FLYING SOUTH.
FELLOW-PASSENGERS--LIFE ON BOARD SHIP--PROGRESS OF THE SHIP--HER
HANDLING--A FINE RUN DOWN TO THE LINE--SHIP'S AMUSEMENTS--CLIMBING THE
MIZEN--THE CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS--SAN ANTONIO.
_3rd March._--Like all passengers, I suppose, who come together on
board ship for a long voyage, we had scarcely passed the Eddystone
Lighthouse before we began to take stock of each other. Who is this?
What is he? Why is he going out? Such were the questions we inwardly
put to ourselves and sought to answer.
I found several, like myself, were making the voyage for their health.
A long voyage by sailing ship seems to have become a favourite
prescription for lung complaints; and it is doubtless an honest one,
as the doctor who gives it at the same time parts with his patient and
his fees. But the advice is sound; as the long rest of the voyage, the
comparatively equable temperature of the sea air, and probably the
improved quality of the atmosphere inhaled, are all favourable to the
healthy condition of the lungs as well as of the general system.
Of those going out in search of health, some were young and others
middle-aged. Amongst the latter was a patient, gentle sufferer,
racked by a hacking cough when he came on board. Another, a young
passenger, had been afflicted by abscess in his throat and incipient
lung-disease. A third had been worried by business and afflicted in
his brain, and needed a long rest. A fourth had been crossed in love,
and sought for change of scene and occupation.
But there were others full of life and health among the passengers,
going out in search of fortune or of pleasure. Two stalwart,
outspoken, manly fellows, who came on board at Plymouth, were on their
way to New Zealand to farm a large tract of land. They seemed to me to
be models of what colonial farmers should be. Another was on his way
to take up a run in Victoria, some 250 miles north of Melbourne. He
had three fine Scotch colley dogs with him, which were the subject of
general admiration.
We had also a young volunteer on board, who had figured at Brighton
reviews, and was now on his way to join his father in New Zealand,
where he proposed to join the colonial army. We had also a Yankee
gentleman, about to enter on his governorship of the Guano Island of
Maldon, in the Pacific, situated almost due north of the Society
Islands, said to have been purchased by an English company.
Some were going out on "spec." If they could find an opening to
fortune, they would settle; if not, they would return. One gentleman
was taking with him a fine portable photographic apparatus, intending
to visit New Zealand and Tasmania, as well as Australia.
Others were going out for indefinite purposes. The small gentleman,
for instance, who came on board at Gravesend with the extensive
wardrobe, was said to be going out to Australia to grow,--the
atmosphere and climate of the country being reported as having a
wonderful effect on growth. Another entertained me with a long account
of how he was leaving England because of his wife; but, as he was of a
somewhat priggish nature, I suspect the fault may have been his own as
much as hers.
And then there was the Major, a military and distinguished-looking
gentleman, who came on board, accompanied by a couple of shiny new
trunks, at Plymouth. He himself threw out the suggestion that the
raising of a colonial volunteer army was the grand object of his
mission. Anyhow, he had the manners of a gentleman. And he had seen
service, having lost his right arm in the Crimea and gone all through
the Indian Mutiny war with his left. He was full of fun, always in
spirits, and a very jolly fellow, though rather given to saying things
that would have been better left unsaid.
Altogether, we have seventeen saloon passengers on board, including
the captain's wife, the only lady at the poop end. There were also
probably about eighty second and third-class passengers in the forward
parts of the ship.
Although the wind was fair, and the weather fine, most of the
passengers suffered more or less from seasickness; but at length,
becoming accustomed to the motion of the ship, they gradually emerged
from their cabins, came on deck, and took part in the daily life on
board. Let me try and give a slight idea of what this is.
At about six every morning we are roused by the sailors holystoning
the decks, under the superintendence of the officer of the watch. A
couple of middies pump up water from the sea, by means of a pump
placed just behind the wheel. It fills the tub until it overflows,
running along the scuppers of the poop, and out on to the main-deck
through a pipe. Here the seamen fill their buckets, and proceed with
the scouring of the main-deck. Such a scrubbing and mopping!
I need scarcely explain that holystone is a large soft stone, used
with water, for scrubbing the dirt off the ship's decks. It rubs down
with sand; the sand is washed off by buckets of water thrown down, all
is well mopped, and the deck is then finished off with India-rubber
squilgees.
The poop is always kept most bright and clean. Soon after we left port
it assumed a greatly-improved appearance. The boards began to whiten
with the holystoning. Not a grease-mark or spot of dirt was to be
seen. All was polished off with hand-scrapers. On Sundays the ropes on
the poop were all neatly coiled, man-of-war fashion--not a bight out
of place. The brasswork was kept as bright as a gilt button.
