could speak English enough to direct me.
After a short walk through the macadamized streets, feeling that I was
utterly out of my element, (all sailors, who have been a long cruise at
sea, are poor walkers,) and inquiring for some time as to the direction
of Paul and Virginia’s grave, (the hero and heroine of the beautiful
French novel, which designates this island as Cypress,) we succeeded in
finding an English chaise-driver, who soon had us stowed away in his
vehicle, and bowling along over a good road into the country. Our ride
extended for seven miles, through a populous and fertile country: the
inhabitants being of the same class as in the city.
On arriving at our destination, we were sadly disappointed; as we had
formed the idea, that we should see a stately mausoleum erected over
the remains of two such renowned characters. A dilapidated sandstone
monument, enclosed by an iron railing, was, however, the only memorial
by which to distinguish their last resting-place. On this monument
there had once been a tablet, which either the ruthless hand of time,
or the eagerness and avidity of curiosity-hunters, had rendered
illegible. The latter class of persons, we were assured, had carried
the greater part of it away piecemeal, notwithstanding the notice,
printed in French and English, which forbids trespass.
Inquiring from our chaperon for the other “lions” of the port, we were
shown the Peter Boite Mountain, and were assured that a view from its
lofty summit was well worth the trouble of ascending; but, unaccustomed
as we were to the seething heat of the sun ashore, we were not at all
anxious to attempt such a task.
Close by the tomb there are beautiful botanical gardens, a visit to
which disclosed to us the beauties of tropical vegetation. Here the
pine-apple, bananas, clove, nutmeg, allspice, coffee, and other plants,
bloomed in luxurious profusion. There were, too, many of the products
of the temperate climes: presenting to an American’s eyes the aspect
of a great hot-house. The walks and drives through these splendidly
arranged grounds are of the most beautiful description.
Having satiated our appetites for seeing and tasting, we retraced our
way to the city; and I sat down in the coziest corner I could find, to
make some observations on the general aspect of the city, and character
of the inhabitants.
The part of the city adjoining the wharves is laid out with little
attention to regularity--the streets describing most tortuous courses.
At the outskirts the avenues are at right angles, and that part of the
city presents a better appearance. All the streets are macadamized; but
few of them are named, or rather they have no names at the corners to
direct the stranger. I remember seeing but a single signboard, and that
was in French, having on it Rue de Rivoli. On the other avenues the
signboards only displayed the number and the first and last letters of
the name.
The tenements and business-places are generally two stories in height,
and built of stone, bricks, or wood. On the wharves are iron-framed
warehouses, built in the most substantial manner, so as to withstand
the violence of the typhoon. They are not enclosed, but resemble our
market-sheds. The market-house, situated in the centre of the town, is
built in the same manner, and divided into four departments, one of
which is the meat-market, where I saw nothing but beef and fish exposed
for sale; the latter not of the description admitted to our tables,
as on the shambles of one victualler I saw two monstrous sharks, from
twelve to sixteen feet in length, which he was cutting up, and selling
to the dusky portion of the inhabitants. Another department is devoted
to the coffee venders, where any person can get a cup of excellent hot
coffee for a penny; and to judge from the number of their customers,
these petty merchants are driving a lucrative business. The third
department is occupied by the sellers of vegetables, birds, &c. The
fourth, known as the bazaar, is apportioned into stalls, each under the
supervision of a brown clerk, who uses his utmost endeavors to attract
customers. These stalls are furnished with fancy articles, perfumery,
cutlery, hosiery, cambrics, and a variety of Eastern articles quite
unknown on our shores. Each of the merchants is adorned by a streak
of India ink, running from the center of the scalp-lock to the bridge
of the nose, which is said to be a mark of distinguished caste--the
wearers of it being known as Parsees. They display considerable acumen
in conducting business, and offer inducements to purchasers scarcely
inferior to those presented by salesmen in our clothing establishments
on Market street. One miserable practice prevails, which is general
amongst all classes of merchants throughout the city; that is, the
abominable custom of asking three prices for an article, with the
expectation of being beat down to a reasonable one: doctors, lawyers,
merchants (wholesale and retail), druggists, and other dealers, all
persisting in it. I had occasion to go to a first-class drug-store
to purchase some articles for the ship’s medicine-chest. Here I
confidently expected to see a rational method of doing business; but,
to my utter surprise, I was asked twenty-one dollars for a package
that I could purchase at home for five. After considerable chaffering,
I succeeded in obtaining it for twelve dollars. Under this phase of
bargaining, it was a matter of time to make the most trifling purchase;
and, whenever at a loss for occupation, it was customary with us to
resort to the bazaar, and inquire for an article which they, from
their inadequate knowledge of English, could not comprehend, and then
watch their anxiety in displaying every article they had for sale, in
hopes of hitting upon the right one. No sooner had you been given up
in despair by the occupant of one stall than you were seized on by
his neighbor; and if, attracted by the quaintness of any particular
article, you should make a purchase, however small, your former
attendant would show his chagrin in a garrulous and amusing manner.
One day whilst thus perambulating in Yankee fashion, with our hands
deep in our pockets, as a protection from the wonderful sleight-of-hand
possessed by this people, one of these merchants, attracted by a
whalebone stick our steward carried, offered a pound sterling for it.
