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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:32 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:32 -0700 |
| commit | 9131bb8e9f241c6b10264f798f74038b4d1e34c5 (patch) | |
| tree | f8f417429480b8ba88a7945056d60f910bbe47ea /39341-tei | |
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diff --git a/39341-tei/39341-tei.tei b/39341-tei/39341-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06c81a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/39341-tei/39341-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,14653 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd"> +<TEI.2 lang="en"> + <teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1</title> + <author><name reg="Whymper, Frederick">Frederick Whymper</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date value="2012-04-01">April 1, 2012</date> + <idno type='etext-no'>39341</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere + at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. + You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under + the terms of the Project Gutenberg License online at + www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + <title>The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1</title> + <author><name reg="Whymper, Frederick">Frederick Whymper</name></author> + <imprint> + <publisher>Cassell Petter & Galpin</publisher> + <pubPlace>London, Paris, New York</pubPlace> + </imprint> + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en" /> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2012-04-01">April 1, 2012</date> + <respStmt> + <resp>Produced by <name>Greg Bergquist</name>, <name>Stefan Cramme</name>, + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + (This file was produced from images generously made available by + The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</resp> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> + </teiHeader> + + <pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .center { text-align: center } + .ill { text-align: center } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .antiqua { font-weight: bold } + .small { font-size: 75% } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + head { text-align: center } + lg { margin-left: 2 } + figure { text-align: center } + .w100 { } + .w80 { } + .w40 { } + .w60 { } + @media pdf { + .w40 { width: 40%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w100 { width: 100%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w80 { width: 80%; page-float: 'htp' } + .w60 { width: 60%; page-float: 'htp' } + } + </pgStyleSheet> + <pgCharMap formats="txt"> + <char id="U0x2032"> + <charName>prime</charName> + <desc>PRIME</desc> + <mapping>'</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2009"> + <charName>thinsp</charName> + <desc>THIN SPACE</desc> + <mapping></mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> + </pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> +<front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb/><anchor id="figbritcrme"/> + <pgIf output="txt"><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BRITISH CROSSES & MEDALS, <hi rend="italic">see Key</hi>]</p> + </then><else> + <p rend="center"><figure url="images/illo_002th.jpg" rend="w80"><head>BRITISH CROSSES & MEDALS,<lb/> + <hi rend="italic">see Key</hi> + <lb/><lb/><xref url="images/illo_002.jpg">[larger version]</xref></head> +<figDesc>Illustration: British crosses and medals</figDesc></figure> + </p> + </else></pgIf> + +<pb/> + + <p rend="text-align: center">BRITISH CROSSES AND MEDALS.—(<hi rend='italic'>Coloured Frontispiece.</hi>)</p> + <pgIf output="txt"><then> + <p rend="white-space: pre"> + 1. MEDAL OF ELIZABETH. (DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA, 1588.) + + 2. CRIMEA MEDAL AND 5. NAVAL MEDAL OF 3. CHINA MEDAL WITH + NAVAL CLASP FOR COMMONWEALTH TWO NAVAL CLASPS + AZOFF (1854-6). (1650). (1857-58). + + 4. NAVAL WAR MEDAL 6. CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY + RIBBON (1793, 1840). RIBBON (1854, 1874). + + 7. NAVAL MEDAL OF 8. NAVAL MEDAL OF 9. NAVAL MEDAL OF + COMMONWEALTH CHARLES II. COMMONWEALTH + (BLAKE’S VICTORIES (BLAKE’S VICTORIES + OVER THE DUTCH) OVER THE DUTCH) + (1653). (1653). + + 10. COLLAR OF THE ORDER OF THE BATH. + + 11. GOOD CONDUCT AND 12. BALTIC MEDAL (1854). + LONG-SERVICE MEDAL. + + 13. VICTORIA CROSS 15. ALBERT MEDAL (SEA). + WITH NAVAL RIBBON. + + 14. BADGE OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE BATH + (MILITARY AND NAVAL DIVISION). + </p> + </then><else> +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'ccccccc'"> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="7">1. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Medal of Elizabeth.</hi> (<hi rend='smallcaps'>Defeat of the Armada, 1588.</hi>)</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">2. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Crimea Medal and Naval + Clasp for Azoff</hi> (1854-6).</cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center">5. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Naval Medal of + Commonwealth</hi> (1650).</cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">3. <hi rend='smallcaps'>China Medal with Two + Naval Clasps</hi> (1857-58).</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">4. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Naval War Medal Ribbon</hi> (1793, 1840).</cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">6. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Conspicuous Gallantry + Ribbon</hi> (1854, 1874).</cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">7. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Naval Medal of Commonwealth</hi> +(<hi rend='smallcaps'>Blake’s Victories over the Dutch</hi>) +(1653).</cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center">8. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Naval Medal of + Charles II.</hi></cell> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">9. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Naval Medal of Commonwealth</hi> +(<hi rend='smallcaps'>Blake’s Victories over the Dutch</hi>) +(1653).</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="7">10. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Collar of the Order of the Bath.</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">11. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Good Conduct and + Long-service Medal.</hi></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">12. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Baltic Medal</hi> +(1854).</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="3">13. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Victoria Cross with Naval Ribbon.</hi></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2"></cell> + <cell rend="center" cols="2">15. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Albert Medal</hi> (<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sea</hi>).</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center" cols="7">14. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Badge of the Knights of the Bath</hi> +(<hi rend='smallcaps'>Military and Naval Division</hi>).</cell> + </row> +</table> + </else></pgIf> +<pb/> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb/> + +<p><figure url="images/cover.jpg" rend="w80"><figDesc>Illustration: Illustrated title page</figDesc></figure></p> +<pb/> +</div><titlePage rend="page-break-before: always; center"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgi'/> +<docTitle> + <titlePart type="main"><hi rend='smallcaps; font-size: xx-large'>The Sea</hi></titlePart> + <lb/><lb/> + <titlePart type="sub"><hi rend='italic; font-size: x-large'>Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism.</hi></titlePart> +</docTitle> + <lb/><lb/><lb/> + <byline>BY + <lb/><lb/> + <docAuthor rend="font-size: large">F. WHYMPER,</docAuthor> + <lb/> + <hi rend="small">AUTHOR OF <q>TRAVELS IN ALASKA,</q> ETC.</hi></byline> + <lb/><lb/> + <titlePart><hi rend='italic'>ILLUSTRATED.</hi></titlePart> + <lb/><lb/><lb/> + <docImprint> + <publisher rend="font-size: large"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Cassell Petter & Galpin</hi>:</publisher> + <lb/> + <pubPlace><hi rend='italic'>LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK</hi>.</pubPlace> + </docImprint> + <lb/> + <titlePart rend="small">[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]</titlePart> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgii'/> +</titlePage><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiii'/> +<index index="toc" level1="Contents"/><index index="pdf" level1="Contents"/> +<head>CONTENTS.</head> + +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'lw(65m) r'; latexcolumns: 'p{7.5cm}r'"> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap01">CHAPTER I.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap01">MEN-OF-WAR.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Our Wooden Walls—The <name type="ship">Victory</name>—Siege of Toulon—Battle of St. Vincent—Nelson’s Bridge—Trafalgar’s Glorious Day—The +Day for such Battles gone—Iron <hi rend='italic'>v.</hi> Wood—Lessons of the Crimean War—Moral Effect of the Presence of our +Fleets—Bombardment of Sebastopol—Red-hot Shot and Gibraltar—The Ironclad Movement—The <name type="ship">Warrior</name>—Experiences +with Ironclads—The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> in Hampton Roads—A Speedily-decided Action—The <name type="ship">Cumberland</name> sunk +and <name type="ship">Congress</name> burned—The First Monitor—Engagement with the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>—Notes on Recent Actions—The <name type="ship">Shah</name> +and <name type="ship">Huascar</name>—An Ironclad tackled by a Merchantman</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">4</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap02">CHAPTER II.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap02">MEN OF PEACE.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Naval Life in Peace Times—A Grand Exploring Voyage—The Cruise of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name>—Its Work—Deep-sea Soundings—Five +Miles down—Apparatus employed—Ocean Treasures—A Gigantic Sea-monster—Tristan d’Acunha—A +Discovery Interesting to the Discovered—The Two Crusoes—The Inaccessible Island—Solitary Life—The Sea-cart—Swimming +Pigs—Rescued at Last—The Real Crusoe Island to Let—Down South—The Land of Desolation—Kerguelen—The +Sealers’ Dreary Life—In the Antarctic—Among the Icebergs</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">28</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap03">CHAPTER III.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap03">THE MEN OF THE SEA.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Great Lexicographer on Sailors—The Dangers of the Sea—How Boys become Sailors—Young Amyas Leigh—The +Genuine Jack Tar—Training-Ships <hi rend='italic'>versus</hi> the old Guard-Ships—<q>Sea-goers and Waisters</q>—The Training Undergone—Routine +on Board—Never-ending Work—Ship like a Lady’s Watch—Watches and <q>Bells</q>—Old Grogram +and Grog—The Sailor’s Sheet Anchor—Shadows in the Seaman’s Life—The Naval Cat—Testimony and Opinion +of a Medical Officer—An Example—Boy Flogging in the Navy—Shakespeare and Herbert on Sailors and the +Sea</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">42</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap04">CHAPTER IV.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap04">PERILS OF THE SAILOR’S LIFE.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Loss of the <name type="ship">Captain</name>—Six Hundred Souls swept into Eternity without a Warning—The Mansion and the Cottage +alike Sufferers—Causes of the Disaster—Horrors of the Scene—Noble Captain Burgoyne—Narratives of +Survivors—An almost Incredible Feat—Loss of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>—A Great Disaster caused by a Trifle—Nine +Hundred Lost—A Child saved by a Sheep—The Portholes Upright—An Involuntary Bath of Tar—Rafts of +Corpses—The Vessel Blown up in 1839-40—The Loss of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name>—Half a Million sunk in Fifty Minutes—Admirable +Discipline on Board—All Saved—The Court Martial</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">54</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap05">CHAPTER V.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap05">PERILS OF THE SAILOR’S LIFE (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Value of Discipline—The Loss of the <name type="ship">Kent</name>—Fire on Board—The Ship Waterlogged—Death in Two Forms—A Sail +in Sight—Transference of Six Hundred Passengers to a Small Brig—Splendid Discipline of the Soldiers—Imperturbable +Coolness of the Captain—Loss of the <name type="ship">Birkenhead</name>—Literally broken in Two—Noble Conduct of the +Military—A Contrary Example—Wreck of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>—Run on a Sand-bank—Panic on Board—Raft constructed—Insubordination +and Selfishness—One Hundred and Fifty Souls abandoned—Drunkenness and Mutiny on the + <pb n='iv'/><anchor id='Pgiv'/>Raft—Riots and Murders—Reduced to Thirty Persons—The Stronger Part massacre the Others—Fifteen Left—Rescued +at Last—Another Contrast—Wreck of the <name type="ship">Alceste</name>—Admirable Conduct of the Crew—The Ironclad +Movement—The Battle of the Guns</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">67</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap06">CHAPTER VI.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap06">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Mediterranean—White, Blue, Green, and Purple Waters—Gibraltar—Its History—Its First Inhabitants the Monkeys—The +Moors—The Great Siege preceded by Thirteen Others—The Voyage of Sigurd to the Holy Land—The Third +Siege—Starvation—The Fourth Siege—Red-hot Balls used before ordinary Cannon-balls—The Great Plague—Gibraltar +finally in Christian Hands—A Naval Action between the Dutch and Spaniards—How England won +the Rock—An Unrewarded Hero—Spain’s Attempts to regain it—The Great Siege—The Rock itself and its +Surroundings—The Straits—Ceuta, Gibraltar’s Rival—The Saltness of the Mediterranean—<q>Going aloft</q>—On to +Malta</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">87</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap07">CHAPTER VII.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap07">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + MALTA AND THE SUEZ CANAL.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Calypso’s Isle—A Convict Paradise—Malta, the <q>Flower of the World</q>—The Knights of St. John—Rise of the +Order—The Crescent and the Cross—The Siege of Rhodes—L’Isle Adam in London—The Great Siege of Malta—Horrible +Episodes—Malta in French and English Hands—St. Paul’s Cave—The Catacombs—Modern Incidents—The +Shipwreck of St. Paul—Gales in the Mediterranean—Experiences of Nelson and Collingwood—Squalls +in the Bay of San Francisco—A Man Overboard—Special Winds of the Mediterranean—The Suez Canal +and M. de Lesseps—His Diplomatic Career—Saïd Pacha as a Boy—As a Viceroy—The Plan settled—Financial +Troubles—Construction of the Canal—The Inauguration Fête—Suez—Passage of the Children of Israel through +the Red Sea</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">98</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap08">CHAPTER VIII.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap08">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + THE INDIA AND CHINA STATIONS.