^f^t.^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I 1.25 12.0 1.4 1.6 6" — ^ V] ^ /] % '# ^% ^J^? ^ c^^.^^ "^^ >V / ^V' /4 / PhubgTdphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY I4SW I 7)6) l72-4i03 ^ rtV \ \ 6^ k^ ^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute illuatratad Impraaaion. Tha laat racordad frama on each microficha •hall contain tha symbol — ^(maaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol V (maaning "END") Whichavar appliaa. Mapa. plataa. charts, ate, may ba fllmad at diffaram reduction ratioa. Those too large to be entirely included :n one expoaura ara filmed beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to nght and top to bottom, aa many framaa aa required. The following diagrama illuatrata tha method: Laa imagaa suh/antaa ont M raproduitaa avec le piua grand soin, compta tenu de la condition at da la nattat* da I'examplaira film*, et en conformity avec tea conditiona du contrat Ja nimaga. 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Laa diagrammea suivanta iHuatrant la mAthoda. / '.f. 0. 4^ /i^^A^A-^- / M I 1- f-^ 0S0372 Kill CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA, 1892-189-5 BY WILLIAM TAIT. M.B., STAFF SURGEON. KJV. C. MANaKiKi.i). Letterpress. Collotype, and Lithographic Printer. «7. Treville Street. \ $1 1 I T i r/ ( TO THE HON. ASSHETON G. CURZON-HOWE. CR. COMMODORE, THIS BOOK, FOR MAIirV KINDNESSES RENDERED, AND AS A TOKEN OF RESPECl AND ADMIRATION, IS DEDICAVED. ( This Book has been written and the illustration. prepared with the object of commemorating the th«K» years Commission of H M.S. Cleopatra, and with the hope that It may recall pleasant memories of pleasant places and pleasant days, spent in the heat of the Tropics. aJ well as in the cold of Northern Regions If this effort to preserve the incidents of a happy commission should prove successful, the writer will be W.T. more than satisfied. \ t,-.. =- \ I 1 I •I CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER I. COMMiSSIONINO. 0N the mominfi: of ,m September. ,89.. H.M.S. Cleopatra. lying ;„ dr,. dock at , , ^""y^^""' *^' commissioned for service on the North American and West Ind., Statin, and to act as Commodore's ship durin, the Newfoundland fishery season. The Cleopatra. Screw Cruiser..3rd Class, was built in Glas.^ow in .87T .U,n, w.th five ot er ships of the same class. The material is steel with copper .heathm,. Length ..5 feet, beam 44 feet 6 inches, displacement ..380 tons. hoL power .000, speed ,3 knots, armament 4 6-inch B.L.R. guns. 8 5-inch do . 4 3-pdrs quj^k finng. and 6 machine guns, with two boat guns, and two torpedo tubes aLe The compL-ment numbered 285 officers and men. The officer, appointed to the sh.p had a.ssembled on the upper deck to receive the Captain, the Hon. A. G. Cukzox- HowK. who punctually at nine o'clock stepped on board, when the pennant and ens,gn were ho.sted, and the ship declared in commission. The officers being nearly all strangers to each other and to the Captain, were introduced to the lattet by the First Lieutenant, R. B. Colmore. The following is a list of the officers who commissioned the ship:- Captain ..Hon. Asshcton G. Curzon-Howe, C.B., » 'St September, I rq2' KC^modort tnd Class during N„,fou„j,a„d fi.hinv teason, from May to October ) Snrttary. . . . William V. T. Leonard. , . ">*t September, i8q». Lieuftnani . . . .(N) Sackville H. Garden. ,. 'S'h August 1892. Luuttnant. . . .(Q) Reginald B. Colmore. »ist September, 1891. Z/,«/.,a„/.. Arthur J. Hcnniker. .,st Sept.. ,892. Ri-gin.ild Y Tynvhitt. r ist Sept.. . 892. Luul.nant R.K.R. David L. Neilson. 2,st Sept., Lieutmani Mar. William A. Harris. 2,st Sept ^892. Chaplain and \ Rev. Ernest G. Cull, M A hav.lmtr. \ 26th December, ',892. ataff-Surgeon. .William Tait, M.B. 2;st Sept. .892. ^/a^-/'a>'«..CunynghainSceales, 21st Sept., 1892. CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. C*.r»/#Wr,J>hn S. FuMell. isih August 1891. Sm6.li,Ht. . . Harry C. Doyle, , , „ S,pt. , 8„. Kmgimttr . . . .Alfred E. C. Deacon. j6th Aug. 1891. Gmmntr .... Edward ,?tar». nth August, 1891. Boatswain ..I'eter Shoa, ,7,h Augu.t. ,89.. Carpmh, . . . .John F. Joffory, 7,1, Sept.. 1 8„. Midshipman C>ril D. Hampshire. t>st Sept., 1891. Midshipman Rafe G. R. Co»wa,. „« Sept. li,.. Claude A. Ronibtilow P.arce, «i»t September, it^t. Fr»ncl« R. Wood, tut Sept. itji. Horace C. Watson, list Sept.. 1I91, Henry P. Douglas, ii.t Sept., ,|„! A^«/ C.A/. Walter I.. .Vllen. ,.« Sept. .I,,; ^'"^ Lc°n»'J F- Vixard, November. i89t. neve, I °\ ' ' " ''>'""''-°"«' ■•' ' ^y to ^e remembe,«i, .„d i. never f„rg„„e„ by anyone who ha, experienced it On .hl» dav one fim becom^ ac„ua,n,ed „l,h f„.„. „e.,.a.e,. .e,s„a.e, „,h „ho„ yon have .otetr mos. ,„,,™a,e .,a,ion, for .h.o yea. o, n,ore, for weeks or „on.h,, p^bably evt ou, of s„.h, of each Cher. ., is, .herefo., b„. „„„,, .ha. .he. houUI ^^71 During the firs, week or fortnigh, of .he commission, bo,h officer, and men have P en.y of work ,„ do. ,n a mas.ed ship, besides ,he genera, work of .he ship i^" ^e^ a. . e n,,,n,. mas., and saiis .o be reted. .ores of eve.y descrip'i 7^ Then .he Office., have .o form a mess, choose a mess commi..ee, selec. . me« and wme ca.oror. and procure ,he mess requisi.es, consis.ing „f p,a.e, crocke^., g,a„ ^d urnuure of vanous Hnds. The d.xkyard, .„o, in .he neighbourhood of a ship rece„.ly commissioned, h.., qui.e a lively appearance, caru and waggons laden wi.h governmen. Mores are arriving all day long, while .he large priva.e firm, and smaller .radesmen p,le up .he Jcy wi.h provisions, wines and various ar.icles „ecessa.y fo a long cru,se Nor are ,he men forgo.,en during all .his commo.ion, for Their c n^en, „h,ch ,s managed by a commi..ee from .he lower deck. wi.h a Lieu.enan. d r " '" ■" "'^" ""'"' "'* '"'^•'''''- •■""-' "-'^. -""i-. cheese and o.her .oothsome delicacies before leaving England. I. was no. „n,il .he .6.h of Oc.ober .ha, we were ,eady ,o go i„,„ ,he „„^ anu proceed ou.side ,he B.akwa.er for an hou.s s.eam .ri^ ofl en jl ti ^ r> " ' CRUISER OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. intended goin^r outside again the next day for a three hours' trial, but a south- westerly wind which sprang up during the night, prevented any attempt being made m that direction ; the trial was accordingly postponed until the 28th of October. On the successful completion of these trials, we returned to a buoy in Barn Pool. Here the Captain entertained H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and his Staff at dinner, and invited the heads of the several departments on board to meet him. We were to be inspected by K.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh on November the 2nd, but again the weather proved unpropitious, south-westerly gales with torrents of rain causing the inspection to be postponed until the next day. The sun rose on the 3rd of November in an unclouded sky; the wind had com- pletely gone, and the air felt fresh and invigorating after the storm and ram of the previous day. The Duke and his Staff arrived on board at 10 a.m., and stayed about two hours. Before leaving, he in his usual gracious and happy manner, which has made him so beloved in the Naval Service, complimented the Captain on the appear ance of his ship, and expressed best wishes for our welfare during the Commission. eiT"^ ■■SF'-i» CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER II. PLYMOUTH TO MADEIRA QIX preparatio,,., for sea having „„„ been completed, eve^one bein, „„ boar., .He les.:: ;t rale?? r """ ""' "' '"-■ "" "-=-- *= -•• -' ^" broke,, so ft,- t;: ' 7 ',""!; '° "' ""'' '•" "^" ■^^^ ■'^>- ""'=" « .0 seawa-d a„„ ' '' """ °™''''" "'"' '''"^'J' '"»'""« ''"""^ away darkaesHnd j t: ,::: f ' ' "'"' '"^'^'^ ^"^^ '-'^ '" >^"'°'" »" for three years a,r '""'"'■' '^"""'°" '"" ""= ""'' =""" ""= '-' °f ""-e ■or inree years , alas ! for some of us it was to be for ever. weste'J^Zti^t' "7' '"'"""" '"""' "' ''''-'"" '^'"y ■"' = "™"K south- wesieny gaJe, with f-equent ram squalls, and a nasty sea All thrr.,, ' .u . , Cleopatra had been show., us what .,he could doll w o "i:;"::" and corkscrew-like motions. One fell into th.f .. ■ ■ P'^^^hm^r, ,. "^" '"^° '"^t semi-conscious st-'»^-' ...anchc. looks, a sudd™ .^ VZJ::^"' ^ "' '" ""'"''' "' breakfast table. " ""■ "'"""' ''"'='<■ '■""' " """= <''')»• ""d occupies a considerable ■own CO al sand Th,s forma.,on may even now be seen in process near Pa^e. where cedar .ree,, are being buried i„ sand. Treacherous .efs of i , l' :re:;:rer:r;er:ii °: " "°" --' "^^' -^- -"- '- - ■- O.X one narrow .„rt„o„3 passage, which is carefully buo^^^td !« T^ r^ 4 — .* ••'t- ^-r. ' • / -"*^^- ,,~ly -•'^B a E .^1 ^ I -ff-'^mtS: CRUISE OF H.Nr.S. CLEOPATRA. 13 town of St. George and Murray's anchorage. From Murray's anchorage the channel follows the lanrl until opposite the dockyard, where we have the Naval anchorage of Grassy Bay. Grassy Bay is .separated from the Great Sound and Hamilton by the Stagg's Reefs, through which a pas.sagt is at present being cut by Messrs. Pearson, of London. The soil is poor, being mostly composed of coral sand, but is eminently adapted for bulbs, of which the natives grow immense quantities, in the form of onions and lilies (lilium longiflorum.) for export to New York. Cedars and Palmettos are the two commonest indigenous trees on the islands. The porous nature of the soil absorbs the rain almost as rapidly as it falls, there are, therefore, no fresh water wells, springs, or brooks; all the drinking water must be collected from the roofs of houses, &r , and stored in tanks. The quality of the water is remarkably good in Ireland island where care is taken of the tanks and houses. The climate of Bermuda varies greatly, the best season is during the months of November, April, and part of May. Then it is one gets the most equable and agree- able temperature. During the winter months of Januarj', February and March, Bermuda is visited by strong winds and frequent rains, and in the summer months the hea«; becomes oppressive, especially during September, which is looked upon as the most trying month in Bermuda. The humidity of the atmosphere is one of the greatest disadvantages to the climate, and although the summer temperature seldom exceeds 86°, the amount of oppressiveness and disinclination for exertion would lead one to infer a much higher temperature. Americans flock to Bermuda in large numbers during the winter months ; the earliest arrivals being generally in the beginning of December. They patronise chiefly Hamilton, where there are some large hotels conducted on the American system, and which are only open during the winter months. The Americans begin to leave in April, and generally have all left before the end of May. Hamilton is the principal town in the island, ard is the seat of the Government ; and during the winter months is full of gaiet)', light, and fashion. St. George's, the former capital of Bermuda, long disputed with Hamilton the right to be considered the chief city and centre of attraction. M TRT-isF mf H.^f> rr.KOPATRA. Almost ihe only recreations in Bermuda are lawn tennis and cricket. The lawn tennis club ground in Ireland is on a piucu of reclaimed land, near the Naval Hospital. 1 lere the residents and Xaval ( )fificers indulge in play on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On Wednesdays tea is provided, and the Flagship's baml plays when the ship is in harlxjur. The Xaval cricket ground is in Somerset, and matches are usually played on Thursdays and Saturdays, -mooting, fishing, and riding can scarcely be said to be sports patronised in Bermuda, although keen fishermen occasionally hire a large boat and go out eight or ten miles to fish on the reefs. A stray snipe, or plover, is occasionally blown to Bermuda shores in the fierce winter gales. Bermuda has long borne an evil reputation, and even before Shakespeare wrote of the "Still vex'd Bermoothes," Bermuda and its neighbourhood had acquired an unenviable notoriety for storms and bad weather. The islands were long supposed to be haunted by spirits, witches, or devils, and were at one time known as the " Devil's Islands." Ships that came within the influence of these enchanted isles were looked upon as doomed, and the islands were shunned and dreaded alike, by mariners and adventurers. All this we can understand, when we consider the old sailing ships, the variable strong winds, the frequent storms, tlie outlying reefs, and charts badly surveyed, or not sur\'eyed at all. We remained in Grassy Bay, except for six days, when we went into the Camber to coal, &c., until the evening of January 3rti, when we proceeded to Murray's anchorage preparatory- to our West Indian Cruise. <2i=r^^ ,.91 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 15 CHAPTER IV. BERMUDA TO ANTIGUA, ytyH weighed anchor at 8 a.m. in company with the Blake, Tourmaline, Mohawk, Pelican, and Buzzard, and proceeded towards the West Indies. On our way south we had fleet evolutions every forenoon. The weather, which was stormy when we started, improved as we approached the tropics. On the morning- of January loth, we sighted the low land of Barbuda, which we skirted on our starboard hand, and arrived in St John's Harbour, Antigua, the same day at i p.m. We anchored in the outer anchorage, about three miles from the town of St. Johns ; and were joined by the Magicienne, Tartar, and Partridge, which ships had been lying in English Harbour on the other side of the island. During our passage H.M.S. Tourmaline broke down in her machinery and was left Ijehind. Antigua lies in lat. 17° 6' N, and 61" 45/ long. It is one of the Leeward islands, and the most important of the group, being the seat of the Government and the residence of the Governor, Sir W'.m. Fred Hayne-Smitu. The population is about 3.1,000. Antigua had once a large Military Garrison and a Naval Dockyard, but here, as elsewhere in the West Indies, nothing remains of the military' occupation except the ruins of barracks, fortifications, and old smooth-bore guns, while the dockyard is deserted, but lor a caretaker. Speaking generally, the militarj' barrack:, in the West Indies, especially when near a town, are occupied by the police, or converted into workhouses, leper hospitals, gaols, and other public institutions. When not used for such purposes they are allowed to fall into decay. The first thing that strikes one on landing at Antigua is the crowd of idle men and women lounging about the pier and streets. It is no exaggeration to say a crowd, because one has to struggle to obtain a footing on the jetty, and then to elbow and hght his way through a joking, laughing mass of coloured natives, to gain the ■ ■/:!?=■. is? ♦/■ i6 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. street. It may be asked why they congregate at the landing steps ? It may be from mere curiosity to see the boats and naval men land from the ships, and a desire to display their good humoured wit and jokes, often at the expense of the stranger; but this curiosity is combined with an irresistible attraction for social gatherings and gossip, so dearly loved by the negro race. A few of the women have bananas, oranges, pines, and other fruits for sale, but they do not appear anxious to find purchasers. There is generally a large staff of police on duty, but one never sees them interfere with anyone of mature age, although occasionally a couple will pounce upon a boy of eight or ten years and march him off amidst jeers and laughter from the crowd. The town of St. John's must have been at one time in a much more flourishing condition than at present. The streets are wide, and well laid out, the houses large, airy, and well built, but now -n a ruinous and dilapidated state. Enough remiins to show the former prosperity of the place, liverywhere one sees the signs of ruin antl decay ; dwelling houses, and warehouses shut up, or falling rapidly into disrepair, jalousies broken, glass wanted in the windows ; while the want of paint for the wood- work is almost universal. The inhabitants are mostly black, and appear lazy, idle, and indifferent either to the comfort of riches, or the miseries of poverty. On Januar)- the i ;2th, we landed men from the fleet for a Naval Review. It was intended to leave the ship at 8-30 a.m.. but owing to the heavy rain, we did not land until 1-30 p m The " shore "' challenged the Fleet to a tennis tournament, and beat us easily; the tennis courts here are in very good order, and the players are clso verv good. On the 13th, a ride team of Officers shot against the local rifle club, the club securing the victory We were entertained most hospitably, being driven out to the rifle range, provided with an excellent lunch, and driven back again. The Governor gave a ball in the evening. On January the 14th, we had the usual cricket match— usual, because without exception, we had at least one cricket match at each island we visited in the West Indies. The residents in .\ntigua, both white and coloured, are most enthusiastic cricketers and have an excellent ground, but our eleven, captained by Lieut. Carue.v, scored an easy victory, having only ten runs to make in the 2nd. innings. f 'tm CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA, 17 CHAPTER V. DOMINICA. 0N Sunday, Januan' the 15th, we weighed at 6-30 a.m., and proceeded under sail, with fires banked. We passed Guadeloupe, a French island, on the port beam, .Montserrat on the starboard, and anchored in Roseau Bay, on the south west coast of Dominica, on Monday, at noon. Of all the West Indian Islands, Dominica is the loveliest and most -jictures(,ue. It is extremely mountainous, some of the peaks rising to a height of 4000 feet, and densely clothed with vegetation, which far from presenting to the eye one uniform mass of green, varies immensely, from yellow through all the shades of green to pale cobalt blue, and the showers of rain, which for ever pass across the slopes of the mountains, give, with the bright hot sun, all the iridescent hues of the rainbow. It is very mrc to see the tops of the moui.lains, around which clouds are constantly forming, driven by the steady north-east trade wind, and as constantly discharging their contents as heavy showers of rain, on the western slopes. The climate of Dominica is verj' moist, the showers may be hourly, and often fall from a cloudless sky with bright sunshine. The rainfall is least on the sea coast, and increases as you advance up the hills ; it is given in hooks as 83 inches annually, but 140 and 180 inches were registered on an estate quite low on the hills. The greater part of the island is inaccessible and unexplored, and only a strip along the coast is cultivated. Owing to the great humidity and rank vegetation, the island is extrem(;ly unhealthy, malignant malarial fevers being very prevalent. Prince Rupert's Bay, on the north-west of the island, was once an important port, but being situated on an alluvial plain, like many other West Indian Towns, is very fatal to Europeans. The island is of volcanic origin ; hot springs still exist, and sulphur i8 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. '■- thrown out in abundance by tb:: soufreres. Although the largest of the Leeward group, Dominica contains very few white inhabitants, only between 300 and 400; the blacks number about 26,000; and the Caribs, who have a small settlement on the windward side of the island, are yearly becoming fewer. The military have been withdrawn many years, and the barracks converted into police barracks, hospitals, and other public institutions. There is good fishing in the streams between Roseau and Prince Rupert town, fresh water mullet, of about 2-lbs. weight, take the artificial fly, but the natural grasshopper is the most deadly bait. During our stay here, the inhabitants gave a regatta for the fleet, both sailing and pulling races, with prizes for the men. Captain Clrzox-Howe won the sailing race for galleys. A cricket match between the fleet and shore was won by the former ; a like result attended the tennis tournament. Commissioner Le Huxt gave a ball at Government House which was well attended. The principal productions here are cocoa, iime, and coffee. Sugar is row rather falling into a secondary importance, while cocoa, limes, and cofiee are coming rapidly to the tront. The limes are grown chiefly for the production of citric acid. eSg^"^ i /'/l.i/.n, .,/,', /, II . /,,,/ /,',.\". lulleek Waggon, Dominlea. f,>.' of coal is constantly stored. The harbour and approaches have been strongly fortified. We were coaltjd alongside the wharf by black women, who carry the coa! in baskets on the head. The weather was hot and oppressive, and the port being completely surrounded by hills, is sheltered from all winds, which renders the town much more unhealthy than the barracks on the hill. The great scourge of St. Lucia is the Fer-de Lance, or rat-tailed snake, which is found not only in St. Lucia but also in the French possessions of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and is a native of Guiana, on the South American Continent. The bite from this reptile rapidly proves fatal, and although its numbers may have been exaggerated, there can be little doubt that it is yet fairly numerous in the bush. Sugar is still the chief production of the island, but cocoa is also extensively cultivated. Sugar is grown here on the Central Factory System. The scener>- in 20 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. St. Lucia is very grand, and resembles Dominica ; its mountains, thickly clothed with forest, run up to a height of over ^ooo feet. It also resembles Dominica in its abundance of ra'i and malarial fevers. We left St Lucia at 6 a.m. on January the 23rd, and anchored in the bay of Kingstown, St. Vincent, the same afternoon. The island is volcanic, and was visited by a severe earthquake and eruption in 1812. The area of disturbance was felt over the greater part of the West Indies and Central States of America ; many of the estates in St. Vincent were ruined ; and so violent was the eruption, that the nexi day at Barbados, eighty miles to windward, the sun was obscured, and amidst intense darkness, a fine black duat fell to the depth of several inches. There is still an active volcano in St. Vincent, called the " Soufriere," at an altitude of 3000 feet. The inhabitants number about 50,000, and are chiefly black. The fleet wai: beaten in both the cricket match and lawn tennis tournament, played in Kingstown. The cricket pitch is entirely devoid of grass, and is covered with gravel and hard clay, so that to play well on surh a ground would require a considerable amount of practice. The Administrator gave a dance at Government House, which is situated in the Botanical Gardens, about a mile from the town. During our stay here, we had heavy squall.s of r^'n and wind, sweeping down from the hills which surround the harbour in the form of a semicircle, making the Bay dangerous for boat sailing. The chief exports are nutmegs and arrowroot, and, of course sugar ; on dit, that the price of arrowroot has fallen much, owing to over production. eST"^ o O CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 21 CHAPTER VII. BARBADOS AND GRENADA. |N January the 25th we prepared to steam against the strong trade wind to Harhados— which is the most easterly or windward of all the West Indian Islands— by sending down the lower yards and gallant masts. We weighed anchor at 6-30 p m., and after a night of pitching and plunging against a head sea, arrived in Carlisle Bay, Bridgetown, the chief town of Ba:'jados, at 8 a.m. on the 26th of January. The island of Barbados comprises about 106,000 acres, and differs from the other West Indian Islands ;arly the whole area being under cultivation. Sugar still holds its own as the chief production. The old sugar mills were driven by wind, but the newer mills have s^eam as a motive power. The island is thickly populated about 182,000, of which 18, xx) are whites, the remainder coloured. Barbados is almost the only West Indian Lsland where we see the negro doing a hard day's work, not that the negro in Barbados loves work, but that he m ly live. There are no unreclaimed lands for him to squat upon and spend his days in idleness, while fed by the indulgent hand of nature, which in the West Indies produces all the necessaries of life without toil or trouble. The negro in the West Indies, generally, has merely to sit under the shade of the cocoa nut palm, and wait for the ripe fruit to drop into his lap, or stretch out his hand to gather the banana, and bread fruit ; while yams, sweet potatoes, oranges, and pine apples scarcely require any cultivation. But a too indulgent nature, like a too indulgent mother, spoils her children, and the industrious negro of Barbados compares favourably with his more fortunate, or unfortunate brethren, in other West Indian Islands. Barbados is the head quarters of the Military in the West Indies, both British and West Indian troops being stationed here. The climate is, on the whole, reckoned 23 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. hoalthy, hut elcphantcascs and Kpru.sy are cnik-mic anionjjst ihe colouretl race, and yellow fever has, at intervals, visited the island v. ith disastrous effects. We had the Fleet Rejjatta here, both .sailing and pulling: races. The usual West Jndian hospit- alities were presented to the fleet — dances, cricket matches, and dinners. F< '•m Barbados we ran with a fair wind dovTi to Grenada, and anchored in the harbour off the town of St. Georjje, at 2 p.m., on the 3rd of F'ebruary. We anchored in the outer anchorajj^e ; the inner harbour is one of the finest in the West Indies, and is wholly enclosed by high lands, except the entrance of about 200 yards, which renders the harbour and town very hot. On the left, on entering the harbour, perched on the top of a hill, are the remains of an old fort and barracks, now occupietl by the police ; and scattered over the steep slopes of the semicircle, enclosing the harbour, is the town of St. George. The island is volcanic, and it is quite evident that the port is the crater of an extinct volcano, while another extinct crater forms a lake, " Grand Etang," at a height of 1,740 feet aoove sea level. The scenerj- on the way to the "Grand Eitang " is very fine and picturesque ; the lake itself being surrou led with bamboos and tree ferns, while the .lir feels cold and invigorating, especially when compared with the sweltering heat of the valleys below. We had the usual cricket match, which we won by nearly an innings ; rlso some excellent dances. Cocoa and nutmegs seem to be the principal productions, but coffee and sugar are also grown. The timber of the island includes some ver}' valuable woods. There is a fine Botanical Garden, about two miles from the town, in which are grown young plants for the estates, coffee, nutmegs, &c. The weather was very .showery during our stay here, and the annual rainfall must be very heavy, from the high mountains (3000 feet), and rank vegetation. There are verj' few white inhabitant mi Grenada. eST"^ ' Ife^v. if t. O ■ m -iir , ^■.^"~ — T-. — -..^- , - ; riTi^-^ — --^ "a isi CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 23 CHAPTER VIII. TRINIDAD. 