inoffensive, and to submit with perfect resignation to the authority of
their conquerors. They are of a middling stature and well-proportioned;
their complexions dark, and their hair lank and black. From what I saw
of Pernambuco and Olinda, which lie in about 7° south, it should seem
that the houses of the better class are well calculated to debar access
to the powerful influence of the sun; which, for six months, is nearly
vertical at the above parallel of latitude, and does not form a very
acute angle with the northern horizon at any time of the year.
The Portuguese have organized several regiments of the natives, clothed
and armed in the European style: it was not easy to ascertain the state
of discipline of these troops; but, if we are to judge from the
equipment and appearance of the regiments in the mother-country, it
might be reasonable to entertain some doubts regarding their prowess.
Notwithstanding the intense heat of the climate, the Portuguese
inhabitants omit no religious duties; nor do they ever appear in that
deshabille we should expect to see generally adopted among an effeminate
people, under such circumstances in regard to locality. It could not
fail to prove highly amusing, when we beheld boys, of about six or seven
years of age, full-dressed according to court etiquette, with bags,
ruffles, swords, &c. representing the more ancient part of their
population in miniature. These young gentlemen, as well as their
seniors, and especially the ladies, were seen every-where riding in
vehicles very strongly resembling the chair-palanquins of India, but
carried by only two men; one before and one behind.
The profusion of compliments, and of real civilities, we experienced,
were absolutely burthensome; we were every-where welcomed in the most
kind and liberal manner; barges, rowing from twelve to thirty oars, were
at our command, to take us to and from the ship, which could not pass
the Bar of Pernambuco, and lay full four miles from the shore, in seven
fathoms. As to fruits, fish, vegetables, and poultry, they may be had to
any amount, of the first quality; their beef and mutton are not,
however, much to be praised, and their pork is intolerably fat, without
being firm. This last is one of the principal viands at the tables of
the Portuguese, in every quarter of the globe, and is dressed in various
ways, all equally offensive to a delicate stomach. The serenity of the
weather rendered the acquisition of a supply of excellent water very
easy; the casks being floated to and from the shore; all fastened to
ropes, and towed by the large boats already mentioned.
The land lying low towards the beach, though backed at some distance by
hills, occasioned us to be within a few leagues before we discovered our
proximity to the Continent; and we should probably have run into shallow
water, had not a large floating object been seen about a mile from us.
Our glasses speedily enabled us to distinguish persons moving on a low
frame, that we conjectured could be nothing less than some great
fragment of a wreck. Boats were immediately hoisted out, and, in less
than half an hour, we had the satisfaction to see our quarter-deck
covered with a variety of fine fishes, chiefly rock-cod, that had been
taken by the industrious Indians, whose catamaran we had mistaken for
the remains of some unfortunate vessel.
Although we could not converse with these people, it was natural for us
to suppose we were not far from land; to which they directed our
attention, and by significant signs, as well as by leading on the
catamaran, of which they had hoisted the sail, pilotted us to the Roads
of Pernambuco, leaving us in good anchoring water, and gratefully
receiving some beads, and other trinkets, of no value in our estimation,
but highly prized among them, in exchange for the excellent repast they
had afforded to the whole ship’s company.
A few days before our arrival at Pernambuco, the usual ceremonies
attendant upon crossing the Line were duly observed. Those who had never
been so far to the southward, were impressed with the belief that sundry
operations, by no means pleasant, were to take place: among other
things, it was said they were to be suspended from the fore-yard arm,
and to be thoroughly ducked by frequent dips into the sea. However
unreasonable this may appear, there exists no doubt of such a practice
having been perfectly common about forty or fifty years back; it was
then regarded as an excellent _joke_, affording wondrous merriment to
the veteran part of the crew. In time, the practice ceased; either from
the interposition of good sense, or owing to the judicious distribution
of some liquor among the chiefs of the _dramatis personæ_.