By the time the passengers dressed and went on deck the cleaning
process was over, and the decks were dry. After half an hour's pacing
the poop the bell would ring for breakfast, the appetite for which
would depend very much upon the state of the weather and the lurching
of the ship. Between breakfast and lunch, more promenading on the
poop; the passengers sometimes, if the weather was fine, forming
themselves in groups on deck, cultivating each other's acquaintance.
During our first days at sea we had some difficulty in finding our sea
legs. The march of some up and down the poop was often very irregular,
and occasionally ended in disaster. Yet the passengers were not the
only learners; for, one day, we saw one of the cabin-boys, carrying a
heavy ham down the steps from a meat-safe on board, miss his footing
in a lurch of the ship, and away went our fine ham into the
lee-scuppers, spoilt and lost.
We lunched at twelve. From thence, until dinner at five, we mooned
about on deck as before, or visited sick passengers, or read in our
respective cabins, or passed the time in conversation; and thus the
day wore on. After dinner the passengers drew together in parties and
became social. In the pleasantly-lit saloon some of the elder subsided
into whist, while the juniors sought the middies in their cabin on the
main-deck, next door to the sheep-pen; there they entertained
themselves and each other with songs, accompanied by the concertina
and clouds of tobacco-smoke.
The progress of the ship was a subject of constant interest. It was
the first thing in the morning and the last at night; and all through
the day, the direction of the wind, the state of the sky and the
weather, and the rate we were going at, were the uppermost topics of
conversation.
When we left port the wind was blowing fresh on our larboard quarter
from the north-east, and we made good progress across the Bay of
Biscay; but, like many of our passengers, I was too much occupied by
private affairs to attend to the nautical business going on upon deck.
All I know was, that the wind was fair, and that we were going at a
good rate. On the fourth day, I found we were in the latitude of Cape
Finisterre, and that we had run 168 miles in the preceding 24 hours.
From this time forward, having got accustomed to the motion of the
ship, I felt sufficiently well to be on deck early and late, watching
the handling of the ship.
It was a fine sight to look up at the cloud of canvas above, bellied
out by the wind, like the wings of a gigantic bird, while the ship
bounded through the water, dashing it in foam from her bows, and
sometimes dipping her prow into the waves, and sending aloft a shower
of spray.
There was always something new to admire in the ship, and the way in
which she was handled: as, for instance, to see the topgallant sails
hauled down when the wind freshened, or a staysail set as the wind
went round to the east. The taking in of the mainsail on a stormy
night was a thing to be remembered for life: twenty-four men on the
great yard at a time, clewing it in to the music of the wind
whistling through the rigging. The men sing out cheerily at their
work, the one who mounts the highest, or stands the foremost on the
deck; usually taking the lead--
Hawl on the bowlin,
The jolly ship's a-rollin--
Hawl on the bowlin,
And we'll all drink rum.
In comes the rope with a "Yo! heave ho!" and a jerk, until the "belay"
sung out by the mate signifies that the work is done. Then, there is
the scrambling on the deck when the wind changes quarter, and the
yards want squaring as the wind blows more aft. Such are among the
interesting sights to be seen on deck when the wind is in her tantrums
at sea.
On the fifth day the wind was blowing quite aft. Our run during the
twenty-four hours was 172 miles. Thermometer 58 deg.. The captain is in
hopes of a most favourable run to the Cape. It is our first Sunday on
board, and at 10.30 the bell rings for service, when the passengers of
all classes assemble in the saloon. The alternate standing and
kneeling during the service is rather uncomfortable, the fixed seats
jamming the legs, and the body leaning over at an unpleasant angle
when the ship rolls, which she frequently does, and rather savagely.
Going upon deck next morning, I found the wind blowing strong from the
north, and the ship going through the water at a splendid pace. As
much sail was on as she could carry, and she dashed along, leaving a
broad track of foam in her wake. The captain is in high glee at the
speed at which we are going. "A fine run down to the Line!" he says,
as he walks the poop, smiling and rubbing his hands; while the middies
are enthusiastic in praises of the good ship, "walking the waters like
a thing of life." The spirits of all on board are raised by several
degrees. We have the pleasure of feeling ourselves bounding forward,
on towards the sunny south. There is no resting, but a constant
pressing onward, and, as we look over the bulwarks, the waves, tipped
by the foam which our ship has raised, seem to fly behind us at a
prodigious speed. At midday we find the ship's run during the
twenty-four hours has been 280 miles--a splendid day's work, almost
equal to steam!
