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NARRATIVE
OF A
VOYAGE TO INDIA;
OF A
SHIPWRECK
ON BOARD THE LADY CASTLEREAGH;
AND A
_DESCRIPTION OF NEW SOUTH WALES_.
BY W. B. CRAMP.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS AND Co. BRIDE-COURT, BRIDGE-STREET.
1823.
* * * * *
NARRATIVE
OF A
VOYAGE TO INDIA,
&c. &c. &c.
* * * * *
SECTION I.
THE AUTHOR'S DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND--DESCRIPTION OF THE
CEREMONY ON CROSSING THE EQUINOCTIAL LINE, AND HIS ARRIVAL
AT MADRAS.
On the 8th or 9th of January, 1815, we proceeded, in the Princess
Charlotte, Indiaman, to North-fleet Hope, and received on board our
cargo. On February 28th, we sailed to Gravesend, in company with the
Company's ships Ceres, Lady Melville, Rose, and Medcalfe, and arrived
at the Downs on the 3d of March. Our dispatches not being expected for
some time, we moored ship. Our time passed on very pleasantly till the
27th inst., when the weather became rather boisterous, and accompanied
by a heavy swell. On the evening of the 28th, as the Hon. Company's
ship Tarva, from Bengal, was rounding the Foreland, she struck on the
Goodwin Sands, and was forced to cut away her masts to lighten her,
and get her clear off. The Ceres drifted almost on board us; we
slipped our cables, and with difficulty escaped the Goodwin Sands.
On the 1st of April the pursers joined their respective ships, and on
the 3d we made sail with a fair breeze, and soon cleared the English
channel. Nothing was now heard but confusion; the pilot having just
left the ship, the hoarse voice of the captain resounded through a
speaking trumpet, while the seamen were busy in making sail. We had a
fine steady breeze till we made the Bay of Biscay, when we had a
strong gale for three days.
After the hurry and bustle of the gale was over, we had a fine steady
breeze; I then began to feel an inward pleasure, and to rejoice in the
predilection I had imbibed from my earliest years.
We arrived on the equinoctial about eight o'clock in the evening of
the 19th of April, when one of the oldest seamen is deputed Neptune;
when he went into the head and hailed the ship in the usual form,
Ship, hoa! ship, hoa! what ship is that? The chief officer replied,
The Hon. Company's ship Princess Charlotte of Wales, and that he would
be glad of his company on the morrow. Gladly would I have dispensed
with it. On his quitting the vessel, as is supposed, a pitch cask was
thrown overboard on fire, which had the appearance of a boat till lost
to view.
The next morning, about nine A. M., Neptune hailed the ship again,
when he was invited on board (from the head). On the fore-part of the
gang-way and after-part of the long-boat, a boom was placed across,
and a tarpauling was hung in form of a curtain, so that when they were
in readiness they took it down, and the procession moved on towards
the cuddy, twelve of the officers walking in the front, two by two
with staves (broomsticks); next followed Neptune's car, (a grating
with a chair covered with sheep skins) with Neptune, and his wife and
child, (a recruit's child, as we had 250 on board, of his majesty's
46th regiment) Neptune bearing in his hand the granes with forks
uppermost, and the representation of a dolphin on the middle prong,
and Neptune's footman riding behind (barber) his carriage, dragged by
the constables. The captain and officers came out to meet him, and
presented him with a glass of gin, which was on this occasion termed
wine. After the captain's health was drank, he desired them to proceed
to business, and to make as much haste as possible; they then
proceeded to the starboard gang-way, and Neptune placed himself upon
his throne (on the boom, close to the long-boat and wash-deck tub) the
slush tub being filled with balls, and lather made of slush, and the
barber standing ready to begin his work with a razor made of a long
piece of iron hoop well notched; the engine was brought on the quarter
deck, and began to play, to force those below that had not crossed the
line. I had not been long below before an officer from Neptune came to
me, and demanded me, in his name to appear before him at the starboard
gang-way, whose summons must not be disobeyed. On my arrival at the
gang-way, the usual questions were asked me, whether I had been that
way before? Without waiting for an answer they placed me on the
wash-deck tub, and the barber rubbed me with the back of his razor and
then let me go, upon my previously having given an order upon my
bottle.