The steward agreed to take it, but then the native would not purchase,
without a bill and receipt. Being penman and amanuensis for all hands,
I was desired to make out the necessary document. After writing it, I
was requested by the steward to sign his name; but it was no go. The
native, albeit he could not read a single word of English, knew that
this was not the proper mode of doing business, and obliged the steward
to sign his name himself; when, after calling an English policeman, and
submitting it to his inspection, he was satisfied of its validity, and
paid down the dust.
The Governor’s House has no pretensions to beauty. It looks like an
old-fashioned farmer’s homestead, and no one would think it had a
claim to aristocracy, were it not for the presence of the red-coated
sentry, who continually paces in front of it. The only building which
I saw that presented any real pretension to beauty was a mosque, built
in the Egyptian style, with mimic towers. Strangers were not admitted
within it on the days when I was ashore; so I had to be satisfied with
a glance, that revealed to me the handsome decorations of a very small
part of it, and a massive chandelier, pendant from the dome which
formed the roof.
The Hospital is a large, commodious, well-ventilated building,
surrounded by verandas, healthily situated, and close by the water’s
side. It comprises three separate departments. One building is devoted
to the military, and is known as the Military Hospital. A second
building is known as the Civil Hospital, where the citizens are
admitted at a charge of a shilling, and seamen of other nations at two
shillings, per diem. The ground-floor of this building is set apart for
the use of the black Asiatic population--French, English, and American
negroes being admitted to the same apartment as the whites. At the time
we were there the dysentery was so prevalent amongst the Asiatics, that
it was found necessary to extend their apartments, and for this purpose
a part of the upper portion of the building was devoted to their use.
Having sent two of our men to this hospital for treatment for
stricture of the urethra, I visited it, and found it clean, orderly,
and well conducted. The resident and visiting physicians are all
Englishmen, and, from their mode of operation, I should judge them to
be scientific and skilful surgeons. The Malabars are attended to by
creole physicians, who have received thorough medical educations;
two-thirds of the patients were under treatment for dysentery, which,
from the symptoms and treatment, I am certain is nothing more nor less
than Asiatic cholera; the remaining varieties are mostly venereal
affections, which, in this hot climate, assume their most violent and
disgusting forms.
There are a number of Americans here; some resident ashore, and others
from the American vessels in the harbor; those from the vessels being
discharged sick on the consul’s hands, who provides for them at the
hospital until recovered; he then finds them ships and sends them to
the United States.
Neither of the men who were sent from our ship to the hospital
recovered so as to be able to go out with us. One of them, a New
Yorker, the former steward of the Europa, anticipates remaining on
the island some time; the other, John Cunningham, of New Bedford, one
of our original crew, is left in charge of the consul, to be sent
home as soon as the state of his health will permit. Our captain was
very desirous to take this young man home with him for the sake of
his widowed mother; but as the invalid objected to going before he
was perfectly recovered, and the doctor’s authority was paramount to
the captain’s, we were forced to leave him in a foreign land, in a
foreign hospital, amongst strangers, to look out for himself, with
the assistance of the consul: a fearful responsibility for a boy of
eighteen, unacquainted with the world.
There is also another institution for the reception and relief of
destitute seamen, known as the Sailor’s Home: its accommodations
are said to be excellent. At this house were part of the crew of
the whaleship Nauticon, of Nantucket, which ship was lost a few
months previous at, or near, the Seychelle Islands. All seamen’s
boarding-houses in Port Louis are bound by law to afford a seaman two
weeks’ board, at the expiration of which time they can expel him from
the house, if they feel so inclined; but it generally happens that they
ship before the fortnight expires, and pay their board with part of the
advance money they receive from their new employers. The usual charge
for board is a guinea a week.
Connected with the Home is a floating bethel, moored close by the
landing stair.
Another feature of the city is the park. Some of our boys from the
rural districts having visited it, and found several fountains on
its grounds, gave so animated a description of its beauties as made
me eager to visit it. I went, saw, and was neither overwhelmed by
astonishment nor pleasure; the walks were well enough, so were the
fountains, but the trees appeared uncared for; and the grass, what
little there was, was parched by the heat of the sun to a straw color.
This park was about two hundred feet in width, and several hundred
yards in length. The peculiar attraction of this place is that it is
the resort of the children of the European residents, and from their
presence one argues the existence of white women in the neighborhood;
but where they seclude themselves I cannot perceive, for if the very
small number of white ladies whom I saw in Mauritius were the maternal
relatives of all the children I saw in the park, verily the climate of
Port Louis must conduce greatly to the fecundity of our race.
Occasionally, in the park, may be seen a Miss who has discarded
pantalettes, and, when seen, her rosy cheeks and white transparent
skin contrast so favorably with the universal yellow and brown hues
of the East Indian dames, that one could almost and without any great
expansion of the imagination, think her an angel from the ethereal
regions sent to illuminate the dusky scene.
A few miles from the landing is a cemetery, which I visited. The road
to it embraces a beautiful walk or drive through a long shaded avenue
formed by rows of cypress trees; the cemetery is laid out in the
form of a square, and is well filled with monuments, the styles and
workmanship of which would do no discredit to Laurel Hill or Greenwood.
Most of them bore inscriptions in French, several were devoted to the
last remains of English naval commanders who had died whilst on this
station. Over the remains of one of these, a comparatively young man,
was erected the base of a column, a few feet above which the column
was fractured, signifying that the deceased was cut down by the fell
destroyer in the spring tide of life, and ere he had arrived at the
goal to which his talents would have conducted him.