The amusements incident on this occasion are not very tedious, and,
though filthy in the extreme, cannot be witnessed without exciting much
laughter. About noon, the boatswain, being full dressed as the god of
the ocean, is supposed to hail the ship, enquiring whence she comes?
whither she is bound? and if any persons are on board who never before
crossed the great boundary dividing the northern from the southern
hemisphere? After much pompous and authoritative elocution, wherein
Neptune declares a firm resolution not to relinquish his rights, he
ascends at the bow, under which his car is supposed to be in waiting,
whence, attended by his mates, whose paraphernalia accord with the
dignity of their office, and the solemnity of the occasion, he proceeds
to the quarter-deck, where, after an appropriate speech, he exercises
his powers of divination, and in a few minutes discovers the several
novices who are to submit to his decrees. His god-head, like his
progenitor of ancient times, invariably has an eye to business; and as
the sea deity of the Greeks was supposed to delight in ample sacrifices,
so does his descendant, or rather his representative, of our time,
equally cherish the idea of copious libations in honor of the day.
Hence, there is little difficulty in appeasing his wrath, and
conciliating his good-will towards the vessel and her crew, by the
immolation of from two to three gallons each, of good rum or gin; which,
being duly tendered to the officiating priests, soon reach their
destination, and avert the threatened danger.
While this is going on, some of the old hands are busied in the
construction of a ship, which is to be launched in the presence of the
deity, under whose auspices she is to sail the world over, and back
again, in perfect safety! This important duty is conducted with great
precision, and takes place in the lee-waist, where all the novices among
the sailors, recruits, &c. are ranged in two rows, face to face, to
represent the ribs of the stately Argo.
It is usual to select some of the more pliant, or silly, of the party,
to form the head and bows: one of these being placed in the centre,
looking forward, his head covered with a long swab, of which the threads
hang down nearly to his heels, and his face being smeared with all the
filth the ship affords, by way of paint, is considered the typical
figure suited to the nomenclature of the vessel.
All being in readiness, the builders attend Neptune as he retires, in
order to allow the shoars to be knocked away, that the launch may take
place: the captain and his officers aid the farce by encouraging the
passengers to advance towards the waist, there to view the construction;
when, at a fit moment, the god roars forth his mandate for committing
his _protegé_ to the deep. It, however, unluckily happens that the
vessel does not shew any disposition to quit the stocks; therefore, as
she will not proceed to the water, the only chance of setting her afloat
is by causing the water to proceed to her; which it accordingly does
from some dozens of buckets, &c. previously secreted in the fore and
main tops, and in the long boat, for that purpose. This drenching
concludes the show, and the crew retire to make merry upon the amount of
their collections, which, when not sufficiently abundant to afford a
moderate allowance to each, is liberally augmented from the ship’s
stores.
The sabbath is always observed on board every Indiaman with perfect
decorum: there being no chaplain on board, unless perchance as a
passenger, the captain, or one of the officers, reads the morning
service, and eventually a short lecture suited to the audience,
consisting of all on board who are not confined by illness. It is not
easy to describe the decency which prevails on such occasions; the whole
standing bare-headed on the quarterdeck, and refraining from every act,
or look, that might trespass on propriety.
Many sailors, notwithstanding the character in which they are generally
accepted, are of a very religious disposition, and are easily led by
those who shew a reverence for the church establishment. Yet, like most
persons bred up in ignorance, they are shamefully superstitious, and
often entertain notions very little short of those which actuated their
ancestors to throw Jonah overboard. However ridiculous it may appear,
yet it is strictly true, that among hundreds of the bravest tars, one
wag may, by whisperings, groanings, &c. aided by a white sheet, and a
hollow intonation, create a most disgraceful panic. But our terrestrial
population, of corresponding rank, can claim no title to laugh at their
peers on the element. The sermon lately delivered and printed, by the
Rev. Isaac Nicholson, A.M. Curate of Great Paxton, in the county of
Huntingdon, in consequence of two attacks on the person of Ann Izzard, a
reputed witch, whereby Alice Russel, who endeavored to protect that poor
woman, was destroyed, evinces the deplorable state in which the minds of
our lower orders remain, notwithstanding the great expence incurred for
the propagation of the Scriptures among them, and the infinite pains
taken to instruct those who cannot afford to pay for education.