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Red Sea and its Name—Its Ports—On to the India Station—Bombay: Island, City, Presidency—Calcutta—Ceylon, +a Paradise—The China Station—Hong Kong—Macao—Canton—Capture of Commissioner Yeh—The Sea of Soup—Shanghai—<q>Jack</q> +Ashore there—Luxuries in Market—Drawbacks: Earthquakes and Sand Showers—Chinese +Explanations of Earthquakes—The Roving Life of the Sailor—Compensating Advantages—Japan and its People—The +Englishmen of the Pacific—Yokohama—Peculiarities of the Japanese—Off to the North</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">117</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap09">CHAPTER IX.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap09">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + NORTHWARD AND SOUTHWARD—THE AUSTRALIAN STATION.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Port of Peter and Paul—Wonderful Colouring of Kamchatka Hills—Grand Volcanoes—The Fight at Petropaulovski—A +Contrast—An International Pic-nic—A Double Wedding—Bering’s Voyages—Kamchatka worthy of Further +Exploration—Plover Bay—Tchuktchi Natives—Whaling—A Terrible Gale—A Novel <q>Smoke-stack</q>—Southward +again—The Liverpool of the East—Singapore, a Paradise—New Harbour—Wharves and Shipping—Cruelties +of the Coolie Trade—Junks and Prahus—The Kling-gharry Drivers—The Durian and its Devotees—Australia—Its +Discovery—Botany Bay and the Convicts—The First Gold—Port Jackson—Beauty of Sydney—Port Philip +and Melbourne</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">131</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap10">CHAPTER X.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap10">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + THE PACIFIC STATION.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Across the Pacific—Approach to the Golden Gate—The Bay of San Francisco—The City—First Dinner Ashore—Cheap +Luxury—San Francisco by Night—The Land of Gold, Grain, and Grapes—Incidents of the Early Days—Expensive +Papers—A Lucky Sailor—Chances for English Girls—The Baby at the Play—A capital Port for Seamen—Hospitality +of Californians—Victoria, Vancouver Island—The Naval Station at Esquimalt—A Delightful Place—Advice to +Intending Emigrants—British Columbian Indians—Their Fine Canoes—Experiences of the Writer—The Island on + <pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/>Fire—The Chinook Jargon—Indian <q>Pigeon-English</q>—North to Alaska—The Purchase of Russian America by the +United States—Results—Life at Sitka—Grand Volcanoes of the Aleutian Islands—The Great Yukon River—American +Trading Posts round Bering Sea</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">156</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap11">CHAPTER XI.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap11">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + FROM THE HORN TO HALIFAX.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The Dreaded Horn—The Land of Fire—Basil Hall’s Phenomenon—A Missing Volcano—The South American Station—Falkland +Islands—A Free Port and Naval Station—Penguins, Peat, and Kelp—Sea Trees—The West India Station—Trinidad—Columbus’s +First View of it—Fatal Gold—Charles Kingsley’s Enthusiasm—The Port of Spain—A Happy-go-lucky +People—Negro Life—Letters from a Cottage Ornée—Tropical Vegetation—Animal Life—Jamaica—Kingston +Harbour—Sugar Cultivation—The Queen of the Antilles—Its Paseo—Beauty of the Archipelago—A +Dutch Settlement in the Heart of a Volcano—Among the Islands—The Souffrière—Historical Reminiscences—Bermuda: +Colony, Fortress, and Prison—Home of Ariel and Caliban—The Whitest Place in the World—Bermuda +Convicts—New York Harbour—The City—First Impressions—Its Fine Position—Splendid Harbour—Forest of +Masts—The Ferry-boats, Hotels, and Bars—Offenbach’s Impressions—Broadway, Fulton Market, and Central +Park—New York in Winter—Frozen Ships—The Great Brooklyn Bridge—Halifax and its Beauties—Importance of +the Station—Bedford Basin—The Early Settlers—The Blue Noses—Adieu to America</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">175</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap12">CHAPTER XII.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap12">ROUND THE WORLD ON A MAN-OF-WAR (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).<lb/> + THE AFRICAN STATION.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Its Extent—Ascension—Turtle at a Discount—Sierra Leone—An Unhealthy Station—The Cape of Good Hope—Cape +Town—Visit of the Sailor Prince—Grand Festivities—Enthusiasm of the Natives—Loyal Demonstrations—An +African <q>Derby</q>—Grand Dock Inaugurated—Elephant Hunting—The Parting Ball—The Life of a Boer—Circular +Farms—The Diamond Discoveries—A £12,000 Gem—A Sailor First President of the Fields—Precarious Nature of +the Search—Natal—Inducements held out to Settlers—St. Helena and Napoleon—Discourteous Treatment of a +Fallen Foe—The Home of the Caged Lion</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">202</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap13">CHAPTER XIII.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap13">THE SERVICE.—OFFICERS’ LIFE ON BOARD.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Conditions of Life on Ship-board—A Model Ward-room—An Admiral’s Cabin—Captains and Captains—The Sailor and +his Superior Officers—A Contrast—A Commander of the Old School—Jack Larmour—Lord Cochrane’s Experiences—His +Chest curtailed—The Stinking Ship—The First Command—Shaving under Difficulties—The <name type="ship">Speedy</name> and her +Prizes—The Doctor—On Board a Gun-boat—Cabin and Dispensary—Cockroaches and Centipedes—Other Horrors—The +Naval Chaplain—His Duties—Stories of an Amateur—The Engineer—His Increasing Importance—Popularity +of the Navy—Nelson always a Model Commander—The Idol of his Colleagues, Officers, and Men—Taking the +Men into his Confidence—The Action between the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> and <name type="ship">Courageux</name>—Captain Falknor’s Speech to the Crew—An +Obsolete Custom—Crossing the Line—Neptune’s Visit to the Quarter-deck—The Navy of To-day—Its Backbone—Progressive +Increase in the Size of Vessels—Naval Volunteers—A Noble Movement—Excellent Results—The +Naval Reserve</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">214</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap14">CHAPTER XIV.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap14">THE REVERSE OF THE PICTURE—MUTINY.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Bligh’s Bread-fruit Expedition—Voyage of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>—Otaheite—The Happy Islanders—First Appearance of a +Mutinous Spirit—The Cutter stolen and recovered—The <name type="ship">Bounty</name> sails with 1,000 Trees—The Mutiny—Bligh +overpowered and bound—Abandoned with Eighteen Others—Their Resources—Attacked by Natives—A Boat +Voyage of 3,618 Miles—Violent Gales—Miserable Condition of the Boat’s Crew—Bread by the Ounce—Rum by +the Tea-spoonful—Noddies and Boobies—<q>Who shall have this?</q>—Off the Barrier Reef—A Haven of Rest—Oyster +and Palm-top Stews—Another Thousand Miles of Ocean—Arrival at Coupang—Hospitality of the +Residents—Ghastly Looks of the Party—Death of Five of the Number—The <name type="ship">Pandora</name> dispatched to catch the +Mutineers—Fourteen in Irons—<name type="ship">Pandora’s</name> Box—The Wreck—Great Loss of Life—Sentences of the Court +Martial—The Last of the Mutineers—Pitcairn Island—A Model Settlement—Another Example: The Greatest +Mutiny of History—40,000 Disaffected Men at One Point—Causes—Legitimate Action of the Men at First—Apathy +of Government—Serious Organisation—The Spithead Fleet ordered to Sea—Refusal of the +Crews—<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/>Concessions made, and the First Mutiny quelled—Second Outbreak—Lord Howe’s Tact—The Great Mutiny of +the Nore—Richard Parker—A Vile Character but Man of Talent—Wins the Men to his Side—Officers flogged +and ducked—Gallant Duncan’s Address—Accessions to the Mutineers—Parker practically Lord High Admiral—His +Extravagant Behaviour—Alarm in London—The Movement dies out by Degrees—Parker’s Cause lost—His +Execution—Mutinies at Other Stations—Prompt Action of Lords St. Vincent and Macartney</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">235</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap15">CHAPTER XV.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap15">THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS.</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>The First Attempts to Float—Hollowed Logs and Rafts—The Ark and its Dimensions—Skin Floats and Basket-boats—Maritime +Commerce of Antiquity—Phœnician Enterprise—Did they round the Cape?—The Ships of +Tyre—Carthage—Hanno’s Voyage to the West Coast of Africa—Egyptian Galleys—The Great Ships of the +Ptolemies—Hiero’s Floating Palace—The Romans—Their Repugnance to Seafaring Pursuits—Sea Battles with +the Carthaginians—Cicero’s Opinions on Commerce—Constantinople and its Commerce—Venice—Britain—The +First Invasion under Julius Cæsar—Benefits accruing—The Danish Pirates—The London of the Period—The +Father of the British Navy—Alfred and his Victories—Canute’s Fleet—The Norman Invasion—The Crusades—Richard +Cœur de Lion’s Fleet—The Cinque Ports and their Privileges—Foundation of a Maritime Code—Letters +of Marque—Opening of the Coal Trade—Chaucer’s Description of the Sailors of his Time—A Glorious +Period—The Victories at Harfleur—Henry V.’s Fleet of 1,500 Vessels—The Channel Marauders—The King-Maker +Pirate—Sir Andrew Wood’s Victory—Action with Scotch Pirates—The <name type="ship">Great Michael</name> and the <name type="ship">Great +Harry</name>—Queen Elizabeth’s Astuteness—The Nation never so well provided—<q>The Most Fortunate and Invincible +Armada</q>—Its Size and Strength—Elizabeth’s Appeal to the Country—A Noble Response—Effingham’s Appointment—The +Armada’s First Disaster—Refitted, and resails from Corunna—Chased in the Rear—A Series of +<hi rend='italic'>Contretemps</hi>—English Volunteer Ships in Numbers—The Fire-ships at Calais—The Final Action—Flight of the +Armada—Fate of Shipwrecked Spanish in Ireland—Total Loss to Spain—Rejoicings and Thanksgivings in +England</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">258</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><hi rend="font-size: large"><ref target="chap16">CHAPTER XVI.</ref></hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell rend="center"><ref target="chap16">THE HISTORY OF SHIPS AND SHIPPING INTERESTS (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Noble Adventurers—The Earl of Cumberland as a Pirate—Rich Prizes—Action with the <name type="ship">Madre de Dios</name>—Capture of the +Great Carrack—A Cargo worth £150,000—Burning of the <name type="ship">Cinco Chagas</name>—But Fifteen saved out of Eleven Hundred +Souls—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Scourge of Malice</name>—Establishment of the Slave Trade—Sir John Hawkins’ Ventures—High-handed +Proceedings—The Spaniards forced to purchase—A Fleet of Slavers—Hawkins sanctioned by <q>Good Queen Bess</q>—Joins +in a Negro War—A Disastrous Voyage—Sir Francis Drake—His First Loss—The Treasure at Nombre de +Dios—Drake’s First Sight of the Pacific—Tons of Silver captured—John Oxenham’s Voyage—The First Englishman +on the Pacific—His Disasters and Death—Drake’s Voyage Round the World—Blood-letting at the Equator—Arrival +at Port Julian—Trouble with the Natives—Execution of a Mutineer—Passage of the Straits of Magellan—Vessels +separated in a Gale—Loss of the <name type="ship">Marigold</name>—Tragic Fate of Eight Men—Drake driven to Cape Horn—Proceedings +at Valparaiso—Prizes taken—Capture of the Great Treasure Ship—Drake’s Resolve to change his +Course Home—Vessel refitted at Nicaragua—Stay in the Bay of San Francisco—The Natives worship the English—Grand +Reception at Ternate—Drake’s Ship nearly wrecked—Return to England—Honours accorded Drake—His +Character and Influence—Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s Disasters and Death—Raleigh’s Virginia Settlements</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">291</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> +</table> + <figure url="images/illo_012.png" rend="w40"><figDesc>Illustration</figDesc></figure> + +</div><div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +<index index="toc" level1="List of illustrations"/><index index="pdf" level1="List of illustrations"/> +<head>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</head> + +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'lw(53m) r'; latexcolumns: 'p{6.5cm}r'"> +<row><cell></cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="small">PAGE</hi></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbritcrme">British Crosses & Medals</ref></cell><cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figexama_ha">Examining a <q>Haul</q> on Board the <name type="ship">Challenger</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>Frontispiece.</hi></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figvictatpo">The <name type="ship">Victory</name> at Portsmouth</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">5</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figrockneca">Rocks near Cape St. Vincent</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">9</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figvictatcl">The <name type="ship">Victory</name> at Close Quarters with the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">12</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figsiegofgi">The Siege of Gibraltar</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">17</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figorigme">The Original <name type="ship">Merrimac</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">21</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figengabeth">Engagement between the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> and <name type="ship">Monitor</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">25</cell></row> + + <row><cell><ref target="figperuirhu">The Peruvian Ironclad <name type="ship">Huascar</name> attacked by two + Chilian Ironclads</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + + <row><cell><ref target="figperuirhu2">The Peruvian Ironclad <name type="ship">Huascar</name></ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figobjeofin">Objects of Interest brought Home by the <name type="ship">Challenger</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">32</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figchalinan">The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> in Antarctic Ice</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">33</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figaccumula">The <q>Accumulator</q></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">35</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figchalatju">The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> at Juan Fernandez</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">36</cell></row> + + <row><cell><ref target="figchalmafa">The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> made fast to St. Paul’s Rocks + (South Atlantic)</ref></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="fignaturoon">The Naturalist’s Room on Board the <name type="ship">Challenger</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">37</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figdredimus">Dredging Implements used by the <name type="ship">Challenger</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">38</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figchictrai">The <name type="ship">Chichester</name> Training-ship</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">45</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figinstonbo">Instruction on Board a Man-of-war</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">49</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcaptinth">The <name