DEPARTURE FROM MUSCAT--ARRIVAL AT QUINTANGONY AND
MOZAMBIQUE--EXPORTS FROM MOZAMBIQUE--IMPORTS--DEPARTURE FROM
MOZAMBIQUE--ARRIVAL AT TABLE BAY--CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
Our voyage from Muscat to Mozambique was not marked by any particular
occurrence, excepting the death of a very young and valuable officer.
The southwest monsoon having ended, we were in daily expectation
of the advent of the northeast monsoon; but on the morning of the
seventh of October, without waiting for a change of wind, as we were
ready for sea, we weighed anchor again, in company with our consort,
depending mostly upon the assistance of the current; for there was
scarcely “a breath, the blue wave to curl.” As soon as the anchor was
“apeek,” and the topsails sheeted home and hoisted up, eighteen guns
were fired, as a parting salute to the hospitable sultan, (sooltaun,)
which was returned with twenty-one. Not wishing to be behind-hand in
an act of courtesy, three more were fired. The effect produced by the
echo, among the serrated and cavernous rocks and mountains about the
cove of Muscat, and the neighbouring hills, was surpassingly fine;
loud, distinct, and repeated charges were heard, apparently, for the
space of several minutes, until the reverberations died away, in
faint echoes, among the distant hills in the southeast, west, and
northwestern quarters. The winds were very light, from the southward
and eastward, the first part of the passage, until we arrived in about
5° south, when it changed gradually to the northward and eastward,
and continued so until we arrived at Mozambique. We had abundance of
rain about the equator, accompanied by light squalls and calms; the
currents setting generally to the southward and westward; they also
set to the southward and eastward, and to the northward and eastward,
due west, and to the northwest. A short distance to the northward
and eastward of the island of Socotra, (Socotera,) it set in for
three successive days, about 70° west, eighty-six miles, and for the
seven successive days to the southward and westward, two hundred and
sixty-five miles. The particulars of each day, I omit, as it can only
interest the navigator; but what I have stated, will serve to show
the absolute necessity of having firstrate chronometers, or the lunar
observations carefully attended to; and never omitted to be taken
when practicable. On our passage through the channel, we entered the
small port Quintangony, seeing the Portuguese flag flying on a fort,
mistaking it for Mozambique, as the bearings answered to its situation,
and the table-land being north of it. We weighed anchor forthwith, and
in two hours afterward, on the afternoon of the seventh of November, we
discovered the island of St. George, which has a flag-staff and a small
battery, and to the southward of it, the island of St. Jago; and at
the same time the island of Mozambique, lying to the westward, distant
about three miles, with its formidable castle and its neat white
houses, appeared in view.
[Sidenote: ARRIVAL AT MOZAMBIQUE.]
Before the sun had sunk behind the forest of palm-trees, which clothe
the mainland of Africa, we found ourselves snugly at anchor, in a fine
harbour, surrounded by twenty or thirty coasting craft, and several
large Brazilian and Lisbon vessels. The town presented the most
respectable and pleasing appearance; our cares were lulled to rest,
for the present, being most grateful to the Giver of all good, for
having conducted us thus far in safety, though sickness and sorrow,
anxiety and death, had caused sad havoc among us--making the ocean
the grave and the winding-sheet of many a brave and worthy heart,
although clothed with a rough exterior--leaving a sad chasm among
companions and friends, among parents and wives, and poor fatherless
children. The last death which took place among us, was that of a
most worthy and excellent young man, Midshipman Lewis H. Roumfert
of Mount Holly, Pennsylvania. Had he lived, he would have been an
ornament to his profession, and a most useful member of society; but
God willed it otherwise, and, therefore, we ought not to complain. A
short distance to the eastward of the island of Socotra, in the Indian
ocean, he was laid in his watery grave. The solemn and sublime service
of the Protestant Episcopal church was read by our worthy surgeon,
Dr. Ticknor; the main-topsail being aback, and the colours hoisted
half-mast. The topsails being filled again, we left him, poor fellow,
sinking down into an earthless grave:
“Down, down through waters fathomless,”
_there_ to remain, until the last trump shall sound, and the sea shall
disgorge its mighty dead.
We had scarcely dropped anchor, before an official visit was made by a
lieutenant. A salute was fired in the morning, which was returned by
an equal number of guns from the castle. The commandant of the castle,
Juan Alexander de Almedia, and the acting-governor, was desirous of
receiving us at the fort with military honours, and a message was sent
to that effect, but which was declined; and at noon we landed, and were
received by the commandant at the grand entrance, with a double file
of soldiers with “present arms.” This noble fort was built by Juan de
Castro, in 1518, and it is certainly, for the most part, in a fine
state of preservation. It is called Santo Sebastiano, and it appears
capable of resisting any force which probably will ever be sent against
it, notwithstanding the honeycombed state of many of the iron cannon,
and the very weak state of the garrison. It is of a quadrangular form,
having an extensive bomb-proof citadel, capable of protecting all the
inhabitants of the town, in case of a siege, with sufficient magazines
for munitions of war and provisions.
