We had come home from school much earlier than usual, on account of
illness having broken out there; but as none of the boys were
dangerously ill, and those in the infirmary were very comfortable, we
were not excessively unhappy. I suspect that some of us wished that
fever or some other sickness would appear two or three weeks before all
the holidays.
However, as we had nothing to complain of at school, this, I confess,
was a very unreasonable wish.
The very day of our arrival home, when we were seated at dinner, and my
brother Oliver and I were discussing the important subject of how we
were to spend the next ten or twelve weeks, we heard our papa, who is a
retired captain of the Royal Navy--and who was not attending to what we
were talking about--say, as he looked across the table to mamma:
"Would you object to these boys of ours taking a cruise with me round
England this summer?"
We pricked up our ears, you may be sure, to listen eagerly to the reply.
Looking at Oliver, then at me, she said:
"I should like to know what they think of it. As they have never before
taken so long a cruise, they may get tired, and wish themselves home
again or back at school."
"Oh no, no! we should like it amazingly. We are sure not to get tired,
if papa will take us. We will work our passage; will pull and haul, and
learn to reef and steer, and do everything we are told," said Oliver.
"What do you say about the matter, Harry?" asked papa.
"I say ditto to Oliver," I replied. "We will at all events _try_ to be
of use;" for I knew from previous experience that it was only when the
weather was fine, and we were really not wanted, that we were likely to
be able to do anything.
"Then I give my consent," said mamma; on which we both jumped up and
kissed her, as we had been accustomed to do when we were little chaps;
we both felt so delighted.
"Well, we shall be sorry to be away from you so long," said Oliver, when
we again sat down, looking quite grave for a moment or two. "But then,
you know, mamma, you will have the girls and the small boys to look
after; and we shall have lots to tell you about when we come back."
"I cannot trust to your remembering everything that happens," said
mamma. "When I gave my leave I intended to make it provisional on your
keeping a journal of all you see and do, and everything interesting you
hear about. I do not expect it to be very long; so you must make it
terse and graphic. Oliver must keep notes and help you, and one
complete journal will be sufficient."
"That's just the bargain I intended to make," said papa. "I'll look out
that Harry keeps to his intentions. It is the most difficult matter to
accomplish. Thousands of people intend to write journals, and break
down after the first five or six pages."
On the morning appointed for the start a little longer time than usual
was spent in prayer together, a special petition being offered that our
Heavenly Father would keep us under His protection, and bring us safely
home again. Soon afterwards we were rattling away to Waterloo Station,
with our traps, including our still blank journals, our sketch-books,
fishing-rods, our guns, several works on natural history, bottles and
boxes for specimens, spy-glasses, and lots of other things.
Papa laughed when he saw them. "It would not do if we were going to
join a man-of-war; but we have room to stow away a good number of things
on board the Lively, although she is little more than thirty-five tons
burden."
In a quarter of an hour the train started for Southampton; and away we
flew, the heat and the dust increasing our eagerness to feel the fresh
sea-breezes.
"Although the Lively can show a fast pair of heels, we cannot go quite
so fast as this," said papa, as he remarked the speed at which we dashed
by the telegraph posts.
On reaching the station at Southampton, we found Paul Truck, the
sailing-master of the cutter, or the captain, as he liked to be called,
waiting for us, with two of the crew, who had come up to assist in
carrying our traps down to the quay. There was the boat, her crew in
blue shirts, and hats on which was the name of the yacht. The men, who
had the oars upright in their hands while waiting, when we embarked let
the blades drop on the water in smart man-of-war style; and away we
pulled for the yacht, which lay some distance off the quay.
"I think I shall know her again," cried Oliver: "that's her, I'm
certain."
Paul, who was pulling the stroke oar, cast a glance over his shoulder,
and shaking his head with a knowing look, observed:
"No, no, Master Oliver; that's a good deal bigger craft than ours.
She's ninety ton at least. You must give another guess."
"That's the Lively, though," I cried out; "I know her by her beauty and
the way she sits on the water."
"You're right, Master Harry. Lively is her name, and lively is her
nature, and beautiful she is to look at. I'll be bound we shall not
fall in with a prettier craft--a finer boat for her size."
Paul's encomiums were not undeserved by the yacht; she was everything he
said; we thought so, at all events. It was with no little pride that we
stepped on deck.
Papa had the after-cabin fitted up for Oliver and me, and he himself had
a state cabin abaft the forecastle. There were besides four open berths
in which beds could be made up on both sides of the main cabin. The
forecastle was large and airy, with room for the men to swing their
hammocks, and it also held a brightly polished copper kitchen range.
