BAHIA.
All hands turned out early on the morning after our arrival anxious
for shore leave, so that they might inspect the city that rose before
them so majestically from the edge of the green water. Now could they
realise better than by night what a magnificent harbour is this
Reconcavo--an extensive inland sea 100 miles in circumference, into
which several large rivers pour their waters, surrounded by a country
of prodigal fertility, and studded with beautiful islands!
The town was merry as usual with a sound of bells, crackers, and
rockets. These are never silent in Bahia. It is a most religious city.
It is called Bahia de Todos os Santos, the Bay of All Saints, and
every day of the year is the saint's day of some parish or street or
even family, and it has to be celebrated by fireworks, which,
according to the custom of the country, are let off by day quite as
much as by night. If there happened a sudden cessation of this noise
of bells, crackers, and rockets, I believe the inhabitants would run
out of their houses in consternation, under the impression that an
earthquake or a revolution had come upon them.
The Bahian custom-house is not open on Sundays; but the authorities
were good enough to break through their rule, and, coming off to us in
their launch at an early hour, gave us pratique. They also gave us
permission to land with our boats at the arsenal, and to put off from
it at any hour of the day or night. This important privilege is
granted as a matter of courtesy to every foreign man-of-war and yacht.
On the other hand, very inconvenient restrictions are placed on
merchantmen, originally, I believe, for the purpose of preventing
slaves from escaping on board foreign vessels. Slavery has been
abolished quite recently, but the old rules still remain in force. No
one may leave or board a merchantman after 8 p.m., and any one who is
not on the ship's articles cannot do so even in the daytime without a
special permit from the custom-house. We were free to do what we
pleased during our stay, but I observed that the custom-house boats
hovered round the 'Alerte' a good deal at night, and that a sharp
watch was evidently kept on us. All manual labour is left to the
negroes in the Brazils, and a yacht manned for the most part with
volunteer milords instead of paid hands must have appeared to the
natives an incomprehensible, and consequently a highly suspicious,
phenomenon.
Even before we had obtained pratique the energetic ship-chandlers were
off to us in their boats, soliciting our custom by shouting to us from
a distance. Pratique granted, they closed in upon us. There is a
tremendous competition between these gentry at Bahia, as I had
discovered while here in the 'Falcon.' But I was soon recognised, and
then all retired from the field save two, between whom the competition
waxed most furiously. It seemed that my old ship-chandling firm had
split itself into two houses, so the two ex-partners and now bitter
rivals boarded the 'Alerte,' and each claimed me as his own lawful
prey.
This was embarrassing, for I had been satisfied with both when they
were as one at the time of the 'Falcon's' visit; but, as a single
ship-chandler at a time is quite enough, I had to make an invidious
choice between my old friends. One was an Englishman, the other a
Brazilian; so I thought it right to surrender myself into the hands of
a fellow-countryman, Mr. Wilson, who carried us off in triumph in his
boat as soon as we had donned our shore-going clothes.
We landed at the Praya, the ancient and dirty stone quay which
stretches along the shore for four miles, a spot of great commercial
activity. Here are the great ware-houses whence the coffee, sugar,
tobacco, cotton, logwood, and the other produce of this rich tropical
land, are shipped to every quarter of the globe. Here, too, are
markets of strange fruits and vegetables, and a bazaar where one can
buy gorgeous or voluble parrots, baboons and monkeys of many species,
pumas and jaguars too, and indeed specimens of nearly all the wild
beasts of South America. Grog shops, where poisonous white rum is sold
to British seamen, are frequent. Along the quay are ranged the quaint
native lighters with their half-naked ebon crews. A jostling,
jabbering crowd of negroes and negresses with gaudy robes and turbans
throngs the Praya, and when one first lands one is oppressed by a
bewildering sense of confusion--a flashing of bright colours--a din of
negroes, parrots, and monkeys--a compound smell of pineapples and
other fruit, of molasses, Africans, bilgewater, tar, filth too of
every description; not a monotonous smell, however, but ever varying,
now a whiff of hot air sweet with spice, then an odour that might well
be the breath of Yellow Jack himself.
