THREE YEARS' WORK IN THE BRITISH ISLES
In the spring of 1897 I was asked by the Council to sail to Iceland
with a view to opening work there, in response to a petition sent in
to the Board by the Hearn longliners and trawlers, who were just
beginning their vast fishery in those waters from Hull and Grimsby.
Having chosen a smaller vessel, so as to leave the hospital ship free
for work among the fleets, we set sail for Iceland in June. The fight
with the liquor traffic which the Mission had been waging had now been
successful in driving the sale of intoxicants from the North Sea by
international agreement; but the proverbial whiskey still continued
its filibustering work in the Scotch seaports. As our men at times had
to frequent these ports we were anxious to make it easier for them to
walk straight while they were ashore.
We therefore called at Aberdeen on the way and anchored off the first
dock. The beautiful Seaman's Home there was on the wrong side of the
harbour for the vessels, and was not offering exactly what was needed.
So we obtained leave to put a hull in the basin, with a first-aid
equipment, refreshments, lounge and writing-rooms, and with simple
services on Sunday. This boat commenced then and there, and was run
for some years under Captain Skiff; till she made way for the present
homely little Fishermen's Institute exactly across the road from the
docks before you came to the saloons.
I shall not soon forget our first view of the cliffs of the southern
coast of Iceland. We had called at Thorshaven in the Faroe group to
see what we could learn of the boats fishing near Rockall; but none
were there at the time. As we had no chronometers on our own boat we
were quite unable to tell our longitude--a very much-needed bit of
information, for we had had fog for some days, and anyhow none of us
knew anything about the coast.
We brought up under the shadow of the mighty cliffs and were debating
our whereabouts, when we saw an English sailing trawler about our own
size, with his nets out close in under the land. So we threw out our
boat and boarded him for information. He proved to be a Grimsby
skipper, and we received the usual warm reception which these
Yorkshire people know so well how to give. But to my amazement he was
unable to afford us the one thing which we really desired. "I've been
coming this way, man and boy, for forty years," he assured me. "But I
can't read the chart, and I knows no more of the lay of the land than
you does yourself. I don't use no chart beyond what's in my head."
With this we were naturally not content, so we sent back to the boat
for our own sheet chart to try and get more satisfactory information.
But when it lay on the table in this old shellback's cabin all he did
was to put down on it a huge and horny thumb that was nearly large
enough to cover the whole historic island, and "guess we were
somewhere just about here."
Our cruise carried us all round the island--the larger part of our
time being spent off the Vestmann Islands and the mouth of Brede Bugt,
the large bay in which Reikyavik lies. It was off these islands that
Eric the Red threw his flaming sticks into the sea. The first brand
which alighted on the land directed him where to locate his new
headquarters. Reikyavik means "smoking village," so called from the
vapours of the hot streams which come out of the ground near by.
There is no night on the coast in summer; and even though we were a
Mission ship we found it a real difficulty to keep tab of Sundays. The
first afternoon that I went visiting aboard a large trawler, the
extraordinary number of fish and the specimens of unfamiliar varieties
kept me so interested that I lost all count of time, and when at last
hunger prompted me to look at my watch I found that it was exactly
1.30 A.M.
At that time so many plaice and flatfish were caught at every haul,
and they were so much more valuable than cod and haddock, that it was
customary not to burden the vessel on her long five days' journey to
market with round fish at all. These were, however, hauled up so
rapidly to the surface from great depths that they had no time to
accommodate the tension in their swimming bladders to the diminished
pressure, with the result that when thrown overboard they were all
left swimming upside down. A pathetic wake of white-bellied fish would
stretch away for half a mile behind the vessel, over which countless
screaming gulls and other birds were fighting. A sympathy for their
horribly unprotected helplessness always left an uneasy sinking
feeling at the pit of my own stomach. The waste has, however, righted
itself in the course of years by the simple process of an increasing
scarcity of the species, making it pay to save all haddock, cod, hake,
ling, and other fish good for food, formerly so ruthlessly cast away.
One had many interesting experiences in this voyage, some of which
have been of no small value subsequently. But the best lesson was the
optimism and contentment of one's fellows, who had apparently so few
of the things that only tyrannize the lives of those who live for
them. They were a simple, kindly, helpful people, living in a country
barren and frigid beyond all others, with no trees except in one
extreme corner of the island. The cows were literally fed on salt
codfish and the tails of whales, and the goats grazed on the roofs of
the houses, where existed the only available grass. There were dry,
hard, and almost larval deposits over the whole surface of the land
which is not occupied by perpetual snow and ice. The hot springs which
abound in some regions only suggest a forlorn effort on the part of
Nature at the last moment to save the situation. The one asset of the
country is its fisheries, and of these the whale and seal fisheries
were practically handed over to Norwegians; while large French and
English boats fell like wolves on the fish, which the poor natives had
no adequate means of securing for themselves.