7tYl-: left Grenada at 6 p.m., on the 6th of February, and proceeded to Trinidad, the most southerly of all the West Indian Islands, and only about seven miles from the continent of South America. The morning after leaving Grenada we found ourselves heading towards a range of mountains appearing at a distance to be one continuous range, but in reality they were the highlands of South America on the right, and the island of Trinidad on the left. As we approached, the haze, which enshrouded the land, gradually dispersed, and we saw the hugh green wall of vegetation split and soon open out into a narrow passage between some islands called " Boca de Monos," or Monkey's mouth. We steamed into this opening, which is only a few hundre(' yards across. On either side preciintous mountains rise to a height of 800 or icoo feet, densely clothed with timber and shrulis from their summits down even to the water's edge ; behind, we had left the trade wind and swell of the Atlantic ; before us, lay the narrow tortuous passage, calm as the proverbial mill pond, leading into the Gulf of Paria. This is one of the most delightful stretches in the West Indies . at every turn a new panorama is presented to the spectator, here and there, in nooks and bays, we see a fisherman's hut surrounded by cocoanut trees and bananas, and backed by the primeval forest, while his boat, nets, and fishing gear lie scattered on the white sandy beach in front. Occasionally we see a better built hou.se, a villa, perched on some island or promontory, and evidently belonging to some wealthy resident in Port of Spain, who .seeks, in this secluded spot, relief from the cares and worr>' of business, and spends his time in a delicious far vicntc. All here is peace and c,uietness, .save for a spla.sh of a pelican which is hovering over a shoil of fish, and ever and again shoots down upon its finny prey, which he seldom or never mis.ses. 24 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. We soon glided int(j the bay of Paria, which is a vast sheet of shallow, turhid water, with muddy bottom. The turbidity or muddiness is due to the deposit brought down, chiefly by the great river Orinoco, and is visible many miles to sea- ward. Our passage through the bay was marked liy a long yellow streak in our wake, caused by the screw churning up this (' ^^(ij '• King of the Corbeaux," which perform the duly of sca\engers, and appear to do it well. They, like the scavenger I ^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. *S dogs of the easteri. cities, seem each to have his own particular district to superintend. Ever) house and courtyard has its corbeaux, which may be seen sitting- patiently in rows, on the roofs and walls, spreading their wings to the sun, waiting for some savour)' scrap to be thrown into the street. They are tame, and go leisurely about their work on the crowded street, undisturbed by the noise and bustle of traffic. Fish salesmen, and butchers' shops, as may be imagined, are zealously guarded by a crowd of t.iese vultures, while high overhead, the sky is studded with dark spots, the same birds wheeling in majestic circles until lost to sight. Although the trees in the town are used by these vultures as roosts at night, they nest far away from the town, in the mountains. Heavy penalties are incurred by anyone molesting or injuring these scavengers. Tram cars drawn by mules run through the principal streets of the town. East Indian and Chinese labour is largely imported into Trinidad The East Indian Coolie is brought over in great numbers at the expen- ■ of the Coiony, and under strict Government regulations in accordance with the treaty rights of the Indian and Colonial Governments. Ti;e Indian Government takes great precautions in order to check any abuse in the Coolie traffic ; not only are the interests of the Coolie most carefully guarded in India, but in Trinidad also. All the Coolies are inspected before emigrating ; the ship is inspected so as to prevent overcrowding, and to secure certain sanitary measures. When the Coolie arrives in Trinidad, he is dealt with according to his state. If ill, he is sent to the Hospital ; if too weak to work, to the Depot ; but if tit to labour, he is indentured for five years to the employers who have made applications for him. Then the employer is bound i)y strict rules in his treat- ment of the Coolie. Families are not allowed to be separated ; no estate can employ Coolie labour that has not a hospital capable of accommodating at least one tenth of the whole number of Coolies, with a cubic capacity of 800 feet each. He is supposed to work 280 days a year, nine hours a day. The English eight hours a day movement has not yet reached Trinidad. At first the Coolie was paid in coin, but latterly he has been given part of his w; 'es in rations, as it was found he starved himself, and was rendenxl unfit for work through his love of hoarding up his gains in hard cash. After the expiration of his five years' indenture, he can re- 26 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. engage himself for another twelve months, or V-i can seek employment where he pleases. After ten years service he k entitled to a free passage back to India, or to a Government grant of lO acres of land, on which he and his family can settle down. A comparatively large number have availed themselves of this latter privilege, and now form Coolie villages and colonies. No one who has spent a f'-"' months in the West Indies, can have failed to mark the great contrast between the Coolie and the Negro. The Coolie is quiet, stately, dignified, and pclitc ; and, although his clothing consists of only a piece nf cotton round his loins, his manners proclaim him a gentleman. The Coolie woman is slender, with delii-ate fine features, small hands and feet ; she is stately and graceful in all her movements, and with a few yards of calico she is draped from head to foot in a most becoming and modest manner. Compare this with the negro or negress — who is noisy, obtrusive, large-footed, coarse in features, awkward in gait, and vulgar in what one is pleased to call manners. During our stay in Trinidad, the Governor, Sir F. Napier-Broome, and Lady Broome, gave a "fancy dress ball," which was a very brilliant affair, the costumes being particularly good. Mrs. Gordon-Gordon also gave a ball. Our cricket match was stopped by the rain, as were also the gymkana, and horse races, ar-anged by the inhabitants. The scenery around Trinidad is decidedly tropical, bamboos, either in detached bouquets, or massed together in extensive beds by the water courses, forming a distinct feature in the landscape. The climate is very hot and moist, and rather sickly ; yellow fever is not unknown, and malarial fever is common. "m^ w^^. m-"^^^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 27 CHAPTER IX JAMAICA. TITE left Trinidad on Sunday, February 12th, at 6 a.m. On jjettins- outside, we found a strong north-east trade wind, which we retained all the way to Jamaica. We therefore made sail, and hoisted the scrow. Every morning^ we lowered the screw and furled sails, and performed steam tactics with the fleet, hoisting screw and making sail again in the evening. We did as much as 8^ to gi knots under sail alone, on this passage. We arrival off Port Royal, Jamaica, at 9 a.m., on the morning of February the 17th, but before one gets near Port Royal, the high lands of Jamaica have been in sight for many hours. The Blue Mountains, which traverse the island from east *o west, are seen from far out to sea, usually with their summits wreatned in clouds ; but if one should be so fortunate as to get a cloudless day, then the mountains can be .seen rising out of the fertile plains, covered with bu,sh and verdure, with clearings in their lower half, and terminating in clear cut jagged peaks, at a height of between 7000 and 8000 feet. A little below one of the peaks, and stuck, as it were, on an outlying spur, is a small whitish patch, which is the camp of Newcastle. Newcastle, which is 4000 feet above the .sea level, is at present the headquarters of the white troops stationed in Jamaica, and has been occupied since 1842. The mean annual temperature at this height is 66°; the hottest month, August, 67°; the coldest, Februar}-, 61°. The annual fluctuation is, therefore, only 6°, but the diurnal range is greater. The situation is plea.sant, when not enveloped in mi.sts and clouds, but a trifle monotonous. We went alongside the coaling jetty at Port Royal and filled up with coal. 28 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. Port Royal, Palisades, and yellow fever are Intimately associated In the Entfllsh mind. Port Royal stantls on th(! end of a spit of sand about thirteen miles In lon,s,'th, and only a few hundred yards across, which acts as a breakwater for the harl)our of Kingston. The present town of Port Royal consists of a collection of tumble-down wooden houses and hovels ; dirty narrow streets, with powerful smells ; sand and dust everj'where. ,\nd vet, this I.-) the place reputed to have been "the finest town In the West Indies and the richest spot in the Universe"; Its opulence seems to have reached Its zenith just before the earthtjuake which occurred on the 7th of June, 1692. We are told that the architecture was jjlorious, and the residences sumptuous ; while the banquets were served with ,i,rold and silver |)late. The Buccanneers, who, for lonq^, made Port Rcjval notorious, brou,i,'ht immense wealth into the place, which servetl as their g^reat storehouse for treasure. The earth(iuake of 1692, almost entirely destroyed the town of 2ocx3 houses, and what escaped the carth(juake was consumed by the fire in 1703. The sea covered the j^reater part of the town after the earthquake and It Is said the ruins of old Port Royal can still be seen in fine weather off the Point. Many of the places around Port Royal have a most depresslni,'- and melancholy effect. The church is old, and filled with tablets containlntj many ok' and noble Knj,dish names, and recording that of many a naval hero who sleeps In the adjoining palisades. The " Palisades" is a gloomy and dismal waste of sand, ...th here and there thorny scrub and salt lagoons Inhabited only by fierce crabs. One finds It Impossible to dissociate the thoughts from that long mournful procession which for centuries ha been carrj-Ing out, and burning here the last remains of those who fall in Port Roval : -some of England's bravest sons, sailors, soldiers, and civilians, their wives and children, carried off" by yellow fever and pestilence. " To cheat the Palisades " has passed Into a rather gruesome jest amongst the residents In Port Royal, who say that grief for the loss of a friend Is frequently assuaged by the pleasing thought that it is not yet their turn. The Dockyard and neighbouring Naval Hospital are the only bright and clean spots in Port Royal. The Dockyard is very- clean, and planted with palm trees, with the Commodore's house almost in the middle of the yanl. From a tower on the Commodore's house a splendid view can be obtained over the island and anchorages. ^■^^^ fm^SfSVR 4 t o O i^^M^y^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CI.FOPATRA. 29 The Hospital is large, commodioun, and airy. We left Port Royal on February i8th, and joined the fleet at anchor, off Kin^^ston. Kin;jston, the capital, is the seat of t'.ic Government, and contains over 48,000 inhabitants. The buildincj-s have no pretension to architectural beauty, but on the contrar)', are a miserable collection of delapidated wooden houses, innocent of paint, and of all repairs ; open ^[Utters run down the streets, which are unpaved, full of ruts and large holes, and often filled with green, filthy water. The Navj' played the Garri.son at cricket, but were badly beaten. e^^ trfrmmmm 30 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER X. WEST INDIES TO NEWFOUNDLAND. ytrE left the fleet at Kingston on Februar)- the 21st. in order to arrive at Bermuda ^^ before the other ships. We did our full speed trial after leavint,'^ Jamaica, but found it extremely difficult to keep the stoke-holds cool, and althou.q-h the ordinarj- cowls were supplemented by wind.sails, the temperature rose to 140" fah. The Stokers and Engine-room staff could only remain, as may be imagined, a verj- short time in this temperature. One man was struck down with heat apoplexy, and remained unconscious for over an hour, but ultimately recovered ; others had to retire owing to the heat. In two days' run from Jamaica it felt quite cool, and when we arrived at Bermuda on Februar)- the 28th, it was posi<=vely cold. We fired the cjuarterly ammunition in Murray's anchorage, and then went up to Gra.ssy Bay. We proceeded alongside the Dockyard for refit on March the 2nd. This refit would have been completed in England on the shij) being recommissioned, but the Authorities were verj' anxious to despatch us as soon as possible, so as to add to the numerical strength on the station. All defects not completed in England, wen- ordered to be finished in Bermuda. We remained in Dockyard hands until the 20tli April. On April the 13th, the Blake, Australia. Magicienne, Tartar, and Partridge left for New York, to take part in the Naval Demonstration, which formed part of the opening ceremony of the World's Fair. On leaving the Dockyard we , roceeded to Murray's anchorage, and carried out prize firing. On April the 25th, after firing topedos, we l"fl fo- Halifax. On the third day after leaving I'.crmuiia, having almost crossed the (iulf Stream, and run about 300 miU ■; from IU>rmuda, the temperature began to fall rapidl)-. it fell from 63" at 8 a.m., to 53" at noon ; 46" at 7 p.m., and 38" at midnight. The sea out water fell at the same time, from 62° at 6 p.m., to 54° at 7 p.m., and 38" at midni},'ht, and remained stationary for the rest of the voyage at 38" fah. This sudden fall in temperature was accompanied by a fresh north-westerly wind and rain, and was productive of much catarrh in the ship. We went alongside the dockyard at Halifax, coaled, and opened the sick cjuarters for the reception of the sick from the two ships in harl)Our — Cleopatra and Buzzard. Halifax is a town which certainly does not impress a visitor favourably at first. The houses are mostly built of wood, and look gloomy and dull. The streets, in the autumn and spring, are deep in mud, while in summer, they are equally deep in dust. The side pavements are rough, uneven, and often impassable, from tradesmen's boxes, bales or carts that are backc! into the shop doors — called here stores — so that the wretched foot-pa.ssenger has to take to the road, often as not, knee-deep in mud. All the natives in winter and spring wear "rubbers," in the shape of high-legged India-rubber boots, like sea boots, with which they defy snow slush or mud. The streets are lighted by the plectric light, which is dazzling in brilliancy for five minutes, and then suddenly becomes extinguished, leaving one to grope his way in darkness, until it as suddenly flares up again. There is an excellent club — the "Halifax" — of which the committee kindly make us honorary members during our stay in the town. The fresh butter, milk and eggs of Halifax, are eagerly anticipated by the Naval Officer, especially after his sojourn in the West Indies and Bermuda, where such commodities, if they exist, which is doubtful, may l)e procurable by the initiated native, but certainly not by the Naval Officer. We remained at Halifax until the i6th of May, and then proceeded to St. John's, Newfoundland, calling at St. Pierre on the way. The weather during this voyage was extremely di.sagreeable, fog with rain, and blowing fresh from the north-east. The fog lifted for a few hours, and allowed us to enter the harbour of St. Pierre, where we found the French Admiral in the " Naiade." After receiving and returning the calls of the French Admiral, and the Governor of .^it. Pierre, we got under way and proceeded to St. John's, in the usual Newfoundland style, by groping our way with Sir Wm. Thomson's sounding machine, and keeping the steam siren blowing. ■MWiHi 32 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XI. ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND /Jf LL that can be seen, when approaching St. John'.s from the sea, is an iron-bound coast, with high precipitous cliffs, apparen'ily without a break, and it is only when the ship gets close to the shore, that the opening of the "narrows " beco.nes visible. Fortunately, on this our first visit, the fog cleared, and we were able to enter the harbour boldly. The entrance is verj' narrow, only about 200 hundred yards across at the narrowest part, and flanked on either side with steep cliffs. On t'le summit of the northern cliff is perched the signal station, at a height of 520 feet, from which a gun is fired daily at 1 2 noon. On the southern cliff is Fort Amherst Light- house, with fog signal gun ; and on a steep slope, facing the entrance, lies the town of St. John's, dominated by the Roman Catholic cathedral, which is a large structure erected on the highest ground in St. John's, and acts as a leading mark to navigators. We moored about 6 p.m., on May the 20th, in St. John's harbour, which is large, commodious, and perfectly land-locked. The town occupies all the northern side of the harbour, whereas the southern side has only some seal -oil refineries, and stages for dr}'ing fish. The weather was bitterly cold, with a penetrating north-east wind. St. John's, the Capital of Newfoundland, with about 30,000 inhabitants, stands on the east coast. In the Avalon Peninsula. The town was at one time garrisoned by English troops, who were stationed i)oth in the town, and on the top of the Signal Hill ; the barracks of the latter still remain in a good state of repair, and are u.sed as charitable institutions. The entrance to St. John's was formerly stiongly Ijrtified, the remains of me batteries, which flanked the narrows on both sides, can yet be seen ; while across the narrowest part was stretched a chain, the fastenings of which remain. The troops have been withdrawn from the island for many years. ■/ - ■a c t Z s I c X e ■j^'m^M' CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 33 The town was almost completely destroyed by fire in the summer of 1892. This is the second appallng fire which has visited the town of St. John's ; the first was on the 9th of June, 1864, when a large part of the town was destroyed, and the damage estimated at ^ i ,000,000. The summer of 1892 was remarkable for the long continued drought ; for weeks there had been no rain, the pastures were burned up, forest fires were raging all over the country, and particularly around St. John's. On the 8th of July, the water supply was cut off from the town ;or some necessary repairs to the pipes, and by a remark- able, and no le.ss unfortunate coincidence, a fire broke out in a stable, in the north-east part of the town, and fanned by a strong westerly wind, spread rapidly through the city. The great majority of the houses were built of wood, with shingle roofs, just like the houses that were destroyed in the previous fire, and exactly similar to the houses they are now erecting, which in dr)' weather afford splendid material for combustion. The burning shingle was carried by the fresh breeze to various parts of the town, and also right across the harbour to Signal Hill, a distance of about half a mile, and there acted as the starting point of numerous other fires. The infectious diseases ho.spital was at an early period consumed, although it was located on Signal Hill, and far removed from other dwellings, even the grass and shrubs on this hill were burned. Although most of the houses were built of wood, yet those built of stone did not escape. The English Cathedral, reckoned one of the finest edifices on this side of the Atlantic, although not ijuite completed, was bur ^d. So, likewise, with the; other churches, libraries, public halls, &c., nothing was left of the houses in the way of the fire, but the brick chimneys, and here and there a piece of ironwork. The wharves were burned, even the supporting piles were burn- o the water's edge, and in many cases we could see where the fire had hollowed out the centre of the pile, leaving a hollow cylinder projecting above the water. The heat from the fire must have be-n terrific, as the silver in the safes was almost invariably melted, and in many instances the iron itself had been fused. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, which crowns the town of St. John's, and is almost isolated, escaped the fire, as did also the western part of the town, which is inhabited by the poorer class, and in which the Post Office is situated. Hundreds of families were rendered homeless after the 34 CRUIS2 OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. fire, and although friends, whose houses had escaped, did all that hospitality could do in accommodating and entertaining the destitute, yet many could not find shelter of any sort, and were accordingly lodged in the park, in tents, and temporary huts, by the Government. Two years after the fire, many of these huts in the park were still occupied by families who seemed to find the accommodation all that could be desired, and were perfectly happy and contented. We had now arrived on our station. The Commodore had hoisted his pennant, and had under his charge, besides the Cleopatra, the Pelican and Buzzard. The Pelican was stationed at St. George's Bay, for duty on the west coast, while the Buzzard carried out the duties on the east coast. These duties are mainly directed towards diminishing the friction which exists between the two nationalities of fisher- men, French and English, and endeavouring to carry out the treaty rights of 1783. GiC*>^ Ido r of by still red, ant, The the ;ted ber- 5- c a o ti a. ■o c 3 m a o I M'^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 35 CHAPTER XII. FISHERIES. ra NGLISH Fishery in Newfoundland. For centuries Newfoundland was used only as a stage for dr>-ing fish which were caught in its waters. Thousands of fishermen left FCngland each year to nsh on its banks, and around its shores, but the most rigorous laws were enacted to prevent any person remaining behind during the winter, or any attempt at colonisation. It was to the interest of the fishing merchants to retain Newfoundland to themselves, simply as a depot for stores, or as a shelter to their fishermen, where they could repair their boats. In the language of an Under Secretary : " The island of Newfoundland had been considered in all former times as a great English ship, moored near the banks, during the fishing season, for the convenience of the English fishermen." The master of a vessel was bound in /loo, to bring back at the end of each season, such persons as he had taken to the fishery. No one was allowed to settle within six miles of the shore ; no ground could be enclo-sed, or cultivated, without special permission ; and " all plantations in New- foundland were to be discouraged." Notwithstanding these hard and repressive measures, a few hardy adventurers smuggled their families into the island, and v/ere scattered up and down its shores, and steadily increased in numbers. We therefore find a Major Klford, Lieutenant and Governor of St. John's, who seems to have been imbued with a scientific, as well as a radical spirit, in regard to the laws of population, recommending " to allow no woman to land in the island, and that means should be adopted to remove those that were there. 36 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. As late as 1799 houses erected in St. John's without a license were pulled down by order of the Governor, and restrictions on buildinj,', and on enclosing, and cultivating: the ground were not entirely removed until 1820. A grer.t grievance was the arbitarj- law of the Merchant Captains. The master of the first fishing vessel to enter a port, was made the Admiral for the .sea.son, and Magistrate of the district. These fishing Admirals were invested with authority from E.igland to settle all questions relating to property and other disputes. There was no appeal from their decision, and therefore their povers were practically unlimited. The dawn of better days, although late, appeared in the annointment of Naval Governors for the island of Newfoundland < 1728. A Captain Henry O.sborne. of H.M.S. Squirrel, was the first to assume the Government of the whole island, but during the summer months only ; a resident Governor was not appointed until after the peace of 181 5. Shortly after the discover)- of Newfoundland, French fishermen were in its waters, and the French, seeing the importance and wealth of the fishing industr}-, used ever)- effort to found an empire in the New World. Nova .Scotia and Canada were settled in the sixteenth and .seventeenth centuries by the PVench, who soon endeavoured to gain possession of Newfoundland, which was then wholly English. In 1635, the French obtained the right from the English, of dr)-ing their fish on the shores of Newfoundland, for which they paid a small tax, but this was discontinued in 167s. In 1660, the French founded Placentia, which they .strongly fortified, and used as a base from which to found other settlements around the coast. The Treaty of I'trccht, 17 13, gave the French the right of fi.shing from Point Rich, on the west coast of the island, round the north of Cape Bonavista, on the east voast, and of using that part of thp shore for dr}ing and salting their fi.sh. The treaty provided that " it .should not be lawful for the subjects of France to fortify any place in the Island of Newfoundland, or erect any buildings there besides stages, made of boards id huts, necessar}- and usual for the drying offish, or to resort to the said Island beyond the time necessary for fishing and drying of fish." Newfoundland CRITISE OF H.F.rS. CLEOPATRA. $7 has, a;,'ain and ajjain, been the scene of sanpuinar)' conflicts between the two nations. Naval fi<:'its at sea, sieg^es, and battles on land, have each been enacted with varying success. Although the French had renounced all claim to their possessions in North America, w*iich had been wrested from them by the brilliant victories of the English under Wolfe, they yet hoped to gain possession of Newfoundland, and maintain there the fishing industry. The last attempt to capture Newfoundland was made y a descent upon the town of St. John's, which has been many times taken and retaken by both nations, in 1762. A naval force was despatched from France for this purpose, and landed on the Newfoundland coast, at Bay Bulls, twenty miles south of St. John's, and by forced marches surprised the garrison of that town, and drove the English out. Lord CoLvir.i.i., hearing of what had happened, sailed immediately from Halifax, and blockaded the French Fleet in St. John's. Here he was joined by Col. Amhbrst, at the head of 800 men, mostly Highlanders, who landed at Torbay, marched on St. John's, and carried Signal Hill by assault. The French garrison soon surrendered, and were despatched to France. " The French were thus for the la.st time summarily expelled from Newfoundland " (Harvey.) The treaty of Paris, 1763, confirmed the former treaty, and also gave the French the possession of the two Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, on the south coast, as a shelter to their fishermen. " His Most Christian Majesty engages not to fo-tify the said Islands, to erect no buildings upon them, but merely for the convenience of the fisher)', and to keep upon them a guard of fifty men only for the police." The treaty of \'ersailles, 1783, confirmed the former treaties, except that the French shore was altered, so that it extended from Cape Ray, on the south western extremity of the Island, round the north to Cape St. John, on the north-east coast. His Britannic Majesty, " in order that the fishermen of the two nations might not give cause for daily quarrels, engages to take the most positive measures for pre- ventmg his subjects from interrupting in any manner, by their competition, the nshery of the French during the temporary exercise of it which is granted to them upon the coast of the Island of Newfoundland, but he will for this purpose cause the fixed settlements which shall be found there to be removed." 