^'^ '-7^..W. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ./o ^ -^t* .v^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 •^ Ui 12.2 lii i 2.0 U 11.6 ^W ^ ^ ^l 'W ^^A^l V y /!^ Hiotographic Sciences Coiporation 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WIBSTIR.N.Y. )4SI0 (716) S72-4903 4!^ <\^^ ^1» "4^%"^ > CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductioris historiques Technical and Biblioyraphic Notas/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D n n n □ D D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculAe Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartea gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serree peu* causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intirieure 3lank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela itait possible, ces pages n'ont pas it6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplAmentaires: L'Institut s microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a At4l possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exempiaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage tent indlquAs ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagies Pages restored and/oi Pages restaur^es et/ou pelliculdes Pages discoloured, stained or foxe( Pages ddcolor6es, tachet^es ou piqu^es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence Quality ot prir Quality inigale de I'impression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du materiel supplementaire Only edition jvailable/ Seuie Edition disponible I I Pages damaged/ □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages r^l Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ r~~} Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition jvailable/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont it6 filmAes A ncuvaau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film^ au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessoua. 10X 14X 18X 22X 12X 16X aox 26X 30X 24X 28X D 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: (National Library of Canada L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grAce d la g6n6ro8it6 de: Bibliothdque nationals du Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les imaytis suivantes ont it6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetd de I'exemplairo film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies iii pointed paper covers are filmed beginning with the f ri. nt cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sont film6s en commengant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la derniire page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — •» (meaning "CON- TINUED "). or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. U*> des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dwrnidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole ^^- signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in nne exposure are filmed b iginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre film6s A des taux de rAduction diffArents. Lorsque le document esi trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en has, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ANECDOTES 99 A LIFE OHi THE OCEM, mnra A PORTION OP THE EXPERIENCES OP TWENTY-SEVEN IBARS' SERVICE m Many Parts of the World. By DAVID COWANS. ■«•*■ PRINTED BY- JOHN LOVELL. ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 187(J. J. j».' Entered iwording to act of the Pwliunciit of Canada, in the year one thoiuand eight hundred and seventyaix, bj Davis CowAa»,in the office ofthelfiniater of AgrioQltnre. PREFACE TO THE THIRD AND REVISED EDITION. The author of " Life on the Ocean," encouraged by the ready sale of the first two editions, ven- tures on a third and revised edition, willi addi- tional voyages and anecdotes, all of which arc written in the same plain, unassuming style as those contained in the first two, witL a strict adherence to facts, well known in his own expe- rience. The stories are written as briefly as possi- ble, and without being intentionally prosaic or wearisome to the reader, are intended to convey his meaning as graphically and consistently with the truth as it is possible to do. Thanking the Public for their kind encouragement, in recog- nizing his humble efforts to instruct and interest, he nuw places this the third and revised edition of " Anecdotes of a Life on the Ocean " before them, trusting that it may meet with the same success as the previous editions. He would also tender his thanks to the Press of the Dominion which gave kindly notices of the work. Montreal, 22nd March, 187Q. if^Oto CONTENTS. MY FIRST VOYAGE TO SEA. P4oa LeaTiQg home and relations — Getting fitted out for sea — A good mate and a tyrant of a captain — He threshes the boys — Bad weather — The Banks of Newfoundland— We get orir pilot — Arrival at Quebec — besertion from the ship — Caught and brought back — Return home — Arrival at the cud of first voyage A VOYAGE TO THE ISLAND OF ICHABOE. Passage down channel and to the equator — A friendly crew of sailors — Arrival at Ichaboe— The island and adjacent coast— Getting guano on board— Dangers to be contended with— A terrible surf— Loading boats at the island — The king of Ichaboe — Sudden death of seven men — A very sad and touching incident — Departure iVom the island — Arrival at St. Helena — Running down the trade winds — Homo at laat 20 A SHIP Ox\ FIRE. Terrible position— Fire among the spare sails — Exertions of the crew — On alec-shore— The lire subdued — A leaky phip- - Arrival home — Eaten through by rats— Cause of leaking so much 35 A MAN OVERBOARD. Reefing topsails — A dark night— Exi)ected Pampero — Startling cry— A man overboard— A leaky boat — Culpable neglect — Man killed before falling overboard — Return without him to the ship , 45 Iip 1? CONTENTS. THE SHIP'S MONKEY. PAOI Jacko's tricks — Mischief— Stealing from the carpenter, sail- maker and steward — Rago of the steward— Mirth and fun among our sailors — Cool impudence of Jacko — Monkeys in x»urmah and Madras 4g A VOYAGE TO THE GUANO ISLANDS OF PERU. The Start from Liverpool — Across the equator — Arrival off Cape Horn — Cold weather — Storms of wind, sleet and snow — The seui-vy breaks out — Sickness among the crew — Nine weeks in doubling the Cape — Arrival at Coquimbo— The Andes mountains — Recovery of our sick — Discharg- ing patent ftiel — Its effects on the eyes — Departure for Callao — Receive water, &c., on board — Departure for the Chincha islands — Arrival at Pisco — Dangerous suH— Anchorage at the Guano islands — Loading the guano — Its effects as we load — Departure for Callao — Sailors on liberty — A mutinous crew — Reftise duty — Assisted by man-of-war's crew — Return to duty — Bad rum all finished — The passage hom^ivards — Short of provisions — Short Allowance — Star- vation — Supplied — Long passage — Bad winds— Arrival home '—Soon forget hardships — Plenty of money — Reckless extra- vagance > .- » 66 THE MARINE BAROMETER. The value of this instrument — How my masts were saved by its warning — Its value iu hurricanes in India and on the Atlantic 73 A RACE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. The start from Quebec— The passage outside the gulf— Imcom- pany at sea- Squally weather— The meeting half way across — Carrying on sail — The arrival on the coast of Ireland— Race won by an hour and a half. 79 THE COOLIE TRADE AND ITS HORRORS. Embarking at Calcutta— Passage down the river— Breaking out of cholera— Deaths— Distressing scenes— Death of John 00NTENT4 Brown— A funeral at sea — Arrival at the Ctpe— Cholera decreasing— The doctor leaves the ship— Departure for the West Indies— Things looking brighter— Nativo dances of India — Tom-toms and pipes — Arrival at Demcrara— Depar- ture of emigrants for plantations— Sorrow at parting- Presents to captain and officers— Terrible mortality during the voyage A HURRICANE IN INDIA. PAQB 84 The commencement— Its fury — Breaking loose of the ships — The terrible scenes on the river side — Sinking of a ship with all on board— Desolation on shore — Trees uprooted, houses blown down — Stranding of ships, &c 106 • A VISIT TO THE SULTAN OF MUSCAT. We fire a salute of eleven guns — Answered by the forts on shore — Th« Sultan's Beloochee sentries — Ills wives strictly guarded — Appearance of his Highness — The audience cham* her — His band — A stubborn Arab steed — Visit to Muttra 112 A VOYAGE UP THE PERSIAN GULP. An Indian Princess — Mysterious embarkation— The start from Bombay— A Hindoo temple — Arrival at Kurrachee— Trea- sure landed— Guard of Sepoys— Departure for Muscat — The Begum's prime minister — A Nubian eunuch— His stature — Arrival at Muscat— The Sultan's dominions, soldiers, &c. 133 A SHIPWRECK. otxanding of the ship— In a gale of wind— Dangers off the coast of Ireland— Rescued by the life boat— Arrival on shore —Kindness of the people 149 OVERLAND FROM INDIA. Departure from Bombay -Arrival at Aden— The passage up the Red Sea— Mounts Sinai and Horcb— The Wells of Moses —Suez— The passage across the desert— Grand Cairo— The Pyramids— Alexandria— Pempe'ys piUar— Cleopatra's needle p vi CONTEinS. —The Catacombs— Donkey boys— Malta— Gibraltar— Iron clads— Prince Alfred's ship, the «* Galatea"— Arrival ia Liverpool 15^ A TRIP TO LAKE SUPERIOR. Departuu from Detroit — Steamer "Meteor" — Her captain — Beautiful scenery — Arrival at the Sault Ste. Mane— Ontaa- agon, &c., resources— Soenery — A wild country— Marquette — Its immenbo shipments of iron ore — Copper Harbour — Shipping masses of copper — A monster mass of copper — Its weight— Return to Detroit— Remarks on the trip 174 CANAL NAVIGATION IN CANADA. Arrival at Port Colbome — Ready for Locks — Disgraceful roads — Thorold — Arrival at Port Dalhuusie — A fatigued crew — Sail for Kingston — Lightened for Montreal — Absurd canals, roads and system — The Cornwall canal — Lachine — Arrival at Montreal — Pasha of Egypt versus canal depart^ ment of Canada — System of management wrong in the extreme — Remedies much needed — Canal commission want practical men .»» > , 183 THE MARINER'S COMPASS. Its use on board ships and steamers— Variation in dijOTereat latitudes— Deviation on board iron ships and steamers — Cor- rections to be applied — Strange incident off the Cape of Good Hope 190 RELICS OF LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE. Gallant Scotch Sergeants— Presents worth keeping— Kindly words for the Defender of Balaclnva— Heaity greetings in the Cape of Good Hope — An irrepressible yet model Ser- geant of the 93rd Highlanders 194 DEMERARA AND YELLOW FEVER. A productive soil — A deadly scourge — Frightened sailors — Black vomit— Hospital rules— A model hospital— Yellow Fever at sea^-Better drainage and less sickness 199 CONTENTS. VII NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE BRAZILS. paoi Gules of wind leaving Liverpool — Off the Calf of Man — Severe weather and a gallant old ship — Taking care of a ship in such wcather^Rocks, *c., in our channels — Running back of a large mail steamer — The Cherokee stands it out — Towed in by fishermen's boats — St. John's, Newfoundland — Collision in the harbor — Departure for the Brazils — A pleasant passage — Arrival at Pcrnarabuco — Bahla — Yellow Fever and a good market — Loading for Liverpool— And arrival, all well 203 A VOYAGE TO THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD. Departure from the Clyde— Refined sugar — Coals in Hogs- heads — A collision at sea — Awkward predicament — Return to repair damages — Pleasant weather and quiet times at sea — Making the land— The Boccas of Trinidad — Strong cur- rents—The Gulf of Paria— Arrival at Port of Spain— Dis- charging coals and loading sugar — The natives of Trinidad — Chinese and East Indian Coolies— Droghers and theu crews — Negro singers iu loading sugar- Departure from Trinidad and arrival in the Clyde 221 A HEATHEN FESTIVAL IN MADRAS. The Churruck Poojah — A cruel ceremony — Hooked by the spine — The Nautch dancers— A young martyr to Madras superstition— Conclusion of the festival 233 THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY. The conquest of Persia by Mahomet — The sacred fire — P 'u- liaritics of the Parseos, their habits and customs brifct^y told— The Tower or Temple of Silence 237 THE MAIDAN OF CALCUTTA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. Its extent- Reviews of Troops— The Eden Gardens— Their beauty and healthy resort — Insolence of native servants at the outbreak of the mutiny— Ladies and children protected by the guns of Fort William— Disarming of the Governor General's body guard— Calcutta saved — The band at the gardens— Fashionable Calcutta 241 Vrii CONTENTS. MY LASCAR CREW. paoi Sliipping the crew— Departure fh>m Calcuttar— Breaking out of small-pnx — Rules on board with Lascars — ^Working of the ship— A Oiiinese carpenter— The small-pox does not spread— Arriral in Muscat 247 A GHOORKA REGIMENT ON PARADE. Faithful during the Mutiny — Their appearance — Their small stature — Contrast with Her Majesty's 52nd — ^A diminutive drum major 255 Glossary of naatioal tcnM»..?w><«wai>nwy>»>»^*?*»>'M!>w' »»«. 2S9 i MY FIRST VOYAGE TO SEA. TuERE arc few professions more arduous than that of a sailor and navigator ; but although wo hoar every day of shipwreck and siiflfering on t\\t wide ocean in all parts of the world, yet there are always young men and boys, who in spite of all they hear or know of life on the ocean, will court and bravo its many dangers. My own exi)crience of almost every one of its hardships during a somewhat long service at sea, and in nearly all parts of the world, should almost be enough to deter any young man or boy from engaging in a calling so full of danger, suffering and privation In a shipwreck on the coast of Ireland, I saw some of its dangers on a dark stormy night in the dead of winter, when our stout new ship was ii curly dashed to pieces on the dangerous banks of sand lying oif the coast — In a voyage from the East to the West Ind'w^ with cholera raging on board, when among upwards of four hundred emigrants there "Wtirs three, four and five B 10 AN;:.CDOT£S OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. deaths djuly during tho nrst part of the royage — In the West Indies and Brazils -where yellow fever was raging and sweeping away many of the crew, from the captain to the smallest boy on board ; aiid, lastly, during a long passage homo from Peru, when our crew was reduced for some weeks to a very small allowance of bread and the same of hard salt beef, starvation being depicted in each cadaverous countenance as we received with joy and welcome our long-expected jiilot. Born in an inland village in Scotland, far from the ocean, I chose a sea-faring life more from reading stirring adventures of its ever varying scenes in Cook's Voyages, Robinson Crusoe, and works of alike nature, than from knowing anything of ships — my ideas of sliips were very limited indeed — and how they were worked or how they found their way over the wide expanse of ocean to all parts of the globe. Leaving school it was the intention of my relations that I should choose a quiet life on shore, in shop-keeping or something of a like nature, but my whole heart was bent ou a sea- faring life. At length after persuasion was used in vain, I was bound as an apprentice at the ago of fifteen to servo four years in a ship in the North American trade. The employer to whom I was bound had a large xmmber of ANECDOTES OF A HFIi ON TUK OCEAN. 11 vessels, from the small brig of 200 tons to the ship of 1,0)) ani l^^OO tens. Bidding adieu to my kind m:ther and sisters I was soon on mj way to the nearest sea- port to join my ship, having a letter to the captain. 1 soon found him at his lodgings on shore, but was not at all prepossessed by his abrupt, stern way of speaking to me. I was quickly fitted out for the voyage and at once began my duties as an apprentice. Our barque was quite a handy vessel of 4G0 tons, and there were two other boys, both of whom were much older than I, and had been several voyages at sea. I was soon made acquainted with all the details of a younger apprentice's duties in sweeping decks, scrubbing, &c. Our barque after taking in ballast and making ready for her spring voyage to Quebec moved out to anchor in the stream to wait for a fair w'nd. Our crew now, all on board, were busily employed? securing spars, long boat, &c., and getting all secure for sea. The mate bore an excellent name as a sailor, and Avas well known to most of the crew, although a stranger to the ship. It was here that I first became aware of the nature of the martinet captain with whom I was about to take my first voyage. Ihe mate, busy looking after the various duties of the men, did not perceive that the boat with the captain was alongside ; 12 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. I ! I he was soon over tho gangway and on deck, furious with passion hecauso Mr. D. did not receive him at tho gangway; our mate very quietly answered that he was so busy ho did not know that the boat was along- side, but Captain T. insisting on his making an apology before the crew he at once answered in the negative, whereon our tyrant captain said he must go on shore. Mr D. soon had his clothes in tho boat and was on his way on shore, very much regretted by all on board for the manly way in which ho did the duties of tho ship as well as on account of the mean treatment he received at the hands of Captain T. This looked some- what ominous to me on my first voyage, tho more so as I heard at the same time that our captain had a habit of giving his boys most unmerciful floggings for the most trifling offences. Mr D. was replaced by the second mate, while one of the older members of the crew took tho second mate's place. We shortly after weigh- ed anchor and made sail with a fair wind, but had not proceeded far on our way when the wind came dead against us. Tacking ship under the charge of tho pilot, we had a hard time cf it to get fairly out to sea. At length we reached tho open ocean and now my troubles began : gale after gale met us from the west- ward ; fortunately sea sickness gave me little trouble. ■>;■ ANECDOTES OF A LIFt: ON THE OCEAN. 13 Placed in the mate's watch I haa no sooner turned into my hammock, very often cold and wet, than the long* dreary cry of " all hands reef topsails," was heard at the hole or scuttle of our dreary abode, the forecastle. Streaming with water was this wretched den, and lighted by a miserable oil lamp swinging to and fro as if to shew us more plainly our dreary comfortless quarters ; the men cursing the captain's stupidity in not taking in sail in time. It was soon my turn to get a share of the abuse. " Come, get out of that, you young ." Remonstrance was of no use, I had to get on deck with the rest. The lowering of the topsails, the hauling out of recftackles and the shouting of the captain and mates as the sleet and rain came down with tho blasi, made me think after all I would have been much better at my mother's fireside than coming to be a sailor in such a scene of darkness and confusion. Trying to escape going aloft was of no use, the mate coming along would give me a cut with a rope's end and v;ith an oath. " Come, get up there, you young , and help to reef that topsail." Shivering with cold and wet I slowly mounted the rigging and reached the yard in time to be cursed again for a young as the sailors were hurrying down to set the sail. pi 14 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. The weather still continued boisterous and stormy as we beat against gales of wind to the westward, and on appioaching the Banks of Newfoundland the cold was most intense : dense fogs 3ame on, and as they some- times cleared away for a time we could see around us irjmense icebergs of all shapes and forms, from the gently sloping island to the abruptly formed precipitous mountain of ice, and when the sun broke out for a time they looked grandly magnificent, variegated with all the colours of the rainbow ; but as the dense fog again came down on us we had to keep a sharp look-out for these enormous masses of ice as they drifb slowly to the southward, for there are outlying reefs very often extending some distance from their main bodies, and barely below the level of the sea, which are exceedingly dangerous to ships steering to the west* ward in foggy weather. There are other dangers besides icebergs to be avoided on these banks, as we proceed towards the Gulf of St Lawrence. Numbers of French fishing vessels are anchored in from twenty-five to forty fathoms of water, surrounded by their boats, and all employed in the taking of cod and halibut. These Vvissels can by no means move out of the way of ships under way ; great caution and watchfulness must therefore ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCBAH 15 be used to avoid coIIij>ions mth. them. Constant distur- bances are now the rule between our fierj, passionate captain and several of the crew, who seem determined to desert on reaching Quebec. I had as yet escaped from his ill-usage, but one of the older boys who offended him by driving one of the pigs out of hia way while sweeping the docks was not so fortunate. Seizing a heavy piece of rope he threshed the poor boy till he could not lift his arm above his head. The cries cf the boy were of no use, as the blows came down on him, and for any one to interfere would have made matters worse. With an oath he at last threw down the rope, saying " there, you young — , I'll teach you to ill-use any of my pigs." Such is only one of the many cruelties of this martinet captain on his ap- prentices. These days are fortunately gone by, and masters of jhips now-a-days are severely punished for ill-using any of their crew. But Captain T. was only one of many who disgraced our merchant service twenty-seven years ago. At length we sighted the Islands of St Paul's, and beating up the gulf with a whole fleet of other ships in a few days more received on board our pilot who took charge of the ship. Quite a smart, intelligent French Canadian was this pilot, speaking very good m ANECDOTES OP A LIFE OJ THE OCEAN. I English, and one who seemed quite at home either night or day in working the ship up the St Lawrence. Wo soon afterwards anchored off Quebec on a beautiful day in May, after a six weeks passage from our port ol departure. Our ballast discharged, we were soon afterwards taken to a loading berth, but Captain T., suspecting the desertion of some of the crew, set a watch over the ship at night, at the same time he gave us boys strict notice to warn him at once if we saw preparations made by any of the crew for leaving the ship. Shortly afterwards I was awoke one night by the quiet rustlings of bags, chests and hammocks as they were quietly dropped or lowered into a boat under the bows, and six of our best seamen got as quietly down after them and away from the ship. Taking no notice of the matter I went quietly to sleep again. It can ba well understood how futile would be the efforts of two or three boys with the captain to stop six determined men after they had got the start from the ship. But morning came and the rage of Captain T. knew no bounds, as he ground his teeth and threatened me when we were once more at sea how I should be flogged, &c. — for it soon became known that I had seen them go away. ANECDOTES OF A LIFB ON THE OCEAN. 17 Tying a few clothes in a bundle, I determined on escaping from this capricioua tyrant by deserting. At dinner time I quietly stepped ou shore and made for the bushi where I slept for the night. But some Canadians finding me there in the morning took me to the house of a V id woman, to whom I told my story. I soon had the sympathy of the people in the neigh- bourhood, and every care was taken that I should not be caught by the police. '• Aj'hommo propose mais Dieu dispose.'* The well known French proverb was decidedly applicable in this case; for coming from the poat-offico one day I saw our tyrant of a captain coming in the opposite direction. I tried to escape his notice by not running, and turning a corner ran up a wide entry ; but, alas, there was no outlet for me there. He caught me fairly in his arms as I tried to pass into the street, and in spite of my struggles I had to accompany him to the police-oflfice, where there were quite a number of run-away seaman about to be sent on board their ships. W© were soon sent to our different vessels, and I found myself once more under the authority of our capricioua master. This time, however, I threatened to complain to the owners on reaching home if any of ua were ill-used on the home. ward voyage, and it was well that I did so, for he well b2 18 ANECDOTES OP A LIPE ON THE OCEAN. knew that our employers would not continue to keep him in command of the ship if it were known by them how he used the boys. None of our seamen who deserted were caught, and we soon afterwards sailed with a fresh crew. A fine fair wind followed us down the River St Lawrence and through the gulf to the Banks of Newfoundland ; onward we sped, splitting sail after sail by sheer recklessness in some of the gales we had. In seventeen days from Quebec we arrived at our desired port. All my enthusiasm for the life of a sailor had now vanished, although shame to return home made me hazard another voyage. Our employment in port was made tolerable by having regular hours to work in the day time, and a good clean bed to sleep in on shore at light. Our sailors were all discharged, and this was the first time I ever witnessed the reckless way in which sailors part with their hard-earned money. No sooner did ours receive their wages and purchase a few clothes, than they seemed to try how soon they could spend the remainder. Some were drunk, night and day, until shipped, when their advance money would hardly clear them of debts incurred by their reckless extravagance. Fortunately for sailors, there are now Savings ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 19 Banks close at hand, where they can deposit their money at once on being paid off, safe from crimps and thieves of all kinds who haunt poor Jack like a shadow until all his money is gbne. Every care is now taken by the government that our sailoid sh'^H be protected, but such was not the case when I made my first voyage to sea. :! A VOYAGE TO THE ISLAND OF ICHABOE. Having, as already stated, returned from my first voyage to Quebec and discharged our cargo, our ship was ordered to proceed to Ichaboe on the coast of Africa, after a cargo of guano. It was only my second voyage, but I had now become used to the ship and was able to take my share of the various duties required of apprentices, in loosing royals and top-gal- lant-sails, and assisting in many other of the lighter duties of the ship. Our captain had been there before, and whatever his faults were, he was decidedly a good navigator. Some of our previous crew were also about to accompany us on this voyage, but we were also to have in addition to the ordinary crew, twelve labourers to dig the guano on shoiO, fill up bags, &c., and assist in loading the ship, so that our small handy barque was well manned, provisioned, and equipped for a twelve months' voyage. ANECDOTES OP A LITE ON THE OCEAN. n This guano and its properties as a manure are bo well known, as well as its chemical properties, that no des- cription of it is necessary here. Crew on board, and all ready, we sailed in August, 1844, on our new voy- age, expecting to be absent not less than ten months. With fair winds wo are soon clear of the English Channel, and steering to the southward expect soon to be within the limits of the north-east trade winds. These winds extend to the 30th degree of north lati- tude in certain months of the year,and at other times only extend to the 23rd or 24th degree. They blow, for the most part, steadily from north-east to east, and are of course always fair winds for ships proceeding south on their voyages to the East and West Indies. They extend as far south as the Equator, and are made available for ships bound to either the north coast of Africa or Brazil. Wo were soon bowling before the trade winds with studding sails set on both sides. Our good sails are now unbent and carefully stowed away for our homeward passage and expected bad weather. The second suit of canvas or half worn sails are bent in their place, as being good enough for the fine weather we now enjoy ; and how pleasantly the time passes as in this beautiful mild climate we sail 22 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE OK THE OCEAN. steadily along on our course towards the equator! Wo have plenty of work to do during the day time. The carpenter either caulking decks or at some other necessary work ; the sailmaker repairing sails, assist- ed by some of the crew, and the boatswain with Lis men divided over the ship repairing or replacing rig- ging where required, the whole under the direction of the mate or second mate. Such are the duties in any well disciplined mer» chant ship on a southern voyage, leisure being the exclusive privilege of the captain alone, who is gene- rally walking the deck in the day-time, watching the steering of the ship or occupied in reading, when not taking or working up observations of the sun for lati- tude or longitude. The day's duties being over, our best singers begin after supper, and the chorus of the whole crew to some well known sea-song is heard over the ship as ehe moves steadily and majestically over the waste of waters, every stitch of sail full to the breeze, and like a thing of life and light on this beau- tiful star-light night. Some of the men can play dif- ferent instruments of music, and a dance is often start- ed by some excellent dancers among the crew ; others are occupied in various gymnastic performances, vio« ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 23 ing with each other in feats of strength or agility. So the time passes until eight bells are struck at eight o'clock, and the watch is set for the night. The look-out, and man at the helm relieved, the watch below retire to their hammocks until called at midnight, while the watch on deck, save the officer of the watch, look-out and helmsman, arrange themselves for a comfortable sleep on deck, the weather is so delightfully mild and warm. Sometimes roused up to brace up or square yards, and at four bells to relieve the helm or look-out. So the time passes as we pro- ceed towards the equator. Our first duty in the morning is to scrub and clean the decks before eight o'clock. The monotony of the voyage is sometimes relieved by the capture of a shark, porpoise or dolphin, or watching showers of fly ing fish which often come on board to escape the merciless dolphin or banito. But as we come towards the lino our steady trade winds begin to fail us, and finally to die awa^ altogether ; studding sails are taken in, and the ship cleared for working through the variables and calms so prevalent here. Frequent squalls of wind accompanied with heavy rain now come down on the ship, and the officer of the watch must use all his energy and watchfulness to prevent losing any of bis 24 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. ill masts or s^dls ; still he must carry sail througli these variables in order to get across the Equator. Rain falls sometimes ia torrents, and now is the time to save water for washing and drinking. Awn- ings are spread for this purpose, and we soon fill up our water casks with good, pure rain-water. But at length we get fairly out of the calms and variables, and reach the south-east trade winds. These winds invariably blow from the south-east all the year round, extending from a few degrees south of the equator to the 30th parallel of south latitude. They are much steadier than the north-east trades, seldom veering more than two or three points of the compass. We are now what is called close-hauled, being obliged to stand across the trades instead of making a fair wind of them, as we have to go considerably to the westward out of our track. As we dash through the water stretching towards the coast of Brazil, the weather still keeps mild and warm, but getting further south every day, we soon begin to feel tht nights colder, although the weather continues clear and fine. At length we reach the limits or southern edge of the trades, and have made enough of south latitude to fetch the Coast of Africa. We tack to the eastward and make for our desirod ^ \mmmm ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. zi> port in Africa. In about ten days more we are standing in towards the coast, and can easily discern the forest of masts far in on the coast, where the ships are lying at the desired island of Ichaboe. As wo approach nearer and nearer wo can make out the hulls of some three or four hundred ships of all sizes, from the small schooner of 100 tons to the large full rigged ship of 1000 and IGOO tons. What a desolate, forbidding-looking spot for ships to come to ! rolling and plunging heavily at their anchors as we still came nearer to the island. At length we begin to take in sail and our anchors are both dropped in this somewhat dangerous place, after a very fair passage of six weeks. We next proceed to send down top-gallant yards and masts on deck, and then to double reef and furl our topsails ; our cables being kept so that we can slip from our anchors if it comes to blow heavy, and proceed to sea from the coast, under snug sail, as there is no shelter here for ships in a gale of wind. The Island itself is about a mile and a half in circum- ference, being nothing but a rock covered with the guano to the height of from ninety to a hundred feet, in some parts, and sloping down towards the sea and adjacent rocks. On the surrounding rocks, at a short distance off, there are myriads of sea-birds to be seen, 26 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. which have been driven from the island, and their accumulations of dung, together with the carcasses of the seal and other animals, as well as myriads of dead birds, have formed this tremendous deposit of millions of tons of guano. But no one knows how many centuries it has taken to accumulate on this desolate spot. The penguin is the most prominent of the bird species here ; thcj range themselves in hundreds of thousands on the adjacent rocks, like whole armies of soldiers, and on any one landing a general rush is made for the water. Scampering on their webbed feet they are soon at home and out of reach of danger, diving and swimming like a fish. These penguins are covered with a sort of down or hair instead of feathers, and are about the size of a wild duck; standing upright on their webbed feet, their short fins or flippers project from their breasts on each side. Their bills are the same as those of the duck in shape and size, and they are constantly diving in all directions in search of fish round the island and rocks ; we have even seen them a long distance at sea swimming and diving in search of their prey, for they cannot fly like other birds of the sea that we have seen. Their eggs are good eating, but the flesh of the pen- guin, no matter how well it is cooked, retains a strong ANEC. OTES OF A LITE ON THE OCEAN. 