Funerals at sea can rarely boast of much display, but their attendants
are often sincere mourners. Confined within a narrow space, the loss of
a companion is not easily forgotten; every object reminds us of his
fate, and exacts a sigh! Few linger, either of disease, or of wounds, so
long as persons under similar circumstances would do on shore. The want
of room, of fresh air, of clean linen, of suitable diet, and of a change
of scene, all contribute, notwithstanding the most assiduous attendance,
to depress the spirits, and to aggravate the symptoms. Above all, the
ravages of scurvy are peculiarly distressing, and tend most to
dishearten: even those in perfect health become alarmed, and, from that
circumstance alone, often participate in the dreadful evil.
It being utterly inadmissible that a corpse should be retained on board,
no time is lost in sewing it up in a hammock; placing a few lumps of
coal, or other ponderous matter, at the feet, to cause its sinking. Thus
prepared, it is laid upon a grating at the lee gang-way; and, after the
usual burial service, at which all attend, is committed to the deep. In
some instances, during calms, sharks have been seen to dart from under
the vessel, and to attack the corpse in the most ravenous manner. It is
well known that all sickly ships are attended by many of those fishes;
which, if numerous in the vicinity of a healthy vessel, are, in the
opinions of the crew, the surest indications of great mortality on
board. Without pretending to doubt the acuteness of a shark’s sense of
smelling, it may be permitted us rather to ascribe their congregating to
chance, than to their supposed powers of anticipation: at the same time
there can be little doubt, that certain effluvia must escape from a
vessel not duly purified by ventilation and ablution; and that such a
neglect will rarely fail to induce diseases of the most malignant
description; thereby giving a latitude, among those who view things
superficially, to adduce instances apparently confirmative of their
assertions.
Whatever convenience it may be thought to afford to the survivors, it
appears to me, that the customary sale of all the effects of the
deceased, indiscriminately in general, is contrary to the dictates of
prudence, so far as relates to salubrity. That, in such a situation,
whatever is appreciable may produce a better price, cannot be
controverted; but I should rather incline to think it were better to
forego that advantage, than to risk the dissemination of disease, though
not previously malignant, by an unlimited distribution of the apparel of
one demising under any clinical distemper. To say the least, perfect
ventilation should be given to every atom; nor would the trouble or
expence (if any) of fumigating the wearing apparel, and bed-clothes, be
ill bestowed: perhaps baking would be found the safest precaution.
It has already been stated, that, in rounding the Cape, the weather may
be expected to correspond with the season of the year: this is so well
understood, that it is only during the summer season in that quarter,
vessels are considered to be safe in Table Bay, situated to the north of
a low, flat, sandy isthmus, over which it is evident the sea formerly
flowed into False Bay, lying a few miles to the southward. The mouths of
the two bays have different aspects; consequently, when a channel
existed such as I have described, the Table Mountain, whence the
northerly bay derives its designation, together with Cape Town, which
stands between the mountain and that bay, together with Wineburg,
Witti-boom, Constantia, &c. &c. including a length of about forty-five
miles by four, on an average, in breadth, must have been insulated.
When a ship is to touch at the Cape, it is very desirable, on every
account, that her arrival should take place during the summer season; so
that she may come to anchor in Table Bay, about half a mile distant from
the wharf. The convenience, thus afforded, of going immediately into
comfortable lodgings, where nothing is wanting that can tend to the
refreshment of persons fatigued by those narrow limits within which they
have been confined, probably for ten or twelve weeks, is not to be
calculated. The Dutch, it is true, are most offensively avaricious; but
that must be compounded for, in consideration of the satisfaction
attendant upon the liberty of taking exercise in a fine climate,
abounding with the most delicious fruits, the choicest vegetables, and
that kind of social intercourse, which, chasing away the recollection of
former langour, gives energy to meet succeeding dulness and inactivity.
