VOYAGE TO THE CAPE--DISCOMFORTS OF A LONG VOYAGE--THE WOLF TURNED LAMB--
PORPOISES AND PORTUGUESE MEN-OF-WAR--THE MATE'S STORY--CATCHING A
SHARK--AN ALBATROSS HOOKED--CAPE TOWN--ALGOA BAY--OX-WAGGON--
SOUTH-AFRICAN TRAVELLING--OBSTINACY CONQUERED--EXPEDITIOUS JOURNEYING--
FRONTIER OF THE COLONY.
To an indifferent sailor, a long voyage is not by any means a pleasant
thing; and I quite agree with the sage who said that a man on board a
ship was a prisoner, with the additional risk of being drowned. One
feels a continual yearning for the green fields, fresh butter and milk;
and the continual noise, confusion, and other disagreeables, are more
trying to temper and patience than can be imagined by a quiet
stay-at-home gentleman.
We left England in the coldest weather that had been remembered for
years. A month's daily skating on the Serpentine was a bad preparation
for a week's calm, under a burning sun, within a degree of the line,
twenty-seven days afterwards. The frames of Englishmen, however, appear
to be better adapted for the changes of climate than are those of the
inhabitants of any other country.
We passed the Bay of Biscay with the usual rough weather, had a distant
look at Madeira, and entered the trade-winds, without having met with
any other disaster than a sort of mutiny amongst the crew, who, headed
by a contumacious coloured giant, refused to attend divine service on a
Sunday. A detachment of half a dozen men, with the captain and the mate
at their head, soon brought the gentleman in question to reason;
forty-eight hours in irons, on bread and water, entirely changed his
view of the matter, and he came out from the encounter a very lamb.
I frequently remained on deck in the first watches of the night, during
the pleasant sailing in the trade-winds, between the Canary Islands and
the west coast of Africa, a part of the world that has always been
remembered by me for its beautiful climate. The light breeze caused
little more than a ripple on the water, which sparkled with millions of
phosphorescent lights, and the slow, easy motion of the vessel, with the
occasional groaning of the blocks and bulk-heads, as a stronger puff of
wind than usual caused an additional strain upon them, was like the
heave and swell of some leviathan lungs, while the graceful curve of the
studding-sails, spreading far out on each side, gave to the ship the
appearance of some vast animal, intent on a journey of mystery and
importance, and busy in thus muttering to itself a rehearsal of its
mission.
I preferred resting in the stern-boat, and watching the space around, to
breathing the close atmosphere of the badly-ventilated cabins, with
their odours of bilge-water and mouldy biscuit, or tossing about
restlessly in the narrow berth, to the disturbance and sometimes death
of vagrant cockroaches, who had trespassed under the blanket, and whose
number was legion.
In the surrounding water, one could trace the meteor course of some
monster of the deep, whose dive left behind a long brilliant stream of
fire like a rocket. Suddenly the ocean would apparently become alive
with these flashes of light, as a shoal of porpoises dashed into sight
with the velocity of a troop of wild horse, leaping and shying in their
merry race. They cross the brilliant wake of the ship, and, with a
regular wheel, like a squadron of cavalry, charge after her. The ten
knots per hour that the log has given as the gallant ship's speed, make
but little difference to these aquatic rovers. They open their line as
they near, and now they are under the stern; in a second they have
passed, in a few more are far on ahead, jumping about near the bows, and
taking each valley of the rolling sea in true sporting style. Then,
with another sweep, they dash down upon us, and, after inspecting the
ship for a minute, disappear with the same reckless speed, leaving two
or three outsiders, who, not getting a fair start, appear to ply whip
and spur to regain their position with the main body. The sea is then
doubly dark and mysterious.
The morning light would show the ocean covered with the beautiful little
Portuguese men-of-war (_Physalus_), whose brilliant reflection of the
prismatic colours would raise a feeling of ambition for their capture.
An hour was passed in the endeavour to become more closely acquainted
with them, by means of a little net over the ship's side--the result,
like many others in this world, was disappointment. A man-of-war is
caught, but, upon its reaching the deck, is found to consist of a small
bladder, now destitute of those attractions that had tempted our eyes,
and a few long muscular strings, that raise a red smarting line wherever
they touch the skin. This curious creature declines exhibiting its
beauties during captivity.