type="ship">Captain</name> in the Bay of Biscay</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">56</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figwrecofth">The Wreck of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">61</cell></row> + +<row><cell>T<ref target="figlossofth">he Loss of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 63</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figlossofth2">The Loss of the <name type="ship">Kent</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">64</cell></row> + + <row><cell><ref target="fighms_vaat">H.M.S. <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> at Sea</ref></cell><cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figvangassh">The <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> as she appeared at Low Water</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">65</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figfalmharb">Falmouth Harbour</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">72</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figlossofth3">The Loss of the <name type="ship">Birkenhead</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">73</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figraftofth">The Raft of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">76</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figon__thra">On the Raft of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>—a Sail in sight</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">81</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figsectofa">Section of a First-class Man-of-war</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">84</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figwarrior">The <name type="ship">Warrior</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">85</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figrockofgi">The Rock of Gibraltar from the Mainland</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 87</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figgibrthne">Gibraltar: the Neutral Ground</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">89</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figmoortoat">Moorish Tower at Gibraltar</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">93</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figmalta">Malta</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">96</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figdefeofma">The Defence of Malta by the Knights of St. John against the Turks in 1565</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">100</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcataatci">Catacombs at Citta Vecchia, Malta</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">101</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figm___less">M. Lesseps</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">105</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbirdofsu">Bird’s-eye View of Suez Canal</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">109</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figmap_ofsu">Map of the Suez Canal</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">111</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figopenofth">Opening of the Suez Canal (Procession of Ships)</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 113</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figsuezcadr">The Suez Canal: Dredges at Work</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">113</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcatcpeon">Catching Pelicans on Lake Menzaleh</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">116</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figjiddfrth">Jiddah, from the Sea</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">117</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcyclatca">Cyclone at Calcutta</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">120</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figmacao">Macao</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">124</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figvessinth">Vessels in the Port of Shanghai</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">125</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figyokohama">Yokohama</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">128</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figfusimoun">The Fusiyama Mountain</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">129</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figtea_main">A Tea Mart in Japan</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">133</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figpetranth">Petropaulovski and the Avatcha Mountain</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">137</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figwhalatwo">Whalers at Work</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">140</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figour_pasm">Our <q>Patent Smoke-stack</q></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">141</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figviewinth">View in the Straits of Malacca</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">145</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figjunkina">Junks in a Chinese Harbour</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">148</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figislainth">Island in the Straits of Malacca</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 149</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figchinjuat">Chinese Junk at Singapore</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">149</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figsinglose">Singapore, looking Seawards</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">152</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figlookdoon">Looking down on Singapore</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">153</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figtimbwhat">A Timber Wharf at San Francisco</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">156</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbay_ofsa">The Bay of San Francisco</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">160</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbritcasa">The British Camp: San Juan</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">165</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figportofva">The Port of Valparaiso</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">173</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcapehorn">Cape Horn</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">176</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figlandofco">The Landing of Columbus at Trinidad</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">177</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figviewinja">View in Jamaica</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">180</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figkinghaja">Kingston Harbour, Jamaica</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">181</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="fighavana">Havana</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">184</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcentatth">The <name type="ship">Centaur</name> at the Diamond Rock, Martinique</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 187</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbermfrgi">Bermuda, from Gibbs Hills</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">188</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="fignortrobe">The North Rock, Bermuda</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">189</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbermfldo">The Bermuda Floating Dock</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">192</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figvoyaofth">Voyage of the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">193</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figmap_ofne">Map of New York Harbour</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">195</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figbroobrid">Brooklyn Bridge</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">196</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figferrneyo">Ferry Boat, New York Harbour</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">197</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figislaofas">The Island of Ascension</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">200</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figtridacu">Tristan D’Acunha</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">201</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figsierleon">Sierra Leone</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">204</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figcapetown">Cape Town</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">205</cell></row> + +<row><cell><ref target="figgalapakn">The <name type="ship">Galatea</name> passing Knysna Heads</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">209</cell></row> + +<pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figsthelena">St. Helena</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">213 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figon__deof">On Deck a Man-of-war, Eighteenth Century</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 214</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figbetwdeof">Between Decks of a Man-of-war, Eighteenth Century</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">217 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="fignavaofan">Naval Officers and Seamen, Eighteenth Century</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">221 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figengiofhm">Engine Room of H.M.S. <name type="ship">Warrior</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">225 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figfighbeth">Fight between the <name type="ship">Courageux</name> and the <name type="ship">Bellona</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">229 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figgreahaan">The <name type="ship">Great Harry</name> and <name type="ship">Great Eastern</name> in contrast</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">233 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figcrewofhm">The Crew of H.M.S. <name type="ship">Bounty</name> landing at Otaheite</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">236 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figmutiseca">The Mutineers seizing Captain Bligh</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">237 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figbligcaad">Bligh cast adrift</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">240 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figmap_ofth">Map of the Islands of the Pacific</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">245 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="fighms_brat">H.M.S. <name type="ship">Briton</name> at Pitcairn Island</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">248 +</cell></row> + + <row><cell><ref target="figpitcisla">Pitcairn Island</ref></cell><cell rend="text-align: right"></cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figmutiatpo">The Mutiny at Portsmouth</ref></cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 251 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figadmiduad">Admiral Duncan addressing his Crew</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">253 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figlordstvi">Lord St. Vincent</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">257 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figfleeofro">Fleet of Roman Galleys</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">261 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figapprofth">Approach of the Danish Fleet</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">265 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figshipofwi">Ships of William the Conqueror</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">268 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figcrusansa">Crusaders and Saracens</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">269 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figduelbefr">Duel between French and English Ships</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">272 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figreveofth">Reverse of the Seal of Sandwich</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">274 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figsir_anwo">Sir Andrew Wood’s Victory</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">277 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figold_dedo">Old Deptford Dockyard</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">280 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figdefeofsi">The Defeat of Sir A. Barton</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 280 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figfirsshag">The First Shot against the Armada</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">285 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figfirsshag">The Fire-ships attacking the Armada</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">288 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figdrakfivi">Drake’s First View of the Pacific</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'>To face page</hi> 289 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figqueeelon">Queen Elizabeth on her way to St. Paul’s</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">289 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figearlofcu">The Earl of Cumberland and the <name type="ship">Madre de Dios</name></ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">293 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figon__thco">On the Coast of Cornwall</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">297 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figsir_joha">Sir John Hawkins</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">300 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="fighawkatst">Hawkins at St. Juan de Ulloa</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">301 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figoxenemon">Oxenham embarking on the Pacific</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">304 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figsir_f_dr">Sir F. Drake</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">309 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figdrakarat">Drake’s Arrival at Ternate</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">312 +</cell></row> + +<row><cell> +<ref target="figdeatofsi">The Death of Sir Humphrey Gilbert</ref> </cell><cell rend="text-align: right">317 +</cell></row> +</table> + <figure url="images/illo_014.png" rend="w40"><figDesc>Illustration</figDesc></figure> + </div> +</front> +<body rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='1'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> +<figure url="images/illo_015.jpg" rend="w80"> +<figDesc>Illustration</figDesc> +</figure> +<head>THE SEA.