We were fishing one day in Seyde Fjord on the east coast, when
suddenly with much speed and excitement the great net was hauled, and
we started with several other trawlers to dash pell-mell for the open
sea. The alarm of masts and smoke together on the horizon had been
given--the sign manual of the one poor Danish gunboat which was
supposed to control the whole swarm of far smarter little pirates,
which lived like mosquitoes by sucking their sustenance from others.
The water was as a general rule too deep outside the three-mile limit
for legitimate fishing.
The mention of Iceland brings to every one's mind the name of Pierre
Loti. We saw many of the "pecheurs d'islande" whom he so effectively
portrays; and often felt sorry enough for them, fishing as they still
were from old square-rigged wind-jammers. On some of these which had
been months on the voyage, enough green weed had grown "to feed a
cow"--as the mate put it.
On our return home we reported the need of a Mission vessel on the
coast, but the difficulty of her being where she was wanted at the
right time, over such an extended fishery ground, was very
considerable. We decided that only a steam hospital trawler would be
of any real value--unless a small cottage hospital could be started in
Seyde Fjord, to which the sick and injured could be taken.
It was now thought wise that I should take a holiday, and thus through
the kindness of my former chief, Sir Frederick Treves, then surgeon to
the King, whose life he had been the means of saving, I found myself
for a time his guest on the Scilly Islands. There we could divert our
minds from our different occupations, conjuring up visions of heroes
like Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who lost his life here, and of the scenes
of daring and of death that these beautiful isles out in the Atlantic
have witnessed. Nor did we need Charles Kingsley to paint for us again
the visit of Angus Lee and Salvation Yeo, for Sir Frederick, as his
book, "The Cradle of the Deep," shows, is a past-master in buccaneer
lore. Besides that we had with us his nephew, the famous novel writer,
A.E.W. Mason.
Treves, with his usual insatiable energy, had organized a grand
regatta to be held at St. Mary's, at which the Governor of the island,
the Duke of Wellington, and a host of visiting big-wigs were to be
present. One event advertised as a special attraction was a
life-saving exhibition to be given by local experts from the judges'
stage opposite the grand stand on the pier. This, Mason and I, being
little more than ornaments in the other events, decided to try and
improve upon. Dressed as a somewhat antiquated lady, just at the
psychological moment Mason fell off the pier head with a loud
scream--when, disguised as an aged clergyman, wildly gesticulating,
and cramming my large beaver hat hard down on my head, I dived in to
rescue him. A real scene ensued. We were dragged out with such energy
that the lady lost her skirt, and on reaching the pier fled for the
boat-house clad only in a bonnet and bodice over a bathing-suit.
Although the local press wrote up the affair as genuine, the secret
somehow leaked out, and we had to make our bow at the prize
distribution the following evening.
Only parts of the winter seasons could be devoted to raising money.
The general Mission budget had to be taken care of as well as the
special funds; besides which one had to superintend the North Sea
work. Thus the summer of 1897 was spent in Iceland as above described,
and some of the winter in the North Sea. The spring, summer, and part
of the fall of 1898 were occupied by the long Irish trip, which
established work among the spring herring and mackerel men from
Crookhaven.
On leaving England for one of these North Sea trips I was delayed and
missed the hospital ship, so that later I was obliged to transfer to
her on the high seas from the little cutter which had kindly carried
me out to the fishing grounds. Friends had been good enough to give me
several little delicacies on my departure, and I had, moreover, some
especially cherished personal possessions which I desired to have with
me on the voyage. These choice treasures consisted of some eggs, a
kayak, a kodak, a chronometer, and a leg of mutton! After I was safely
aboard the Mission hospital ship I found to my chagrin that in my
anxiety to transfer the eggs, the kayak, the kodak, the chronometer,
and especially the leg of mutton to the Albert, I had forgotten my
personal clothing. I appreciated the fact that a soaking meant a
serious matter, as I had to stay in bed till my things, which were
drenched during my passage in the small boat, were dry again.
It was on this same voyage that a man, badly damaged, sent off for a
doctor. It was a dirty dark morning, "thick o' rain," and a nasty sea
was running, but we were really glad of a chance of doing anything to
relieve the monotony. So we booted and oil-skinned, sou'-westered and
life-jacketed, till we looked like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and felt
much as I expect a German student does when he is bandaged and padded
till he can hardly move, preparatory to his first duel. The boat was
launched and eagerly announcing the fact by banging loudly and
persistently on the Albert's side. Our two lads, Topsy and Sam, were
soon in the boat, adopting the usual North Sea recipe for transit: (1)
Lie on the rail full length so as not to get your legs and hands
jammed. (2) Wait till the boat bounces in somewhere below you. (3) Let
go! It is not such a painful process as one might imagine, especially
when one is be-padded as we were. The stretcher was now handed in, and
a bag of splints and bandages. "All gone!" shouted simultaneously the
mate and crew, who had risked a shower bath on deck to see us off; and
after a vicious little crack from the Albert's quarter as we dropped
astern, we found ourselves rushing away before the rolling waters,
experiencing about the same sensation one can imagine a young sea-gull
feels when he begins to fly.