An immense cistern stands in the middle of the parade, which is filled
by the annual rains. The inhabitants are supplied from this cistern,
whenever the rainy season fails, as well as the shipping; the latter
being obliged to pay one dollar per cask. Ships-of-war, of all nations,
are furnished from it gratis. Our little squadron was supplied from it
by means of pipes, made of condemned iron guns, which lead outside the
gate. The fort and two water-batteries adjoining it, on the extreme
point, mount one hundred and thirty guns, of all calibers, of brass and
iron, in all stages of decay, and apparently of all ages, excepting the
modern. Some of the large brass ones are highly ornamented, and of a
handsome mould. Two of the heaviest enfilade the entrance, and throw
each a hundred and five pounds of stone shot, which I should only have
expected to meet with at the Dardanelles. The oldest chapel on the
island, fronts the grand parade. It is now in a state of dilapidation,
being rent through the centre of the stone roof by an earthquake. A
small new chapel has been built outside the walls, within a water
battery, on the northern side.
In consequence of the death of the governor, the government is now
administered by a junta, consisting of the civil, ecclesiastical, and
military orders.
Joaquim Xavier Dinir Costa is the acting-governor, although second in
the council. Trei Antonio da Maià, bishop, being the first member, and
Colonel Francisco Heririquer Ferraò, being the third. We visited the
acting-governor, who offered every assistance in his power, and sent
us very generously, out of a scanty supply, as well as the commandant,
fruit, vegetables, &c.
A council, consisting of such heterogenous materials, never did and
never will amalgamate well together. It is like an attempt to combine
vinegar with oil, which has never yet been effected, and so it was with
these gentlemen; no two could ever agree upon any essential point,
excepting always, to find “ways and means” to obtain their salaries. I
omitted to state, that, in examining the magazines within the castle,
they showed us a great number of flying-artillery, &c. Our curiosity
was highly gratified by the sight of some ancient armour, consisting
of helmets, cuirasses, and lances, which were deposited there in
bygone days, soon after the fort was built, being brought by Juan de
Castro from Portugal. There are two fortifications built at the other
extremity of the island, to protect the southern and western passages.
The officers in these forts are Canaveens, or natives of Goa and of
East Africa, born of Portuguese parents, who, in the lapse of several
generations, have become black, although they have no wool or negro
features. A more deadly affront could not be offered them than to say
they are not _white_. In the castle, they are from Portugal and Brazil.
The island has a coral foundation, and is covered with white sand.
It is about a mile and a half in length, and averages less than half
a mile in width; it is almost wholly unproductive of vegetation: the
inhabitants depending on Cabaceira and Mesuril, on the main, for their
daily supplies of fruits, and vegetables, and meat.
[Sidenote: PRODUCTS.]
The harbour abounds with fish; but they are nearly destitute of boats,
(although not from the want of wood or workmen.) Not a single fish was
offered us for sale, although the inhabitants have become wretchedly
poor, and are overburdened with slaves whose present low rate, from
three to eight dollars, and often at half the price I name, holds out
a temptation to purchase; although they have but a scanty meal for
themselves, and yet, a quarter of a mile from their doors, the waters
swarm with food. Such is the curse of the indolent habits produced by
slavery. But as a happier day is dawning on them slowly, agriculture is
taking place of this vile traffic. It is now said, that coffee, cotton,
sugar, &c., may be cultivated from Da Lagoa bay to cape Delgado, with
the utmost facility; and that tens of thousands of cattle, and sheep,
and goats, may be raised, where the forest occupies the ground, and
the wild beasts roam at large. Instead of being dependant upon foreign
supplies for almost their daily food, they may become exporters to an
enormous amount, in the various products of the forest, the field,
the ocean; in timber, in ivory, in cotton and coffee, sugar, drugs,
salt, rice. Cocoa-nut oil might be made in any quantity along their
coast, yet not a gallon is exported. Already the beneficial efforts
made, begin to develop themselves, in the increased quantity of various
articles from the interior, more particularly in elephant’s tusks,
which have amounted this year to upward of ten thousand Portuguese
arrobas, equal to four hundred and thirty thousand pounds; besides the
ivory from hippopotami, which is in great abundance. A large proportion
of the ivory from elephants, comes from the country of the Majonas,
at a distance of about fifty days journey inland. Since slavery has
been abolished, the natives come to the seacoast with little fear of
being kidnapped. Their confidence is daily gaining ground; and a brisk
and praiseworthy trade will take the place of villany and barbarity.
I observed previously that they were almost dependant upon foreign
supplies for the necessaries of life. It is a fact, that a fortnight
previous to our arrival, not a pound of flour, wheaten bread, coffee,
sugar, salted beef or pork, or a bottle of wine or foreign spirits,
could be purchased in the place; but the very fortunate arrival of
several Brazilian and Lisbon vessels, laden with every variety of
articles (put up in small packages,) relieved them from great distress.
The landing place is in front of the palace square, having the
government-house and a church adjoining, on one side, and the
custom-house on the other. This last is a building, which reflects
great credit upon the place, being neat, commodious, and substantial.