</head> + +<p> +One can hardly gaze upon the great ocean +without feelings akin to awe and reverence. +Whether viewed from some promontory where +the eye seeks in vain another resting-place, +or when sailing over the deep, one looks around +on the unbounded expanse of waters, the sea +must always give rise to ideas of infinite space +and indefinable mystery hardly paralleled by anything +of the earth itself. Beneficent in its calmer aspect, when +the silvery moon lights up the ripples and the good ship +scuds along before a favouring breeze; terrible in its might, +when its merciless breakers dash upon some rock-girt coast, +carrying the gallant bark to destruction, or when, rising +mountains high, the spars quiver and snap before the +tempest’s power, it is always grand, sublime, irresistible. +The great highway of commerce and source of boundless +supplies, it is, notwithstanding its terrors, infinitely more +man’s friend than his enemy. In how great a variety of +aspects may it not be viewed! +</p> + +<p> +The poets have seen in it a <q>type of the Infinite,</q> +<pb n='2'/><anchor id='Pg002'/>and one of the greatest<note place="foot">Milton.</note> has taken us back to those early days of earth’s history when +God said— +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 7'><q rend="post: none"><q rend="post: none">Let there be firmament</q></q></l> +<l>Amid the waters, and let it divide</l> +<l>The waters from the waters.’ ...</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 7'>So He the world</l> +<l>Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Crystalline ocean.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q>Water,</q> said the great Greek lyric poet,<note place="foot">Pindar.</note> <q>is the chief of all.</q> The ocean covers +nearly three-fourths of the surface of our globe. Earth is its mere offspring. The continents +and islands have been and <hi rend='italic'>still are being</hi> elaborated from its depths. All in all, it has not, +however, been treated fairly at the hands of the poets, too many of whom could only see it in +its sterner lights. Young speaks of it as merely a +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'><q rend="post: none">Dreadful and tumultuous home</q></l> +<l>Of dangers, at eternal war with man,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Wide opening and loud roaring still for more,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +ignoring the blessings and benefits it has bestowed so freely, forgetting that man is daily +becoming more and more its master, and that his own country in particular has most successfully +conquered the seemingly unconquerable. Byron, again, says:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Roll on, thou dark and deep blue ocean—roll!</q></l> +<l>Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;</l> +<l>Man marks the earth with ruin—his control</l> +<l>Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The wrecks are all thy deeds.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +And though this is but the exaggerated and not strictly accurate language of poetry, +we may, with Pollok, fairly address the great sea as <q>strongest of creation’s sons.</q> The +first impressions produced on most animals—not excluding altogether man—by the aspect +of the ocean, are of terror in greater or lesser degree. Livingstone tells us that he had +intended to bring to England from Africa a friendly native, a man courageous as the lion he +had often braved. He had never voyaged upon nor even beheld the sea, and on board the +ship which would have safely borne him to a friendly shore he became delirious and +insane. Though assured of safety and carefully watched, he escaped one day, and blindly +threw himself headlong into the waves. The sea terrified him, and yet held and drew +him, fascinated as under a spell. <q>Even at ebb-tide,</q> says Michelet,<note place="foot"><q>La Mer.</q> There is much truth in Michelet’s charming work, but often, as above, presented in an exaggerated +form. Animals, in reality, soon become accustomed to the sea. They show generally, however, a considerable amount +of indisposition to go on board a vessel.</note> <q>when, placid and weary, +the wave crawls softly on the sand, the horse does not recover his courage. He trembles, and +frequently refuses to pass the languishing ripple. The dog barks and recoils, and, according to +his manner, insults the billows which he fears.... We are told by a traveller that the +dogs of Kamtschatka, though accustomed to the spectacle, are not the less terrified and irritated +by it. In numerous troops, they howl through the protracted night against the howling waves, +and endeavour to outvie in fury the Ocean of the North.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='3'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> + +<p> +The civilised man’s fear is founded, it must be admitted, on a reasonable knowledge of the +ocean, so much his friend and yet so often his foe. Man is not independent of his fellow-man +in distant countries, nor is it desirable that he should be. No land produces all the necessaries, +and the luxuries which have begun to be considered necessaries, sufficient for itself. Transportation +by land is often impracticable, or too costly, and the ocean thus becomes the great +highway of nations. Vessel after vessel, fleet after fleet, arrive safely and speedily. But as +there is danger for man lurking everywhere on land, so also is there on the sea. The world’s +wreck-chart for one year must, as we shall see hereafter, be something appalling. That for the +British Empire alone in one year has often exceeded 1,000 vessels, great and small! Averaging +three years, we find that there was an annual loss during that period of 1,095 vessels and 1,952 +lives.<note place="foot">W. S. Lindsay, <q>History of Merchant Shipping,</q> &c.</note> Nor are the ravages of ocean confined to the engulfment of vessels, from rotten +<q>coffin-ships</q> to splendid ironclads. The coasts often bear witness of her fury. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the sea virtually comprises the history of adventure, conquest, and +commerce, in all times, and might almost be said to be that of the world itself. We +cannot think of it without remembering the great voyagers and sea-captains, the brave +naval commanders, the pirates, rovers, and buccaneers of bygone days. Great sea-fights +and notable shipwrecks recur to our memory—the progress of naval supremacy, and the +means by which millions of people and countless millions of wealth have been transferred +from one part of the earth to another. We cannot help thinking, too, of <q>Poor Jack</q> +and life before the mast, whether on the finest vessel of the Royal Navy, or in the worst +form of trading ship. We recall the famous ships themselves, and their careers. We remember, +too, the <q>toilers of the sea</q>—the fishermen, whalers, pearl-divers, and coral-gatherers; +the noble men of the lighthouse, lifeboat, and coastguard services. The horrors of the sea—its +storms, hurricanes, whirlpools, waterspouts, impetuous and treacherous currents—rise +vividly before our mental vision. Then there are the inhabitants of the sea to be considered—from +the tiniest germ of life to the great leviathan, or even the doubtful sea-serpent. +And even the lowest depths of ocean, with their mountains, valleys, plains, and luxurious +marine vegetation, are full of interest; while at the same time we irresistibly think of the +submerged treasure-ships of days gone by, and the submarine cables of to-day. Such +are among the subjects we propose to lay before our readers. <hi rend='smallcaps'>The Sea</hi>, as one great topic, +must comprise descriptions of life on, around, and in the ocean—the perils, mysteries, phenomena, +and poetry of the great deep. The subject is too vast for superfluous detail: it would +require as many volumes as a grand encyclopædia to do it justice; whilst a formal and +chronological history would weary the reader. At all events, the present writer purposes +to occasionally gossip and digress, and to arrange facts in groups, not always following +the strict sequence of events. The voyage of to-day may recall that of long ago: the +discovery made long ago may be traced, by successive leaps, as it were, to its results in +the present epoch. We can hardly be wrong in believing that this grand subject has an +especial interest for the English reader everywhere; for the spirit of enterprise, enthusiasm, +and daring which has carried our flag to the uttermost parts of the earth, and has made +the proud words <q>Britannia rules the waves</q> no idle vaunt, is shared by a very large +<pb n='4'/><anchor id='Pg004'/>proportion of her sons and daughters, at home and abroad. Britain’s part in the exploration +and settlement of the whole world has been so pre-eminent that there can be no wonder +if, among the English-speaking races everywhere, a peculiar fascination attaches to the +sea and all concerning it. Countless thousands of books have been devoted to the land, +not a tithe of the number to the ocean. Yet the subject is one of almost boundless interest, +and has a special importance at the present time, when so much intelligent attention and +humane effort is being put forth to ameliorate the condition of our seafarers. +</p> + <div> +<index index="toc" level1="I. Men-of-War"/><index index="pdf" level1="I. Men-of-War"/><anchor id="chap01"/> +<head>CHAPTER I.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Men-of-War.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Our Wooden Walls—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Victory</name>—Siege of Toulon—Battle of St. Vincent—Nelson’s Bridge—Trafalgar’s glorious Day—The +Day for such Battles gone—Iron <hi rend='italic'>v.</hi> Wood—Lessons of the Crimean War—Moral Effect of the Presence of our +Fleets—Bombardment of Sebastopol—Red-hot Shot and Gibraltar—The Ironclad Movement—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Warrior</name>—Experiences +with Ironclads—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Merrimac</name> in Hampton Roads—A speedily decided Action—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Cumberland</name> sunk and +<name type="ship" rend="italic">Congress</name> burned—The first Monitor—Engagement with the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Merrimac</name>—Notes on recent Actions—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Shah</name> and +<name type="ship" rend="italic">Huascar</name>—An Ironclad tackled by a Merchantman. +</p></argument> +<figure url="images/illo_018.png" rend="w40"><figDesc>Illustration</figDesc></figure> +<p> +If the reader should at any time find himself a visitor to the first +naval port of Great Britain—which he need not be told is Portsmouth—he +will find, lying placidly in the noble harbour, which is +large enough to accommodate a whole fleet, a vessel of modern-antique +appearance, and evidently very carefully preserved. Should +he happen to be there on October 21st, he would find the ship gaily +decorated with wreaths of evergreen and flags, her appearance +attracting to her side an unusual number of visitors in small boats +from the shore. Nor will he be surprised at this when he learns +that it is none other than the famous <name type="ship">Victory</name>, that carried +Nelson’s flag on the sad but glorious day of Trafalgar, and went +bravely through so many a storm of war and weather. Very little +of the oft-shattered hulk of the original vessel remains, it is true—she has +been so often renewed and patched and painted; yet the lines and form +of the old three-decker remain to show us what the flag-ship of Hood, and +Jervis, and Nelson was in general appearance. She towers grandly out of +the water, making the few sailors and loiterers on deck look like marionettes—mere +miniature men; and as our wherry approaches the entrance-port, we +admire the really graceful lines of the planks, diminishing in perspective. The +triple battery of formidable guns, peeping from under the stout old ports which +overshadowed them, the enormous cables and spare anchors, and the immensely thick +masts, heavy shrouds and rigging, which she had in old times, must have given an +impression of solidity in this good old <q>heart of oak</q> which is wanting even in +<pb n='5'/><anchor id='Pg005'/>the strongest-built iron vessel. Many a brave tar has lost his life on her, but yet +she is no coffin-ship. On board, one notes the scrupulous order, the absolute perfection +of cleanliness and trimness; the large guns and carriages alternating with the mess-tables +of the crew. And we should not think much of the man who could stand +emotionless and unmoved over the spots—still pointed out on the upper deck and cockpit +below—where Nelson fell and Nelson died, on that memorable 21st, off Trafalgar Bay. +He had embarked, only five weeks before, from the present resting-place of his brave +old ship, when enthusiastic crowds had pressed forward to bless and take one last +look at England’s preserver. <q>I had their hurrahs before,</q> said the poor shattered +hero; <q>now I have their hearts!</q> And when, three months later, his body was brought +home, the sailors divided the leaden coffin into fragments, as relics of <q>Saint Nelson,</q> +as his gunner had termed him. +</p><anchor id="figvictatpo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT PORTSMOUTH.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_019.png" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT PORTSMOUTH.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT PORTSMOUTH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The <name type="ship">Victory</name> was one of the largest ships of war of her day and generation. She was +rated for 100 guns, but really carried 102, and was classed first-rate with such ships as the +<name type="ship">Royal Sovereign</name> and <name type="ship">Britannia</name>, both of 100, carrying only two in excess of the <q>brave old +<name type="ship">Téméraire</name></q>—made still more famous by Turner’s great picture—and the <name type="ship">Dreadnought</name>, which +<pb n='6'/><anchor id='Pg006'/>but a few years back was such a familiar feature of the reach of the Thames in front of +Greenwich. She was of 2,164 tons burden, and, having been launched in 1765, is now a +good 112 years of age. Her complement was 841 men. From the first she deserved her +name, and seemed destined to be associated with little else than success and triumph. Nelson +frequently complains in his journals of the unseaworthiness of many of his vessels; but this, +his last flag-ship, was a veritable <q>heart of oak,</q> and endured all the tests that the warfare of +the elements or of man could bring against her. +</p> + +<p> +The good ship of which we have spoken more particularly is now enjoying a well-earned +repose, after passing nearly unscathed through the very thick of battles inscribed on the most +brilliant page of our national history. Her part was in reality a very prominent one; and a +glance at a few of the engagements at which she was present may serve to show us what she +and other ships like her were made of, and what they were able to effect in naval warfare. +The <name type="ship">Victory</name> had been built nearly thirty years when, in 1793, she first came prominently +to the front, at the occupation and subsequent siege of Toulon, as the flag-ship of Lord +Hood, then in command of a large fleet destined for the Mediterranean. +</p> + +<p> +France was at that moment in a very revolutionary condition, but in Toulon there +was a strong feeling of loyalty for the Bourbons and monarchical institutions. In the +harbour a large French fleet was assembled—some seventeen vessels of the line, besides +many other smaller craft—while several large ships of war were refitting and building; +the whole under the command of the Comte de Trogoff, an ardent Royalist. On the +appearance of the British fleet in the offing, two commissioners came out to the