While the skipper was at work in the tobacco locker one morning he
heard a fisherman say that he had taken poison.
"Where did you get it?"
"I got it from the Albert."
"Who gave it to you?"
"Skipper ----" mentioning the skipper's name.
At this the skipper came out trembling, wondering what he had done
wrong now.
"Well, you see it was this way. Our skipper had a bad leg, so as I was
going aboard for some corf mixture, he just arst me to get him a drop
of something to rub in. Well, the skipper here gives me a bottle of
red liniment for our skipper's leg, and a big bottle of corf mixture
for me, but by mistake I drinks the liniment and gave the corf mixture
to our skipper to rub in his leg. I only found out that there
yesterday, so I knew I were poisoned, and I've been lying up ever
since."
"How long ago did you get the medicine?"
"About a fortnight."
This man had got it into his head that he was poisoned, and nothing on
earth would persuade him to the contrary, so he was put to bed in the
hospital. For three meals he had nothing but water and a dose of
castor oil. By the next time dinner came round the patient really
began to think he was on the mend, and remarked that "he began to feel
real hungry like." It was just marvellous how much better he was
before tea. He went home to his old smack, cured, and greatly
impressed with the capacity of the medical profession.
The first piece of news that reached us in the spring was that the Sir
Donald had been found frozen in the floe ice far out on the Atlantic.
No one was on board her, and there was little of any kind in her, but
even the hardy crew of Newfoundland sealers who found her, as they
wandered over the floating ice-fields in search of seals, did not fail
to appreciate the weird and romantic suggestions of a derelict Mission
steamer, keeping her lonely watch on that awful, deathlike waste. She
had been left at Assizes Harbour, usually an absolutely safe haven of
rest. But she was not destined to end her chequered career so
peacefully, for the Arctic ice came surging in and froze fast to her
devoted sides, then bore her bodily into the open sea, as if to give
her a fitting burial. The sealing ship Ranger passed her a friendly
rope, and she at length felt the joyful life of the rolling ocean
beneath her once more, and soon lay safely ensconced in the harbour at
St. John's. Here she was sold by auction, and part of the proceeds
divided as her ransom to her plucky salvors.
The money which could be especially devoted to the new steamer for
Labrador, over and above the general expenses, was not forthcoming
until 1899, when the contract for building the ship was given to a
firm at Dartmouth in Devon. The chief donor of the new boat was again
Lord Strathcona, after whom she was subsequently named.
On June 27, 1899, the Strathcona was launched, and christened by Lady
Curzon-Howe. When the word was given to let go, without the slightest
hitch or roll the ship slid steadily down the ways into the water. The
band played "Eternal Father," "God save the Queen," and "Life on the
Ocean Wave." Lord Curzon-Howe was formerly commodore upon the station
embracing the Newfoundland and Labrador coast. Lord Strathcona
regretted his enforced absence and sent "Godspeed" to the new steamer.
She arrived at Gorleston July 18, proving an excellent sea-boat, with
light coal consumption. She is larger than the vessel in which Drake
sailed round the world, or Dampier raided the Spanish Main, or than
the Speedy, which Earl Dundonald made the terror of the French and
Spanish.
In the fall of 1899 the hull of the Strathcona was completely
finished, and I brought her round, an empty shell, to fit her up at
our Yarmouth wharf; after which, in company with a young Oxford
friend, Alfred Beattie, we left for the Labrador, crossing to Tilt
Cove, Newfoundland, direct from Swansea in an empty copper ore tanker,
the Kilmorack. On this I was rated as purser at twenty-five cents for
the trip. Most tramps can roll, but an empty tanker going west against
prevailing winds in the "roaring forties" can certainly give points to
the others. Her slippery iron decks and the involuntary sideways
excursions into the scuppers still spring into my mind when a certain
Psalm comes round in the Church calendar, with its "that thy footsteps
slip not." We were a little delayed by what is known as wind-jamming,
and we used to kill time by playing tennis in the huge empty hold.
This occupation, under the circumstances, supplied every kind of
diversion.
The mine at Tilt Cove is situated in a hole in the huge headland which
juts out far into the Atlantic, in the northern end of Newfoundland.