One beautiful tribute to the memory of the departed prevails--on each
tomb is a vase containing flowers, which, from their fragrance and
freshness, were apparently renewed by no niggard hand. This beautiful
custom reminded me of the oft-repeated wish of the old man in the best
of Dickens’ Christmas Stories, “Lord, keep my memory green.” On my way
back from the cemetery, I came in contact with a crowd of Malabars,
whom an old woman was haranguing from a rostrum consisting of a large
stone, in the most approved manner of stump speaking. She was in a
state of semi-intoxication, yet her auditory yielded her implicit
attention. Not understanding a single word that she uttered, and being
unable to obtain an explanation of the scene, I was on the point of
withdrawing, when her change of manner, from a state of ecstacy to
that of frantic despair, led me to approach the house to which she
was continually pointing during her oratorical effort. In the house I
saw a rude pine coffin, around which the relatives and friends were
collected, all half-drunk and pugilistically inclined, arguing some
point with much vehemence. Disgusted with the affair I withdrew,
thinking I had witnessed as serio-comic a scene as the wake of Teddy
the Tiler.
In my walk up to the residence of the American consul, I saw the
barracks of the soldiery, and heard the performance of their excellent
brass band. The consul’s residence is about a mile and a half from the
landing. It, with the other buildings in its neighborhood, are built in
cottage style, and present the best appearance of any in the port. The
consul is a New Yorker named Fairfield.
The few white inhabitants engaged in business are mostly in the
wholesale branches of trade; the other positions which the whites
fill are the police bodies, and the plying of boats to and from the
wharves and shipping. This police body is the richest farce, in regard
to the preservation of law and order, that ever was endorsed by the
city fathers of any municipality under the sun. The force consists
of two bodies--the Government and municipal police--the former body,
or at least that part of it on duty in Port Louis, contains three
hundred men, two-thirds of them being whites; this proportion is made
up entirely of seamen, French, English, American, and German--the
Government, eager to have a white police force, accepts all who offer
to enlist for a term of from one to three years, providing they possess
a certified discharge from the vessels in which they have last served.
It may be better imagined than described how a body of men, composed
of such reckless material, would conduct themselves; they create more
disturbance by far than those under their surveillance; and it is not
unusual for them, at the close of the month, to be mulcted in the
greater part of their wages--retained by the authorities as fines for
disorderly conduct.
They receive four pounds sterling per month, and live in barracks
resembling those of the soldiery; those who are married are allowed
to live where they please. Their uniform is duck trowsers, a jacket
of blue cloth reaching to the hips, and closing tightly with brass
buttons, each displaying the crown, and a blue cap, the top of which
is of white glazed oil skin--this cap is also surmounted with a crown;
in the hand, day and night, is carried a baton, beautifully ornamented
with Chinese characters.
We were much surprised to find in the police force a number of
Americans who had deserted from whalers, and whom we had seen before in
the eastern ports of the Indian Ocean; amongst these were several of
the Elisha Dunbar’s crew. One of them, a Bostonian, had been promoted
to be sergeant, and was living with a great, greasy, disgusting-looking
squaw, as black as the ace of spades, thereby carrying out the doctrine
of amalgamation to its fullest extent.
None of the members of either of these bodies are allowed to go beyond
the precincts of the city without a pass--the authorities being
extremely fearful of desertion; and with reason, too, as, although
these men are induced to enter by the prospect of easy times, (and they
are easy, indeed, duty only being required of them for four hours out
of the twenty-four, after which time they are at liberty to dress and
act as citizens, only they are not permitted to engage in any other
business,) yet their very inactivity disgusts them with their billets.
Men, like sailors, who have been accustomed to a stirring, active
life, ever on the alert to anticipate the storm king’s movements,
cannot at once divest themselves of their sea-going habits; hence their
uneasiness and determination to desert. When we left Mauritius, two of
them, who had been part of the force for several months, were snugly
stowed away aboard our ship, preferring life in a whaler’s forecastle,
to ease and comfort ashore.
The boatmen comprise two distinct classes: the white and the native.
The whites are generally seamen, and in this avocation I saw manual
labor performed by them only. The principal and most business-like of
these aquatic carriers was a man who had fled the city of New Bedford
for no less a crime than manslaughter, and thereby escaped punishment
by the laws of his country; but being now doomed to perpetual exile
from home and kindred, he could feelingly say, “Verily, the way of the
transgressor is hard!”
And now that we have pretty thoroughly analyzed the city and its
suburbs, it is quite time that we should speak of the tawny inhabitants
of Port Louis. Having mentioned the whites, we will first glance at
those who most nearly resemble them in color and form: the Arabs--a
fine-looking, large and symmetrically built race of men, who wear
the turban, a white robe, and sandals, of the same form as did their
ancestors in time immemorial. They are a very intelligent-looking
people, with perfectly regular features, grave in deportment,
respected, and reputed wealthy. Most of them are merchants.
The next class we will notice is, the Chinese. These, without being in
great numbers, wield considerable influence. Their strict attention
to business, and speedy method of amassing money, by sobriety and
regularity in living, soon render them independent through their
own exertions. They are mostly engaged in the grocery and dry-goods
businesses. They adhere to their native costume, sporting their
pigtails, wide trowsers, conical hats, and satin slippers, alongside
the turban and sandals of the Arab.
Next comes the Malay, with his dusky features. They are few in number,
and partake in some degree of the peculiarities of both the former
nations. Like the Arabs, they are strict Mahometans, turning their
faces towards Mecca whilst at their devotions. These people are
employed both in humble avocations and in the higher walks of life.