27 fishy taste, and is far from being palateable. The other aquatic birds are mostly sea-gulls, gannets, boobies and albatrosses, which congregate hero in large num- bers to breed. The coast of Africa about five miles off looks barren in the extreme. Nothing but hills and ridges of grey sand are to be seen, with here and there black and very bleak looking rocks. The whole coast for hundreds of miles is completely iron bound, with a heavy surf constantly breaking on its whole extent, so that any unfortunate ship stranded or getting on shore by acci- dent is soon broken up, and the crew can only escape with extreme diflSculty. It is, therefore, a most dan- gerous coast for a ship to be lost on, no water being obtainable on its sandy deserts, even if the crew should reach the shore. Our boats are now got ready for loading the guano, as we discharge the stone ballast wo have taken in for the outward voyage ; stages aro rigged from the island well out, clear of the surf which is constantly breaking on the rocks. These stages are well secured and guyed from the top of the spars with chains, anchors and stout ropes, while planking is laid along for the passage of the crews with their bags of guano to the boats; meanwhile the long-boat or pinnace is slacked into the stage, 2li lECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. stci. on, by means of a surf line and her stern moorings made fast. The bags are now dropped in with the utmost haste and expedition, while the boat's crew stow thera, and no sooner is the boat loaded, than casting off their stern moorings, the boat is hauled off to smoother water by the surf line. The tremendous surf rising in three different rollers comes roaring in sometimes as the bo:^t3 are moored ready for their cargoes, and it is appalling to look at the boats as they rise to the breakers, their bows pointing nearly perpendicularly upwards as the three breakers roll on in succession and dash with a sullen roar on the rock-bound beach ; Cries are heard of " hold on, hold on ; don't slack an inch of our good surf line ; it will soon be over ; " and it is well the good surf line holds on, or the boat with her small crew would bo dashed to pieces among the stages, and few of the men saved ; but we got used to this, and though accidents sometimes happened by the boats coming broadside on, yet they were of rare occurrence. The small gig which we four boys have to manage is sometimes caught by these heavy rollers at the stages, but we have became so dexterous in her management that we never receive the slightest damage. Our duty is to land the captain at six in the morning, while the •?l ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON TOE OCEAN. 29 J long-boat and pinnace land the sailors and labourers, under the second mate, on the island. The chief mate, carpenter, cook and steward remain on board to receive and assist in the disc'narge of the boats as they come alongside. At eight wo take on shore the break- fast for the men on the island, bringing back the cap- tain and landing him again en the island after breakfast. At noon the dinner has lo bo landed, and it is no easy matter sometimes to land soup, meat, &c., in such a heavy surf, but we are soon well used to that, too, and rarely make mistakes. In the evening the whole of the various crews are brought off to the ships for the night, and it is quite a stirring scene as each boat receives its crow at the stages, well tired with their day's work on shore. Still our jolly sailors are not a bit discontented, and on a quiet night the whole harbour resounds with songs and merriment as the boats proceed to their respective ships. Heavy gales of wind, especially at the full and change of the moon, arc of frequent occurrence, calling forth all the energies of the captains and crews to prevent breaking adrift and coming into collision with other ships in the crowded harbour. Plunging and roll- ing in the heavy sea which is running, the strength of each ship's chains and anchors is well tried, and some- so ANECDOTES OP A LIPS ON THE OCEAN. times an unfortunato vessel breaks adrift and comes in collision with another, when she is severely dama- ged and cut up. During our long stay of five months at this island we received but little damage in these gales. But one ship, the " Margaret," had twelve of her men on shore with the first and second mates wlicn one of those gales came on. There were only tin captain, carpenter, cook, steward and one boy on board. The cook was an old solJic. nd it was the boy's first voyage to sea, so that as the ship broke from her anchors the captain had only the carpenter and steward to depend on. As she drifted through the crowded harbour, fortunately without any collision, they managed to get her before the wind and away clear of the whiffing. It was now impossible to render her any assistance, but we soon had the satisfaction to sec her with her reefed topsails standing out to sea and far away from the rock-bound coast. Her crew were dis- tributed among the many other vessels, and clothes provided for them. Meanwhile the " Margaret" had got fairly away and running down before the trade winds arrived safely at the Island of St Helena, where she procured another crew and went on to the West Indies. We were now employed assisting to load four other ships of the same ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 31 company, although not more than half loaded ourselves ; we had, therefore, the prospect of a long stay at the island. But as the crew had agreed to that before sailing there was no grumbling about it and every thing went on well. Fights were of frequent occurrence on the island, and if two men were heard quarrellinr^, the cry was heard of '* a ring, a ring !" down bags and barrows, and a ring being formed the whole of the motley crowd were soon assembled on the spot to see the fight, and there was no getting out of it, for fight they must. But they invariably got fair play, although it was rather a brutal sight to the well-disposed men on the island. At other times some of the roughs would propose to have a rest ia carrying the bags of guano to the boats or digging in the guano pits. Then a cry was raised of "a block, a block !" then all the bags and barrows were at once dropped, and the road to the boats was 3oon most effectually blocked up till the King of the Island came along and gave the order to move on. The king of Ichaboe was a stout little English mate who had gained the good graces of the sailors ly some QQeans, and no sooner did he come along, than three sheers were given, and at his order, "move on bags ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. and barrows" the path was soon cleared to the boats, and things went on again as before. Tents were at first pitched on the island, but some of the captains and mates who had made themselves obnoxious to the crews, were so cruelly ill-used by being pelted with stones and dead penguins from the tents that the com- mander of the man-of-war stationed there gave orders for their being removed and every man on the island to return to his ship at night. Landing his crew of marines and blue jackets well armed, the tents were soon removed and some kind of order restored. We had now been over four months at the island, engaged in the usual routine of duties, when one morning on landing with the breakfast several men came running down towards the boats asking us to go on board one of the ships for a doctor. A terrible accident had occurred to seven men who were now being dug out from beneath a fall of guano. A very dangerous custom prevailed of excavating the guano in order to obtain a hW for filling the bags. This morn- ing in excavating a large portion in one of the pits, a mass of some hundreds of tons had come down before the men had time to get clear, entombing seven of them, who could not have lived many seconds under it. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 33 Evory exertion was made by hundreds of men with their shovels to rescue them, but when they were taken out they were quite dead. A very touching incident happened as the bodies were stretched on the ground preparatory to being buried ; a young sailor on looking at them recognized among the dead his brother, whom he had not seen for some years. His cries at the discovery were heart- rending, and among all the rough sailors and labourers congregated on the spot, there were very few dry eyes as he lamented over the body of his long lost brother. The services of the chaplain of the man-of-war were engaged, and a quiet spot being selected on the island for burial, the bodies were followed to their last ^ep'.ing place by the greater number of the various c aws on shore, the beautiful service of the Church of England was read over them, rendered still more impressive on this desolate spot ; and as we turned away at the conclusion there were few of the rough men composing the funeral party who did not feel deeply moved at the sudden and tragic end of those seven men. Having taken on board all the guano we could find, for during our five months' stay the numerous vessels had almost cleared the island, we now weighed our 40S^ .• V BIBLIOTH^O^^ 34 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. anchors and toolv leave of this desolate spot, and none felt sorry as we made all sail and stood out to sea. We soon left tlie barren, forbidding coast of Africa far astern, and in ten days more were anchored at St. Helena to fill up water for our homeward voyage. The crew were allowed ♦wenty-four hours leave, which they fully enjoyed on shore. Water filled up and all ready, we were soon under way for home, and all sail being set, with studding sails on both sides our little barque made good progress as we ran down the south-east trade winds for home. With good fair winds and good weather we arrived at Queenstown after a very good passage of six weeks, when orders were received to proceed to the Clyde, Avhere we arrived in ten days more, somewhat tired and very glad indeed to arrive without any loss or casualty from a voyage to the Island of Ichaboe. \ SHIP ON FIRE. Thebb are feTf incidents in a sea-faring life more startling or alarming than that of a ship on fire, my readers can imagine, but it is very hard to des- cribe the effect of such an alarm either on board the crowded emigrant ship, or the ordinary merchant-man, T^ith none but her own crew on board. The following story of a ship on fire may interest the readers of these anecdotes : — Very late in the fall of 1846 we sailed from Que- bec with a cargo of flour for the Clyde. After riding out at anchor in the gulf a heavy gale of easterly wind, we got on down towards the island of Anticosti, when a hard gale came on from the southward, ren- dering it necessary to carry sail in order to escape driving on its dangerous, inhospitable beach. Close- reefing our top-sails and reefinjf our courses, our lit- tle barque fairly groaned under the weight even of this reduced sail in ^ch a hard gale, and eyer and i 86 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. anon lurched to leeward until our decks Tvcre filled with water up to the hatchways. Strange enough, not a cloud was to be seen, and the sprajs fulling on drj portions of our decks were almost immediately con- verted into sheets of ice, so intense was the cold. Nobly our little barque held her own, making a good course, and considering how hard it blew some- times, also making but little lee-way ; the land loom- ing plainly and not very far to leeward of us. On this particular morning the watch which had been on deck the last four hours, after breakfast went to their beds in what is called the cuddy. This is a part of tho ship's poop cabin, and instead of living in the fore- castle which was full of flour, our men lived in the cuddy. Shortly afterwards one of them came to tho door, and speaking to us on deck said there must be something on fire in the cabin, as they could not sleep for smoke. Wo immediately called the attention of the steward to the matter; but on his examining all round the cabin, ho could not see or smell the smallest sign of smoke. The reason of this was on account of the extraordinary draughts caused by the wind, which drove tho smoke from the coal stove entirely clear of tho cabin. The steward, therefore, said that they ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN 37 must be mistaken, and we were all of course so far satisfied, as it was far from being pleasant for us to think that our noble little barque was on a lee-shore and on fire at the same time in such a gale of wind. Scarcely had thewatch retired or turned into bed again than the whole place was filled with a dense vol- ume of smoke, rendering it impossible for them to sleep. Again the steward's attention was called to the matter, but he again insisted that there was no sign of fire in the cabin. Further examination was made, and our second mate, opening the door of our spare sail cabin, was nearly suffocated by a burst of flame and smoke issuing from our sails stowed there. Nothing daunted, we coolly but quickly went to work dragging the burning sails into the water on deck, which speedily extinguished them at every lurch of the ship. Meanwhile the carpenter, under the captain's direc- tions, quickly cut a hole over the burning sail-room in the deck, and a gang was detailed to pass buckets of water from our lee-scuppers in order to drench the fire from above. We soon had the satisfaction of knowing that our exertions were attended with success, as the fire had not got hold ia time of the wood work of our cabin. Speculati ;n3 were now rife among us all as to !• I 88 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. what would have been our fate had the fire got the upper hand of us in such a gale of wind and on a lee- shore ; and we inwardly thanked God that we discov- ered the fire in time. The cause of the fire was the intense heat of the stove placed near the partition dividing the sail-room from the cabin, and which was lined with sheet-lead. The lead had melted and then the wood-work took fire, speedily setting fire to the sails. Our gallant little barque soon afterwards cleared the soutit end of Anti- costi, and we felt ourselves safe for the time from a lee- shore. But our troubles were not yet ended, gale after gale of easterly wind succeeded as we tried to beat our way to the eastward, and we had also to keep almost constantly at the pumps in this terrible weather, when not steering, reefing or setting sail. " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick," and we hoped and prayed for a westerly wind to carry us home, westerly winds being almost always the prevailing;, . i .x) j on the North Atlantic in the winter. But it was-' r.oi; 80 on this passage, and we were heartily tired and fagged out as we at length sighted our desired point on the Irish coast. Soon nfterwards taking a steam tug wo arrived all well in the Clyde. Lowering the boat down ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 39 to take the captain on shore we at once discovered the cause of our extra labour in having been kept almost constantly at the pumps. As we pulled round the ship, taking a look at hei outside, after such a stormy passage, we discovered a good sized hole which would easily admit a man's hand, a very little above the surface of tho water lino, and which at sea must bo almost constantly submerged, enough to keep us steadily at tho pumps, and wo at once knew that the many rats which infested the ship had bored their way right through the ship's planking in search of water ; not knowing, however, by their instinct that tho water was salt, but tempted because of its constant rush in their proximity. Discharging^ our cargo soon afterwards we took out whole buckctsful of their gnawings as fine as saw-dust, which the rats had accumulated in their persistant efforts to reach the water. We took care afterwards that an allowance of water wcis left for the rats which they could reach without boring through tho ship. There are many very starthng incidents in such a life as ours, bu*: few more so than being bored through by rats or being OQ board a ship on fire. 'Fi \ CAPTURING A SHARK. As we lay becalmed near St, Lorenzo on the coast of Peru, the monotony of the ship's duties was some- what relieved by fio cry of " a shark, a shark !'* and looking carefully along the surface of the water we discovered tho back fin o" an enormous shark, lazily sailing round the sliip (for you cannot call it swimmiu;^) as if watchin;? our motions and Iookin;]j out for anv t)f the cook's slops thrown overboard. Ho is evidently hungry, and it would be sudden death to any one of our crew to fall overboard at present or to go in swimming on this fine day. The shark is, without a doubt, the mortal enemy cf " Jack at sea," as is the land shark on shore who strips him of his hard-earned money^ " Bring along the shark hook," cries the mate or officer of the watch. This shark hook, it must bo known to my readers, is no largo hook for catching salmon or pike, but a perfect monster hook, with a piece of chain attached, about a foot long. A piece of ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 41 salt pork, about a pound in weight, is hastily fastened to the barb, and a good stout rope bent on for a fishing line. Splash goes the baited hook over the stern, and ha is soon seen coming swiftly towards it. Most of the crew are now gathered near the stern watching his motions : even the man at the wheel leaves his post to assist in his capture on this calm day. lie now stops a little as he approaches the tempting bait, as if watching our motions on deck. It is, how- ever, but for a moment ; turning half round, till the white of his belly is seen, he makes a furious dash for the baited hook, and is fairly caught by the jaw. Now he dashes from side to side in his vi.ii efforts to extri- cate himself from the hook, and his great strength is at once apparent, taxing the efforts of ten or twelve of our men to play with and restrain him as he continues his struggles. But he is very soon exhausted, and with a good steady pull all together, we run him up clear of the water, with his jaws close to the taffrail. And what a monster he is ! not less than fifteen feet in length, and his capacious mouth studded with six or seven rows of teeth, big enough, too, to take off one's leg at a bite. We let him hang there for a short time, and slipping a noose over his tail, with one strong pull we land him 02 i- 42 ANBCDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. fairlj on our clean poop-deck ; but keep clear of his tail as he lashes the deck in his dying struggles, or with one stroke he will surely break some one's legs. Our carpenter, however, soon brings along his sharp axe, and at one chop, off goes the offending tail, and our clean decks are streaming with the blood of the expir- ing shark, as one of the crew draws a sharp knife across his throat to hasten his death. Still the trunk of the shark quivers as if with life. Anxious to know what is in his stomach the crew gather round, knowing that this is the receptacle, some times, of all sorts of strange things. One of my ship- mates had hung a pair of pants over the bows, leaving them dipping in the water as the vessel ro^e and fell with the undulation of the quiet sea. We all had gone to our dinner, not thinking about the pants, but happen- ing to look over the bows I discovered to my astonish- ment that they were cut away as clean as if with a knife, leaving a very small portion indeed fast to the rope. I at once made known the loss to Lawrence, and on cutting open the stomach, we found the pants, a little mangled, but not a great deal the worse. We had a good laugh at the voracity of our common enemy, at the same time it was as well that nc legs were in the pants, or the owner would assuredly have come to grief. ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 43 IS th nr e. re We now proceed with the disposition of the remains of the shark ; but he is such an old fellow, no one thinks of eating any of him, he is so rank. One needs his back bone to clean and make a walking stick for a friend on shore, another takes the jaws to clean for the captain, or perhaps some of the mates. These jaws, when cleaned, I can easily slip over my head and on to my shoulders with their seven rows of sharp teeth. The tail is usually nailed up in some conspicuous place forward as a trophy, and the remsuns are ignominiously cast overboard, perhaps to feed some brother shark coming the same way. Sharks are to be found in almost every latitude and in all parts of the world ; their voracity is well known, and in rescuing a man who has fallen over- board the shark has been known to dispute the posses- sion of the body as his terrified shipmates hastily drag him into the boat, his body lacerated and torn by this dreadful enemy of the sailor, to die in agony, and be again consigned to the deep. The master of a vessel at a place called Bonny on the African coast was mounting his ship's side by the ladder, when slipping, he fell between the ship and the boat, the boats crew tried to rescue hira, and in dragging him into the boat ha called out, *^ For God's sake, men, don't drag me 44 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON ISB OCEAN. that way.** Releasing their grasp a little ho was at last taken on board the boat, when it was found that one of his legs was terribly lacerated by the bit© of one of these monsters that it had to bo at once ampu- tated to save his life. In Kingston, Jamaica, an old shark, called by the negroes *' Man-of-War Tom," was regularly fed by ships of wa . on the station to prevent the desertion of the crew, and he did it most effectually, for very few of the sailors had daring enough to swim ashore from his ship while ** Man-of-War Tom*' continued round the bay. He would far sooner face a ten-gun battery. In taking porpoises or other sea-fish there is some excitement on board ship at sea, but never so much as in capturing a shark. ' A MAN OVERBOARD. The incident I am now to relate occurred during a voyage from Liverpool to the Chinchas Islands. As we proceeded to the southward the weather became much colder, and as we were now nearly oS the River Plate, every preparation was made to contend with the heavy gales of wind which are to be met with on this coast. New sails are bent to the yards, extra lashings are passed round, spare spars, anchors, &c., and all is made secure about the decks. These gales are called pamperoes, and while they last they blow most furiously, while not a cloud is to be seen ; the sky is as clear and the sun shines as brightly as if it were the finest weather ; but as the storm rages, the sea rises and runs in mountainous waves, sometimes breaking on board the devoted ship, and sweeping all before it in its resistless fury We were now off the Rio Plata, or River Plate, when one night as we lay becalmed, the sails flapping lazily 46 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. against the masts, we were startled about elevei ut night hy the long drawn cry " all-hands-reef-topsal-^." The watch below, of whom I was one, were soon on deck, and as the captain said the barometer was unusually low, the top-gallant sails were furled, top- sails lowered down, and reef tackles hauled out, for close reefing our topsails. Still not a breath of wind disturbed the stillness of the night, but an ominous calm prevailed. Not a star was to be seen as we laid aloft to close- reef the main-top-sail. My companion outside of me on the yard, I knew by his voice, was one of our young ordinary seamen, for it was not possible in the darkness to tell who was next to you otherwise. As we tied the reef points, I noticed him getting up on the top of the yard, clinging to a boom used for setting a top-gallant-stun* sail. " Come down," I said to him ; " you will be falling overboard, you young fool." He came down on the foot rope at my request, and soon afterwards I was just in the top-mast rigging coming down on deck, when I heard in the stillness of the night a sudden crash on deck, as if a coil of rope had been thrown from a height ; at the same moment we were startled by the cry of " a man over- board. All hands now hastened to clear away the quarter ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN 47 boat. In the darkness, all was confusion. A lantern had to be found to search for the oars, which were stowed away in the hold, and at last after a delay of a quarter of an hour, four of us, with the second mate, started in the boat to find the man who had fallep overboard, but whom we knew it was nearly impossi- ble to find alive in the darkness, after first striking the ship in his fall. Pulling in the direction pointed out by the captain, one of us had to keep baling out our leaky boat, while we steered round the ship in every direction ; pelicans and other large sea-birds swooping down close to our heads in the darkness, as if they intended to attack us. After pulling for nearly an hour we now made our way back to the ship, but without having seen the faintest trace of the poor fellow who had fallen overboard ; a light being hoisted for our guidance. Curses, both loud and unsparing, were directed at the carelessness of the captain and officers iu not having a boat fit to float for the purpose of saving one ofour number who might fall overboard. Still more so at their inexcusable culpability in having the very oars stowed away in the hold, when they should have been iu their places in the boat. Our boat was soon hoisted up, when 1 was asked by one of the crew " who 4tt ANECDOTES 07 A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. had fallen overboard V* I did not know, and asked in turn who it could be. They told me it was reported when the boat left the ship that I was the man over- board, no one knowing in the darkness who was in the boat. We found, when the hands were all mustered, that it was young S., the same whom I had warned on the yard to be careful. He was much liked by the crew for his pleasant, agreeable ways, and we all deep- ly felt his loss for a short time, but in the recurring duties of a ship at sea, the loss of a shipmate is very Boon forgotten by most of the crew. I have commanded a few ships at se since that time, over twenty years since, but took that my quarter-boat was ready to clear away, and always had Ufe-buoys ready to rescue any of the crew who should fall overboard. I never forgot the culpable carelessness of the master and officers of that ship in not having either boat or oars ready to save a man 0i&rboard, -*s„ THE SHIFS MONKEY. Monkeys arc great favourites with sailors on a long sea voyage, and many a weary hour is made short, and the ever recurring duties of the ship lightened by the tricks and strange grotesque actions of these mirth-provoking creatures. Never at rest but when they are asleep, they are always moving about, either stealing from the ship's cook, or engaged in some other mischievous trick. If you have a favourite book or print lying about the cabin, and Jacko sets his eyes upon it, it is a wonder if he does not get it and set to work, tearing it to pieces as coolly and deliberately as if he were doing something very praiseworthy, and requiring a deal of fertility of thought in his mischief- loving brain. Tying him up about the deck is of little use, as he will either find out how to loose himself, or some one 60 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. of the crew will let him go to see him work mischief. Our sailmaker seated at his bench in fine weather, must keep a sharp look-out fi)r Jacko, for if any needles are left lying about, it is a wonder if he does not make off with them. The carpenter, too, comes in for a share of Jacko's patronage, and must not leave any small handy tools about, for if not too heavy he is sure to make off with them. Our steward making a pudding ready for the cook, must look out for his raisins, for if he turns his back for a few moments to attend to some other duties, this is Jacko's happiest opportunity. StuflBng himself with raisins in great haste, and chattering and grinning all the while, he next fills the pouch under his throat: the steward coming back makes a dash to catch him, but Jacko is always too i|uick to be caught so easily. With a bound he is off, and making for the rigging is up and quickly out of reach. Up, still up he goes, until he reaches the royal yard, the loftiest spar in the ship, then sitting down on his haunches, he proceeds with great com- posure to devour the remainder of his booty, chattering and grinning all the while at the steward who is now looking up at him, shaking his fist, and threatening him with all sorts of punishment. But Jacko goes on with his task, occasionally looking down aud grinning ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 51 as much as to say, Yes, Mr. Steward, when you can catch me ! The crew, meanwhile, are now gathered on deck, and the ship resounds with laughter at the cool impudence of the monkey, and rage of the steward, who can only turn away and laugh himself. But my readers will ask what he can do with sail needles and carpenters tools ; he can't eat them surely ? Very true, but he can turn thera round and round, looking as wise as a monkey can look, as if examining their use, and then stow them away in some out-of-the- way place, for future study and sage reflection, or deliberately drop them overlioard. Our sailmaker had lost a number of needles, and many other small things were missing, leading to the belief that it could not be always the monkey ; but one day on uncovering a part of the rigging in the main top, which was seldom moved, in order to make some repairs, we came upon a whole hoard of Jacko's peculations, in the shape of sail needles, small knivos, gimlets, old rusty nails, bits of different coloured cloth, pieces of canvas, and old leather, which Jacko had stowed away snugly and securely at various times. Wo had a hearty laugh over the matter, some one remarking that Jacko intended setting up a marine store on a small scale when he got ashore. Meanwhile Jacko m ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. did not seem to like our discovery of his hoard, but sat looking at us, grinning and chattering in rather an angry mood. I was carrymg home a parrot to one of my relations ; and a constant war was waged between Jacko and the parrot. No sooner had we filled up the cup of food and water in the cage, than Jacko, watching his chance, would bo at it, stealing as usual, when the parrot's screaming would call some one to drive him away, chattering and grinning as usual. In fine weather, when the work of the ship was done for the day, and Jacko had committed some unusual depredation, a general hunt was instituted by the younger sailors of the ship, to catch the monkey. Away aloft after him, from mast to mast, and from yard to yard, while Jacko would bound from one rope to the other, almost within their reach, chattering as if in mockery at their futile efforts to catch him, until exhausted they had to come slowly down on deck, their shipmates nearly as fatigued as themselves with laughter at Jacko's feats of agility, as well as at the rueful, disappointed faces of his would-be captors. Jacko would then come down when it suited himself, which would just be when he j?as hungry. Changing our climate, and getting into 3old weather, soon made Jacko give up his excursions ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 53 aloft, and behave himself better; then all the sympathies of the sailors were brouorht out at seein^; him shiverins: at the door of his little house, and moaning piteously with the cold. Old rags, old stockings, &;c., were now hunted up to lino his house with, and keep him warm. In their wild state, monkeys are equally full of fun and mischief, and I have seen them in Burmah in whole troops and families on fine evenings, near the rivor side, gamboling and playing all sorts of gro- tesque tricks to one anothar, the older members of the tribe looking on as quietly and gravely as if they were human. In Madras, monkeys are held as sacred animals by the superstitious natives, and are allowed to live in families on their flat-roofed houses, and it is laughable in the extreme to watch them as they spring from house to house, and ledge to ledge, sure-footed as goats on a mountain top. The younger members of tho family cling to the backs of their parents, while others bring along all the old rags they have stolen to mako their beds. Tho sweetmeat vendor in Madras will never injure the monkey stealing sweetmeats under his very nose ; he may drive him away for the time, but if he turns :i 64 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. away he is soon back again stealing, and as impudent as before. Since the terrible mutiny of 1857, the superstitions of the natives of India are gradually but surely giving way before the glorious gospel of our Saviour, which is now spreading through- out the length and breadth of that long-benighted land. A VOYAGE TO THE