4^}^^ s» CRUISE OF H.Ivi.S. CLEOPATRA. The last treaty on the question was that of Paris, 1815, which adhered without alteration, to the condition of the former treaties. The Newfoundlander complains bitterly of these privileges which have been ceded to France. They say the French have l)een given the most fertile half of the Island ; that the Hritish have been prevented from settling on that half, and engaging in farming, lumbering, mining, or fishing ; that no one will invest capital on the French shore ; that it has retarded the industrial enterprise of the people ; and that the 1- pie are confined to the barren inhospitable shores of the east and south coasts. But there are several large settlements of I{nglish on the west coast, engaged in fishing, farming and lumbering up the I lumber River, and to all appear- ances the Knglish and French live and work peacefully and amicably together. A great deal of bitter feeling has arisen from the ambiguous interpretation of certain sentences in these treaties. The PInglish have always maintained that they had concurrent rights i.e., equal rights as regards fishing, drying, and salting thoir fish, with the French, as long as they did not interfere or disturb the French in the exercise of that industry. The PVench fishermen have lately endeavoured to establish exclusive rights to fishing on the French shore, with the consequent banish- ment of the natives. The lobster question arose in 1889, which made the fishery question still more complicated. It would be out of place to attempt any detail of the complications, or to argue the absurd quest'on whether the lobster is included in the treaty rights as a fish ; or the canning of lobster as identical with the taking and drj-ing of fish. The British residents on the west c it had established several factories for the purpose of canning lobsters, when the French, seeing the prosperity of the British indu; '.ry, also started factories for lobster canning. The French factories proved so successful that others soon sprang up, and then they endeavoured to stop the British altogether by complaining that the English were interfering with their treaty rights. The Colonists appealed to the Imperial Government, who, with tha consent of the French, submitted the question to arbitration ; meanwliile a modis viviiidi was established pending the results of this arbitration. CRTTSF OF H,^r.S. riFOPATRA. M Unfortunately the arbitration did not meet with the approval of the Newfound- lander who considered that he ought to have been consulted on its conditions ; neither did the modus vivindi receive the sanction of the Colonial Legislature, which unanimously passed resolutic.is condemning it. The Colonists strongly objected to the right of the French (ceded to them by the modus vivendi) to catcli lobsters on the treaty shore, with the consequent exclusion of the natives, and to the erection of French lobster factories, which were permanent structures. The refusal of the Newfoundlander to abide by the French and luiglish treaties, enforced l)y the Naval Officers on the coast, led to the celebrated trial of Mr. B.viru, nrsusSAr Baldwin W. Walker. Mr. Baird, Merchant of St. John's, claimed 5,000 dollars damages agamst Sir B\ldwin W. Walker, who had ordered the seizure and closure of his lobster fa^'tory. After a lengthy trial, the case was decided in favour of Mr. Baikd, from the fact that the Act of Parliament vesting certain powers in Naval Officers e.xpired in 1834. A so called coercion bill was therefore introduced by the Imperial Parliament to enable Naval Officers on the station to enforce the treaty rights. This aroused the Colonists to such a [)itch of indignation, that delegates were despatched to England by the Colonial Legislature to protest against the bill. They were heard at the bar of the House of Lords, and on the delegates promising on behalf of their legislature, to pass an act enabling Ens'' -nd to fulfil hor treaty obligations, the bill w ■ .V. drawn. Owing to difference ; and disagreements, no enactment satisfactc ;>' parties has yet been introduced, and the French question seems as far iroii; a permanent settlement as ever. By the modus vivtndi all factories in existence prior to the 1st of July, 1889, aie to continue, but all new erections, except by the joint consent of the linglish and French Naval Authorities on the station, are to be prevented. The modus viviudi has, so far, been renewed from year to year, by the consent of the two nations, England and France. ei€""^ 40 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTIiR Xlir. ABORIGINES OF NEWFOUNDLAND. TT would be difficult to find in the pages of history a more pathetic story than that J of the Aborgines of Newfoundland. When the island was first discovered, it was fouiid to be inhabited by a mild and peaceful tribe of Red Indian called Bethuk or Boiothic, probably a branch of the Algonkin. The red man lived by fishing and hunting, and at first assisted the white man in his work, living with him on the most friendly terms. But this amicability did not last long. The red man was soon looked upon as vermin to be shot down and exterminated, which work of civilisation was materially advanced by the Micmac Indians, who invaded the country from Cape Breton, and waged a merciless war against the Bethuk. In 1760 the Governor tried to stop this war of extermination. He, hearintr that the white men " do treat the savages with the greatest inhumanity, and frequently destroy them , -ithout the least provocation or remorse " enjoined all " to live in amity and brotherly kindness with the native savage." Under the benign methods pursued by t^e pale face and Micinac, the numlier of poor Bethuks decreased rapidly, so that wc find the Ciovernment offering a re^vard for the capture of a native. This reward was claimed in 1804, by the capture of a female, who was brought to St John's, where she was well treated, loaded with presents, and returned to her tribe, but the cupidity of her guide was aroused, and it is supposed he murdered his charge, and approj^riated the presents. .Another capture of a female was made in 1 819, near Red Indian Lake, but in effecting the capture, two males, who resisted, were shot. The captive was l>rought to St. John's, and ultimately was returned to her tribe, but died on the way from consumption. Thiee more females CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 41 WCI3 captured in 1823, two soon died, but the third lived six years, and died in the Hospital at St. John's, also from consumption. In 1828 a Bceothick Society was formed, having for its object the civilisation of the .Vborigines Mr. Corm.vck who ha'", previously explored the interior of New- foundland, was entrusted with the f.-.pedition, which entered the country near the Exploits River, with the view of finding the Aborgines, who had, like the proverbial hare, first to be caught before Ixing civilized by the Society. The expedition found traces of the red man everj'where. The party found groups of wigwams, both summer and winter residences, with ashes and cooking utensils, as if only recently ocr -Med : deer skins, fur garmenti, arrow heads and shafts, canoes, and the bodies of , der.d, but no living represent itive of the tribe. Cormack next proceeded to Rec' Indian J.ake, the head.juarters of the Indians, but here all was silence and desolation. Cormack says : " We found ':o our mortification that the Red Indian had deserted it for ome years past. My party had been so excited, so sanguine, and so determinet, to obtain an interview of some kind with these people, that on discovering from appearances everywhere around us that the Red Inc'ian no longer existed, the spirits of one and all were deeply affected " Cormack found here a burial place like a hut, on the fioor of which were stretched at full length, two bodies wrapped around with deer skin. These were, perhaps, the last o*" all the Bethuks, who, driven to despair by the incessant wars cf the Paleface and Micmac, which had thinned their ranks until they alone survived, took . last sad look over their native hills, dales and pine forest, with their wigwam ho' . by their dearly beloved lake, wrapped their deer martles around them, and departed tc join Iheir tribe in those Happy Hunting Grounds beyond. 4» CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XIV THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND. ^f;^HE Island of Newfoundland lies in the mouth of the Gulf of St Lawrence, and f^ close to the North American Continent, being separated from the coast of Labrador by the Straits of Belle-isle, only ten miles across. It is triangular in form, with the apex in Cape Bald, pointing north ; Cape Ray and Cape Race forming the two southern angles. It has an area of about 40,000 square miles. When the hardy adventurer, John Cabot, first hailed the coast of Newfoundland on that memorable morning, June the 24th, 1557, he could not have been verj' favourably impressed by the prospect. Newfoundland from the sea, and especially on the east coast, presents a most forbidding aspect of wild rugged cliffs, and barren headlands, with rocks protruding everj-where through the scanty soil. Prima Vista was the cautious name given to this part of the coast by Cabot, which name was changed by some enthusiastic admirer of the island into Bonavista. The coast line is serrated, and worn into bold and fantastic shapes by the long heavy swell of the Atlantic, anu is much broken up by deep bays and long tortuous harbours, often running for many miles inland, and capable of affording shelter to an unlimited number of ships and fishing fleets. The rivers are numerous and well stocked with salmon and trout, but with few exceptions useless for navigation, owinj to their rapidity and the rocky nature of their course; the estuaries and rivers are generally strewn with huge boulders brought down by the floods or ice. The supply of fish in the rivers of course depends upon its stock being renewed annually from the sea. The fishermen, unless means are taken to prevent them, often net the rivers so closely at their mouth, that the streams *«*■-■* CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 43 soon become depleted of salmon, and even of sea trout. It is the old story again of " the goose that lays the golden egg." As regards the interior of the island, the greater portion is absolutely worthless as far as agriculture is concerned. The rivers, valleys, and lowlands, are covered with a dense forest of spruce and birch, with a sprinkling of larch, American mountain ash, and dwarf maple. Up the Humber and Exploit Rivers the trees grow to a considerable size, and repay lumbering, but generally, the trees are small and decrease in size as one ascends, until on the uplands — locally called barrens — the spruce become low dwarfed .«hrubs, from two to three feet high. The stunted trees become gnarled and twisted by the fierce winter storms, and broken and crushed by the weight of snow, until the branches and trunks even, become interwoven and matted into a tangle, which defies penetration, alike to the enthusiastic sportsman and his dog. e^C"^ 44 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XV. FLORA OF NEWFOUNDLAND. j^HE flora is of a distinctly northern type, and is particularly rich m edible fruits, T called locally, " berries." Amon.cr the .lifferent families of plants the rose is a large and well represented one in Newfoundland. The bakeapple, En-Iish cloudberry, (Rubu, Uama-mornsJ is very common, and much used by the natives in Newfound- land. The raspberrie- are very numerous, and mucl. resemble English raspberries, being large in si^e and excellent in flavour. The brambles are represented by ai least two species, and several varieties. .Strawberries grow abundantly, especially on the west coast. The wild pear, Juneberrj^ (Amelanchicr,) is scattered here and there, and when in bloom its long narrow petals give a summer appearance to the other\vi.se dark, >ombre pine woods, and make the tree a conspicuous object a long way off. Gooseberries and currants grow wild, but the fruit is very poor. The various squash berries (vilmrunmj grow everywhere, and are used chiefly for tarts. The heath family is by far the most important, and has more representatives in Newfoundland than any other order of plants. In this order (Ericaceae^ we have the various species of whortleberry, or bluel)erry (Vaainhm.J which cover all the lower hills and barrens of Newfoundland, and often with such prodigality as almost to exclude all other plants. The huckleberrj-, " blackhurts." cranberry, marshberrj-, and snowberr)', or capillare, are ver>' common, the latter (Chio.rn,e.J is a pretty creeping plant, found abundantly in the pine forest.s, where its half hidden white egg- shaped berries can be gathered from among the moss which covers the decayed stumps and roots of the pine trees. This berrj' is much appreciated as a preserve. CRV]<=K OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 45 There are the bearberries fArdostaphylosJ the black and the red, the former being found on the highest and bleakest barrens in Newfoundland and Labrador. The crowberry, called sometimes blackberry (Enif>etru»t nigrum,) with a sprinkling of the partridge berry, forms the soft springy turf which covers such a large portion of the country. In the lily family, besides the smilacina and polygonatum, we have the Clintonia, a wild lily of the valley. The bright blue berries of this plant are called poison berries, and are considered the only po.sonous berries in the country. This, of course, does not exhaust the list of wild berries of Newfoundland, but only those which obtrude themselves on the observation of the most casual observer. Berry picking forms quite an industry- in the autumn, around St. John s and the laiger settlements. Women and children may be seen trooping out early in the morning with baskets, cans, kettles, and other receptacles, whole families tramping gaily out to the hills and barrens. At mid -day the curling wreaths of smoke tell where each family circle is having its frugal meal, and in the evening the parties return weary and lipstained, laden with berries for sale or home consumption. The wild flowers of Newfoundland a-e in great abundance towards the end of June, and during July. Henry Reeks, F.L.S., F.H.S., in a paper read before the Linnean Society in 1869, enumerated three hundred and seventy one species of flowering' plants and ferns, and those from the west coast alone. The American laurel, with its rose coloured and purple flowers, covers many acres of moorland, and gives to the scener>' much of the appearance of a Scotch landscape with blooming heather. In the marshes is found in great profusion the peculiar " pitcher " or " side saddle" plant. The leaves, which are in the form of pitchers, are usually half full of water, and contain drowned flies and other insects. This animal matter is digested and utilised by the plants for nutrition, such plants being called carnivorous. (ssr*^ [il 46 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER X\I. FAUNA OF NEWFOUNDLAND. JS^IIE Caribou comes first amonq- the wild animals indi.sfenous to Newfoundlanil, from J its size, numbers, and wide ran.<;;-e. It is of vast importance to the poor settler in what are called the outports, as food, and affords excellent sport to the sportsman. The caribou is still plentiful in the interior of Newfoundland, and may be found in herds of from twenty or thirty to over a hundred. They miorate towards the south in winter, returning north ajjain in the spring. It is at these migrations that the great slaughter of deer takes place. The}- move in herds along certain well-known paths, which at certain places converge, because of the surrounding countr>' being impassable, use being made of a narrow neck of drj- land between two sheets of watf-r, or of a narrow part of a lake or river, which the caribou use as a ford. Here the native Indian, and at the present day, the white settler, lies in ambush, and slaughters as many as he can use, and fretiuently many more, as it has been known that hundreds were slaughtered merely for their tongues and other tit-bits. If the pass be deep water, the animals are easily clubbed and dragged aside ; if on drj-land, they are generally shot. The caribou is very l)uiky in the body, heavy in th.- nock, with a large head. The logs are short, with enormous spread of hoof, wliich is well adai)ted for supporting the animal over the snow and soft marshes, which are so extensive in the country. A stag will weigh from 500 to 600 pounds, and in season is covered with a layer of fat two or three inchi s thick, on the haunches. The females as well as the males, carr\- antlers, which are shed annually after the; --utting sea.son. These antlers, which are verj- large in proportion to the si/e of the animal. !iave the brow tyne K^;^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 47 directed forward, and spread out into a palmated trian^de, with the apex attached to the beam ; the beam itself curves backwards and upwards, and terminates in palmated branches. The colour of the caribou is brown and white, becoming whiter in winter, and darker in summer ; the outer hair is long and mottled, with a dense covering of short fine hair like wool underneath. Their sense of smell and hearing is very acute, especially the former ; the acuteness of vision is only moderately developed. Wolves are fairly plentiful in the interior, but are very seldom seen. The lynx has appeared within the last few years in Newfoundland, and is reported to be increasing. Black bears are scattered over the island and subsist, like so many animals in this colony, principally on wild berries. Foxes of various varieties are numerous and valuable for their fur, large sums being paid for a good black fox. Beavers are still to be met with, although much reduced in numbers. Otters are likewise scarce, being much hunted for their fur. Martins and muscjuash, or musk rat are numerous, the latter being found in evety pond and stream in the country. The Arctic hare, which is \k'hitc in win':er, grows to a large size, but is not common. The North American hare, called in the vernacular " rabbit," introduced a few years ago near St. John's, has now spread over the whole island. The birds of Newfoundland have been computed to number about 500 species, most of which are migrator)-. One of the earliest and most widely diffused is the migrator)' thrush, called locally blackbird or robin. The snow bunting is numerous along the bare high ridges on the barrens. The raven is common, and the Canada jay is found in all the woods of Newfoundland ; this bird is bold and impudent, and becomes particularly annoying to parties camping out, as it steals whatever food is left unprotected even for a few seconds. The grouse, called by the natives " partridge," is met with all over Newfoundland and Labrador. There are two kinds found in Newfoundland, the willow grouse {lago/^iis albiis), and the ptarmigan {/iigof>iis riipcslrh). The willow grouse is the tlner l)ird, and closely resembles the Scotch species, if not identical. It is reddish brown, with dark spots, and white beneath, and will weigh from 3 to 3^- pounds per brace, and it is no exaggeration to say lliat it is unequalieil among the grouse in richness and delicacy of llavour. This bird is found in thick scrub or open barrens according '^W 48 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. to the weather, while its cousin, the ruck ptarmi.iraii, is found on the bare ridges and summits of the highest hills. It is slightly smaller than the willow grouse, and is mottled grey, with darker bars and white beneath. lioth species turn white in winter. Curlew used to pass over Newfoundland i:i immense numbers in former years, but lately they have been rather scarce. Snipe are mo.st plentiful in the Avalon Peninsula. There are numerous wild geese and ducks of various .sorts, among which the black duck is reckoned by far the most dainty for the table. * There is an abundance of sea birds, iiule auks, puffins, razor bills, and guille- mots. The great auk, whos.^ ugg and skin are now so valuable, was found in great numbers on the eastern shores and islands of Newfoundland. This bird has now been extinct for many years, thi- last specimen was taken on 1-unk Island. Its speedy disappearance from the new world may be attributed to the fact that it could not fly, its wings could only be used as fnis or paddles in the water, and its legs were so short, and placed so far l>ack that its moxenients on land were most awkward. The early voyager, and fishermen on the l)anks caught immense numbers for food, salting them in casks for future use, or even burning them for fuel. Its eggs, which now cost £ 1 60 each, formed fn the sea.son a staple article of diet. It is stated that the sailors could drive these birds across planks, on board the vessels by hundreds, or enclose them within fences until re.juired. ..Such wholesale destruction soon brought about the extinction of the species, and the great auk is at the present day as much a thing of the past as the dodo. Skai.s. There arc four species ni the taniily I'liceida- comnKm around th.; shon-s of Newfoundland, Harbour seal, ll.jodcd val. Harp s.al. and .S.,uare I'lippcr. The harbour seal is found all the year roun.l in the harbours and mouths of rivers on the coast. It is of litth; value commercially. The arp seal, or saddle back, is of the greatest imp<;rtance, and the young of this seal of whi.h from 200,000 to 600,000 are taken annually, contribute largel.v to the tinancial pn.sperity of the island. .\t one time the seal fishery employed a larg.^ numlur of sailing ships, but ihes.. have almost all been replaced by steamers, „f which ther.' are at prevnt about twenty-three, only a few sailing sch.^on.Ts now t.iking part in thr fish.TV. Thr^ runnber of men engaged in this fishery is between 6,ocx5 and .S.ooo. The harp seal is migratory, and a^.c^irs CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 49 off the coast of Newfoundland in Februar)-. Here, on the drifting' ice floe " pans," are I>rou^'ht forth the younjf, which are covered with a white thick fur, and j,'row with amazinj,-- rajjidity, so that by the middle of March they are in prime condition. The scaliTs are deterred by law from commencing operations before the ist of March, on which date ships are allowed to " clear," but steamers are not permitted to start till the loth of the month, this difference often days being thought sufficient to put the two classes of ships on an e(juality. It is needless to record here the thrilling adven- tures of the sealers, the narrow escapes from ice and storms, the terrible and wholesale carnage that goes on from dawn to dark, the reeking sanguinary scene on board the the sealers, as the skins with the blubber attached are piled on deck, while the men (who despise ablutions, and are prouil of never having undressed during the voyage), snatch a hasty repast of tea and biscuit. The seal as )et shows no sign of dimunition in numbers, notwithstanding that for at least one hundred years it has been subjected to such wholesale destruction. The oil from the blubber is chiefly used for illumi- nating and lubricating jnirposes, while the skin is converted into leather. The hood, and the scjuare flipper, or Greenland seal, are also caught around the coast, and for the same commercial purposes, but in greatly iliminished numbers. The S.w.mds. The salmon has i)een called the king of fresh water fishes by the author of the " Complete Angler," and is the fish {^ar cMcllcna; to the sportsman in Newfoundland, but not to the native, who iloes not even call it a fish, the term fish, in the vulgate, being strictly contuied to cod. Ihc salmon in .X.^wfoundland follow the same great natural law of all the salmonid;e of .seeking the higher reaches of the rivers to sjiawn, and so perpetuate the species. If the salmon should escape his natural enemies in the sea, of which there are many, he strives to return to the river of his nativity, the salmon of one river ihffering considerably from that of another. In doing so he mcwt i)robal)ly runs into one of the innumerable nets set nnmil the ba)-s and headlands contiguous to the riv(>rs to catch him. If he shouki escai)e, he finds the threshold of his home barred with nets stretched from shore to shore, not one only, but frecjuently a .second, or even a third, and so arranged with diminishing mesh that the smallest species of .salmon or trout cannot escape, and except for accidents, as floods, or ihe appearance of a man- 50 CRUISE OF M.M.S. CLEOPATRA. (fii o'war on tlic horizon, the chances of a salmon reachinj,' the " procreant cradles " arc very small indeed. The rivers which are not ban .i' ;i' ound in fish, and afford excellent sport to the fly-fisher, hut those rivfs .> ' .• ,o been systematically netted for years, are now absolutely barren, lx>ih h\ salmon and trout. The salmon in most of the rivers in .\ewfoundland are small in size, and are frecjuently called .ijrilse, probably a small vanetv of mature salmon, the avera^^je wei^'ht being- about 5 lbs., but some of the .ivers supply fish of a lar^'er size, over 20 lbs. in weight. The salmon in the Labrador rivers run from 15 to 25 lbs., and the grilse to about 5 lbs. It would appear that the rivers in Newfoundland have imjiroved in recent years, due, either to the jjreater protection afforded by the river wardens, or to the presence of the men-of-war which cruise round the coast during the summer. Captain Kkx\i;i)y, who wrote a few years ago of sport in Newfoundland, says : " Salmon fishing with the fly is disappointing in Newfoundland, and must be so until steps are taken to protect this noble fish. Notwithstanding local laws and proclamations, the rivers of this country are disgracefully abused by nets set across their mouths and in pools, traps, weirs, and dams, till the wretched fish are almost exterminated. The result is that all the large breeding fish are captured and only a few grilse escape." Sea Tkout. The sea trout is not the trout of English rivers, but the American Salmo fontcnalis, although this name has also been given to the American " Brook Trout." It ascends the rivers in countless thousands in the early summer. The run begins towards the end of May, or early in June, on the south and south-west coast, and gradually becomes later until we reach the rivers of Labrador, where the trout do not strike the fresh water before August. The sea trout afford very good sport, taking the fly greedily when on the feed. They run to three or a little over four lbs., but occasionally one may I)e caught as large as six or seven lbs. Besides the fish from the salt water, the I)ro<)k trout is found in all the streams and lakes in the country, and resembles the English trout in appearance, but unlike its l-inglish cousin, is not so educated in the latest lures and subtleties of the expert, and therefore affords the greater sport to the incipient sportsman. x:^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 51 are IlF.RRixr, Fisiiixr,. Hcrrin,q^s arc found at all times round the shores of Newfountlland, mij,'-ratinjj^ from deep to shallow, and shallow to deep water, according' to season and temperature. The jjrcat herrinsf harvest is made in the early summer, when the herrinR-s come in shore in vast shoals to spawn. St. George's Bay, Bay of Islands, and Bonne Bay, on the west coast, are the great fish centres. At St. George's Bay they arrive in the Iwginning of May, and practically in unlimited numbers ; the./ swarm into water only three or four feet deep, and in such multitudes, that the fishermen frefjuently enclose them in nets, and ladle them out as required. These herrings are poor in condition, and are not used for food, but are chiefly salted in barrels for bait for the cod fishers. About 20,000 barrels are taken in St. George's Bay annually. The herrings which are used for consumption are called " Labrador herrings," because the best are caught off the coast of Labrador in September, or the beginning of October. These herrings are in excellent condition and flavour, but the fishermen show no enterprise in their preservation, following the old style of salting and ]>ickling, and doing that so badly that many barrels are quite unfit for human fond, and can only be employed to manure the land. The various methods of drj'ing and smoking, or preserving in oil, have yet to be learned by the Newfoundlander. C.M'i.iN. Another salt water fish, more abundant even than the herring, is the Caplin, one of the salmonidre. and a near relation of the oulachon, or candle fish of the Pacific ocean. This is a small fish about seven inches long, which ajjpears in incred- ible numbers along the sandy beaches , shallow bays of Newfoundland and Labrador, from June on the west coast, till September on the shores of Labrador. These fish are thrown up by each little wave on the beach, where cart loads can be had for the filling. Live fish can be scooped out of the sea with a landing net in unlimited quantities, and when fresh are, without exception, the most delicious fish that we have experienced in our mess. The natives, besides using the fish for bait, and as manure for the land, make no endeavour to preserve them for consumption. They are to be seen smoked and preser\'ed in oil, but they do not ajjpear to be now in the market. Lob.ster fishing has become ven,- extensive within the last few years, especially on lh(,' west coast, where both French and English factories are engaged in pre- serving lobsters in tins for export. 