flag-ship, +the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, to treat for the conditional surrender of the port and shipping. The Government +had not miscalculated the disaffection existing, and the negotiations being completely +successful, 1,700 of our soldiers, sailors, and marines were landed, and shortly afterwards, +when a Spanish fleet appeared, an English governor and a Spanish commandant were +appointed, while Louis XVII. was proclaimed king. But it is needless to say that the +French Republic strongly objected to all this, and soon assembled a force numbering +45,000 men for the recapture of Toulon. The English and their Royalist allies numbered +under 13,000, and it became evident that the city must be evacuated, although not until +it should be half destroyed. The important service of destroying the ships and magazines +had been mainly entrusted to Captain Sir Sidney Smith, who performed his +difficult task with wonderful precision and order, and without the loss of one man. Shots +and shells were plunged into the very arsenal, and trains were laid up to the magazines +and storehouses; a fire-ship was towed into the basin, and in a few hours gave out +flames and shot, accompanied by terrible explosions. The Spanish admiral had undertaken +the destruction of the shipping in the basin, and to scuttle two powder-vessels, but his +men, in their flurry, managed to ignite one of them in place of sinking it, and the explosion +which occurred can be better imagined than described. The explosion shook the <name type="ship">Union</name> +gunboat to pieces, killing the commander and three of the crew; and a second boat was blown +into the air, but her crew were miraculously saved. Having completed the destruction of the +arsenal, Sir Sidney proceeded towards the basin in front of the town, across which a boom had +been laid, where he and his men were received with such volleys of musketry that they +turned their attention in another direction. In the inner road were lying two large 74-gun +<pb n='7'/><anchor id='Pg007'/>ships—the <name type="ship">Héros</name> and <name type="ship">Thémistocle</name>—filled with French prisoners. Although the latter were +greatly superior to the attacking force, they were so terrified that they agreed to be removed +and landed in a place of safety, after which the ships were destroyed by fire. Having done all +that man could do, they were preparing to return, when the second powder-vessel, which should +only have been scuttled by the Spaniards, exploded. Wonderful to relate, although the little +<name type="ship">Swallow</name>, Sir Sidney’s tender, and three boats were in the midst of the falling timbers, and +nearly swamped by the waves produced, they escaped in safety. Nowadays torpedoes would +settle the business of blowing up vessels of the kind in a much safer and surer manner. The +evacuation was effected without loss, nearly 15,000 Toulonese refugees—men, women, and +children—being taken on board for removal to England. Fifteen French ships of war were +taken off as prizes, while the magazines, storehouses, and shipping were destroyed by fire. The +total number of vessels taken or burned by the British was eighteen of the line, nine frigates, +and eleven corvettes, and would have been much greater but for the blundering or treachery +of the Spaniards, and the pusillanimous flight of the Neapolitans. Thus the <name type="ship">Victory</name> was +the silent witness of an almost bloodless success, so far as our forces were concerned, in +spite of the noise and smoke and flame by which it was accompanied. A little later, +she was engaged in the siege of Bastia, Corsica, which was taken by a naval force numbering +about one-fourth of their opponents; and again at Calvi, where Nelson lost an eye +and helped to gain the day. In the spring of 1795 she was again in the Mediterranean, +and for once was engaged in what has been described as a <q>miserable action,</q> +although the action, or want thereof, was all on the part of a vice-admiral who, as +Nelson said, <q>took things too coolly.</q> Twenty-three British line-of-battle ships, whilst +engaging, off the Hyères Isles, only seventeen French, with the certainty of triumphant +results, if not, indeed, of the complete annihilation of the enemy, were signalled by +Admiral Hotham to discontinue the fight. The disgust of the commanders in general +and Nelson in particular can well be understood. The only prize taken, the <name type="ship">Alcide</name>, blew +up, with the loss of half her crew, as if in very disgust at having surrendered, and we +can well believe that even the inanimate timbers of the <name type="ship">Victory</name> and her consorts groaned +as they were drawn off from the scene of action. The fight off the Hyères must be inscribed +in black, but happily the next to be recorded might well be written with letters +of gold in the annals of our country, although its glory was soon afterwards partially +eclipsed by others still greater. +</p> + +<p> +When Sir John Jervis hoisted his flag on board the <name type="ship">Victory</name> it marked an epoch not +merely in our career of conquest, but also in the history of the navy as a navy. Jervis, though +then over sixty years of age, was hale and hearty, and if sometimes stern and severe as a +disciplinarian, should long be remembered as one who honestly and constantly strove to raise +the character of the service to its highest condition of efficiency, and he was brave as a lion. +As the Spanish fleet loomed through the morning fog, off Cape St. Vincent, it was found +that Cordova’s force consisted of twenty-nine large men-of-war, exclusive of a dozen 34-gun +frigates, seventy transports, and other vessels. Jervis was walking the quarter-deck as the +successive reports were brought to him. <q>There are eighteen sail of the line, Sir John.</q> +<q>Very well, sir.</q> <q>There are twenty sail, Sir John.</q> <q>Very well, sir.</q> <q>There are +twenty-seven sail of the line, Sir John; nearly double our own.</q> <q>Enough, sir, no more of +<pb n='8'/><anchor id='Pg008'/>that, sir; if there are fifty I’ll go through them.</q> <q>That’s right, Sir John,</q> said Halliwell, +his flag-captain, <q>and a jolly good licking we’ll give them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The grand fleet of Spain included six ships of 112 guns each, and the flag-ship <name type="ship">Santissima +Trinidada</name>, a four-decker, carrying 130. There were, besides, twenty-two vessels of eighty and +seventy-four guns. To this large force Jervis could only oppose fifteen vessels of the line, +only two of which carried 100 guns, three of ninety-eight guns, one of ninety, and the +remainder, with one exception, seventy-four each. Owing to gross mismanagement on the +part of the Spaniards, their vessels were scattered about in all directions, and six<note place="foot">Southey, in his <q>Life of Nelson,</q> says nine.</note> of them were +separated wholly from the main body, neither could they rejoin it. The English vessels +advanced in two lines, compactly and steadily, and as they neared the Spaniards, were signalled +from the <name type="ship">Victory</name> to tack in succession. Nelson, on the <name type="ship">Captain</name>, was in the rear of the line, +and he perceived that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, either with the intention +of trying to join their separated ships, or perhaps to avoid an engagement altogether. By +disobeying the admiral’s signal, he managed to run clear athwart the bows of the Spanish +ships, and was soon engaged with the great <name type="ship">Santissima Trinidada</name>, four other of the larger +vessels, and two smaller ones. Trowbridge, in the <name type="ship">Culloden</name>, immediately came to the support, +and for nearly an hour the unequal contest continued, till the <name type="ship">Blenheim</name> passed between them +and the enemy, and gave them a little respite, pouring in her fire upon the Spaniards. One of +the Spanish seventy-fours struck, and Nelson thought that the <name type="ship">Salvador</name>, of 112 guns, struck +also. <q>Collingwood,</q> wrote Nelson, <q>disdaining the parade of taking possession of beaten +enemies, most gallantly pushed up, with every sail set, to save his old friend and messmate, who +was, to appearance, in a critical situation,</q> for the <name type="ship">Captain</name> was being peppered by five vessels +of the enemy’s fleet, and shortly afterwards was rendered absolutely incapable—not a sail, +shroud, or rope left, with a topmast and the steering-wheel shot away. As Dr. Bennett +sings<note place="foot"><q>Songs for Sailors.</q></note>— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Ringed round by five three-deckers, she had fought through all the fight,</q></l> +<l>And now, a log upon the waves, she lay—a glorious sight—</l> +<l>All crippled, but still full of fight, for still her broadsides roared,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Still death and wounds, fear and defeat, into the Don she poured.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Two of Nelson’s antagonists were now nearly <hi rend='italic'>hors de combat</hi>, one of them, the <name type="ship">San Nicolas</name>, +in trying to escape from Collingwood’s fire, having got foul of the <name type="ship">San Josef</name>. Nelson +resolved in an instant to board and capture <hi rend='italic'>both</hi>—an unparalleled feat, which, however, +was accomplished, although +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'><q rend="post: none">To get at the <name type="ship">San Josef</name>, it seemed beyond a hope;</q></l> +<l>Out then our admiral spoke, and well his words our blood could stir—</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none"><q>In, boarders, to their seventy-four! We’ll make a bridge of her.</q></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The <q>bridge</q> was soon taken; but a steady fire of musketry was poured upon them from +the <name type="ship">San Josef</name>. Nelson directed his people to fire into the stern, and sending for more +boarders, led the way up the main-chains, exclaiming, <q>Westminster Abbey or victory!</q> +In a few moments the officers and crew surrendered; and on the quarter-deck of a Spanish +first-rate he received the swords of the vanquished, which he handed to William Fearney, +<pb n='9'/><anchor id='Pg009'/>one of his bargemen, who tucked them, with the greatest <hi rend='italic'>sang-froid</hi>, in a perfect sheaf +under his arm. The <name type="ship">Victory</name> came up at the moment, and saluted the conquerors with +hearty cheers. +</p> + +<p> +It will be hardly necessary here to point out the altered circumstances of naval +warfare at the present day. A wooden vessel of the old type, with large and numerous +portholes, and affording other opportunities for entering or climbing the sides, is a +very different affair to the modern smooth-walled iron vessel, on which a fly would +hardly get a foothold, with few openings or weak points, and where the grappling-iron +would be useless. Apart from this, with heavy guns carrying with great accuracy, and +the facilities afforded by steam, we shall seldom hear, in the future, of a fight at close +quarters; skilful manœuvring, impossible with a sailing vessel, will doubtless be more +in vogue. +</p><anchor id="figrockneca"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ROCKS NEAR CAPE ST. VINCENT.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_023.png" rend="w80"><head>ROCKS NEAR CAPE ST. VINCENT.</head> + <figDesc>ROCKS NEAR CAPE ST. VINCENT.</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Meantime, the <name type="ship">Victory</name> had not been idle. In conjunction with two of the fleet, she +had succeeded in silencing the <name type="ship">Salvador del Mundi</name>, a first-rate of 112 guns. When, +after the fight, Nelson went on board the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, Sir John Jervis took him to his arms, +and insisted that he should keep the sword taken from the Spanish rear-admiral. When +it was hinted, during some private conversation, that Nelson’s move was unauthorised, +<pb n='10'/><anchor id='Pg010'/>Jervis had to admit the fact, but promised to forgive any such breach of orders, accompanied +with the same measure of success. +</p> + +<p> +The battle had now lasted from noon, and at five p.m. four Spanish line-of-battle vessels +had lowered their colours. Even the great <name type="ship">Santissima Trinidada</name> might then have become a +prize but for the return of the vessels which had been cut off from the fleet in the morning, +and which alone saved her. Her colours had been shot away, and she had hoisted English +colours in token of submission, when the other ships came up, and Cordova reconsidered +his step. Jervis did not think that his fleet was quite equal to a fresh conflict; and the +Spaniards showed no desire to renew the fight. They had lost on the four prizes, alone, +261 killed, and 342 wounded, and in all, probably, nearly double the above. The British +loss was seventy-three killed, and 227 wounded. +</p> + +<p> +Of Trafalgar and of Nelson, both day and man so intimately associated with our +good ship, what can yet be said or sung that has gone unsaid, unsung?—how when he +left Portsmouth the crowds pressed forward to obtain one last look at their hero—England’s +greatest hero—and <q>knelt down before him, and blessed him as he passed;</q><note place="foot">Southey’s <q>Life of Nelson.</q></note> that beautiful +prayer, indited in his cabin, <q>May the great God whom I worship grant to my country, +and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory, and may no +misconduct in any one tarnish it, and may humanity after victory be the predominant +feature of the British fleet,</q> or the now historical signal which flew from the mizen top-gallant +mast of that noble old ship, and which has become one of the grand mottoes of +our tongue, are facts as familiar to every reader as household words. +</p> + +<p> +The part directly played by the <name type="ship">Victory</name> herself in the battle of Trafalgar was second +to none. From the very first she received a raking fire from all sides, which must have +been indeed severe, when we find the words extorted from Nelson, <q>This is too warm +work to last long,</q> addressed to Captain Hardy. At that moment fifty of his men were +lying dead or wounded, while the <name type="ship">Victory’s</name> mizen-mast and wheel were shot away, and her sails +hanging in ribbons. To the terrible cannonading of the enemy, Nelson had not yet +returned a shot. He had determined to be in the very thick of the fight, and was +reserving his fire. Now it was that Captain Hardy represented to Nelson the impracticability +of passing through the enemy’s line without running on board one of their +ships; he was coolly told to take his choice. The <name type="ship">Victory</name> was accordingly turned on +board the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name>, the commander of which, Captain Lucas, in a resolute endeavour to +block the passage, himself ran his bowsprit into the figurehead of the <name type="ship">Bucentaure</name>, and +the two vessels became locked together. Not many minutes later, Captain Harvey, of +the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name>, seeing the position of the <name type="ship">Victory</name> with her two assailants, fell on board +the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name>, on the other side, so that these four ships formed as compact a tier as +though moored together. The <name type="ship">Victory</name> fired her middle and lower deck guns into the +<name type="ship">Redoubtable</name>, which returned the fire from her main-deck, employing also musketry and +brass pieces of larger size with most destructive effects from the tops. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none"><name type="ship">Redoubtable</name> they called her—a curse upon her name!</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">’Twas from her tops the bullet that killed our hero <anchor id="corr010"/><corr sic="(quote and period missing)">came.</corr></q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='11'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> + +<p> +Within a few minutes of Lord Nelson’s fall, several officers and about forty men +were either killed or wounded from this source. But a few minutes afterwards the +<name type="ship">Redoubtable</name> fell on board the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name>, the French ship’s bowsprit passing over the +British ship. Now came one of the warmest episodes of the fight. The crew of the +<name type="ship">Téméraire</name> lashed their vessel to their assailants’ ship, and poured in a raking fire. But +the French captain, having discovered that—owing, perhaps, to the sympathy exhibited +for the dying hero on board the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, and her excessive losses in men—her +quarter-deck was quite deserted, now ordered an attempt at boarding the latter. This +cost our flag-ship the lives of Captain Adair and eighteen men, but at the same moment +the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name> opened fire on the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name> with such effect that Captain Lucas and +200 men were themselves placed <hi rend='italic'>hors de combat</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +In the contest we have been relating, the coolness of the <name type="ship">Victory’s</name> men was signally +evinced. <q>When the guns on the lower deck were run out, their muzzles came in +contact with the sides of the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name>, and now was seen an astounding spectacle. +Knowing that there was danger of the French ship taking fire, the fireman of each +gun on board the British ship stood ready with a bucketful of water to dash into +the hole made by the shot of his gun—thus beautifully illustrating Nelson’s prayer, +<q>that the British might be distinguished by humanity in victory.</q> Less considerate +than her antagonist, the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name> threw hand-grenades from her tops, which, falling +on board herself, set fire to her, ... and the flame communicated with the foresail +of the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name>, and caught some ropes and canvas on the booms of the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, +risking the destruction of all; but by immense exertions the fire was subdued in the +British ships, whose crews lent their assistance to extinguish the flames on board the +<name type="ship">Redoubtable</name>, by throwing buckets of water upon her chains and forecastle.</q><note place="foot"><q>Annals of the Wars of the Nineteenth Century,</q> by the Hon. Sir Edward Cust, D.C.L., &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Setting aside, for the purpose of clearness, the episode of the taking of the <name type="ship">Fougueux</name>, +which got foul of the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name> and speedily surrendered, we find, five minutes later, +the main and mizen masts of the <name type="ship">Redoubtable</name> falling—the former in such a way across +the <name type="ship">Téméraire</name> that it formed a bridge, over which the boarding-party passed and took +quiet possession. Captain Lucas had so stoutly defended his flag, that, out of a crew of +643, only 123 were in a condition to continue the fight; 522 were lying killed or +wounded. The <name type="ship">Bucentaure</name> soon met her fate, after being defended with nearly equal +bravery. The French admiral, Villeneuve, who was on board, said bitterly, just before +surrendering, <q><hi rend='italic'>Le Bucentaure a rempli sa tâche; la mienne n’est pas encore achevée</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Let the reader remember that the above are but a few episodes of the most complete +and glorious victory ever obtained in naval warfare. Without the loss of one single +vessel to the conqueror, more than half the ships of the enemy were captured or +destroyed, while the remainder escaped into harbour to rot in utter uselessness. Twenty-one +vessels were lost for ever to France and Spain. It is to be hoped and believed that +no such contest will ever again be needed; but should it be needed, it will have to be +fought by very different means. The instance of four great ships locked together, +dealing death and destruction to each other, has never been paralleled. Imagine that +<pb n='13'/><anchor id='Pg013'/>seething, fighting, dying mass of humanity, with all the horrible concomitants of +deafening noise and blinding smoke and flashing fire! It is not likely ever to occur in +modern warfare. The commanders of steam-vessels of all classes will be more likely to +fight at out-manœuvring and shelling each other than to come to close quarters, which +would generally mean blowing up together. It would <anchor id="corr013"/><corr sic="(added)">be</corr> interesting to consider how +Nelson would have acted with, and opposed to, steam-frigates and ironclads. He +would, no doubt, have been as courageous and far-seeing and rapid in action as ever, +but hardly as reckless, or even daring. +</p><anchor id="figvictatcl"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT CLOSE QUARTERS WITH THE <q>REDOUBTABLE.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_026.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT CLOSE QUARTERS WITH THE <q>REDOUBTABLE.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE <q>VICTORY</q> AT CLOSE QUARTERS WITH THE <q>REDOUBTABLE</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">And still, though seventy years, boys,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Have gone, who, without pride,</l> +<l>Names his name—tells his fame</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">Who at Trafalgar died?</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +May we always have a Nelson in the hour of national need! +</p> + +<p> +The day for such battles as this is over; there may be others as gloriously fought, but +never again by the same means. Ships, armaments, and modes of attack and defence +are, and will be, increasingly different. Those who have read Nelson’s private letters and +journals will remember how he gloried in the appreciation of his subordinate officers just +before Trafalgar’s happy and yet fatal day, when he had explained to them his intention to +attack the enemy with what was practically a wedge-formed fleet. He was determined to +break their line, and, Nelson-like, he did. But that which he facetiously christened the +<q>Nelson touch</q> would itself nowadays be broken up in a few minutes and thrown into utter +confusion by any powerfully-armed vessel hovering about under steam. Or if the wedge of +wooden vessels were allowed to form, as they approached the apex, a couple of ironclads +would take them in hand coolly, one by one, and send them to the bottom, while their guns +might as well shoot peas at the ironclads as the shot of former days. +</p> + +<p> +Taking the <name type="ship">Victory</name> as a fair type of the best war-ships of her day (a day when there was +not that painful uncertainty with regard to naval construction and armament existing now, in +spite of our vaunted progress), we still know that in the presence of a powerful steam-frigate +with heavy guns, or an 11,000-ton ironclad, she would be literally nowhere. She was one of the +last specimens, and a very perfect specimen, too, of the <hi rend='italic'>wooden</hi> age. This is the age of iron +and steam. One of the largest vessels of her day, she is now excelled by hundreds employed in +ordinary commerce. The Royal Navy to-day possesses frigates nearly three times her tonnage, +while we have ironclads of five times the same. The monster <name type="ship">Great Eastern</name>, which +has proved a monstrous mistake, is 22,500 tons. +</p> + +<p> +But size is by no means the only consideration in constructing vessels of war, and, +indeed, there are good reasons to believe that, in the end, vessels of moderate dimensions will +be preferred for most purposes of actual warfare. Of the advantages of steam-power there +can, of course, be only one opinion; but as regards iron <hi rend='italic'>versus</hi> oak, there are many points +which may be urged in favour of either, with a preponderance in favour of the former. A +strong iron ship, strange as it may appear, is not more than half the weight of a wooden +vessel of the same size and class. It will, to the unthinking, seem absurd to say that an +iron ship is more buoyant than one of oak, but the fact is that the proportion of actual +weight in iron and wooden vessels of ordinary construction is about six to twenty. The iron +<pb n='14'/><anchor id='Pg014'/>ship, therefore, stands high out of the water, and to sink it to the same line will require a +greater weight on board. From this fact, and the actual <hi rend='italic'>thinness</hi> of its walls, its carrying +capacity and stowage are so much the greater. This, which is a great point in vessels destined +for commerce, would be equally important in war. But these remarks do not apply to the +modern armoured vessel. We have ironclads with plates eighteen inches and upwards in +thickness. What is the consequence? Their actual weight, with that of the necessary engines +and monster guns employed, is so great that a vast deal of room on board has to be +unemployed. Day by day we hear of fresh experiments in gunnery, which keep pace +with the increased strength of the vessels. The invulnerable of to-day is the vulnerable +of to-morrow, and there are many leading authorities who believe in a return to a smaller +and weaker class of vessel—provided, however, with all the appliances for great speed and +offensive warfare <hi rend='italic'>at a distance</hi>. Nelson’s preference for small, easily-worked frigates over +the great ships of the line is well known, and were he alive to-day we can well believe that he +would prefer a medium-sized vessel of strong construction, to steam with great speed, and +carrying heavy, but, perhaps, not the heaviest guns, to one of those modern unwieldy masses +of iron, which have had, so far, a most disastrous history. The former might, so to speak, act +while the latter was making up her mind. Even a Nelson might hesitate to risk a vessel +representing six or seven hundred thousand pounds of the nation’s money, in anything short of +an assured success. We have, however, yet to learn the full value and power of our ironclad +fleet. Of its cost there is not a doubt. Some time ago our leading newspaper estimated +the expense of construction and maintenance of our existing ironclads at £18,000,000. +Mr. Reed states that they have cost the country a million sterling per annum since the first +organisation of the fleet. Warfare will soon become a luxury only for the richest nations, and, +regarding it in this light, perhaps the very men who are racking their powers of invention to +discover terrible engines of war are the greatest peacemakers, after all. They may succeed in +making it an impossibility. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Hereafter, naval powers prepared with the necessary fleet will be able to transport the +base of operations to any point on the enemy’s coast, turn the strongest positions, and baffle +the best-arranged combinations. Thanks to steam, the sea has become a means of communication +more certain and more simple than the land; and fleets will be able to act the part of +movable bases of operations, rendering them very formidable to powers which, possessing +coasts, will not have any navy sufficiently powerful to cause their being respected.</q><note place="foot">Brialmont, <q>Étude sur la Défense des Etats et sur la Fortification.</q></note> So far +as navy to navy is concerned, this is undoubtedly true; yet there is another side to the question. +A fort is sometimes able to inflict far greater damage upon its naval assailants than the latter +can inflict upon it. A single shot may send a ship to the bottom, whilst the fire from the ship +during action is more or less inaccurate. At Sebastopol, a whole French fleet, firing at ranges +of 1,600 to 1,800 yards, failed to make any great impression on a fort close to the water’s edge; +while a wretched earthen battery, mounting only five guns, inflicted terrible losses and injury +on four powerful English men-of-war, actually disabling two of them, without itself losing one +man or having a gun dismounted; while, as has been often calculated, the cost of a +single sloop of war with its equipment will construct a fine fort which will last almost for +<pb n='15'/><anchor id='Pg015'/>ever, while that of two or three line-of-battle ships would raise a considerable fortress. Whilst +the monster ironclad with heavy guns would deal out death and destruction when surrounded +by an enemy’s fleet of lighter iron vessels or wooden ones as strong as was the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, she +would herself run great risk in approaching closely-fortified harbours and coasts, where a +single shot from a gun heavy enough to pierce her armour might sink her. Her safety would +consist in firing at long ranges and in steaming backwards and forwards. +</p> + +<p> +The lessons of the Crimean war, as regards the navy, were few, but of the gravest +importance, and they have led to results of which we cannot yet determine the end. The +war opened by a Russian attack on a Turkish squadron at Sinope, November 20th, 1853.<note place="foot">The Turks had at Sinope seven frigates, one sloop, two corvettes, and two transports. The Russians were +stronger, but this did not determine the battle; their success was won because they were well supplied with +large shells and shell-guns, while the Turks had nothing more effective than 24-pounders. Their wooden +vessels were speedily on fire, and the Russians won an easy success. Shells were no novelty, yet a great +sea-fight had never before been, as it was then, won by their exclusive agency.</note> +That determined the fact that a whole fleet might be annihilated in an hour or so by +the use of large shells. No more necessity for grappling and close quarters; the iron +age was full in view, and wooden walls had outlived their usefulness, and must perish. +</p> + +<p> +But the lesson had to be again impressed, and that upon a large English and French +fleet. Yet, in fairness to our navy, it must be remembered that the Russians had spent +every attention to rendering Sebastopol nearly impregnable on the sea-side, while a distinguished +writer,<note place="foot">The Hon. S. J. G. Calthorpe, <q>Letters from Head-quarters.</q></note> who was present throughout the siege, assures us that until the preceding +spring they had been quite indifferent in regard to the strength of the fortifications +on the land-side. And the presence of the allied fleets was the undeniable cause of one +Russian fleet being sunk in the harbour of Sebastopol, while another dared not venture +out, season after season, from behind stone fortresses in the shallow waters of Cronstadt.