GUANO ISLANDS OF PERU. These Islands are called the Chinchas, and it i3 now over twenty years since I first visited them on board a Liverpool ship called the -' Collector." We sailed in June, 1849, our cargo consisting of bricks and patent fuel to be landed at Coquimbo on the coast of Chili. We had quite a fine passage to the equator and well Fouth towards the Falkland Islands, ^..it were well aware what we might expect off Capo Horn, as it was now the dead of winter in these latitudes. The wea- ther became colder as we proceeded to the southward towards Cape Horn, and the nights much longer. As we approached Cape Horn our best sails were bent to encounter the heavy gales we expected at this time of the year, and our water casks, spars, &c., were well secured with good lashings. Gales of wind now began to bo frequent, and storms of snow and sleet were of common occurrence. The heavy seas to bo :ii! ill I 66 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. met with hero arc sometliing unusual in other parts of the world, the long stretch of thousands of miles of ocean causing a heavy sea in any gale, as there is a heavy swell even when there is no wind. No sooner had we set a little sail to get round this boisterous Capo than it had to be again taken in, as we vainly tried to buffet the galo and make a little west- ing, tossing and plunging about in the tremendous seas ever and anon rolling along. Wet with salt water, perishing with cold, still we must get up and take in sail, but we managed it very well, if sail was not carried too long. A glass of rum was often served out to us, which for a time put a glow within us, but after its effects had died away, we felt chilled and almost as cold as before. On one particularly cold night, a small sail called the main trisail had to bo taken in ; it was blowing a perfect hurricane at the time, and the ship had to bo wora round on the opposite tack in order to avoid drifting on an island to leeward. But the cold was so intense, together with tho strength of the wind, that the united efforts of sixteen good men could hardly get it quieted and taken in for a whole hour. At length we managed to wear round on the opposite tack, and escape tho much dreaded island. We now had ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 67 to make a desperate effort to carrj some more sail in order to get clear, and it was some hours before we got sufficient sail set to make sure of keeping off the rocks. At length fatigued and perishing with the excessive cold, we were allowed some rest, and our glass c T raw strong rum put a little heat in us for the t*me. Day after day and week after week the same fearful gales kept us back, and the long, dreary cold nights were enough to damp the courage of many a crew, for no sooner had wo made a good distance by a favourable point or two of the wind, than again it wc»uld come down from the same quarter, hard, cold and furious as ever, driving us back more than we had gained. Some of our crew now began to have scurvy, which appeared in their legs and mouths, by the long use of salt meat and constant exposure to this terrible weather ; our decks where the men's hammocks were slung being so leaky that a constant stream of water came through their leaky scams, saturating bed- clothes and hammocks. Various were the means tried to keep the water clear of our beds ; greasmg a track under the dock for it to run clear, but this was of little avail. Often as the watch below was called '' all hands shorten sail,'* have we got out and found 'Kl 58 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. our den of a forecastle ankle deep with "vvator, as our deep loaded ship lurched and rolled to and fro, try ing to dress on the top of our chests to keep clear of the water, but in danger of being sent flying to lee* ward, chests and all, at each successive roll. Such are a few of tho many discomforts experienced by sailors in rounding Cape Horn ; but there is no escape from these miseries, as round the Horn the ship must go, if we can only keep her afloat. For- tunately our ship made but little water in her bottom or top sides, and stood all this rolling, pitching and straining remarkably well. Tho captain was a good sort of man, on his first voyage as such; he had, how- ever, a very headstrong way of carrying sail, which gave us all the more trouble, as we were aware that ho did not attend to the warnings of the barometer. This instrument, when well understood, will always warn the shipmaster of approaching gales in those latitudes, and save much extra labour to the crew by attending to its warnings in time. As we drifted about in this miserable way, scarcely holding our own at times, one after the other of our crew gave in with various ailments, scurvy being the most prevalent, till nine were laid up out of our crew of twentjf-four. These nine being mostly working sea- ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 69 men, the work came heavier on the rest of the crew. Eight long weeks had we now been buffeted about off this weary, desolate cape, and very little chance of a change. At length about the ninth week we managed to get fairly round, «.e., to double Cape Horn, and keeping well off this much dreaded coast, were standing to the northward, under all sail, the warmth of the cli- mate increasing day by day, until fairly within the limits of the south-east trades. Our battered ship, as well as our worn-out crew, now began to look better, and we soon sighted the lofty peaks of the Andes ; nearer and nearer we stood in towards the coast of Chili, the mountains rising higher and higher, and some of their peaks touching the clouds. These mountains are visible seventy, eighty, and even ninety miles at sea, and it can well be imagined how they look in their grandness and magnificence as we approach the coast, some being over twenty thousand feet in height above the level of the sea. Entering by quite a narrow opening, we were soon at anchor in the harbour of Coquimbo, after a terrible passage of four months from Liverpool. Surroundmg us on the heights round the harbour were quite a number of smelting works, for making pigs of copper, which is brought from the mines to this port in large quantities. 60 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. Our sick were now landed, and it was remarkable how soon the scurvy disappeared, as plenty of good oranges, as well as potatoes and other esculents were to be had in abundance. One man, whose legs were quite black, as the scurvy slowly moved upwards towards his body, would every afternoon, on coming on board, shew us his legs becoming lighter in their colour and perceptibly getting rapidly better, by the use of oranges and potatoes, &c., as well as by being daily in contact with the earth on shore, after this long sea-voyage. We were all now busily employed discharging our cargo of bricks and patent fuel. This patent fuel is composed of a mixture of small, smithy coals, and what is called coal tar, formed and dried in large, thick, square cakes, and in handling this disagreeable stuff, the dust getting into our eyes in the hot sun, nearly destroyed our eyesight for the time ; the pain was almost maddening, and there were some of the crew who could not work until its effects were eradicated from their eyes. La Serena is the principal city, distant from Coquimbo about seven miles. It is a city of but small importance, but is the place where vessels enter and clear at the custom-house. We were not long in discharging cargo, and taking in ballast for Callao, the port of entry for vessels ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 61 / \ bound to the Guano Islands. Our anchor up and sail set, we once more resumed our route, steering nearly due north, but keeping well out to sea, in order to have the full strength of the south-east trades. Our crew were now quite well, and with the fine weather of these latitudes we all forgot what we had suffered in rounding Cape Horn. Our steward deserted the ship in Cofjuimbo, but we soon had another in his place, equally well up to his duties. Strong trade winds carried us along fast on our course to Callao, and in eight days from Coquimbo wo arrived off the island of San Lorenzo, at the entrance of the port. Light winds at length carried us into the harbour after a very favourable passage. Callao is in latitude 12^ south, and is the sea-port of Lima, the capital of Peru. At the time I speak of it was the port of entry for vessels bound to the Guano Islands. As a harbour it is entirely land-locked, and quite a fleet of ships of all sizes can easily find shelter here. But Callao itself is but a miserable, poor-looking place, with very few buildings of importance, and its streets mean, tortuous and rugged. Having filled up our water casks with water of the best quality, we had now to beat along the coast against the south-east trades to the islands, a distance 62 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. of ninety miles. Standing well out to sea at night, we made a stretch in towards the land in the morning, but alas ! we had made but little of it, as we only fetched back to the place we left the morning before. At length we managed to reach the Guano Islands in about eight days from Callao, and proceeded under all sail right through among the shipping, at the islands, to a small place called Pisco, seven miles off, where we had once more to anchor and re-enter at the custom- house, before going back to the islands. This foolish programme had to be gone through by every ship visiting these islands twenty years ago. First to enter the ship at Callao for the Islands, then before anchoring proceeded to Pisco to re-enter ; com- ing back with your ship a distance of only seven miles, involving time, labour and expense. Anchored at Pisco we went ^a shore in the boat, but there is along the coast at this place a most dangerous surf always running on the low sandy beach, and many boats have been capsized in attempting to land here, the captains and boat's crew very often being drowned. It was therefore with considerable apprehension that we pulled our boat in through the surf, all depending on good steering, and keeping the oars well clear as the heavy breakers came rolling along, for if the boat once came ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN, 63 broadside on, she was sure to capsize. Once more get- ting our clearance from Pisco we were on our way back to the islan'ls, and getting one of the captains ac- quainted there, we came to anchor oflf the North Island, where quite a number of ships were waiting for their turn at the gunao shoots. The North, Middle and South Islands were at this time heavily covered with deposits of guano ninety feet deep, and in some parts were almost inaccessible from the sea, their circumfe- rence not being more than two miles each. At this place the water is generally very smooth, and though somewhat deep yet there is good holding ground for ships of large tonnage. We now prepared to take in enough guano by our boats to ballast the ship until our turn came at the large shoot. The long boat and pinnace were manned, and each morning hauled into the boat shoot. A long canvas hose was sent down from the rocks, about 100 feet above our heads, and as soon as our boat was moored stern on to the island, the signal was given all ready, and immediately there came down a rush of guano through the hose into the boat, almost blinding and suffocating the four of us in charge. When there happened to be no wind our position was almost unbear- able, as we held our heads clear of the boat trying to 64 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OrEAN. llC get a breath of fresh air, the dust not unlike that of a flour . 'ill, pud the ammonia, with which the guano abounds, being suffocating in its affects ; but our boat containing ten tons in bulk, was soon loaded, and seated among the guano we pulled towards the ship, where our boat was discharged in a short time, the guano being thrown into the hold in bulk to be trimmed at leisure. In this way we managed to get enough on board io admit of our discharging the ballast, and had now to wait our turn for the purpose of loading at the Manguero, or large shoot for ships. Our time, as we lay here, was passed in keeping the ship clean, and in excursions round the islands. Fish were very plenti- ful, and good herrings could be caught by the seine spread under our bows, or large quantities of mackerel by the simple process of" tymg three fish hooks together and lowering them ui.der our boat ; this was called jigging ; sometimes two and three being thus jigged at the same time, so plentiful were they round the islands. The weather is always fine in those latitudes ; the sun in the day time being hot, but far from oppressive, while the nights are cool, with a heavy dew falling. During our stay of ten weeks here, we never once had a shower of rain, and rain is almost auMiowa all the ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 65 year round on this part of the coast. At length our turn came to haul tho ship under the great ahoot, where in a few hours we could take in our whole cargo of nearly 1000 tons, besides our 200 already on board. Getting lines passed ashore under tho directions of the pilot of the islands, we hauled on board the largo shoot first of all to tho main hatch, when at the signal, tons of guano were soon rushing into the hold, from the rocks above ow mast heads, enveloping the ship in a perfect cloud of dust from the guano, which penetrates the inmost nook in the cabin, spoiling everything if not carefully covered beforehand, veering and hauling on tho tackle guiding the shoot into the hatchway as the swell causes the ship to rise and fall. We very soon had sufficient to keep our trimmers below in employment, shovelling and stowing fore and aft. Trimmers are well paid, but their work is excessively severe on the constitution. Sometimes they are obliged to come up from the hold, the blood streaming from their nose and mouth. Our ship was loaded in from six to seven hours, and vre once more hauled out to the anchorage to clear decks and prepare for returning to Callao, to fill up water and obtain our clearance for London. We soon wore gladly heaving up on our return voyage to London via Callao, 66 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. as we were now fully eight months out at this time, and with a fair wind we sailed at night from the Guano Islands, reaching Callao on the following day by noon. As usual with ships on a long voyage, our crew were allowed twenty-four hours leave, the starboard watch under the second mate taking the first turn on shore ; when the mates watch on being reheved took their twenty-four hours. Some of our men took horses for Lima, but most of them remained in Callao, drinking and carousing until it was time to go on board. When several ships' crews were thus allowed on shore after being confined so long on board ship, it was ludicrous in the extreme to watch the bent of their inclinations, as some, hiring cabs, &c., would have a drive into the country, resolved to be gentlemen for one day at least ; others sitting down in some low grogery would spend all their liberty money (generally one month 'i pay) at a sitting, that is to say, they would not leavo until half-carried to the boat, drunk as they were, by their more sober and sensible shipmates ; still another portion would bo found who had not forgotten mothers and sisters, wives and sweethearts at homo, but were laying out a portion of their liberty money iu purchasing curiosities of all kinds to tako home, as a memento of their voyage to Peru. The boat landing for the liberty ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 67 men is now waiting, and as she leaves the landing place loaded with half-drunken sailors, (and some who are wholly so) it would be laughable only for its extreme danger, as some of our half-drunken crew keep moving round in the boat, in danger of fallbg overboard every moment. The ship is at length reached, and for those who are too drunk to get on deck by the usual rope ladder, a rope is sent down, and they are soon hoisted on deck and safely deposited in their bunks to sleep off their deb::iuch ; for our sailors are somewhat thoughtful about their drunken shipmates, and will invariably try to take caro of them until they can take care of themselves. On the day following we prepared to leave for Lon- don, and heaving our anchor short we loosed and set our topsails, waiting for the captain to come on board and make a start. But the devil was on board in the shai^ of sundry skins of rum, which set all the crew nearly crazy. Three of our best men took it into their heads all at once that they would serve Her Majesty the Queen on board the " Asia," a lino-of-battlo ship of seventy-four guns, lying in Callao. The signal was given to the man-of-war by tying a blue shirt to the starboard fore lift, but no- answer was visible in the 6^ ANECDOTES OF A UFE ON THE OCEAN. shape of manning and sending a boat on board for our volunteers. Seeing that their signal was disregarded bj the commandei of the " Asia" our volunteers took down the blue shirt from the fore lift and substituted a white sheet, still more deeply to impress the commanding officer of the "Asia" with the information that there were anxious volunteers on board the "Collector" who wished to serve the Queen. Still the commanding officer did not seem to see it : firstly, as he had his full complement of 700 men on board, secondly, as her Majesty Queen Victoria was then at peace with all the world, thirdly and lastly, because the commander had more common sense than to disable a merchant ship on the point of sailing by taking any of the crew from her in time of peace. The captain now made his appearance, and on coming alongside gave the order *' man the wind- lass, up anchor," but none of us would move ; he enquired the reason, and soon found that our volunteers were the cause. As we refused to heave the anchor up, until these three men came to their senses and their duty, the captain very wisely went on board the man- of-war, claiming the commander's assistance in getting the ship under way, and in bridging his mutinous and disobedient crew to reason. ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 69 Soon afterward, as we sat round the decks, deter- mined not to way anchor, the Launch of the " Asia " was seen pulling towards us, and we could soon see the first lieutenant, coxswain, and about twenty able seamen, all in their uniforms, approach the ship. Mounting the side ladder, we were confronted by our captain and the lieutenant, who very quietly demanded our reasons for not weighing anchor. Some of our speakers now told him that we would do so if these three men did their work, but as they wished to enter the service, we objected to go to sea three men short. Reasoning with the three ring-leaders, he told them that the Asia was not in want of men, advising us all to return to our duty. As no terms could be come to with us. Lieutenant Collins at once called his men up, who proceeded to weigh the anchor, in spite of our protests to the con- trary. Sail was soon made and the " Collector" standing out to sea undercharge of the man-of-war's crew. As we reached the Island of San Lorenzo, the ship was hore-to, and the lieutenant with his men prepared to leave, and he once more quietly told us that if we attempted to bring the ship back, we should all be taken on shore and tried for mutiny. No one seemed to like this idea, and all hands, including our volunteers 70 ANECDOTES OF A LIFB ON THE OCEAN. for her Majesty's Navy, were soon once more at their duties as the ship stood out to sea, getting more soher every hour as the effects of the bad rum died away and we inhaled the pure breezes of the Pacific. We made good progress to the southward to round Cape Horn. But alas ! our too economical captain had provided but ninety days provisions for what might be a five or six months passage, and we soon found that our stock of tea was all finished. Still we had plenty of coffee, for a reasonable time at least, and with fair winds we might make the passage home in three months. Going on towards Cape Horn we had whole gales of fair wind and soon reached the above place. As we proceeded to the northward our stores began to get short one after the other, and having still a long passage before us after we reached the equator every care was taken that we should have our strict allow- ance in order to make the remaining stores hold out. We now entered the north-east trades and made good progress on our homeward passage, ttill our stock of provisions was getting smaller, as we were now about three months out from Callao. Our allowances were now reduced to half a pound of beef or pork and half a pound of biscuit to each man for the day; our pease, barley, &c., being now all finished, as well as coffee and ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON TEE OCEAN. 71 sugar. Leaving the trades we had a succession of strong easterly winds which retarded our progress, and still brought our short allowance shorter. Day after day those head winds continued, and we were glad to get small quantities of bread from vessels bound the same way, but which were nearly as badly oflF as ourselves. Our allowance was now curtailed to a quarter of a pound of biscuit and the same of beef or pork. Fortunately we had plenty of water to drink. Still our head winds continued for nearly three whole weeks, and as the duties of the ship had to be carried . on the same as if on full allowance, the want of suffi- cient food soon became visible in our care-worn, hungry- looking faces. Boarding a French fisherman bound to Newfoundland one fine day, we secured a small bag of good biscuit, but had to pay well for it; some of the fisher- men on board also made us a present of a bag of her- rings, which was very thankfully received, and gave us one or two good meals. As we drew towards the end of the fourth month at sea the wind sometimes favour- ed us on our course, and we were again allowed our half pound of beef and bread, but no sooner did we have a change of wind than our wretched quarter pound was carefully doled out to us. N 72 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. At length our weary passsage came near to a close as we approached the Irish coast, and on the day we received our long expected and welcome pilot on board we had about one day's full allowance of bread still remainmg. Our pilot at length brought us safely to anchor m the then Co\e of Cork, fatigued, worn out and hungry enough, but we soon had plenty of good fresh bread, potatoes and beef sent on board, and like most sailors forgot all our miseries in the midst of plenty after a four months passage. Receivmg our orders to proceed to London we arrived there in a fctw days more ; our voyage to the Chincha Islands and home having lasted twelve months. With a good sum of money in each man's pocket, no one would have thought, seeing how reckless and extravagant we were, that we had suffered so much on this tedipus voyago to tbo Gu»^o Mm^ THE MARINE BAROMETER- This is an instrument of inestimable valae to the mari- ner who is careful of the lives and property placed under his charge on board ships and steamers on the ocean. Simple in its construction it is easily under- stood, and its readings noted to tenths of an inch of its rising and falling, give sure warnings of approaching gales at sea, as well as expected fine weather, so that by attending to this timely and faithful monitor many a fine ship with valuable lives and property are saved from destruction. On the other hand, by neglecting its warnings, many a fine vessel as well as many valua- ble lives are lost. I have often watched with intense anxiety its indications before a hurricane in India as well as before storms on the Atlantic, when it showed me that the heaviest portion of the storm had passed over the ship, and that I might soon expect to have better weather, enabling me to set more sail and to proceed on ray voyage, until the mercury again falling advised 74 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. me to reduce sail) and bj doing so in time, save masts and sails, as well as fatiguing and harrassing mj crew. The following story will illustrate the use of the barome- ter and demonstrate its value more fully : It was very late in the fall of 1857 that I left Que- bec in command of the ship " Vortigern,*' on her socond homeward trip. She was a staunch, powerful ship of one thousand tons, with a crew of thirty-two, all told. My owners, anxious to get her clear in time, engaged a powerful tug to tow her down clear of the St Law- rence. Anothr- ship, the "Mississippi," was also towed at the sam ; time on her first passage across the Atlantic. We had fine, cold, frosty weather, with scarcely any wind all the way down, and as we approached Bic Island, where the tug and pilots were to leave, the unusual height of the mercury and appearance of the weather indicated an easterly wind, and I was advised by my pilot to anchor under the island in case we should be caught in an easterly gale. Hailing the "Mississippi" I asked how his barometer stood, to which he replied, *' I have no barometer." Both ships now came to anchor, the pilots and tug returning to Quebec. In a few hours a nice steady breeze sprung up from the westward, when both vessels were soon getting anchors up and sail set. We were shortly uud^^ way ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 75 down the gulf, carrying all sail, the breeze increasing as we went on. The two vessels were about equally matched a nd kept company fo r two full days. The breeze carried us outside the gulf, and on to Bank St Peter, but we had parted company with the " Mississippi," and the wind now came round from the east with hazy wea- ther. On the fifth night it fell nearly dead calia, and while walking with the second mate a little after eight o'clock I went to look at the barometer and found that the mercury had fallen considerably. I then ordered royals and top-gallant-sails to be all taken in — the top- sails were then flapping qu'Qtly against the masts and an ominous stillness prevailed. About ten at night the barometer had fallen to rather an alarming extent, when I immediately gave orders to the second mate, who had twelve good men in his watch, to furl every- thing except the fore and main topsails which were snugly close-reefed, and fore-top-mast stay-sail. All being finishedand all secured about the decks, we waited for the expected heavy gale, but still not a breath of wind. At midnight the mate looked up at our now reduced sail, when calling his attention to the fall of the barometer he at once saw what was coming ; and we had not long to wait, for about one in the morning a fresh breeze came away from north-west, when squar- -« T6 ANECDOTES OT A LIPE ON THE OCEAN. ing our yards we were soon steering to the eastward on our course, the breeze increasing to a gale every moment. By two in the morning it was blowing a heavy gale with tremcndflrus squalls of sleet and snow, and the sea getting heavier as we bowled along before it, with two hands snugly ensconced in the wheelhouse, she steered like a little boat. The gale now increased to a perfect hurricane, the furious squalls at times being perfectly deafening. The mate now advised mo to heave- to, but calling his attention to her excellent steering and how well she behaved, I said I could not think of heaving her to with a fair wind blowing, although it was such a hurricane ; I also knew that we had no icebergs nor fishermen in our way, and with a good look-out we kept as near our course before the wind as we could, patiently and anxiously waiting for daylight. I remarked to the mate that I was afraid something had happened to the " Mississippi" in such a hurricane, as the captain had no barometer to warn him of its approach. Daylight at last came and we were able to set the foresail, all our sails being nearly new and well tried on our outward passage. Our fair winds con- tinued until near the coast of Ireland, when we had a succession of easterly winds, but in about twenty days from Quebec we arrived all right in the Clyde. Several • ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 77 ' days passed after our arrival, but still no word of the " Mississippi." One of my owners asking if I had seen anything of her, of course I related to him our having been in company the first few days, but I had good reason to fear that she had suffered in that heavy gale on the Banks, as I knew she had no barometer on board, and so it turned out — she arriving at Queenstown in about three weeks after under jury masts. She had lost all but the stumps of her three lower masts, and her crew were well worn out, having to keep all the time at her pumps, she leaked so much through strain- ing in the gale already spoken of. It will thus be seen what an immense amount of property and time as well as labour might have been saved by having one of these faithful and silent monitors on board and attend- ing to its warnings. In the Indian Ocean and other parts where the Cyclones or revolving storms prevail, these instru- ments are of infinite value in warning the shipmaster to keep from the centre or vortex, which is the most dangerous part of the storm, and generally a dead calm, and the most dangerous part for a ship to be in. He can also, if expert in the theory of the law of storms, be able to find his way out of a revolving storm by watch- ing how the storm is approaching, and observing, as 78 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE OK THE OC^AN. often as he can be oflf the deck, the mercury's rising and falling, and by the veering of the wind at the ship make his way to the outer and safest edge of the now fast approaching hurricane. With these few remarks I close this article on that most valuable instrument, the marine barometer. A RACE ACROSS THE ATLANTJC In these days of fast steamers and fast ships, it is a great matter to provide for safety as well as swiftness. In many steamers crossing the Atlantic especially, too reckless a use is made of their steam power in order to be an hour or two a~hcad of an opposition company's steamer, whereby the lives of the passen- gers and crew are placed in jeopardy, and the vessel herself, and her valuable cargo, exposed to destruc- tion. Sailing vessels are not exposed to the same dangers, and the following story of a race between two sailing ships, will, I am sure, be acceptable to the readers of these anecdotes. In the fall of 1858 I had taken a cargo of iron work for the Victoria Bridge to Montreal, and was about to leave on my homeward passage to Liverpool at tho same time that the well known clipper ship " Shan- don" was also to sail for the Clyde. My ship, tho "Nestorian," was on her second homeward trip^ c50 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. and I was confident in her sailing qualities, with the wind a little free. Bidding good-bye to captain G. and his estimable wife, we wished each other a good passage home. I remarked that I would have but little chance with the far-famed " Shandon," but should the wind keep free at all on the way home, I would give hor a heat. I soon obtained my clearance papers at the custom-house, and hastening on board with the pilot saw the " Shaadon" passing round Point Levi with top-gallant sails. I was soon after getting the anchor up and sail made on the " Nestorian," and in about an hour started on our way down the river with a fino steady breeze of fair wind. As we proceeded we could see the " Shandon" well a-head in the bends of the river. As night approached we still went on, but found the " Shandon" had anchored for the night in the Traverses. Now, I thought, we could give her a heat. Onward we sped to the pilot station, where my pilot left the ship. The breeze freshening and still keeping fair, as we passed ship after ship bound the same way, I was still more confident in the sailing quaUties of my ship. As we proceeded down the Gulf of St. Lawrence the wind freshened to a strong gale from north-west, with snow squalls. Scudding before it) and Bt-eering well, I was soon outside of the Islands ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 81 I of St Paul's, but there was still no sign of the " Slmn- don" coming up on us. About the fifth day out, when on one of the Banks of Newfoundland, \vc had the wind from the eastward. Tacking about we soon found our friend the " Shandon" in company, and as she tacked close by, was very ldou miles to windward of us. This somewhat dampened my hopes of giving her a heat, now that she had the start of me again ; however, wo soon had our friendly westerly gale again, and dashed along steadily on our course to the eastward. About half way on our passage the mnd came from the northward with sharp, heavy squalls at intervals, rendering it necessary to singlc-recf our top-sails, but still keeping the top-gallant sails set over, holding «teadily on our course, but standing by halliards fore and aft, when the squalls came down. One morning we saw a large ship considerably a-head of us, and carrying every stitch of sail, but as each squall came down, she kept away off her course considerably, losing ground as we kept steadily on ; wc soon made her out to be the " Shandon." I now ordered a new top- mast stunsail to be reefed, and with good preventer brace, sheets, &c., ran off before the wind in order to set the sail. As she came gently up to her course again, wo soon felt tho iucreasod pressure of the stun. oa AJSECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. sail, as our sliip dashed along like a racehorse again on her course. The "Shandon" perceptibly lost her ground as she still carried her small sails, and bore off her course at each successive squall. By evening of the same day, the " Shandon" was nearly out of sight astern. As we still proceeded on our course, the squalls became lighter and the wind steadier, allowing us to set all sail. On the sixteenth night after leaving Que- bec we sighted the desired light steered for, on the Irish coast, in the l^orth Channel, and in the morning were hailed by a Clyde pilot boat. As I was bound for Liverpool, I did not require a pilot, but asked if the " Shandon " had gone up yet or not. I was answered " No, sir, not that we know of.'