52 CRUISE OF H.Nr.S. CLEOPATRA. Cod Fishing. All other fisheries sink into insijjnificance when compared with the cod fisher)-, which for nearly 400 years has been the staph- inilustr>- of NV-wfound- land. Since the tlay when Calwt discovered the island and returned with reports of the abundance of fish in its waters, hardy fishermen of all nations have been attracte;! to its shores and banks, ea^^jer to reap the har\est of cod fish, ever ready to be capture' arm in .,, '.m and takinjj ten feet oi 'ump away, ,.nd discharj,nng a lari,'<; (juantity of ink, nor m writinjr to the papers about his reception, but in floodinji: the water, whi .• v s discolouretl for a distance of two or three hundred yards. Several perfect specimens of this ;^ .fantic cuttle f^sh, or calamary, have since been found, and examined by the Rev .M. Harvkv, who describes one from Catalina which measuied 9 feet 2 inches in lenj,nh of body; circumference of body, 7 feet; tentacles, 30 feet ; and short arms, 1 1 feet. These huge Molluscs are probably (loni/ens of deep water, and are hut rarely seen. e^"^ 54 CRUISK OK H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER X\ll. ll MINERALS: CLIMATE. jJ^HI*] minrral wealth of Newfoundland has been reported to lie vast and varied. jf Copper is the principal metal that has been worked, copper mines existing on the east coast, at Little Hay, and Tilt Cove, the latter beins,'^ the first mine opened in the country nearly 40 years a.^-^o. I lere, as in other mininj,'' countries, we find the ubicjuitous enterprising Cornishman, who acts as pioneer, and j^eneially remains as captain of the mine. Lead has been worked near Placentia, and iron pyrites is largely exported to the ted States from Pilley's Island. Coal of the soft bituminous kind i:; found in the south-west corner of the island, between Codroy River and Bay St. George. It has not been worked, owing to the interference with the French fishing rights on the coast. Asbestos has been found near I'ort-au port, but here again, the French (juestion has acteil ns a deterrent to its successful workin^^ Ti!:c Ci.iMATK OF Xkwioi-ndi.and. Newfoundland h:.s long been lo-^ked upon as a lanil enshnnidtxl in fogs, and encircled in ice. It is undoubtedly true that fog hangs almost constantly on the banks, and around the southern shores uf the island, but this fog curtain usually stops at the shore, while inland the weather may be bright and fine. The town of St. John's often luxuriates in bright sunshme, when a few hundred yards outside a wall of fog stands like a sentinel, waiting for an easterly wind to roll in and envelope the land. This fog is due to the cold Polar current, which flows along the eastern shore of L;ibrador and Newfoundland, condensing the moisture in the warm air which flows over the gulf stream. It is generated near the junction of the hoi .ind cold streams, and with a southerly, or -ioulh- easterly wind, rolls up towards sz^jTSc.Z'im^ikXSSSi'rz CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 55 the south and east coast of Newfoundland The west and north-east of the island is comparatively free from foj,'s. This same Polar current keeps the east coast of New- foundland very cold. In spring' or early summer, as late as the end r f June, this stream brink's down *he Arctic field ice and iceberj^s, wliich lowers the tempe-ature, fretjuently as much as 20° within a few hours, consequent on a chani^e of wind to the east. This sudden fall in temperature is one of the j,rreat disadvanta^^es in the climate, and acts very- injuriously on delicate constitutions. The climate partakes of the character of the North American Continent, but the winters are not so .severe, tl- temperature only occasionally, and then for a short time only, fallin.i,' below zero. The summers are not so hot as the Continental summer, the temperature rarely going over 80° Fah. Winter begins to assert itself in December, and the frost and snow last until .\pril, but not before the end of June can one say that " summer's ripening breath " is with us. The short summer, from the end of June to the end of September, is delightful, dry, and invigorating. The mea.i annual temperature for eight years was 41-2° Fah. (Harvey.) GSf l^iS 56 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XVm. A CRUISE ROUND NEWFOUNDLAND. 7tjH stayed at St John's from the 20th of Nlay to the 6th of June, when we started on our first cruise for the season round the island. Our first place of call was St. George's Bay, where we found the Pelican, which had been in harbour since the first week in May, protecting the herring fisher)'. We caught a few sea trout at the mouths of the Barachois and St George's River ; those taken from the Barachois were small, hut those from St. George's River ran to 2 lbs. each After leaving St. George's Bay, we proceeded up the west coast, calling at the " French Rooms," on Red Island, i.nd Port-au-Port. From Port au-Port we went north to Bay of Islands which, as its name implies, is a bay containing numerous islands, and three arms of the sea. The longest arm is that of the H umber, which extends inland for nearly twenty miles, and has at its head the H umber river— the second largest river in the island— and the pretty little settlement of Birchy Cove, where we anchored. The entrance to Bay of Islands is wild and grand. The hill, Blomidon, which we skirted, rises precipitately from the water's edge to a height of over two thousand feet, and down its rocky sides pour minature cataracts from the melting snows on its summit. Birchy cove is a prosperous settlement, with a fine Protestant church built by the Rev. J. J. Clxi.ixg, and near here are extensive saw mills busily engaged in cutting up timber from the Ilumber district, .\bout forty miles north of Bay of Islands is Bonne Bay, whose entrance is like that ot Bay of Islands, >rild and pictureMjue. The arm runs inland about sixteen miles, and then divides into two. Near the bifurcation is the settlement of Woody Point, where we anchored. The settlement, wl.ich is much scattered, contains a Roman Catholic and a Protestant church, with schools, and looks clean and i)rosperous. iii£^£rmMM(i CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 57 We visited the lobster factory at Port Saunders, and the French rooms at Port- au-Choix, then passed on to St. John Island. St. Barbe, and across to Forteau, on the Labrador coast. Forteau is a comparatively larg^e settlement, and looked dreary indee.' as the whole country was covered with snow, with only here and there bare patches, while a cold bleak wind made us feel that we were yet in winter. The inhabitants were in a state bordering- on starvation ; having no salt they could not cure hsh, and were therefore livin.s,' from hand to mouth, a condition of affairs which appears to be chronic, not only with the inhabitants of Forteau, but also of many other settlements in New- foundland and Labrador. Between the li.^^hthouse on Armour Point and Forteau, we saw thrown upon the beach, a few iron ribs and part of the bows of the ill-fated "Lily," which was wrecked here in 1889, an event that will ever be present in the memor>' of writer. We left Forteau on the 19th of June, rounded Cape Norman, and Cape Bald, the two northern jwintsof Newfoundland, and steamed down the east coast, callin.i,^ at the f..shin.i,r settlements of St. Lunaire, St. Anthony, Cremaillere,— where we found the Buzzard— Hare Bay, Conche, and Harbour (irace, where we anchored on the 27th of June. Here we received the telegraphic news recording the terrible disaster which the Navy sustained by the loss of H.M.S. Victoria. We returned to St. John's on the 29th of June, where we met H.M.S. Blake, with Admiral Sir J. O. Homixs. On the 6th of July, the Duke of York's wedding day, we celebrated the happy event by dressing ship and giving an afternoon dance to the officials and resident:, in St. Jolin's and neighbourhood, and the next day to the petty officers and men, who invitt'il all their friends on boanl, to indulge in a like recreation. On the 9th of Jul) / French .V.lmiral Sallandronze de I^mornaix an • -n his flagship " Naiad." but remained only a short time in St. John's. QiT"^^ imsiii 58 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XIX. OUR SECOND CRUISE. i I TITE left St. John's on the 17th of July, for our second cruise round the island, but before proceeding north, we spent thirty-six hours sounding and surveying outside the narrows. Our second cruise round the island is essentiilly our fishing cruis;^ and it is for this cruise that our sportsmen have been for months overhauling rods, casts and flics, and ordering from England large consignments of fishing gear. As the time approaches the excitement increases, and all tlay long, and well into the ni"-ht, the mess resounds with a continuous whirr and scream of the reel, as some enthusia-t is again examining his line, just to see that it has not deteriorated ; while no one need be surprised to find himself hooked, as trout and salmon flies are spread out everywhere for inspection, and one v\ill occasionally stray and be found where not wanted. Then the fly mixture has to be compounded. This fly his nothin"- in common with the artificial, but is very natural. There are two sorts of flies which torment and persecute the sportsman, a small black fly with longish wings, and a mos(juilo of a large and jrawerful breed ; of these two, the black fly is the worse. They appear in myriads during the fishing season, and wriggle themselves up one's sleeve in spite of glove and gauntlet, or down one's neck under the veil. If they fai' to reach the skin, both flies endeavour to bite throu<;h the gloves and clothing, and the moscjuito often succeeds. To ward off these insects the sportsman uses gloves, veils, and various mixtures. The ingredients of the Cleopatra fly n-ixlure consist of Stockholm tar and tallow of a sufficient quantity to form a thick paste, melted over a fire, and used cold. This smeared over the face and ot' t exposed parts acts very 'r^m^riw^m-'mi^'^i CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 59 effectively, and completely disguises the individual. .Some use carbolic oil, one in twenty, but this retjuires frwiuent renewing. Strangers to the Newfoundland fly occasionally laugh at the preparations made, and the apparatus invented to circ umvent the insects, and boldly land to fish, trusting in their own ]acliydcrma. This ra.shness on the part of one of our friends was followed by a sleepless night, fever, swoollen hands and fa'^e, and inability to see from his puffed eyelids, while iudging from the disfigurement of his hands, face and neck, one would have imagined that he was recovering from a severe attack of small pox. Besides these flies there are others, the most troublesome being the caribou fly, which is about the size of a large blue bottle, and bites severely. We visited Tilt Cove, a co])I)ct mine settlement, on the east coast, and the northern terminus of the telegraph. The harbour was too small for us to enter, and we accordingly lay off, and communicated with the .shore by boat, afterwards going on to Canada Bay, and anchoring in the north-east arm. Canada b.i .• is a long tortuous arm of the sea, many miles in extent, running in a I Tth easte;rly ilin-ction, and containing several harbours with flourishing fishing villages. Into this bay fall some good salmon and trout streams. We fished the north-east brook, which has some very good pools; the first pool is about half-a-mile from the sea and is good for both salmon and sea trout, the best cast being towards the left bank at the junction of a small tributary with the main stream. We filled our baskets with sea tnaut and caught fine salmon of the usual weight. Otter Cove, a snug harbour on the western side of the bay, has an excellent trout stream at its head, which seldom fails to yield a good basket of sea trout, averaging about i lb. each. From Canada Bay we proceeded north, visiting tho French rooms of Fishot and St. Julitn, and anchored in Hare Bay on the 24th of July. Hare Bay has a famous salmon river falling into the salt water about three miles from the anchorage, in Ariege Bay. Here in four days we caught 1 19 salmon, the largest ii^ lbs., but the majority of the fish weighed from 4 to 5 lbs. A curious feature of this river is the extreme rarity of sea trout and brook trout \n its waters, while the other rivers contain both sea trout and salmon. About three quarters of a mile from the mouth is an CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. m island with rapid water on either side. To stand on the upper part of this island and throw the fly towards the ris:ht bank just above the broken water, constitutes one of the best casts on the river. About four hundred yards above this island a rapid stream ioins the river on its right side, and the pool formed by the confluence of the two streams is reckoned the pool '^ par excellence" of the lower portion of the river. ITp the smaller stream, about two hundred yards, is a lari;, lake, and at its outfall there is a small pool which seldom fails to yield a salmon. To ascend the large river above this tributary is difficult without the aid of a boat, as the river is too deep to wade, and the bush is very dense. If one struggled up two or three miles he would come to a large lake, with an e.xcellent pool below its outfall, but if he has arranged to camp out, then he cannot do better than proceed by boat eight or nine miles inland, where he will find some splendid stretches. About five miles from Salmon River is Wester-brook, which holds both salmon and sea trout. For about two miles from the mouth the river is shallow and useless for fishing, but above this are splendid pools full of sea trout from i to 3 lbs. in weight, and salmon of (he usual size, about 4 lbs. From Hare Bay we steamed round the north of the island, calling at various fishing establishments, and anchored at Forteau on the 30th of July. Forteau is situated at he mouth of a large river, good for both salmon and sea trout. Good pools extend from the salt water all the way up the river. The salmon in this river are larger than those in the Newfoundland waters ; the sea trout average about 2 lbs. each, many run over 4 lbs. In three days we ,:aught eighteen salmo.i and large baskets of sea trout. The best parts of the river for salmon are the pool at the e.xtreme limit of the tide influence, a hundred yards beyond the outfall from the first lake, and the pools between the first lake and the falls. The falls are a series of rapids, about thirty feet in height, and about four miles from the mouth of the river. Salmon are able to ascend the falls. We left Forteau on the 3rd of August, and proceeded south along the west coast of Newfoundland, calling at the different harbours. At Hawke's Bay we fished the two rivers-East and Torrent river. The East river has a perfect pool about a quarter of a mile from its mouth. This pool always holds a large number of salmon at the CRUfSE OF H.M.S. CI.EOPATRA. 6i end of June, and early in July, and for sea trout it is the best on the west coast. The sea trout lie chiefly in one particular spot near the tail of the pool, and just behind a ledge of shelvin.tj rock. It is better to fish this pool from the left bank. The Torrent river, which empties itself into Ilawke's Bay, is rapid, and difficult to fish without a canoe. It is much later than the East river, and although the fish are larger and heavier, they have the reputation of being much more stubborn and sulky. Continuing our cruise south, we called at Bonne Bay, where we fished the river which falls into the east arm. The walking is very bad, and the pools on the lower part of the river are difficult to fish, being deep and overhung with high cliffs and trees. It is advisable to strike through the forest along a path on the left, which leads from a log hut to the river, aiiout four or five miles from the mouth. Here we got salmon of 8 lbs. and a sea trout of 4^ lbs. When we arrived at .St. George's Bay on the nth of .Vugust, the rivers were too small and clear for fishing ; the weather for some time had been dry and hot. The best fishing here is eariy in the season, from the beginniri''- of June until the middle or end of July, '^he .Sarachois is the earliest river, sea trout entering it towards the end of .May or beginning of June. The .St. George's river and Flat Bay brook are later, yet sea trout are numerous and large in the pools at the mouth of the latter in June. Two or three miles from the mouth is the Island pool, opposite a farm- house, and about five hundred yards above this the Cairn pool, both good pools for sa'inon. We left St. George's Bay on the 14th of .\ugust for St. John's, and had a verj- stormy passage. The morning after leaving St George's we had a strong breeze from the south-east, which gradually increased until it was blowing a gale from eight to ten, with a heavy sea. The barometer went down to 29-23°. We rolled and pitched a good deal, and had to partake of cold viands only, which had to be eaten while sitting on deck, with the back propped up in a corner and the feet against the table or other firm support The gale continued until the evening of the i8th, when the wind shifted to the south and soon became fair, and as we rounded Cape Race wc found ourselves going nine and a half knots witiiout sail. We anchored in St. John's early on August the 19th, where we found II.M.S. Pelican. Our stay at St. 62 CRUISE OF M.M.S. CLEOPATRA. John's at this time of the year is always pleasant ; lawn tennis is in full swing, and the lawn tennis club, with true hospitality, makes the Naval Officer an honorary member durinq- the season. The club has eight well-kept courts where play is indulged in daily, and where lady members preside at the tea table, and dispense tea, cakes, and other delicacies during the afternoon ; and here also the " elite " of St. John's meet and talk over the latest society gossip. But it is not alone at the tennis ground that warm-hearted hospitality is held out to the stranger. Government House has been a home where the Governor, Sir Terence O'Brien, and Lady O'Brien, havj ever accorded a hearty welcome to all Naval Officers, from the Commodore to the latest joined Cadet, and where the kind host and hostess seem only truly happy when surrounded by a crowd of their young friends, who will long remember the home comforts and freedom of Government House. Snipe shooting opens on August the 2ist, when all who are able to carry a gun sally forth at daybreak to the marshes in the neighbourhood of St. John's and Torbay, where snipe are fairly plentiful, but are much haras:- of our commissioning, and the Ward Room Officers arranged to celebrate the occasion, by all the Officers sitting down in the Ward Room to partake of the small cheer provided on the coast of Labrador, and in spite of our surroundings, fog, rain, and a drearj' prospect of water and rock, which tend to depress the spirits and make one feel miserable, we found the truth of Shakespeare's remark, "small cheer and great welcome make a merry feast." By 1 1 p.m., all the lights were oui, and quietness reigned throughout the ship, and on the morrow we entered on our second year. On September the 22nd, not being able to approach the coast for fog and rain, we put about and returned south, outside the island of Belle-isle, and anchored in Gouffre harbour, Canada Bay, on September the 23 rd. Here two of us started into the interior with guides, on a hunting expedition. We were away three days, and returned with three caribou, but no good heads, and a few grouse. Failure and disappointment, as well as success must be recorded. An old stag with a splendid head, after a long and exciting stalk, afforded an easy shot, but, alas ! that antlered head does not adorn the humble cottage in Lng!and-the particular spot for which had already been selected in the heated imagination of the sportsman,— but why say more on such a painful subject .' We steamed down the east coast calling at each station on the way. and anchored in St John's on October the 2nd. On our passage down we received a telegram announcing the sudden death, while at sea, of Commander ll.vv. of H.M.S. Buzzard. k CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 65 The mhabitants at each place we visit in our several cruises, flock on board to rece>ve the gratuitous meJical and surgical advice, with medicine, which is always g.ven by the ships on the fisheries duties. A case of drugs is supplied annually to each ship by the Colonial Government for distribution to the sick on the coast. The principal diseases met with are those of the digestive and respiratory systems. The most pre^'aIent disease is Dyspepsia. This disease is undoubtedly caused and mamtained by the use of a diet composed largely of salt fish and tea. Women are the greatest sufferers from this complaint. Scurvy is occasionally met with, due also to the exclusive use of salt food. Scabies appeared in the form of an epidemic on the west coast ; it started among the children in the school, at Bonne Bay, and rapidly spread among the community. The Commodore had a large quantity of clothing on board, contributed by Mrs CfRzoN- Howe, and other charitable friends. This clothing was distributed as far as possible to the destitute, together with flour and biscuit, as much as could be spared from the ship. It seems wonderful how these poor people pass through the winter, with such rigorous and inclement weather as they have in Newfoundland, when in summer they are almost destitute of both food and clothing. During our stay in St. John's the weather was very cold, wet and stormy. The French-rooms were now dismantled, and the French fishermen, with the cargoes of dr>' fish, had left the coast and were on the way back to France. The Newfoundlander had laid in his supply of flour, molasses, and tea, and was waiting patiently for winter. We had completed our duties for the season, and after taking in supplies were, like the swallows, ready to seek warmer climes. We left St. John's on the 13th of October, for Halifa.x. We visited Trepassy and Sydney. Cape Breton, on the way, and arrived at Halifa.x, on October the i8th. The weather here was a great improvement on that of Newfoundland, being on the whole cold, dry and bracing. We left I lalifax on the 3 ist of October, at 2 p.m., in company with H..M.S. Blake and mac;e fast to a buoy in Grassy Bay. Bermuda, at 3-30 p.m., on the 3rd of November. This was the best passage we ever made in the ship, an average of over ten knots. We had a fair wind, and therefore used both steam and sail. I 66 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. We found the weather in Bermuda in November quite hot after the summer in Newfoundland, and it took our eyes some days to become acrv.stomed to th'i apparent anomaly of people going about in white clothing, flannels, and s'.raw hats, VVe went into the Camber on December the 2nd, for some necessary repairs, and came out again on December the 13th, to Grassy Bay. The Naval athletic sports were held on Moresby's plain, on December the 16th, at which Lieut. Colmore carried off the prize in the veterans' race, and Lieut. Tyrwhitt, the carrying race. During our stay in Grassy Bay we were inspected by the .\dmiral, Sir J. O. Hoi'KiNs, who expressed himself as being well pleased with the appearance of the ship, officers, and men. Here also we spent Christmas Day in the old service style. The day was hot, and bright, and very unlike the good old-fashioned English Christmas with its snow and ice, holly and mistleto. in nd th, ul. O. he sh CRUISE OF ft.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 67 CIlAi'ihR XXl FROM BERMUDA TO NEVIS, 1894. J^V left Bermuda on the 4th of January, for our West India cruise. The fleet con- sisted of the Blake flagship. Mohawk, Tartar, Buzzard, Canada, Tourmaline, and Cleopatra. The "Tamar" troopship, with the old crew of the Mohawk, and Lady Hopkins and others bound for England, passed through the narrows just before us. The troopship; when outside stopped, while each ship of the fleet passed under her stern, manned the rigging and cheered, the old crew of the Mohawk giving an answering cheer. She then directed her course towards the old countr>', while we formed into double columns line ahead, and proceeded south at a .speed of eight knots. The weather proved favourable for steam tactics, which were accordingly performed daily. We arrived in St. John's Harbour, Antigua, on the 9th of Januarj-, where we found the Pelican and Partridge already at anchor. Here we harl the annual rifle match between the local club and the Naval Ofi^cers of the fleet. The result of the match was reversed this year, no less than three ships making higher scores than the .shore team, Dr. Wildey of the Partridge .securing the highest number of marks. A regatta was held inside the harbour of St. John's for rowing and sailing boats and for boats belonging to the fleet. Pri>;es were given by the inhabitants, and a cup by His Excellency the Governor. On January the 15th, we landed over a thousand men for a naval review on the cricket ground beyond the town. The men were inspected by Sir J. O. Hopkins, accompanied by the Governor, Sir Fked H.wne-Smith and Staff, and afterwards took part in a sham fight on the hilis adjacent. Rain had fallen heavily during the I 68 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. previous nijrht, renderinsr the ground wet and spongy, but at the same time imparting a delightful coolness and freshness to the strong trade wind, which is ever blowing over the land from tho north-east. The coolness of the atmosphere rendered the operatic :;s pleasant and agreeable to those most actively engaged. The review was witnessed by a large concourse of spectators, as military- display, music, and the smell of burnt powder are all dearly loved by the negro. We left Antigua on Ianuar>- the 1 6th, and proceeded to St. Kitt's, which we reached the same day. St. Kitt's is situated about forty-six miles to the west of Antigua, and is comparatively a small island, having only about sixty-eight square miles. This was our first visit to St. Kitt's, and it impressed us very favourably. The mterior of the island is occupied by a mountain range, crowned by Mount Miser}', 4,100 feet abo\'e the sea. We anchored in the roadstead of Basse-terre, the capital, which has a population of about eight thousand. Many of the houses are built of stone, and are surrounded by gardens full of tropical shrubs and trees, and are decidedly in a better state of preservation than those of Antigua. The roads are kept in a very good state of repair, but owing to the sandy nature of the soil, are apt to be swept away by the floods which occasionally visit the island with disastrous consequences. A monument is erected in the town of Basse-terre, in memory of about two hundred of the inhabitants who perished in the inundations of the nth and 1 2th of Januarj', 1880. Sugar is still the staple article of commerce, and it is cultivated with great care and to a high state of perfection. Several new factories have been erected, and altogether, St. Kitt's seems in a more prosperous condition than many of the other sugar islands of the British West Indies. Sulphur is found in abundance, but is not used commercially. The service sailing regatta took place here on the 17th of January in the open roadstead. We won the cricket match, which was played on a difficult piece of groi'nd sloping down towards the dry bed of a stream, about a mile from the town, and near the Commissioner's House. From the upper part of the cricket field a beautiful view is obtained of the town and harbour, and away to the left, of Nevis with its cloud capped central peak rising to a height of over three thousand feet. From St. Kitt's we proceeded to Nevis. The two islands are separated by a strait t*- m: I CRUISE OF H.Xf.S. CLEOPATRA. 