Everything looked as neat and clean "as if the yacht had been kept in a
glass case," as Paul observed.
Papa, having looked over the stores, took us on shore to obtain a number
of things which he found we should require. We thus had an opportunity
of seeing something of the town.
The old walls of Southampton have been pulled down, or are crumbling
away, the most perfect portion being the gateway, or Bar Gate, in the
High Street. On either side of it stand two curious old heraldic
figures, and beside them are two blackened pictures--one representing
Sir Bevis of Hampton, and the other his companion, Ascapart. Sir Bevis,
who lived in the reign of Edgar, had a castle in the neighbourhood. It
is said he bestowed his love on a pagan lady, Josian, who, having been
converted to Christianity, gave him a sword called Morglay, and a horse
named Arundel. Thus equipped he was wont to kill four or five men at
one blow. Among his renowned deeds were those he performed against the
Saracens, and also his slaughter of an enormous dragon.
The extensive docks at the mouth of the river Itchen, to the east of the
town, have, of course, greatly increased its wealth. We saw a
magnificent foreign-bound steamer coming out of the docks. The West
India ships start from here, as do other lines of steamers running to
the Cape, and to various parts of the world; so that Southampton is a
bustling seaport. There is another river to the west of the town,
called the Test; and that joining with the Itchen at the point where the
town is built, forms the beautiful Southampton Water.
But perhaps the most interesting fact about Southampton is that Isaac
Watts, the Christian poet, was born here in 1671. The house in French
Street is still standing, and we went to look at it. There he passed
his play-days of childhood; there the dreamy, studious boy stored up his
first spoils of knowledge; there he wrote his first hymns; and thither
he went to visit his parents, when he himself was old and famous. We
also went to see the remains of Saint Michael's Gaol, in which Watts'
father had been confined for his nonconformity. And as we looked on the
old prison we thanked God that nowadays, in England at least, religious
persecution is unknown.
When we returned on board, we noticed with surprise on each side of the
river what had the appearance of green fields, over which the water had
just before flowed; they were, however, in reality mud flats covered by
long sea-weed.
Soon after tea we turned into our berths, feeling very jolly and quite
at home, though Oliver did knock his head twice against the deck above,
forgetting the size of our bedroom. We lay awake listening to the water
rippling by, and now and then hearing the step of the man on watch
overhead; but generally there was perfect silence, very different from
the noise of London.
We were both dressed and on deck some time before papa next morning, for
as the tide was still flowing, and there was no wind, he knew that we
could not make way down the river. So we had time for a dive and a swim
round the vessel, climbing on board again by means of a short ladder
rigged over the side.
Soon after this we saw a few of the other vessels hoisting their sails;
and then Captain Truck, Oliver, and I pulled and hauled until we got our
mainsail set. The men then washed down the decks, though really there
was no dirt to wash away, and we tried, as we had promised, to make
ourselves useful.
When papa appeared he looked pleased at our being so hard at work. As
there was just then a ripple on the water, he ordered the anchor to be
got up; and it being now full tide, we began, almost imperceptibly, to
glide away from among the other vessels. On the right was the edge of
the New Forest, in which William Rufus was killed; although I believe
that took place a good way off, near Lyndhurst; and very little of the
eastern side of the forest now remains.
On the left we passed Netley Abbey, a very pretty, small ruin, and near
it a large military hospital and college, where medical officers of the
army study the complaints of the troops who have been in tropical
climates. On the opposite side, at the end of a point stretching partly
across the mouth of the water, we saw the old grey, round castle of
Calshot, which was built to defend the entrance, but would be of little
use in stopping even an enemy's gunboat at the present day. However,
papa said there are very strong fortifications at both ends of the
Solent, as the channel here is called. No enemy's gunboat could ever
get through, much less an enemy's fleet; at any rate, if they did, he
hoped they would never get out again.
Some way to the left of Calshot rose the tall tower of Eaglehurst among
the trees. The wind was from the west. We stood away towards
Portsmouth, as papa wished to visit an old friend there, and to give us
an opportunity of seeing that renowned seaport as well. We caught a
glimpse of Cowes, and Osborne to the east of it, where the Queen
frequently resides, and the town of Ryde, rising up on a hill surrounded
by woods, and then the shipping at Spithead, with the curious
cheese-shaped forts erected to guard the eastern entrance to the Solent.
Papa told us that these curious round forts, rising out of the sea, are
built of granite; that in time of war they are to be united by a line of
torpedoes and the wires of electric batteries. They are perfectly
impregnable to shot, and they are armed with very heavy guns, so that an
enemy attempting to come in on that side would have a very poor chance
of success.
