The following is from the unpublished journal of a gentleman of this
state, who visited Europe some years since, with objects, we believe,
exclusively literary and scientific. Though not at liberty to mention
his name, if we mistake not, the time will come when his country will
be proud to claim him as one whose fine natural genius has been adorned
and improved by the treasures of learning. Though we do not present
this sketch of a voyage over the great deep as having any peculiar
claims to admiration, and are sure that the author himself would
disclaim for it any such pretensions--yet we do not hesitate to
recommend it to our readers as a sportive, graphic, and interesting
delineation of the novelties and adventures of a sea trip.
* * * * *
On the 15th of June, 18--, the fine ship Edward Quesnel, E. Hawkins,
master, one of the packets between New York and Havre, received her
passengers on board at the former place, and dropped down to Sandy Hook
Bay, where she anchored, awaiting a favorable wind.
Here she remained until the next morning, which however brought no
change of wind, but rather an increase of that which was already
blowing full in our teeth, together with a most disagreeable
accompaniment in the shape of a misty rain, which caused us to confine
ourselves below the deck.
The next morning came--and the next--but still all was dark and
lowering, and still did the wind meet us from the ocean, or--what was
equally unfavorable--remain hushed and calm. Day after day thus rolled
by and found us quietly resting on the bosom of the waters; each
morning hoping that
"The breeze would freshen when the day was done;"
and each evening retiring to rest, anxiously expecting to have our
slumbers broken by the heaving up of the anchor.
Each day however, were our hopes disappointed, until the evening of the
24th, when the wind proving favorable, we moved from our station with
as much pleasure as would animate the garrison of a besieged fortress,
marching out after the departure of the besiegers. Our probation of
nine days was succeeded by weather as bright as that had been gloomy.
The sky was unclouded--
"The sails were filled, and fair the light winds blew."
The pilot left us; and it was not until this last link which bound us
to terra firma was separated, that I could realize to myself, that I
was upon the pathless deep; of which I had heard, and read, and
dreamed; but never had it entered my dreams, that I was one day to
"wend my way" over its billows. The coast of America, rapidly receded
from the view; and when I laid my head upon my pillow, I bade
"My native land good night!"
with a heaviness of heart, which I presume there is no one who has not
felt, who sees fading from his sight, the land of his birth--the land
which contains all for which he cares to live.
There is something indescribable in the feeling of being thus separated
as it were, from the rest of the world. It seems as though our ship is
of itself, a distinct and independent world, on which we wing our way,
with
"All heaven above, all ocean around us;"
not knowing any, and unknown to all. Empires may fall--states be
dissolved--whole nations swept from the earth; yet we pursue our course
as profoundly ignorant of aught that has occurred, as are the
inhabitants of another planet, of what is done upon our own.
After getting fairly upon the ocean, and being satisfied, that we were
making the best of our way to our place of destination, I began to
direct my attention to those with whom my lot had been cast, and with
whom I was daily to associate, whether willing or otherwise. And
surely, since the days of Noah, never was a more heterogeneous
congregation deposited within the compass of a ship. Imprimis, there
were three ladies--two of them French and one American. There were
three Frenchmen, two Germans, one Italian, one Spaniard, one Austrian
Baron, one Dutch Naval Officer, one Portuguese--two natives of
Massachusetts, two Rhode Islanders, two Pennsylvanians, two Virginians
and one Mississippian.
Of this number there were three, who from their peculiarities, merit a
more particular notice, than the mere enumeration I have given; and
who, should any chance inform them, that any one had been "takin notes"
of this voyage, would never forgive the chronicler who should pass over
in silence their multifarious merits;--for however different otherwise,
they most harmoniously agreed in the one particular of placing a
sufficiently exalted estimate upon their own qualities. One of these
notable individuals was a Catholic Priest, a native of Gascony, whose
character may at once be comprehended, by referring to the idea which
one always conceives of the "Gascon;"--for he imbodied in an eminent
degree, those peculiarities which I had hitherto supposed ridicule and
satire, but which I now found that truth, assigned to his countrymen.