There was no yellow fever at the time in Bahia, though it had been
rather severe at Rio not long before. We repaired to the
ship-chandler's, saw the latest papers and heard all the news. I found
that Brazilian politics formed the chief topic of conversation. A
stranger visiting this country ten years back would have almost
imagined that this was a happy land in which politics were unknown, so
little did he hear of them. Now all was changed. Everybody was
complaining of the stagnation of business. The Creoles were irritated
at the recent abolition of slavery--a measure which, according to
them, would ruin the country, but which, in the opinion of some was
rendered necessary by the determined resistance of the large bands of
fugitive slaves in the southern provinces. The troops were unable to
put them down, their success had brought the country to the verge of a
general servile insurrection, so that it became merely a question
whether the Government should submit quietly to their demands at once
or be compelled to do so later on after much bloodshed. I do not think
the revolution that took place a few days later was altogether
unexpected. There were rumours of it in the air and an uneasy feeling
existed among the mercantile classes.
This was my third visit to this port, so I had, of course, plenty of
friends in the city. These soon found me out, and I noticed that,
despite the supposed unhealthiness of Bahia, none of them looked much
the worse for the eight years they had spent here since I had seen
them last. There can be no doubt that Brazil enjoys a very healthy
climate considering its position within the tropics.
We were elected honorary members of the English Club during our stay
at Bahia, and there we found that the object of our voyage had been
much discussed. The English papers had advertised us somewhat too
well, and though the name of the island we were bound for was not
exactly mentioned, my Bahian friends had formed more than a suspicion
as to our destination. They, of course, knew that I had visited
Trinidad before, and they also were aware that treasure was supposed
to be concealed there, for the American adventurer called here after
the unsuccessful search to which I have alluded.
'Tell me,' said Mr. Wilson, with a smile, when he got me alone, 'tell
me in confidence. Are you not going to Trinidad again from here?'
When I had replied in the affirmative, he said, 'Three years after you
sailed from here with the 'Falcon' an American came into my office. He
had just come from Trinidad, and was very reserved about it. But two
of the crew told me that they had been on shore digging for three
days, they did not know what for, but they supposed the captain had
some information about hidden treasure. At any rate they found
nothing, and while he was at Bahia, the captain seemed to be very
disappointed and would speak of his adventures to no one.'
This tallied exactly with the letter of the Danish captain which I
have already quoted. It was not altogether agreeable to us to find
that our plans were so generally canvassed, for we knew that the
Portuguese had laid claim to Trinidad something like two hundred years
ago, and it was possible that the Brazilians, as successors to the
Portuguese in this quarter of the globe, might consider the island as
their own, and assert their right to any valuables we might find upon
it. I need scarcely say that I had made up my mind, should we find the
treasure, to sail directly to some British port. I would not trust
myself in any country of the Spanish or Portuguese; for once in their
clutches we should in all probability lose all the results of our
labour. The Roman Catholic Church of Spain or Lima might, with a fair
show of right, demand the treasure as her own; so might the
Governments of Peru, Chile, Brazil, Spain, or Portugal. But if we
could once secure it, get it safely home, and divide it, it would be
exceedingly difficult for any one to establish a better right to it
than we could--for should we not have the right of possession, with
nine-tenths of the law on our side?
Bahia is a dull place, but it is an interesting old city, and contains
some very picturesque streets, especially those which connect the
upper and the lower town, and which wind, in flights of stone steps,
up a precipitous wall of rock 240 feet in height. This cliff, despite
its steepness, is green with bananas, palms, and other tropical
plants, which fill up all the space between the ancient stone houses
and tortuous alleys, producing a very pleasing effect from the sea.