Next, we notice the people known as Malabars. Under this patronymic,
not only the natives of the Malabar coast, but those from the shores of
the Bay of Bengal, are known; and consequently, coming from so extended
a line of country, there is a vast difference in their appearance:
those from one part of the country being small in person, with scarcely
any muscular strength; whilst those from the Ghaut mountains are a
tall, muscular race, capable, for Asiatics, of great bodily exertion.
All are subdued, and appeared to me as the most abject of any servile
people. They are, emphatically, “hewers of wood and drawers of
water.” Few of them are employed in trade, except as segar makers and
sellers. All the manual labor peculiar to shipping is performed by
them--caulking, loading, and discharging; and the way they work is a
source of pain to an enterprising spirit. For instance, four or six of
them will arrange themselves around a bag of guano, or other package of
merchandise, and at a signal from their overseer (who wields a bamboo,
with which he very often administers hearty thwacks on the heads of
his employees; and, as they are closely shaven, their crowns possess
no protection from the blows), commence a monotonous melody, which
they continue for several minutes, before touching the bag; then, as
many seizing it as can get hold, they swing it on the cart or scales
arranged for its reception: during which operation they consume more
time in handling one bag than one-third their number of our men would
do in disposing of a dozen bags on the wharves at home.
Besides this, they are the barbers, coopers, and stone-cutters of
the port. I saw boys, of ten years and upwards, and possessing the
most effeminate bodies, with mallet and chisel, working away at the
last-named business like good fellows.
In coopering they pursue a novel mode of operation: one getting on top
of the cask and holding the driver on the hoops, whilst the other uses
the hammer. This is done, of course, after the head has been adjusted;
previously to which the helper stands in the center, and arranges the
staves.
Barberizing, from the universal practice of shaving the head, seems
to be a thriving trade. The person undergoing the operation squats
cross-legged, whilst the barber works around him, removing his hair in
a very short time. I think this a most excellent custom in this hot
climate, so conducive to the fostering and increase of vermin.
From this class servants are selected, who perform all the various
functions of waiters, footmen, runners, &c. There are few women and
children imported, in comparison with the number of adult males:
possibly, owing to the greater usefulness of the latter. Their costume
varies--some wearing the turban; but generally a plush cap is worn,
ornamented with gilded or silvered braid, arranged in fanciful forms.
All wear the breech-cloth--the upper and lower portions of the body
remaining bare. They live any and every where--the ground-floors of
the dwellings throughout the city being crowded with them; and ten or
a dozen will occupy one apartment, with scarcely moving or breathing
room--sleeping on the bosom of mother earth, and covered only with
their breech-cloth, which is of the lightest texture. They receive
very trifling wages; but as they live principally upon rice and curry,
which cost scarcely anything, they are able in the course of their
apprenticeship to save what is, to them, a considerable sum of money.
These people are anything but temperate as regards the consumption
of ardent spirits; but I never saw one of them display the slightest
approach to intoxication. Their favorite beverage is the fiery arrack,
(distilled from rice,) which they buy for a trifle, and consume in
large quantities.
And now we come to the most influential, wealthy, and thrifty people
in the port. I refer to the Creoles, the issue of a union of some one
of the white races with the East Indian. They are mostly French, and
nine-tenths of the mercantile business is conducted by them. Their
distinguishing traits are--industry, neatness, and exact business
qualifications. They are also enterprising, and possess all the
politeness and suavity of Monsieur himself. It is not at all unusual,
on going into their business-places, to be waited upon by a bevy of
saffron-colored clerks, whilst at one side sits the maternal relative,
dressed in the handsomest manner, but with a skin as black as ebony.
The Creoles treat these relatives, notwithstanding the difference of
color, with a degree of filial affection pleasing to witness.
These Creoles, on account of their wealth, and character as substantial
men and good citizens, are much respected, even more so than the
white residents, and are freely admitted to all the privileges and
immunities possessed by the latter.
In speaking of the Malabars, I omitted to describe a funeral procession
in which they were the participants. The corpse was borne in a coffin,
on a hurdle, supported on the shoulders of six men. Preceding the
coffin was a musician with a horn in the shape of the letter S, from
which the operator produced more noise than music; next came two
drummers with their instruments, and then two tambourine players--all
uniting in making as much din as possible. Those in the procession
not engaged in discoursing the melody, were dancing and shouting.
This manner of testifying grief seemed rather odd, and diametrically
opposite to all my preconceived notions of these people, as I had
judged them to be incapable of any joyous demonstration; but it seems
they can act a farce, although they choose a rather sombre occasion to
indulge it. I have not, however, done with the funeral, not having as
yet mentioned its most peculiar feature. Over the coffin was erected a
bower of twigs and green plants, intended to represent, as nearly as
possible, a temple. I followed the procession to the cemetery, which
is an unenclosed piece of ground, situated just outside the European
cemetery, and unmarked by a single headstone. Just previous to arriving
at the cemetery, the policemen, who accompany all such funerals,
obliged them to desist from their merry-making. At the grave, which was
not more than four feet in depth, the bower was opened, and a young
chicken taken from it, which a near relative placed in his bosom very
carefully. This form, I suppose, has something to do with the doctrine
of the transmigration of souls--these foolish people imagining that
the spirit of the deceased is obliged, after death, to take refuge in
the body of some animal; and the chicken is carried thus, so that the
spirit of the defunct may easily find a tenement. All this seems to us
supremely ridiculous; but, on the other hand, these people are just as
much amused at our forms of worship as we are at the unreasonableness
of theirs--education and the early instillation of traditionary or
other precepts, making a believer of any race in the doctrine of their
forefathers.