As we were anxious to see them, we had kept more in mid-channel than we
should otherwise have done. We now hauled up for Portsmouth Harbour.
Far off, on the summit of the green heights of Portsdown Hill, we could
see the obelisk-shaped monument to Nelson, an appropriate landmark in
sight of the last spot of English ground on which he stepped before
sailing to fight the great battle of Trafalgar, where he fell. We could
also trace the outline of a portion of the cordon of forts--twenty miles
in length--from Langston Harbour on the east to Stokes' Bay on the west.
Along the shores, on both sides of the harbour, are two lines of
fortifications; so that even should a hostile fleet manage to get by the
cheese-like forts, they would still find it a hard matter to set fire to
the dockyard or blow up the Victory. That noble old ship met our sight
as, passing between Point Battery and Block House Fort, we entered the
harbour.
She did not look so big as I expected, for not far off was the Duke of
Wellington, which seemed almost large enough to hoist her on board; and
nearer to us, at the entrance of Haslar Creek, was the gallant old Saint
Vincent, on board which papa once served when he was a midshipman. We
looked at her with great respect, I can tell you. Think how old she
must be. She has done her duty well,--she has carried the flag of
England many a year, and now still does her duty by serving as a ship in
which boys are trained for the Royal Navy.
Further up, in dim perspective, we saw ships with enormous
yellow-painted hulls; noble ships they were, with names allied to
England's naval glory. They were all, however, far younger than the
Saint Vincent, as we discovered by seeing the apertures in their
stern-posts formed to admit screws. Some fought in the Black Sea,
others in the Baltic; but papa said "that their fighting days are now
done, though they are kept to be employed in a more peaceful manner,
either as hospital ships or training-schools."
Shortening sail, we came to an anchor not far from the Saint Vincent,
among several other yachts. On the Gosport side we could see across the
harbour, away to the dockyard, off the quays of which were clustered a
number of black monsters of varied form and rig. Papa said--though
otherwise we could not have believed it--"that there were amongst them
some of the finest ships of the present navy." I could hardly fancy
that such ships could go to sea, for they are more like gigantic coal
barges with strong erections on their decks, than anything else afloat.
Of course I cannot tell you all our adventures consecutively, so shall
describe only some of the most interesting. We first visited the Saint
Vincent, which, as we had just left our little yacht, looked very fine
and grand. Papa was saying to one of the officers that he had served on
board her, when a weather-beaten petty officer came up, and with a smile
on his countenance touched his hat, asking if papa remembered Tom
Trueman. Papa immediately exclaimed, "Of course I do," and gave him
such a hearty grip of the hand that it almost made the tears come into
the old man's eyes with pleasure, and they had a long yarn about days of
yore. After this papa met many old shipmates. It was pleasant to see
the way in which he greeted them and they greeted him, showing how much
he must have been beloved, which, of course, he was; and I'll venture to
say it will be a hard matter to find a kinder or better man. I'm sure
that he is a brave sailor, from the things he has done, and the cool way
in which he manages the yacht, whatever is happening.
After we had finished with the Saint Vincent we went on board the
Victory, which looks, outside, as sound as ever she did--a fine, bluff
old ship; but when we stepped on her deck, even we were struck by her
ancient appearance, very unlike the Saint Vincent, and still more unlike
the Duke of Wellington. There was wonderfully little ornamental or
brass work of any sort; and the stanchions, ladders, and railings were
all stout and heavy-looking.
Of course we looked with respect on the brass plate on her deck which
marks the spot where Nelson fell. We then went far down into the
midshipmen's berth, in the cockpit. How dark and gloomy it seemed; and
yet it was here Nelson, while the guns were thundering overhead, lay
dying. How very different from the mess-rooms of young officers of the
present day! Here another inscription, fixed on the ship's side,
pointed out where the hero breathed his last. Going into the cabin on
the main deck, we saw one of the very topsails--riddled with shot--which
had been at Trafalgar. After being shifted at Gibraltar, it had been
for more than half a century laid up in a store at Woolwich, no one
guessing what a yarn that old roll of canvas could tell.
We also saw an interesting picture of the "Death of Nelson," and another
of the battle itself. We felt almost awe-struck while seeing these
things, and thinking of the gallant men who once served on board that
noble ship. Papa said that he hoped, if the old ship is not wanted for
practical purposes, that she may be fitted up exactly as she was at
Trafalgar.