The pier is built on arches of faced stone, and extends to low-water
mark, and is, at all times, an excellent landing. The streets are
narrow, but the principal ones are chunamed on the sides, and some
entirely, where the banyans (the principal traders) inhabit. Many of
the houses are lofty and flat-roofed; but the larger portion of them
are only one story. They show that the inhabitants were once opulent,
but are now fast sinking into poverty and distress. The moral and
religious character of the people is at the lowest ebb possible. It
wants the besom of destruction to pass over the land, to clean out
this Augean stable from the filth and pollution which characterize
this modern Sodom, giving the innocent a warning, which shall be heard
in a voice of thunder. And such is the character of the people, in
the present day generally, from Portugal and Macao. The colony in
East Africa has been entirely neglected by the parent-country for the
last three years, owing to its distressed situation, being wholly
unproductive to the crown of Portugal. Hundreds of unhappy exiles are
dragging out a miserable existence in this most destructive climate,
banished for supposed political offences, without means to live,
excepting by a precarious and scanty subsistence, picked up from day
to day; separated from their distressed families, denied the solitary
comfort of writing, to inform them they are still dragging out a
lengthening chain, or receiving a line from them, if, by chance, they
ascertain where they are to be found; and as if the diabolical malice
of the government knew no bounds, they are banished from the seacoast
to the interior, to prevent their escape, or engaging in insurrections.
I was informed that there are innumerable instances of persons being
taken from their beds at midnight, in Lisbon and elsewhere, hurried
on shipboard, and sent to the Portuguese possessions in East and West
Africa, without a form of trial, or knowing any cause for this outrage
on justice and humanity. Many hundreds have died on the passage from
sickness, brought on by distress of mind; others have been obliged to
beg their daily bread, and finally died of starvation; while hundreds
of others have fallen victims to a destructive climate.
[Sidenote: HISTORY OF MOZAMBIQUE.]
A gentleman, now residing at Mozambique, told me, that he and his
brother were taken from their beds at midnight, without being suffered
to hold any communication with their families, with nothing but their
clothes on their backs, and hurried on board two different vessels,
one to West Africa, to Benguela, and the other to East Africa, to
Mozambique; and to make it the more heart-rending, all near relations
were separated in this manner. We heard similar distressing accounts,
when at the Cape de Verd islands and at Macao. The bitter curses
which have ascended to Heaven, against the Braganza family, for the
last three hundred years, from the exiles of Portugal, to South
America, Africa, and India, from aged parents, heart-broken wives, and
fatherless children, will shortly sweep from the earth this destructive
scourge, and leave on record but a small part of the vile doings of
the most heartless, worthless, lascivious, and diabolical monarch,
which ever disgraced the face of the earth. When this place was first
visited by Vasco de Gama, in the latter part of the fourteenth century,
the crescent was flying instead of the cross, and he was welcomed by
the Arabs with music and dancing. But the attempt to plant, rather too
abruptly, the standard of our holy religion, was received with disgust;
and the followers of the prophet flew to arms, but were discomfited
by their more warlike foes. In fact, they at length submitted to the
conquerors, who then made great exactions of provisions and of every
thing else, of which they stood in need. It is stated, that at that
time, every part of the country, capable of cultivation, was well
attended to; that their flocks and herds were peacefully grazing upon
the plains; that the slave-trade had barely a name; and that the people
were trading to various parts of the coast, to Zofar, or Zofal, the
Sofala of modern days--supposed by some to be the land of gold--the
Ophir of King Solomon, to the Red and to the Erythrean sea, or Persian
gulf.
From the time the Portuguese took possession of it, till the
suppression of the slave-trade, a short time since, peace was banished
from the land. The Mocouas, their immediate neighbours, were seized
and sold, like beasts of the forest; the lands were made desolate, the
palm, the mango, the casheu, (alia acajou,) soon covered the fields;
and the wild elephants, the hippopotami, the rhinoceros, and the tiger,
were to be seen roaming at large, as they are at this day, where peace,
and happiness, and contentment had taken up their abode. The cross, the
emblem of our holy religion, instead of proving a blessing, carrying
with it, as it does, when duly propagated, a balmy influence, and
bearing healing on its wings, has proved calamitous in its tendency.
It has blasted the hopes of millions, confirmed the superstition of
idolaters, and fixed more deeply the rooted prejudices of the Moslem.
Thus the cross has, unfortunately, proved in the Brazil, in East and
West Africa, in Arabia, in the East Indies, in China, and Japan; so
that the name of Christian has become a by-word and a curse, whereever
its doctrines have been propagated by the Portuguese or Spaniards.
Every engine, which brutal force could apply, has been used without the
slightest compunction. Humanity appears to have had no place in their
adamantine breasts, and the mild and peaceful doctrines, expressly
laid down by our Saviour, have never been inculcated; but fire and
the sword, assisted by a detestable and horrible inquisition, have
been preferred in _their_ place, and oppression, fraud, and cruelty
have been resorted to in every shape, to answer the most nefarious
purposes of the government and its religion, and the sordid views of
unprincipled individuals. What might not have been the state of things,
if the liberal views of the founder of the Roman Catholic religion,
in Maryland, had been propagated, and they had been blessed with a
government founded on just and equitable principles! Look at Maryland,
and the Roman Catholic religion, as it exists in our own blessed
country, and behold the contrast!!! Look at our political institutions,
and the happy and prosperous situation of a settlement, begun upward
of one hundred years after the Portuguese took possession of their
present miserable colonies, by a noble, but persecuted band of English
settlers--and see the present situation of Portugal and its conquests.