And now the question arises, how these Malabar and Madagascar natives
came here in such numbers. Fortunately, it is very easily solved. Their
presence is the natural fruit of the French and English apprentice
system--a mode of procedure as much blacker and more disgraceful to
the nation engaged in it, than the slavery of our Southern States,
inherited from these same nations, as the pirate’s bloody pursuit is
to that of the legitimate merchantman. I will merely state the manner
in which these people are _purchased_. An English, or French vessel,
runs into some out of the way port in Madagascar, lets go her anchor,
invites the king aboard, makes him presents of articles trifling in
value to us, but in the eyes of the savage of intrinsic worth. After
flattering his vanity and cupidity they broach their object in visiting
the coast. The king, nothing loath, invites the supercargo ashore,
and shows him the flesh and blood he has for sale. The merchant in
human slavery carries ashore old condemned muskets, kegs of powder,
jack-knives, hoop iron, trinkets, beads, and calico (these being the
articles most sought after by them). He then selects the most fitting
objects for his purposes, and, after considerable chaffering on both
sides, the purchases are taken aboard ship to be conveyed to a foreign
country, ostensibly for a term of years, but really for as long as
their owners choose to detain them. At the same time the purchasers do
not know whether they are prisoners of war or the king’s own flesh and
blood; neither do they care, their object being to gain money by making
merchandize of a free people. The governor of Mauritius receiving so
much per head, as a perquisite, for each one that is imported into the
colony, holds out every inducement for their introduction into the
island; and I should judge, from the crowded state of the ships that
arrived with them as cargoes, that the trade was most thriving. In
fact, at the time we lay here, this was the only freight procurable,
shipmasters complaining that they could not find employment for their
vessels; some of them having laid here for months without being able to
engage a freight. I should think that at least two thousand of these
pseudo apprentices arrived whilst we were here; they embraced for
the most part the natives of the Malabar coast, and of the Island of
Madagascar. I omitted, in my description of the latter, to remark upon
their fondness for ornament; scarce one of them can be seen, male or
female, young or old, whose arms or ankles are not covered with silver
wristlets and anklets; those whose finances will not admit of their
wearing: the precious metals for ornamental purposes, use those made
of clay, neatly ornamented and gilded. Many of the women wear jewels,
which, by some contraction of the skin of the forehead are so arranged
as to always remain there. They are worn in its center, directly over
the bridge of the noise; they are diamond- or lozenge-shaped, and, for
the most part, of an emerald green.
One day, whilst strolling up an avenue contiguous to the wharf, I
was attracted by a crowd assembled around a walled enclosure; taking
the privilege of my nation (curiosity), I elbowed my way through the
mixed assemblage, and saw (“tell it not in Askalon, publish it not in
Gath,”) two English auctioneers, in a country under England’s control,
and governed by England’s laws, mounted on their rostrums, selling
what they call in the British Isles, their fellow-men, co-equal in all
respects to themselves. To say that I was surprised would convey but
a faint idea of my feelings--I was really astounded. After recovering
somewhat from my astonishment, I was so thoroughly convinced of the
ridiculousness of England’s so often vaunted philanthropy, that, had
I been in a proper place, I could have indulged in a hearty burst
of laughter. As it was, I could not, without an effort, control my
risibilities. This feeling soon gave way to that of indignation at the
recreant sons and daughters of our own soil, who disgrace our country,
after having been nursed and rocked in the cradle of liberty--as soon
as they are out of their swaddling clothes, turning upon and stinging
their nurse, and for the sake of political or monetary personal
aggrandizement, publishing wishy-washy novels containing such perverted
descriptions of our Southern slavery system, as to induce foreigners to
think our boast of liberty and a free government is but a farce. Such
persons do not merit being dignified by the notice of honest men, which
they court; and, whether it be in the form of a favorable mention or
a criticism, is all one to them, so long as it gives them publicity.
As they cater for the morbid literary appetites of the sycophantic
courtiers of the Old World, who are only too eager to pick holes in our
beautiful and, to them, unattainable system of government, a notice, to
these horror fabricators, answers all the purposes of an advertisement;
so I shall bid them farewell, only exhorting Americans to cry shame on
such scorpions.
To return to the slave-mart. As I before said, there were two rostrums
erected, on each of which an auctioneer was busily employed crying the
merits of the merchandise, and eagerly soliciting a bid; both were
crying the same article--the second repeating, word for word, all that
his superior said in regard to the price and quality of the article put
up.
The slaves were gathered and arranged in groups close by the rostrums.
Neither sex had any other covering than the breech-cloth, so as to
display the muscular system to the utmost advantage. The purchasers,
who for the most part are French planters, walk in amongst them,
examine their muscles, teeth, and joints, make them leap to show their
activity, and in every way that their experience suggests satisfy
themselves with respect to the availability of the slave. Their almost
nude condition displays to advantage their erect and symmetrical forms,
and in the women particularly, those points for which the females of
the East are so justly celebrated.
The only saving clause in the whole transaction was, that, in case any
of the slaves had a family, the purchaser was compelled to buy them all
together, or not at all.