I had many theoretical lessons in seamanship from the mate during this
fine weather, and many interesting anecdotes of whaling adventures. He
was very anxious to pass safely round the Cape, and, upon my inquiring
the reason, he gave me the following account of his last trip, which had
taken place some four years before:--
"It was on a miserably cold day in February that the good barque
_Emerald_, in which I was second mate, weighed her anchor from the mud
opposite Gravesend, and commenced her voyage for the Mauritius. I had
sailed with the captain (Wharton) to the West Indies on a former voyage,
and had been asked by him to take the second mate's place on this trip,
although I was only twenty-one years old at the time. I thought it a
good berth, and accepted it, although I disliked the man. He was a good
sailor, there was no denying, but a bit of a bully, and, I always
suspected, drank a good deal when quiet in his cabin. He had been
married just before our voyage, and his honeymoon was rather curtailed
by the hurry of our departure. I saw his wife several times before we
left England, for she was staying at Gravesend, and had also come on
board while we were lying in the docks. She was a very pretty young
girl, and seemed to be too quiet and good for the skipper, who, I
thought, did not treat her as he ought to have done. She told me that
she was going to take a cottage at Gosport while her husband was away,
and asked me, if I had time, to write her a few words to say how the
ship got on, in case we met any of the homeward-bound; or stopped at any
port. I believe, when she shook hands with me, and said, `good-bye,
sir; a happy voyage to you,' I felt much inclined to do her any service,
and pitied her lonely situation more than her husband did. She had told
me that her only relation was an aged aunt. Well, we floundered across
the Bay of Biscay, and ran down the trades, and in twenty-seven days
from leaving England with a freezing north wind, we were baking under
the line with 95 degrees in the shade shown on our thermometer. The
skipper had shoved a couple of our men in irons for very slight offences
during our run, and seemed to be a greater brute than ever. He was one
of those fellows who acted like an angel on shore, so pleasant and kind,
but when he got afloat in blue water, he wasn't an angel exactly, at
least not the right sort of angel.
"We jogged on, however, till we passed round the Cape; we gave it a wide
berth, and kept well off the bank, to avoid the current that runs from
the east all down that coast for seventy miles' distance. We were about
off Cape L'Agulhas, when the north-west wind that we had carried with us
from near South America, turned round and blew right in our teeth; we
had plenty of wind in our jib then, it blew great guns, and we were
under close-reefed topsails for a week. One night I was on watch, and
finding that it was blowing harder than ever, and the ship was making
very bad weather of it, I thought I would go down and ask the skipper's
leave to lay-to. I dived down the hatchway and knocked twice at the
captain's cabin-door before I received an answer; at last I heard his
`come in.' I opened the door and was about to report the gale
increased, but was stopped by the appearance of the captain. He was as
white as a sheet, and his eyes were staring like a maniac's. Before I
could speak a word, he said, `Have you seen her?' I did not know what
he meant, but said, `Beg pardon, sir, the ship is making very bad
weather of it.' He cursed the weather, and repeated, `did you see my
wife as you came in?' I said, `see your wife! No!'
"He stared at me for an instant and then dropped on his couch, and said,
`God have mercy on me.' It was the first time I had ever heard him use
that sacred name, although the evil one's was pretty often in his mouth.
I then asked him about the ship, when he told me to go and do what I
thought best. I went up and took all the canvas off, with the exception
of the mizen-trysail. I got the peak lowered down to the deck and
showed but a pocket-handkerchief sort of sail; this kept her head to
wind. I had a guy made fast to the boom, which kept it firm, and lashed
the helm; we then rode like a duck on the water.
"I turned in as usual after being relieved, and said nothing to any one
about what I had heard. In the morning the captain sent for me, told me
not to speak about what he had said last night, but that he had been
told that his days were numbered. He pointed to the log-book, in which
he had put down, that he had seen his wife come into the cabin, and that
she spoke to him, and told him something about himself. He then
requested me to sign his statement in the book, and ordered me not to
say a word to any of the men as long as he lived. I told him not to
think anything about it, as such things were only imaginations, and were
caused by the stomach being a little out of order. I did not think it
at the time, although I thought it would quiet him by telling him so.
"We lay-to all that day; the captain came on deck once, but spoke to no
one. In the afternoon I went down to him to ask about getting a little
sail up again; I found him reading his Bible, a thing that I had never
heard of his doing before. He put it down and came on deck; ordered me
to get up the fore-topsail; I went forward to see about it, and the
skipper walked on to the poop; the helm was still lashed, and no one was
there but him. I was giving the men orders to go aloft, when I heard a
crack astern, and felt a jar through the whole ship. I turned round and
found the pitching had caused the heavy boom of the trysail to break the
guy that fastened it, and it was swinging from side to side with every
lurch of the ship. I ran aft with all the men, and with great
difficulty made it fast again; it took us some time to settle, and I
then went down to tell the captain. His cabin was just as I had left it
before, and no one in it; I came out and asked for him on deck, but no
one had seen him there. The men said that he was on the poop when the
guy gave way; there was a general call throughout the ship, but the
captain was not found.