Communication in these days was very meagre. No vessel would be
available for us to get North for a fortnight. It so happened,
however, that the Company's doctor had long been waiting a chance to
get married, but his contract never allowed him to leave the mine
without a medical man while it was working. I therefore found myself
welcomed with open arms, and incidentally practising in his place the
very next day--he having skipped in a boat after his bride. The
exchange had been ratified by the captain of the mine on the assurance
that I would not leave before he returned. It was absolutely essential
that I should not let the next north-bound steamer go by. The season
was already far advanced; and yet when the day on which she was due
arrived, there was no sign of the doctor and his wife. It was a kind
of Damon and Pythias experience--only Pythias got back late by a few
hours in spite of all his efforts, and Damon would have had to pay the
piper if the captain of the mine had not permitted me to proceed.
[Illustration: THE STRATHCONA]
The narrow road around the cavernous basin in the cliffs leaves only
just room for the line of houses between the lake in the middle and
the precipice behind. Only a few years later an avalanche overwhelmed
the house of Captain Williams, and he and his family perished in it.
During the days I was at the mine the news travelled by grapevine
telegraph that the Mission doctor from England had come to the
village, and every one took advantage of it. The plan there was to pay
so much per month, well or ill, for the doctor. The work was easy at
first, but by the time I left every living being seemed to me to have
contracted some disease. For each succeeding day my surgery got
fuller, until on the last morning even the yard and road contained
waiting patients. Whose fault it was has always been a problem to me;
but it added a fresh reason for wishing to leave punctually, so that
one might not risk outliving one's reputation.
In October, 1899, I wrote to my mother: "We have just steamed into
Battle Harbour and guns and flags gave us a welcome after our three
years' absence. The hospital was full and looked splendid. What a
change from the day, now seven years ago, that we first landed and had
only a partially finished house! What an oasis for patients from the
bleak rocks outside! I never thought to remain so long in this
country."
Here we boarded the little Mission steamer, but no human agency is
perfect, and even the Julia Sheriden had her faults. Her gait on this
fall voyage was suggestive of inebriety, and at times gave rise to the
anxious sensations one experiences when one sees a poor victim of the
saloon returning home along a pavement near much traffic.
While in England we had received letters from the north coast of
Newfoundland, begging us to again include their shores in our visits,
and especially to establish a definite winter station at St. Anthony.
The people claimed, and rightly, to be very poor. One man with a large
family, whom I knew well, as he had acted guide for me on hunting
expeditions, wrote: "Come and start a station here if you can. My
family and I are starving." Dr. Aspland wrote that every one was
strongly in favour of our taking up a Mission hospital in North
Newfoundland. We felt that we should certainly reach a very large
number of people whom we now failed to touch, and that careful
inquiries should be made.
Life on the French shore has been a struggle with too many families to
keep off actual starvation. For instance, one winter at St. Anthony a
man with a large family, and a fine, capable, self-respecting fellow,
was nine days without tasting any flour or bread, or anything besides
roast seal meat. Others were even worse off, for this man was a keen
hunter, and with his rickety old single-barrel, boy's muzzle-loading
gun used to wander alone far out over the frozen sea, with an empty
stomach as well, trying to get a seal or a bird for his family. At
last he shot a square flipper seal and dragged it home. The rumour of
his having killed it preceded his arrival, and even while skinning it
a crowd of hungry men were waiting for their share of the fat. Not
that any was due to them, but here there is a delightful
semi-community of goods.
Fish was then only fetching two or three dollars a hundredweight,
salted and dried. The price of necessities depended on the conscience
of the individual supplier and the ignorance of the people. The truck
system was universal; thrift at a discount--and the sin of Ananias an
all too common one; that is, taking supplies from one man and
returning to him only part of the catch. The people in the north end
of Newfoundland and Labrador were very largely illiterate; the
sectarian schools split up the grants for teachers--as they still most
unfortunately do--and miserable salaries, permitting teachers only for
a few months at a time, were the rule.
I had once spent a fortnight at St. Anthony, having taken refuge there
in the Princess May when I was supposed to be lost by those who were
cut off from communication with us. I had also looked in there each
summer to see a few patients. My original idea was to get a winter
place established for our Indian Harbour staff, and I proposed opening
up there each October when Indian Harbour closed, and closing in June
when navigation was reopened, Battle Harbour again accessible, and
when the man-of-war doctors are more on this section of the coast.
The snow was deep on the ground long before our voyage ended. There is
always a romantic charm about cruising in the fall of the year on the
Labrador. The long nights and the heavy gales add to the interest of
the day's work. The shelter of the islands becomes a positive joy; the
sense of safety in the harbours and fjords is as real a pleasure as
the artificial attractions of civilization. The tang of the air, the
young ice that makes every night, the fantastic midnight dances of the
November auroras in the winter sky, all make one forget the petty
worries of the daily round.
As Beattie agreed to stay with me it was with real keenness to sample
a sub-arctic winter that in November we disembarked from the Julia
Sheriden. We made only the simplest preparations, renting a couple of
rooms in the chief trader's house and hiring my former guide as
dog-driver.