<note place="foot">The seven Russian ships sunk at the entrance of the harbour of Sebastopol were of no small size or +value, and they were scuttled in a hurry so great that they had all their guns, ammunition, and stores on +board, and their rigging standing. They comprised five +line-of-battle ships, two of them eighty, two eighty-four, +and one 120 guns, and two frigates of forty guns; a total of 528 guns. Afterwards it became a common +report that vessels had been disabled and sunk in the harbour. On the night of the 5th of September, just +before the evacuation of the town, two large Russian men-of-war caught fire and burned fiercely, illumining the +harbour and town, and causing great excitement, as an omen of coming doom. The night of the memorable +8th, when the Russians gave up all further idea of resistance, and left the town to take care of itself, +witnessed the sinking of the remainder of the Black Sea fleet. So far, therefore, the presence of our fleet had +a pronounced moral effect, without involving further loss of life.</note> +A great naval authority thinks that, while England was, at the time, almost totally +deficient in the class of vessels essential to attacking the fleets and fortifications of +Russia, the fact that the former never dared <q>to accept the challenge of any British +squadron, however small, is one the record of which we certainly may read without +shame.</q> But of that period it would be more pleasant to write exultingly than +apologetically. +</p> + +<p> +When the Allies had decided to commence the bombardment of Sebastopol, on October +17th, 1854, it was understood that the fleet should co-operate, and that the attack should +be made by the line-of-battle ships in a semicircle. They were ready at one p.m. to commence +<pb n='16'/><anchor id='Pg016'/>the bombardment. Lyons brought the <name type="ship">Agamemnon</name>, followed by half a dozen other vessels, +to within 700 yards of Fort Constantine, the others staying at the safer distances of 1,800 +to 2,200 yards. The whole fleet opened with a tremendous roar of artillery, to which +the Russians replied almost as heavily. Fort Constantine was several times silenced, and +greatly damaged; but, on the other hand, the Russians managed to kill forty-seven and wound +234 men in the English fleet, and a slightly smaller number in the French. They had an +unpleasant knack of firing red-hot shot in profusion, and of hitting the vessels even at +the distance at which they lay. Several were set on fire, and two for a time had to retire +from the action. These were practical shots at our wooden walls. This naval attack +has been characterised as <q>even a greater failure than that by land</q>—meaning, of course, the +first attack. +</p> + +<p> +Here we may for a moment be allowed to digress and remind the reader of the important +part played by red-hot shot at that greatest of all great sieges—Gibraltar. As each accession +to the enemy’s force arrived, General Elliott calmly built more furnaces and more grates for +heating his most effective means of defence. Just as one of their wooden batteries was on +the point of completion, he gave it what was termed at the time a dose of <q>cayenne +pepper;</q> in other words, with red-hot shot and shells he set it on fire. When the +ordnance portable furnaces for heating shot proved insufficient to supply the demands of the +artillery, he ordered large bonfires to be kindled, on which the cannon-balls were thrown; and +these supplies were termed by the soldiers <q>hot potatoes</q> for the enemy. But the great +triumph of red-hot shot was on that memorable 13th of September, 1782, when forty-six +sail of the line, and a countless fleet of gun and mortar boats attacked the fortress. +With all these appliances of warfare, the great confidence of the enemy—or rather, combined +enemies—was in their floating batteries, planned by D’Arcon, an eminent French +engineer, and which had cost a good half million sterling. They were supposed to be +impervious to shells or red-hot shot. After persistently firing at the fleet, Elliott started +the admiral’s ship and one of the batteries commanded by the Prince of Nassau. This +was but the commencement of the end. The unwieldy leviathans could not be shifted +from their moorings, and they lay helpless and immovable, and yet dangerous to their +neighbours; for they were filled with the instruments of destruction. Early the next +morning eight of these vaunted batteries <q>indicated the efficacy of the red-hot defence. +The light produced by the flames was nearly equal to noonday, and greatly exposed the +enemy to observation, enabling the artillery to be pointed upon them with the utmost +precision. The rock and neighbouring objects are stated to have been highly illuminated +by the constant flashes of cannon and the flames of the burning ships, forming a mingled +scene of sublimity and terror.</q><note place="foot">Cust, <q>Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth Century.</q></note> <q>An indistinct clamour, with lamentable cries and groans, +arose from all quarters.</q><note place="foot">Drinkwater, <q>Siege of Gibraltar.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +When 400 pieces of artillery were playing on the rock at the same moment, Elliott +returned the compliment with a shower of red-hot balls, bombs, and carcases, that filled +the air, with little or no intermission. The Count d’Artois had hastened from Paris to +<pb n='18'/><anchor id='Pg018'/>witness a capitulation. He arrived in time to see the total destruction of the floating +batteries and a large part of the combined fleet. Attempting a somewhat feeble joke, he +wrote to France:—<q><hi rend='italic'>La batterie la plus effective était ma batterie de cuisine</hi>.</q> Elliott’s +cooking-apparatus and <q>roasted balls</q> beat it all to nothing. Red-hot shot has been +entirely superseded in <q>civilised</q> warfare by shells. It was usually handled much in the +same way that ordinary shot and shell is to-day. Each ball was carried by two men, +having between them a strong iron frame, with a ring in the middle to hold it. There +were two heavy wads, one dry and the other slightly damped, between the powder and +ball. At the siege of Gibraltar, however, matters were managed in a much more rough-and-ready +style. The shot was heated at furnaces and wheeled off to the guns in wheelbarrows +lined with sand. +</p><anchor id="figsiegofgi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_031.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR</head> + <figDesc>THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The partial failure of the navy to co-operate successfully with the land-forces, so far +as bombardment was concerned, during the Crimean war, has had much to do with the +adoption of the costly ironclad floating fortresses, armed with enormously powerful guns, +of the present day. The earliest form, indeed, was adopted during the above war, +but not used to any great extent or advantage. The late Emperor of the French<note place="foot">Some have even gone so far as to consider Louis Napoleon the inventor of iron-plated and armoured vessels. +This is absurd. The ancients knew the use of plates of iron or brass for covering ships of war and battering-rams. +One of Hiero’s greatest galleys was covered that way. That it must come to this sooner or later was the published +idea of many, both in this country and in France. The Emperor’s sagacity, however, was always fully alive to +questions of the kind.</note> saw +that the coming necessity or necessary evil would be some form of strongly-armoured +and protected floating battery that could cope with fortresses ashore, and this was the +germ of the ironclad movement. The first batteries of this kind, used successfully at +Kinburn, were otherwise unseaworthy and unmanageable, and were little more than +heavily-plated and more or less covered barges. +</p> + +<p> +The two earliest European ironclads were <name type="ship">La Gloire</name> in France and the <name type="ship">Warrior</name> in +England—the latter launched in 1860. Neither of these vessels presented any great +departure from the established types of build in large ships of war. The <name type="ship">Warrior</name> is an undeniably +fine, handsome-looking frigate, masted and rigged as usual, but she and her sister-ship, +the <name type="ship">Black Prince</name>, are about the only ironclads to which these remarks apply—every form +and variety of construction having been adopted since. As regarded size, she was considerably +larger than the largest frigate or ship of the line of our navy, although greatly +exceeded by many ironclads subsequently built. She is 380 feet in length, and her displacement +of more than 9,100 tons was 3,000 tons greater than that of the largest of the +wooden men-of-war she was superseding. The <name type="ship">Warrior</name> is still among the fastest of the +iron-armoured fleet. Considered <hi rend='italic'>as</hi> an ironclad, however, she is a weak example. Her armour, +which protects only three-fifths of her sides, is but four and a half inches thick, with eighteen +inches of (wood) backing, and five-eighths of an inch of what is technically called <q>skin-plating,</q> +for protection inside. The remote possibility of a red-hot shot or shell falling +inside has to be considered. Her bow and stern, rudder-head and steering-gear, would, of +course, be the vulnerable points. +</p> + +<p> +From this small beginning—one armoured vessel—our ironclad fleet has grown with +<pb n='19'/><anchor id='Pg019'/>the greatest rapidity, till it now numbers over sixty of all denominations of vessels. +The late Emperor of the French gave a great impetus to the movement; and other +foreign nations speedily following in his wake, it clearly behoved England to be able to +cope with them on their own ground, should occasion demand. Then there was the +<q>scare</q> of invasion which took some hold of the public mind, and was exaggerated by +certain portions of the press, at one period, till it assumed serious proportions. Leading +journals complained that by the time the Admiralty would have one or two ironclads in +commission, the French would have ten or twelve. Thus urged, the Government of the +day must be excused if they made some doubtful experiments and costly failures. +</p> + +<p> +But apart from the lessons of the Crimea, and the activity and rivalry of foreign +powers, attention was seriously drawn to the ironclad question by the events of the day. +It was easy to guess and theorise concerning this new feature in warfare, but early in +1862 practical proof was afforded of its power. The naval engagement which took place +in Hampton Roads, near the outset of the great American civil war, was the first time +in which an ironclad ship was brought into collision with wooden vessels, and also the +first time in which two distinct varieties of the species were brought into collision with +each other. +</p> + +<p> +The Southerners had, when the strife commenced, seized and partially burned +the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>, a steam-frigate belonging to the United States navy, then lying +at the Norfolk Navy-yard. The hulk was regarded as nearly worthless,<note place="foot">The report of the Chief Engineer and Naval Constructor of the Confederate Service, in regard to the conversion +of the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> into an armoured vessel, distinctly stated that from the effects of fire she was <q>useless +for any other purpose, without incurring a very heavy expense for rebuilding.</q></note> until, looking +about for ways and means to annoy their opponents, they hit on the idea of armouring +her, in the best manner attainable at the moment; and for awhile at least, this +condemned wreck, resuscitated, patched up, and covered with iron plates,<note place="foot">The official reports state that she was plated, many popular accounts averring that she was only covered +with <q>railroad iron.</q> The information presented here is drawn from the following sources:—<q>The Rebellion +Record,</q> a voluminous work, edited by Frank Moore, of New York, and which contains all the leading official +war-documents, both of the Federals and Confederates; the statement of Mr. A. B. Smith, pilot of the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, +one of the survivors of the fight; the Baltimore <hi rend='italic'>American</hi>, and the Norfolk <hi rend='italic'>Day Book</hi>, both newspapers published +near the scene of action. There is great unanimity in the accounts published on both sides.</note> became the +terror of the enemy. She was provided with an iron prow or ram capable of inflicting +a severe blow under water. Her hull, cut down to within three feet of the water-line, +was covered by a bomb-proof, sloping-roofed house, which extended over the screw and +rudder. This was built of oak and pine, covered with iron; the latter being four and a +half inches thick, and the former aggregating twenty inches in thickness. While the +hull was generally iron-plated, the bow and stern were covered with steel. There were +no masts—nothing seen above but the <q>smoke-stack</q> (funnel), pilot-house, and flagstaff. +She carried eight powerful guns, most of them eleven-inch. <q>As she came ploughing +through the water,</q> wrote one eyewitness of her movements, <q>she looked like a huge +half-submerged crocodile.</q> The Southerners re-christened her the <name type="ship">Virginia</name>, but her older +name has clung to her. The smaller vessels with her contributed little to the issue of +the fight, but those opposed to her were of no inconsiderable size. The <name type="ship">Congress</name>, <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, +<pb n='20'/><anchor id='Pg020'/><name type="ship">Minnesota</name>, and <name type="ship">Roanoake</name> were frigates carrying an aggregate of over 150 guns and nearly +2,000 men. They, however, were wooden vessels; and although, in two cases in particular, +defended with persistent heroism, had no chance against the ironclad, hastily as she had +been prepared. There is little doubt that the officers of the two former vessels, in +particular, knew something of the nature of the <q>forlorn hope</q> in which they were about +to engage, when she hove in sight on that memorable 8th of March, 1862. It is said +that the sailors, however, derided her till she was close upon them—so close that their +laughter and remarks were heard on board. <q>That Southern Bugaboo,</q> <q>that old Secesh +curiosity,</q> were among the milder titles applied to her. +</p><anchor id="figorigme"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE ORIGINAL <q>MERRIMAC.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_035.png" rend="w80"><head>THE ORIGINAL <q>MERRIMAC.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE ORIGINAL <q>MERRIMAC.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The engagement was fought in the Hampton Roads, which is virtually an outlet of +the James River, Virginia. The latter, like the Thames, has considerable breadth +and many shallows near its mouth. The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> left Norfolk Navy-yard (which holds +to the James River somewhat the position that Sheerness does to the Thames) hurriedly +on the morning of the 8th, and steamed steadily towards the enemy’s fleet, accompanied +by some smaller vessels of war and a few tug-boats. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Meanwhile, the shapeless iron mass</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Came moving o’er the wave,</l> +<l>As gloomy as a passing hearse,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">As silent as the grave.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The morning was still and calm as that of a Sabbath-day. That the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> was +not expected was evidenced by the boats at the booms, and the sailors’ clothes still +hanging in the rigging of the enemy’s vessels. <q>Did they see the long, dark hull? Had +they made it out? Was it ignorance, apathy, or composure that made them so indifferent? +or were they provided with torpedoes, which could sink even the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> in a minute?