With the exception of Brazil, which has just slipped her leading
strings, what can be more wretched? To prove the unappeasable hostility
of the nations, in East Africa, towards their oppressors, and every
one who wears straight _hair_, it is a fact well known by all who are
well acquainted with the state of things here, and substantiated by the
Portuguese themselves, that they dare not go half a dozen miles into
the country, without an armed guard. And this is the state of things,
from Da Lagoa bay (alias Lorenzo Marques) to cape Delgado, after having
had possession of the coast upward of three hundred years; and so it
is at Bissaõ, Saint Paul de Loando, Benguela, &c., in West Africa. The
Portuguese, under a liberal form of government, unshackled by a state
religion, known to be corrupt beyond measure, would prove themselves
to be, as they once were, a noble people, zealous in all good works.
As it regards the first circumnavigator of the cape of Good Hope and
the discoverer of South and East Africa, the world seems willing to
award the whole merit of the discovery to Vasco de Gama, and he is held
forth in bold relief, at the expense of others, who are entitled at
least to a small share of it. In looking into ancient history, there is
much light shed upon it. According to Herodotus, it seems that one of
the most illustrious of native Egyptian kings, “actuated by the spirit
of a great man, which raised him superior to the age in which he lived,
eagerly sought the solution of the grand mystery, that involved the
_form_ and termination of Africa.” In furtherance of this noble project
and to ensure it success if practicable, he employed the boldest of
navigators in those days, to wit, certain Phenicians. Having obtained
vessels which were thought suitable for the enterprise, they proceeded
down the Red sea and boldly launched out into the Indian ocean, and
after a voyage of three years, they made the complete circuit of
the continent, passing through the Pillars of Hercules (straits of
Gibraltar) and up the Mediteranean to Egypt.
They stated that in passing the most southern coast of Africa, they
were surprised by observing the sun on their _right hand_, or to the
north of them, a statement which the historian rejected as impossible.
This very circumstance, which threw an air of discredit over the
whole transaction, was the strongest proof that could be adduced in
confirmation of what is known to every one in the present day, that to
the south of the equator this must necessarily have taken place.--Some
writers have deemed it impossible for other reasons, because of the
smallness and weakness of their vessels--but as we see thousands
of small craft, in the China, Java, Red and Arabian seas, and from
cape Guardafui to Da Lagoa bay, of not more than fifteen to twenty
tons burden and some even less, open amidships, or having merely a
palmleaf-covering, _sowed_ together with coir spun-yarn the seams
being calked with the same stuff and chunamed outside, the _rudders_
being _tied_ on, where we use braces and pintles, which are always
unshipped in port, and secured again by the crew who are expert
divers--without even pumps, the water being bailed up amidships and
poured into a spout which leads from side to side--the wonder rather
ceases, and it is certainly a strong and convincing proof that the
_craft_ of the Phenician navigators was no obstacle to the enterprise.
Added to this, all small vessels as well as more large ones in the
seas I have named, always keep in _shore_ and never quit it unless
from necessity--and furthermore, by far the greater part do not use
compasses. And if further confirmation is wanted, look at the numerous
enterprises projected by the Malegashes (people of Madagascar) a few
years since, against the Comoro islands and various places in Africa,
against the Portuguese settlement and those of the sultan of Muscat,
in open _canoes, without compass or sails_, being propelled by paddles
and carrying sometimes upward of six thousand warriors. This shows the
practicability of exploring the coast even in more unsafe vessels, and
of a much smaller description, for the Malegashes were necessarily out
sight of land from two to three days occasionally, as the distance from
Grand Comoro to the Querimba islands on the main, where they landed
several times, is not less than one hundred and thirty-five miles.
Look at the hardy sons of New England also, navigating the Atlantic
ocean on vessels of thirty or forty tons, visiting every creek and nook
in the Falkland islands, South Shetland and Cape Horn, in search of
seals. Furthermore, there was the voyage of Pedro de Cavalho, and he
transmitted his description to Portugal.
Now if the account of Herodotus is untrue, still Diaz’s discovery of
the cape and Cavalho’s voyage to Soffala, left de Gama but the short
distance of one thousand two hundred miles to explore, and therefore
he is only entitled to a small share of the credit which threw so much
lustre on the Portuguese name, in effecting a passage by sea to the
East Indies, which was previously performed by a most circuitous and
tedious route by land and by water; for de Gama, on his arrival at
Quilmany, obtained pilots to Mozambique, and from thence onward all
obstructions were removed.
All that vast tract of country lying between the cape of Good Hope
and cape Guardafui, may now be said to be parcelled out among three
nations. The English are gradually or rather rapidly settling that
whole tract of country lying between the cape district (cape of Good
Hope) and Da Lagoa bay. There is a considerable settlement at Fish
river, about six hundred miles east of the cape, and there is a small
one begun at port Natal, about two hundred and seventy miles to the
north and eastward of it, on the coast of Natal, which is about the
same distance to Da Lagoa bay, still further to the eastward; and
they claim part of Da Lagoa bay by gift from a negro king, Mayetta,
the sovereign of Temba. This brings them to the borders of the
Portuguese settlements. The Portuguese claim from Da Lagoa bay to the
cape Delgado, lying in about 10° south. From the latter cape to cape
Guardafui, it is claimed (with all the islands adjacent to the coast)
by the sultan of Muscat.