Instead of having the gloomy faces and downcast mien that one would
naturally expect to see in rational beings under such somber auspices,
these people, with the thoughtlessness, or recklessness, of their race,
were laughing and joking apparently with heartfelt glee. The younger
portion engaged meanwhile in little love-passages; and I was struck by
the coquettish archness with which the young women naively avoided the
too pressing advances of their admirers, by gracefully shaking their
beautifully-formed heads, adorned with the glossiest of ebon hair, and
at the same time accompanying it with the most roguish expression from
their deep black eyes, while merrily laughing and displaying their
pearly teeth. At such times, and on such occasions, the beholder,
albeit he may belong to a superior race, is apt to forget his
prejudices, and think that the poor slave before him is susceptible of
truly loving, and of being loved, as well as the fair representatives
of his own race.
After purchasing as many as he wants, the planter arranges his slaves
in Indian file, proceeds to the warehouses where he purchases his
supplies, and each member of the file poises some article or other on
his or her head; and thus they march to the plantation, where they are
to remain until the expiration of their servitude--never coming to the
town, unless accompanying their owner.
These people are very expert in carrying burdens on their heads, and
in this way we may account for their erect carriage. At any minute in
the day women and children may be seen carrying earthen jars containing
molasses or oil, threading the crowded thoroughfares, and bringing
their loads safe to their destination--a feat not to be accomplished by
those unaccustomed to the practice.
On the principle that sparing the rod spoils the child, (for these
people are viewed only as children,) their owners are not at all
reserved in the use of this instrument of chastisement; and along
with the gangs at labor may the overseer be seen applying it without
remorse. As the blow generally falls on the skull, I can see little
reason for a preference of this to the method of punishment by lashes
on the back in vogue in our Southern States. This, however, is not
their only way of punishment. I saw several instances of gross personal
abuse. In one case I saw the slave thrown down, and dragged by the
waistband over the sharp points of the macadamized street, with nothing
to protect his buttocks from laceration except several thicknesses of
calico. The poor fellow, apparently aware of its uselessness, made no
complaint. This occurred, not in an obscure place--not in the purlieus
of the town, but in a public street, where people were constantly
passing, and who, if any feeling at all were expressed by them, only
laughed at the ludicrousness of the scene. A police-officer stood
looking on apathetically, as though the whole affair were a matter of
course.
Impelled with a desire to know what Englishmen thought of the
apprentice-system, I put the question to every intelligent one that
I could get at. In nine cases out of ten my auditor would waive the
question by starting some other subject of conversation; but by the
employment of a little finesse I generally managed to corner him,
when, upon argument and hearing explanations of our system, he would
confess that there was but a shade of difference between the two.
One candid specimen of the John Bull character, whom I accidentally
formed an acquaintance with, (and one, too, who had made the tour
of our Southern States from Delaware to Texas--a man of strong mind
and superior intelligence, and from the knowledge he possessed of
the subject, also a man of observation,) stated that our slaves were
better housed than the apprentices under the control of magnanimous and
philanthropic Britain! Verily, England should look at home; and, if she
can, apologize, and legislate for her factory-system, which heretofore
has been the set-off advanced by Americans to her abuse of our
slavery-system. Here is the same system, with such a close affinity to
ours, that she cannot apologize for or mitigate it, without rendering
us justice, and thereby exposing her previous hypocrisy and selfishness.
Strange--strange, very strange--it is, that the philanthropists of
the United Kingdom have never taken cognizance of these facts. What a
splendid theater Mauritius presents for the Address drawn up by the
Ladies of Great Britain and sent to the Ladies of the United States,
(which, however, to the honor of our countrywomen be it said, was
contemptuously rejected,) and signed by I do not remember how many
thousands of the mothers, daughters, and wives of Merry England and
her dependencies; which ladies, in a body, had the most disinterested
wish for the amelioration of the condition of the black races held in
thraldom by their white cotempories, (or, to use the words of Lucy
Stone, they had “a fellow-feeling in their bosoms for the oppressed of
all nations,” though whether the “fellow” ever found these martyrs I
do not know). Here, I repeat, is an excellent field for their Address;
though, as to whether it will meet with the same contumelious reception
as it did in the “land of the free,” or meet with a reception adequate
to its fitness for the city of Port Louis, a trial only can determine.
Perhaps the editor of the Thunderer could bring the feasibility of such
a proceeding to the notice of those fair reformers through the columns
of his widely-circulated journal.
In writing the above description of the apprentice-system, I have not
only embodied my own, but the collective convictions of the whole crew
of the vessel; and, as two-thirds of them were from Massachusetts,
their opinions, if not my own, are worthy of belief: beside, there
was no Southerner aboard, to convert us to Southern opinions--not one
of us having been reared to the southward of Mason and Dixon’s line;
so that no personal interest or feeling sways our description of this
evil. Hence I think that our observations are entitled to the regard of
those who laud the freedom, philanthropy, and disinterestedness of the
government of the British Islands at the expense of our own; and if I
can enable but one of them to see and confess the error of his or her
ways, I shall consider my labor well repaid. And here I now leave this
subject.
I cannot imagine why whalers visit this port in preference to others
where they could be much better supplied. To be sure the American
consul is resident, and through him they can draw money to the
extent of their necessities; but, on the other hand, provisions are
excessively dear, and so are all other supplies needful for shipping.
Two articles are cheap--liquors and segars; the latter being made from
tobacco grown on the island. Instead of being filled, as with us, and
enclosed in a wrapper, the natives make them entirely of wrappers. They
are very mild, and can be purchased for a song; everybody smokes them
and the consumption must be immense. The plug tobacco is of American
manufacture, and, from the duty imposed upon it by the government,
commands a high price.
