Being advised, on the 3d of November, that the _Jacob Bell_ had
received her full cargo, and would sail in a few days, we hastened the
few remaining preparations for our long voyage, and embarked on board
of her. On Friday, the 7th of the month, our regretful adieus were
made to the friends we were leaving, and the ship was towed from the
anchorage down the river by the English steamer _Fieloong_, when she
anchored for the night at Sharp Peak Island. The next morning, being
again taken in tow, we were soon beyond all rocks and bars, when the
steamer left us in charge of a pilot, who was also to leave us at the
White Dogs. On reaching the neighborhood of these islands, however,
we encountered a very short and heavy sea; and not being able to pass
sufficiently near under the lee of the island to make it safe for the
pilot-boat to come off for him, he was compelled to go down the sea
with us. In such rough sailing it was impossible not to come somewhat
under the influence of old Neptune, and poor Charlie suffered severely.
We were, however, too good sailors to be long affected, and the next
day all such disagreeables were forgotten.
Our accommodations were excellent; and although we were the only
passengers, the fact that Captain Frisbie--the master of the
vessel--had his wife on board was encouraging, and enabled me to look
forward the more hopefully to the safe termination of the long voyage
before us.
A strong northeast monsoon drove us down the channel of Formosa and the
China Sea at the rate of eleven knots an hour, so that on Sunday we
were passing Namoa Island, which lies not far from the entrance to the
harbor of Swatow; and on Monday morning were sailing within forty miles
of Hong Kong. After sighting Victoria Peak we fell in with a native
pilot-boat, which enabling the captain to send his Fuh-chauan pilot
to Hong Kong, we did not suffer the detention we had feared, in being
obliged to go into port in order to land him.
On the 18th day of the month--when below the fourth degree of north
latitude, and in the neighborhood of the Natura Islands--our fine
breeze left us; but, under the influence of light winds, we sailed
on slowly,--the mercury indicating a heat of from eighty to ninety
degrees. The weather soon became so oppressive that, on the 21st of
the month, one of the sailors had a _coup de soleil_, and fell while
at the wheel. Happily it did not prove a fatal case, and after a few
days of care the man was again performing his duties. While near the
Natura Islands we had several ships in sight, and speaking two of them,
learned that they were bound to London. During the night of the 21st
we had severe squalls of wind and rain, and in a few hours “boxed the
compass” seven times. Calms succeeded these squalls, but when off the
island of Borneo strong southerly currents floated us gently onward,
and at noon on the 23d of November we crossed the equator.
When about two miles south of the equinoctial line we were suddenly
greeted with the cry of “A sea-serpent, a sea-serpent!” and at the same
time Master Charlie came rushing into the cabin, and begged me to go up
on deck and see the monster. With the Nahant sea-serpent, however, in
mind, and stout incredulity in my heart, I followed my young friend.
The serpent--or whatever it might have been--was on our larboard side,
and floating with the current at a distance of what seemed to be
not more than two or three times the length of the ship from us. On
ascending to the deck I found the captain and his crew watching the
movements of the creature, which was then quietly floating opposite
the vessel. There was not a ripple to be seen upon the mirror-like
surface of the ocean. In a few moments, however, the object moved in
a very slow manner, and raising what was pronounced to be his head,
made some disagreeably sinuous motions with his body, after which he
again relapsed into a state of quietude. This continued but for a
short time, when there was another general movement, which was more
decidedly animated and serpent-like than at the first; and this time
the so-called head appeared to be raised nearly above the water. This
demonstration was too terribly frightful; and, having a great horror
of anything so suggestive of a reptile, I fled directly to the cabin.
Nor did I regret our having passed this nondescript creature, which
appeared to us very like a huge snake floating along while basking in
the fiercest heat of the torrid zone. Many parts of the China Sea are
infested with snakes, which are often seen swimming near the surface
of the water; and the captain of the _Jacob Bell_ declared that he had
seen them ten feet long. This creature, however,--which he and all his
crew persisted in calling a sea-serpent,--was pronounced by him to be
forty feet in length, and one old sailor went so far as to say that it
was as long as the mainyard. It was of a dark snuff-color, and was said
to be covered with barnacles.
I do not relate this exciting incident with any intention of
proclaiming that we saw a veritable sea-serpent; nor do I say that
it was a living monster of any kind, but merely state the case in
accordance with appearances. Furthermore, I do not acknowledge
to any belief about it; but leave the decision that it was a
sea-serpent--which was made by the captain and crew of the _Bell_--to
be sustained or reversed by the citizens of Nahant, whose superior
wisdom and vast experience in such matters is universally acknowledged
and always deferred to.