* Then thought I, we have beaten her. The wind was now south-west, strong against us for going to Liverpool, and as we tacked about in the narrow channel between Cantiro and llathlin, the man at the holm called my attention to a large ship about six or seven miles off, which we at once knew to be the " Shandon." She was soon comins to windward like a steamer, and on her way up the Clyde, wliile I parted from her on my way to Liver- pool, where I arrived the folIoAvhig day : we tlius had beaten her fully an hour and a ha!r from Quebec to Cantire. Tho '' fchaiidou" is still in the 2>iuiiiicai trudu AN ..CDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. from the Clydo, but there are no doubt faster vessels than she is in the trade now, as this was twelve ^ear» since. THE COOLIE TRADE AND ITS HORRORS. Li I * There are many of the readers of these anecdotes who have heard of the traffic between the East and West Indies in Coolie emigrants who are sent to tho West Indies in vast numbers to take the place of the now liberated negroes on the plantations in tho culti- vation of sugar. To those, as well as to such as have not heard of this traffic, the following account of a trip with these people on board may be acceptable, as show- ing, to some extent, how the emigrants are treated, as well as the terrible cffi3cts of that scourge Cholera on board ship. During the winter of 1859 the ship ** Thomas Hamlin," of which I was then master, was engaged in Calcutta to convey four hundred mea, women and children to Demorara, in the colony of British Guiana. Tiiese natives of India are mostly from the interior, and consist chiefly of Hindoos of all cabtes, from tho proud but poor Lrahmin to tho lowest AXECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 85 grades of Coolio and Pariah. The Mussuhncn arc also poor people of the labouring class, who are glad to get away to this land of promise, perfectly in ignorance of the long sea-voyage and its effects as well as of tho work which they are required to do on their arrival. Agents are employed to go up country, and by all sorts of seductive stories allure these poor people to Calcutta with promises of future fortune when they reach this Eldorado of their hopes, where there is but little to do and only a life of luxury and indolence before them. These agents are cmiJoyed by the agent of tho Colonial Government of Domcrara in Calcutta to pro- cure emigrants for the colony, and are paid so much per head for each man, woman and child so procured and brought down to the depot in Calcutta, where as many as twelve hundred at a time are sometimes col- lected waiting shipment. The emigrants are located in long rows of sheds at the depot, and arc well cared for and well fed, having medical aid when it is needed. Qualified surgeons, both European and nativ^o, are attached to each depot, so that no blame rests with the government of India or Dcmerara in provid- mg for the wants of those pour people while under their supervision ; the blame, if any, being more with tho unprincipled native agents already spoken of who 86 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. wilfully misrepresent and colour much too highly tlie true state of affairs and what is expected of the people on their arrival in the West Indies. The 'tween decks of the ship, lofty and well ventilat- ed, with an hospital for the sick separated from the rest, is now well scrubbed and cleaned with holystones and sand, and prepared for the reception of the emi- grants. Samples of the provisions arc ready for the Protector of Emigrants' inspection, viz., rice, dholl, a sort of native pea, dried fish, ghee or butter, turmeric, tobacco, jaggary or native tobacco, bread and all the other necessaries used by natives of India, even the water to be used during the voyage must be ready on board for his inspection. After having received the Protector of Emigrants' certificate that the provisions and water are of good quality and that the vcss )1 u ready and in good condition for the reception of tlio emigrants — the master having complied with all the pro- visions of the emigration act — wo now drop the sliip down to the emigration wharf to embark the people. The doctor of the ship, also appointed by the ag(>nt for the colony, tho protector of emigrants, myself as master, and the officers of the ship, have to superintend and assist in the embarkation of the euii;2:rant3. A good gangway is placed from tho ship to the wharf, and soon ANF DOTES OF A LIFE ON TUE OCEAN. 87 a long procession of natives is seen approaching the vessel, mon, women and children dressed in the scanty cotton cloth of tho country, and carrying with them their little bundle } of clothing and other necessaries. We assist tho wttnen and children carefully down tho different stairs to tlie 'tween docUi^, where every precau- tion has been taken to prevent injury or accidents to the people in their strange new quarters on a long voyage. Laying down their blankets on the clean deck, for we have no sleeping berths fitted up, each family selects their place for the voyage, the single men and single women having places apart from each other and from the families. Very little confusion prevails as they take tlioir places, but a good deal of talking in Bengalee and Ilindostanoe. In about an hour wo have all embarked and the ship is comparatively quiet ; tho pilot and steam tug are both ready, and we at once drop down the sacred river for sea. Preparations are at once made for cooking and seeing to the sanitary rules of the ship. Twelve cooks arc selected from the emigrants, some of whom have been Sepoys in the now disbanded native army, and it i.i whimpered that some of them havo bclongeil to rt^volted rogimouti during tho late terrible mutiny in India, but they keep quiet 88 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. enougli on board ship ; they are paid a small sum by the colony for their services during the voyage. There ara also eight native Topazes or sweepers, whoso duty it is to sweep and keep clean the decks, and look after the cleaning of the water-closets and hospital. Eight Sir- dars are also appointed, who arc on watch by turns night and day to give notice of cases of sickness and to keep order among the emigrants, acting as constables, and keeping a strict look-out in cases of fire, and to pre- vent smoking among the emigrants below. The third mate of the ship is appointed to serve out the provisions to the cooks every mor..i :;;, for the day, and to give the daily allowance of water to each man, woman, and cliild. His duty is also to superintend the Topazes, Sirdars and cooks, seeing that the rules of the ship are carried out. Ilis situation is by no means a sinecure, as he is constantly on duty in the day time, but taking no part in the duties of the ship. The second officer takes turns with the chief in seeing the emigrants all sent on deck in fine weather, and two or three times a week forty or fifty men are sent to scrub the 'tween decks with dry holystones and sand. Having got well down the river the doctor and I were much pleased that thus far we had no cases of cholera, as this terrible scourge shows itself very often a few i ! ANECDOTES OF A LIFE C.V THE OCEAN. 80 hours after embarking die emigrants, and before getting to sea many deaths occur in ships engaged in this trade ; doubtless caused by the heat and malaria on the banks of the river. One young woman is sick with pthisis, but as we approach the Pilot Station well clear of the river, and into the pure air of the open Bciy of Bengal, we aro still congfatuUting ourselves in so far escaping from the merciless scourge just referred to. True, it was * rumoured that previous to embarkation the cholera had been long among the emigrants at the depot, and one man was attacked with it while on his way to th(J ship, who was immediately taken back, but still we are hope- ful of getting out to sea all right. Our pilot leaves us at the eastern lightship, and casting off the tug stea- mer wo are soon under all sail down the Bay of Bougal. At this season of the year the north-east Monsoon prevails, and the sea is as smooth as glass, with cool, clear weather and a fine breeze of fair wind. As we proceeded on our voyage every precaution was taken to prevent sickness, but a few days after leaving, our unseen enemy and scourge, which has been evidently lurking among us, makes it's appearance. Seated in the after-cabin reading, I am startled by the abrupt entrance of the doctor, who announces to me the terrible fact that, with all our precautions, real Asiatic cholera has made its appcar- e2 o >>.ii^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // A i z J 1.0 I.I 1:^121 12.5 |io ■^~ H^H ■^ Iili2 |2.2 1^ 1^ III 2.0 L25 i 1.4 ill 1.6 ^- ^ y r. 7 1>' o 9 /A Photographic Sdences Corporation as WIST MAIN STRUT WIBSTIR.N.Y. USBO (716)B72-4S03 ^.V '; «c.'^ ' \ i @0 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. ance on board among the peoi)l(?. Looking at his alarmed countenance I tried to persuade myself as wcH as him that he was surely mistaken, but no, I must come down with him at once to the 'tween decks. Proceeding with him down among the two rows of Coolies stretched along the 'tween decks, we came to a strong-looking man, who appeared to me not to be suffer- ing much, but who was, it appears, in the lust stage of cholera. His wife was assisting him as well as she could, and every care was taken of him to alleviate his Bufferings, but it was all hi vain ; in about four hours from being attacked ho was dead. This was our second death., tlie woman I spoke of before having died of pthisis. This man's wife was now attacked, and she, with tiino of her four children, died nearly as (piiekly as her husbai.d. Justly alarmed now I determined on trying to eradicate this terrible plague from the ship, or at loait to endeavour to prevent it spreading as m'lch as posiiblo among the emigrants and my own crew of twenty-seven men. I now ordered a tent to be rigged on our long poop deck for any who should, be taken sick, and as the wea- ther was quite mild and the ship moving quietly and steadily along on her course, the emigrants were all ordered on deck and the process of cleaning and furai- ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 91 gating the ship commenced. Fifty of the strongest men were selected, my own crew assisting, and tho 'tween decks, fore and aft, having been well scrubbed with holystones and sand, were now washed clean down, and the water being well swept off, charcoal fires were lighted at intervals in the 'tween decks, and the decks well dried. Large quantities of chloride of lime wero now sprinkled overall, and after their clothing had been opened out on deck and well aired tho c: igrants wero allowed to come down again to their places below ; but alas ! all was of little avail, for our dread enemy still continued on board, men, women, and children being seized one after the other, and in spite of our utmost eflforts, three, four and five deaths were occurring daily. My readers may well conceive the trying position in which as master of the ship I was placed, both on tho ground of common humanity to these poor people, as well as the loss to my employers, as every death on board was a loss to them, passage money being [.aid only for those landed alive in the colony. Men wero bcwailin;:^ in Ilindostanee the loss of their wives, as tticy trijd in their grief to 3uccour the children now left without a mother ; women wero wailing and crying fur tho loss of their husbands, )>y this tinio left far behind in the depths of tho Indian Ocean, a prey to 92 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. the voracious shark, which invariably follows a ship where deaths are so frequent. The scenes of distress and sorrow on board at this time when the cholera was at its height were enough to sicken and appal the stoutest heart : women coming to me and appealing to mc to s^ve their husband or their dead or djing chil- dren : putting their heads to l y feet on the ship's deck, poor creatures, as if I were something superhuman, they would cry despairingly in Hindostanee : " Oh Sahib, Sahib, humara baba, humara baba.'* ''Oh sir, sir, my child, my child.'* " Sahib, humara Adami moigia." *' Sir, my husband is dead," as if I could restore the dead or dying to life and health. We were approaching the equator about three weeks after leaving Calcutta, and I thought as we changed our latitude so quickly that there was a sen- sible decrease in the number of cases : deaths were not 80 frequent, though still we had one or two daily. One of my own crew who had been long ailing with chronic dysentery now died, after every effort had been made to save his life ; his body sewed up in canvas was laid on the carpenter's bench with shot at the feet to sink it, and covered with tlio Union Jack of old England. We waited for sunset to perform the last solemn services of the Church of England over the ASiECDOTES OV A LIPB 0^ ^^OE OCEAN. 93 body before committing it to the deep, leaving an ordiaary seaman to watch over it. At sunset muster- in;^ all the crew in clean clothes and ranged on each side of the body as the mates laid the plank on which it lay, on the rail, I took my place at the head and proceeded with the service, as appropriate as it is touching; and nothing can more sensibly touch and soften the hardest heart of the most reckless of the crew than the beautiful service of the Church of Eng- land, and nothing can be more impressive or for the time more solemn than this burial service at sea. At the words ^^ we commit his body to the deep," the plank is gently raised by the mates, and the body sliding off feet downwards goes down with a sullen plunge into the unfathomable depths of the ocean to be no more known until *^ thesea shall give up its dead.'* So ended the burial of poor John Brown, one of my best sailors, and the most exemplary and steadiest of my crew. A Swede by birth, he had long suffered both on the out- ward passage and in Calcutta. It was my wish to let him remain in hospital there, but the medical adviser of the ship advised me that the change at sea would do him good, but God had otherwise ordered it. Our Ooolie emigrants gathered in clusters, looking on in wonder and astonishment at the preparations for the u ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. funeral and the reading of the service, and well they might, for no such ceremonies were performed over the bodies of any of their friends who were so suddenly taken away by cholera. When a death hapi)cned the body was rolled up in the blanket on which the person died, and carried to a place set apart for the purpose near the hospital, laid there for an hour or so, and was then carried on deck by the Topazes appointed for the purpose, and without ceremony cast into the sea. Sometimes the wail of the women for husbands or children was heard for a short time as the bodies were thus ruthlessly disposed of. But what could we do in these cases, the sooner we were rid of the dead for the sake of the living the better. On reaching the south-east trade winds in the Indian Ocean we had fine steady breezes,and our noble ship bowled along on her course for the Gape of Good Hope, where we were bound in terms of our Charter Party to call for fresh water and provisions. The cholera was now sensibly stopping its ravages, but we still had bolated cases, together with dysentery and diarrhoea ; still the health of the ship was decidedly improving, and as we found the weather getting colder, extra blankeis and warm clothing were served out to each man, woman and child ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 95 Our emigrants had a very dangerous custom of climbing up on the rails and seating themselves on the top, without any precaution or holding on by any rope, so that the least lurch of the ship Avould assuredly throw them overboard. I had warned them repeatedly and given orders to the officers and crow to stop this dangerous habit when they could. The following strange incident occurred in connection with this ver^ dangerous custom, which I shall relate hero ; — Seated at my cabin table one day arranging m^ papers, the mate busy doing some work forward, and the deck crowded Tvith passengers, the day being fine, I was startled by the cry from the man at the helm, " a man overboard.'* Rushing on deck I give the orders, *' hard down your helm, cut away the life buoys, clear away the quarter boat, and lower her away. Be quick, men, be quick,*' and in from five to seven minutes the mate was away with four hands in the boat, in search of the man overboard. The orders had been promptly and quickly obeyed ; but the ship's way is not yet stopped, as she has being going nearly ten miles an hour with stunsails, and all plain sail set. We now proceed to take in sail and heave the ship to to wait for tlic boat, and I find that one of our emigrants perched on the rail, as usual, has lost his balance, and 96 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. fallen ovorboard. Waiting anxiously for the boat I mount the rigging with the spyglass and sec her pull- ing towards the ship, but three or four miles off. A s the boat comes within hailing distance after being away an hour, I ask the mate if he has found the man ; he answers, "Yes, sir, but he is dead." Strange enough neither the life buoys nor planks thrown overboard were found. Hauling the body on deck for examination the doctor pronounced the man quite dead ; ourboat is hoist- ed up, sail made, and we are soon once more bowling along before the wind. Keeping the body an hour longer it is once more cast overboard. I have thought it worth while to relate this incident as it seems stran^^e and unaccountable to me whj ' " body did not sink after being so far from the vessel, still stranger that we did not recover our life buoys, which can be seen at a considerable distance. With steady winds and fine weather we are still steering to the westward to sight the coast of Africa, at a place called Cape St. Francis. As we approach the land wo have a very heavy gale of adverse wind, but the emigrants aro much more cheerful as the sick- ness on board is not nearly so deadly in its results as during the first part of the pas^^age, and also because ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 07 we soon expect to be at tne Cape. As wo si^lit the desired »^oiiit on the coast wo have now been fiftj days at sea from Calcutta, and fifty-ciglit dcatlid liuvo occurred in that time. My readers will agree witli uio that this mortality among four hundred people is some- what startling in such a short time ; still we have eight in the hospital, and may expect more deaths before reaching the West Indies. With a fino breeze we sail rapidly along the bold mountainous coast, and in fifty- two days from Calcutta anchor in Table Lay. Taking my boat I soon have the necessary provisions, pure fresh water, and medical comforts ordered for our now cheerful emigrants. Great praise, of course, was given to the Captain Sahib for having brouglit thc.^ here safely after such a terrible time of sickness and death on this long voyage. Our doctor now goes on shore and fills up his medicine chest, but shortly ufter, by reason of his own recklessness, leaves tbi> ship. There are no medical men to bo procured here, and some more of the emigrants succuiub after a long illness. The total number of deaths on leaving the Cape for Demerara had reached sixty-four, and I am now in hopes that we shall have good winds, and fine weather during the rest of the voyage. 98 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. Getting mj clearance papers, I am now obliged to proceed without a doctor, but still have confidence enough, as I have a fair knowledge of medicine, obtain- ed before going to sea, and with the assistance of my trusty mates, who have behaved nobly during the whole of this disastrous voyage, I hope to make a speedy passage to the West Indies. The anchor is soon hove up, and with all sail set and a fine breeze, wo leave the Cape, steering to the northward, and are soon out of sight of the African coast. As we sail along before the south-east trades to sight the island of St. Helena wo have still quite a number of chronic cases of dysentery and diarrhoea, and there are still a few deaths now and then, but far from being so fre- quent as before we arrived at the Cape. In ten days from the Cape we pass the rock-bound Island of St. Helena, so well known as the place of exile of the Emperor Napoleon. Towering far above the level of the sea, we have sighted the island about noon, and at midnight are just passing the lights in Jamestown, the capital of the island. Day after day passes in the same way, running before the trades to the equator, but keeping well to the westward for our destination, the monotony of the passage relieved by signalling occasionally passing ANECDOTES OF A LIFB ON THE OCEAN. 99 ships. A few deaths still happen, but we are now drawini; near the end of the voyage and the emigrants are cheered at the prospect of getting on shore. In the evenings in fine weather the tom-toms or native drums are brought ou deck, and groups are formed for dancing the naiUch or native dance of India to the native pipe and tom-toms. The dance goes on, but the music is far from pleasant to our European ears. Other groups are seated on decit singing their most unmusical songs, while others are amusing them- selves with swings rigged for that purpose, and all seem contented and happy. Thi3 terri')lo noise con- tinues until eight bells are struck, and the watch is set for the night, when the decks are cleared and all the emigrants go down, without the least trouble, to their berths. We are now steering to the westward, very much assisted by the equatorial current which is in our favour, and make excellent day's work, by observation at noon of each day. One woman who has been seven years in the West Indies before, and is now returning the second time, is constantly at me to know " when we see Demery sar ?" " Very soon now, Banoo, in a day or two more." At length my chronometers being trust- worthy, we sight the low level coast of British Guiana, 100 ANECOOT£S OF A LIFB ON TUB OCEAN. and steering for the lightship soon receive our [)ilot, who takes charge of the ship, and brings her safely to anchor in Demerara River in forty-three days from the Cape. As it is night time I retire to rest, much relieved both in mind and body. Our deaths up to this time amount to eighty-one, men, women and chil- dren, but in the morning one woman whom I had tiiought to send to the hospital in time, is found dead, and of course, even though I have brought her into port alive, we cannot be paid for her passage. In tho morning the healthoflScer and harbour-master come on board, and our eight sick emigrants are carefully removed to the hospital on shore. Arrangements arc now made for the disembarking of the emigrants and their distribution among tho various plantations in need of hands, but every care is taken not to part husband and wife, or children from parents, and to whatever plantation one is sent, the whole family must go. A well educated native of India, who speaks English fluently, comes on board with the sub- emigration agent, and tlie names of each emigrant is carefully taken, with age, village or district from which they came in India, and noted in their indentures to each plantation. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 101 On tho plantation there aro comfortable huts for the people, and every plantation must have an hospital for tho sick, which is under the direct supervision of tho surgeon-general of the Colony. Thj emigrants are asked individually if they have any complaints to make against the master or officers of the ship before going on shore. But in our case they express them- selves as very grateful for the kmd treatment they have received from all the crew, as well as from myself and officers. On leaving the ship I am somewhat astonished at men and women crying like children as they bid mo farewell to go to their now homes. We soon have our ship clear of the emigrants, and I can assure my readers that I was not at all sorry when the whole were landed. The Court of Policy at tho recommendation of the health-officer and emigration agent general, granted me, as well as my (Beers, hand- some presents for the care and trouble we had taken with these poor peoiile, during this voyage of sickness and death. I may in another article describe the tnrms on which they are engaged and their treatment while in the colony. A RACE WITH A FRENCH CLIPPER. During my service in India, I commanded a fine clip- porbuilt ship called the Fiery CrosSy of about 1000 tous. Having a crew of sixty-four native Lascars and two European mates, I naturally took every pride in keeping her in the best of order. I was lying in the port of Muscat discharging my cargo of rice from Cal- cutta when I received an invitation to dine on board a man-of-war steamer then employed conveying the political resident, Colonel Pelly, up the Persian Gulf. Among the guests was a FrencV>man who commanded a fast little barque called La Phantome, which had been in former days employed in the slave trade. Hearing the naval officers, whom I had known before, praising the fine, tidy, and clipper-like appearance of the Fiery Cross,, he gave me a challenge that- he would beat me in a distance of ninety miles to Ras- al-IIad, a point on the Arabian coast (the bet was to be for a new hat) if I was roady in time. I at onoe ANECDOTES OF A LIFE 017 THE OCEAN. 103 accepted the challenge^ and hastening on with the dis- charge of my cargo, was soon ready for sea. La Phantome had sailed about six o'clock in the morning of the day on which the last of my cargo was dis- charged. My papers not being ready I hauled my ship out to the entrance of the port for a start as soon as I could obtaia my port clearance and other papers. Eight at night came but still no word of my papers, which were to be sent oflf by a Hindoo clerk. Lying down on a hen-coop I waited patiently the coming of my ship's papers, determined as soon as they came to give the Frenchman a heat, even though he had now fully twelve hours the start of me. The weather was excessively hot, but a fine breeze of fair wmd was blowing, and my crew were all lying about the decks sound asleep. At length, about midnight, hearing the sound of oars, I started up, when the clerk pre- sented me with my papers. Somewhat annoyed I remarked that the papers might have arrived long ago ; he replied that he could not help it. Seeing me about to call all hands " up anchor," he said, '* Surely, captain, you are not going to sea at this time of nlglit." I answered him " Yes, certainly," in the llindostanoo language, " and you had better get into your boat, as I am about to firo a gun." " Ki ko tope mariga," he 104 ANECDOTE? OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. asked mo, " Why will yo i firo a gun ?" " Why, to let vour friend ashore know that 1 am about to start to beat that Frenchman." With a salaam ho was soon in his boat, frightened nearlv out of his wits about che firing of the gun. As soon as .ny Hindoo friend was in his boat I fired the gun, whicli at this still hour of the night, and among the perpendicular cliffs rising higher than vhe masts, must have been startling to the sleepers on shore. Calling the native serang or boatswain, I ordered all hands to " up anchor." His pipe or whistle was soon heard shrill and loud over the decks, rousing up the sleepers with the long drawn call " allhands-up- anchor." Our windlass being manned the order was given, " Top men, lay aloft and loose all sail, fore, main and mizzGn-top-sails, top-gallant-sails and royals," and in less time than I have taken to write this, the Fiery Cross was standing out to sea under every stitch ot sail, and steering along the coast in search of La Phantome, Our ropes being coiled down and decks cleared my crew again lay down, and ah was quiet as if still at anchor. Giving orders to the officer of the watch to be called at daylight I again lay down on the hen-coop, somewhat fatigued, and was soon fast asleep. About five in the morning, as daylight came ANECDOTES OP A LIFE 0!T THE OCEAN. 105 in, I was called by the second mate, who told me that our friend La Phantow.e was close to leeward of us and trying to cross our bows. " So ho ! my French friend, I see what you are at. Quarter master, keep her up, luflf quickly now, and go a-head of that vessel." Answering her helm, like a beauty s.s she was, she came sweeping up to the wind, and proudly dashed a-head of the Frenchman who was now on deck, looking stupefied at the way in which we passed him. Hailing him in English I called out, " You can't sail with the Fit/ff^ross.'^ Waving his hat he shouted out, '* Bo^^isi'ge." We were soon on our course again f^ Ras-al-Had, and at noon the old slayer and clipper La Phantome was out of sight a-stern. I never saw my French friend the captain of La Phantome to receive my well won nouveau chape aUy new hat. Pursuing my voyage I arrived in Cochin on the Malabar coast in fifteen days, and taking in some more cargo was again on my way to Calcutta, which I reached in nine days more, my passage being made nearly in the same time as that of some of the ijEustest steamers trading on the corst. A HURRICANE IN INDIA. The 4th day of October, 1864, had been excessively hot and sultry, and on the morning of the 5th rain began to fall heavily, still no one had any thonghta of a hurricane at this time of the yoariiMBcutta. The 5th of October is the first day of the neatnen festival of Doorgah Poojah, and the fortnight succeeding is called the Doorgah Poojah holidays, during which there is nothing done even by the Europeans in Calcutta. [ was invited to breakfast on board a ship lying close beside us, and taking my native boat was soon on board. While at breakfast the wind began to rise, and on looking at the barometer we found that the mercury had fallen to rather an alarming extent. I at once Jailed my Dhingy, or native boat, alongside, and was 300U on board my own ship, the lictiown^ of 1100 tons ; and it was well I went on board at once, for the wind increased so much in violence, with heavy ruin, ANECDOTES OF A LIFB ON THE OCEAN. and so suddenly, that it would have been impossible for rao to have reached my ship in such a small boat with two natives. Secured with four massive chains, fore and aft, as all ships are in Calcutta river, I now made what preparations I could with my two European mates and seven native Lascars, and calmly waited the approach of the heaviest portion of the cyclone or hurricane, as I was now certain that there was a heavy storm rapidly coming on. In two hours from its commence- ment it blew most furiously, and at 11 a.m. it was blow- ing a perfect hurricane, and the ships beghming to break from their moorings, even with all the strength of their massive chains. At noon the hurricane was at its height, and a storm wave coming up the river with the change of tide, swept all before it. Large ships were seen running foul of each other, and the crashing of their hulls, together with the falling of yards and masts as tliey came in collision, was fearful to tlie looker-on, and as they fell in pieces over the decks were dangerous in the extreme to the crews; the terror sticken sailors not knov^ing where to run for shelter. Three ships outside of us went off in a cluster to the opposite shore and stuck fast on the bank of the river. My own ahip had now parted three of her four moorings, but still held by the fourth. 108 ANECDOTES OF A LIEU ON TUB OCEAN. ' I now made all ready to cut awaj the masts in oi-der to save breaking the fourth chain ; but my only chain held on bravely. Meantime I could see a barque moored in the middle of the river, slowly sinking at her anchors, the crew keeping up aloft as far as possible on her fast disappearing masts. But no assistance could bo rendered by us ; fortunately a powerful steam tug went to their assistance, taking off the crew before the vessel finally sunk. The scene on shore at this *ime vas indescribable, trees torn up ^y the roots and laid prostrate on the ground. Whole streets of native houses scattered before the hurricane like chaff before the wind. The barracks of Fort William, of good substantial stone and six stories in height, as I was told afterwards by the soldiers, rocked as if ready to fall at any moment* threatening to entomb in their fall the whole of the two regiments, native and European, stationed there. As the last of the ships near me broke from their moorings I gave orders to my chief officer to stand by the helm, and in case our last chain gave way to put the helm hard-a- port, and keep us on the Calcutta side of the river, as there were too many ships drifting up as well as across the river. At the last and heaviest burst of the hurricane my orders to the chief ofiicer were: ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THB OCEAN. 