The exports from Mozambique do not exceed half a million of dollars,
(since the suppression of the slave-trade.) These consist in elephant
and hippopotamus ivory, gold dust, tortoise-shell, ambergris,
columbo-root, drugs, cowries, rhinoceros-horns, and hides, &c., &c.
This is certainly a very meager account of the value of its exports,
to which may be added, pearls of a superior quality, there being an
abundance about the Bazaruto islands; but its resources are yet to
be developed, and I have stated previously of what they may consist,
provided the government will throw off all shackles which embarrass
trade, and have a duty not exceeding that which is now imposed by the
sultan of Muscat, to wit: a duty of five per cent. only, on goods
landed and sold, without any other charge whatever. If this is not
done, all trade among foreigners must necessarily proceed to the
sultan’s dominions, in East Africa. The duties and exactions on foreign
commerce are so exorbitant, but more particularly on the American
trade, that our flag has almost entirely deserted all the Portuguese
ports in West as well as in East Africa. The Americans pay twenty-four
per cent. and the English fifteen, on imports, exclusive of an almost
endless number of fees, besides export duties.
Imports consist of coarse cotton goods, white, brown, blue, and
striped, as well as some fine cottons, and a small quantity of light
quality woollen cloth, principally blue, suitable for the army. Powder,
arms, beads, sugar, tea, coffee, wine, spirits, &c.; in fact, every
article useful to eat, or to drink, or to clothe themselves.
[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM MOZAMBIQUE.]
Our passage from Mozambique to Table bay, was marked with storms and
tempests, violent and sudden gales, accompanied with a mountainous
sea. After passing the dangerous reef of rocks, called the Bassas
de India, in the southern part of the Mozambique channel, we were
assailed by one gale, with the rapidity of lightning, in the latitude
twenty-eight, and longitude thirty-four east, taking the ship
“_flat-aback_” instantaneously, and placing us in a most dangerous
and critical situation. It was a doubtful case, for some minutes,
whether she would not overset, or go down stern foremost. But “_He_
who holds the winds in his power, the waters in the hollow of his
hand,” mercifully decreed that we should once more see the living
objects of our affections, and be restored in safety to our beloved
country--“to the land of the brave, and the home of the free;” for
the ship’s head “_payed off_,” and she was got before the wind, all
sail being taken in, and drove before this furious hurricane for the
space of eight hours, under _bare poles_, the captain not daring to
loosen an inch of canvass to the tempest during that time. The first
three or four hours, she went at the rate of twelve miles per hour,
and when her rate had diminished to about eight knots, having had, in
the meantime, every article that would lessen the weight on the spar
and gun-decks, placed in the hold and on the berth-deck, she was “hove
to.” It would have been done in the commencement of the gale, but as
the ship was very light, and the stock of provisions nearly expended,
it was apprehended, in bringing her “to the wind,” she would overset,
when all would inevitably have perished. We touched on the northeastern
edge of bank Agulhas, for the purpose of taking advantage of the strong
southerly and westerly current, and we were by no means disappointed,
for the ship was set to the extraordinary distance of one hundred and
twenty-three miles, in twenty-four hours, south, 71° west, between the
twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh of November, from the latitude of 32°
36′, and longitude 25° 16′, to the latitude of 35° 21′ and longitude
23° 8′; but it was accompanied by a tremendous wrecking sea. As we
had three excellent chronometers, and made the land at daybreak the
following morning, about the bay of St. Sebastian; we ascertained, both
then and afterward, there was no error; and yet, on the twenty-sixth
and twenty-eighth, the current was very feeble, not exceeding thirteen
miles in the two days. On the thirtieth, we made the most southern land
of Africa, being cape Agulhas. It is a low flat point, the sea always
breaking over it. We saw, in the course of the day, cape Hanglip,
and the cape of Good Hope also, which bound the entrance into False
bay. Heavy gales of wind, between west and northwest, continued until
the fourth of December, when we made Table mount, and stood into the
bay in a violent southeast gale. We then saw, for the first time,
the phenomenon of the cloud-capped mount, which is always seen when
the wind is from that quarter. One looks with astonishment, at what
seems always to be the same cloud, sideling along from east to west,
apparently remaining stationary, without being instantly dispersed by
the furious tempest; but Doctor Arnott thus accounts for the singular
beauty and density of the clouds, which frequently envelop the mount,
and the cause of its creation and final dispersion: “The reason of the
phenomenon is, that the air, constituting the wind from the northeast,
having passed over the vast southern ocean, comes charged with as much
invisible moisture as the temperature can sustain. In rising up the
side of the mountain, it is rising in the atmosphere, and is therefore
gradually escaping from a part of the former pressure; and on attaining
the summit, it has dilated so much, and has consequently become so much
colder, that it lets go part of its moisture: and it no sooner falls
over the edge of the mountain and again descends in the atmosphere to
where it is pressed, and condensed and heated as before, than it is
re-dissolved and disappears: the magnificent apparition dwelling only
on the mountain-top.”