Reaching Gasper Strait, and sailing through the Staltz Channel, we
passed the islands and dangerous shoals in that vicinity with safety,
and entered the Java Sea on the 26th of November. Ship supplies can
always be procured at Anjer, which is a small port on the coast of
Java, and just within the Strait of Sunda as it is entered from the
Java Sea. When the wind is fair, vessels frequently stop there and
take in their supplies while at anchor; when, however, the weather is
unfavorable, boats loaded with the necessary articles go out and meet
them.
Having calms and light winds we sailed very slowly; but finally, after
passing the North Watchers and the Thousand Islands, on the afternoon
of the 29th--when about fifty miles from the Strait of Sunda--two
native boats, or _prahus_, were seen making vigorously for us. The
little craft--which were manned by Malays--were from Anjer; and
besides being loaded with fowls, fruits, and vegetables, had also
on board some monkeys, and a pair of little moose deer of Java,[41]
besides a few cages of Java sparrows. With the approach of the Malay
boats we were visited with a breeze; and after purchasing the necessary
supplies, our captain took the little vessels in tow, when we sailed on
at the rate of eight knots an hour. During the night one of the boats
parted her cable, and we left her, while the other continued with us
until morning, when, coming alongside, our letters were given to the
chief man on board, with instructions to deliver them into the hands
of the Dutch governor at Anjer, when we parted. This was on Sunday
morning, as we were nearing the islands of Java and Sumatra, with the
dark peaks of the Radjah Bassa mountains and the entrance-way to the
strait in full view. We, however, had a head-wind; and although our
captain made every exertion, by constantly tacking ship, to enter the
passage, he was finally obliged to come to, and anchor for the night
near the coast of Sumatra, and under the lee of the Radjah Bassa range.
Besides taking a long sea-voyage, one must be a wakeful invalid, and
also pass through a day of the disagreeable sailing and noise incident
to the frequent tacking of ship, in order to appreciate the quiet and
delicious sleep which I enjoyed that night. The next morning, being
more successful in our efforts, we entered the narrow pass on the
western side of Renjang, or Thwart-the-way Island, and, getting safely
through, were soon sailing past the little settlement of Anjer.
Renjang, or Thwart-the-way Island--which, as its name indicates, lies
athwart the mouth of the Strait--is jagged-looking, and of singular
shape, having sundry acute angles, whose rocky points shoot directly
out into the water. It is, however, covered with trees, shrubs, and
vines, and with its tropical luxuriance, displayed, as we sailed near,
some very exquisite bits of scenery. At one place, near the beach, the
ground and rocks formed high arches, over which trailed vines of the
richest foliage. We also observed a remarkable ravine, and an elevation
which rose perpendicularly from the water’s edge to the height of five
hundred feet.
On the 2d day of December we passed Cocketoo Island, and sailing on
reached Princess Island, which lies near the entrance to the Indian
Ocean, having a passage leading into it both upon its east and west
side. Taking the western passage, we were in a short time out on
the broad ocean; and as Java Head faded in the distance, not only
felicitated ourselves in having escaped the dangers of the China Sea,
but already began to look forward with much hopeful courage for the
future.
Our fine breeze had again died away, but having gentle zephyrs we still
moved slowly onward, and lost sight of Java Head before evening. During
the night, however, we met with a heavy swell from the south, and our
wind entirely failing us, we drifted so far back that in the morning
Java Head was again plainly visible. In the afternoon, being again
favored with a fair wind, we sailed on our course, when Java Head faded
permanently from our view. Up to this time calms and adverse winds had
prevailed to such a degree that for seventeen successive days we had
only made, on an average, two and a half miles an hour.
While in the East I observed that meteors were of much more common
occurrence than in our Western hemisphere. Indeed, when at Swatow,
our evenings were usually passed, until a very late hour, in an open
veranda; and I fail to remember a night in which we did not note one
or two, which, passing athwart the heavens, made the blue vault, which
sparkled with brilliant stars, if possible more splendidly glorious.
From the deck of the _Jacob Bell_, however, on the evening of the 5th
of December, I observed one which far exceeded in brilliancy, and in
the length of time that it remained luminous, any I had ever seen.
This appeared at first in the eastern portion of the heavens, and
taking an oblique direction to the south passed over a great space, and
then, for a few seconds, displayed a flame-colored tail,--while the
nucleus assumed a rich golden hue,--when it exploded and vanished. The
spotlessly white and ethereal-looking fleecy clouds--which are always
seen when sailing on the Indian Ocean--seemed to be more numerous and
beautiful than when on our voyage out; and when lighted up by the
departing rays of the setting sun the scene was enchanting. I may, in
time, forget our perils by sea, and the more painful perils that we
were afterwards placed in by our treacherous countrymen, but I can
never forget the sunset glories of the Indian Ocean. The Magellan
clouds and lovely Southern Cross, attended by its brilliantly sparkling
pointers, were also our nightly visitors; and, as on our outward
voyage, the stars in the Cross, as well as those composing Orion,
Taurus, and other southern constellations, appeared more brilliant than
when seen in the Atlantic tropics.