The British visitor will, however, experience considerable
disappointment if he expects to witness the performance of dramatic
pieces, or that jocund hilarity which with us prevails among persons
long resident together. On the contrary, the inhabitants of Cape Town
think of nothing but money-making; in which they are neither inexpert,
nor very scrupulous. In public, they are so awkward, stiff, and
unsociable, that I have often been surprised they did not go to sleep at
their visits. If such was the state of society only a few years ago,
what must it have been previous to the occupation of the Cape, during
the American war, by two French regiments; which, according to the
confession of the Dutch themselves, _made a very considerable
improvement in their breed?_
Few of those who take lodgers will admit such as do not board with them:
the rates are not in any instance fixed, but the average may be taken at
from three to four rix-dollars for each lady or gentleman, half-price
for young children, and one dollar for each servant, per diem. From this
it may be collected, that a single gentleman must be an economist if he
manages to pay his expences of board, washing, horse-hire, &c. under
thirty shillings daily.—The rix-dollar is fixed at four shillings; but
is an imaginary sum. Notes of any value may be had; but gold and silver
currency are scarcely ever seen; the Dutch being extremely eager to
obtain guineas at twenty-one shillings currency, and re-selling them at
the rate generally of six and a half, or seven rix-dollars. Persons
visiting the Cape should be careful to reserve their cash until about to
pay their bills, and then to account their guineas at their current
value, as above shewn. Such is the estimation in which bullion is held,
that no small coins are any where to be seen; even shillings, and
stivers are paid in paper currency. Passengers from India ought to take
a bag of rupees of the worst description; for, whether sicca or
tersooly, each will be gladly received, without distinction, at two
shillings and sixpence.
The cookery of the Dutch is pretty nearly on a par with their
flesh-meats; their beef, mutton, veal, and pork, being rarely of
tolerable quality, and invariably made to float in strong sauce, of
which butter and spices are the chief ingredients. The table is, in most
houses, laid in a central hall, looking into a garden; the floors are
all painted, that they may not absorb the damp when washed, as they are
almost daily: the beds are tolerably good, and the apartments of a
moderate size. Before every house, is an elevated terrace, on a level
with the ground-floor, having at each end a seat, usually of masonry
also. On this terrace, called the _steupe_, the Dutch promenade half the
day in fair weather, enjoying their pipes, and occasionally taking their
_sopkies_; which are small glasses of raw spirits, for the most part
hollands, their servants tender to them at intervals, as a matter of
course.
The extensive gardens of the late Dutch Company, through the centre of
which is a broad gravel-walk full half a mile in length, are crowded
every Sunday evening, and on all festive days, by a promiscuous group,
who walk in parties, to and fro, under the shade of the oaks and other
trees planted on either side. There is also an institution, but of a
more private nature, and frequented, with few exceptions, by the Dutch
only. It is held at a neat house, where wines, &c. are sold, having
attached to it a spacious garden; not unlike some of our tea-drinking
places in the vicinity of London. This is called _Concordia_; a name
perfectly unsuited to the scenes occasionally disgracing the interior,
which has more than once excited the attention of our government, in
consequence of the seditious principles of its visitors.
The late Lord Macartney did not fail to keep a watchful eye over
Concordia, as well as to check, in their infancy, whatever attempts
might be made to spread, and to inculcate, revolutionary principles. A
large portion of the inhabitants being descended from delinquents who
had quitted their native country, as Gil Blas says, ‘not without good
reason,’ and having rarely paid much deference to their rulers in
Europe, it is not to be wondered at, that those doctrines of the
mountain, which condemned Louis the XVI. should have been adopted at the
Cape. Such was the advance made in the cant of the day, and so numerous
were the meetings at Concordia, that Lord Macartney judged it necessary
to adopt measures for bringing his Dutch subjects to their senses; which
he did in a manner that reflected the greatest credit on himself, and
evinced with what facility traitors may be subdued under a just and
energetic government. Among the many who resorted to Concordia every
evening, was a great farmer, known at the Cape under the designation of
_Boor_, who was particularly smitten with the new-fangled terms of
gallic civism: if I err not, his name was VAN CLOOTZ. He was of immense
stature, and ordinarily wore a round slouched hat, about the diameter of
a gentleman’s umbrella; and as he paraded through the streets, sitting
on the front board of his waggon, drawn by eight Spanish horses, always
appeared like some enormous wild beast belonging to Mr. Pidcock’s
menagerie.