109 )able> n the :tered The stone |d3 by imenU ic two sthe ingsl ,and ,rd-ar :er, as cU as Irst of were : " hard-a-port, and keep her on the Calcutta side." She answered her helm in a moment, and slackened the remaining chain so much as to save the ship as well as to give me no further anxiety. We could now look round as we lay quietly by the one chain at the surrounding wrecks, as the hurricane still raged with unabated fury. From my ship I could 1 30 fine, noble- looking, first-class ships with not a single mast above the decks ; church steeples blown down and the banks of the river on both sides a perfect scene of desolation, strewed with the dSbris of the now stranded ships and steamers, native boatmen throwing themselves into the river and swimming for their lives. The whole of this happened in but a few hours, and about five o'clock in the evening the storm had passed over Calcutta, like the destroying angel, leaving behind it suc'i a scene of desolation as id seldom seen in that part of the world ; forcibly reminding the most careh ss and reckless that verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. About six o'clock in the evening it was per- fectly calm, as if no storm had been there, and I thought of going to sleep ; but aware that these cyclones or revolvi.:g storms are very often liable to come back or recurve over the same path in u very few hours, I waited with intense anxiety for the foUowmg day. My r 110 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. mate, 2Qd mate, and Lascars by this time thoroughly fatigued, were now sound asleep as ni^ht came on. At length after a long and wearisome night, dajKght came, and for a space of upwards of three miles, where some hundreds of first class ships and steamers had been moored the day previous, scarcely one remained at the moorings, but all were more or less damaged, and some lay high and dry far from the river's edge, the river had risen so high during the storm. Many had not a single stick standing above the deck, but were clean swept by the mere strength and fury of the storm. The ship Ali foundered down the river with 400 coolies on board, captJn, mates, pilot, crow and pas- sengers being all lost. Many hundreds of sailors were left ashore, their ships being abandoned and crews thrown on their own resources, but the benevolent pub- lic of Calcutta were soon actively engaged in getting up subscriptions for both Europeans and natives who had suffered by the storm. Thousands of natives were afterwards found in the rice fields who were drowned by the storm wave as it swept along the low land on both sides of the river, with resistless impetus carrying all before it. The extent of country laid waste below Calcutta was incalculable, and towards the head of the Bay of Bengal, one beautiful new steamer called the ANECDOTES OP A LIFE 02T THE OCEAN. Ill Persian was lost, all the passengers and crew goini* in Arabic. These women were entirely different from most of the Arab women I had ever seen before, for with rare exceptions they kept themselves closely veiled. As we walked towards the town a short distance from the beach, everything had an old dilapidated appeanmce. The houses were, for the most part, built of mud, and were decidedly crazy looking tenements. Walking through the basaar we found rarious kinds of cereals for sale in the different stalls, but no fruit except the date. Everything looked so thoroughly worn out and old, that wc soon took our departure back for Muscat, surrounded as before with Arab women, little boys and girls, clad in all sorts of nondescript garments. In fact everything wore an air of extreme poverty, whether as respects the people themselves, the t«i»wn or its surroundings. Our boat was soon launched and we were once more on our way back to the ship. My friend Lieutenant :Jl anecdotes 07 A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. R., of the Indian navy, enjoyed the trip very much, as he had heen for some time an invalid at the residence of the political resident. The salt we were to take on board was soon shipped and we were ready to take our departure for Calcutta. A most important revenue is derived from the export of salt, the staple product among the barren rocks in the vicinity of the city of Muscat, and a larger revenue is derived from its import into India, so enhancing the price there, that it is weighed like gold dust and sent far up into the interior in covered boats. Those who grumble at the light duty imposed on the article in this country may be thankful that they are not residents of the interior of India. We had on board some of the best native salt imported into Calcutta^ besides quite a large quan- tity of rock salt. We also shipped quite a number of cases of rose- water, besides bales of dried roses, imported into Mus- cat, from Shiraz in Persia. Bidding adieu to the dominions of his Highness the Sultan, wo are soon under sail on our return voyage to Calcutta, well satisfied with the kindly treatment we had received at the hands of the Sultan and his Arab subjects. Before I left India this Sultan was killed by his o^vn nephew in lb67, in the same audience chamber in ANECDOTES 07 A LITE ON THE OCEAN. 123 which vre had met him, in order to obtaia the nuzzud or throne of his uncle. A war ensued between the followers of the murdered Sultan and those of his nephew, which was ended bj the interference of the Bombay Government, which finally recognized the nephew. ELEPHANTS IN INDIA THEIR VALUE AND SAGACITY. To many who have not seen much of elephants beyond seeing them attached to some caravan or travelling circus, the following stories of their strength, as well as sagacity, will, I am sure, be interesting. Call- ing at a port named Alipee on the Malabar coast for some cargo to take to Calcutta, I was amused and deeply interested on landing, to find quite a number of elephants occupied in piling up heavy logs of teak tim- ber. Seeing me intently watching them, one of the mahouts or drivers came up to me, and making his elephant kneel, asked me for " Backsheeshy Sahib, " that is to say " Give me a present, sir." Not caring to be within reach of the animal's trunk, I handed a two anna piece of silver, about the size of five cents, to a native standing near, who placed it in his palm ; the elephant, stretching out his trunk, at once picked it up and passed it to the mahout or driver. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OJEAN. 125 Rising, he made one more salaam, and with a grunt of satisfaction resumed his labour of jiiling logs of timber. The elephants have each a piece of rope, which they carry on the trunk ; a running noose lilce a lasso being at one end. This noose the elephant passes carefully round the heavy log of timber, then by the directions of his mahout ho drags it along the ground until he reaches the pile ; then again carefully unloosing the rope he goes on with his task of pushing the logs on to the pile by the mere strength of his fore-legs. As I stood watching these animals, surprised, amused and deeply interested, I noticed one particularly large elephant with half of his tusks sawn off, and enquired the reason of one of the natives standing near who spoke a little English. He answered me, " He very bad fellow that, sar, he kill plenty of driver, sar. Rajah send him bore, make work for punishment." I found that this had been a favourite elephant of the Rajah, or native prince of Travancore, but who had killed a number of his drivers for some fancied or real ill-treatment he had received at their hands. The Rajah at length, seriously innoyed, give orders to have his tusks sawn hulf o;T, ind in charge of twelve natives ho was scut up to A.lipee, loaded with chains like any other great crimi- ial, to hard labour with the other working elephants. 126 ANECDOTES OF A LIFB ON THE OCEAN. These working elephants are exceedingly valuable in India, and a good one cannot be obtained under 6,000 rupees, or JB500 sterling. In Burmah I have often watched ihem as they loaded large boats in the muddy river at Rangoon, carrying hea^y teak-wood planks from three to five inches thick, nicely balanced ou their huge tusks, walking in to where the boat was moored, and stowing the planks as carefully as any two men could have done. Their drivers are seated well forward on the back, and have an ugly-looking goad, which they keep constantly digging into the pooi ani- mals, as they shout out their orders in Hindostanee or Burmese, which the elephants seem to understand per- fectly. But there are times when these elephants, goaded to perfect fury, will turn on their diivers, and seizing them with their trunks dash them on the ground and trample them to pieces. There is a story, well known in Burmah, where quite a number of elephants had been employed piling timber ; their drivers had kept them without their dinners and were urging them to do more work after the usual time. At length their ferocity broke out, and each one seizing his driver, he was soon a mangled and scarcely recog- nizable mass of humanity under the huge feet of the elephants. After killing their drivers they then pro- ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 127 ccoded, as if thoy were human in their rage, and tore down the limher, scattering it in all directions, thus showing their ferocity as well as sagacity. Before I left India the expedition for the release of the Abyssinian captives was decided upon, and Sir Eobert Napier, to whom the whole of the preparations were confided by the Government of India, saw, with a great deal of prudence and forethought, that elephants would be an invaluable accessory to his small and woU- aj)pointed army. There were quite a number attached to the expedition, and their duties wore to convey the baggage and assist in many other ways the passage and march of the troops to the stronghold of the Em- peror Theodore — which they did with a quiet obe- dience that greatly astonished the Abyssinians, who had never seen any such huge animals before in their hitherto but partially-explored land ; while the seven- pounder steel guns of Major Penn's battery were se- curely fastened on the backs of sure-footed mules, and thus conveyed from the coast to the interior, where, on the arrival of the army, the guns were placed in position, and soon had the effect of bringing the hot- headed Emperor to reason, by delivering the captives up unharmed to the camp of Sir E. Napier ; — so that the elephants and mules were of undoubted value in 128 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. the expedition for their speedy release, unharmed. Although suffering much from their long and cruel con- finement hy the half savage Emperor Theodore. I have often seen Sir Robert Napier in Calcutta when he was military member in the Governor General's council, and no one would imagine in the quiet, plain-looking man dressed in civilian's clotheS; as I always saw him, that this was to be the leader of the Abyssinian expedition, where so much care, prudence and forethought was necessary, in order to accomplish the object in view, fraught as it was with so much danger to the captives, and requiring a very great deal of tact in its manage- ment. There are other instances of the great value of elephants with an army in the east in their great strength and sagacity in the placing of heavy guns as well as in the conveyance of the baggage of an army. The 72nd regiment of Highlanders had an elephant which took his place with the band on parade and always marched at the head of the regiment when on the route in India from one statioi* to anothor. In the shipping of elephants they are docile and impassive to a remarkable degree, trusting very much to their native mahouts or drivers, and with the exception of some loud trumpeting as they are hoisted on board, they are ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 129 far more docile than even Arabian horses. Where any degree of kindness is shewn to tamo elephants they are never revengeful, but cruelty or ill-usage of any kind is never forgotten by them. " TFIE USE OF M/VRRYATTS CODE OF SIGNALS AT SEA." To tho landsman who is in constant contact with his fellow-man it rrill bo interostiug to know tliat wo who arc often for weeks and months coufmed on board ship at sea, can coramunicato easily with passing ships on tho lonely Avaste of waters, both asking questions and rccoivin'i; answers as well as if bv word of mouth. This IS dono by means of flags, and when the colours aud narabors of thj dl.Tj:'e:it flig.s aro known it is VQvy amusing and instructive, and between vessels of about equal speed bound the same way it often relieves the tedious monotony of a long voyage. The fla^ s rrc nunibcrcd frcm one to the c/) Jicr (fignre 0). lor iuht'ance, number one is a sipiaro white flag with a blue ;;(|iuiiv in tlie c^^ntrc, niunber two is square, and blue, white and blue Ijngitudmally, number tlirce ii a square flag, on:- hall' white and the oLhei* red : number ibur ia u,ik obiuii^ ski^jcd ilu^, blue ^^.uund witii ,. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 131 white cross, and so on. Four of these flags are hoisted in line and reading from the upper flag downwards, Bay 4,9,1,0, on looking at the signal book the question is found to be " -what ship is that ?" Four flags are hoisted iu replj with a distinguishing flag above, say, first distinguishing pennant and 4,6,2,8, upon again referring to the book we find her name to be the " Nestorian." " Where are you from and where bound to ?'* Answered with a rendezvous flag above the four numbers. '* What is your Longitude ?'* Answered in degrees and minutes with a small flag between the degrees and minutes. " Can you spare me any provisions ; my crew are sick ?'* and hundreds of other questions and answers by the mere transposi- tion of the ten flags. Three years ago, while on a passage.' from Marseilles to New York, I had a very dull sailing ship, and consequently a very long and tedious passage : my provisions ran short, and I was several times supplied from other ships by making use of these signals, but ludicrous mistakes are often made by hoisting the wrong flags in reply, by not understand- ing their use properly. On a passage home from the Brazils to Liverpool snui>3 years ai^o a French barque came up to mo near the Western Islands an 1 wont quickly past. About 13:^ ANECDOTES OP A LITE ON THE OCEAN. a week afterwards, we came up with her again, and on hoisting up 4,9,1,0, *' what ship is that?'' he hoisted up four flags in replj, and on looking in the book we found the answer was *^ I am in a sinking state." I then bore awaj to his assistance, but coming within hail he called out in good English, *' I will come on boai*d." liowering his boat away he was soon on board, when pointing out to him the answer corres- ponding to his four flags still fljing, it turned out that he had omitted to hoist the distinguishing pennant o^rer the number, which would have given his ship's name. Wo had a good laugh over the matter, and he then invited me on board to dinner ; but the wind conung in our favour I soon afterwards returned onboard my own ship and we again parted company, he for France and I for Englando Men-of war have their own flags entirely different from those of merchantmen, but merchantmen in time of war when sailing under convoy ^^f ships of war always understand the private signals ^ T ihe men-of- war. Such are the various uses to wliich these flags may be put in signalling at sea. A VOYAGE UP THE PERSIAN GULF. DuRiKO the period of the north-east monsoon in India the sky is a beautiful clear blue, and for weeks at a time there is hardly a cloud to be seen. At night there is an occasional strong breeze, making the air cool and agreeable, and relieving the heat of the day in a great measure. The north-east monsoon com- mences about the beginning of October, and continues till the latter end of April, or beginning of May, during which time the weather continues cool and agreeable. The south-west monsoon now begins with what is called the rainy season, the rain pouring down for days together, when the sun bursts forth with a suffocating, unhealthy heat, causing a considerable amount of sick- ness, engendering cholera, &c. It was in the month of March, 1863, that the steamer of which I was then chief oflBcer was chartered to con- vey the Begum of Oude, with her suite, to Bussorah, up the River Euphrates. This lady is pensioned very lib- .3 we hoisted up and safely lowered Ilcr Iliglmoss of Oude ou the quartcr-ilcck. After being assisted by the vizier again to disengage herself from her wrappings, she walked (juickly into the saloon, through a passage of raised soreens, carried by her men-servantj, for the purpose of conceahng her from our sacrilegious view. One aftor the other of her ladies were hoisted up in the same mysterious way, and safely landcJ «^n our quarter-deck. Having c nbarked mails, passengers, and a large quantity of treasure, we were soon under way for Kurrachee, our first port of call. And what a motley crowd we had ! Besides the Begum and her suite, there were Turks, Arabs, Jews, and Armenians, all jabbering, talking, and gesticulating in their diiT- erent laugnagos. I could hardly move along the decks for the baggage and crowd of deck passengers. "We left our pilot at the outer lightship, about five in the evening. The water was so far, very smooth, but as wo proceeded under a full .:oad of steam, the breeze freshened as usual at night, and being directly a.^aiust us as we proceeded to the nordiiviirvl, the isea began to break on board our deep-loaded bteamer, saturating ;?" 1S6 ANECDOTBS 07 A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. and drenching "with salt water all and sandry of our unlucky deck passengers with their baggage. As chief officer, my watch was from four to eight in the morning, and from four to eight in the evening, the second and third officers having their own four hours each on the bridge. About six in the evening, while on watch, my attention was suddenly called to a burst of flame nearly under the bridge where I was walking. Bushing down on deck, I found that some of Iler Highness's stupid native cooks had nearly set fire to the steamer. With a few buckets of water the fire was soon extinguished, and I resumed my watch on the bridge. I had again, however, to leave my statica to attend to some Jewish women, who were wailing piteously, as each sea dashed on board, drenching them to the skin, and sat^irating their baggage. Having seen them to drier places in the Hween decks, I resumed my watch until relieved by the second officer at eight o'clock. Daylight came in about five in the morning, as I was again walking the bridge on my watch ; but the weather was now finer, the water being as smooth as glass, and wind light or nearly a calm : — Thus we steamed rapidly along on our course to the northward. Diu Head was first seen on our right hand., on which ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON *HE OCEAN. 137 we could see a very largo Hindoo temple. It was almost covered with flags and streamers of all kinds, flying from its many towers, domes and minarets ; but the building itself seemed somewhat dilapidated, and its style of arcliitecture seemed to me heavy and unattractive, being more like a huge penitentiary than a place of worship. As we sailed along tho coast the shore looked bare and sandy, with scarcely any vege- tation that we could see from the steamer. Evening came on, — and the sunset in these latitudes is exceed- ingly beautiful, for the sun sets like an immense globe of gold as it casts its radiance and brightness on the surrounding waste of calm and still sea and sky, tinging the whole with inexpressible beauty as it sinks rapidly and majestically below the western horizon. Her Highness the Begum kept closely secluded in the saloon with her lady attendants, and their only male attendants, so far as we could see, were her vizier and a Nubian eunuch of great stature, with a skin as black as ebony. His shrill treble voice at first startles the listener, coming from such a powerful looking nogro. Our devout Arabs, as well as our Persian passengers, pray to Allah five times a day. The Hindoos on board from the sacred Ganges were constantly muttering prayers from the sacred vedras g2 138 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE 0\ THE OCEAy or shastres they had with them. The Jews and Arme- nians appeared to be the only passengers wo had who were totally indifferent as the time passed on board. These Arabs were dressed in long camels hair cloaks, and with their turbans trimmed with yellow braid; they had quite a picturesque appearance as they assembled in a row on the long poop-deck for prayer. Facing as near as they knew towards Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet, they knelt with their fore- heads touching the deck, while one who was their leader or took the lead, called out in a long drawling tone " Allah-la-hilla-lah — there is no God but God and Allah is his prophet." They would continue thus for some time in the morning during my watch, until one of their own cooks came round with coffee served out in the smallest of pewter cups, and of course the Burra Malam Sahib or chief oflficer was obliged to take a cup, for I happened to be somewhat of a favourite with our Arabs as well as the other passengers on board. The fragrance of the coffee tempted me to drink more than one cup, although I fancied it was rather bitter with- out the sugar. Then bringing out their long Nar- ghillies they continued smoking until again called to prayer in the forenoon. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 193 The dress of the Hindoos was a long pure white robe with a red turban, denoting that they belonged to the Banian caste of Hindoos, their foreheads having certain marks of chalk to distinguish them from other Hindoo castes. The Armenians and Persians were dressed in dark cloaks, with peculiarly shaped hats of dressed sheep or goatskin. The Jews wore long white robes also, but with red skull caps and a long blue silk tassel : their peculiar cast of countenance at once telling that they were Jews. The food used by all of our deck passengers was of the most simple kind, being for the most part, rice, dried fish and fruits, such as dates, raisins, &c., their only drink being coflfee or water, nothing in the shape of strong food or liquors being used by any that I could see. We now made rapid progress towards Kurrachee, as the water continued smooth and weather remarka- bly fine. The mountains now began to appear as we approached our port, and as they appeared from the vessel, rose far away in the interior, many thousands of feet above the level of the sea. The sea-guU, too, and pelican were seen in close proidmity to each other, rising high above the surface of the calm and unrutiied sea, and making a sudden swoop straight downwards were seen rising as suddenly again high 140 ANECD0TB3 OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. in tho air, but invariably with a fish in their talons or beaks, they are so sure and unerring in their aim, as they circled round and round our rapidly advancing vessel in their swift and eccentric flight, as if she had been at anchor. On the second day out from Bombay we sighted the high land above Kurrachee, having received our pilot oflf Manora Point, where there is a lighthouse* Our steamer under his charge was soon anchored inside the bar. Kurrachee is the principal sea-port in the province of Scinde, and is situated in the north-west of India. A large portion of cotton, the staple produce of the pi'ovince, is shipped from here to Bombay, the balance,' as the harbour is now well known, being shipped direct to England. There is a bar of sand as you approach the port, but ships drawing eighteen feet can easily get inside, where they are land-locked on all sides, and are as secure as in a dry dock. Wfi landed quite a number of our passengers here, besides the mails, and also a large- quantity of specie for the payment of the troops in Kurrachee and other places round. This specie and other treasure under my charge was carefully slung in strong nets made for *he purpose, with buoys attached to each ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 141 net, and carefully lowered into the boats alongside, the buoys being a precautionary measure in case the boxes of treasure should fall overboard. A guard of Sepoys or nativn troops was in attendance along- side with muskets and fixed bayonets, to take the government treasure in charge and up to the pay- master's office at the camp or head-quarters in kurrachee. Our Indian Princess and her ladies -still kept closely secluded in the cabin, but as my treasure room was below their rooms I was obliged to pass through the saloon when about to land treasure at the different ports. On these occasions I had to give notice to the Begum's vizier that we were about to take treasure un. when the Begum and her ladies at once retired to their various state-rooms. I could, however, see many dark eyes peering out of slightly- opened doors, and hear some rather loud tittering among her Ilighuess's ladies as I was engaged with some of the quarter-masters in getting the treasure on deck for landing. The vizier landed here on some business, and we waited a short time ".v bim, as ho had one of our boats on shore. He was 3oon oil bo.rd and presented the boats crew with a gold mohur, or sbrteen rupees, say (eight dollars of 142 AECD0TE8 OF A LIFE ON THB OCEAN. Canadian monej.) Our anchor wa3 then hove up, and under charge of the pilot, the " Coringa" stcaraed out of the port of Kurrachce for our next port, Muscat. Our pilot discharged, we proceeded on our voyage, the weather still keeping fine, and water quite smooth. Our course was now about due west along the coast of Beloochistan. This coast appeared from t|^e steamer rather wild and rugged, the mountains in the interior high and covered with jungle, said to be tho retreat of the ferocious tiger and jaguar The Beloochees are a wild and warlike people, m. ^ jf them being in th-e service of the Sultan of Muscat, who prized them very much when I was there afterwards. They make excel- lent soldiers in the Indian army, when disciplined anil mixed with the well-trsuned Sepoys of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. After two days steaming with beautiful clear wea- ther we approached the dominions of the Sultan of Muscat, and what a wild, barren-hke country ! Rocks towering above rocks, rising abruptly and perpendi- cularly, thousands of feet above the level of the sea. One wonld imagine that the Sultan derived but a poor revenue from such a wild country. The thought struck me, too, that this would be & terrible coast for any ship ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 143 to be caught on in a gale of wind : a lee-shore here would be something terrible to contemplate, and would involve the certain destruction of the ship and all hands on boai-d, as there would be no possibility of rescue from the shore and its perpendicular clifis, still less from the sea. There are no light-houses on this coast, ana we had to be more than U8uall7 careful in our navigation, at night time especially. We soon entered the port of Muscat (described else- where in these anecdotes) and anchored a short distance from tho Sultan's palace and stables. " Quite a num- ber of our passengers landed here, and we had our decks crowded with all kinds of rough-looking Arabs wearing crooked and somewhat dangerous looking knives openly in their belts. But as a precautionary measure we took charge of all our passengers' arms before leaving Bombay, and only dehvered them up as they landed, or it might have been that a quarrel arising among our deck passengers these firearms, &c., would have been too freely used. Once more weighing anchor we resumed our. route up the Persian Gulf, the weatl^er still continuing fine. Various small islands and rocks were passed as we rapidly proceeded, but scarcely any cultivation was to be seen. Some of these islands are governed ))y a Sheik or Arab chief, 144 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. who pays a certain amount of annual tribute to the Sultan of Muscat for his protection. In two dajs more we reached Bunder Abbas, a small unimportant place on the Persian side of the gulf, and Laving landed mails, a few passengers and a small quantity of treasures, we were once more on our way for Lingeh,on the Arabian side, also a place of but small importance. The land we had seen on both sides was very rugged, and far from being rich in its aspect. Still our illustrious Indian Princess kept closely secluded in the saloon witft her ladies ; her vizier, who spoke good Hindostanee, sometimes asking us questions as to how long wo expected to bo on the passage, &c. Steaming across to the Ar5i>ian fiide of the gulf, we now called at a, small island called Bassadore, but as we were enter- ing our steamer ran hard and fast on a ridge of sand lying a little distance off the shore, our commander having made a small mistake in his calculations as to its distance off. With a considerable amount of backing astern and carrying out kedge anchors we hove her off, and under the pilotage of a gunner's mate belonging to a gun boat on this station, we reached our port in safety, where we landed some naval stores. Bassadore is a small island which belongs to the British Government, and is held as a naval station for ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. \A5 ships of war on service up the Persian Gulf, stores of all kinds being kept here for their use ; there is but little cultivation to be seen here, but it is important as a port for coaling steamers, bound up or down the gulf. We soon completed our coaling and proceeded on our route to Bushire, on the Persian side of the gulf. This port was reached-in about twenty-four hours* steaming, and here we parted with quite a number of our jollj Arab merchants, expressions of regret being mutual at parting so soon. One of them made me a present of a 8plen(.lid camel's hdr cloak, trimmed with yellow braid, at ptning, but my scamp of a servant, Abdul, found means of disposing of it for a trifling sum before we returned to Bombay. Bushire is quite an important sea-port in Persia, and was soon captured by General Sir Henry Have- lock, who was placed in command of the Persian expedition with his small army, in 1857. Prominent amo'ig the regiments was the 78th Highlanders, whose gallant deeds, both there and at Lucknow and Cawn- poro in the Indian mutiny, must be familiar to the readers of tiiese anecdotes. It is rather a bad place for ships to anchor at, with a gale of wind blowing, ind we were obliged to keen steam up the whole time. Cts appearance from our steamer was not very attractivOi .!! 146 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. as the forts and public buildings appeared in an old and dilapidated condition. Our steamer was once more under way, but this time under the charge of an intelligent Arab pilot, whose duties were to take the steamer up the Euphrates, and to Bussorah, our last port. He gave his orders to " port or starboard, '^ in unmistakeable Englhh, and guided us through the buoys placed for our use by English men-of-war, with great care and safety. As we passed on, the weather still kept fine, and the water smooth. Buoy after buoy being seen on both sides on our route, so careful had our survey ships been in placing them. We now entered the Kivet Euphrates, which is somewhat wide at its entrance, and its current rapid, and as we proceeded there was nothing very remark- able either on the Turkish or the Persian side of tlio river ; there were, however, here and there to be seen some well cultivated spots, the laud being low and exceedingly fertile in appearance. We soon came to a place called Mahommerah, also captured by the gallant Ilavelock, with his small army. As we steam- ed rapidly along, the river became narrower, until at length we reached Bussorah, our last port on the V'oyage. ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 147 Here all our passengers had to leave, some for Bagdad, and some for Bussorah. Iler Highness, the Begum, made each of us, captain, officers and en- gineers, a present of a small bag of krons, a Turkish coin, with sundry marks on each in Arabic or Turkisli, She, at tte same time, conveyed to us her thanks, through the vizier, for the great care we had taken of her august person, ladies and suite. Wo gladly received her acknowledgments with many thanks, and at the same time anticipated a return to our rooms, &c., with much satisfaction. The disembarkation took place very much in the same mysterious way as the embarkation ; a small Turkish steamer came alongside to convey her Highness to Bag- dad, the same screen used in Bombay was again raised by the men-servants, while she and her ladies tripped as hastily and as closely veiled on board the steamer mentioned. As chief officer, I tried hard to get a glimpse of Her Highness, seeing that I had to super- intend the arrangements for disembarking, but my old commander told me quietly, " it is no use C, you had better keep back." We soon prepared for our return to Bombay, and shipped quite a number of beautiful Arab horses, besides mails.^ passengers and treasure. 