Although we had a favorable trade-wind within a week after entering
the Indian Ocean, it lasted only for a few days, and before the
21st of the month, as we neared the latitude of Mauritius, the heat
greatly increased, and we were again visited with light winds and
calms. For a week after leaving Fuh-chau it was pleasantly cool, but
from that time the mercury had not fallen below eighty degrees, and
sometimes it was as high as ninety and ninety-six degrees, which made
an atmosphere that, without the sea-breeze, would have been almost
unendurable. On Christmas Day we were passing the Isle of Bourbon; and
at night, having severe squalls of wind, were made painfully aware that
we were again in the hurricane latitudes at an inopportune season.
These squalls, however, lasted but for a short time, and, leaving
us with a fair breeze, we had passed the longitude of Madagascar
and were sailing prosperously onward, when we were suddenly visited
with a terrific squall from the northwest. This came on during the
afternoon of January 1st, 1863, when we were about off Port Natal.
As I had never before taken a voyage in a sailing vessel, and this
being the most fearful wind we had encountered, the loud screaming
tones of the captain, giving his orders, and the noise of the sailors
as they hastened to furl the sails, together with the howling of the
wind through the rigging, was appalling. It blew a gale during the
night, nor did it abate so that we could make sail until the following
afternoon; and yet this squall, and the few tempestuous hours that
followed it, bore no comparison to the sharp southeaster we encountered
three days afterwards.
We were then nearly off Great Fish River, with the prospect of soon
rounding the Cape. The gale, which commenced on Saturday, reached
its culminating point on Sunday, and we were obliged to lie to until
Monday morning. For several hours, fastenings arranged with pulleys
were attached to each side of the wheel, in order to keep the rudder
steady; and for still greater safety, a man crouched upon deck was
stationed to hold at each of the fastenings, while two men stood at
the wheel, and carefully guided the ship. The gale had continued many
hours before I could call sufficient courage into requisition to
take a view of the scene of awful grandeur about us. Being assured,
however, that our vessel was in no danger from the storm, I finally
ascended to the quarter-deck, from whence the huge and extensive waves
of the broad ocean presented a sublime though fearful spectacle. The
ship, although tossed about by the waves like a frail canoe, at the
same time rode them so easily that I soon learned to view the scene
with less terror and more satisfaction than I ever expected to regard
so fierce a tempest. We frequently shipped seas upon the main-deck;
and occasionally a wave dashing over the cabin, swept also the
quarter-deck. One of these waves, in fact, finally drove me below,
where I was glad to remain.
This dreadful gale--which began to lull about twelve o’clock Sunday
night--also left us with a fair breeze, which wafted us around the Cape
of Storms; and on the 9th of January we were in the South Atlantic,
with our prow pointing homeward, and beginning to indulge in the fancy
that our long voyage was fast drawing near to an auspicious close.
As we neared Cape Lagullas the air became bracing; and before we had
reached the Atlantic Ocean the atmosphere was delightful.
While rounding the Cape we fell in company with several kinds of
sea-birds; most of which, being new to us, were objects of much
interest. The albatross, in particular,--whether on the wing, or
floating with majestic grace upon the waves,--was always greeted with
admiration.
The fair breeze with which we entered the Atlantic continued until we
reached a favorable trade-wind; and--the latter accompanying us until
the 15th of January--we were at that date but seven miles from the
southern tropics. Here the weather becoming again very warm, the little
vigor which I had gained while sailing within the bracing region of the
Cape, was soon dissipated; and it seemed as though the long days and
nights of prostration and suffering, experienced before our ship had
reached and passed the equator, would never end. On the 2d of February,
however, we were nearly one degree north of the equinoctial line, and
beginning to feel, in a slight degree, the influence of the bracing
wind from the north. On the 10th,--being nearly out of the tropics, and
hoping to reach New York in ten or fifteen days,--with the assistance
of my young friend and only protector, Master Charlie, I began to pack
and make a few preparations in anticipation of that event.
FOOTNOTE:
[41] The deer--which were purchased by Captain Frisbie--throve
well, and were doing finely when we were taken by the pirate steamer
_Florida_. Then, however, they passed into the hands of the chief
buccaneer, Captain Maffit, who, soon after we were transferred from
his vessel to the Danish bark _Morning Star_, visited the island of
Barbadoes, and being dined and fêted by the Governor of that English
colony, he presented these beautiful creatures to the daughter of
his kind and hospitable entertainer. It was also reliably stated in
the public prints that Captain Maffit and his officers made presents
to the English ladies of beautiful articles from China and Japan.
These ladies were also highly delighted with some small canisters
of choice tea which Captain Maffit gave them; and as these were all
from our packages, I cannot say less than to express the fear that if
our English cousins _enjoy_ the possession of the Oriental articles
which we lost, they may also have disposed of their self-respect when
drinking our tea.