Notwithstanding the cheapness of liquors, there is but very little
intoxication to be seen amongst the community, although all seem to
indulge, more or less, in its use. The favorite drinks are the lighter
wines, such as the claret and Vermouth; these are pleasant, but are
detrimental to a healthy condition of the bowels, and, therefore,
excessive indulgence in them in this climate is purchased at a dear
rate.
There is no scarcity of money, most of the exchanges being made in
the metallic currency of Great Britain, and as our Scrimshawing, or
to use a less outlandish term, our different manufactures from the
bone and ivory procured from the whale, were to these people great
curiosities, they commanded good prices. It was not unusual to get from
twenty to thirty shillings for a bone cane; and jagged knives, used
by the pastry cook for filagreeing the edges of his pies and tarts,
were eagerly bought up at a pound the pair. Consequently, all our
boys who possessed numbers of these articles were well supplied with
the rhino. The reason these articles are so eagerly sought for in this
port, is that no whalers are fitted out or belong here; neither is
there any market for the sale of whale oil--the inhabitants universally
burning the oil expressed from the cocoa-nut; and as the cocoa tree is
indigenous to the island, and grows in great profusion, it is readily
obtainable at a low rate. The captain of the Nauticon, who lost his
ship among the Seychelle Islands, is here, and has been importuned over
and over again by the merchants of the port, to return to the United
States, build and fit a vessel with all necessary accouterments, and
bring her here to sail as a colonial whaler belonging to Port Louis.
The future must decide as to whether he coincides with them so far as
to act out their wishes; but it is easily seen that such a proceeding
must necessarily be remunerative, as no sooner has a whaler left the
port than she is on the very best sperm whaling-ground in the Indian
Ocean, and the prevalence of the trade-winds and general good weather
for nine months of the year, render it an eligible cruising ground.
There is an excessive jealousy existing between the French and English
residents--the French considering themselves as the rightful owners of
the soil, lords to the manor born; whilst the English plume themselves
upon the conquest of the island, and consider possession nine points
of the law. Little intercourse, apart from their business relations,
exists between the two nations, and the same feeling prevails, not
only among the residents, but among the sailors of ships belonging to
the two countries. Sunday night, generally, is the occasion of broils
between them, and these, the police informed me, were the most serious
disturbances they had to contend with.
The German sailors were the merriest of any nation whom I saw on
liberty--gathering in little knots, and singing the songs of their
fatherland with the utmost good-fellowship, and not without melody.
They were very exclusive in their associations, and mixed with none but
their own circle of shipmates.
The markets of Mauritius were filled with fruit of the various kinds
to be found in tropical climates--the pine-apple, cocoa-nut, banana,
oranges, lemons, and limes, all being found here in abundance. The
favorite condiment of the blacks is the sugar-cane, which they suck
in pieces as long as themselves; and two youngsters may be seen,
each supporting and sucking away at either end of a piece of green
sugar-cane a fathom in length.
This city differs very much from Hobartown in two of its striking
features. In the latter city, at every corner is to be seen a
mendicant; in Port Louis I did not see a single person soliciting
charity. The other feature that I refer to is the absence of all
itinerant hawkers, except the cake venders, who are the only class of
petty tradesmen who make a depot of the streets for the sale of their
goods; whilst in the capital of Van Diemen’s Land, as I have remarked
elsewhere in my notice on it, at every step one is beset by these
pertinacious leeches, anxious to make a sale.
But in another point there is a perfect resemblance between both
cities--that is the presence of a regiment of British infantry; a
provision that Great Britain never neglects in any of her colonies,
governing her subjects by appealing to their fears of the bayonet,
wielded by a hireling and remorseless soldiery. This regiment is about
leaving its station here for the seat of war in India. I conversed
freely with several of its members, and although they displayed no
symptoms of fear at the prospect of being engaged with an enemy, still
there was a total lack of enthusiasm or patriotism. From the atrocities
so glaringly held before the public by the English journals, as
committed by the Sikhs on British residents in India, I had expected to
find an eagerness on the part of the gentlemen with the red coats, to
avenge their countrymen and countrywomen so barbarously maltreated; but
so wags the world, one half caring not or feeling not for the miseries
or misfortunes of the other half.
How I shall change the subject from a consideration of the biped
portion of the population to an analysis of the condition and quality
of the quadrupeds. On account of the trouble and expense attending
the procreation of the horse, he is here quite a dignified animal,
and is only used by the aristocratic portion of the population for
the lightest draughting. His high price, too, ensures his careful
treatment; and all who can afford to keep a carriage, whose business
requires its use all day, change the animal and put a fresh one in the
traces at noon. The reason why the horse commands so high a price here
is, that the Government interdicts the introduction of mares into the
island; whether the climate is prejudicial to the breed of the animal,
or Great Britain, in her forethought, vetoes their importation, for the
purpose of securing a market for the surplus stock of her Australian
colonies, is a point which, in the absence of any authority, I am
unable to decide.
The vehicles are of English construction, and are moderately light;
the rattan body, which is so conducive to ventilation and comfort in
warm weather, being in general use. Their harness, too, is of European
manufacture--made light, to conform with the oppressiveness of the
climate.