We are now in latitude 39 deg. 16', about due east of the Azores. The air
is mild and warm; the sky is azure, and the sea intensely blue. How
different from the weather in the English Channel only a short week
ago! Bugs are now discarded, and winter clothing begins to feel almost
oppressive. In the evenings, as we hang over the taffrail, we watch
with interest the bluish-white sparks mingling with the light blue
foam near the stern--the first indications of that phosphorescence
which, I am told, we shall find so bright in the tropics.
An always interesting event at sea is the sighting of a distant ship.
To-day we signalled the 'Maitland,' of London, a fine ship, though she
was rolling a great deal, beating up against the wind that was
impelling us so prosperously forward. I hope she will report us on
arrival, to let friends at home know we are so far all right on our
voyage.
The wind still continues to blow in our wake, but not so strongly; yet
we make good progress. The weather keeps very fine. The sky seems to
get clearer, the sea bluer, and the weather more brilliant, and even
the sails look whiter, as we fly south. About midday on the eighth day
after leaving Plymouth we are in the latitude of Madeira, which we
pass about forty miles distant.
As the wind subsides, and the novelty of being on shipboard wears off,
the passengers begin to think of amusements. One cannot be always
reading; and, as for study, though I try Spanish and French
alternately, I cannot settle to them, and begin to think that life on
shipboard is not very favourable for study. We play at quoits--using
quoits of rope--on the poop, for a good part of the day. But this soon
becomes monotonous; and we begin to consider whether it may not be
possible to get up some entertainment on board to make the time pass
pleasantly. We had a few extempore concerts in one of the middies'
berths. The third-class passengers got up a miscellaneous
entertainment, including recitals, which went off very well. One of
the tragic recitations was so well received that it was encored. And
thus the time was whiled away, while we still kept flying south.
On the ninth day we are well south of Madeira. The sun is so warm at
midday that an awning is hung over the deck, and the shade it affords
is very grateful. We are now in the trade-winds, which blow pretty
steadily at this part of our course in a south-westerly direction, and
may generally be depended upon until we near the Equator. At midday of
the tenth day I find we have run 180 miles in the last twenty-four
hours, with the wind still steady on our quarter. We have passed
Teneriffe, about 130 miles distant--too remote to see it--though I am
told that, had we been twenty miles nearer, we should probably have
seen the famous peak.
To while away the time, and by way of a little adventure, I determined
at night to climb the mizen-mast with a fellow-passenger. While
leaving the deck I was chalked by a middy, in token that I was in for
my footing, so as to be free of the mizen-top. I succeeded in reaching
it safely, though to a green hand, as I was, it looks and really feels
somewhat perilous at first. I was sensible of the feeling of fear or
apprehension just at the moment of getting over the cross-trees. Your
body hangs over in mid-air, at a terrible incline backwards, and you
have to hold on like anything for just one moment, until you get your
knee up into the top. The view of the ship under press of canvas from
the mizen-top is very grand; and the phosphorescence in our wake,
billow upon billow of light shining foam, seemed more brilliant than
ever.
The wind again freshens, and on the eleventh day we make another fine
run of 230 miles. It is becoming rapidly warmer, and we shall soon be
in the region of bonitos, albatrosses, and flying fish--only a
fortnight after leaving England!
Our second Sunday at sea was beautiful exceedingly. We had service in
the saloon as usual; and, after church, I climbed the mizen, and had
half an hour's nap on the top. Truly this warm weather, and monotonous
sea life, seems very favourable for dreaming, and mooning, and
loafing. In the evening there was some very good hymn-singing in the
second-class cabin.
Early next morning, when pacing the poop, we were startled by the cry
from the man on the forecastle of "Land ho!" I found, by the direction
of the captain's eyes, that the land seen lay off our weather-beam.
But, though I strained my eyes looking for the land, I could see
nothing. It was not for hours that I could detect it; and then it
looked more like a cloud than anything else. At length the veil
lifted, and I saw the land stretching away to the eastward. It was the
island of San Antonio, one of the Cape de Verds.
As we neared the land, and saw it more distinctly, it looked a grand
object. Though we were then some fifteen miles off, yet the highest
peaks, which were above the clouds, some thousands of feet high, were
so clear and so beautiful that they looked as if they had been stolen
out of the 'Arabian Nights,' or some fairy tale of wonder and beauty.
The island is said to be alike famous for its oranges and pretty
girls. Indeed the Major, who is very good at drawing the long bow,
declared that he could see a very interesting female waving her hand
to him from a rock! With the help of the telescope we could certainly
see some of the houses on shore.
As this is the last land we are likely to see until we reach
Australia, we regard it with all the greater interest; and I myself
watched it in the twilight until it faded away into a blue mist on the
horizon.