Further, his tolerance towards the gentlemanly peccadilloes of gaming
and intoxication, was most praiseworthy. His zeal, or rather wrath, in
defence of the Catholic religion, was most edifying--and his admiration
of Bishop Dubourg most profound.
Another of these worthies was a young gentleman of ----, from whose
dissertations upon the subject, I learned more of the sublime science
of cookery, than it had ever before fallen to my lot to acquire. He
abused the viands which were every day set before us in profusion, and
(as I most unscientifically imagined) of excellent quality, with most
gentlemanly and connoisseurlike assurance; for the purpose I presume,
of insinuating in that indirect and delicate manner, that he had been
used to better things;--and verily his expedient was ingenious--since
from no other part of his conduct could this conclusion have been
derived. It would be unbecoming to omit to mention three articles which
he excepted from the sweeping condemnation, and honored with his
commendation. These were--1. Whiskey punch, whereof he occasionally
illustrated the potency--2. A dish consisting of mustard, cayenne
pepper and broiled ham, and in cuisinical nomenclature ycleped "a
devil"--and 3. French mustard--of which the chief excellence seemed to
consist in its containing something of almost every thing, save only
the article whose name it bears: reminding me of the sermon of a priest
who preached before Louis 16th, of whom the Monarch remarked, that had
he but touched upon religion a little, he would have had a little of
every thing.
The last of the trio was the aforesaid Portuguese--an old doctor--who
was equally an epicure with the last named gentleman, but who extended
his critical acumen to works of the votaries of the muses, as well as
to the productions of the followers of "Le Sieur Louis Eustace Ude." He
was indeed a man of extensive reading and various information, but his
arrogance detracted from these advantages, as much as they would have
been adorned by modesty. In short, this compound of Apicius, Petronius
and Dennis, would have served admirably, as the original of Fadladeen,
the chamberlain of the Harem in Lalla Rookh, "who was a judge of every
thing, from the mixture of a conserve to the composition of an epic
poem;" and of whom it is recorded, that "all the cooks and poets of
Delhi, stood in awe of him."
The rest of my fellow voyagers were unfortunate enough to be remarkable
for no peculiarities, and among them, I found some pleasant companions,
who caused the time to pass with as little of irksomeness and
inconvenience as can be expected on board a ship, where there is
nothing of the beauty and variety of scenery which beguile the land
traveller of weariness, and where every one is forced to turn to his
companions as the only source which can afford amusement, or which can,
for "one treacherous hour," obliterate the recollection that every wave
which urges the vessel onward in her course, does but increase the
distance between himself and his home.
For some time indeed, the situation of a voyager, who for the first
time crosses the ocean, possesses sufficient novelty to interest him;
nor is the scene around and above him, destitute of all that can
attract the eye and excite admiration. The ship itself is an object
worthy of attention. It is delightful to see
"How gloriously her gallant course she goes,
Her white wings flying;" ---- ----
to watch the billows which she spurns from her prow, chafed into foam
as if enraged at the impotency of their attempts to resist the
superiority which the genius of man asserts over their mighty waters.
It is beautiful at night to see these billows rolled from the prow in
sheets of flame, whilst all around, where the waters are agitated,
their surface appears studded with stars, which shine as if to rival
those which sparkle on high:--or when the moon arises, to behold the
flood of mild radiance which she casts along the deep, which
"Sleeps in the night-beam beauteously."
Should a sail perchance cross this path of light, it seems a fairy
visitant of this earth, and just about to take its departure from it
for the bright world beneath which it seems suspended.
All this is scenery which can in no other situation be enjoyed, yet
which like every thing else, soon palls upon the taste, as I can bear
testimony both on my own behalf and on that of
"My comates and brothers in exile."