148 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. An Indian Nabob, with his three wives, returned with us to Bombay, but was obliged to pawn his wives* jewels, which we kept in our iron safe on board, like many others on those pilgrimages to Medma and Mecca, being too lavish with their expenditure on these voyages up the Persian Gulf and to the shrine of Mahomet. \ A SHIPWRECK. To the readers of the scanecdotes, whether landsmen or seamen like myself, the word" shipwreck" has some- thing very ominous in its meaning, whether the ship- wreck happens at sea by fire, by foundering, or by being suddenly cast on a lee-shore. In these days of steam navigation, it is very rarely that we hear of steamers being cast on a lee-shore, although there are exceptions, as in the case of the " Royal Char- ter," so suddenly lost after a most prosperous vo"- age from Australia, and almost in the immediate neighbourhood of Liverpool, hor port of arrival. Steam- ships engaged in the passenger trade can scarcely ever be caught on a lee-shore, for the captains of steamships, such as those of the Allan Line, Gunard, or other trans- Atlantic steamers can always avoid a lee-shorc, in good time, too, as they have an unlimited amount of 8team power to take them clear in case; of a gale coming on in near proamity to land. 150 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. The only danger to be for the most part avoided, is that of steamers or ships in foggy weather, carrying on sail or steaming too fast without being certain of tlicir exnct position : in such casos more than one good steamer has been lost, hut it is very rarely heard of now ; although within these few years past, collisions have happened in thick weather leading to the loss with ships at sea sometimes of one or both of the ships. There are also icebergs and French fishermen on the Banks of Newfoundland in the spring time, but we sel- dom hear of any serious collision between them, there are so many precautions taken to avoid them. The following story of a shipwreck on the dangerous banks which line the eastern coast of I. eland will no doubt be interesting, as the shipwreck was in my own experience. The ship I was then on board of was bound from Liverpool to Baltimore, with a heavy cargo of salt in bags. We sailed in 1854 in the month of November, a very bad month in the English or St. George's Chan- nel, as thick weather and heavy gales of wind are fre- quent in this particular month. Our ship, the " Bruns- wick," was nearly new, and the captain a young man, though with a good deal of experience. The wind con- tinued light but with thick fogs and a good deal of rain : as we proceeded down the channel the wind began to rise ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 151 from south-east, until it increased to a gale, when the top- sails were close-reefed, fore, main and mizen. These gales had been of frequent occurrence previous to this, an'l blew directly on to the banks already spoken of. These Banks are called the Wicklow, Arklow, and Blackwatcr, stretching a few miles off shore from the Irisli coast, but there is a good chanael b. i;ween the land and the Banks ; in fine weather 'here is scarcely any perceptible sea running to mark them, so that in a ;ale of wind they arc particularly dangerous, and many fine ships have been lost on them. As the winds had been freiiuent from south-east they caused a strong current to run right on to these dangerous ridges of sand. On the night in question we steered in towards the Irish coast, and keeping a good look-out we expected to see a certain light on the Banks. ^Vs we slowly stood in, all at once the cry was heard above the howling of the gale " A-light-right-a-head." Startled by the cry the second mate was at once forward but could not see the li^lit, he, however,was told to call the captain who was scatod in his chair in the cabin asleep, having strictly warned the second mate to call him when he saw the li -lit. Still no motion was made to call the captain, the sliip meanwhile standing in, straighten to the bank, assisted by the current without a doubt, and just as the light 152 ANKCDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. glared close to the ship, the captain came on deck and gave the order, " All hands wear ship." Meanwhile the helm was put hard up, while the watch helow were getting on deck, but alas ! too late to clear those terrible banks. She ran for a little of! before the wind, and in a few moments more we felt a shock enough to carry many of us off our feet, as she went crashing and soon breaking her back on the banks. One sea came on board sweeping the captain and two men at the wheel nearly overboard ; but now she forged a-head and was soon in the deep water inside. " Man the pumps," called the captain, " while some hands clear away the boats. Square the yards, we are all right now, my lads," were his cheering words. These orders were quickly obeyed, when again che cry came of "breakers on the starboard bow." Answering her helm she soon cleared the dreaded breakers, which in the darkness could be plainly seen rearing their crested heads far above our devoted ship's decks. We all now inwardly thanked God that we had escaped those terrible breakers, which had they come on board would have swept us all into eternity in a very few moments time. The pumps were now manned as we cleared the breakers, and having steered in towards ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 153 I the land, the anchor with sixty fathoms of chain was let go, while we pumped with all our energy, as the ship was now fast sinking : two of our four boats being meanwhile got afloat. The wind still kept up, but we had some hopes from the various life-boats stationed on this part of the coast. Daylight at length came, on that terrible November morning, as wo still kept at the pumps, barely able to keep our now fast sinking ship afloat, and we hoisted the ensign union down, as a signal of distress to the people on shore. Our captain, who stood it out well, giving his orders clearly and distinctly, now sent crews into each of the boats afloat, with orders to stand by, while the remaining seventeen men worked still harder at the pumps. These seven started for the shore, and one boat was dashed to pieces in the surf, one man being lost, the other we afterwards found was picked up with her crew by some fishermen and safely landed. This cowardly conduct in deserting their shipmates was severely spoken of at the time. The lemaining portion of us who were left, now worked with hearty good will, some pumping while the rest got out the other two boats, one of which was swamped alongside. The captain was now appealed lo, that as the ship was 154 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. fast" sinking, "we had better avail ourselves of the remain- ing boat and make our escape. Seeing tliat no hope remained of saving the ship he reluctantly gave orders to each one of us to get into the boat, being the last to leave the vessel himself. A blanket was now set for a sail, no one having saved any clothing, and cold, wet and fatigued, we steered along the rock-bound coast in search of a safe place to land. It was now pretty well on in tlic fore- noon ; but still no signs of assistance from the shore, our ship soon afterwards having sunk. As we still steered along, we at length descried a life-boat pull- ing towards us, each man having a belt of cork round his waist, and as our small boat was overloaded with seventeen men in such a sea, some gladly leaped on board the life-boat, while the remainder of us followed as they steered for the shore. We soon afterwards landed safely at a small town on the coast, where we were met by the priest and Protcstantminister of the place, the inhabitants vieing with each other in acts of kindness to the shi|)\vrecked crew. Afterwards each man was forwarded to his native place by the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mari- ners' Society, whose benevolent operations are well kuown on the various coasts of Great Britain. Years ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 155 have elapsed since then ; but I have never forgotten that terrible night and morning, in the month of November, in a shipwreck on the coast of Ireland. I OVERLAND FROM INDIA. In May, 1867, after my five years service on the coast of India and up the Persian Gulf, I took passage in the steamer " Yamuna," from Bombay to Suez, thence across the desert and home to Liverpool. On a beautiful day in May we embarked mails and passen- gers, and were soon under way from the harbour of Bombay. There were but few Arabs or natives on board, but we had a number of Turks and Jews who were on their way to Aden at the entrance of the Red Sea. Our captain and his officers, as well as the quarter- masters, were Europeans, but the crew Lascars or native sailors of India. Steaming at full speed we were soon at the outer lightship, where our pilot left us. The weather continued beautiful, clear and mild as we steamed rapidly to the westward, our course being west, southerly, all the way to Aden. The nights were so fine that very few of our deck or cabin passengers ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 157 thought of going below to sleep, but lay down tinder the double awnings on deck, well sheltered from the night dew which falls heavily in these latitudes. We had quite a number of saloon or cabin passengers, some of whom had been in the Indian army and were now returning with their families to their native land, having left the service with well earned pensions. Among our passengers we had an operatic troupe, which had been sadly taken in by their manager in Bombay, and were now on their way back to Trieste. In these fine evenings we had some splendid pieces of music performed by this company, which sounded well when all was quiet. We had also among our passengers several men who had been employed by the railway companies in Bombay, and were now coming home on sick leave. Day succeeded day as we steamed rapidly along on our course, without any event worth recording, and in five days from Bombay we sighted the land on the Arabian coast near Aden. The mountains and the whole outline of the coast looked exceedingly barren and sterile. Entering the harbour we were soon anchored and began to fill up our coal for the remainder of the passage to Suez. Several of our deck passen- gers left us here, and we were visited by quite a num- !!!'' 158 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THbi OCEAN. ber of Arabs, who had all kinds of curiosities for sale. Among other things they had quite a number of magni- ficent ostrich feathers, which they sold at a very reasonable price. There is nothing about Aden that is very attractive to the visitor, and the excessive heat nearly all the year round makes it far from being a desirable place to stay at for any length of time. Aden is, however, quite an im- portant coal depot for steamers going up and coming down the Red Sea on their passage from or to India. A regiment of European troops is quartered here, forming a garrison for the protection of the place from <^he depredations of tho Arabs ; rather a desolate spot for them, one would imagine. But there are steamers to and from India almost constantly touching hero for the purpose of coaling, which enlivens the place. There are also a few good hotels for tho accommo- dation of passengers who choose to land here for the time. Having completed our coaling and discharged a portion of our cargo, our anchor was soon at the bows by the help of a splendid capstan which was worked by steam. Steaming at full speed wo left the port of Aden on our way up tho Red Sea. It happened yevj much to the comfort of our passengers that the weather kept very fine, and cooler by far than we expected, ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 159 for even wich double awnings spread fore and aft, the heat during the passage up the Red Sea is generally excessive, and almost suffocating to the passengers who move round the deck gasping fon one breath of cool air. We passed on our way one of the same company'^ steamers which was disabled, and had to be towed to Aden thence all the way to Bombay. The water of the Red Sea appeared to me to be much lighter in colour than that of the various oceans I have sailed on, and is of a very light blue. No land was to be seen except occasional high mountains on the Arabian side. Wo passed a shoal called the Cleopatra shoal, on which an English man-of-war was wrecked. It is nearly in the very centre of the sea, and in the direct way of steamers bound up and down. But thore is now a splendid lighthouse on this desolate spot, and as we passed about dusk in the evening, we sav; a tiny skiff pulled by one of the lighthouse keepers, Avho had been evidently fish- ing, and was then returning to his lonely abode in tho lighthouse. Soon aftervrards we saw tho brilliant light estab- lished hero suddenly shoot forth its rays on tho surrounding waste of water, and almost held our breath as we thoujjiht for a moment wluit would have been the ill 160 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. terrible result to our steamer -svith her living freight, of her going full speed on fig drngcrous reef. We were still enjoying fine weather, and as we proceeded the Red Sea became narrower, and we could easily make out the high land on both sides, mountain above mountain, but withal rugged and barren in the extreme. Our obliging commander tells us that we should soon see on our right hand Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb, as well as the Wells of Moses. The water was so smooth and the weather so fine that we made rapid progress on our way to Suez. There is nothing very inviting in the appearance of the land now seen so plainly on both sides. At length all our passengers were earnestly looking to one certain point, and we could plainly see, far away in the distance, Sinai rearing its rugged and hoary head above the other mountains, so plainly visible to us. There was also Mount Iloreb plainly distinguished from the others, and what a strange feeling came over us as we gizeJ with the most profound awe at the places where God himself gave the Commandments to his servant Moses. But as we gaze it is not with fear, rather the reverse^ as we know that wo now live under a different dispensa- tion : the love of God instead of the terrors of the law being the incentive to obedience. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 10 1 As we proceeded the strait became narrower, and the Wells of Moses were plainly to be seen a short distance from the beach, which is sandj and desert like. The spot, also, where the sea was divided for saving the Israelites and for the destruction of tlieir enemies is pointed out, but there is nothing remarkable in its aspect. The strait, however, is not very wide at this particular place, which is known, like many others on this route, by the traditions of the Arabs who have, for all these centuries past, kept a record of these remarkable places in the history of the Old Testament. Still nothing is to be seen of any kind of cultivation ; nothing but rocks, mountains, and a wide expanse of sandy deserts. We now approached the anchorage at Suez, and dropping the anchor had made the passage from Bombay in eleven days. A small steamer came along- side, and with all our passengers, mails and baggage we were landed at Suez town, three miles from the *' Yamuna," which could not approach nearer. The town of Suez has nothing very remarkable in its appear- ance, and looks decidedly mean, and far from being cleanly, with its narrow streets, and dingy-looking houses. But there a-'e quite a number of good hotels, French, Gorman and Euglisli. Prominent among these m i^y\ U'2 162 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. [9 the Peninsular and Oriental Company's hotel, which is a splendid buildiDg,and where first and secand-class pas- sengers by that line can obtain every comfort and neces- sary attendance by the most civil and obliging waiters I have ever seen. Everything is so cleanly and so much like home that any one would imagine he was in a first class hotel in the heart of London. We had to remain here all night, as there was no train crossing the desert for Alexandria till the following morning. Great num- bers of French labourers were to be seen there who were at work at the Suez canal, but the population of Suez is somewhat mixed, the French and GermJin seeming to predominate. A few of the Egyptian sol diers were seen strolling about, but they had far from a soldier-like appearance. On the following morning, our baggage having been taken care of by the Pasha's servants, we took our tickets out for Alexandria ; and strange enough the ticket clerk could not speak a word of English ; he had to get an interpreter to explain what we wanted in everything. We were soon in the train for Alexan- dria, and found that our engineers and drivers were all Arabs ; nearly all of the English engineers and drivers had struck because his Highness the Viceroy or Pasha did not pay them for extra time. As some accidents ANECDOTES OV A LIFE ON IBS OCEAN. 103 had alwady taken place by the mismanagement of tliese Arabs, it was not a very comfortable reflection for U9 to know that we were under their care. But we soon reached Grand Cairo, and as I wished to have a look round I stayed there for the night. Cairo looks quite a stirring place, and from our Eng- lish hotel we could plainly see the Pyramids about seven miles distant, and even at this distance, they have a strange mysterious look in their solitary grandeur. The whole country round Grand Cairo is flat and level, and there are many well cultivated fields to be seen here and there, besides whole ranges and groves of date trees. Surrounded at the door of the hotel as soon as we made our appearance by a whole crowd of donkey boys, shouting and yelling in broken Englisl\j " My donkey ,sir, good donkey ; he name Tom, sir ; that fellow donkey no good, sir." At last we got on donkeys and went in to see thd sights in Grand Cairo. There are some very fine buildings in Grand Cairo, the mosques being the most conspicuous ; but in the lower parts the houses are mostly built of mud and straw, the streets narrow and tortuous, and not in the best of order. The Bazaar was crowded with Arabs, Turks, Jews and Armenians, but wo strolled at pleasure ■'§ I I ; 164 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. round the city, no one molesting or daring to molest any stranger. After wandering round with our ragged donkey boy at our heels urging on the animals, at length wo resume our way to the hotel. On the Prince Consort," *' Royal Oak," and others. Taking a boat, for which the small sum of one penny was charged, we were soon ashore in Malta, the streets leading up very steep towards thu' city proper, and crowded with priests and nuns as they hasten to or from '.he morning service. There are also very fine buildings in Malta, among others the old Church of St John's, where the old knights of Malta are buried, and as we passed we were invited to visit the church by a friend who very kindly acted as our guide. Entering, the Catholic service was being performed by two or three priests, while there were quite a number of worshippers, prhicipally women, devoutly kneeling in the body of the church. There are many splendid paintings hung round, among others a particularly fine one of the Virgin and Child. Following our guide we descended the steps leading to the vault beneath the church, an . were ushered into the vault containing the bodies of the Grand Comman- ders and Grand Masters of the ICnights of Malta. The chamber or vault is but small, and on each sarcopha- gus or stone coffin there is a full length stone likeness m I J" I i 170 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. of the deceased knight, dressed in the robes of the order. An inscription in Latin is on the wall over each body, telling the date of its decease and the length of time each had served as head of the order. But there was not much time to visit here, as our steamer soon finished coaling and we had to hasten on board. Bidding adieu we were soon on board, and our steamer on her way to Gibraltar, our next port of call. As we left Malta we saw the small bay where St Paul is said to have landed. There is also a statue of the great apostle in this quiet little nook or bay, to be plainly seen from the deck of the steamer. We were still favoured with the finest of weather, and our fast steamer made good time for Gibraltar, and in three days we arrived safely in the bay, where we once more had to coal. As it was night we waited patiently for daylight, as no one is allowed to land here after night. Daylight came, and what a sight met our gaze ! The huge rock itself, high above the level of the sea, and standing perfectly isolated from the neighbouring coast of Spain, except by a narrow neck of land called the neutral ground. Surrounding the base of the rock and close to the sea, there is nothing to be seen but fort within fort, each one bristling with guns of the heaviest calibre, ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 171 while on the old rock itself can be seen the marks of shot over hundreds of years old from the time the place belonged to the Moors until its capture by the British from Spain. Landing at the water gate, we pass draw-bridges, chains, &c., all under the charge of ser- geants, with the guards, and were soon within the city. As we walked up the principal street, which is some- what steep like those of Malta, wo saw some splendid shops, as well as public buildings, but as our time was limited we had to hasten on board. There were several men-of-war in the bay, and we noticed quite a number of their crews ashore on leave. Among the iron-clads at anchor here we noticed the splendid wooden frigate " Galatea," commanded by his Royal Highness Prince Alfred, who was then about to proceed to the Brazils, thence to Australia, via the Cape. The Prince had gained golden opinions among the good people of Gibraltar as well as among the crew of his own ship, by his affability and manly bearing as an oflScer. As we pro- ceeded to our steamer, his frigate looked well on the water, with royal yards across, and everything in first rate order ready for a start. Some of the forts were at target practice with shell, and it was curious to watch with what precision the shell struck or burst Am \n: 1 1 172 ANECDOTES OP A LIF?. ON THE OCEAN. with its peculiar sharp sound as it exploded in close proximity to the target. Our steamer was once more under way for Liver- pool, and we left Gibraltar with a feeling of regret at having to leave it so soon, only being about four hours there altogether. Passing rapidly through the straits, for our steamer made nothing of the strong current constantly setting in from the Atlantic, we were soon steering to the northward for the chan- nel. The weather kept fine, but much colder than in the Mediterranean, and to those who had been a considerable time in India the cold was sensibly felt, extra coats and other clothing having been found necessary. We were soon in St George's Channel, our steamer scarcely ever making less than eleven miles an hour, which was excellent work. No land was seen till well up towards Holyhead, so exact had our reckoning been kept. Now we took on board our pilot for Liver- pool, who took charge, and in about eleven and a half days from Alexandria we anchored in the Mersey off Liverpool. Our whole passage from Bombay had been made ;n twenty-two days* steaming, and with eight days detention at Alexandria and other ports, we leached home in thirty days. The weather had ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 173 been fine all the way, and all our passengers were pleased at having so pleasant a time by the overland route from India. ,%1 'm ;r :' •Ik Up rv !l I A TP^P TO LAKE SUPERIOR. tji There is a vast difference between salt water voy- ages and sailing on the lakes of North America, and it was not without some misgirings that I made up my mind to leave the salt water to try ray fortune on these lakes. But the idea of purchasing a farm in one of the many fine tracts of farming land which border on these inland seas, overcame any feeling of reluctance which I had to leaving what may be called my native element, and having made up my mind I was soon on my way to tliese western lakes. Having a sister residing on the borders of Lake St Clair, and whoso repoatcd invitations that I should visit her bad baen the means of forming the determi- nation to which I had come, I left the salt water up- wards of two years ago, intending to spend the winter with my sister and the summer on the lakes, with the view of ultimately settling there as already mentioned. s ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 175 While fully sensible that lake sailing -was different from navigating the ocean, I had scarcely realized fully the fact that my long experience and nautical education would be of little value in this new sphere, a local ac- quaintance with the different lakes, bays, harbours, &c., being absolutely necessary, while a knowledge of navi- gation proper is of little importance. Sea captains are therefore for a time at a discount on the lakes, and are obliged to accept inferior positions, yet there are quite a number of salt-water men there who by quiet perseverance and steadiness have come in time to get command of vessels. My own first trip on the lakes was in the steamer ^ Meteor," under Captain Wilson, who is w^iU known as one of the most energetic as well as popular comman- ders on the route from Detroit to all the ports of any consequence ou Lake Superior. We started from Detroit on Jie 24th May, 1868, up the river, and the weather as well as the scenery was beautiful as we went on, both on the Canadian and American side of the river. Passing through Lake St Clair wo had an oppor- tunity of seeing the magnitude of the work of cutting and dredging the channel for the passage of steamers and vessels bound up or down to Chicago or Lako Superior ; there are several lighthouses as well as buoys il: fh I; Pi m i 4, ~I ;.»J ;i ITG ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. placed there on the shallow parts of the lake, and in the season of navigation they are of the greatest impor- tance and service in the immense traffic carried on between the upper and lower lakes. This channel has been cut, and all the expense undertaken by the governraent of the United States ; but it has been found that it is cut through Canadian waters, and as a consequence is claimed as the pro- perty of the Canadian government. This seems but a small matter, as the advantages are mutual to both countries, and doubtless a matter which can be amicably settled by deep thinking and sensible statesmen on both sides of the lines. The little jea- lousies existing between the two countries will in time surely be healed up, and Canada and the United States, iinot onenation, will at all events live peaceably, having one common bond of blood and religion to keep them united and friendly. As we proceeded, the cultivation and aspect of the country on both sides of the River St Clair were beautiful, and on the morning after wo loft Detroit, we touched at Sarnia, to receive on board some passengers bound for Lake Superior. Sarnia is a place of much importance, and though not very largo it is one of the connecting points between Canadp "v.<} the United States by rail. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 17T We soon vfen again under way, and en route for Lake Superior. There is a good lighthouse on the Canadian shore, which is of great benefit, as we either enter or come back from the upper lakes. The Americans, however, are by no means behind the Canadians in furnishing lighthouses or lights up to the very last moment when there is a chance of navi- gation, and though it may be against our Canadian friends I must say that I found on my passage down from thoWclland canal,very recently, that there were no lights on Lake Ontario on the Canada shore, but the Ameri- can shore was lighted up till the 19th December, the date of our departure from Port Dalhousie. With fine weather vvc now steamed from Sarnia up Lake Huron, towards Detour river, and for the Sault Ste. Mario canal. In a very short run the " Meteor" entered this river, which runs rapidly, and is rather dangerous to those not acquainted with its rocks and shoals. Our ca[)tain, however, was a thorough pilot, and was never much at a loss to find his way, either on the lake or connecting rivers. As wo proceeded, our wood began to give out, and wc had to stop a few hours at one of iho wooding places on the river side. Thcro is but little cultivation on eitheii' side of the Detour, nothing but a waste of bush, with hero and 'X' I I,)"; !? I m ' ' h:. 'ii 178 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCfiAN. there a clearance, "where there are fisherraens' houses or groceries for supplying passing steamers and sail- ing vessels bound to Marquette or any of the ports on Lake Superior. Arrived at the Sault Ste Marie canal, we again discharged some more cargo and embarked a few passengers for Superior City and other ports. This canal has been so often described that it is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon its extreme usefulness here as a connection between Lake Superior and the lower lakes. The canal itself is a mile long, with only three locks, and it is kept in the best of order by the Ameri- cans, who seem to know its value, for the immense traffic carried on from and to Lake Superior. Sault Ste Marie is a small town, but has a considerable number of resi- dents, besides there is a garrison here, with quite a number of United States troops. Our steamer was locked through (as it is called) in about an hour, and on her way up Lake Superior to the various ports on its shores. She made excellent progress, as she is one of the fastest on the route. W^ touched at the following places : Ontonagon, Hancock, Dulutli, Superior City, and other smaller places, but all of great importance in the shipment of copper ore, irhich abounds in these regions, and not fir I mm the borders of the lake and its numerous smuii rivers and ANTCDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 179 tri.)iit,inc3. The whole country on the route is per- fectly wild, and scarcely any cultivation is to be seen, save 1 ere and there a spot where fishermen cultivate potatoes, which grow here and are of good quality ; n thing else being seen as we proceeded but bush and rocks for hundreds of miles round its shores. But its resources in the copper and iron regions are unbounded, and I am surely not exaggerating in stat- ing that the region round here could supply half the world at present ^Hh the minerals above mentioned. Wo at length reached Marquette, one of the most thriv- ing of all the ports on Lake Superior. Thousands of tons of iron ore arc shipped here by a large fleet of sail-vessels and steamers during the season of naviga- tion for Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, besides other ports on the lower lakes, and no one would imagine, except by seeing for themselves, the immense traffic carried on here in iron ore, as well as in pigs of iron of various qualities. The ore is run in from the mines by rail-road, nearly right over the vessels' mast-heads, and by shoots well managed run right into the vessels' holds. Thus a large vessel able to carry one thousand tons of ore can be loaded in six or seven hour." The work of devising ."r ' Tfl '.M 180 ANFXrOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAy. and consmiotiiij^ a "work of such magnitude descrveg the highest praise, and is something like thj go-ahead- ativencss of the Americans. Marquette is therefore a piace of the greatest value and i'jai)ortance, and is rapidly growing larger by the enterprise of the vari- ous mining companies shipping ort^ from this port. Having taken a quantity of ore op our deck, which ■was Yv-IiOeled on board, as we could not take it on board othcrv, Ice without injury to our long range of cabins, wo now proceeded ou cur return to the various ports already named. On our return we had a ni.mber of fishermen to land, with boats, &c., at several points on our way. There are immense quantities of various kinds of fish caught here, which gives very remunerative employ- ment to quite a large number of men, many '^^ whom come all the way even from Boston to engagu in this occupation during the season of navigation. T'.ie weather continued fine as we steamed rapidly alori^ but at some of the ports of call tlio sun at times i;cime out with excessive heat, especially w!.cn there was no wind. The sea rises sometimes in ii gale of wind, I am told, not unlike the Atlantic Ocean, and it is dan- gerous in the extreme to vessels or steamers late in the fall. Having called at Ontonagon to land and ' I ANKCDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 181 take in passengers and freight, we next proceeded to Copper Harbour, to take on deck small and large masses of copper, for Detroit and Cleveland. These niasscs were of various weights and shapes, as they came from the rich copper mines, by tram- road or rail, some pioc^'g weighing from five or six hundred-weight to five or six tons, and several were over that in weight. We had one immense mass which I was *old by some of the miners weighed eleven tons two-hundred weight, and was then the largest ever sent to Detroit. The process of getting these masses on the steamer's deck was by means of rollers placed under them, and guided by handspikes, with plenty of good tackles ; captain, mate and all our strong crew assisti? g in their shipment, by no means an easy task. The steamer lay, however, close to the dock, and the whole were taken in, to the amount of over one hun- dred tons, in a remarkably short space of time. There were quite a large number of saloon and a few steerage passengers, and we made a very short run to the canal, on our return to Detroit. Passing through the canal we proceeded at a great rate of speed, with the rapid current which runs down the river, and on to Lake Huron. Having reached Detroit we had made the whole trip in eleven and a ' t« ■ ? 'A, i 182 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCKAN. half days, having called at all the ports on L:\':c Superior with full cargoes each waj, and a lar;^c number of passengers. The trip from Cleveland or Detroit to Lake Superior is replete with interest to either the merchant or tourist, with its varied scenery and rich resources, whilst its health-giving and pure air in the summer season, render it a pleasant trip for invalids to undertake. CANAL NAVIGATION IN CANADA. Late in the fa!l of last year, 1870, I took passage in a vessel from Toledo to Montreal, and had an opportunity of seeing the difficulties experienced in getting steamers and sailing vessels through the canals on the route, both in the Welland and lower canals. If the commission now appointed does their duty by enquiring into the whole system, and suggest- ing the application of the required improvements, the practical value of the canals to the Dominion as well as to the United States, will be largely increased indeed. I have no hesitation in saying that the WcUand canal is a disgrace to any government in more ways than one. That this assertion is true, any one who takes the trouble can see for himself, during the ensuing season of navigatiou. Arrived at Port Colborne our vessel must be got ready for the locks, that is to say although but a fHii • I jit j ji p^ ■ m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) % <.^.*^!