And now that we have pretty thoroughly reviewed the town and its
purlieus, we will return to our proper element, and give an account of
what transpired in the harbor during our stay. First we will notice
the whaling barque, Belle of Warren, which came in to post letters;
of the boat’s crew who went ashore for this purpose, one did not
return, having taken leg bail for security. I saw him ashore several
times afterward, and he was wandering about without a discharge and
without a home, looking destitute and woebegone. The Belle remained
but a few days; meantime the whaleship Martha made her appearance, for
the purpose of landing her third mate, who goes to the hospital to be
treated for a pulmonary affection. The Martha reports that the portion
of the whaling fleet which went to the northward humpbacking, were as
unsuccessful as ourselves; seeing nothing, and, consequently, doing
nothing. This goes to strengthen our theory of the absence of whale
feed on the coast during the preceding season. The Martha made as short
a stay as the Belle--both vessels having, like us, seen sperm whales
near the Island of Rodrique, and both intending to return there. Hence
their haste to leave port.
The next whaler that made her appearance was the barque Columbus,
of New Bedford: she, like the Martha, had accomplished nothing
humpbacking, but on her passage from New Holland to this port,
had captured three hundred and fifty barrels of sperm oil, in the
vicinity of the Island of Rodrique. Like us, the Columbus came in for
provisions, and to give her crew liberty. Her crew comprised, for the
most part, men who had been shipped in Hobartown; and they had scarcely
set foot ashore when they were squabbling.
Soon after the Columbus’s arrival, the barque Mechanic, of Newport,
came in. She was seventeen days from Angiers, and, although there was
no sickness on board, was compelled, by a law of the port, to go into
quarantine until the expiration of twenty-one days from the time of her
leaving Angiers, that being the time set by the law. After performing
the quarantine she was hauled into the inner harbor to undergo repairs.
And now, for the time being, we have done with American whalers, and
come to one sailing under the flag of England--the brig Elizabeth
and Jane, of Hobartown. She was fitted out as a tender for some
larger vessel, and sent to Desolation for the capture of whales,
sea-elephants, and seals, indiscriminately; she had a Yankee mate, and
was intended by the Hobartown merchants to be the pioneer of a fleet to
compete with the Yankees in the procuring of oil, which trade has, for
many years, been a prolific source of wealth to those engaged in it;
the bleak shores of Kerguleus land being a favorite resort for those
creatures so eagerly sought for by the whaleman. Scarcely had the brig
arrived at the scene of her anticipated operations before she commenced
leaking so badly, that the crew were kept continually pumping, day and
night; necessitating her being carried into port, and either being
thoroughly repaired or condemned as unseaworthy. On bringing her into
Mauritius, the captain preferred a complaint to the authorities against
his men, charging them with mutiny and threatening his life. Before
the authorities had time to act upon his information, about one half
of the crew took one of the boats, went ashore, and got drunk. A fight
followed as a matter of course, and in this condition they were easily
captured by the police. Those who were left aboard were brought ashore
in irons; but they did not seem to mind the manacles, all of them being
convicts, who, no doubt, had been accustomed to such bracelets before.
After landing, they were conveyed to the jail, where their companions
were already lodged. The following morning they were brought before
the magistrate, who, after hearing both sides of the case, dismissed
the charge as unfounded and frivolous, at the same time adding some
wholesome advice to the master of the vessel for the future government
of those under his command. A few days after the brig was condemned as
unseaworthy.
We will now return to our own vessel and crew. As I stated in the
former part of my journal, we shipped Irishmen in Hobartown, and
Englishmen in Vasse. During the time they have been aboard we have
been thoroughly convinced of their utter uselessness--their indolence
preventing their acquiring sufficient insight into a seaman’s duties
to render them a useful part of the ship’s company; and our captain
was anxious to get rid of them. On the first liberty-day, two, whom we
shipped at Vasse, overstaid their liberty, and were informed by the
captain that he would not receive them aboard again. On the same day,
one, whom we shipped in Hobartown, was discharged for inability to do
duty. W. B. Wood, whom we brought from New Bedford, was also discharged
sick. Joseph A. Lewis and John Cunningham, discharged sick, and sent to
the hospital. Wood and Cunningham were both of our original crew; the
remaining one, whom we shipped at Vasse, deserted. A seaman, shipped in
Hobartown, was discharged with the consent of the contracting parties;
one, shipped in Vasse, in January, 1857, and who, during the time he
has been aboard, has been acting as fourth mate, was discharged with
his own consent; and one, whom we got in Hobartown, is in jail--so that
we are ten less in number than when we dropped anchor on the day of our
entering the harbor. In their places we have shipped five men, all of
whom are Americans, and have been whaling before. I said that we had
shipped five, but two of the five came aboard without any agreement
with the captain. These two were policemen, who had become disgusted
with wearing her majesty’s button, and on their hinting their wish to
get afloat again, our boys readily offered to assist them. Besides
these, we shipped a lad of fifteen as steerage-boy.
Although we had thus replaced the ten with but five men, we found, as
soon as we got into blue water, that we had a much more effective crew
than we had had at any time during the preceding sixteen months. The
ten discharged and deserted comprised all the useless material in the
ship--the foreign portion of them, in fact, being worse than useless;
for, together with their incapacity, they had a propensity to growl,
and made both themselves and those with whom they were associated
uncomfortable. Their thievishness, too, had still adhered to them,
notwithstanding their penal servitude. One of them, we discovered after
leaving port, had on his dismissal carried away with him a considerable
portion of the cooper’s tools. This was Leonard, professedly a cooper
by trade.