"There is one simple rule to go by," he answered. "If you make a
promise, fulfil it. Of course, I know that certain inconveniences may
arise in consequence. The authorities at the Cape will probably find
fault with you, and various complaints may be made; but still, Mr
Barwell has a perfect right to demand the fulfilment of the promise you
made him, and you cannot in justice refuse to do so."
I was sure that Mr Vernon was right, and I knew that Mr Henley thought
the same, so I was very glad when it was settled that all the prisoners
who might wish it were to be landed with Mr Barwell. Whatever opinion
might have been formed of him, one thing was certain--he had been the
means of preserving the ship and the lives of all on board. I talked
over the matter with Mr Henley as we walked the deck during the
remainder of the night. We might fancy the man a slave-dealer or
pirate, or an outlaw of some sort; but we had no proof of this, and if
so, he would be able to commit as much mischief at the Cape as here.
Our chief fear was that he might lead the prisoners we were about to
liberate into crime. Then again came in the promise made to him, and we
felt that they had been driven to mutiny by the greatest cruelty, and
that if carried on to the Cape they would be severely punished. Thus I
must leave it to others to decide whether we were right or wrong in
liberating the prisoners. The offer was made to them by the doctor, who
explained the nature of the country, and the hardships they would have
to go through, and the dangers to which they would be exposed, but
notwithstanding this, they all at once preferred being landed to
undergoing a trial for the crime they had committed.
When daylight came we found ourselves in a strangely wild place. Near
us were rocks, and cliffs, and sandbanks, and further inland palm-trees
and other tropical productions, with a wide extent of grassy, undulating
plains, or rather uplands, between the shore and the hills; but not a
sign was there of human habitations or human beings. Mr Barwell was
busy in making preparations for his departure. Certain trunks and
packages were got up, and he begged to purchase some sail-cloth for a
tent, and some provisions, which of course were not refused. We had
altogether fifteen prisoners. When Barwell, dressed in his brown suit,
and looking perfectly the unassuming artisan he had pretended to be, had
taken his seat, six of them were told off into the boat and carried on
shore. The boat then returned for the remainder, and for the stores and
provisions which Mr Barwell--for so I will still call him--had
purchased. The mates added several more things, so that altogether the
party were not ill supplied; and in that climate, with an abundant
supply of food to be found in its wild state, they might very well be
able to support existence till they could find means to quit it.
Barwell had, it appeared, a rifle and a supply of ammunition, and he had
purchased a fowling-piece from one of the passengers, and five or six
muskets for his companions, so that they might be able to defend
themselves against any attack from the natives they might fall in with.
Mr Henley told me, however, he believed that in that southern part of
the African coast the natives were scattered widely apart, and that in
many extensive districts none were to be found.
Climbing to the mast-head, I had a look round with my telescope, and I
felt certain that I saw several herds of animals feeding on the plains
in the interior. Some were antelopes and deer of various sorts; and
then, as I watched, to my great delight I saw a number of large animals
come out of a wood. They were elephants--not two or three, such as
might be seen in the Zoological Gardens--but a whole drove, fifty or
sixty at least, magnificent, big fellows. They were on their way,
apparently, to a river to drink. I longed to be on shore to hunt them,
and I almost envied Barwell and his companions the sport I fancied they
would enjoy. I was called on deck by the order to make sail. The wind
had come round to the northeast, and was fair for running out of the
harbour. As the anchor was hove up the people we had left behind waved
to us, and, it appeared, were cheering; but whether they did so to wish
us farewell, or in derision, we could not tell. With our
sadly-diminished crew we stood away to the southward. Just as we left
the harbour the captain once more came on deck. The mates could
scarcely convince him of what had occurred.
"I knew that we were not far off land," he remarked, "The smell of the
shore brought me to myself."
Strange to say, this was perfectly true; and from that time till they
were again in harbour neither he nor Mr Grimes touched spirits, and
appeared to be as sober as any man could be.