[Sidenote: ARRIVAL AT TABLE BAY.]
The ship came to anchor, about one mile from the landing, soon after
sunrise, and a beautiful _home scene_ was presented to our view. The
town is on a sloping plane, and rises gradually to the foot of the
celebrated Table mountain, a distance of about three miles, the height
of this precipitous mountain being three thousand six hundred feet.
The town is seen stretching out also on the right towards the Lion’s
Head, which is at an elevation of two thousand eight hundred feet, and
again to the extreme right towards the Lion’s Rump, which is at an
elevation of one thousand one hundred and forty feet. Around the base
of this hill, which is called Green Point, are a great many neat villas
and cottages. On this point stands the light-house, containing two
excellent lights on the same level. On the left again, farmhouses are
scattered about the base of the Devil’s Peak, which is three thousand
three hundred feet high; the road leading to Wynberg is seen winding
round it. The vine-fields were beautifully verdant, the grape just
beginning to fill out, and the fruit and ornamental trees appeared to
be abundant in the city and about the cottages; but still the general
appearance of the country was far from being verdant, and the few
trees called the protea dispersed about the elevated and uncultivated
parts of the land, disappoint an American eye, being deficient in
noble forest-trees. The violent southeast gale of the previous day
having subsided, ushered forth a day redolent with sweets to the weary
mariner, being calm, mild and beautiful; the smoke was ascending from
a thousand fires in the town, preparing the early meal; a school or
church bell was heard in the distance; the people who visited us,
speaking the English language, forcibly reminded us of home and a
thousand endearing and painful recollections, after an absence of
nearly two years; but our cares were once more hushed, and the stormy
Indian ocean and its ten thousand perils were almost obliterated from
our memories, like the forms of last year’s clouds; and with grateful
hearts we found ourselves again within the pale of civilization, in a
bracing and healthy climate which we had long and ardently desired to
meet, to recruit our debilitated frames, which were nearly exhausted
by the baneful climates of Java and Manila, Siam and Muscat, Mocha
and Mozambique. An interchange of salutes took place on our arrival,
but the effect of the echo, was not comparable to that produced by
the amphitheatre of rocky hills and caverns which encompass Muscat.
In passing up from the landing, we went through the water street of
every seaport town, across the grand parade to George’s hotel, in the
street called Heeregracht, through the centre of which is a canal
which conducts off the waste water flowing from the base of Table
mount. From the same source the town and shipping are supplied, the
fountain-head being at the beautiful seat of Mt. Breda, by means of
iron pipes which conduct it to the jetty: hose being led into the casks
from the conductors, boats are enabled to load with great ease. The
canal is shaded on either side by the cape oak; it also passes through
a fine shaded walk which is still called the public garden, although
a very large portion of it is appropriated, most ignominiously, to
the culture of vegetables: it is probably two thirds of a mile in
length. The town is regularly laid out, is said to contain about
twenty-two thousand inhabitants, and has a neat appearance; there are
shops in abundance, but prices are extravagantly high. The houses are
generally made flat-roofed, so that the violence of the winds may
less affect them: they are built of ordinary brick and stuccoed; the
interior arrangements of the richer class, are similar to those in
larger cities. One is very much reminded of a Dutch American town in
the state of New York, excepting that soldiers are stationed at every
principal place, as though the inhabitants were not trustworthy; they
are seen before courts of justice, the government-house, postoffice,
and custom-house, but they are never seen in my own country, even
before the _palace_ of the President.
[Sidenote: CLIMATE--FRUITS.]
The climate of Cape Town is unquestionably very healthy, and not
surpassed in equability and in the agreeableness of its temperature.
In fact, the transition from heat to cold is very inconsiderable, in
comparison with many other climates. It seems, from a meteorological
table, kept for several years, that the mean temperature of Cape Town,
was at 67¼° of Fahrenheit; the mean temperature, for the coldest winter
month, was 57°, the hottest, 79°, and the least heat during summer
was 63. Although the proportion of deaths is more than double that of
Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, yet this number is greatly augmented by
invalids from India, who there find their graves; but in the other
districts it is about in the same ratio as Portsmouth, averaging
about one and a half per centum. It was truly refreshing, to see the
rosy-cheeked children, and the healthy appearance of the inhabitants
generally, after having spent many months among the pale, sallow
complexioned and dying East Indians. Here an Indian may renovate his
exhausted frame, and be cured (if it be possible) of that never-ending
source of complaint, a diseased liver. There are good roads, pleasant
country-seats, fine horses, and good carriages; and he must be very
fastidious in his taste, who cannot be suited in his viands, for here
are fish, flesh, and fowl, in great variety. As to fruit, the quality
is excellent; the prices are very low, and the variety is certainly
extraordinary--for in January there are plums, apricots, peaches,
almonds, strawberries, mulberries, grapes, apples, oranges, lemons,
figs, muskmelons, and watermelons. In February the same. In March the
same, adding thereto lemons and pomegranates. In April, add pears,
limes, and quinces. In May, medlars, jambos or rose-apple, loquats,
a Chinese fruit, &c. In June, add shaddocks and citron, with various
kinds of apples and pears. In July, August, and September, the same,
adding oranges to the last month. In October, adding guavas, &c. In
November, early figs, strawberries, green almonds, and the fruits of
September and October. In December the same. And as to vegetables,
they are in every variety, almost at all seasons of the year. And who
could be so devoid of taste, as not to be gratified with the sight
of the immense variety of flowers, shrubs, and parasitical plants
which greet the eye at every step? It may, therefore, truly be called
Florida, or the Land of Flowers. The luxuries of Europe, of America, of
India, of China, and Australia--in short, of the world, are here; and
as to the inhabitants, so far as I had the pleasure of being acquainted
with the English part of them, they deserve every commendation
it is in my power to bestow, for their hospitality and unwearied
kindness--more particularly the acting-governor, Lieutenant-Colonel
Wade, the Honourable Mr. Justice Menzies, A. Oliphant, Esq., the
attorney-general, J. B. Edwards, Captain Bance, and the officers of the
seventy-second Highlanders; Captain Stevens, the commander, and the
officers of the ninety-eighth regiment.