69 some three miles wide. The island of Nevis is smalF. containing about fifty square mde«. It ,s rounded in form, and looks, at a distance, like a conical mountain rising out of the sea. The town of Charlestown. like mar.y other West Indian towns, shows everywhere the s.gns of former prosperity and wealth. The hou.ses are substantially built, but have become dilapidated from many years of neglect; no repairs are undertaken so long as the walls will stand, and the roof protect the inmates from the weather. Near the town are the ruins of a fine hotel, built in close proximity to .some hot sulphur «pnngs. The hotel h built of hewn sandstone, and mu.st have been quite palatial, the carved ceilings and doors being still vMble in parts. The natives have taken pos.ses.sion of .some of the smaller room.s as L\UKitt capitulated. The British loss was only two killed and one wounded, and CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 73 the French owned to having had about fifty casualties, though Commander Maurice was of opinion that exclusive of the loss in ships and gunboats, three of which were lost, the detachment landed on the rock had thirty killed and forty wound J. We anchored in Castries harbour, St. Lucia, at 3 p.m., and filled up with coal. ^Ve had a cricket match against the St Lucia Club, which is reckoned strong, and won. Our stay here was marred by the heavj' rain which prevented several out-of- door amusements, among others the garrison athletic sports, and the officers 'at home,' on the Morne. From St. Lucia we proceeded to St. Vincent, where we also had heavy showers of rain and wind s<,ualls. We were defeated in our cricket match here, as we were the previous year, and probably from the same cause. The ' At Home ' and tennis given by the Commissioner, Col. Saxdu-ith, c.b., and Mrs. Sandwit,.. was rather spoilt by the r.iin that began soon after the tennis commenced, and put a stop to any further play for the afternoon. On Februar>' the 2nd we sent down the gallant masts and lower yards, and steamed eight knots against the trade wind to Barbados. At Barbados we had the sailing race for the Admiral's cup, which was won by the Canada's cutter; a gymkana and other military sports ; and on the 10th of February we received orders to proceed to Colon, and certain ports in Central America. GiC"l^ I 74 CRUISE OF n.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XXIII. COLON. jtrE left Barbados on Sunday morning, Fcbruar)- the nth, under steam and sail, ^^ and ran between the islands of St. \'incent and the Grenadines with a stronj,' trade wind. The distance to Colon is about twelve hundred miles, and we ilid an averaj,re of one hundred and ei tide level canal across the isthmus. Fresh loans were raised year after year until the liabilities amounted to /7o,ooo,o.xd and the company was forced into liquidation in January, 1891. What first strikes a stranger on viewing the present conditio., of the canal, is the extremely small amount of work actually completed for the vast sum of money spent. For about ten miles the canal is navigable by boats from Colon, but this portion is beinff rapidly filled up with trees, sand, and gravel, washetl down from its banks by the tropical rain storms. Throu,trhout the whole course of the intended canal the ground is cleared of trees and undergrowth, and in most places superficial excavations have been made. Everywhere along the canal are excavating machines, some afloat, some stranded, while others are fixed in swamps ready to begin work. Locomotives hPve accumulated by dozens at every siding, while the rows of waggons might be measured by the mile. Besides these there are steam launches, steam dredgers, piles of machinery never put together, bridges, locks, and all the other material which go to make a ship canal of such magnitude as to connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The plant, which is estiT.ated at /6,ooo.ooo, is rapidly deteriorating, as may be imagined in this climate, where iron rusts out and woodwork becomes absolutely rotten in a very short time. From a ca.sual inspection of the canal, not one-fifth of the wcrk has been accomplished. One of the greatest difficulties of the work is the Chagres river, which is con- stantly being flooded by violent tropical storms, overflowing its banks, and .weeping material of all sorts into the excavations, so the work of months may be obliterated in a few hours. A still more formidable difl^culty is found in the pestilential climate which no man has been able to withstand. The Canal Company employpd all nation- 76 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLKOPATRA. m alities, American, Kuro|)ean, Asiatic (Coolie), Chinese, and West Indian Nejjro. It is reported that the Europ' ;in stood the effects of the climate better than any of the other races. The mortality among^st the workmen employed in cutting: the canal will never be really known. The company had at one time from 8o,oo5 to 100,000 men at work, and althoujij^h each steamer broujjht fresh consijrnments of men, and the company offeretl enormous waj^es, yet the works were often at a standstill for the want of labourers. It is said that carts went round Colon every morninj^ pickinjj up those who had died in the streets durinjj the nij^ht, and that the dead bodies averaged from six to eight daily. This did not include those who died in the numerous hospitals, or houses, but only what would be called casualties, murders, and sudden deaths. The Jamacian Negro was largely imported towards the end of the undertaking, and if he survived a few months, he returned with, what to him, was a small fortune, but the majority never returned. The sailing directions describe Colon with its climate as " one of the hottest, wettest, and most feverish districts in existence." A party of about ten of us, who visited the city 01 Panama through the courtesy of Colonel Rkeves, had a most enjoyable day. We left Colon at 7-30 a.m., and after traversing lagoons and swamps for some distance out of Colon, ran alongside the river Chagres for nearly the whole length of its course, then over some high land, and down to the city of Panama, which we reached about 10 a.m. The scenery on the journey was decidedly tropical and luxuriant, and everj'where along the line the canal excavations and works were rapidly reverting to their primitive state of forest and swamp, so that in a few years all trace of man's labour in this part of the countrj' will have become obliterated. It was curious to watch the different races of people scattered along the line, Chinese, East Indians, Coolie, the true West African Negro, and the various mixed breeds of Indian, Spanish, and the native of Central America. They all seem to have ont characteristic in common, the faculty of doing nothing except basking in the sunshine. The town of Panama is built some four miles away from the old city of Drake and Morgan fame. It stands on a rocky ledge jutting into the Pacific, and is built in CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 77 the old Spanish style. The houses are large, dark, heavy, and substantial ; the upper stones project in the form of balconies far over the narrow streets, until they almost meet those of the opposite side. There is a fine old cathedral, built of yellow .sand- stone, occupying one side of the square in the centre of the town, and around the other sides of the square are some fine shops and a good hotel. The Royal Arthur. Flagship in the Pacific, was at anchor off Panama, but a con- siderable distance out owing to the shallowness of the water. In the town we met a few of the officers who were going to play a cricket match. We obtained a passage back to Colon in a special train which was returning with the Superintendent. Colonel Reeves. eiT"^ 78 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XXIV, NICARAGUA AND BLUEFIELDS. JITE left Colon on February the 20th, and arrived off Greytown, Nicarajjua, the next day. Greytown is at the mouth of the San Juan rive." and is difficult to approach, owinj^ to the shallowness of the water and the shiftinjj nature of the bar at the mouth of the harbour. We lay about two miles off, and sent in a whaler to communicate with the town. This boat was nearly swamped in S<^injj in, and could not return owintj to the surf on the bar, but was brouf'^ht out the next day by a flat- bottomed steamboat belons;in,c^ to the town. The Nicaracfuan ship canal which was intended to connect the Atlantic and Pacific by way of the San Juan river and lake Nicaraj^ua, has its Atlantic opening- here. An American company started the canal works in 1889 at an estimated cost of ;^i 2,000,000, but they have not advanced verj' fpr. The works are at present sus- pended from the want of funds. The company have verj' little plant, only a few dredgers, and the excavated part of the canal, which is shallow, extends inland only a few miles. It is difficult to imagine that the company ever seriously intended cutting the canal. The climate around San Juan is most pestilential Lord Nelson, in 1777. conducted an expedition up the river, but he fell ill and was succeeded by Colling- wood. '* My constitution " says CoUingwowl, " resistetl many attacks, and I survived most of my ship's company, having buried in four months one hundred and eighty of the two hundred who composed it." The transports were converted into derelicts by death, and they sank at their anchors as they lay in the harbour. Dr. Mosely, who refers to the expedition in a treatise on tropical diseases, says, " that out of eighteen CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 79 hundred people who were sent to different posts at different embarkations, not more than three hundred and ei/?hty men returned. A[en dropped dead in the march, and their bodies putrified before their companions missed them. Corjjses lay unburied on the banks of the river, or were devoured by wild beasts in si^^ht of the helpless survivors ; numbers of the poor fellows lost their minds." From Greytown we proceeded to Bluefields, taking the British Consul, Mr. H. BiNCH.vM, with us to investijrate the disturbances between the Nicaraguans and the Mosquito Indians. It may be asked why the Cleopatra was sent to Central America ? and why Great Britain should take any interest in Bluefields ? This can best be answered by giving a short history of the Moscjuito coast, of the treaty of Great Britain with Nicaragua, and of the events which led to the occupation of Bluefields by the British bluejackets and marines. The Moscjuito Reservation is a low coast belt, riddled with salt lagoons, lying on the east side of Nicaragua It was formally an independent state under the protect- ion of Great Britain, and was only formally handed over to the protection of Nicaragua in i860. The treaty of Managua between Nicaragua and Great Britian. i860, was as follows: — (i.) England agreed .0 relinquish the protectorate over the Mosquito territory. (2.) The boundaries of the above territory were laid down and strictly defined, and remained under the sovereignity of Nicaragua. (3.) The Mosquito Indians were to govern themselves, according to their own customs. (4.) The Republic of Nicaragua agreed to pay five thousand dollars per annum, to promote the social improvement of the Indians for ten years. It was not a matter of surprise to find that several articles in this treaty had not been adhered to. Each side inteqirelated the treaty to its cwn advantage, with consequent disputes. Owing to the conflicting views and interpretations, the British Government consented to allow the points at issue to be settled by arbitration ; Nicaragua also expressed her 8o CRnSK OK fl.M.S. rr.KOI'ATR A willinj^'ness to refer the whole matter to an umpire, and it was agreed to ask the ;jood services of the Kmperor of Austria to settle the (juestions in dispute. He therefore in 1881, came to the followinjf decisions: — That the Kepui)!ic of Nicara^^ua, as a mark of its sovereignity, is entitled to hoist the flajf of the Republic throughout the territory assigned to the Mosquito Indians. That the Republic of Nicaragua could appoint a Commis-sioner for the protection of its sovereign rights throughout the whole of the territory. That the Mo.s' duties on goods imported into, or exported from Mosquito territory, or even to regulate the trad .• of the Moscjuito Indians. That the Republic of Nicaragua must pay the remainder of the money stipulated in the treaty of Managua, eight annua! payments l)eing due. Bluefields, the capital of the Mosijuito Reservation, contains about three thousand inhabitants, mostly Mosquito Indians and Jamaica Negroes, but the wealth is chiefly held by Americans, who have settled in large numl)ers as fruit and timber merchants, and the town might be almost looked upon as an American Colony. The chief fruit exported is the banana, which grows on both sides of the Bluefields river, as far as or beyond Rama, a distance of sixty miles. The only cultivation required is to keep down the forest and other vegetation which encroaches upon the banana plants. Two steamers per week, run between the liluefields river and New Orleans, carrying on each voyage from ten thousand to seventeen thousand bunches. The price of the banana is about forty cen' <. per full bunch. As the revenue is chiefly derived from the banana, so the staple food of the jt up!e is the banana, even the horses and cattle are fed on bananas, and cattle f<^u on bar. anas fatten rapidly. Bluefields, or Blewfields, is said to derive its name from a famous pirate who frequented this locality in the pursuit of his calling. The old name of the town, both in the Spanish (Es,coiidiiia) , and in the Indian, means lurking place, or place of concealment, and the mcKlern namj of the Bluefields river, in the vernacular, means the hidden river. .'.^igaanmMiM '^ '..?!t=mv^ CRUISK OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 8i The present town is I^uilt on what was a stron^rhokl of the Buccaneers in the seventeenth century, and for the purpose of their nefarious trade was excellently well chosen. It is situated on the southern extremity of a la^^oon from five to six miles in lenj,rth, and is extremely difficult to reach owin.^^ to the shallowness of the water which is only from a few inches to three and a half feet deep, while many of the flats are covered with extensive oyster beds with ony canoe pa.ssa.t,'es between. There are two main entrances into this laj,^oon, at the north and south extremities, so that the Buccaneers could pounce upon their prey either l,y issuin^r from the north or south as the wind suited, and by runnin^^ in between the islands which are scattered over the lagoon, would render pursuit extremely difficult and dangerous to any except those thoroughly acquainted with the navigation of these waters. The northern passage is the'one used commercially at the present day, and can only be approached by vessels of light draught. The bar at the entrance cannot be trusted to have more than about twelve feet of water, and over the bar roll very heavy breakers, especially in a north- east wmd. Once across the bar the water deepens rapidly, and vessels proceed as far as the Bluff about a <,uarler of a mile inside the lagoon where there are some wharves and coal stores. Vessels must anchor off the Bluff to await a permit from the customs to allow them to proceed up the river and to ship a pilot, which is imperative. Merchandise for the town of Bluefields must be transhipped here and conveyed across the lagoon in flat-bottomed lighters. The- .\Io.s.iuito Government consisted of an hereditarj- Chief and a few elders chosen to act as a council. The Chief, Robert Henry Clarence, .seemed a ,,uiet inoffensive young man who had just attained his majority but was unfortunately with- out education. The grand council was composed of twenty-nine full-blooded Indians, twenty-three half breeds, and three foreigners. The Indians were badly educated,' and though a few could speak and understand l-nglish, they were bad business men and were constantly becoming involved in troubles with foreigners. Although Bluefields is the capital, the Chief and his council r. sided at Pearl lagoon, twenty -, which is reported to be rich in minerals. Besides bananas ; India-rubber, mahogany, and cocoanuts are exported. Mahogany is found in extensive tracks in the country, and is being worked by an American Company. e^C"^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 83 CHAPTER XXV. THE BLUEFIELDS INCIDENT. J^ICARAGUA wa.s in a .state bordering on bankruptcy, the late revolutions having completely exhau.sted her exchequer, leaving her without any apparent means of replenishing it, or of raising the money absolutely nece.ssary to pay the soldiers that had been recently raised. She saw, with covetous eyes, the town of Bluefields flourishing under the benign though primitive rule of the Mo.squito Indians. She saw the large export trade from the Bluefieldj river in bananas and timber, and the prosperous foreign re^dents in the town. And she said " W^hy should not we who are the Suzerain of the state impose dues upon this export trade, and make these foreigners pay taxes ? About two months before our appearance off the coast. General Lacayo, the Nicaraguan Commissioner for the Mosquito Reserve, arrived in Bluefields, bringing with him General Rigoberto Cabezas. They were warmly received by the entire community, and the best feeling existed between the chief, his government, and the new arrivals. The first act of the Commissioner was to build himself a large mansion, which was looked upon as his official residence. The individual who supplied the material for the palace was never paid, but ultimately imprisoned as an enemy to Nicaragua for asking for it. A decree was now is.sued by the Commissioner taxing the planters and Merchants, which, of course, met with great opposition, and after much discussion was finally reduced from three Ccnls. to one cent. In 1893, Nicaragua had a series of revolulionar>' outbreaks, resulting in many bloody battles, and the exiling of many of her most prominent men. Honduras, early in 1894, had one of her periodic revolutionary outbreaks, and Nicaragua, not to be left out in the (fi 84 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA cold when such congenial work was to be had, sent five thousand men into Honduras to assist the revolutionists, who, with such assistance, were victorious. Basquez, the President of Honduras, had to fly to the United States, but soon returned to CoUa Rica, wiiere, it is said, he prepared to avenge himself on the Nicaraguans. News now reached Bluefields that Basquez was intending to invade the Mosquito territory' This intelligence was confirmed by the Commissioner, I.acayo The Nicaraguan Commissioner offered the chief two hundred men under certain conditions, but this offer was refused, the Mosquito Government deciding if necessary to use its own men to repel an attack. A week latter a detachment of soldiers arrived and stayed ten clays ; they then departed, and the world was informed that a battle hau been fought with the invading Honduranians. This battle, like the invasion, was a pure myth, but it was part of the plan to seize the Mosquito Reserve. Tales of all kinds were invented to justify the violation of the treaty under which the independ- ence of the Mosquitos was guaranteed. Subsequent events justified the suspicions that ro Honduranians cither intended to invade, or were within hundreds of miles of the Mosquito shore. On February the 5th, the steamship " Miranda " arrived from Greytown with one hundred and sixty men and ten officers, including a Colonel. This detachment remained at the Bluff two days, and was then conveyed in barg* s across to Bluefields, where the men disembarked, marched through the town with fixed bayonets, and hoisted the Nicaraguan flag on the Mosquito government staff. On Sunday, Februar}' the nth, Mr. Inciram, captain of a steamer who was collecting fruit up the river, was ordered by the Nicaraguans to convey the Governor of Rama, with one hundred and twenty officers and men to Bluefields. He at first refused, but was eventually compelled to do so. At midnight, on February the 12th, without the slightest intimation, General Cabezas took possession of Blueficld.s. His soldiers openeil the prison, thus liberat- ing murderers and thieves, and also broke into all the public buildings and removed the archives of the Mosquito Reserve. 1;^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 85 On the morning of February the r3th General Cabezas issued a manifesto denouncm., the chief and his government as rebels, and stating that the government of the Mosquitos has ceased to exist. New officials were p-.t into all the public offices, and the Nicaraguan flag hoisted on each flagstaff. Martial law was at once put m fo.ce ; the streets were patrolled by half starved creatures they called soldiers fully armed. Reing badly fed and unpaid, they lived by stealing and money collected by terrorising the inhabitants. The officers made no eff^ort to control the n-en but rather encouraged them. The soldiers broke into the wine and spirit stores.' and wh.le some became helplessly intoxicated, others staggered out into the streets, which soon became the scene of the wildest disorder. Parties of drunken soldiers insulted everyone they met : no woman could venture out of doors after dark without being molested. The drunken rabble challenged everyone who approached, and in the event of not being answered, they at once fired, to the imminent danger of the in- habitants. The Chief. Clarence, entered a vigorous protest with H.B.M's acting Vice-consul. Mr. J. D. Hatch, who lost no time in communicating with H B.M 's Consul at Greytown. Mr. II. B,x(.„am. Protests were also entered by the United States Vice-consul, Captain Seat. General Lacayo made a proposition to the chief. w.tn a view o: conciliating him and his people. Me offered Chief Clarence a commission in the Nicaraguan army as Brigadier-General, a life appointment. Further, a pension was promised him for life, and it was also promised that he should be made Governor for life of the Mo.squito Reserve. Pensions and official positions under the government were offered to the most prominent men of the council and their friends, but all the.so tempting offers and promises were refused Soon after this, Chief Clarence, to escape assassination, fled to the bush, where he was hidden by his devoted followers Meanwhile, the soldiers, by their brutal treatment of the negroes, so infuriated them, that it was extremely probable a rising would take place. Perfectly innocent people were arretted and thrown into prison, kept days without food, and otherwise ill-treated. The report that the United States man-of-war "Kearsarge" was ordered to Bluefields, -luieted things down for a little, but directly the loss of the ship on the Roncador reef became known, they returned to the old regime. I U ^i 86 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTKR XXVI CLEOPATRA AT BLUEFIELDS. € III- /M'T this juncture the Cleopatra dropped anchor off the bar of Bluefields Lagoon, ^■^ much to the delight of the inhabitants, who never felt certain what would happen fro.n hour to hour. Captain Curzox-Mowe landed early on the morning of our arrival, Februarj' the 25th, and wa.-, at once met by Mr. J. D. Hatch, h b.m.'s acting vice-consul, who explained the situation to him. The Captain then proceeded to call upon the Commissioner, and on the way, had a good illustration of the arhitary manner the Nicaraguans treated the natives. While the Captain was talking to a citizen on the main street, suddenly twenty men under Colonel Cortine dashed down the thoroughfare, dispersing the crowd, who hpd collected from curiosity at the Naval Officers' uniform, at the point of the bayonet. On the arrival of the British Consul, Mr. Bingham, at 3 p.m., vigorous protests were at once lodged with the Commir,;-.ioner. I'-veryone appealed for protection. Captain Cruzox-HowE had now to return to the ship, but promised to land again the next morning. On his arrival on shore the next day protests from all ''- leading citizens were lodged at the Consular Office, imploring him to put an end to this lamentable condition of affairs. They pointed out that a general rising was imminent, and that their lives and property were at the mercy of the rabi-!e, who continually threatened to set fire to the town. A mass meeting was at once held, at which the Captain said that having no instructions, and seeing the serious nature of affairs, he had determined to proceed to Colon to wire for orders, the telegraph at Greytown bei.ig unreliable, iiut during the absence of the ship he would leave behind, in the neighbourhood, a guard of seamen and marines who would afford the much sought for protection, should it be required. ^1^ ||:. CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 87 We accordingly, on Fehraarythe 27th, left thirty st-amt-n, and ten marin-is under Lieut R. B. Colmore, Lieut. Tykwiiitt, Lieut. Harris, r.m 1..1., and Mr. DociiLAs, Midshipman. This force was anchored in three boats off the Bluff, with arm- and ammunition, and had strict orders to remain in the boats day and ni^jht, and only to land at the urgent solicitations of the i uthoiities. ^(artial law was now raised, and the soldiers were posted in the town with batons insteaing of arms in the streets prohibited. Lacayo so: n repented of his agreement with the Bntisb and se.-. g the small number of the English, endeavoured to get them out of the town, but the Nicaraguan demeanour was much modified wi.en .Mr. Dulc.las arrived with the large boats and machine guns. Some of these -uns were landed, while others were mounted in the boats anchored off the town. On the return of the Cleopatra to Bluefields, on March the yth we landed si.xty- five more men, and it was only by f)ringing pressure to bear upon Lacayo and Cabezas, that we could keep the soldiers confin.;d within the barracks. A plot was discovered by Lieut. C..i..moke whereby one hundred and forty Spaniards, sympathising with the Nicaraguans, had resolved to seize the Court House, with its arms and ammunition, join the soldiers, and dri%e the British out of the town. We took charge of si.x cases of rifies and thirty thousand rounds of ammunition, which were transferred to the ship and conveyed to Greytown and handed over to the authorities. An attempt to poison the wells was aI.so made, but this was frustrated by the vigilance of our officers on shore. !i go CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAITI'R XXVII. OUR RELIEF AT BLUEFIELDS. rX ^I-S. CANADA arrived off Bluefiekls, on March the i6th, to relieve us, but ^* before leavinij, the Captain and Officers were presented with an illuminated address by the Americans, as a mark of appreciation for the valuable services rendered; while the other inhabitants wrote to Admiral Sir J. O. Hopkins, thankini,' him for so promptly sending a ship to their assistance, and pointinji,' out that in the absence of a warship, "our lives and propert)-, without doubt, would have been sacrificed." The liluefields troubles did not end with the departure of the Cleopatra. The men from the Canada, who had replaced the Cleopatra's men, were almost immediately withdrawn from the town. Lacayo, the Nicaraj,'uan authority, promised faithfully to protect life and property, and solemnly a.ssured the citizens that he was in a jjosition to maintain perfect order. The Nicaraguans bej,'an immeiliately to return to Blue- fields, arrivinjr in boats, small and \ar^i;, until nearly all had come back. A Provisional Council was formed to take charge o*" Bluefields and vicinity. Lacayo a.ssumed full jurisdiction, i,nd placed an export duty of three per cent, on each bunch of bananas. Lacayo after a few months rule was recalled by the Government, owing to his arbitar)- actions. lie left for Greytown, anil then proceeded to Managua, lie left General Cabezas as Commissioner and Militar}- Commander. Thr Canada was now replaced by H.