Such were some of my early experiences in the merchant service. It must
not be supposed that all ships are like what the _Orion_ then was, or
that there are many of her size commanded by such a man as Captain
Gunnell, with such a first mate as Mr Grimes; but still there are some,
and I might almost venture to say many, which are in no better
condition, and I have met with numerous instances where a state of
things equally bad had existed on board. This has arisen from the
absence of religious principle, from the want of education, and from the
intemperate habits of the officers. I am far from wishing to dissuade
any of those who read my travels from entering the merchant service. It
is an honourable and useful career; but I would urge them to endeavour,
by every means in their power, to improve their minds, and especially to
be on their guard against the vice of drunkenness, which has proved the
destruction of so many gallant seamen. Far more would I urge them to
make it their highest aim to become true Christians, not only in name,
but in word and in deed.
Once more the sound of "Land ahead!" greeted our ears. It was a clear,
bright morning; and as the sun rose we had before us a fine mountainous
line of coast, running down from Table Bay to the extremity of that
lofty headland known as the Cape of Good Hope. Everywhere the coast
appeared bold and high. The mountains seemed to rise abruptly from the
sea in a succession of ledges, steep, rugged, and bare, with rough and
craggy crests. As we stood in close to the shore, the sun shining on
the crags and projections made them stand out in bold relief, throwing
the deep furrows of their steep sides into dark shades, while the long
line of white surf dancing wildly at their bases formed a fitting
framework to the picture. Table Mountain appeared to be the highest
point of the whole range, though it was not till we got closer in that
it assumed its well-known form of a table. As we opened Table Bay we
caught sight of the picturesque mountains of Stellenbosch and Hottentots
Holland in the background, with a line of sand hills in front. It was
not till the evening that we at length dropped our anchor.
Cape Town stands on nearly flat ground. Immediately behind it rises
abruptly the Table Mountain, most appropriately, from its shape and
appearance, so called. On our left, joining the Table Mountain, was the
bold and rugged peak called the Devil's Mountain, and on the right the
rocky height known as the Lion's Head, while a long, round-backed hill,
running north from the Lion's Head, is known as his Rump, the two hills
together having somewhat the appearance of a lion couchant. Cape Town
has not lost the character given to it by its Dutch founders. Down the
principal street runs a canal, and several are shaded by rows of trees.
The houses are flat-roofed, with glass windows composed of a number of
small panes. They are either white-washed or gaily painted, and in
front of each of them are brick terraces called _stoeps_, where, in the
summer, the inhabitants sit and talk to their acquaintances who may be
passing. The houses are rather low, there are no regular
foot-pavements, the roads are very dusty, and the streets cross each
other at right angles. Though the place has a decidedly foreign look,
and people of all nations are to be seen there--especially Dutch,
Hottentots, Malays, and Negroes--still the greater number are English,
and one fully feels that he is in an English town, and living under
English laws. The most remarkable feature of the picture, to be seen in
every direction, is the Cape waggon--long and low when laden with heavy
goods, drawn by twelve or more oxen, and driven by a Hottentot with a
long bamboo whip. Lighter articles are conveyed in lighter waggons, and
drawn at a quick pace by horses. The town is defended by a castle of
considerable strength, and several lesser forts. The dust, which
sprinkles everybody and everything with red, and the strong winds, which
blow ships on shore, and commit other species of damage, are the things
most objected to in Cape Town.
Having introduced them, I hope that I may be considered to have given a
fair picture of the place as it appeared to me when, the day after our
arrival, I went on shore in the afternoon with Mr Henley. All the
passengers who were to remain at the Cape had disembarked, and the rest,
who were going on to Natal and the Mauritius, had gone on shore to live
till the ship again sailed.
I at once delivered the letters I received from my old schoolfellow
Lumsden at Teneriffe, and met with the kindest reception from all his
father's friends to whom they were addressed. My story excited a great
deal of interest among them, and they all expressed an anxiety to help
me in finding out my brother Alfred. This, from their connections with
all the ports in that part of the world, they were well able to do, and
my hopes of success increased as I talked the matter over with them: and
they suggested various places to which he might have gone, and the
different occupations in which he was likely to have engaged. On one
point I felt very certain--and may all those similarly placed feel the
same. I had passed through many and great dangers, and had been
mercifully preserved by Providence; and I had the assurance that the
same kind Providence would continue to watch over and preserve me in all
the perils and difficulties I might have to undergo.