We had not been long at Portsmouth, when the head-quarters of the
regiment were ordered to embark on board of the _Surat Castle_ East
Indiaman, a fifteen-hundred-ton ship, then lying off Spithead, and the
remainder of the corps on board of other ships at the same place. Our
destination was the Cape of Good Hope. The _Surat Castle_ in which I was
doomed to sail, was most dreadfully crowded; men literally slept upon
one another, and in the orlop-deck the standing beds were three tiers
high, besides those slinging. Added to this, the seeds of a pestilential
disease had already been sown. An immense number of Lascars, who had
been picked up in every sink of poverty, and most of whom had been
living in England in a state of the most abject want and wretchedness,
had been shipped on board this vessel. Many of these poor creatures had
been deprived of their toes and fingers by the inclemency of winter, and
others had accumulated diseases from filth, many of them having
subsisted for a considerable time upon what they picked up in the
streets. The pestilential smell between decks was beyond the power of
description; and it was truly appalling to see these poor wretches, with
tremendous and frightful sores, and covered with vermin from head to
foot, many of them unable to assist themselves, left to die unaided,
unfriended, and without one who could perform the last sad office. The
moment the breath was out of their bodies, they were, like dogs, thrown
overboard as food for sharks. To alleviate their sufferings by personal
aid was impossible, for we had scarcely men enough to work the ship.
These circumstances were, I suppose, reported to the proper authority;
but, whether this was the case or not, in three or four days we weighed
anchor, with about sixty other ships for all parts of the world. The
splendid sight but little accorded with the aching hearts, lacerated
bodies, and wounded minds of the poor creatures below. It was about four
o'clock in the afternoon when the signal was fired to weigh. Immediately
every sail was waving in the wind, and in a quarter of an hour after we
stood out from land, each proud bark dipping her majestic head in the
silvery deep, and manoeuvring her sails in seeming competition, to catch
the favouring breeze.
Such firing, such signals, such tacking and running across each other
now prevailed, that our captain resolved to run from it; and the evening
had scarcely spread her sombre curtains over the western ocean, and the
golden clouds begun to change their brilliant robes of day for those of
murky night, when our crew "up helm," and stole away from the motley
fleet, plying every sail, and scudding through the blue waters like some
aerial car or phantom-ship, smoothly gliding over the silvery deep. In
three or four hours we had entirely lost sight of our convoy. We were
running at the rate of eleven knots an hour, and, as it seemed, into the
very jaws of danger. The clouds began to assume a pitchy and awful
darkness, the distant thunder rolled angrily, and the vivid lightning's
flash struck each watching eye dim, and, for a moment, hid the rolling
and gigantic wave from the sight of fear. The wind whistled
terrifically, and the shattered sails fanned the flying clouds. All was
consternation; every eye betrayed fear. Sail was taken in, masts lowered
and yards stayed--preparations which bespoke no good tidings to the
inquiring and terrified landsman. I was seated on the poop, alone,
holding by a hen-coop, and viewing the mountainous and angry billows,
with my hand partly covering my eyes, to protect them against the
lightning. It was a moment of the most poignant sorrow to me: my heart
still lingered on the white cliffs of Albion; nor could I wean it from
the sorrowful reflection that I was, perhaps, leaving that dear and
beloved country for ever. During this struggle of my feelings, our
vessel shipped a tremendous sea over her poop, and then angrily shook
her head, and seemed resolved to buffet the raging elements with all her
might and main. The ship was shortly after this "hove to," and lay
comparatively quiet; and, in about a couple of hours, the wind
slackened, and we again stood on our way, the masts cracking under her
three topsails, and fore storm-staysail. However, she rode much easier,
and the storm still continued to abate. I was dreadfully wet and cold,
and my teeth chattered most woefully; so I made towards the gun-deck,
some portion of which was allotted for the soldiers. There the heat was
suffocating, and the stench intolerable. The scene in the orlop-deck was
truly distressing: soldiers, their wives and children, all lying
together in a state of the most dreadful sea-sickness, groaning in
concert, and calling for a drop of water to cool their parched tongues.
I screwed myself up behind a butt, and soon fell into that stupor which
sea-sickness will create. In this state I continued until morning; and,
when I awoke, I found that the hurricane had returned with redoubled
fury, and that we were standing towards land. The captain came ahead to
look out, and, after some consideration, he at last told the officer to
stand out to sea. The following morning was ushered in by the sun's
bright beams diffusing their lustre on the dejected features of
frightened and helpless mortals. The dark clouds of sad despair were in
mercy driven from our minds, and the bright beams of munificent love
from above took their place. The before downcast eye was seen to sparkle
with delight, and the haggard cheek of despondency resumed its wonted
serenity. The tempestuous bosom of the main was now smooth as a mirror,
and all seemed grateful and cheerful, directing the eye of hope towards
the far-distant haven to which we were bound.
A great number of the fleet were the same morning to be seen emerging
from their shelter, or hiding-place, from the terrific hurricane of the
day before; but our captain was resolved to be alone; so the same night
he crowded sail, and, by the following morning's dawn, we were so much
ahead that not a sail was visible, save one solitary sloop, that seemed
bending her way towards England.