This _monstrous_ great man (long considered the key-stone of the
arch-traitors of Constantia) was summoned, in a civil manner, by Lord
Macartney; who, in becoming terms, rebuked him for his folly, and
explained the whole extent of what had been reported, regarding the
proceedings of those who visited the garden. Mynheer was not to be
talked out of his veneration for the Revolution in France; and declared,
that, in his opinion, it would be equal to a martyrdom to die in so
glorious a cause. It was in vain his Lordship depicted the horrors
attendant upon so great a reverse; the boor’s enthusiasm rendered him
blind to such trifles, and to all those excesses which inseparably
accompany civil convulsion.
In the course of a few days, Van Clootz was informed, that a troop of
cavalry had arrived at a farm he had on the borders of Hottentot
Holland, about thirty miles from the Cape, and that it was supposed they
would remain some time in that neighborhood. The boor was delighted at
the prospect of a long bill for hay, corn, &c. &c. folio after folio;
every day’s stay was joyfully noted! It was not long, however, before
complaints were made that the troopers behaved in a licentious manner,
killing his poultry, destroying his fences, plundering his garden,
kissing his maids, and the Lord knows what! Now, as most of his stock
was consumed, it was no longer an object for Mynheer to court the stay
of the cavalry; therefore he went boldly to Lord Macartney with a long
list of damages, and his bill for corn, &c. demanding, in a very haughty
manner, that the farm should be evacuated by his _now_ unwelcome
visitors.
‘Bless me, Mr. Van Clootz,’ said his lordship, ‘why, I thought you was
delighted with revolutionary principles?’—‘Yes, my lord, I am so; the
acts of the French nation should be written in characters of gold!’—‘And
yet, Mr. Van Clootz, you complain against the troop I sent to be
quartered upon you—no, no, Sir; you have been so fond of the _sweets_ of
revolution, that I am resolved you shall taste some of its _bitters_
also: therefore the cavalry shall remain at your farm, until you
acknowledge the benefits of British protection, and retire peaceably to
your lands, there to cultivate corn, instead of sowing sedition at
Constantia.’
The result may be easily guessed: Constantia was depopulated, and
Mynheer Van Clootz was held in derision throughout the Cape. It should
not remain untold, that, however strict Lord Macartney might have been
during the time he governed at the Cape, such was the impression made by
his equitable, liberal, and firm conduct, that, when he embarked for
Europe, the inhabitants were truly grieved; but consoled themselves
under the hope, that a petition they sent to his Majesty, for the
re-appointment of his lordship, might prove successful.
Many of the farms, within the compass of a morning’s ride, are well
worth seeing; not as objects of imitation, but as displaying much
novelty, and tending to afford a just idea of the character of a Dutch
agriculturist in that quarter. The vineyards, and depôts of wine at
Constantia, are certainly curious; especially when it is considered,
that the soil which produces that luscious wine, is confined to a very
few acres, I believe not more than forty, beyond which, sets from the
same vines, under circumstances of perfect equality, in regard to site
and culture, produce a very different liquor, little superior to that
sold at the several wine-houses at sixpence per quart, and possessing a
peculiar terraceous flavor, which does not diminish by keeping. The
stranger not habituated to the use of the Cape wines, either white or
red, should be extremely cautious on his first arrival to avoid them;
drinking port in their stead. A neglect of this precaution will produce
considerable inconvenience, and may be attended with habitual diarrhœa.
I was one of four, who, on landing at False Bay, drank about three or
four glasses each, and were violently affected by it during the whole of
the following night.