"The first mate and I then went on the poop, and looked well all round.
On the bulwarks near the stern there was a slight dent, and close beside
it a streak of blood: there was no doubt that the boom in its first
swing had knocked the skipper clean overboard, and the chances were, had
smashed some of his limbs too. We never saw him more. The first mate
took the command, and I told him about the captain's vision; he laughed
at me, and told me I was a fool to believe in such rubbish, and
recommended me not to talk about it. I quietly tore the leaf out of the
log-book, and have got it now. I will show it you." Saying this he
went down to his cabin and brought me up the sheet of paper; which I
read, and found it as he had described. "We went on to the Mauritius,
loaded, and returned to England. I had no opportunity of fulfilling my
promise of writing to the captain's wife, so immediately I could leave
the ship I started for Gosport to tell her about his loss.
"I found her house from the address she had given me, and walked once or
twice up and down to consider all I should say to her. It was any way a
difficult thing and one I did not like doing, having to relate the death
of her husband; and besides, women are inclined to think there is always
some neglect in others if an accident happens to those they love. At
last I plucked up courage and knocked at the door. A decent-looking
servant came, and upon my asking if Mrs Wharton were at home, she
replied, `Mrs Wharton don't live here. Mrs Somebody or other lives
here, and she ain't at home.' I asked if she could tell me where, to
find Mrs Wharton, and was informed by the maid that she was a stranger
and knew nothing; but the baker over the way, she thought, could tell
me. I went over and asked the baker's wife, and she informed me that
Mrs Wharton had been dead nearly five months, and her aunt had moved
away. I was thunderstruck at this intelligence, and immediately
inquired the date of her death; she looked over a daybook in the drawer,
and told me. I put it down in my memorandum-book, and when I got back
to the ship I found the date the same as that noted on the leaf of the
log-book as the one that the captain had seen her off the Cape. Now, I
never was superstitious before this, nor am I alarmed now at the idea of
seeing ghosts, but still there is a queer sort of feeling comes over me
when I think of that night.
"When I got home to my friends, I told the clergyman and the doctor what
had been seen. The first explained it to me as an optical delusion, but
acknowledged that it was very curious; the other looked into my eyes as
though he were trying to see some signs of insanity, and told me it was
very likely that the captain's supper had disagreed with him that night,
or that he was half-seas-over.
"Now, I haven't much learning myself, but I do despise what I have seen
called science; men who study books only, can't know so much as those
who see the real things; I haven't patience with men who, never having
travelled much, or been across the oceans, quietly tell the world that
what a hundred sane men's experienced eyes have seen and known as a
sea-serpent is discovered by their scientific reasoning to be a bundle
of seaweed, or a shoal of porpoises, because they saw once at Brighton
one or the other, when even a land-lubber could hardly have been
mistaken. My wise doctor tried to prove that what the skipper had seen
with his own eyes was nothing but the result of a supper he hadn't
eaten, or the fumes of some grog that weren't swallowed; because it
happened not to be accounted for in his fusty old books in any other
way--I would sooner be without science, if this is the result.
"Bless you, sir, I never yet saw one of your great learned sailors worth
much in an extremity. Give me a fellow who acts from his practical
experience. A man much given to be particular about `how the log-book
is kept,' about dotting i's and crossing t's, is generally struck of a
heap, if the ship happens to be taken aback, or a squall carries away
her gear. While he is going over his logarithms to know what should be
done, the commonest seaman on board could set all to rights. Mind I
don't run down any book-learning you may have, but I only say it ain't
equal to experience, and it never will convince me that, if I see a
square-rigged ship a mile off, I am only mistaken, and that a man in
London knows by science that it was a fore-and-aft schooner and close to
me; or if I see a school of whales, he knows they are only flying fish,
because science tells him the whale does not frequent the part where I
saw them; and that my supper caused me to mistake one for the other."
With these sentiments the mate ended his tale, and I now proceed with
the narrative of the voyage.
While near the line, we caught a shark, which was the first animal
bigger than a hare that I had ever assisted in destroying. As the
method employed on this fellow was of a more sporting character than
usually attends the capture of this monster, I will give in detail our
proceedings.