^LS. Magicienne, and the American San I'Vanciso by the New York. The council was .sadly in need of funds. To meet the deficiency in the treasury. General Cabezas reduced the police force, anil nfuseil to pay the men who were dis- missed. This leil to riots, during which the ex-policemen were imjjrisoned, beaten, and otherewise maltreated. A serious riot broke out on the 5th of July, during which CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 91 two NIcarasfuan soldiers were shot, and the town left without any legal authority. General Cabezas was now called upon to surrender and withdraw his troops. He acquiesced, and withdrew to Rama, and Chief Clarence was reinstated in his former position. Ten days later, Cabezas seized the American steamers that were collectin.£» fruit up the river, and compelled them to convey him and his men to Bluefields. They landed about seven hundred strong, marched through the town, posted cannon at variou.T points, and to the strains of music went through the ceremony of retaking the town. Ihey fired sixty-three rounds from the cannon, tore down the Mosquito flag, rer' it in shreds, and fired it from their guns. Dr. Madriz, the new Commissioner, requested the allied troops, English and American, to retite, representing that Nicaragua would protect her territory- and rights. Captain Lesi.ik C. .Stuart, of H..M.S. Mohawk, which had replaced the Magirienne, .soon after this request withdrew his men, who had been on shore protecting British resident' When the Nicaraguans landed, the people fearing for their lives, fled from their homes; hundreds of them seeking British protect! n, while others sought the protection of the bush, where they lived. Captain Stuart offered to ake all British subjects who felt unsafe, to Costa Rica. Many abandoned their homes and effects ; one hundred and eighty being taken to Limon, and sent to Jamaica. On the next two trips he took sixty more. Americans as well as British residents, to Port Limon. Many Americans sought protection on board the Mohawk in preference to their own ships. On August the i6th, Dr. Madriz .sent a message to Mr. ILvtch, h.b.m.'s acting- Vice-consul, and various officials of the Mosquito Government, saying he wanted to see them in his office. Arriving there, they found themselves prisoners. Without havin.'^ an opportunity of communicating with their families or friends, or even of obtaining clothes and neccs.saries, they were hurried away to the Bluff, where they were kept several days, and fed on native cheese and biscuit. Chief Clarence was captured in Peari City, and joined the other prisoners at the Bluff. From the Bluff they were taken to Greytown, th. 1 on to Managua, and immediately taken before the President Zelayga, who awarded them various terms of imprisonment and banish> ments. Many of the exiles, among them Mr. Hatch, found their way back to Port E I I 92 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. !r:^i Limon, where they were well looked after by Captain Stuart of the Mohawk, who rendered them every possible assistance, and cau.'-ed them to be conveyed to Jamaica, and to such other jilaces as they elect-d to ijo. Chief Clarence, and Mr. Hatch, remained for some time near Kintjf fin, Jamaica, where we renewed our acquaintance with them dunng our last West Indian cruise. The British Government demanded an apoloi^y, and ;^r5,oooas compensation for damages sustained by British subjects. At the time Nicaragua n'used both. The closing scene in May, iGys, shifted from the Atlantic to th^- Pacific coast. Admiral Stephensox with his fleet seized the Nicaraguan seaport of Corinto, thereby paralysing her trade. Nicaragua, seeing that she had at last succeeded in arousing the British Lion, humbly apologised, while San Salvador guaranteed the money. This is one of the many occasions on which a naval officer finds himself brought face to face with difficulties of a political nature, and of international importance, with which he is obliged to contend at the instant, on his own responsibility, without reference to bis superiors, in order to save life and property. |l eSC'"^ I I m =*.i CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 93 CHAPTER XXVIII. FROM MOSQUITO COAST TO NEWFOUNDLAND. TtjE left the Mosquito coast on the i8th of March for Jamaica, callinjr at Great Corn Island on the way. Corn Island belonged to the »Mosquito Reservation, and was likewise under the protection of Great Britain, but it seems to have been seized by the Nicara.truans, and was held by them durini^ our visit. The island is situated about thirty miles from the Mos.juito coast, and is about two and a half miles Ions by two ],road. It rises in the midd'e to a height of three hundred and .seventy feet. The inhabitants number about three hundred, and are chiefly liberated Africans, with a few Nicaraguan soldiers. The chief exports are cocoanuts, which grow abundantly all round the shore, but poultry, pigs, and a few cattle are also reared. The island is reported to be ver>- healthy as there are no marshes or swamps. We left Corn Island on the 19th of March, and proceeded to Jamaica, which we reached on the 23rd of March. Here we coaled, and partially repaired the - rew shaft coupling and bearings which had worn to such an extent as to render it alxsolutely dangerous to proceed. Our three days' stay in Jamaica was highly appreciated, even Port Royal having great attractions after the Mosquito coast. We left Jamaica on the 27th of March for Bermuda, and arrived there on April the 3rd after a rather stormy pa.ssage. During our stay in Bermuda we were docked and had our shaft coupling and bearings thoroughly repaired. While the ship was in dock the men and officers were lodged in the " S: ?.h " receiving .ship. On April the 23rd we gave a children's party on board the " Shah " which is excellently suited for such an entertainment, ik-fore dispersing, a photograph was taken of the children on deck with Mrs. Curzon-Howe as hostess. Each child was given a toy, ^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. and afterwards a photojjraph of the K^roup, as a reniinisccncc of what to them was a very happy day. Al)out 8 p.m. on .Vpril 2sth, an alarm of firo was raised in the dockyard. It soon became ai)parent that the fire was in the neighbourhood of the powder majjazine, between the dockyard and the Commissioner's House, and that the flames had j^ot a firm hold of the workshops and .stores in connection with the magazine. The dockyard bell was rung, and verj- soon, in answer to the summons, the workmen from Ireland and Somerset poured into the dockyard. They manned the manual fire-engine, which with the steam fire engine already on the scene, pumped an abundance of water upon the flames and the adjacent magazine buildings. Meanwhile, about one thou.sand men from the fleet, under Captain Carr, Captain-in-charge, were busy assisting in carr)ing from the burning stores shell, l>cth filled ond empty, belonging to all the guns in the fleet. It is too terrible to contemplate what might have been the con.seeinjf down to 34° Vah. At 4 a.m., on the morninj^ of May the 14th we ajrain encountered float ice, which became more and more compact to the north and east, with occt .ional stretches of t'"ar water extcndinjf towards the .shore. Towards noon, when off Caj)e .Spear, we were completely surrounded, and had cautiou.sly to plo;ii,'h our way throu;,'h and between the floes of ice for about two hours, . lien we j,'ot into the harbour of .St. John's. P'ortunately the ^arbour was free from ice, but two days later the entrance and the greater part of the anchorage became packed with ice floes, driven in liy an ea.sterly gale. On May the 23rd, the Commodore and Mrs. CuRzoN-HonE were "A, Home" on board the Cleopatra, when large numbers attended from the shore. The Cleopatra's band discoursed its best dance music ; the w»;ather Viras fine, and the e/iU of St. John's availed themselves of the opportunity for enjoyment. eir"^5s) 9« CRUISE OF II.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XXIX. OUR FIRST CRUISE. 1894 JIYE left .St. John's on .May thu 26lh tor our tirst cruise round the island. The weather was foy^ when ve started, and .so continued until we left St. Pierre, on the south coast. We remained one day at .St. Pierre, exchanj^nnjif salutes and complimentary visits with the French Fla,i,'ship, Naiade, .Admiral Comte de Maij^^ret, and the various ofiicials from the .sho.e. W proceeded alonj,' the south, and up the west coast, raljinjj at St. George's Bay, Hay of Islantls, Honne Bay, and other small settlements. On June the 8th, when at anchor in Brig Bay, we e.\i)erienccd a New- foundland snow storm, which Listed about four h(jurs, anil changed the appearance of the country from summer to mid-winter. On June the i>th we encountered large masses of ice driftingdown through the .straits of Hi'le-isle, an<' " ■" re evening we found our further progress north barred by tnghtly packed field ice. The ship's head was accordingly turned to the south, Dut here again we were soon brought to a stamlstill by ice, which had gradually drifted round behind us, until we were completely hemmed in. We remained hard and fast in the ice for chree days. The weather, while we were in the ice, was on the whole favourable. We had a few snow showers, i)ut the.se were of short duration. Men and officers were able to leave the ship, and travel over the ice with perfect safety. The thickness of thi' jians varied greatly, .some were as much as ten or fifteen it thick. Our position was n(jt altogether a plea.sant one, tor besides the pans of ice which .seemed to lie moved by .some mysterious power, there were huge icebe'-gs aground in water, t'rom thirty to forty fathoms deep, .\round and between the.se we drittcd in the field ice, fortunately without making closer acquaintance with these monsters than to see the icetloes crunched and .split against CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 97 their told l>luc sides, and (died U[) in superimposed masses by the same unseen imiK-'lIinj; force. A similar fate would have iiefallen the CUx>patra, had it Ixicn her misfortune to l)e placed in a like position. On June the i 2th the lloes opened a little, just as suJdenly and mysteriously as they closed, and we were able to cut our way into some comparatively clear water, and so on to Belle-isle where we communicated with the lijijhthouse people, being the first persons they had spoken to since the previous autumn. The next day we teamed south, down the east coast of New- foundland, through ice and icebergs. We did not approach nearer the shore /lich appearetl blocked with ice, than ten or twelve miles. On June the 14th we attempted to reach Twillingate, but failed, owinj,^ to the heavy icc which for many miles surrounded the island. We therefore bore away for 11. :x)ur Grace, which we reached on June the 15th, leaving again on the i8th, and arriving in St. John's the same day. On the 23rd of Tune the Commodore received a telegram announcing the birth of the infant Prince Edward of York. We dressed ship and fired a royal salute. On June the 26th, to celebrate the happy event, we gave an afternoon dance on board, which was well attended by our friends at St. John's, and the next day we repeated the entertainment to the .ship's company and their friends, which, judging from the numlx.T who availed themselves of the invitation an. :heir evident enjoyment on board, must have been highly appreciated. During our stay at St. John ^ the Peary Auxiliary Relief Expedition arrived from .America in S.S. Portia, and left again on July the 7th for the rendezvous in Ingleheld Gulf, N'orth Greenland. The expe' sanguine anticipations of the advantages of photography in physical ^P^Z jmm. 98 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. geography and sun/^eying, air' intended making extensive use of it in this voyage. The main object of the expedition was the relief of Lieut. Peary, who, with Mrs. Peary, a nurse, and a baby gir! born under the Polar Star, a snowdrop lifting its tiny head through frost and snow, exposed to the icy blasts of the Arctic, had spent the winter in Inglefield Gulf The plans of the expedition included a search for the Swedish Naturalists, Bjorling and Kallsteines, and also investigations into the flora, fauna, physical geography, and glacier action in Greenland and the far north. On the arrival of the expedition at the rendezvous, it was found that Lieut. Peary's inland exploration on sledges, which was undertaken to determine the insularity of Greenland, had been a failure. Peary therefore resolved to make another >ittempt, and return tu the L^nited States in the summer of 1895. The F"alcon with the other members of the expedition on board bade farewell to Lieut. Peary off Cape Yorke, and continuing her course south, arrived at St. John's on September the 13. -, Sunday, July the 8th, the anniversary of the great fire, witnessed an arrival in the City of St. John's which excited the deepest inter-est on board the Cleopatra. A baby sailor boy was born, descended from a long line of ancestors noted in the annals of the British Navy, surrounded by insignia of the Service, nestled under the Union Jack as a coverlet, and overshadowed by the broad pennant which floated from the head of his cot. The little stranger soon accjuired the appropriate distinction of " Lc petit Commodore." On July the loth and i ith we gave an assault-at-arms in the skating rink, in aid of the Sailor's Home at St. John's, but the performances were only indifferently attended. St. John's received a visit from the French nagshij) " Naiade " and " Riguult de Genouille," which infused a fresh amount of gaiety into St. John's society. ^M'^m^ jd CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 99 CHAPTER XXX. OUR SECOND CRUISE jtrE left St. John's on our second cruise round the island on July the 21st. We ^^ proceeded up the east coast of Newfountlland, to Hare Bay, where we had some salmon fishinij. The river, which was in good order on our arrival, fell rapidly and became ver)' clear. The catch for four days was one hundred and thirty-four, the largest fish weighing 12^ lbs. At Hare Bay we found General Dashwood encampetl with three Indians and two canoes. He had been on the river about a fortnight before our arrival, and although at first the river was a blank, he had latterly done very well. He dined with us on board the Cleopatra, and regaled us with personal reminiscences of flood and field, and before leaving gave us the true killing fly for the Newfoundland rivers. Salmon river in Hare Bay has been fished by Naval Officers for many years, and is almost the only river that has been annually visited by the ships-of-war, notwith- standing that many other rivers in the island enjoy a reputation far in excess of Hare Bay, both as regards the number and size of the fish. Why this predilection for Salmon River? It is .situated on the treaty shore; it is in close proximity to the French-rooms of St. Julien and Fishot, which are constantly being visited ; it is one of the few rivers that are not netted, and is therefo.-e fairly well stocked with fish. Besides, the Bay is admirably suited for carrying out our drills, torpedo exercises, etc., thus combining duty with pleasure. The mere name of Hare Bay carries the writer back in fancy, by the memory of the many i>leasant hours si)ent on its waters, and changes the .scene from a close con- fined house or ship, to the cool br^-ezy banks of the Salmon river. He finds himself i3*«.V5=-~.iS.T^/— ..Ki lOO CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. :M i once more wading up the Doctor's Pool, feeling the rushing water around his feet, and seeing the white fleecy clouds creeping up from the west, bringing the fresh westerly breeze, laden with a mixed perfume of wild flowers and pine trees, and rippling the still smooth surface of the river. All around are the dark and .sombre pine woods, interspersed with a few bright green birch, swaying their tops to the freshening wind. The impetuous rush of the stream is heard as it pours out of the lake, and cl-.afes and foams in its haste to join the main river. The lonely lake lies enclosed by dark wooded hills, undisturbed by the presence of man, and the .silence unf)roken, save by the wild weir 1 cry of the great northern diver. He sees, in his favourite pool, that dark eddy where he has hooked, and that gravelly bank where he has landed many a salmon. The large boulder at the back has served for five years as a rest for the gaff, and a guage for the height of the water. And see over yonder, on the flat rock, half hidden in dwarf alders and marsh marigolds, by the side of the smaller stream, where flit a couple of ja)'s, lies the fishing basket and the lunch which the .sprightly jays are waiting to .share, while fearless of danger a merganser duck, which has a nest close under the bank, swims in the back water, surrounded by her brood of young ones, like litde balls of wool. The whole forms a soothing picture of nature, in a wild un- civilised countr}', where bird and beast have not yet been taught to look upon man as an enemy. A deer is seen coming down and drinking within fifteen yards of the fisherman, and in place of betraying fear, only di.splays an undisguised look of astonishment at the presence of a creature new to its world. From Hare Bay we proceeded up the coast of I^brador as far as Hamilton Inlet, the northern limit of our .station. At Indian Harbour the " Deep Sea Mi.s.sion" has established a hospital for the treatment of fishermen engaged during the summer on the Labrador coast. The hospital was in charge of Dr. Grenikll, who, at the time of our visit on August the 2nd, had not arrived from Montreal, whither he had gone to take charge of a steam yacht. There was only one patient, a convalescent from rheumatism, in the hospital, which was then in charge of a young assistant and a nursing sister. A yacht belonging to the Mission, which had brought the a.ssistant and sister out from England, was lying in the harbour, and was supplying them with provisions and stores. We lent them the carpenter's staff to put the hospital into thorough repair, and make a few alterations. I' i^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. lOI From Indian Harbour we steamed up Hamilton Inlet to Rij^-olette, a Hudson Bay Station, which comprises besides stores, one house belonj^irj^ to Mr. WiLsoy, the Agent, and a few huts belonging to Kskimo Indians. A very cordial welcom- was given us by this most hospitable gentleman and his charming family. From Rigolette we returned down the coast of I^abrador to Forteau, calling at the various fishing stations en route. At Forteau the fishing was poor, as the river was too small and clear. We only obtained ten salmon, but some very good .sea trout. We met Captain Douolas of the Canadian Marine, who was engaged in erecting one of I^rd Kelvix's tide- guaging machines in the harbour of Forteau. From Forteau we proceeded down the west coast of Newfoundland to Bonne Bay, where we lost one of our shipmates, Albert Stokes, Petty Officer, who died after a long illness, and was interred in the small cemetery there. From Bonne Bay we proceeded .south, calling at the different settlements, until we reached St. George's Bay. We anchored at St. George's for the night, and then proceeded to St. John's, which we reached on August the igth. Mrs. Curzon- HowE gave another " At Home " on board the Cleopatra, on the afternoon of August the 23rd, which, thanks to the admirable tact and good ta.ste displayed in all the arrangements by the hostess, was like its predecessors, most enjoyable, and a complete success. While at St. John's, we, with the Pelican's bluejackets and marines, landed for a naval review and shamfight, on St. Bonaventure's College Grounds. The weather was fine, and the grounds were crowded with spectators. 1 he streets, fences, hou.setops, and everj- available coign of vantage, where the people could get a glimp.se of the mantruvres, were [)acked with sightseers, who watched the mimic warfare with great interest, and loudly applauded each evolution. The review was a decided success, and a great source of enjoyment to the public. <2SO^ I02 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. CHAPTER XXXI. OUR THIRD CRUISE. TtrE left St. John's on September the lOth for our third andlast cruise for the season. ^^ Proceedintj up the east coast to Tilt Cove, we inspected the copper mine in charge of Captain Phillh-s, a Cornishman, and then on to Canada Bay, anchorinj,' in Otter Cove. We opened the carouse shooting season at Canada Buy, and although the grouse were scarce, and the walking very difficult and fatiguing, the l)irds afforded splendid sport. Compari.sions, it is .said, are odious, nevertheless, the Newfoundland willow grou.se would compare favourably with its Scotch cousin, the red grouse. Seventy or eighty years ago the Scotch grouse was as healthy and strong, so far as we know, as the Newfoundland grouse. About that time the system of letting the moors for the shooting was first started, and at the same time the protection and over- preservation of the moors, and the ruthless extermination of all vermin and predator)- birds was begun. But man cannot interfere with the balance of nature with imjjunity ; nature has her Nemesis. Th(' birds soon began to show signs of deterioration ; they became sickly, and ejjidemic diseases broke out and swept them off in thousands. In Newfoundland there is no jireservation. Cruel and relentless nature reigns supreme. Ibrc it is a severe struggle for existence; the law is that of the survival of the fittest. Foxes, martins, hawks, owls, and various predatorj' birds compete with each other for the possession of this dainty bird : while he, in his turn, has grown larger and stronger, and has so well adapted his colour to his surroundings, in order to escape his natural enemies, that one may actually walk through the middle of a covey without being aware that a single individual is in the vicinity. \^rmm: A sportsman in Newfoundland requires to have a gooil sporting' dog accustomed to rough work. Nearly everyone uses setters, usually the variety called Irish setter, which is hardy and stands the rough work and cold weather very well The grouse around Canada Bay are nearly erjually divided between the rock ptarmigan and the willow grouse, the former on the hightest ridges, and the latter in the more sheltered lowlands. There is nothing more pleasant than a tran ver these breezy uplands, in the bright warm days of September, gun on shoulder, nd accompanied by a faiti.iul dog, reclining, when tired, on the thick tangled bed of dry mo.ss and shrub, and being fanned by the warm westerly wind, and abandoning oneself to the contemplation of nature. What glorious views one obtains from the summits of these Newfoundlantl mountains ! Looking inland, hill rises beyond hill, until lost in a bluish haze. There are sombre dark green forests of spruce on the slopes, with lonely quiet sheets of water in the hollows, while stretching away towards the sea, one gets glimpses of the silvery river meandering through dense bush, until it shoots out into the open blue sea, flecked with dazzling white specks, icebergs on their long journey from the Arctic sea to warmer climes. Four officers left the ship on the morning of September the 14th, for the interio'", to shoot caribou. They were accompanied by guides, and were cway four days, but except for a small deer and a bear's cub, the expedition was a blank. Caribou were seen, but with that perversity characteristic of caribou and other large game, they always keep out of range. From Canada Bay we steamed up the east coast to Chateau Bay, Labrador. We had some very good grouse shooting here. Several of our messmates camped out on the barrens, and although the weather was fine and warm during the day, the nights and early mornings were a little chilly. When shooting we are up betimes, generally before dawn, as the distances to be traversed before reaching the shooting ground are often considerable. At Chateau Bay we are called at daybreak. Cold meat and ships' cocoa are the orthodox early naval breakfast, after which we had a long pull of about four miles, before arriving at the village of Chateau. Chateau is a small fishing settle- ment, with only one or two permanent residents, the others being summer visitors only. We walk over the neck of land on which the village is built, to the sea on the 104 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CI.KOPATRA. li other side, then after a scramble over rocks, and thrcuj^h scrub, for about a mile alonjj shore, we strike inland over the open heath. A stiff climb brinjfs us on to the breezy open barrens, interspersed with clumps of thick scrub. In fine warm weather we may expect to find the birds feedinjj on the berries in the open, and more especially around the outskirts of the scrub, into which they generally retire for a few hours' quiet siesta in the middle of the day. Nor are we disappointed, as we have bagged three or four brace by working the barrens, and beating the outlying clumps of trees. But this is tiring work, and here is a spot for lunch. A bank covered with a thick turf of crow- berry, partridge berry, and moss, our back sheltered by some stunted spruce, while a tiny rill runs through the moss at our feet. Outstretched before us lies fhe dark blue sea, darker in contrast with the white glittering jbergs that dot every sea around Newfoundland and Labrador. On the left stretches the rugged coast line, with its bold basaltic columns, whose bases are encircled in a fringe of foam. On our right, and behind us, rise the undulating barrens, robed in purple and dark red, until mellowed and softened, they fade from our viev in a blaze of light. The half hour devoted to lunch having expired, after a draught of icy-cold water, we again shoulder our guns and buckle on our cartridg'^ bags and belts, while the dogs, having cooled their feet, and as much of their bodies as couUl be immersed in the shallow pools, seem delighted again to resume work after what to them seemed so much waste time. We tramp through the soft grassy marsh, which often holds birds that have evidently come down to drink, and after beating a few patches of scrub, and securing six or eight brace of grouse each, we think of returning to the boat before the shades of night obscure the path, as it is not a road to l)e travelled after dark. On the way back we pick up a few more l)irds which are now coming out of the cover, and are therefore much more plentiful than we fo'.nd them during the day. We hurry on, however, and reach the village just before dark. Here we find the Com- modore's galley, the Commodore, with his usual thoughtfulness, having come to meet us on the way to lighten us of our l)urdens. The recollections of many such days linger in the memorj- of the writer with all the vividness and freshness of the reality. Of course, it is not the mere pleasure of shooting that has such a great attraction for the votaries of Nimro^_ The early rising, the health giving freshness of the pure air, the scenery of the wild ba.rens, the keen appetite for the midday sandwich, all jS-oi. CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. >05 these add to the enjoyment, anti when one returns on board the ship, a comfortahle tired sensation, and a cdm foelinjj stealinjf over one of " somethinjj attempted, something,' done " j^ive one the assurance that, after a p^ood dinner and a pipe, he has earned a nij'ht's repose. These varied accessories help to make grouse shooting the most fascinating of outdoor sports. But I^brador is not always wreathe J in smiles, and we had an experience of the opposite mood. On September the 21st, the second anniversa ^01" the commissioning day, nearly all the Officers and many of the Petty Officers, had gone ashore in various directions, and for different forms of recreation, the weather being ominous and threatening rain. The writer had landed early to shoot, but had not (juite reached the shooting ground when with thick driving mist, the "rains fell thick and loud." The wind had changed into the north-east, and was bitterly cold. He found the birds plentiful, and after bagging six brace, was thinking of returning to the village of Chateau, when he heard guns firing, not like the desultory fire of sjxjrt, but at regular intervals, evidently for the purpose of guiding the wanderers who were unable to see more than a few yards around them. Finding two of his messmates who, although providetl with a compass, had for some hours been vainly trying to find their camp, he compared directions with them, and then parted company, steering for the sea, and ultimately reaching the settlement thoroughly drenched. Here a difficulty presented itself: as the ship was out of sight, and the only available means of getting on board was by a fisherman's boat. He found the inhabitants naturally reluctant to venture out on such a day, but after much persuasion an old man and his son were induced to take him off in a state of cold and wet he had seldom before experienced. Others on shore did not fare quite so well, but got benuml)ed with the cold and had great difficulty in reaching the coast. All however ended well, and in the evening the Officers met at dinner and celebrated the second anniversary of the ship's com- missioning. The cold and wet of the outside world were forgotten in the warmth and geniality within. We left Chateau on September the 22nd, and steamed down the Labrador coast as far as Blanc Sablon, which marks the line of separation between Labrador and the 106 CRUISK OK H.Nf.S ( I.F-OPATRA. Dominion of Canada, then crossed to the west coast of NewfoundIan«l, where we visited all our old friends, ,->nd on to Bay St. Geor^'e. At Bay St. George we took on board Lieut. Douglas, and the tori^-do boat's crew. Kach season a Lieutenant from the Cleopatra, with eight men, takes charj^e of a second-class torpedo l)oat on the west coast, assisting,' the ship stationed on that coast in visitinij the lobster factories, and in other fishery duties. ' CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 107 chaptF':r XXXII FROM ST. JOHN'S TO DOMINICA. TtyH arrive*! at St. John's on October the 4th, and left a^ain on October the ir)th for Halifax ar ' the West Indies. At Halifax we returned into store the warm clothinjj which we drew annually for the fishery duties, filled up with coal, and 'oft for Bermuda on October the 26th with a larire li.ijhter (Antony) in tow. The weather was .stormy when we started, but improved as ve advanced towards the south, and we arrived in Hermuda on (October the 31st with our charjje which followed in our wake with a docility worthy of the name, and without mishap. We coaled and provisionecl at Bermuda, and left at once for Barbados, West Indies. We fully expected to remain at Barbados for a few days, and to give leave to the men, but no sooner had we anchored than w> were informed that an epidemic of I)en.i,'ue fever had brolren out amonij the white population, and had attacked the whole jjarri.son with verj' few exceptions. To have remr" j I'nion Jack, which long after floated proudly from the hitherto uncon<|uered peak. St. l.ucia has been the scene of many bloody conflicts, /vn early Hngli.sh settlement was formecl in i6,-,9, but the settlers were expelled by the natives a few years lattT. The Island was then taken by the French, and again retaken by the English. Ihis game of .see-saw between the Engli.sh and French la.sted until the end of last centur)-, when .Sir Rai.i'h ArrRCROMnv, in sjiite of diff'icukies which might well have seemed unsurmountable, led his army through dense bush, and dragged his guns to th(> top of a mountain commanding the " Mornc," on which the French were encamped, a-.d after bombarding their fortifica- tions, drove them out. The Island was flnallv cedec", to England in 1.S03. The rain during our stay in St. Lucia was almost incessant, .