The old Dutch and Portuguese houses are very solidly built of stone,
and among them are some of the most ancient buildings of the New
World. The Fort la Mar, under which we were anchored, is a picturesque
fortress constructed by the Dutch 400 years ago on a rocky islet in
the harbour. The cathedral and some other of the ecclesiastical
buildings in the upper town are built of marble that was brought from
Europe. In the olden days--and to some extent this is the case even
now--everything needed by the Spanish and Portuguese colonists of the
New World, with the exception of gold and jewels, was imported to them
from the mother-countries. Thus there are cities in the heart of South
America which have quarries of marble in their immediate vicinity, and
whose churches are, notwithstanding, built of marble blocks carried
from Europe by sea and land at tremendous cost. With its vast arable
lands, that might supply the granaries of the world, the River Plate
district, until quite recently, depended on foreign countries for its
supplies of grain. The old theory of the Conquistadores, that it was
beneath their dignity to perform any labour save that of extracting
gold from the country and its natives, seems never to have been quite
eradicated from the Creole mind.
I could see few changes in Bahia since my last visit. It seemed the
same busy, dirty, old place. A new broad carriage-road had been
carried up the cliff, and this, together with the hydraulic lift which
connects the lower with the upper town, has certainly diminished the
number of sedan chairs. Once these were a quaint feature in a Bahian
street scene. They are almost of the same model as those in use in
London 200 years ago, and are carried by stout negroes. Now they are
only employed by Creole ladies of the old school, who do not care to
sit in the trams by the side of their late slaves.
The crew of the 'Alerte' had now the opportunity of relaxing
themselves a little before sailing away for the scene of their real
work. Some made expeditions up the rivers into the beautiful country
that surrounds Bahia, and the frequent race-meetings afforded
amusement to others. I believe we were lucky, on the whole, while
matching ourselves against the local bookmaker, and realised a few
thousands--not of pounds, but reis, of which a thousand are equivalent
to two shillings.
Our first and second mate left us after we had been a few days at
Bahia, packing up their traps and getting ashore before they ventured
to announce their intention. From this date things went smoother with
us. The cause of all the mischief on board had departed. There was an
alacrity and cheerfulness fore and aft that had been wanting so far.
Now when reefing or other work had to be done it was accomplished by a
third of the number of hands, in one-third of the time, and with none
of the fuss that seemed to be necessary before. I do not go so far as
to say that a sort of millennium came to the 'Alerte'--there was
still, of course, occasional discord, but on what vessel are there not
rows and growlings? It can be safely asserted, however, that from the
time we left Bahia the 'Alerte' was far freer than the average
foreign-going vessel from troubles of this description; and this is
very creditable seeing that our crew was so unusually constituted,
half of the men being paying, instead of paid, hands, and, therefore,
possibly inclined to imagine that they had a right to more voice in
the management of things than was quite feasible.
The crew of the 'Alerte' now consisted of ten all told:--Dr.
Cloete-Smith, Mr. Pollock, Mr. Powell, Mr. Pursell, and myself aft;
Ted Milner, John Wright, Arthur Cotton, and the two coloured men
forward. Of the nine volunteers who sailed from England five thus
remained.
None of the gentlemen above mentioned had any practical knowledge of
the sea when we left Southampton; but they picked up a good deal in
the course of the voyage to Bahia, and now set to with a will to learn
more. I was the only navigator on board when we sailed from Bahia, but
before the cruise was over everybody aft could take his observations
of the sun and work out his latitude and longitude. I now appointed
Dr. Cloete-Smith as my mate, he to take the port watch and myself the
starboard. Mr. Pollock and Mr. Pursell undertook the posts of purser
and carpenter.
We laid in a quantity of provisions at Bahia; these, in consequence
partly of the heavy duties and partly of the constant obstacles placed
by a corrupt administration in the way of all commerce, are
excessively dear in this port. Among other stores we procured two
barrels of salt beef, which proved to be somewhat better than we got
at Santa Cruz, a cask of rough and strong Portuguese wine, cases of
preserved guavas, tamarinds, and figs; and, of course, as many
pineapples, hands of bananas, oranges, yams, sweet potatoes, and
pumpkins as we could carry.