Some three weeks after this we were again visited by a most dreadful
storm, that far exceeded the former one, and from which we suffered much
external injury, our main top-mast, and other smaller masts, being
carried away. But the interior of our poor bark exhibited a scene of far
greater desolation. We were then far from land, and a pestilential
disease was raging among us in all its terrific forms. Nought could be
seen but the pallid cheek of disease, or the sunken eye of despair. The
sea-gulls soared over the ship, and huge sharks hovered around it,
watching for their prey. These creatures are sure indications of ships
having some pestilential disease on board, and they have been known to
follow a vessel so circumstanced to the most distant climes--to
countries far from their native element. To add to our distresses, some
ten barrels of ship's paint, or colour, got loose from their lashings,
and rolled from side to side, and from head to stern, carrying
everything before them by their enormous weight. From our inability to
stop them in their destructive progress, they one and all were staved
in, and the gun-deck soon became one mass of colours, in which lay the
dead and the dying, both white and black.
It would be difficult for the reader to picture to himself a set of men
more deplorably situated that we now were; but our distresses were not
yet at their height: for, as though our miseries still required
aggravation, the scurvy broke out among us in a most frightful manner.
Scarcely a single individual on board escaped this melancholy disorder,
and the swollen legs, and gums protruding beyond the lips, attested the
malignancy of the visitation. The dying were burying the dead, and the
features of all on board wore the garb of mourning.
Every assistance and attention that humanity or generosity could
dictate, was freely and liberally bestowed by the officers on board, who
cheerfully gave up their fresh meat and many other comforts, for the
benefit of the distressed; but the pestilence baffled the aid of
medicine and the skill of the medical attendants. My poor legs were as
big as drums; my gums swollen to an enormous size; my tongue too big for
my mouth; and all I could eat was raw potatoes and vinegar. But my kind
and affectionate officers sometimes brought me some tea and coffee, at
which the languid eye would brighten, and the tear of gratitude would
intuitively fall, in spite of my efforts to repress what was thought
unmanly. Our spirits were so subdued by suffering, and our frames so
much reduced and emaciated, that I have seen poor men weep bitterly,
they knew not why. Thus passed the time; men dying in dozens, and, ere
their blood was cold, hurled into the briny deep, there to become a prey
to sharks. It was a dreadful sight to see the bodies of our comrades the
bone of disputation with these voracious natives of the dreary deep; and
the reflection that such might soon be our own fate would crush our best
feelings, and with horror drive the eye from such a sight. Our
muster-rolls were dreadfully thinned: indeed, almost every fourth man
amongst the Europeans, and more than two-thirds of the natives, had
fallen victims to the diseases on board; and it was by the mercy of
Providence only, that the ship ever reached its destination, for we had
scarcely a seaman fit for duty to work her. Never shall I forget the
morning I saw the land. In the moment of joy I forgot all my miseries,
and cast them into the deep, in the hope of future happiness. This is
mortal man's career. Past scenes are drowned and forgotten, in the
anticipation of happier events to come; and, by a cherished delusion,
we allow ourselves to be transported into the fairy land of imagination,
in quest of future joys--never, perhaps, to be realized, but the
contemplation of which, in the distance, serves at least to soothe us
under present suffering.
When the view of land first blessed our sight, the morning was foggy and
dreary. We were close under the land, and were in the very act of
standing from it, when the fog dispersed, the wind shifted fair, and we
ran in close to the mouth of Simon's Bay. The now agreeable breeze
ravished our sickened souls, and the surrounding view delighted our dim
and desponding eyes. Every one who could crawl was upon deck, to welcome
the sight of land, and inhale the salubrious air. Every soul on board
seemed elated with joy; and, when the anchor was let go, it was indeed
an anchor to the broken hearts of poor creatures then stretched on the
bed of sickness, who had not, during the whole voyage, seen the bright
sun rising and setting--sights at sea that beggar the power of
description. For myself, I jumped and danced about like a merry-andrew,
and I found, or fancied I found, myself already a convalescent.
The anchor had not been down long, when a boat came off from shore, on
board of which were several medical gentlemen, who questioned us as to
whence we came, whither we were bound, the state of the ship, the nature
of the disease, and the number of men that had died during the passage.
The number of men was a finishing blow to our present hopes, and we were
ordered to ride at quarantine; but every comfort that humanity or
liberality could dictate was immediately sent on board: fresh meats,
bread, tea, sugar, coffee, and fruits of all kinds; and, in a few days,
our legs began to re-assume their original shapes, and the disease died
away. The quarantine was very soon taken off, and the troops landed, and
were marched, or rather carried, to the barracks that stand on the brow
of the hill, at the back of Simon's Town. Here our treatment was that of
children of distress; every comfort was afforded us, and every means
adopted by our kind officers, which could contribute towards our
recovery. For the first fortnight drills were out of the question,
instead of which we were kindly nursed, until the disease was completely
eradicated; and by this careful treatment we were all soon restored to
the enjoyment of health. But few men died of those that were landed;
and, if I recollect right, our total loss was seventy-two men.
Notwithstanding all our troubles and misfortunes, we arrived before the
other divisions of the regiment; but they had not suffered from disease:
their loss was two men only.[6]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] According to Barrow, the ships bringing the other "experimental"
boy-regiments to the Cape, suffered in like manner from "ship-fever."
It affords a suggestive commentary on the transport-service of that time
that the same ships, after they had been properly disinfected at the
Cape, carried troops to Egypt without sickness.--ED.