We afterwards called on an old lady--a friend of papa--who told us that
she clearly recollected going off from Ryde in a boat with her father
and mother, and pulling round the Victory when she arrived from
Gibraltar at Spithead, on the 4th of December, 1805, with the body of
Nelson on board. In many places the shot were still sticking in her
sides, her decks were scarcely freed from blood, and other injuries
showed the severity of the action.
After this, the Victory was constantly employed until the year 1812,
from which time she was never recommissioned for sea; but from 1825
until within a few years ago, she bore the flags of the port-admirals of
Portsmouth.
Late in the evening we crossed the harbour to the dockyard, where papa
wanted to pay a visit. A curious steam ferry-boat runs backwards and
forwards between Portsmouth and Gosport. We passed a number of large
ships coated with thick plates of iron; but even the thickest cannot
withstand the shots sent from some of the guns which have been invented,
and all might be destroyed by torpedoes. We could hardly believe that
some of the ships we saw were fit to go to sea. The most remarkable was
the Devastation. Her free-board--that is, the upper part of her sides--
is only a few feet above the water. Amidships rises a round structure
supporting what is called "a hurricane-deck." This is the only spot
where the officers and men can stand in a sea-way. At either end is a
circular revolving turret containing two thirty-five ton guns,
constructed to throw shot of seven hundred pounds. These guns are
worked by means of machinery.
Contrasting with the ironclads, we saw lying alongside the quays several
enormous, white-painted, richly-gilt troop-ships, also iron-built, which
run through the Suez Canal to India. The night was calm and still; and
as we pulled up the harbour a short distance among the huge ships, I
could not help fancying that I heard them talking to each other, and
telling of the deeds they had done. Papa laughed at my poetical fancy,
which was put to flight when he told me that scarcely any of them,
except those which were engaged in the Baltic and Black Sea, had seen
any service.
Pulling down the harbour on the Gosport side, to be out of the way of
passing vessels, we soon reached the yacht, feeling very tired, for we
had been wide awake for the last sixteen hours. As we sat in our little
cabin, it was difficult to realise that outside of us were so many
objects and scenes of interest connected with the naval history of
England. Papa told us a number of curious anecdotes. Not many hundred
yards from us, about a century ago, was to be seen a gibbet on Block
House Point, at the west entrance of the harbour, on which hung the body
of a man called Jack the Painter. Having taken it into his very silly
head that he should forward the cause of freedom by burning the
dockyard, he set fire to the rope-house, which was filled with hemp,
pitch, and tar. Jack, having performed this noble deed, escaped from
the yard, and was making his way along the Fareham Road, when, having
asked a carter to give him a lift, he pointed out the cloud of smoke
rising in the distance, observing that he "guessed where it came from."
The carter went his way; but shortly afterwards, when a hue and cry was
raised, he recollected his passenger, who was traced, captured, tried,
and executed.
Another story we heard was about the mad pranks played by naval officers
in days of yore. At that time, a sentry-box, having a seat within,
stood on the Hard, at Portsmouth, so that the sentry could sit down and
rest himself. It happened that a party of young captains and
commanders, coming down from dinner to embark, found the sentry at his
post, but drunk and sound asleep in his box! Punishment was his due.
They bethought themselves of a mode of astonishing him. Summoning their
crews, box and sentry were carried on board one of their boats and
transported to Gosport, and then placed in an upright position facing
the water. When the relief came to the spot where the sentry was
originally stationed, what was their astonishment and alarm to find
neither sentry nor box! The captain of the guard reported the
circumstance to the fort-major. "The enemy," he averred, "must be at
hand."
The garrison was aroused, the drawbridges were hauled up. Daylight
revealed the box and the position of the sentry, who protested that,
although as sober as a judge, he had no idea how he had been conveyed
across the harbour.
Numerous "land-sharks" used to be in waiting to tempt those who were
generally too ready to be tempted into scenes of debauchery and vice.
This state of things continued until a few years ago, when it was put
into the heart of a noble lady--Miss Robinson--to found an institute for
soldiers and sailors. There they may find a home when coming on shore,
and be warned of the dangers awaiting them. After great exertion, and
travelling about England to obtain funds, she raised about thirteen
thousand pounds, and succeeded in purchasing the old Fountain Hotel, in
the High Street, which, greatly enlarged, was opened in 1874 as a
Soldiers' and Sailors' Institute, by General Sir James Hope Grant.
Dear me, I shall fill up my journal with the yarns we heard at
Portsmouth, and have no room for our adventures, if I write on at this
rate. After our devotions, we turned in, and were lulled to sleep, as
we were last night, by the ripple of the water against the sides of the
yacht.