^ .v^ 1.0 I.I ^^■2.8 |2.5 |5o "^~ Huh ^ U2 12.2 t iiS iio «li& 1.25 |U 16 ^ 6" ► % 0% /W ^ ,V ''■'v -^F > ^ / y^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation ^ ^\ 4 Ns \^ ;\ 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WHSTIR.N.Y. MSIO (716) •72-4S03 ^\^ r^r 6^ 184 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. . i small schooner drawing ten feet she is first measare I to SCO if not drawing over that in case of grouiulin;^. This is all right and proper, bat to any one wlio knjws how much larger vessels aj'o 7iow built to what they were thirty or forty years ago, it will appear absurd that the canal is not made deeper to admit of ships of sixteen or even twenty feet draught, passing through the whole of its twenty-seven locks without groundin ; . We next had to hoist our small bow-sprit and jib-boom away up pointing to the clouds, in order not ♦.0 be c.iii^'it on the lower golics of the locks, which ought id hi from forty to fifty feet longer for vessels built in these days of all kinds of improvc- niefits anl inventions. This would admit of much larger vessoU and steamers passing from the upper to the lowor lakes. Then, again, the extra labour required to do all this, viz., to point up jib-booms and bowsprits, got boats in and leave nothing but the bare hull of the vessel close to tlie gates ; all gives extra labour, involving both time and expense. \Ye were now said to be ready for "locking" through. Two teams of horses being attached by a long tow-line, two of the men remained on shore to put ropes on spiles when needed in the various bends of tlio canal in order to check the vcsseLfrom grounding, and assist ANFCD0TE3 OF A LIFE ON Till] OCEAN. ISc tho holm when it did not steer the vessel. With yella to the d.-iYors from the mate, and curses to our two men on Siciv) for not being quick enough with tho lines, &c., 'se now started on our weary, toilsomo journey of twonty-nine miles, and as it had been raining, the roai or tow path was very muddy the first part of the wa/. and somewhat bad walking, but nothing to what >9as to come : a long level was now come to after the ilrst lock was passed, which allowed our two men on the tow path to come on boaid for a time, the horses doing most of the work until wo reached Allanstown. Herb there was another lock, and we soon man- aged to get through it'nh some more yelling, shouting and cursing. Proceeding slowly along in tow of our trusty horses we next reached the head lock abovo Thorold, and now began our labours in earnest : there was nothing but mud, up to the knees, in some places, for tho poor fellows on shore, who wearily plodded along, ready to pass ropes to check tho vessel ; tho travelling both for men and horses being futigiung in tho extreme. Our men on board, too, were almost constantly at work, the Miato at some })arts guin^ half crazy as he fehoutcd, curbed and gelled, wlieii the veascl got hard and fast in the mud, partly by hiir I2 I r, i *»a 186 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON TILE OCEAN. I ':p own stupidity, and partly by the half sleepy, fatigues men on shore, who may have not been quick cnougl to got a hno on a spile through these muddy, disgrace ful roads. These roads, as they remain at present, are a stand ing disgrace to the Canadian Government, for no othei oiviltted government would leave the tow path and 80 called heel path to remain in such a state, for lack of being repaired, buc would use a portion of the largo rcvciiue derived from this particular canal on repairs. As we now had lock after lock to pass through, tho labour both to those on board as well as those on shore was fatiguing and harrassing in tho extreme, as our nienhad now been constantly on the move for thirty suc- cessive hours, aud had scarcely time for their meals as they came to some lock where a few minutes respite was given them for that purpose. The vessel had still to go on, the crew having been without sleep for nearly forty hours day and night. However, at ler.jth wo reached tho last lock at Port Dalhousie, but still no respite, as the whole of our vessel had now to be got ready for Lake Ontario, our ropes to bo tightened and set up so that wo could proceed safely on tho trip to Montreal. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 187 Sail was at length made by our wearied, half-sleepy and wholly fatigued crew, and with a fresh breeze we steered for our next port of call, " Kingston,*' there to lighten our small schooner to nine feet draught so that she could pass through the paltry lower canals leading past the rapids of the St Lawrence and on to Montreal. It blew hard in our favour, and in seventeen hours from Port Dalhousie we were anchored at King- ston, but had to wait our turn in order to got Hen- derson's floating elevator to lighten tho vessel to the required draught, as there were several vessels requir- ing to be lightened before proceeding downward. Here, again, there is a great deal of needless expense and time lost by being detained in order to lighten, because these lower canals might be dredged, their locks lengthened and many other improvements made to meet the requirements of the present age and admit of largo vessels coming up from the sea to the lakes, thus having direct communication to and from Chicago, the capital of tho West, and Liverpool, At length discharging to the required nine feet, we were taken in tow, along with several other barges and ano- ther schooner, by a powerful tug, and taken on our way towards the head of the Cornwall canal j our jib-boom, M tw lla t. f 188 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. t !(■ I mi ■ :r I 'i &c.^ having again to be reused for passing through the locks. Arrived at the head of the canal our tug brought the schooners alongside an old, rotten, broken down wharf, where we managed to make fast for the time ; we then prepared to drop into the canal, and as it was blow- ing fresh, we had no diflSculty in making our way down- wards. The tow path on this canal is far superior to that of the other canals, and especially to the Welland. As we reached the different locks, too, the stone build- ings and greater quantity of stone used in the con- struction of the locks contrasted favourably with the old tumble-down wooden shanties and smaller quanti- ties of stone used in the whole length of the WcUand Canal. This canal could be easily deepened, there appear to be so many natural advantages in its favour, and it is so much straighter than the others. Our schooner was now towed across a small lake, well buoyed, and with plenty of good lighthouses at every needed part of its whole extent. I need not enlarge on our canal navigation towards Montreal, only that the Lachine canal appeared to me the worst of the whole, especially as we approached Montreal, the waste water at many of the large works^ rushing in, and in spite of ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON TUE 0«EiN. 188 all our mate's shouting and cursing, and the energies of our unlucky men on the tow-path, hard and fast on the ground our unfortunate schooner went no less than a dozen times, if not more, before we reached Montreal. The tow-path here is very bad indeed in wet weather, and the many rushes of waste water render it a most difficult matter for sailing vessels, as well as vessels with steam power, to get along. That there is a very great deal wanted to be done in improving the whole of the canals in Canada, no one can gainsay, and also in having an entirely new system of management. I have passed through Egypt on my way from India, and its many improvements have struck me that there was a master mind ruling in that benighted land. What a pity His Highness the Pasha or Viceroy of Egypt, has not the power delegated to him to come over and revise the whole canal system of Canada. I am positive that he would do so better than those now at the head of the canal department here. With these remarks I close this article on canal navigation in the Dominion of Canada. Nolii Bene. There i-« a prevalent system in India, and other Krt3l^''n countries, of givui{j lindcshfesh to well paid natire iiiliiiiiN for doinij their rluty. I ho[»9 miiny of the ca!»tarn3 who leuil these linucd tte^ an.i have to paaj through the cauais, bare flot to do the same thing in order to get th ir vessels aluag. t til' I 'I i I THE MARINER'S COMPASS. This instrument in the navigation of ships is of the greatest service to the mariner, and no ship or steam- er can go to sea ijvithout two or three compasses at the least to guide them on the trackless waste of water, the course to steer being easily understood. It has been said that the Chinese understood the tiso of the compass some hundreds of years before its introduction in the ships of the earlier navigate^ j and discoverers , British, Spanish or Portuguese. The needle or magnet is said to point always to the north, and as a matter of course the other points, as east, west, &c., are easily found by the needle point* ing north and south. In certain parts of the world, however, the needle does not point to the north, but is drawn considerably to the right or left of true north. This is called the variation of the compass, and must be known accurately by the navigator in order to cor- rect and steer the right course. For instance, in cross- ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 191 mg the Atlantic Ocean, the variation of the compafis amounts in selling vessels to 2i or 2i points westerly, and the course steered must be corrected accordingly. Say that you wish to make a due east course, you must steer 21 or 2| points south of that or to the right hand in order to mako a direct course. Off the Cape of Good Hope in the South Atlantic Ocean, strange enough, the variation of the compass in ships bound to India or Australia is 2| points easterly, and in order to make a due east course, it is necessary to steer 2 1 to the north or left hand of her course, while again towards the equator or centre of the globo there is hardly any perceptible variation of the com- pass at all. The way of finding out how much the compass varies in diflferent parts of the world, is by observations of the sun taken with the compass, and the diflfcrcnco between the true and magnetic or com- pass bearing is the variation which must bo applied as a correction to the course steered. "Wo have, however, in iro i ships or steamers what is called the deviation of the compass to attend to, besides the variation. This is the local attraction caused by the iron, and must bo carefully understood before steamers or iron ships attempt to go to sea. As in steamers of the Allan or Cunard line, each f. 102 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCi'.AX. steamer before proceeding on her firat voyage must be carefully swung, and magnets fixed to the deck, besides small chains placed on each side of the com- passes in boxes, in order to counteract the attraction of the iron. Thus the compasses are so nicely balanced with the magnets and iron, that it is rare, indeed, now-a-days that they get out of order on a trans- Atlantic passage. The consequences to either steamer or sailing ship whose compasses are astray would be terrible to contemplate, even if it were but one half point, on dark winter nights approaching the land. These difficulties are now happily obvi- ated by the discoveries of modern science, and their application in correcting the compass at sea. On a voyage to the East Indies oif the Cape of Good Hope, I commanded an iron ship some years ago when my compasses took a strange turn in steering to the eastward. I discovered for two days running that the compass by which the man was steering had neither variation nor deviation, but shewed due east, and made the course good without any correction, while the standard compass, about thirty feet farther forward, differed by nearly four points, showing south- east while the steering compass shewed east. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 193 To the navigator these few remarks en the compass need not be too severely criticised, while they may be of some interest to the landsman who has not seen any of these invaluable instruments. 11 I IlEUCS OF LUCKNOW AND CAWNPORE. As we lay in Calcutta, waiting for the emigrants already mentioned, I made the acquaintance of several Scotch sergeants of the 93rd Highlanders, who had served under Sir Colin Campbell in the Crimea, and were now about to embark for England in the troop ship, " Belgravia," after serving at the relief of Luck- cow and Cawnpore, and many a kindly word was said by them of the gallant old hero, who at Balaklava did not think it necessary to form his men into squares to receive cavalry, but in line repelled the attack of the Russian squadrons, — the thin red line tipped with steel so vividly described by Eussell of the " Times," being quite enough to scatter the Eussians after the first volley of Enfield.s. Three of these sergeants I invited on board my ship and made them heartily welcome, I thought so much of their brave deeds at thellelief of Lucknow and their vows of vengeance when our women and children were so ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 195 cruelly murdered and thrown into a well at Cawnporo by the ruthless scoundrel, Nana Sahib, who, profess- ing to protect his English friends, shot the few he could get at while endeavouring to escape down the Ganges. One of the three was named Daniel Sutherland, a stalwart fellow, standing six feet two, and who had, strangely enough, been a tailor by trade in Edinburgh before enlisting in the 93rd ; and, after serving twenty- One years, he seemed to mo as fresh and ready as before to serve another twenty-one years. His b^'other sergeants were stout, quiet fellows whom any one would have imagined had never left the plough in old bcotland, but for their bronzed countenances, telling of the long hot marches under the burning sun of India, as well as the anxious, earnest wish to be in time to save their friends and comrades during that terrible mutiny — beleaguered in various parts besides Lucknow and Cawnpore. But our friend Dan was the oul of the three, for in describing some of the scenes it was ludicrous to watch bis left eye, which would keep winking, as if under some uncontrollable impulse, when he was telling me some of his stories of the Crimea or of India. A few days after, and before sail ing homo for tlicir discharge in the " Belgravia," all three came on board with presents for me picked uy i! 196 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. ft atLucknow and Cawnpore, — a double-edged dagger, a flint lock pistol of the oldest stylo, a pair of chain pistol bullets connected by two long links, and a tul- war — a slightly curved sword, a** sharp as a razor, and I give my readers its history as told by our honest friend Sergeant Dan Sutherland : " Captain, you have been so kind to us that wo could scarcely leave Calcutta without giving you something to remember us by. At the roliei" of Luck- now, when charging the rebels attacking us in over- whelming numbers,! saw one fellow advancing at us, brandishing this same tulwar, and I just gave him a prod with the bayonet and down he went. I then threw the tulwar behind me, and as soon as matters were a little quiet I knew where to find it, and here it is." The pistol bullets put me in mind of some of our ancient men-of-war, who used at many of our naval battles chain shot, but the pistol was a still more antient-looking affair, made in the most clumsy and inoffensive fashion compared to our modern Colts, Smith and Weston's, &c. As for the double-edged dagger, in close quarters it would be a dangerous weapon, but in the hands of a native of India and in the face of European troops it was about as harmless as an ordinary toothpick. t ANECDOTES OF A LIFE OX THE OCEAN. 197 I now bade them good-bj-o, thnnkiii*:^ them for these relics of Lucknow and Cawnpore, being aware l^;at their ship would call at the Capo of Good Hope, while I had to call there on mj' *vuy to the West Indies. U happened that, though the Bolgravia troop ship sailed a week before mo from Calcutta with time-expired men and invalids, I arrived on the day after her in Table Bdy, Cape of Good Hope. As soon as ray gig was lowered I pulled alongside, when the captain wondered how I had made such a quick passage, but that was easily accounted for, — tl.o Bolgravia having encountered a hurricane, splitting hersails, and throw- ing her on her beam-ends, while I had come up on what we call the tail of the same, but wi thout sustain- ing any damage beyond a split topgullant-sail and some other trifling accidents, incidental to making a passage. My ^riends of Lucknow and Cawnpore were soon round me, and the irrepressible Dan waii tliore too, telling me, in his broad vernacular, " man, captain, I kent that was your ship as soon as 1 saw her." I then obtained leave from the commanding officer of the troops for those brave follows to come on board and visit the ship onco more before sailing for Eng- land, and the visit was a pleasing one both to mo and to those soldiers who are a credit to our coram.on 1; I r.f ^:J. \l ■ 198 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. Queen and country and the officers who have the honor of commanding them. Sending the chief officer with them on board the troop ship I bade them good-speed — never to see them again, but with a warm heart to all our brave troops who do, as they did, bring honour and glory to our country and flag. The relics of Lucknow and Cawnpore are still in the hands of friends In Scotland. DEMERARA AND YELLOW FEVER. ■-8cigo it is very soon seen in the dark stains of the drums as they are landed, and the Brazilians before buying can easily detect the difference between a good drum of lish and a bad one, so that it is a very serious matter to have one's cargo turned out in a bad condition. With a fresh breeze from N. W., I made all sail from St. John's, in charge of the pilot, but on getting fairly under weigh our good old pilot, in nmni'",': down among the shipping, gave us some trouble as ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 211 we ran stem on to the brigantine " Fanny Bloomer," and knocked her foremost over the side, while the figurehead of the Cherokee, /uZZ with battle-axe in hand, went flying under the boivs. After considerable trouble we at length got the ship clear, and, with our bowsprit alongside we came to anchor with both anchors to hold the ship and repair damages. It was not very long after this, when the ship was well secured with both anchors down, that my em- ployers' manager was alongside, and, though blowing a whole gale of wind, the water was smooth enough for him to get on board and ask what was the reason of our detention, — that was not hard to see, and was soon explained. Bowsprit alongside, Cherokee's figurehead knocked overboard, &c., " all through the fault of the old woman you chose to send on board, called the Pilot,"" Yes, but you are the captain, &c. and above the pilot," &c., &c., &e. Well, Mr. McGregor after all took the thing vciy good-naturedly, and, as soon as the wind moderated, se?it a tug to bring us back to the wharf for repairs, at the same time saying to me, " Would you really have gone to sea in such a gale as last night?" " Why, sir, yes, in forty-eight hours 1 would have been in fine warm weather." However, there was no time for argument, but back we had to go, and in a couple of days more we m i I? 212 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. again sailed with a new bowsprit, but minus the one- half of the Cherokee's figurehead, which, battle-axe in hand, we never recovered ; still my carpenter, who was of an ingenious turn of mind, comforted mo by the as- surance that he would soon have the other half of the Cherokee Chief in its place, battlo-axe and all. So that matters went on smoothly enough, as we steered to the southward with a fine fair wind, increasing onr distance from the cold weather day by day. It would have done my readers' hearts good to have seen how splendidly we got along to the southward, notwith- standing the loss of half of our gallant Cherokee Chief, with his painted plumes and battle-axo, but a remedy was being quietly prepared by the carpenter who, besides the usual duties of the ordinary work of the ship, astonished me one day by saying that he was pre- pared to fix up the figure-head, so we soon had the half of the Cherokee, lost overboard at St. John's, looking, with the original half, as good as ever, and painted in all his gaudy colours. But my reader*^ will think I am digressing from the subject, and we shall proceed on our voyage to the Brazils. On the second day after leaving, with the wind at north-west and steering southwards, we soon find ourselves in a mild and tranquil climate, in which many an invalid would be glad to exist to i'Jl ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 213 I recruit, rather than the harsh, cold, but yet bracing, climate we have only left forty-eight hours before, and now as we proceed on our voyage day after day, and still more mild the weather, we can see the dolphin and bonito making sad havoc among the flying fish, — as they rise, their wings transparent as gauze, above the water, in showers as it were, they are immediately swallowed by their merciless persecutors, the dolphin and bonito ; and I have known a night when our ship was loaded deeply that flying fish, seeing our binnacle light, by which the man at the wheel was steering, have actually given the man a black eye as they fell floundering and dying at his feet, to be picked up in the morning, along with others, and put in the frying-pan for breakfast. We soon reach the North-east Trades in the 30th parallel of north latitude, and, if there is any pleasure in a seafaring life, our sailors have their full share now. As the watch is relieved every four hours, and all the duties of a well-regulated ship attended to, we almost long to be still longer on our passage, as at night, for a whole week it may be, not a brace is touched or a sluUding sail taken in as wo go steadily alon"- on our course soulhwiirds. As we approach the Equator the Soutlicii Ci'oss makes its appearance. This constellation is formed by four stars, as nearly if iii pi m 214 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. approaching to a cross as we can conceive, with a fifth, but smaller, star within one of the arms of the cross, — the four stars being in our nautical almanac of the first magnitude, while the fifth is of the second or third magnitude, — at the same time it is as useful as the other stars of the cross in finding our latitude at night, and a more brilliant constellation than that of the Southern Cross we have not in all the heavens above, as day by day we have the altitude increasing while " Ursa Major " is declining to the northward, and the polar star — another friend of ours for lati- tude at night — is sensibly on the decline at the same time, bearing due north. On the 2l8t day, with changeable trade winds, for though called the North oast Trades they vary from east to north-cast, wo arc approaching the vicinity of San liocque, and the curreuti setting us to the westward it is necessary to be very cautious in approaching the north coast of Brazil in either a sailing or steam ship, as on the Koccas, a dangerous reef, many a good ship has been wrecked, and it is not long since a ship with all hands was lost on this cluster of rocks for want of making due allowance for the strong current setting down on them. Keep- ing well to windward, I now steer boldly in for the latitude of my port, Pernarabuco, and, as wo approach ANi^CDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 215 tlic laiul, trees arc seen from the masthead, and in a short time we see the surf breaking on iho Eecife, that is to ^a}'- '• a reef of coral " extending for some hundreds of miles along the coast of Brazil, at a short distance from the land, leaving a passage for fishermen's boats, &c., inside. I need not tell most of my readers what coral is; but it is said by geologists to be ])errorations made in t'^o rock by an insect un- known to sailors L'enerally, but I imai^-ine known better to naturalists, at all eventa I lost a kedge anchor with some hawser attached. As the wind fell light, and I found the ship drifting on to the recife or reef, fortunately a squall made its appear- ance from the right direction, as I was nearly touch- ing the rocks, and, with renewed vigour, to my men I gave the order to cut away the hawser as the squall filled our sails and carried the good old ship safe and clear off this dangerous reef With a heartfelt thank God ! we stood well out to sea for the night, and in the morning, with a steady breeze, came to anchor in the outer roads of Pernambuco. The appearance of the land from the ship is most inviting, and Olinda Point, one of our landmarks, is really a bciutifnl spot, as we see it, clad with trees :nid the richest verdure to its very summit, — I would rather call it a gentle acclivity, rising above the low ■f3 'li'i u I, >i n m il 210 OTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. level lai..t at its foot, and no wonder that the first Portuguese navigator, on approaching Pernambiico, said, on reaching the spot, 0, Linda, beautiful spot for a city. Clewing up our sails and coming to anchor did not take up much time, and, with two drums in my boat as samj)les, I landed to effect a sale. As we pull in towards the shore there is quite a wide opening in the reef to admit vessels of considerable size into the harbour, and once inside the water is very smooth, with now and then a gentle swell caused by the surf rolling on the reef outside. Landing at the wharf I made my way to our consignees, but, as the brig *• loeni " had come in two hours before, I find that I must proceed toBahia for a market, as the " Iceni " has supplied the demand in the meantime. I had not much time to look at Pernambuco, but, from what I could see, it is a very old looking place, defended by some very ancient forts facing the sea, and armed with as ancient looking guns. There arc plenty of stores and signs of evident prosperity, as the wharves are covered with the merchandise of Liverpool and other Englisli ports, while large quantities of sugar, cotton and tobacco are passing in cargo boats to the various vessels moored in the harbour and bound to England, the Clyde and the United States, ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 217 I hud to bid adieu to the good folks of Pernambiico, and make haste on boards to get the ship under weigh foi- Bahia dcs Todos Santos or, in English, the Bay of All Saints. As we pull towards the ship, leaving behind the groves of cocoa-nuts, palms and orange trees, which give Pernambuco its beautifully verdant and richly-varied appearance from the sea, though 3-ellow fever often makes its appearance, and with most deadly results, among the shipping as well as on shore, even though the climate is most mild and genitd, being in latitude eight degrees south of the Equator, and within the limits of the south-east trade winds, which are generally very steady all the year round. We now weighed anchor and made all sail along the coast, steering to the southward for Bahia, and, though the distance is only about 200 miles, it was a full Avcek before arriving there, owing to baffling winds in with the land instead of the usual steady Trades referred to above. Wo at length anchored in Bahia, which is situated inside of the line of coast on the largo Bay of All Saints, and a most excellent harbour it is for ships of any size, securely land- locked, and with good anchorage. The lower town and the upper — which is situated on the top of a Bteep hill— looks parti cuL'U-ly inviting from tlio sliip. 'M •fi' ' :!' ■|l m 1^ ii 1 i! !il 218 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. but here again before the anchor is well down a boat comes alongside, and its occupant tells me I must be very careful of my crew, as yellow fever is rife among the shipping, some having lost nearly all hands, while the " Eaiiger," not very far off, has lost six by this terrible epidemic in all its virulence. Now to look at the beautiful bay and the city of Bahia, with all its surroundings, who would imagine for a moment that this plague could c- it in such a place and in such a healthy, pure atmosphere, to all appearances, with a steady breeze blowing all day long, yet day after day the flag for the hospital boat is seen hoisted from one or other of the ships, to come for some poor victim to this terrible scourge, and it is seldom he ever sees his ship again, but dies iu the hospital. Though well attended to by resident sur- geon, and nurses who know how to deal with such cases, the fever generally has had too much hold of its victim before he leaves the shijD ; disheartening enough this to the shipmaster who is, if possible, more exposed than his men, in attending to the ship's business on shore. However, we must face the thing as well as we can, and on landing I find that I have come to an excellent market, as the whole country round is short of buculhao, or, as it is called, salt cod, and my whole cargo of 2,500 drums is sold at twenty K ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 219 milreis per drum (twenty milreis being equal to £2 sterling), a very high price, seeing that we can put them up in Newfoundland at about 16 shillings ster- ling per drum. And as we proceed with the dis- charge of the cargo I have engaged a very good freight at well-paying rates for Liverpool, consisting of sugar in large boxes, coffee, tobacco in the leaf, in bales, besides some other products of the Brazils. Cases of yellow fever become frequent, but, by calling the Joctor immediately, fortunately none have yet gone to the hospital. My steward, a young Englishman, is about the last case, and the doctor immediately orders him to be sent to the hospital, as he explained to me that it was absolutely necessary — the attack was so severe, with but little hopes of recovery, poor fellow ! Sensible enough, as he leaves the ship he begs not to be sent away, but the doctor's orders are imperative for the safety of othei-s of the crew, and in two days more he succumbs to the attack and is buried on the outskirts of La Serena, where the hospital stands. Now we are anxious enough to leave this beautiful but fever-stricken place and proceed rapidly with the taking in of our cargo. An English man-of-war, the "Harrier," arrives, with a crew of 270 men, and her commander asks me about the fever, as he is m f If' 220 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. about to grant the men leave on shore for twenty-four hours; however, by great care and precaution, no cases occur on board his f^hip, and I believe he was very thankful when he once niore got out to sea. My cargo is at length all on board, and, receiving my clearance papers at the Custom House, tiie ship is soon under weigh for Liverpool, whore, after a long and tedious passage, we arrived all well, having made a most successful though anxious voyage to New- foundland and the Brazils. In concluding this article I may mention a most peculiar kind of orange which I am told grows nowhere else in the Brazils but in the Province of Bahia: this fruit is sweet and certainly the most luscious I ever tasted, but, strange to say, there is not a single seed to be found inside, as with other oran jes or indeed any other kind of fruit I know. I mention this, for the information of those of my readers m ho are interested in such matters, as a carious fact. I'P "S A VOYAGE TO THE ISLAND OF TRINIDAD. Daring the fall of 1859 1 was ordered to proceed on a voyage to Trinidad, one of our West India Islands, for a cari^o of the new sugar crop, and, as we sailed from the Clyde, our cargo consisted of coals in bulk, as well as coals stored in new sugar hogsheads, which, on being emptied in the West Indies, are cleaned out and filled up with sugar. The trade between the Clyde and the West Indies has been and always will be a most flourishing one, owing to the merchandize shipped to Demerara, Trinidad and other ports from the Clyde, as well as the many sugar works or refineries in the Clyde, where the blackest sugar landed from the Brazils is refined and made as clear as crj'stal (and some I have landed from the Brazils is as dark as black earth). As we proceed down channel wo have a good manj^ head-winds, but at length reach the broad Atlantio with plenty of sea- room when, as usual in making voyages to warm climates, we unbend our best sails and bend the most 41 •C til ii ti!' 222 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. worn for fine weather, and as we proceed out channel nothing unusual happens, only a stupid fellow on the look-out, as we are at supper in the cabin, very nearly lets us come in collision with a large ship homeward bound in the darkness, and as we pass her long line of side-ports lighted up, T conclude that she is either a man-of-war or a passenger steamer of the largest size. These collisions at sea are very serious matters, and may be avoided by ordinary caution and cool manage- ment on the part of the officer in charge of the watch, who may throw all into confusion by lack of presence of mind ; and, in digressing, I will give my readers an illustration of a collision at sea, and in broad daylight too : We were bound to Calcutta from the Clydo,and as the captain and myself, as mate, were fitting out, studding sail gear, and many other things necessary for a long voyage, one fine day in August, about 4 p. m., we saw a ship not far off, steer- ing across our bows with a fine fair wind, — now to non-nautical readers it must be understood that steam- ships and sailing ships with fair winds always have to give way to any other ships struggling against head-winds or at anchor. In this case, wc were steer- ing out to sea with the wind barely allowing us to make our course, to the southward. As we hoisted our number, and asked to be reported^ indtead of crosaing ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 223 our stern, she attempted to crcis the bows, having miscalcuhitcd her speed and ours at the same time. " This ship will be into us soon," called out the carpenter, and, sure enough, in she did come towards us, at the rate of 9 Knots an hour. " Hard up the helm," was the order, but our ship did not answer her helm so quickly, and besides we had no right to move our helm, only to lessen, if possible, the crash ; on she camCj studding sails, low and aloft, running straight into us with a terrible force,down came our foreyard, broke in two our studding sail, boom ditto, main top- gallant mast,and other small spars tumbling about our cars, till no one know where to run in order to escape falling spars, &c. In a few minutes we soon were clear of each other and had a look at our damages, which consisted of one of our planks started, together with a beam in the tween decks, rendering it necessary for us to bear up for Queenstown, for repairs, wliich, together with our detention, cost the owners of the ship which made the mistake a large sum of money ; fortunately, the weather was fine, and we escaped more serious detention by the safe return of the shij^ to a good harbour. By the time ourdamages were repaired a fortnight had elapsed, which, only for this, might have been iDioIitabiy spent in pursuing our voyage. A lady with If J ii m m ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN, two children wore our only passengers for Calcutta, and her screams during the collision were quite enough to awaken the echoes of nine glens had we been in Scotland : fortunately no one was hurt, and wo were again on our voyage to Calcutta, after a good deal of trouble and expense. Put, to return to the voyage to Trinidad: After a fortnight's baffling winds, with occasional heavy gales, we at length rciT^'hed the North-east Trades, elsewhere described in these anecdotes, and our repairs to the rigging and sails usual on these fine weather voyages to the East and West Indies were pursued with punctual regularity, besides keep- ing our ship scrupulously clean. The watch in the day time at 8 a. m., 12 noon, and 4 and 6 p. m. relievo each othe>' at work in a most regular man- ner. As we jiroceed to the southward, steering a westerly course at the same time, and keeping in the full strength of the trade winds, the officers as they relieve each other give the course to be steered in a distinct voice; and, also, if the captain has thought fit to change the course during the watch, the course so changed and the exact time at which the order was given the mate notes on the log-slate, to be at noon copied into the log-book, as soon as we have obtained and wtjikcd up our observations, and ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEa^. 