Our voracious friend having been seen some hundred yards astern steadily
following in our wake, we procured two joints of a lightning-conductor
(that had lain in the hold since our leaving England, and which was
intended to protect the ship from the fluid that makes so excellent a
messenger but so direful an enemy), and lashed a large hook on to one
end. The copper wire was stout enough to resist the teeth of the
monster, and a common log-line was made fast to the wire, with a second
line in case of his requiring much play. Over the stern went the hook,
baited with a most tempting piece of pork; the ship was just moving
through the water at the time, the whole sea looking like a vast lake of
molten silver.
We watched our cannibal as the bait came near him, he did not keep us
long in doubt, but with a rush put his nose against the pork, pronounced
it good, turned on his side, and both pork and hook disappeared. We
gave a smart tug at the line, and found him fast.
I expected a tremendous trout-like rush, or some great display of shark
force; but he merely gave a wag of his tail, lowered his dorsal fin
under water, and steadily dragged back on the line. We met him with a
firm pull, and brought him near the ship, when he made a sudden dive
directly downward, nearly carrying out both our lines.
I feared now that we should lose him, but he seemed to have gone deep
enough to suit his taste, and turned slowly up again; all his movements
could be seen as distinctly in this transparent water as those of a bird
in the air. One or two more dives of a similar character at length
tired him, and he was brought close to the vessel. One of the seamen
then sent a harpoon with deadly aim right through him, which caused a
furious struggle, by which the hook was snapped short off from the wire.
The harpoon, however, held firm, and its rope served to guide a
bowling-knot, which caught under the shark's fins, and he was dragged on
to the deck. A storm of blows and a chop on his tail soon reduced his
strength, which had shown itself in struggles and leaps; his demise was
then peaceful. He was fully seven feet long, and seemed a string of
muscles. He disappointed me by his craven surrender; a salmon would
have given far more play.
Great interest was shown in inspecting the shark's interior; a button
marked VR or RN might have caused endless speculation, and wonderful
tales to be invented. Alas! his stomach contained nothing but a bundle
of feathers! A roar from the whole crew was given at this discovery.
What could he have been about?--acting a fishy pantomime as a pillow, or
turning himself into a comfortable resting-place for Mrs Shark's head?
The fact was, that there had been a great deal of poultry plucked within
the last few days, and the feathers were thrown overboard. Sharky being
unable to grab either the fowls or their masters, had been obliged to
satisfy the cravings of his hungry maw with this unsatisfactory
substitute. I cut a slice out of him; it was like a skein of wire, so
tough and unfishlike.
Some preserved salmon that we had for dinner on the following day was
pronounced by a youngster "very good indeed, and better than he could
have fancied a shark would taste:" and he very likely believes to this
day that boiled shark is very like salmon, as we were all careful not to
inform him of his error.
As we neared the Cape, we were occasionally inspected by some gigantic
albatrosses, whose spectral appearance, as they sailed rapidly along
with outstretched and rigid wings, and passed from side to side of the
horizon in sweeping circles, seemed like the ghosts of ancient mariners
thus condemned monotonously to pass their time till the day of judgment.
When near the island of Tristan D'Acunha we caught one with a little
hook and a line; we brought him on deck, and, after inspecting his
personal appearance and ten-feet-wide wings from tip to tip, threw him
overboard, when he was furiously attacked by his cousins, who,
Chinaman-like, seemed to think death the only fit reward for his having
dealt with the white travellers.
We entered Table Bay in the night, just in time to escape a strong
south-easter that sprung up at daybreak, enveloped the Table Mountain
with its dense white cloth of clouds, and sent volumes of dust from the
flats pouring into the town, to the blinding of every unfortunate
out-of-door individual. On disembarking in any foreign land, one is
naturally amused with the curious costumes of the people; and when the
country happens to be that of a coloured race, this peculiarity is still
more striking. The people here were of every colour and denomination,--
English, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinamen, Malays, Negroes, Kaffirs,
Hottentots, Fingoes, and Mohammedans, white and black, red and yellow,
with every intermediate shade.
The head-dresses showed in the greatest variety. Some heads had nothing
on them, not even hair; others had a small rag. Hottentot and Malay
women's heads were extensively got up with red and blue handkerchiefs;
some wore English straw hats or coverings shaped like rotundas; others
had plumes of ostrich-feathers, wide-awakes, etc. Most of the women and
boys danced round us when we first landed, and I felt like Sindbad the
sailor being welcomed by the beasts on the magician's island.