Here, too, we purchased some tools, a large iron cooking-pot for our
camp on the island, some blasting powder, and several stout bamboos
for the purpose of constructing rafts.
We had had enough of Bahia in a week, and were all ready for sea again
on November 9; but as several letters expected by members of the
expedition had not arrived, we put off our departure until the coming
of the next mail steamer from England. It was lucky for us that we did
this, for we thereby escaped some rather tempestuous weather.
On November 11 the Royal Mail steamer 'La Plata' arrived from the
north, bringing with her the missing letters. We had intended to sail
at daybreak on the following morning, but the glass began to fall and
the wind rose in the night. In the morning the sky had a very stormy
appearance and a fresh south-west gale was blowing. On the following
day--November 13--there was a continuance of the same weather, and the
scud overhead was travelling at a great rate.
An English cargo steamer came in this day from the southward, so I
went on shore to find her captain and inquire from him what it was
like outside the bay. He told me that he had been overtaken by the
gale in the latitude of Cape Frio, and that a heavy sea was running in
the Atlantic, while on the bar the breakers would be dangerous for a
small vessel. Hearing this, impatient as we were to get away, I
decided that it would be better to remain where we were until the gale
had blown itself out.
This was, no doubt, the fag-end of a _pampero_ or River Plate
hurricane. The _pampero_--so called because, after rising in the
Andes, it sweeps over the vast plains of the _pampas_, increasing
in force as it travels--blows with great fury at the mouth of the
River Plate and sometimes extends far north. I had had some experience
of _pamperos_, and was not fond of them. I rode out one on the
'Falcon' at anchor off Montevideo, and on that occasion fifteen solid
stone houses were blown down in a row on the sea front, the exhibition
building at Buenos Ayres was destroyed, and a barque lying at anchor
near us was capsized by the first gust. We ran before another of these
storms for three days and were nearly lost.
The _pampero_ was our bugbear while we lay off Trinidad; for this
islet is within the range of the more formidable of these gales, and,
even when they do not extend so far, the great swell raised by them
rolls up hundreds of miles to the northward of the wind's influence
and breaks furiously all around the exposed shores of Trinidad.
Towards evening the wind moderated and the glass began to rise, but
the rain continued to fall heavily. On the following morning, November
14, the weather had still further improved; so anchor was weighed at 8
a.m. and we sailed out of the harbour, my companions in very cheerful
spirits, and eager to get to the desert island and be at work with
pick and shovel as soon as possible.
We had now done with civilisation for some time to come, and we had no
idea when and where, and under what conditions, we should next see any
men save those forming our own little band.
Trinidad is roughly 680 nautical miles from Bahia; we sighted it in
exactly six days from the time we weighed anchor.
The experiences of our first day out did not promise well for a smart
voyage. We tumbled about a good deal on the bar at the mouth of the
bay, and found that the sea outside had not yet gone down. The wind
was moderate and variable, but generally south-east--that is, right in
our teeth. We tacked ship three times in the course of the day, and
made little progress against the head sea.
On the following day, November 15, things looked better; the wind
veered to the eastward, so that the yacht could lay her course with
her sheets slacked off a bit.
The next day the wind was fairer still--from the east-north-east--blowing
fresh, and raising a steep, confused sea, for the south-west swell of
the _pampero_ had not yet entirely subsided. We close-reefed the
foresail so as to prevent the vessel driving her nose into the seas,
and during this day and the next, November 17, we were constantly
tricing up the tack of the mainsail in the squalls.
On the 18th and 19th the wind was moderate, so we had all canvas on
the old vessel again, including topsail and balloon foresail; and on
the morning of November 20 all hands were in eager expectance of
catching the first glimpse of Treasure Island.
At about 8 a.m. it suddenly appeared right ahead, a faint blue peak on
the horizon, fully forty miles away.