^c.rcely leaving us an hour without a .shower. We therefore had fev recreations on shore. We left St. Lucia on Novemlxr the 2f;th, and arrived pt Martinicjue early the next morning. Martini(iue is now French, but was not so always. Like many of the West Indian Islands, it changed ma.sters many times before being finally handed over to the French in 181 5. Our object in visiting these Islands was to distribute certain books from the Foreign Office to the British Consuls and others. At Manini(|ue the sanitar)- authorities refu.sed to give us pratique, so we had to content ourselves with a distant view of the town of St. Pierre. ■:i: v-^Sdt. . . m^.-^7. CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. lOQ Our next place of call was Dominica. Here an excursion was made up the mountains with Dr. Williams, the Government Medical Officer, to visit his coffee ' grand, rising as it does al)ruptly on its north-west side to a height of over 3000 feet, and covered in dense vegetation to nearly its highest point. On the north-east the slope is more gradual, and forms a highly cultivated plane dotted with flourishing estates. The way up this mountain is at first through the forest, and is comparatively easy, but becomes more difficult as one ascends, until about 1000 feet from the top one emerges from the grateful shade on to a slippery insecure path of lava and cinders. On a fine day the ascent well repays the labour. -'*^?.i '■mi£^^mmmmf/k:-^msj^mm^s^^s^^i^. CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. "5 as the panoramic views to be obtained from the summit are magnificent. But the top is often veiled in clouds, effectually hidintj the scener\', besides rendering the air cold and damp, which, after the heat of the plains, is apt to produce chil'.j and fever. The summit of the mountain is occupied by a crater, half ? mile in diameter, and 500 feet deep. Tlie sides of this crater arc almost perpendicular and clothed in verdue, while the lake at the bottom is of a light pea-green colour, probably due to the presence of d-'sintegrated sulphur. The walk to the top and back is reckoned to be between eighteen and twenty miles, and to add to the discomfort of the journey no water can be obtained on the way up, or at the summit; everything in the way of refreshments must be carried. The ladies and a few of the senior officers had ponies, which however are very difficult to obtain, l^eing lent from the neighbouring estates. We returned to St. Vincent just before dark, and the fleet left almost immediately for Barbados. The epidemic of "Dengue" had pa.s.sed away before we reached Barbados on January- the 2.jth. Flere we met the Knglish cricketing team, captained by R. S Lucas, that had just arrived from Kngland with the intention of making a three months' tour in the West Indies, and playing cricket matches with the different island teams. They arranged to play a two days' match against a representative Barbadian eleven. As Barbados contains over 182,000 inhabitants, and white and coloured alike are most enthusiastic cricketers, it may be inferred that the selected eleven were excellent players. The excitement among all cla.sses was intense. The days of the match were declared general holidays, shops were shut, and busine-ss suspended. Every available space inside the enclosure was occu[)ied, wiiile thou.srnds who could not gain admittance, lined the fences and trees in the neighbourhood. The country lookeil as if invaded by a horde of black locusts, which swarmed on the trees until the branches dropped, and the trees themselves were crushed to the ground under the weight. The linglish went in first, ond only made forty-eight runs, as the ground was vnry bumpy from the pre- vious night's rain, Barbados then went in and made hundred. The English started well in their second innings, their first two men making one hundred and five, but the rest only succeeded in adding sixty-three, making a total of one hundred and sixty-eight. The Barbadians, in their second innings topped this score, and came off victors with five ii6 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA wickets to cjo down. This was the siq^nal for an outburst of excitement rt^hich had been hitherto repressed. The barriers were cleared in a wild rush with yells and shouts, the impi advanced across the jjro'ind, dancinsr and rollinsj on the Jjrass, throw- ing their tattered caps in the air, and beatinsj themselves with sticks How true it is, that man, when carried away by qreat emotion, appears in his natural state. The En.c[lish team played a combined army and navy match, which ended in a draw but much in favour of the former. At Grenada we had the sailing regatta, service rig. Commander Cardex, in the galley, won the galleys race. The Admiral here transferred his flag from the Blake to the Tartar, and accompanied by the Mohawk, proceeded to Dcmerara, joining us again at Trinidad. At Trinidad a jiarty of four proceeded on an excursion to the Maracras falls. Wo left Port of Spain by train at 8-30 a.m. for .San Josef, the ancient cajutal of Trinidad. Here we had carriages awaiting us, which conveyed us six or seven miles to a small clearing of three or four houses, where we hatl to leave the horses, and carriages and proceed on foot for the remainder of the way, about one and a half miles. The scener>' on the way ii the finest we have yet .seen in the W^est Indies. The road winds for the greater part of the way alongside a stream, which it crosses and re-crosses, and at each ford the traveller gets delightful peeps of the cool shady pools arched over with bamboos and palm trees, and often enlivened with groups of picture.srme Coolie women drawing water or washing clothes. Our walk from the carriage to the falls was through dense f(jrest, where nothing can be seen except trees and the luxuriant tropical growth of ferns and creepers. Only at one point, near the beginning, can one get a view over the tops of the trees and see the falls in the far distance, the waters pouring over the side of a hill into the valley below. This is .soon lost to sight, and not until one emerges from the gloom of th(' forest out into the dazzling bright hot sunshine is he confronted with the falls, the stream tumbling over a rocky precipice 3.S0 feet in height. The breeze catches uj) much of the water in its descent and carries it away in a fme misty spray to tlrench the vegetation lower down the valley. Froni Trinidad we proceeded to Jamaica. Here we had the Fleet pulling regatta. The race for the Admiral's cup was won by Mr. Skarlk, Midshipman of the Dlake. The Jamaica Yacht Club regatta was also held during our stay. B '^^r "^-^mm^^w^'^mmmmm'^mrMm^" 'mmm^ CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. One of the finest excursions in Jamaica Is to go by train to Roprwalk, there engage acarriaire and drive to Spanish Town. The road is good, and runs alon^r the course of the Cobra river until one approaches .Spanish Town. The scenery is of the jjrande.st, while the visit to Spanish Town — lonjj the capital of Jamaica — is most interesting. Here are the old Government Hou.se and other official buildings. A fine marble memorial is erected in the square to Admiral Rodney. The cathedral is filled with mural tablets, and the floor paved with stones recording the deeds and departure of the great. One tombstone in the cathedral '•ecords the death of a warrior who " came over with the army to capture the island, 1655." Commodore J.\ckson gave a fancy dress ball, which was a most brilliant affair, the guests coming from all parts of the island, and the costumes being very effective. We returnetl to Bermuda on March the 3rd, and turned over to the Shah, while the Cleopatra was in dock. Captain Bh.\( kknhurv, the oft'icials of the naval establishments, and officers of the fleet, gave a bull to Admiral J. O. Hopkins, I^dy Hopkins, and Officers of the Blake, ps a farewell entertainment before their departure from the station. The sail ft in the dockyard made a splendid ball room, when decorated and fitted with the electric light. Over three hundred guests were present, and the ball will long be remembered as one of the most successful ever seen in the island. The success was mainly due to the oft'icers and men who worked so hard in fitting up the ball room, supper rooms, and approaches, and to the committee who .so admirably managed the different arrangements for the comfort and convenience of the guests. We gave a children's party on board the Shah, similar to the one of the previous yea;, and although the chiklren thoroughly enjoyed themselves with games, etc., and returned home laden with toys, yet many were the regrets that our charming hostess of la.st year was absent from our midst. Bermuda has lo.st some old friends, but has been fortunate in .securing the genial and hospitable Captain Bkackenrurv, as Captain-i i-charge, with his charming wife, antl no less delightful family. One is always given a cordial welcome at the Cottage, where the reunions on Friday afternoons are looked upon as the irresistible enjoyment Ii8 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. of the week. Deputy Inspector-General Browne and his family, also, since their arrival have instilled new life and jjaiety into that quiet corner of Bermuda. H.M.S. Crescent, the new FKisjship, arrived early on the morning cf April the 17th, and relieved the Blake, which sailed at noon for I^njjianil. The hands played " Auld lanif syne " and " Home, sweet Home." We ^ave her three partinj,"- cheers, and as she passed out of sij^ht a sadness crept over us to think of the many cheer)- friends we had lost, and a melancholy hroodin.tj over the refrain of the last tune, which could not be lianished, and a lonijin.-,^ with us all for the time when we should hear "Home sweet Home," and see the Cleopatra's lonjj pennant streamini; in the wind, and her head pointed to the shores of Old Enj,dand. With the departure of the Blake we had lost the kindest and most considerate of Commanders-in-chief, and a most friendly and .sympathetic Flaj^ship. ©iT"^ jgl t:^S^* ^^^^^tS' |ML.ujfev».^i>^i.iaeags^/^^;s^s£*g^ii^ ' .^srrif^ <3 ^9^-r^ ^■mti^^.4m*^'^ makm^^ CRUISE )F H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 119 CHAPTER XXXV. NEWFOUNDLAND, 1898. j\x\: left Bermuda on April the 25th, and proceeded north to Newfoundland, calling ^ at Halifax, en route. During our absence from Newfoundland, the Colony had experienced a financial crisis of unprecedented severity. On the morning of December the loth, the two banks, the Union and the Commercial, found themselves suddenly obliged to suspend payment. This was followed by the failure of several large commercial firms, and as these held the circulating medium of the island, in.solvency spread fast from house to house until business was brought to a standstill. There was no currency in the town of St. John's, or in the island it-self, the notes of the two banks being useless and solid cash being scarcely obtainable. Eew families had above a shilling or two in silver in their po.ssession when the crash came. One well-known family was unable to pay for the household's weekly cor umption of eggs brought in f-om the country by the old market woman. The wealthy, who had piles of bank notes, were in the same position as the poor who had none, they could buy nothing. The shops were open, but the custcjmers became fewer and fewer, all transactions had to be conducted c.i the credit system, or by barter. The people at first did not recognise the desperate state of affairs, and were inclined to look at the ridiculous side of it, l)ut consternation and panic .seized them when they saw that the suspension of the banks was permanent, and not temporary, and that their savings were swept away. Those who had shares in the Union and Commercial banks, and were mostly in comfortable circumstances, now found themselves reduced to penury. Widows and orphans, who h.id invested their all in these institutions, were left destitute. The funds of orphanages, churches, and charitable in.stitutions held by the banks were all alike irretrievably lost. The failure of the mercantile houses threw hundreds out of employment and added to the general distress. I20 CRUISK OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. H.M.S. Tourmaline was onltrcd to St. John's, and winturud there, in order to check any rioting' or disturljance which mij,'ht occur; fortunately her services were not required, but the kindness and valuable help of the officers and crew were much appreciated. The crash had occurred some four or five months before our arrival at St. John's, l)ut stranj,'-e to .say, we were unable to detect any material alteration in the town or people, the latter were drivinj,' about in their carriages with liveried servants as before. They lived in the same houses, dres.sed the same, and to all outward appearances were the same. Shops were open, and well filled with j^'oods, and factories were in full workin^r order. A steam merry->,'o-round appeared to be well patronised, and realised one thou.sand dollars per week, and picnics and excursions were as brisk as ever. Sir Hkrhkrt Mukkay, who according to the most recent information has been appointed to succeed Sir Terknck O'Hrikn-, as Governor, was sent out by the Imperial Government, to relieve the distress. He started public works, and employed all wh.j wished to work at half a dollar i)er diem. He likewise advanced money to fishermen to furnish schooners and fishing gear, to enable them to proceed to Labrador for the fishing season. Latly O'Bkikx organised, with other charitable ladies, soup kitchens to relieve the immetliate distress, and a committee of ladies visited the poor in their homes. As the summer advanced, the financial state of the Colony l)ecame more desperate. It paid the interest on the debt in January, but the interest for the next six months, falling due in June, was not forth- coming, and there were only two alternatives to save the Colony from bankruptcy, confederation with the Dominion of Canada, or a fresh loan. Confederation failed, ov/ing to the debts of the Newfoundland Colony. An attempt to raise a loan in the United States also failed, but at last, early in June, a loan of /soo.ooo at four per cent, was procured in London. It is no p:irt of our ol)ject to speculate as to the future prosperity of the Island. The pulilic debt has, for the last ten years, been increasing by over 1,000,000 tlollars yearly, the population has remained stationary, and the imports and exports show no increase. We left St. John's on May the 2i.st with seed potatoes for the poor fishermen on the coast, and salt for them to salt their fish. The distress was chiefly on the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. We went down the west coast of Newfound- i^l^^ CRUISK OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. I3t land as far as Bay St. Georj,'c, and returned round the north of the island a;,'ain to St. John's. We found the weather unusually tine and warm for the season of the year, and the past winter had l)een the mildest known, even by the proverbial " oldest inhabit.int." Durinj,' our crui.se we saw no ice, and very little snow, while the rivers were abnormally low, and the ve;,'etation a month or six weeks in advance of previous years. The French ship Hu.s.sard, came into St. John's shortly after our arrival, and the I^clocheterie, Commodore Reculoux, arrived on June the 23rd. On June the 26th, Mrs. CrKzoN-llcnvi-: gave an "At Home" on I>oard the Cleopatra. The morning was wet, but cleared up beautifully for the afternoon. The entertainment was repeated the next day to the men and their friends, when fully four hundred were present. Karly in July the Kite left for Lieut. Pk.vry's relief in Greenland. Pe.vry has already been mentioned in these pages, and his story may be briefly summarised thus: In July, iH()3, Pkaky with his wife and twelve companions left for Greenland, with the intention of surveying the whole northern coast, hitherto unexplored. The winter of 1893-94 was unusually severe, so that Peary and his party were unsuccessful in their enterprise. The Falcon went north last summer, and returned with the explorers, except Peary and two men, who determined to remain another winter, and make a further attempt this summer. The relief expedition this year is in charge of Emil Uiebitsch, Civil Engineer, and compri-ses several scientific gentlemen, who will undertake the study of the glaciers, geology, and natural history of the country. \Ve left St John's on July the 13th, for a cruise up the east coast of Newfoundland, calling at the several fishing stations. At Hare IJay we received information that a steamer had gone ashore on Belle-isle. We therefore steamed north at once and found that the steamer Mexico, chartered by the Dominion Line, had gone ashore on White Point, under precipitous cliffs, and had become a total wreck. She was laden with cattle and a general carg(j, but was now abandoned. We returned to St. John's on July the 24th, and found the French ship " Nieve," Captain Charles ViccI, present. On July the 26th, the Commodore and Mrs. Curzox-Howe gave an "At Home" on board, as a farewell reception, in honour of the Governor ^ ,T ^^> % '^J^ -■ w />-%. Photographic Sciences Corporation ■1>' \ \ *^ 23 WEST MAIN STRECT WEBSTER, NY. |4SS0 (7i6) 872-4S03 ;\ ^ i -.m-: 122 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CF.EOPATRA. I and Lady O'Briex, which was most successful. At the close the band played the National Anthem and Auld Lang Syne, and the assembled guests paid their farewell respects to their Excellencies. On July the 27th, Sir Terence and Lady O'Brien severed their connection with the colony, and left in the S.S. Assyrian for England, carrying with them the deepest regrets of the whole community who were losing their most popular and hospitable Governor and his kind and charitable laJy. The ladies of St. John's presented Lady O'Brien, before her departuie, with a diamond star and an illuminated addres><. The Cleopatra fired a salute of twenty-one guns, and cheered as the steamer passed. The French ship NIeve followed our example, and manned the rigging and gave three cheers. We left St. Johns, to continue our cruise, on July the .30th, and proceeded along the south coast, as usual in fog, intending to call at St. Pierre, but the weather was too foggy and stormy for us to pay official visits, so we went on to Bay St. George and anchored. The rivers here were extremely low and clear, the weather hot and bright, and the fish could be seen swimming lazily about, or lying in the deepest parts of the pool. The prospect for salmon fisliing was therefore of the gloomiest. Several of us went to Flat Bay Brook, near the mouth of which river we had caught some good sea trout early in June. We now tried about seven miles from the sea, oi)posite the Farm and Cairn mountain. One day, after a heavy thunder shower, the fish rose well for about three hours, during which time the writer managed to land six salmon from the island pool. The other rivers around Bay St. George were almost blank. We proceeded from Bay St George to Bonne Bay, and anchored in Neddy's Harbour. We made an excursion to East river, but instead of finding a deep rapid river with splendid pools and almost impassable banks, we found a clear shallow stream, which could be forded almost anywhere, and although there were deep dark pools, they seemed not to hold a fish. This might possibly be due to a native, who was found rapidly emptying a pool of sea trout by means of large hooks attached to a string and pole, with which he was sweeping the pool. This method of fishing is called "jigging." Sea trout were caught in Deer brook, but no salmon. At each place on the west coast, raspberries were ripe, and in great abundance. Our next port of call was Port Saunders. We fished Torrent river, Hawke's 3 a CRUISE OF H.M.S CLEOPATRA. 123 bay, which we found in flood owing to some hea\y rain previous to our arrival. The salmon are large in this river, running over twenty pounds, but they are dour, and we found therr. particularly so during our stay. The first pool is at a sudden bend of the river, and we fish from an island towards the left bank. Above this, about five hundred yards, is an almost impassable gorge, and extending from this gorge, and about two hundred yards from it, is a long, deep pool, the middle and tail of which are the best for fishing. Above the gorge is also a very good pool, and another under the falls, which are about thirty feet in height. East river, Hawke's bay, was a bl.-ir!c, Forteau river was in good order the first day, more so in the lower than in the higher pools The heaviest fish, twenty-one pounds, was caught in the falls, but was sadly out of nndition. From Forteau we went up the Labrador coast as far as Indian Harbour. Here we found the fishermen catching more cod than they could salt and dry. They had already between se'- hundred and eight hundred tons of dry fish. The " Deep Sea Mission "' hospital had eight or ten patients who seemed very comfortable and wel looked after by Miss Williams. The two doctors belonging to the mission we did not see, one was at Hopedale, and the other at Rigolette, visiting patients. From Indian Harbour we returned down the east coast of Newfoundland in cold, wet, stormy weather, to Hare Bay, but the weather was unpropitious for salmon fishing, and we had therefore to be satisfied with our rather meagre catch of about fifty salmon for the season. At Conche, on August the 27th, there happened one of those regretable accidents which occur from time to time on masted ships, but from which our ship had been remarkably free. At 5-30 p.m , we sent down the gallant masts, and after the drill was over, Tiio.mas Cook, O.S., while going leisurely up the main topmast ".^Sing to put the mast head to rightb, somehow lost his balance and fell into the hammock nettings. He was instantly picked up but never regained consciousness. We conveyed the l)ody to Twillingate, where the interment took place with full naval honours. We were delayed at Twillingate owing to a screw bolt in the high-pressure cylinder becoming loose. The piston rod had to be drawn and replaced, which was done by the engine-room staff in thirty hours. We then went on to St. John'.s, which we reached on September the ist. 124 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. riiAPTKR xxxvr OUH LAST CRUISE. ^HORTI.Y after our return to St. John's, the Commodore received an official letter W conveyi.,sr the ploasin.1- information that the ship would return to Devonport at the end of the fishing season, and tiiere pay off. During: the presence of the three fishing: ships, the Commodore intended giving an Assault-at-Arms in aid of the Convalescent Home, but the 9th of September, the day fixed for the manoeuvres, happened to be very wet. so he was reluctantly com- pelled to postpone it indefinitely. On September the loth, Mrs. Curzon-Howe gave an 'At Home' on board the Cleopatra. It was a farewell ' At Home' before her departure from St. John's, and the dispersal of the fishing ships. The weather was, as it has invariably been at the various entertainments on board, superb. The ship was looking her best, the bright sunshine and gay bunting, with the no le.ss gay dre.s.ses c the fair ones of St. John's presenting a brilliant .scene, clouded only by the thought that it was the last at which our charming hoste.ss would preside. We gave an Assualt-at-Arms in the grounds of the St. Bonaventure College, on the afternoon of September the 1 sth. It, like its predecessor of last year, was a decided success. On Tuesday, September the 17th, the Commodore and Officers gave their final ' At Home ' on board. This was the last of those social and friendly reunions which have existed between us and the peo,.le of St John's during the last three years, and which have assisted so much in cementing that friendship which doubtless will be more than temporary. As the guests were departing, and the band playing "Auld lang . c.- Plultii. tfli h *'■ Tail. A'..V. Ttira* Ftih«rl*a Ships. /' .1 C. Mitnt/ilU, PlfmmH. 