The articles of export of the most importance, are aloes, oil, raisins,
and other dried fruits; salt, tallow, and wool. There is exported also
excellent salted beef and butter, and bread, but no pork. The following
prices were paid for sundry articles, purchased by Mr. Stockton,
the purser, for the Peacock:--ale, two Spanish dollars per dozen,
(Cape made;) geese, one dollar; sheep, two dollars; fowls, fifteen
rix dollars; per dozen; flour, averages generally from ten to eleven
dollars, it is rarely as low as eight dollars fifty cents, frequently
at twelve Spanish dollars per barrel, of one hundred and ninety-six
pounds; hams and bacon, from Europe, twenty-three to thirty-five cents
per pound; butter, (Cape,) thirty-one and a quarter cents, including
keg; potatoes, six dollars per barrel, including barrel; pork, (Irish,)
twenty-five dollars; salt beef, (Cape,) eleven dollars per barrel,
two hundred pounds, including barrel, or four and a quarter cents
per pound without; beef, (fresh,) five cents; biscuit, five cents,
including bags; bread, (soft,) four cents; cheese, (Dutch,) twenty-one
cents; brandy, (Cape,) including pipe, which costs ten dollars,
sixty cents per gallon; Cape Madeira wine is from five to eighteen
pounds sterling per pipe of one hundred and ten gallons, according to
quality and ripeness; cordage, sixty shillings per one hundred English
pounds; ratline and spunyarn, fifty-four shillings; Stockholm tar,
fifty-four shillings per barrel; blocks eight-pence per inch; sperm
oil, seven and sixpence per gallon; linseed oil, seven shillings;
nails, ninepence sterling per pound; fir-plank, four-pence halfpenny
per foot; carpenters, six shillings per day; spirits of turpentine,
seven shillings and sixpence per gallon; pump-leather, five shillings
per pound; three and a half sides, tanned leather, cost sixty shillings
sterling; houseline, seven shillings and sixpence per dozen. The four
kinds of the celebrated Constantia are sold as follows:--
[Sidenote: PRICES OF WINES.]
£ _s._ _d._
Frontignac, per half aum of 19 gallons 13 2 6
White ditto ditto 11 5 0
Red ditto ditto 9 7 6
Pontac, the richest, ditto ditto 22 10 0
The last costing nearly six dollars per gallon. There will probably
be added to the list of exports in a few years, olive-oil, cocoa,
figs, almonds, nuts, dried, pickled and smoked fish, raw silk, cotton,
tobacco, grapes and currants. If the British government would impose
a reasonable duty on _cape_ produce _at home_, the quantity of wine,
brandy, dried fruits, &c., would be vastly increased, and many a barren
field and neglected hill would blossom like the rose, and pour forth
riches inexhaustible. That any duty at all should be paid, seems most
strange and unnatural to an American, but that it should amount to a
prohibition (as on wine) is unbearable. At their own sister-colonies,
they are obliged to pay as follows; at Mauritius, six per cent. at New
South Wales, five, and at Hobart town, Van Diemen’s land, fifteen per
cent.: whereas in Brazil they pay only the latter duty. What would
seem more strange to an American planter in Louisiana, than to have
his produce most extravagantly taxed, or taxed at all in the state of
Maine, but most fortunately it is prohibited by the constitution of the
United States. No less a duty than two shillings and six pence sterling
per gallon is paid on cape wine in England, and dried fruits are
extravagantly taxed. Taxation without _representation_ was one of the
causes of revolution, and the stamp act was another, with both of which
their colonies are burdened. It matters not whether they tax their
colonists, on the spot where there domicil is, or whether it is done in
England on their produce. The duty on imports and exports is the most
important branch of the revenue of the cape. Great Britain requires the
colony to pay the whole expense of her establishments, except the army
and navy, and yet all important offices are filled by the crown. As
it respects the local taxes they are almost innumerable. Among these
enumerated, I find every male or female, bond or free, who has arrived
at the age of sixteen, pays an annual tax of six shillings sterling
each, and ten shillings more on every servant, besides a tax on horses
and carriages, on the productions of the farm, wine, brandy, &c., &c.