I had hardly got upon the poop, when one of the men was brought upon
deck who was neither beloved by the men nor officers; they then placed
him upon the tub, and asked him several questions, and while he was in
the act of answering them, they thrust some black balls into his
mouth, and then rubbed his face and neck over with lather, and scraped
it in an unmerciful manner till the blood run in several places; they
next pushed him into the tub of water and kept him under for the space
of a minute, which tended to smart and inflame the wounds. It was at
least a fortnight before he could wash himself perfectly clean; but
now several more shared the same fate. The sun was setting fast before
the amusements of the day were finished. The clouds presented the most
beautiful appearance, and the rippling of the sea, together with the
flying fish, scudding along the surface of the water, afforded the
mariner a great field of thought. At so grand a display of the great
and wonderful works of God, what mortal can be unmoved, or deny the
existence of a BEING which nature herself proclaims!
The evening was very fine and beautifully star-light, and the moon
shone with resplendent brightness. After the company had withdrawn to
their evening refreshments, I amused myself with walking on the
solitary poop. The sea appeared to be an immense plain, and presented
a watery mirror to the skies. The infinite height above the firmament
stretched its azure expanse, bespangled with unnumbered stars, and
adorned with the moon '_walking in brightness_;' while the transparent
surface both received and returned her silver image. Here, instead of
being covered with sackcloth,[A] she shone with resplendent lustre; or
rather with a lustre multiplied in proportion to the number of
beholders.
[Footnote A: I must be excused for the ideal extravagance of
"clothing" this nocturnal luminary in "SACKCLOTH," on adverting to
that unlimited flight of poetic imagination, which speaks of "_Heaven
peeping through the blanket of the deep_." _Vide Shakspeare's
Macbeth._]
Such I think is the effect of exemplary behaviour in persons of
exalted rank; their course as it is nobly distinguished, so it will be
happily influential; others will catch the diffusive rays, and be
ambitious to resemble a pattern so commanding. Their amiable qualities
will not terminate in themselves, but we shall see them reflected in
their families.
My readers, I trust, will not wonder at my meditations on these
sublunary objects, when they consider that they are the seaman's
guide, and from them the greatest sources of nautical information are
derived.
In the midst of these pleasing reveries, I was aroused by the ship
being taken a-back, the watch being completely intoxicated, and it was
only with difficulty that they could do their duty. Nothing material
happened till our arrival at the Cape, when we experienced a severe
gale for three days. The sea being heavy, she pitched her portals
under water. We were running at the rate of ten knots per hour, under
bare poles; and we soon after made the trade winds.
On the 23d of June we arrived in Madras roads; from the deck the view
of the land has a magnificent appearance; the different offices have,
to the beholder, the appearance of stone, and they are formed along
the beach in a beautiful manner; they are built with piazzas and
verandahs, and they extend about one mile along a sandy beach, while
the natives parading along the shore, and the surf spraying upon the
beach, gave the scene a very picturesque appearance. The surf beats
here with so much violence that it is impossible for any ship's boats
to land without being dashed to pieces.
On our making land we espied a small craft, called a kattamaran,
making towards us; it was manned with two of the natives naked, except
a handkerchief round their waist, and a straw round cap (turban) made
with a partition in it to keep letters dry. This bark is made of three
long hulls of trees, about ten or twelve feet in length, tied together
with a rope so as to make in the centre a little hollow; they sit upon
their knees in the centre, and have a long flat piece of wood, about
five feet in length and five inches in width, which they hold in the
centre, and keep continually in motion, first on one side and then on
the other, and in that manner they force the kattamaran swiftly
through the water.
It is very remarkable that these poor creatures risk themselves
through the surf for a mere trifle, to carry letters for the different
commanders to their respective vessels, at a time when the surf is at
a dreadful height. When these poor fellows lay themselves flat on the
kattamaran, and then trust themselves to the mercy of the surf, they
are often driven back with great force, and they as often venture
again, till they effect their purpose. They generally get their living
by fishing, which is done by hook and line, and they offer them
alongside the different ships for sale.
For two days the surf being so violent no boats could come off; but
early on the third morning there were several came off with debashees
(merchants) on board. They brought such things as might be wanted by
the ship's company and officers. Their boats are made to carry
passengers and cargo. There is not a vestige of a nail to be seen in
them, their seams, instead of being nailed, are sewed together with
coir rope; and they are generally manned with six or eight men.