1^1 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. »35 Syne," we all avail'^d ourselves of the opportunity to say jjood bye to the genial and hospitable M. and Madame Des'Ishs, who with their family were about to leave St. John's in the " I^clocheterie " for France, on a lon^ holiday. The '* Kite" arrived in St. John's on September the 21st with Lieut. Peary anc* KIs relief pr.rty. Lieut Peary's expedition has already been sketched in these pages, and i. is 10 be reg-tc^ilod "hrt a ma:' with the indomitable courag^e and perseverance of Lieut. Peary should again have failed in his object, the survey of the northern part of Greenland. It seems that during the past year, owing to snowstorms and bad weather, the only course left open to him was to return to the rendezvous and there await the arrival of the " Kite." We left St. John's on Septemb'^r the 21st for our last crui.se round Newfoundland. We proceeded to Twillingute, where we erected a tombstone to the poor fellow who was buried there on our previous cruise; ther up the Treaty shore, calling at the different fishing establishments until we arrived at Chateau bay, on the Labrador coast. Here on the barrens, we had the best grouse shooting that it has been our good fortune to obtain during the commission. In two days we shot a total of one hundred and fifteen and a half brace. The weather was delightful, cold, dry and breezy. We landed early, soon after daylight, and found the ground hard-frozen and the pools covered with thick sheets of ice, while the grass and bushes were robed in a feathery white mantle of hoai frost. The air was keen and fresh, and as yet there was no sun. As we advanced up the ridges the sun rose from the sea and transformed the scene into one of glittering fairj'land. At the .same time the breeze sprung up from the west ?.nd increased as the sun mounted in the heavens. We found the birds out on the open barrens, feeding on the exposed ridges in the early morning, but as the day advanced they retired to the shelter of the scrub for a few hours' sie.sta, to again come out towartls evening. The grouse is a true high- lander, a dweller on the mountains, amid r'>cks and wind-swept barrens. He is a lover of the sunny ridges which run for mi'es through the country, strewn with rocks and covered with a thick turf of crowberry, bearberry, and other northern plants, and is specially fond of the bare slopes in the immediate vicinity of hollows filled with 126 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. scrub of the dwarf willow, birch, alder, and spruce, which conceal in their deaths a liny rivulet. We returned down the west coast of Newfoundland, and visited the wreck of the Dominion Line hired steamer "Mariposa," which ran ashore in a dense fog, a few miles south of Fortcau. She was laden with cattle and sheep, and also had about thirty passengers on boaul, some of whom wore old friends of ours from the West Indies. The passengers and crew were landed in safety at Korteau, and conveyed to England, but many of the sheep were washed overboard and drowned. We reached Birchy Cove. Bay of Islands, on October the ist, and found here great alterations from the advent of the new railway. The project of cutting a line of railway through tho centre of Newfoundland, from east to west, was an immense stride in the colonisation of the country. It is only about seventy years ago that Newfoundland was merely a fishing settle- ment, a country without roads. St. John's was a village perched on the coast without any means of communicating with other settlements, except by sea. Roads began gradually to spread out, first from St. John's along the coast to neighbouring villages, and then to more distant settlements, but the interior of the country was left undis- turbed; and it was not until 1881, that the first sod of the Newfoundland railway was cut. This line was projected to run from St. John's to Halls Bay, with branch lines to Harbour Grace and Brigus, but owing to financial troubles the line ended at Harbour Grace. In 1888, a branc'a line was opened to Placentia on the south coast, and m 1890, Mr. R. G. Reid, of Montreal, commenced the present railway which was the first to invade the vast solitudes of the interior, and establish communication from east to west. He has agreed to construct the line for 15,600 dollars per mile, and has also contracted to maintain and work the same in an efficient and satisfactory manner for the period of ten years, for which he is granted in fee-simple 5,.xx) acres of land per mile of railway. The line runs from St. John's in a northerly direction, through the narrow isthmus which connects the Avalon Peninsula with the mainland and which at the narrowest part is only about three miles wide. It cuts the Terra-Nova, Gambo. and Gander valleys, to Norris' Arm on the Exploit's river. The railway then takes a westerly course followinjj the Kxploit's river, and crosses it at Bishop's Falls ten miles from the mouth ; then across the ;^reat barrens to the north-east point of Grand Pond, and alon^' the southern side of Deer I^ke to Bay of Islands. The railway is ultimately to terminate at Port-aux- Basque on the south coast, touching at St. Georjje's Bay en route. The benefits likely to accrue from this railway are manifold. Already the mails are carried to and from St. John's to the west coast, with all their civilising influences. The east and west will be joined together by this iron link, and will look upon themselves as one community, instead of Iieing widely separated, as they have been hitherto. The best timber districts have been opened up, and several lumbering establishments are now in active operation, clearing the land of wood, and exporting it to Europe. In the wake of the lumberman will come the farmer, who will settle down on the partially cleared land. The Agriculturist around Bay St. George, which is reckoned the best farming land in the island, will Ixi able to forward his produce to St. John's which at present imports nearly all its cattle and hay from the American continent. Mr. HouLEV, of the Geological survey, has reported a new coal field in the vicinity of Grand Pond, and associated with the coal is an iron ore. If these minerals come up to expectation, a great future is reserved for the Colony. Coal has long been known to exist in the St. George basin, but it has hitherto been undeveloped owing to the want of transport. The valuable mineral asbestos has likewise been found in several localities near Port-a-Port, and although it has been worked sufficiently to show its extent, the industry has been much retarded owing to the lack of roads. Marble and granite beds have been opened in the course of the railway through the Humber valley, and the stone is reported to be of good (luality. Besides the benefits to the Colony in the future, from the opening up of forest, agricultural, and mineral lands, there is the employment of thousands of the working classes, at good wages, in the construction and maintenance of the line, while many will, no doubt, settle down after the completion of the work, and act as pioneers for other Colonists. The Newfoundlander has too long solely depended upon fishing, which is at all times precarious, for his livelihood, and we have seen the abject poverty and starvation in which he and his family have been plunged by the failure of the fishing or a bad ut CRUtSE OF tt.M.S. CLEOPATRA. year. But with good land, and easy means of reaching it, he will soon rely upon the land to furnish the necessaries of life which have beens«j frequently denied him by the sea. Then, again, the district openeil hy the railway has only to be known to have a large influx of sportsmen and tourists. This may be looked upon as the sportsman's paradise. Caribou are plentiful and grouse abundant, and salmon and trout abound in all the lakes and rivers. Three of our arden* sportsmen left Bay of Islands by rail to explore the interior and shoot caribou. They proceeded up the Humber valley, through magnificent scenery, past the Grand Pond and Deer Uke. until the -rreat barrens of the interior were reached. Here they pitched their camp close to some granite quarries. It was through the kindness and hospitality of .Messrs. Reid, who had given orders to their railway employees that every facility for travelling on thl line should be extended to the sportsmen, and had thoughtfully provided guides, and placed sleeping cars and cooking arrangements at their 'disposal, that the expedition enjoyed such comfort and met with such an unqualified success. Around the camp the country spread out into immense plains, which looked in the distance like vast prairies, with bare hills rising out of the general level. This meadow land on near approach was found to be the universal Newfoundland marsh, with peaty wet soil and course wiry grass. The hills, where they had escaped the fires, consisted of scattered dwarfscrub and huge boulders, which the deer so much resemble, that it takes a practised eye to pick them out. Well-trodden deer paths traverse the marsh and skirt the bases of the hills. One gazed down on these plains and hills which stretched away as far as the eye could reach, and seemed utteriy desolate and devoid of life, but as the eye became accustomed t. the peculiarities of the surroundings, a moveme.it. perhaps, as if one of the boulders had suddenly become endowed with life, betrayed a caribou ; when on looking intently, first one animal, and then another, would start mto bold relief, until the whole plain was alixc with deer. Or. again, as was actually witnessed on this occasion, one may see a herd of from eighty to one hundred deer, trooping in single file through the marshes, on their autumnal southern migration. It .s a sight never to be forgotten to see the deer, both male and female, of all ages, in these migrations, from the little fawns trotting by the side of their dams up to the CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 1*9 heavy antlered old stags, which brinij "P the re-ir, ever scentinjj suspicion, and on the look out for danjTcr. The expedition returned to St. John's well supplied with heads, the largest having thirty-nine points. Our voyage from Bay of Islands to St. John's was very stormy. We encountered strong gales down the west and along the south coast, accompanied by a heavy sea. which gave everyone a very uncomfortable time. At Bay St. George we met the Pelican, and aa thi.- was in ail probability the last time we should meet on the station, we bade good bye to our old friends of three years, and cheered ship on our departure. The weather continued very stormy at St. John's. We had strong gales from the south with drenching rains. The ground was already oaked, and the surplus water formed small torrents and cascades as it rushed and tumbled down the rocky sides of the harbour. The half naked trees were shivering under a cold leaden sky and struggling to retain the few yellow withered leaves which were l)eing rudely plucki,a from their branches by the ugly gusts of wind. Everything denoted the fast approach of winter. We had shipped our various stores which we had landed here for the summer, we had taken on board our trophies of the chase, antlers, skins, and stuffed specimens, we haci bidden our friends on shore good bye, and were now only waiting for the arrival of the mail to leave for dear old England. The mail steamer arrived at I -30 p.m. on October the 16th The weather, as if repentant for Its past turbulence, became calm, dry and bright. We had just time to rush on short, make a few last purchases, and take a final adieu of a few friends before the anchor was weighed, and we found ourselves steaming down the harbour, exchanging .salutes and signals with the people on shore and the signal station. As we passeil the narrows, carrying with us the goodwill and best wishes of the whole community, we wafted back a final farewell on the steam siren to St. John's and Newfoundland where we had spent so many pleasant days, and where we would wish once again to see the silvery gleam of the salmon in her pools, and to hear the merry cackle of the old cock grouse on her hills. /Mthough the parting from our Terra Nova friends whom we had known so long was hard, yet when we felt the ocean swell and found ourselves homeward-bound, all our sadness vanished. The regrets of parting changed to joy at the thought of seeing. t30 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. once more, the sweet faces, and hearing, once again, the familiar voices of the dear ones we had left at home three years ago. We arrived in Halifax after a long and stormy passage of four and a half days, and received a very cordial welcome from the Commander-in-chief, Vice-Admiral J. E. Erskixe, whose flag we saluted on entering the harbour. The Admiral inspected us on Octol>er the 24th, and gave us orders to leave for Devonport on October the 30th. It is impossible to contemplate without feelings of regret the termination of this commission, which has been one of happiness and unvaried harmony. We have been fortunate in many ways. We have had very few changes either amongst the office s or men. We hive had few accidents to life or limli, neither courts-martial nor serious crimes. .\nd although this ship has been placed in positions of great difficulty, and under most trying circumstances, as at Bluefields, and when engaged on the delicate duties connected with the French Treaty rights on the coast of Newfoundland, there is a fee'ing of pride in knowing that the duties have been accomplished honourably, and with credit to our Queen and countr>', as well as to the service in which we have the honour to serve. It now but remains to say farewell, or rather an rcvoir, as it may reasonably be anticipated that we may find ourselves one da) entering uprn another commission in some other ship for a distant station, in which ca.«e there can be no better wish than that it may be as comfortable and pleasant as that we have just finished in H.M.S. Cleopatra. eiC*'^© i' ^^- CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. '31 CHAPTER XXXVII. CONCLUSION. ^^FIE fishinff population around the coast of Newfoundland, except in the larger T settlements, is without the services of a medical practitioner. It has, therefore, been the custom of the medical o.- ;ers on board the fishery ships to render whatever medical and surgical aid was in their power, and it is reckoned, that in three years fully three thousand have been attended and relieved. On the coast of Ubrador which has a population during the summer of from 20,000 to 30,000, there are no doctors. The majority of the people who visit Labrador are emigrants from Newfound- land, and include women and children. The women and children and many of the men are disembarked en the several islands and harbours along the coast, and take up the-V residences in the turf ho-els which have been left from last season, and which are often wet, cold, and devoid of a'l sanitary conditions. The remainder are packed away in schooners and proceed to the far north to fish. A doctor takes a trip in the mail steamer up the I^ibrabor coast, but as the steamer only stays a very short time at each port, the doctor can only reach the few. Dr. Grexfell who is in charge of the Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen, has visited the coa.st since 1892, and has now, through his unflagging exertions, established two hospitals, one at Battle Harbour the other at Indian Harbour, with a trained nurse and doctor at each. Besides the Mission sailing vessel -Albert," 97 tons, and the steam yacht "Princess May," the Mission was presented by Sir Donald Smith of Montreal, with a steam launch eighty feet in length. These vessels are of great ser- vice in visiting the sick in the different harbours, and. if necessary, conveying them to the hospital. This Mission does an incalculable amount of good amongst the poor on the Ubrador coast. Dr. Grenfell and his assistants, besides giving medical and 132 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. surgical aid to the people, distribute food and clothing in cases of urgent necessity, to the destitute and starving, and also administer to their spiritual welfare, by holding religious sen-ices whenever opportunity offers. Changes amongst the Officers during the Commission. This ship has been particularly fortunate in her promotions. Eirst Lieut. Sackville il. Cardex was promoted to Commander, on the ist January, 1894; then six months later, Lieut. R. G. Colmore attained the same rank, and both were reappointed; Staff- Paymaster Sceales, became Fleet- Paymaster, in January, 1895; Mr. FussELL, Chief Engineer, and Mr. LEorARo, Paymaster. Lieut. Neilson, r.n.r., after completing a years' training, returned to the Briti.sh India Co., and was succeeded by Lieut. Sholto Douglas., while the Hon. A. G. Hardinge, relieved Lieut. Hexniker. The gunroom has had many changes, Sul)-Lieut. Boyle was promoted and succeeded by Sub-Lieut. Thori>, who was promoted and succeeded by Sub-Lieut. Kerr-Pearse, who again gave place to Sub- Lieut. Hamilton. The three senior Midshipmen were promoted to Subs., and their places taken by three others from the fleet— Messrs. Hotham, Roe, and Gathorne- Hardv. Messrs. HoTHAii and Roe have just passed for Sub-Lieut., and have obtained first-class certficates in seamanship, wliile Mr. Vizard has been promoted to Assistant Paymaster. The gunner Mr. Ed. Pears, 7as invalided, and replaced by Mr. A. J. Bearne. Although no one has changed from the single to the married .state during the commission, yet Cui)id has been busy during the last few months, and has secured several victims. Two of the Wardroom Officers of H.M.S. Cleopatra have fallen to the irresistible attractions of the beauties of St. John's, and the public announcements of their engagements were made within a week of each other. But the Cleopatra has not alone been favoured ; one of the officers of the Pelican joined the happy band of benedicts during the last summer, while various rumours are current regarding the sad havoc wrought by the little god in H.M.S. Bu/zard. During the commission we lost : — Wm. Bishop, aged 21, Private Marine, from Drowning. Wm. Turner, „ 25, A.B Pneumonia. Albert Stokes „ 37, P.O. ... „ Brain disca.se. Thos. Cook, „ 18, O.S Fracture .spine. 1 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. '33 I If f »34 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. DISTANCES RUN IN MILES. ERR A TA. Under steam atont. Sleam and sail. Sail alone. For thp year 1892 1136-8 23357 5609 M 1893 40183 5426-0 575-1 •■ "894 6431-8 8029-4 "057-4 ., 1895 4687-9 16,274-8 5UI7 696 20,922-8 2.263 Total — 39,460-6. to which must be added 2,450. the th'stanre to Devonport. makiniLf a Grand Total of 4i.()io-^i miles. COAL CONSUMED. 436 tons. . 1558 „ 2208 „ 1483 „ .. 9 cwts •• 6 „ •• 3 ,. ■ 3 „ 5686 „ I „ For the year 1892 .. 1893 ... 1894 ... 1895 ••• To which must be added about 200 tons, which will probably be consumed on the voya^- to England. This gives a Grand Total of 5886 tons, i cwt. FISHING. Salmon caught ... ... ... 3^2. Heaviest salmon 21 -lbs., caught in Fort .a river. Sea trout, largest catch in one day, 157, weights ranging from i-lb. to 3 A lbs. Largest trout weighing 4^-lbs. OUR GAME BAG. Snipe. 275 Grouse. 608 Woodcock. 13 Duck. 15 Plover, Sfc. 23 Caribou. 18 Bear. rj M CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. 135 |1 1 » 1 f f MOVEMENTS OF THE SHIP DURING THF COMMISSION. SaiUd /torn l8qz. Plymouth Nov. 3rd Madeira „ 14th 1893. Bermuda Jan. 4th Antigua „ 15th Dominica ,, 19th St. Lucia „ 23rd St. Vincent „ 2sih Barbados Feb. 3rd Grenada ,, 6th Trinidad ,, iiih Jamaica „ 21st Bermuda April 25th Halifax May i6th St. Pierre „ igth St. John's June 6th Bay St. George,, 12th Port-au-Port ,, 14th Bay of Islands „ 15th Bonne Bay „ i6th Port Saunders ,. 17th Forteau „ 19th St. Lunaire „ 20th Hare Bay „ 23rd Conche June 26th Harbour Grace „ 29th St. John's July 17th Canada Bay ,, 24th Hare Bay „ 29th Forteau Aug. 3rd Old Ferole „ 4th Port Saunders „ sth Bonne Bay „ loth Port-au-Port „ nth Bay St. George „ 14th St. John's Sept. 7th Placcntia „ loth Bay St. George „ 1 2th Bay of Islands ,, 14th Bonne Bay „ 15th Arrivtd at Madeira Nov. nth Bermuda Dec. 7th Antigua Dominica St. Lucia St. Vincent Barbados Grenada Trinidad Jamaica Bermuda Halifax St. Pierre St. John's Jan. nth „ 17th „ 10th ,, 2+th „ 26lh Feb. 4th 8th 1 7th ., 28th April 30th May 19th „ 20th Bay St. George June Sth Port-au-Port „ 13th Bay of Islands „ 14th Bonne Bay ,, 15th Pott Saunders „ i6th Forteau ,, 17th St. Lunaire „ 19th Hare Bay „ 20th Conche „ 23rd HabourGrace June 27th St. John's „ 29th Canada Bay July 20th Hare Bay „ 14th Forteau „ 30th Old Ferole Aug. 3rd Port Saunders „ 4ih Bonne Bay ,, 6th Port-au-Port „ 10th Bay St. George „ nth St. John's „ 19th Placentia Sept. 9th Bay St. George „ 12th Bay of Islands „ i nth Bonne Bay „ 14th Port-au-choix „ i6th SaiUu from Port-au-choix,Sep' . 1 6th Forteau „ 1 8th Red Bay „ 19th Chateau „ iist Port Mamham ,, 22nd Canada Bay „ 28th Twillingate „ 29th Harbour Grace Oct. 2nd St. John's Oct. 13th Sydney „ 17th Halifax „ 31st 1894. Bermuda Jan. 4th .\ntigua „ 16th St. Kilt's „ 19th Nevis „ 20th Montserrat ,, 22 nd Dominica „ 26th St. Lucia „ 30th St. Vincent, Feb. 2nd Barbados „ nth Colon „ 20th Greytown „ 24th Bluefields „ 27th Colon Mar. 2nd Greytown „ 3rd Bluefields „ 5th Gre)to\vn „ 6th Bluefields „ i8th Corn Island „ 19th Jamaica „ 27th Bermuda April 29th Halifa.': May nth St. John's May 26th St. Pierre „ 28th Bay St. George „ 31st Port-aPort June 2nd Bay of Islands „ 4th Bonne Bay „ 6th Brig Bay „ 8th ArrivtJ ai Forteau Sept. 17th Red Bay „ iSth Chateau ,, 19th Port Mamham „ 2 1 st Canada Bay „ 23rd Twillingate „ 28th Harbour Grace ,, 30th St. John's Oct. . d Sydney, C.B., Oct. 15th Halifax „ 1 8th Bermuda Nov. 3rd Antigva Jan. loth St. Kitt's „ 16th Nevis „ I (,th Montserrat ,, 20th Dominica „ 23rd St. Lucia „ 26th St. v'incent „ 30th Barbados Feb. 3rd Colon „ 1 8th Greytown „ 22nd Bluefields ,, 25th Colon Mar. ist Grej-town „ 3H Bluefields „ 4th Gre)town „ 5th Bluefields „ 7th Corn Island ,, 19th Jamaica „ 23rd Bermuda April 3rd Halifax May 3rd St. John's „ 14th St, Pierre May 27th Bay St. George „ 30th Port-au Port „ 31st Bay of Island. June 2nd Bonne Bay „ 4th Brig Bay „ 7th Harbour Grace „ 15th «34 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. DISTANCES RUN IN MILES. Under steam ahnt. SUant and sail. Sail alone. For the year 1892 11,368 23.357 5.609 .. 1893 40 -83 54,260 5.751 .. .. 1894 64,318 80,294 10.574 » M 1895 46,879 5'.3I7 696 162,748 209,228 22,630 Total — 394,606, to which must be added 2,450, the distance to Devonport, making a Grand Total of 397,056 miles. COAL CONSUMED. 436 tons. . 1558 „ 2208 „ 1483 „ 9 cwts. •• 6 „ • 3 .. •■• 3 „ 5686 „ I „ For the year 1892 ... 1893 ... „ „ 1894 ... 1895 ••• To which must be added about 200 tons, which will probably be consumed on the voyage to England. This gives a Grand Total of 5886 tons, i cvt. FISHING. Salmon caught ... ... ... 352. Heaviest salmon 21 -lbs., caught in Forteau river. Sea trout, largest catch in one day, 157, weights ranging from i-lb. to 3^ lbs. Largest trout weighing 4^-lbs. OUR GAME BAG. Snipe. Grouse. Woodcock. Duck. Plover, %fc. Caribou. Bear. 275 608 13 '5 23 18 2 I k « ri CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. »35 MOVEMENTS OF THE SHIP DURING THE COMMISSION. i i 1 I 1 I k » SiuUd from Halifax May ibtn St. Pierre „ 19th St. John's June 6th Bay St. George,, 12th Portau-Port „ 14th Bay of Islands ,, 15th Bonne Bay „ 16th Port Saunders ,. 17th Forteau ,, 19th St. Lunaire ., 20th Hare Bay „ 23rd Concha June 26th Harbour Grace „ 29ih St. John's July 1 7th Canada Bay ,, 24th Hare Bay „ 29th Forteau Aug. 3rd Old Ferolc „ 4ih Port Saunders „ 5th r ne Bay „ loih Port-au-Port „ iith Bay St. George „ 14th St. John's Sept. 7th Placentia ,, loth Bay St. George „ 1 2th Bay of Lslands ,, 14th Bonne Bay „ 15th Arrkitd at OL. A t«^. ., St. John's „ 10th Hay St. George June 8th Port-au-Port Bay of Islands Bonne Bay Port Saunders Forteau St. Lunaire Hare Bay Conche 13th 14th iSth 1 6th 17th 19th 2oth . 23rd Aug. HabourGrace June 27th St. John's Canada Bay Hare Bay Forteau 0\A Ferole Port Saunders Bonne Bay ,, Port-au-Port „ Bay St. George „ St. John's ,, Placentia Sept. Bay St. George ,, Bay of Islands „ Bonne Bay „ Port-au-choix „ .. 29th July 20th „ 14th ., 30th 3rd 4th 6th loth nth 19th 9th 1 2th 13th 14th 16th SmUd/rom St. Kitt's „ .y... Nevis ,, 20th Montserrat „ 22nd Dominica „ 26th St. Lucia „ 30th St. Vincent, Feb. 2nd Barbados „ nth Colon „ 20th Greytown „ 14th Bluefields „ 27ih Colon Mar. 2nd Greytown „ 3rd Bluefields „ 5th Greytown „ 6th Bluefields „ i8ih Corn Island ,, 19th Jamaica ,, 17th Bermuda April 29th Halifax May nth St. John's May a6th St. Pierre „ 28th Bay St. George „ 31st Port-a-Port June 2nd Bay of Islands „ 4th Bonne Bay „ 6th Brig Bay „ 8th Arrnmd ml ■'•»■ T'-- .„ Seot. 17th 1 8th k9th list »3Td 18th joth ;. ind t. ijth 18th 3rd »>. loth . t6th „ 19th Montserrat „ 20th Dominica ,, 23 rd St. Lucia „ 26th St. Vincent „ 30th Barbados Feb. 3rd Colon „ 18th Greytown ,, 22 nd Bluefields „ isth Colon Mar. ist Greytown „ 3rd Bluefields „ 4th Greytown „ jth Bluefields „ 7th Corn Island ,, 19th Jamaica „ 23rd Bermuda April 3rd Halifax May 3rd St. John's ,. 14th St, Pierre May 27th Bay St. George „ 30th Port-au Port „ 31st Bay of Island, June 2nd Bonne Bay „ 4th Brig Bay „ 7th Harbour Grace „ isih •36 CRUISE OF H.M.S. CLEOPATRA. MOVEMENTS OF THE SHIP DURING THE COMMISSION. SaiUd from Hatb. Grace June iSth St. John's July list Creaiailleie „ .^Sth Hare Bay ,. joth Pompey Island, Aug. ist Indian Harbour „ 3rd Riffoiette „ 4th Gready Harbour,, sth Forteau „ gth Port-au-Choix „ loth Hawlcp Bay „ i ith Bonne Bay „ 13th Port-au-Port „ isth Bay St. George „ i6th St. John's Sept. loth Twiliin,?ate „ 12th . Canada Ba> „ i8th St. Anthony ,. 19th Chateau Sept. 22 nd Blanc Sablon „ 24th Port-au-choix „ 2sth Bonne Bay „ »8th Bay St. George, Oct. ist St. Johns „ 16th Halifax „ 26th Bermuda Nov. 3rd Barbados ,, 12th Grenada „ i6th St. Vincent „ »ist St. Lucia „ »7th Dominica Dec. ist Montserrat ,, Sth Tortola ,, 6th St. Thomas ,, loth San Juan ,, nth Arroyo ,, 12 th St. Kitt's „ 17th English Harbour,, ijrd San Domingo ,, 26th St. Thomas „ 31st 1895. Antigua Jan. 9th St. Kitt's „ 13th Anrivtdal St. John's June 18th Cremaillere July 24th Hare Bay „ 2Sth Pompey Island ., 31st Indian Harbour Aug. ist Rigolelte „ 3rd Gready Harbour,, 4th Forteau „ 6th Port-au-Choix „ gth Hawke Bay „ loth Bonne Bav ., nth Port-au-Port „ 14th Bay St. George „ 16th St. John's „ 19th Twillingate Cept. nth Canada Bay „ 14th St. Antlicny „ 18th Chateau ,, 19th Blanc Sablon, Sept. 22nd Port-au-Choix „ 24th Bonne Bay „ 25th Bay St. George „ 29th St. Johii s Oct. 4th Halifax „ 19th Bermuda ,, 31st Barbados Nov. 1 1 th Grenada „ 1 3th St. Vincent „ 18th St. Lucia „ 2 ist Dominica ,, 29th Montserrat Dec. 2nd Tortola „ sth St. Thomas „ 7in San Juan „ nth Vrroyo „ 12th St. Kitt's „ 14th Engiisii Harbour,, i8th San Domingo „ 26th St. Thomai „ 28th Antigtia Jan. »nd St. Kitt's „ 9th Dominica ,, !4th Smiltd fttm Dominica Jan. 17th St. Lucia It 18th St. Vincent It 23rd Barbados Feb. ist Grenada ,, 4th Trinidi-.d ,, nth Jamaica ,, X3rd Bermuda April 25th Halifax May 4lh St. John's ,. 21st Conche If 27th St. Lunaite »» 28th Red Bay •* 29th Forteau »» 30th St. Barbe's »i 3«« Bonne Bay June 3rd Lark Harbour „ 4th Ba) St. George „ 8th Bonne Bay ,, loth St. Anthony ., 13th Great Islets Harb „ 15th T« ;i'.ingate „ 16th Harbour Grace „ 19th St. John's July 13th Hare Bay ft 20th St. Anthony July 22nd St. John's t, 30th Bay St. George, Aug. sth Donne Bav „ loth Port Saunders „ 15th Port-au-Choix „ 16th Forteau ^, 19th Chateau ^, 21st Indian Harbour,, 23id Cremaillere 26th Hare Bay 27th Conche 28th Twillingate 31st St. John's Sept . 21st Twillingate 13rd Conche 24th St. Lunaire 2sth Chateau 28tn Forteau 29th Bonne Bay Oct. ist Bay of Islands „ 2nd Bay St. George ,, Sth St. John's It 16th Halifax ,, 30th ArrivtiM St. Lucia Jan. 18th St. Vincent „ 19th Barbados „ 24th Grenada Feb. ind Trinidad ,, Sth Jamaica „ isth Bermuda M.-.rch 3rd Halifax April 29th St. John's May 7th Conche ,. 24th St. Lunaire ,, 27th Red Bay „ 28th Forteau „ 29th St. Barbe s „ 30th Bonne Bay June ist Lark Harbour ,, 3rd Bay St. George „ sth Bonne Bay ,, 9th St. Anthony ,, nth Great Islets Harb,, 13th Twillingate „ 16th Harbour Grace ,, 18th St. John's ,, 19th Hare Bay July 15th St. Anthony „ 29th St. John's July 24th BaySt.George,Aug. 2nd Bonne Bay ,, 6th Port Saunders ,, nth Port-au-Choix ,, isth Forteau ,, 16th Chateau ,, 19th Indian Harbour „ 2^nd Cremaillere ., 24th Hare Bay ,, 16th Conche „ 27th Twillingate ,, 29th St. John's Sept. ist Twillingate ,, 22nd Conche ,, 23rd St. Lunaire „ a4th Chateau „ »sth Forteau „ »8th Bonne Bay „ 30th Bayof Islands, Oct. ist Bay St. George „ 3rd St. John's „ Sth Halifax ,, 2 ist Devonport Nov. nth