In reference to household expenses, meat, fish and bread are cheap, but
wood is extravagantly high, and ever will be, as no coal has ever yet
been found in this, or in any other part of Africa; it is frequently as
high as six to seven pounds ten shilling sterling per chaldron. Sydney
can furnish it at a much cheaper rate, and it will probably soon be
brought altogether from that quarter. Servants’ wages are higher here
than in any other country, and house rent is at about the same rate as
in New York. It seems almost incredible, yet it is unquestionably true,
that the contract price for fresh beef and mutton (for 1833) to supply
the garrison at the cape, should be at a fraction _less_ than a penny
per pound, and that bread should be furnished at a penny per pound; but
I presume it is made of barley and oats, and probably a proportion of
beans, as it is frequently in England, for it cannot be made of wheat
for three times the price. This information is derived from Governor
Wade. It is most surprising, that not a single whale-ship belongs to
the cape, when whales are so abundant, even within sight of their
harbours. There are two small boat-whaling establishments in False bay,
one at Cape Town, one in Algoa, and one in Plettenberg’s bay. The boats
are mostly of a bad construction, and too small; they fish only for cow
whale, when they come into still water to calve, and cleanse themselves
with sand; but this kind of fishery is very destructive to the species,
and they have greatly diminished in numbers, so that the business is
scarcely worth following. Neither do they dry, pickle or smoke fish for
exportation, and yet the bays swarm with them, and there is a mine of
wealth yet untouched on the bank of Agulhas. The Brazil and La Plata,
the Mauritius, &c., would furnish good markets, and a fine hardy set of
seamen would be raised for commercial and other purposes. The fishing
on the bank is not so hazardous as that of Newfoundland, and they save
a tedious voyage, in going and returning; in fact, it may be said they
may be always in sight of their own homes. Salt is abundant, and the
weather never cold, they can make their own lines and leads, lead being
found in the colony, and they can raise cotton and make their sails
and cordage, and there is a plenty of timber on the east and northeast
coast. There are but eleven vessels belonging to the cape, of all
descriptions, which are principally employed in coasting voyages to
Port Elizabeth; they are from forty to one hundred and seventy tons,
and their united tonnage is but one thousand one hundred and four
tons. The colony has been represented to me, by many gentlemen, who
have visited all the districts, as being poor, the soil generally very
light and thin, and very deficient in water, the rivers being deep
seated, which drains off the moisture from the surrounding country,
subject to long and destructive droughts, and cursed with locusts
and grasshoppers, and the karras or plains being very extensive, and
totally unfit for cultivation, and withal very mountainous. But still,
I am convinced, that abundance of grain can be raised to advantage,
and wool, raw silk, wine, dried fruits, beef, &c., &c., besides the
products of the ocean, can be exported to a large amount, but Saxony or
Merino wool must become the most prominent article among the exports.
The farmers are wisely rooting out the wire-haired, _big-tailed_ cape
sheep, and substituting those which have _wool on their backs_. It is
not an article of luxury like wine, subject to fluctuations from mere
change of fashion. If his late majesty, George the fourth, had taken a
fancy to cape, instead of xeres, (sherry,) as he did a few years since,
it would have been a fortunate circumstance for the colony: the hills
would have been clothed with vines, instead of a green patch, here and
there, dotting the surface like the oases in a desert.
[Sidenote: CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.]
The cape of Good Hope, from its fine geographical position, being
placed on the highway between the world’s nations, must become a place
of great importance, when the India and China trade is left free and
unrestricted, as it ought and must be. It is a most convenient stopping
place for the interchange of commodities, or to touch for supplies, or
to obtain information; all they now want is an unshackled commerce, and
a moderate duty laid on their produce in the parent-country, and by
their sister-colonies. Without this reasonable aid, their agriculture,
fisheries and commerce, will make but slow progress, and if the
colony does not become a burden, it can never be of much advantage to
England, excepting to draw off a part of her surplus population, or in
case of a war. But the commerce of the Cape has latterly increased,
notwithstanding burdens and the neglect of the parent-country. The
number of foreign arrivals in Table bay (which was in every month in
the year) from December seventeenth, 1831, to thirtieth November,
1832, was one hundred and ninety-seven; and at Simon’s bay thirty-six,
including ships-of-war. At the time the Dutch held the Cape, no vessels
lay in Table bay during the winter months, but now I am informed, no
difference is made in the premium of insurance, between the winter and
summer months. Hempen cables of an extreme size (and anchors of course
in proportion) are always preferable to chain cables in any roadstead,
where there is a heavy swell and violent gales from the ocean; but the
first few fathoms from the anchor, should be chain to guard against
rocks and other obstructions and anchors, and it can readily be secured
to the hempen one. But still no cable is equal to _coir_, having three
valuable properties, being strong, buoyant and exceedingly elastic.
In the La Plata and elsewhere, it has been found, that riding by two
or more hemp cables in one string, in a violent gale and heavy sea,
enables the ship to rise with buoyancy, but if a great length of chain
is veered out, it lies upon the bottom and operates against the rise
of the vessel, and she therefore feels the full force of the sea,
which causes her to plunge deeply, or the sea to break over her, and
consequently there is more danger of foundering.