225 se> the time passes, monotonously it is true, at the same lime pleasantly, as the weather keeps fine and climate mild enough for any invalid to exist in if not to gain strength and recruit in health day by day — the only changes being the capture of a porpoise, dolphin, or bonito, and occasionally a shark, if the wind falls light. But, as we proceed, we must keep well to the east- ward of our port and have a trustworthy chronometer, as the current sweeping to the westward, at the rate of from three to five knots an hour, is liable to set your ship to leeward of the entrances to Trinidad, and give you two or three weeks' work to get to windward in the North-east Trades, in order to make your port again. This current, called the Equatorial Current, extends from some few degrees south of the Equator to about the snme extent north, and includes the lati- tude of the Island of Trinidad. Its velocity may vary occasioniiUy, and depends considerably on the strength and steadiness of the North-east and South- east Trade winds, north and south of the Equator. In our case, and having a> good chronometer which had been well tested on previous voyages in making the land, I sighted the high land of the island on the 30th day from the Clyde, and, with a fresh breeze and all sail set, we rapidly approached, and soon could in I 4^ f!! •" \il i i 4'j A u 22-3 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. make out the four entrances, named in Spanish the Boccas. The Boccas are named first the Ape's Passage, far- thest to windward, or to the eastward, and a very narrow entrance it is, between the main land and a small island on its right, but this i^assage is never attempted to be taken by any ship, the current is so strong and irregular, rushing out like a whirlpool, that a vessel would soon be unmanageable and get dashed to pieces on the many high rocks on both sides, as well as unseen dangers not above water. The second entrance is wider, and more free of dangers, and, though not consiilered advisable to take, owing to the strong current rushing outwards and chances of the wind falling light, I did take it one moonlight night, and managed to get through all well. The third Bocca is still wider, and is often used by vessels entering, bound to Trinidad, but the fourth, or Grand Bocca, is the safest and mo,-l nmd in coming in from sea totheGulf ofParia, for thcngh the current is still very strong, rushing out and to the westward, tliere is jilenty of room for a vesisel to be handled in, and with a good breeze a ship is soon inside, and it is astonishing how soon a ship can bo at 2 or 3 miles from the entrance safe inside, and free from any perceptible cui'ient. ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 22T The Gulf of Paria is of great extent, being quite a wide inland sea, and extending from Trinidad, ita northern boundary, for a long distance south to the Spanish main. No storms ever disturb this largo extent of water, but the North-east Trades, or regular sea and land breeze set in during the day, generally falling calm at night. As we stand boldly in, taking the Grand Bocca, the wind falls light, and varying considerably under the high land, to the north of us, but soon we have our north-east wind again and are some miles inside of the Gulf by midnight, safe from these currents so annoying to navigators. Standing onwards we reach in the morning the largo viiiage of San Fernando, before tacking to return, as it were, to the Boccas, but in order to reach our port of dis- charge, called Port d'Espagne, or Port of Spain, situ- ated up in a nook in the north-east part of the Gulf, and about 18 miles back from San Fernando. And now as we heave about on the starboard tack, the wind off the land favours us and allows us to hug the land all the way to our port, at a safe distance off. Plantations are seen round and near San Fernando, and ships are seen at intervals anchored on the coast, with droghers alongside taking on shore coals in hogsheads, and bringing off sugar for the Clyde, Lon- don, or Liverpool. w m m 228 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. ili The harbour of Port of Spain is at last reached, and our ship brought to an anchor. We have made a fair passage of 31 days, and begin in all haste to discharge a part of our cargo for this port. Port d'Espagne is a very well built town, the streets and squares run- ning at right angles and with many beautiful groves of shade trees, where one can sit down in cool shelter from the sun, for the city being situated on flat level land at the foot of some high mountainous land at its back, it is very sultry in the open streets, and the sun very hot indeed. The inhabitants of Port d'Espagne may be divided into three classes! the well-to-do owners of plantations, stores, &c., who reside here, the native born, half-Indian and half-Spanish, who Bpeak a patois half-Indian and Spanish, and the usual West-Indian negro, who works on board ship, in the droghers, and on shore, stowing sugar, and at other labouring work. There arc, besides, Chinese and East-Indian Coolies, brought hero in large numbers, who work on the various sugar plantations, and are indentured for five years ; some of these, as in Demerara, after serving their prescribed time, and having saved some money, set up small stores and often return rich to their native lands. As we have now finished the cargo to be left here, we once more get the ship under w^gh to ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 229 !J go along the coast, delivering a dozen hogsheads here and a dozen there at the various plantations between Port of Spain and San Fernando, as many of them are short of coals for their various mogass, or sugar-houses, and must be supplied. Chuan, 12 miles off, is the first, where we arrive after dusk, taking in tow our drogher engaged to land cargo and bring off sugar. These droghers are boats, built with flat bottoms, manned by five negroes — one of whom is styled captain, and can go into very shallow water and up all sorts of creeks to the very doors of some of the sugar houses to load their twelve hogsheads of sugar, or land tha same of coals. These fiatboats are fitted with a mast and sail, and it is wondei ful how well they are managed by the crew who work day and night till the ship is discharged and loaded, getting as much as 90 cents for each hogshead. Landing, as soon as the anchor is down, with the captain of the flat, it is very difficult in the darkness to make out the entrance to the creek, as the low thick swampy trees and shrubs entirely close up the way in some places, getting our oars often entangled in the bushes. At length we reach the manager's house, who tolls us he has some twelve hogsheads of sugar ready, and on the following day the coals required are landed and sugar loft on our deck, to bo 'H Hi; 230 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. l!i'l stowed at some futm*e time. Thus wo go on from plantation to plantation, leaving coals and stowing sugar where we can on deck or below till our outward cargo is all discharged ; and, althougli this is somewhat heavy work for sailors and all, the hoaving on board hogsheads, lowering them in the hold and stowing them is still heavier. As the flat with her dusky crew comes off at any time of the night, our crew is at once called to heave on board her cargo, and as our negro captain is always a good singer ho comes on our deck to assist the crew at the winch, and soon taking the lead he may start with, " Oh, de captain gone ashore to get a mulatto when he come aboard," &c., and the crew strike in with a chorus, awakening the stillness of the night, at some quiet spot on the coast, till the flat is discharged,— the crow can now rest till the flut comes off again, and so on. The stowing of sugar is very heavy work, and must be carefully done, in order to see how much can be carried, stow-wood placed in certain places, and the bottom and sides or wings of the ship well ooverod with dunnage to protect tho sugar from being damaged or in some cases washed out altogether, if tho ^hip strains and leaks in bad weather and encounters in gales of wind on our homeward passage tho tremen- dous seas I havo often witnessed, making every ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 231 timber in her tremble, and shipping water over all parts of the ship so that, even with the best care, it tumbles clown in volumes through cabin and fore- castle, saturating all and sundry, and, consequently, finding its way to the cargo. To return to the stowing of our cargo : We called at San Fernando, a village of considerable size, which boasts of a mayor, and has an excellent hospital for sick or infirm seamen. The village is not of very great iu;portance in an architectural point of view, but great quantities of sugar are shipped here, and it is hand /■ to numbers of plantations all round, wliich obtain their supplies from its various stores. We now completed the discharge of our outward cargo, and, having taken on board at San Fernando what sugar was road}', wo made our way back along each plantation, receiving additional supplies, and at length completed our loading in Port of Spain. After a stay of four weeks, the clearance of the ship was soon obtained at the custom house, and taking on board a convalescent seaman loft at the hospital, once more weighed anchor for home, having on board about GOO hogsheads, 50 tierces and as many barrels of sugar, and this time no difficulty is experienced in getting out the second Bocea. As with a fixir wind wo sail from tho flourishing Island of Tri«^!dad, the current carries !| 9 I ' ' i; 1 I i 282 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. m us rapidly out the entrance. Crossing the Trades we sight in succession the Islands of Grenada, St. Lucia and pass close to the French Islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique, with a fresh breeze from east ; still further north the Islands of Antigua and Tobago, and, as we lose the North-east Trades, are fortunate in getting gales of fair wind from the westward till, on the 30th day, wo arrive all well in the Clyde from a voyage to the Island of Trinidad. A HEATHEN FESTIVAL IN MADRAS. The Churnick Poqja, or swinging festival of Madras, is one of the most crael as well as absurd of all the festivals given in honour of certain gods in the Hea- then Mythology, and can bo seen very often on the borders of the surf-lined beach, as well as in the in- terior of the presidency. On asking a Hindoo its meaning, he will tell you that the devotees who are engaged in its self-inflicted cruelties have been sick or have suffered from some misfortune in their family, or otherwise, and that he prays and vows to his God, that, if delivered from sickness or misfortune, ho will endure the tortures of the Churruck Pooja or some other self-punishment to appease the wrath of the God in bringing on these disasters ; and on the day appointed a long procession of devotees is seen pro- ceeding to the spot selected, surrounded by a crowd of natives of all castes, many of whom are beating Tom-Toms or squalling most unmusical music on the native pipe. Baskets of flowers, fruit and sweet- meats are freely distributed among the crowd as they arrive. i 234 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. We now como to a large iipi-ight post about 20 feet high, on the top of which is another post nenrly even- ly balanced, and about the same length. This post has at one end sundry ropes which are manned by natives, who can lower the other end to the ground ; this end has a short piece of rope to which a silver hook of some strength is attached ; the polo above has also a circular motion, and can be moved round with great rapidity when the deluded victim is hooked on. One of the devotees, amid great noise, and with much ceremony, and with nothing but a waist cloth, is now securely hooked by the spine of the back, at a certain part, and, with a quantity of flowers in each hand, ho is soon raised aloft. The whole weight of his body one would imagine would break the integument by which he is hooked, but such is not the case. As now the men at the ropes below run rapidly round, the devotee showers his flowers among the crowd below, who applaud in the most vociferous style the bravery of the poor deluded wretch, who is iiow be- ing rapidly spun round like a top in the air. This continues for from fifteen to twenty minutes, and any one can conceive the pain he must sutler during this time, but he seems quite proud and but little daunted as at length he is lowered down and unhooked, while another and another take his place, ANECDOTES OP A LIEE ON THE OCEAN. 235 to go through this painful and absurd ordeal, till the swinging having now lasted over two hours, a pro- cession is again formed, and with the same noisy crowd they return to Madras, where the rest of the day is spent in Nautch dancing, eating fruit a d sweatmeats and singing their strange, unmelodious songs, while the Tom-Toms and pipes make a more vigourous noise than ever, — this goes on till far in the morning, the dancers and singers being relieved by Others. Strange enough in this hook-swinging festival, the place where the hook is inserted bleeds but very little, but any one can imagine the excruciating pain to the devotee, as his whole weight is suspended in the air and in such a way. I have also seen in the streets of Madras a little fellow, not more than seven years of age, crowned with flowers,walking very unconcernedly along with a piece of stick like the penholder I now write with, sharpened at both ends, sticking through his cheeks, skewer fashion^ while some grown-up natives danced before him, and sang, beating time with their Tom- Toms, — men and women making them presents of sweetmeats, &c., as they proceeded. I felt it in my heart to have knocked some of the fellows down, and released the young martyr to ignorance and supersti- tion, but that would have done no good, and possibly 236 ANECDOTES OF A TilFE ON THE OCEAN. a great deal of harm. Such are only a few of the cruel methods the natives of India have of appeasing the anger of the many gods in their foolish my- thology. ii g THE PARSEES OF BOMBAY. The Parsees of Bombay were originally from Per- sia, and were driven out at the time of the conquest of Persia by Mahomet in A.D. 641. Carrying with them their sacred fire, they made their escape to Bombay, where they have remained ever since, very few Parsees being found in any other part of India. This strange people are peculiarly distinct and sepa- rate from any other caste or sect in India, and neither intermix by marriage or otherwise with them or with Europeans. The Island of Bombay may be said to be owned almost entirely by Parsees, many of them being immensely rich, the late Sir Jamsetjee Jejee- bhoy was made a baronet by the Queen for his many charitable endowments, having built the large hospi- tal which goes by his name in Bombay entirely at his own expense ; shrewd men of business, besides being highly educated in Arabic, Ilindostanee and English, there are few natives of India, Mussulman or Hindoo, to compare with them in physique or busi- ness capacity. 238 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. jl ! .1 On leaving Persia this remnant who remained true to their religion, instead of accepting from Mahomet t^ Calcutta, for in the soutb-west monsoon the sun as it pours down its fierce rays on Calcutta is something terrible to bear by the unlucky pedestrian. At the commencement of the mutiny when native servants, hearing of the acts of the Rebels at Barrac- pore, began to grow most insolent and impudent to their European employers, many of the ladies of Calcutta, with their children, were glad to remain all night in their carriages under the friendly guns of Fort William on this maidan, while their husbands and all the white population formed a corps of volun- teers of their own, which paraded the streets at night to protect the city from lawlessness and outrage — the troops in the Fort not being sufficient for the pur- pose — until assistance arrived, and, strange enough, Earl Canning the then governor General, in spite of the repeated remonstrance of the citizens, refused to disarm his body-guard of Sikh cavalry, consisting of about 150 men, till at length some of the most pro- minent of the citizens plainly said that if he did not order them to be disarmed they would take that duty upon themselves, as news was being received day by day of fresh outbreaks by the mutineers in various parts of the interior, and the native servants were telling them to their faces that it would soon be their turn witk tha sahib loguaiQr white gentleinaii. ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 243 These threats at length had their effect on Lord Canning who reluctantly had his guard disarmed, though he seemed to have every confidence in their fidelity, and, doubtless by the firm attitude of the European citizens, Calcutta was saved in a great measure from some of the terrible scenes of Lucknow and Cawnpore, even though not by the Sepoys, but by the native population, both Mussulman and Hindoo, who were quite ripe for anything in the shape of plunder and bloodshed, well knowing that the few troops then in Fort William were barely enough to hold it on a sudden emergency and at so critical a time. The maidan continued for some time to bo the sleeping place near the Fort of many who were afraid to remain in their houses at night, while many of the merchant ships in the river w 'e crowded with refugees from the shore, glad to escape for a time until assistance arrived, and fortunately an end was coming to this state of anxiety and dread, as troops which were on their way to China eame up the x'lVQr — Lord Elgin having made all hasto from Point deGalle, instead of going on with the troops — confi- deuco began to bo restored and Calcutta was onco more safe; but the maidan gives refuge and sleep- ing accommodation to those outlaws of Calcutta (many of whom are worthUss sailors), the climate 244 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. being so mild and warm at night, and it is by no means a safe place at certain parts for any one on foot or sometimes even in a carriage, as they have often robbed and ill-treated gentlemen who happen to be passing at a latehour. There are also near the maidan on the river side, a little below the fort, a number of miserable dens where the worst kind of liquor is sold, and where these robbers of the maidan often congregate, before proceeding on their midnight excursions. One of the keepers, who went by the name of " Smoky Jack," was not long since executed for a long career of crime, ending with murder in his vile hovel. Calcutta with its unbearable heat, however, has a great boon in the maidan for a drive or exercise on horseback, in the cool of the morning especially, or when the sun has gone down in the evening. The Eden Gardens, named after the Honorable Ashley Eden, are near the es- planade on the river side, and may be said to be a portion of the maidan ; the beautiful clusters of r::re exotics, shrubs, and cool shady groves of trees, to- gotherwiththe well-kept and well-trimmed grass-plots and walks, show that the citizens of Calcutta are fully alivo to making the most of the maidan, as a place where they can breathe pure air after a day of stifling heat in the city, even though under the ever-swing- ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 245 ing pnnkah. The gardens are but a very short dis- tance from the city, and every evening at five the band of either of the regiments stationed in the fort march out to the stand in the gardens where, taking up their places, they discourse sweet iriusic till seven o'clock, the hour when fashionable Calcutta must hurry home to dress for dinner. And now between five and seven in. tne e.ening streams of all sorts of conveyances, fro'n the well- appointed two-horse open carriage of the chief justice, with his native grooms and coachman, to the one- horse gharrie, crowd the esplanade, conveying their occupants to hear the band play. The rich native ba- boo with his servants, and a heterogeneous mixture of soldiers, sailors and natives, all throng to this beautiful spot, enjoying the cool of the evening, and walking about or sitting down, when tired, on the garden seats, placed round in profusion through the grounds. This is the only spot round Calcutta where there is real open-air enjoyment, — the gardens of Bis- hops' College being too far away on the opposite side of the river; — such are a few of tho^ surroundings of the maidan of Calcutta and its gay scenes every even- ing, when all the city seems to turn out to-onjoy two hours' relief from the hot, stifling atmosphere of the city of paliices. Theiaet time I was on the maidau^ir • ! HI 24t5 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. Hugh Bose, now Lord Strathnairn, reviewed the troops then in garrison, both native and European, and ample room there is for almost any modern army to move about on this vast plain —the maidan of Cal' cutta. the )eaii, rmy Cal. MY LASCAR CREW. Before leaving Calcutta on a coasting voyage we must ship a crew of Lascars, and, as we proceed to the shipping office for that purpose, are besieged by crowds of Lascars with their Ghad Serang, who is a sort of established shipping office himself. The Ghad Serang has sailed for a considerable number of years, and gains the confidence of the shippinf*-- Master, as well as the Masters of ships seeking crewo, by his long experience, though sometimes we are woefully deceived when a Seakunny or quarter- master is shipped who doesn't know the Compass, a cabin cook who spoils the good provisions for cabin use, and, worse than all, a Banhdaddie or cook for the crew »vho half-boils the rice, makes a mess of the salt-fish and does with his mates (for he generally has two mates) many other disagreeable things to a crew of Lascars; however, after having shipped oar crew of Lascars, all of whom are Mahometans, we now proceed on our voyage. 248 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. Tho crow consists of myself, as Master of the ship, and my two European mates, while the carpenter is a Chinaman called a Mystery, and it is wonderful how my 3Iystery gets through his work, quietly and patiently, making a yard or mast to replace any carried away. I ask him to make me a desk after the ship's work is done : John goes down the hold and picks up a few pieces of mahogany among the stow-wood, — in a few days he shows me the outlines of a magnificent writing-desk intended for one of my sisters, recently married in Calcutta, and at this time on a tea-plantation well up towards the Himalaya Mountains. The patience and assiduity of the Chinese is well exemplified in the brief sketch I give of my Chinese carpenter ; and, with reference to his honesty, I believe I could have trusted him with any amount of money. He was ever obliging and civil, and neither I nor my two officers could find fault with him in any thing he did. The Serang of the ship is very much like a Boat- swain of any other merchant ship, having charge of the working portion of the crew, together with his four mates called Tindals — tho first, second, third, and fourth or chattery Tindal — his duties are, when the Master or mates give an order, to see it carried out, whether in carrying sail or reducing sail, in squariag ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 249 3-ardH or in bmc'ing j'ards up. The orders from m}- Bclfor matoH being given in ITindostanec — the pipe as i n a man-of-war being used in every case ; — for instance the order is given, *' all hands about ship," the pipe or whistle of the Serang is heard shrill and loud over the decks as every Lascar runs to his station; "Gos Baodoo," jDut your helm hard a-lco ; '' stringee mora damans," raise tacks and sheets; " fci'ow buri*a \ycr- whan," and round conies the main yard slap against the backstays as our active Lascars gather in the slack of the brace, while the cross-jack 3'^ard is swung at the same time, and now as hcv head swings off on the other tack, the order " Tuyai* agil," ready forward, is given and at the words "ferow agil," the forej-ard comes round and is braced sharp up, as our gallant ship dashes through the waters, with a stiff breeze, at race-horse speed. Now there is a yard a little too much in, or a sheet not far enough aft, and the Serang with his Tindals are heard piping here and there over the decks for a couple of minutes until we have every sail properly trimmed to please Master and mates when, within ten minutes as I have often noticed, the order is given, "pipe down," and all hands, if at night, are quiotl}' making ready for another sleep, or, in the day time, attending to the ordinxiry work of the ship. On many 250 ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. occasions I have had every brace and sheet coiled up in seven minutes from the time of giving the order " About ship." The Tindals are generally selected by the Serang himself, and are supposed to bo able to leac. the men in any of the ship's duties,- while they also select certain men of their o\^ n choosing to bo fore, main and mizzen toj^men, so that, when a Royal or topgallant sail is taken in, these topmen lay aloft to furl the sail or to loose it when ordered. There being no need for beds in this climate our Lascars are easily called up, seeing that the deck planks are their resting-place. An awning or tarpaulin is put over a spar at each of the hatchways where eachTindal with his menxiro ready at night to come out and work the ship when called, as there are no regular watches as with a European crew. Again, in this ship of 1100 tons we have a crew of nearly 70 men ; whereas, were the crew European, about one-third of the number would be considered sufficient to work the same ship. The reason of this is obvious : Lascars are much cheaper to feed and pay than white sailors, one white sailor being reckoned equal to three Lascars. No beef or pork, bread or flour is used by them, their food being rice and cur- ried salt fish principally with dhoU and ghee, or nati'^'b ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 251 pay mod or Icur- butter, for cooking purposes. This native faro is light and suitable for a hot climate, though a white crew could not work a ship on such food. It is there- fore considered cheaper by many captains and owners both on steam and sailing ships trading on the coast of India to man their vessels with native crews. The butler or steward is generally a Portuguese native of Goa, and our fiddler and fifer from the same place, this being the only port now in India in pos- session of Portugal. Such being our working crow, it is an easy matter, when every one is stationed and the ship once under way, to get along well with these crews, as they are very rarely troublesome, being docile and obedient in every respect. But should any of the crew be mutinous or disagreeable, the serang can at once have him tied up and severely flogged as an example to the rest, though this is only resorted to in extreme cases and only by the orders of the master of the ship who scarcely ever himself or his mates strike or ill-use, in any case, any of the Lascars, their punishment being inflicted on thorn by their own countrymen. As we are about to sail from Calcutta, small-pox has been making fearful ravages among the native population as well as taking off many Europeans inthecitj'and suburbs, and on proceeding down the 252 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. ! rivor i*^^ mukes its appearance among the crew, two of thorn being attacked with this fearful di3ease as We anchor at one part of the river, and it gives me considerable anxiety, in order to prevent its spreading among such a large crew, getting them separate from the rest of the crew. I allow no one to attend them except myself or mates, and as we get down the Bay of Bengal, the weather keeping fine fortunately, the disease is Iropt from spreading and is confined on\y to these two, one o^'whom, a lad of fifteen, soon recovers, but the other is completely blind, and does not recover until long after we arrived in Muscat. The usual routine of duty in a ship manned with Lascars is much the same as with any other crew. The pine caMs all hands to wash decks at five in the morning, when with sand and coir scrubbers every portion of the decks and bulwarks are cleaned fore and aft ; our brass work, after decks are washed, is then polished. At 8 o'clock, or when the bell is struck eight, all hands are piped to breakfast, the cooks filling large earthenware dishes with the rice which, placed on deck, are surrounded by as many as eight or ten men who need no knives, forks, or spoons, but Dieir hands dip into the rice and curried fish, biisiily conveying it to their mouths, lu this strange fashion thus squatted on deck they form gipsey- ANECDOTES OF A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. 253 Jight )ons, fish, |auge )soy- like groups as they keep up a great clatter in Hin- dostanee. Breakfast finished, they are now sent all over the ship at various kinds of work, such as splicing and repairing rigging where needed, and doing other necessary work, for ships are always needing to be well looked after, in spars, sails or rigging, at sea to keep thcni in order, several men being constantly at work altering, repairing or making sails, so that there is no idle iiu.c, as many would suppose, in any well regulated merchant ship while at sea. There is this difference also between Lascars and other crews that all hands are kept at work instead of being divi- ded into watches, viz., the one half being below while the others are at work at sea, and during the night, while the crew are asleep, only the look-outs and helmsmen are relieved every two hours. As long as Lascars are in their own warm climate no better sailors can be got to man a ship, but once ship them for a voyage to England round the Capo of Good Hope, and coming into cold weather they cannot stand it, and in many cases die in this sudden change from their own mild climate, though many Lascar crews bring ships home when other sailors are not to be got. Their dress, food and habits are so different from 254 ANECDOTES OP A LIFE ON THE OCEAN. our hardy British tars that it is a pity to ship them at all to cold climatos, and, as before remarked, one of our sailors is reckoned to be equal to three Lascars in manning a ship. Being Mahometans their Sunday is on our Friday, though I have never seen them no- tice it much on board ship, except on special days such as Eamadan, one of their times of fasting, when they eat nothing from sunrise to sunset. However, on our own Sabbath it was my custom to have all hands piped to muster in clean clothes at nine in the morn- ing, when the ship's muster roll was called over, every man answering to his name, they were then dismissed, when, no work being done, the rest of the day was allowed them to pass as quietly as the circumstances permitted. Such are the rules in general on board a ship manned by a crew of Lascars of India. A GHOORKA REGIMENT ON PARADE. As I had to pass everyday through Fort William on my way to Calcutta on business, I have often stopped the Gharrie to witness the regiments in garrison on parade ; but. though the English regiment stationed there is worth seeing with their splendid band, yet what interested mo most was a regiment of Ghoorkas who had been faithful to their salt during the meetin