I rather liked Cape Town; there was a good library, very fair balls,
pretty women, and a pleasant country near, well sprinkled with good
houses, the hospitality of which might well be introduced in place of
the oyster-like seclusion of many homes in England.
Three months after landing in Table Bay I again embarked for Algoa Bay,
_en route_ for the frontier. We had a pleasant calm voyage, keeping the
coast in sight during the whole passage, and putting into two or three
bays, where a delay of a few hours enabled me to haul on board a good
dish of grotesque-looking fish, and some crayfish: the latter were
excellent eating.
On the sixth day we landed at Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay, whence I
started without delay; sand, swindling horse-dealers, naked Fingoes, and
drunken Hottentots being my principal sights at this town. I managed to
obtain a mount from a friend who had voyaged from Cape Town with me, and
thus reserved my selection of a quadruped until I arrived at Graham's
Town. We examined the surrounding country for game, but saw only a
hare, a few quail, and one buck. I was told that ostriches were within
a few miles, and that elephants had been seen near the Sundays river a
day or so past.
The ox-waggon of the Cape is a four-wheeled vehicle with a canvas tilt;
it is completely a necessary of the South-African resident: it is his
house, his ship, and in many cases his income. Until he builds a house,
he lives in the waggon, keeps all he possesses there, and travels from
spot to spot independent of inns or other habitations. From the general
suppleness of the vehicle, owing to the very small quantity of iron
which is used in its construction, it is well adapted for the purposes
of crossing the steep-banked rivers and stony roads that are here so
frequent.
Fourteen oxen are generally used for a team, each having his regular
place, and answering to his wonderful name. A miserable Hottentot boy
or Fingo is employed to perform the part of leader: he is called
"forelouper;" his duty being to hold a small rope that is fastened to
the horns of the two front oxen, and to lead them in the right road.
The inspanning or coupling completed, the rope by which, the team pulls
the waggon is then stretched, and the driver, whirling his gigantic whip
round his victims, and with a shrill yell that a demon might utter,
shouts, "Trek! Trek! Achterman! Roeberg!" (the names of two oxen)
"Trek ye!"
The long whip is then brought down with a neat flip on the flank of some
refractory animal who is hanging back, and out of whose hide a strip of
several inches in length is thus taken.
A shout at Englishman--generally so named from being the most obstinate
in the team--Zwartland, Wit Kop, etcetera, is followed by a steady pull
all together, and the waggon moves off. When the driver has flogged a
few more of the oxen to let off his superfluous anger, he mounts on the
waggon-box, and exchanges his long whip for a short strip of
sea-cow-hide, called the "achter sjambok," with which he touches up
occasionally the two wheelers. Lighting his pipe, he then complacently
views the performance of his stud through its balmy atmosphere. Should
there be an ox so obstinate as to refuse to move on, or wish to lie
down, etc., who can paint the refined pleasure this same Hottentot
driver feels in thrashing the obstinacy out of the animal, or how entire
is his satisfaction as he kicks the poor brute in the stomach, and raps
him over the nose with the yokes-key, or twists his tail in a knot, and
then tears it with his teeth. Martin's Act is a dead letter in Africa.
A few days in Graham's Town were quite enough to satisfy my curiosity;
in this part of the world, the sooner one gets beyond the
half-civilisation the better.
I joined two friends, and started for Fort Beaufort, a day's ride
distant. I was much amused at the cool manner in which our dinner was
provided at the inn on the road. "What will you have, gentlemen?" was
asked: "beef, a turkey, or--" "Turkey roast I vote," said one, in answer
to the landlord's question. "Piet!" cried the landlord, "knock over
that turkey in the corner."
"Ja bas," answered a Hottentot servant. A log of wood flew at the
turkey's head indicated, and, with unerring aim, he was knocked over,
plucked, drawn, and roasted in about an hour and a half, and was very
good and tender.
The frontier of the Cape colony is a very wild and rather barren
district, and in many parts there is a scarcity of water and verdure.
At certain seasons of the year quail come in abundance, thirty or forty
brace for one pair of barrels being by no means an uncommon bag. One or
two of the bustard tribe are also found here, and are called the
_diccop_, _coran_, and _pouw_. I saw but little game besides those
creatures which I have just mentioned, as we were at war with the
Amakosa tribes, and it was not prudent to venture far from our forts. I
employed my time in making portraits of the friendly Kaffirs who came in
to see us, and also in acquiring their language, which struck me as
particularly harmonious and expressive. Frequently thirty or forty men
would come in of a day under some pretence or other, and I had good
opportunities of watching their manners and attire, the latter, by the
bye, being particularly simple.