We soon became accustomed to "the wonders of the deep" and far from
responding to the sentiment of Long Tom in "the Pilot," who declared
that "the sight of land always made him feel uncomfortable;" rather
agreed with Gonzalo in the Tempest, when he asseverated that he would
"give a thousand furlongs of sea, for an acre of barren ground." Our
taste became so perverted, that we heeded not the grandeur of the ocean
or the beauties of the heavens, and sighed that we had
"No delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy our shadows in the sun,"
or engage in the most sage pastime of building castles in the clouds
where,
"Sometime we'd see a cloud look dragonish;
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A tower'd citadel, a pendant rock,
A forked mountain, or blue promontory
With trees upon 't." ---- ----
In short, every thing which could divert for a while, was eagerly
caught at, as a child pursues a butterfly. "A sail in sight," served as
the event of a day; a porpoise or flying fish excited as much interest,
as would on land be produced by the apparition of a gryphon, a winged
dragon, or any other fabulous monster of romance; whilst the huge
leviathan, heaving his vast bulk into view and spouting rivers to the
skies, created as much sensation, as an earthquake or a revolution.
The graceful little nautilus too, spreading its transparent sail, and
pursuing its dancing career over the waves, was ever hailed with
acclamation; though as a faithful journalist, who would wish even in
the slightest affairs to be considered "an honest chronicler," I am
compelled to denounce them as unprofitable sailors, as they ever steer
full in the "wind's eye."
A most remarkable event in our voyage was the celebration of the
anniversary of our independence; which, happening about the middle of
our course, was mirthfully kept by the Americans on board, aided by the
representatives of the different nations there assembled. The
celebration commenced with a prayer from the Rev. Mr. ---- of ----; and
I wish I could say that it ended as appropriately; for soon after
dinner it became quite apparent, that a certain young gentleman, and
old doctor, of whom I have before spoken, however well fortified
against mustard and cayenne, were not proof against
champagne--so----they were put to bed.
On the evening of the 16th of July, we were first greeted by that sound
of all others, the most grateful to the ears of those who have been for
twenty tedious days, upon the unstable element. The deck was soon
deserted by the younger portion of the passengers, who climbed to
various heights, according to their proficiency, to behold the welcome
prospect. The shore of "merry England" could then be seen; presenting
to the eye however, nothing save a line faintly sketched, undulating a
little above the horizon, so that many still remained in doubt
"---- 'till the light-house far blazed,
Like a star in the midst of the ocean."
Thus did we enter the English channel (almost the end of our voyage,)
without having encountered any of those "dangers of the seas" of which
we hear and read such appalling descriptions. I really felt almost
mortified that I should have crossed the great Atlantic, without having
beheld the waves running "mountain high," with bottomless abysses
between; without having seen,
"---- the strained mast quiver as a reed,
And the rent canvass, fluttering strew the gale."
I cannot pretend to say however that this would at all have improved my
idea of a sea voyage; towards which I cannot say that my experiment has
impressed me very favorably. Indeed I cannot but wonder at the
magnificent descriptions sometimes given, of an "excursion over the
waters"--gentle Zephyrs swelling the sails--Tritons and Nereids
sporting around, melodious with Conchs--Old Neptune calming the
waves--and the gallant vessel gaily bounding
"O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,"
as if the whole were a fairy pageant. I can only give it as my opinion,
that most of those who give such glowing representations of a sea
voyage, have either, never tried one; or are guilty of the common
littleness of imitation--imitation of the noble bard who "laid his hand
on ocean's mane," and who exclaimed--"I have loved thee ocean!" because
in reality he did.
For my own part, I can give no better idea of my opinion of a ship,
than by quoting a definition of one, which struck me as peculiarly
felicitous--viz. "a dirty prison with a good chance of being drowned."
On the 18th; our eyes when turned towards the east, no longer wandered
over a drear expanse of waters, but the coast of "la belle France"
offered itself to our view, and as we gradually approached, it assumed
the appearance of tremendous cliffs, presenting their awful fronts full
to the ocean.
For the Southern Literary Messenger.