</q> +were questions mooted on the Southern side by those watching on board the boats and +from the shore. +</p> + +<p> +As soon, however, as she was plainly discerned, the crews of the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, <name type="ship">Congress</name>, +and other vessels were beat to quarters, and preparations made for the fight. <q>The engagement,</q> +wrote the Confederate Secretary of the Navy, <q>commenced at half-past three p.m., +and at four p.m. Captain Buchanan had sunk the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, captured and burned the +<name type="ship">Congress</name>, disabled and driven the <name type="ship">Minnesota</name> ashore, and defeated the <name type="ship">St. Lawrence</name> and +<name type="ship">Roanoake</name>, which sought shelter under the guns of Fortress Monroe. Two of the enemy’s +small steamers were blown up, and the two transport steamers were captured.</q> This, +as will be seen, must, as regards time, be taken <hi rend='italic'>cum grano salis</hi>, but in its main points is +correct. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> commenced the action by discharging a broadside at the <name type="ship">Congress</name>, one +shell from which killed or disabled a number of men at the guns, and then kept on towards +the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, which she approached with full steam on, striking her on the port side +near the bow, her stem knocking two of the ports into one, and her ram striking the +vessel under the water-line. Almost instantaneously a large shell was discharged from +her forward gun, which raked the gun-deck of the doomed ship, and killed ten men. +Five minutes later the ship began to sink by the head, a large hole having been made +<pb n='21'/><anchor id='Pg021'/>by the point of the ram, through which the water rushed in. As the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> rounded +and rapidly came up again, she once more raked the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, killing or wounding +sixteen more men. Meantime the latter was endeavouring to defend herself, and poured +broadside after broadside into the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>; but the balls, as one of the survivors tells +us, bounced <q>upon her mailed sides like india-rubber, apparently making not the least +impression except to cut off her flagstaff, and thus bring down the Confederate colours. +None of her crew ventured at that time on her outside to replace them, and she fought +thenceforward with only her pennant flying.</q><note place="foot">The pilot of the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>.</note> Shortly after this, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> again +attacked the unfortunate ship, advancing with her greatest speed, her ram making another +hole below the water-line. The <name type="ship">Cumberland</name> began to fill rapidly. The scene on board +is hardly to be described in words. It was one of horrible desperation and fruitless +heroism. The decks were slippery with human gore; shreds of human flesh, and portions +of the body, arms, legs, and headless trunks were scattered everywhere. Below, the cockpit +was filled with wounded, whom it would be impossible to succour, for the ship was sinking +fast. Meantime the men stuck to their posts, powder was still served out, and the +firing kept up steadily, several of the crew lingering so long in the after shell-room, +<pb n='22'/><anchor id='Pg022'/>in their eagerness to pass up shell, that they were drowned there. The water had now +reached the main gun-deck, and it became evident that the contest was nearly over. Still +the men lingered, anxious for one last shot, when their guns were nearly under water. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Shall we give them a broadside, my boys, as she goes?</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Shall we send yet another to tell,</l> +<l>In iron-tongued words, to Columbia’s foes,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">How bravely her sons say <q>Farewell?</q></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The word was passed for each man to save himself. Even then, one man, an active +little fellow, named Matthew Tenney, whose courage had been conspicuous during the +action, determined to fire once more, the next gun to his own being then under water, +the vessel going down by the head. He succeeded, but at the cost of his life, for +immediately afterwards, attempting to scramble out of the port-hole, the water suddenly +rushed in with such force that he was washed back and drowned. Scores of poor fellows +were unable to reach the upper deck, and were carried down with the vessel. The <name type="ship">Cumberland</name> +sank in water up to the cross-trees, and went down <hi rend='italic'>with her flag still flying from the peak</hi>.<note place="foot"><q>Finally, after about three-fourths of an hour of the most severe fighting, our vessel sank, the Stars and +Stripes still waving. That flag was finally submerged; but after the hull grounded on the sands, fifty-four feet +below the surface of the water, our pennant was still flying from the top mast above the waves.</q> (The Pilot of the +<name type="ship">Cumberland’s</name> Narrative.)</note> The +whole number lost was not less than 120 souls. Her top-masts, with the pennant flying +far above the water, long marked the locality of one of the bravest and most desperate +defences ever made +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">By men who knew that all else was wrong</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">But to die when a sailor ought.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Cumberland</name> being utterly demolished, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> turned her attention to the +<name type="ship">Congress</name>. The Southerners showed their chivalric instincts at this juncture by not firing +on the boats, or on a small steamer, which were engaged in picking up the survivors of +the <name type="ship">Cumberland’s</name> crew. The officers of the <name type="ship">Congress</name>, seeing the fate of the <name type="ship">Cumberland</name>, +determined that the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> should not, at least, sink their vessel. They therefore +got all sail on the ship, and attempted to run ashore. The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> was soon close on them, +and delivered a broadside, which was terribly destructive, a shell killing, at one of the guns, +every man engaged except one. Backing, and then returning several times, she delivered +broadside after broadside at less than 100 yards’ distance. The <name type="ship">Congress</name> replied manfully +and obstinately, but with little effect. One shot is supposed to have entered one of the +ironclad’s port-holes, and dismounted a gun, as there was no further firing from that port, +and a few splinters of iron were struck off her sloping mailed roof, but this was all. +The guns of the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> appeared to have been specially trained on the after-magazine +of the <name type="ship">Congress</name>, and shot after shot entered that part of the ship. Thus, slowly drifting +down with the current, and again steaming up, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> continued for an hour to +fire into her opponent. Several times the <name type="ship">Congress</name> was on fire, but the flames were kept +under. At length the ship was on fire in so many places, and the flames gathering +with such force, that it was hopeless and suicidal to keep up the defence any longer. +<pb n='23'/><anchor id='Pg023'/>The national flag was sadly and sorrowfully hauled down, and a white flag hoisted at +the peak. The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> did not for a few minutes see this token of surrender, and +continued to fire. At last, however, it was discerned through the clouds of smoke, and +the broadsides ceased. A tug that had followed the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> out of Norfolk then came +alongside the <name type="ship">Congress</name>, and ordered the officers on board. This they refused, hoping +that, from the nearness of the shore, they would be able to escape. Some of the men, +to the number, it is believed, of about forty, thought the tug was one of the Northern +(Federal) vessels, and rushed on board, and were, of course, soon carried off as prisoners. +By the time that all the able men were off ashore and elsewhere, it was seven o’clock +in the evening, and the <name type="ship">Congress</name> was a bright sheet of flame fore and aft, her +guns, which were loaded and trained, going off as the fire reached them. A shell from +one struck a sloop at some distance, and blew her up. At midnight the fire reached +her magazines, containing five tons of gunpowder, and, with a terrific explosion, her +charred remains blew up. Thus had the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> sunk one and burned a second of the +largest of the vessels of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Having settled the fate of these two ships, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> had, about 5 o’clock in +the afternoon, started to tackle the <name type="ship">Minnesota</name>. Here, as was afterwards proved, the +commander of the former had the intention of capturing the latter as a prize, and had +no wish to destroy her. He, therefore, stood off about a mile distant, and with the +<name type="ship">Yorktown</name> and <name type="ship">Jamestown</name>, threw shot and shell at the frigate, doing it considerable damage, +and killing six men. One shell entered near her waist, passed through the chief engineer’s +room, knocking two rooms into one, and wounded several men; a shot passed +through the main-mast. At nightfall the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>, satisfied with her afternoon’s work +of death and destruction, steamed in under Sewall’s Point. <q>The day,</q> said the Baltimore +<hi rend='italic'>American</hi>, <q>thus closed most dismally for our side, and with the most gloomy apprehensions +of what would occur the next day. The <name type="ship">Minnesota</name> was at the mercy of the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>, +and there appeared no reason why the iron monster might not clear the Roads of our +fleet, destroy all the stores and warehouses on the beach, drive our troops into the fortress, +and command Hampton Roads against any number of wooden vessels the Government +might send there. Saturday was a terribly dismal night at Fortress Monroe.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But about nine o’clock that evening Ericsson’s battery, the <name type="ship">Monitor</name>,<note place="foot">The original <name type="ship">Monitor</name>, from which that class of vessel took its name.</note> arrived in +Hampton Roads, and hope revived in the breasts of the despondent Northerners. She +was not a very formidable-looking craft, for, lying low on the water, with a plain structure +amidships, a small pilot-house forward, and a diminutive funnel aft, she might have been +taken for a raft. It was only on board that her real strength might be discovered. She +carried armour about five inches thick over a large part of her, and had practically two +hulls, the lower of which had sides inclining at an angle of 51° from the vertical line. +It was considered that no shot could hurt this lower hull, on account of the angle at +which it must strike it. The revolving turret, an iron cylinder, nine feet high, and twenty +feet in diameter, eight or nine inches thick everywhere, and about the portholes eleven +inches, was moved round by steam-power. When the two heavy Dahlgren guns were +<pb n='24'/><anchor id='Pg024'/>run in for loading, a kind of pendulum port fell over the holes in the turret. The +propeller, rudder, and even anchor, were all hidden. +</p> + +<p> +This was a war of surprises and sudden changes. It is doubtful if the Southerners +knew what to make of the strange-looking battery which steamed towards them next +morning, or whether they despised it. The <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> and the <name type="ship">Monitor</name> kept on approaching +each other, the former waiting until she would choose her distance, and the latter +apparently not knowing what to make of her queer-looking antagonist. The first shot +from the <name type="ship">Monitor</name> was fired when about one hundred yards distant from the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>, +and this distance was subsequently reduced to fifty yards; and at no time during the +furious cannonading that ensued were the vessels more than two hundred yards apart. The +scene was in plain view from Fortress Monroe, and in the main facts all the spectators +agree. At first the fight was very furious, and the guns of the <name type="ship">Monitor</name> were fired +rapidly. The latter carried only two guns, to its opponent’s eight, and received two or +three shots for every one she gave. Finding that she was much more formidable than +she looked, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> attempted to run her down; but her superior speed and +quicker handling enabled her to dodge and turn rapidly. <q rend="post: none">Once the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> struck +her near midships, but only to prove that the battery could not be run down nor shot +down. She spun round like a top; and as she got her bearing again, sent one of her +formidable missiles into her huge opponent.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The officers of the <name type="ship">Monitor</name> at this time had gained such confidence in the +impregnability of their battery that they no longer fired at random nor hastily. The fight +then assumed its most interesting aspect. The <name type="ship">Monitor</name> went round the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> repeatedly, +probing her sides, seeking for weak points, and reserving her fire with coolness, until +she had the right spot and the right range, and made her experiments accordingly. In +this way the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> received three shots.... Neither of these three shots rebounded +at all, but appeared to cut their way clear through iron and wood into the +ship.</q><note place="foot">Account of eyewitnesses furnished to the Baltimore <hi rend='italic'>American</hi>.</note> Soon after receiving the third shot, the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> made off at full speed, +and the contest was not renewed. Thus ended this particular episode of the American +war. +</p><anchor id="figengabeth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE <q>MERRIMAC</q> AND <q>MONITOR.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_041.jpg" rend="w100"><head>ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE <q>MERRIMAC</q> AND <q>MONITOR.</q></head> + <figDesc>ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE <q>MERRIMAC</q> AND <q>MONITOR.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Lieutenant Worden was in the pilot-house of the <name type="ship">Monitor</name> when the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name> +directed a whole broadside at her, and was, besides being thrown down and stunned by +the concussion, temporarily blinded by the minute fragments of shells and powder driven +through the eye-holes—only an inch each in diameter—made through the iron to enable them +to keep a look-out. He was carried away, but, on recovering consciousness, his first +thoughts reverted to the action. <q>Have I saved the <name type="ship">Minnesota</name>?</q> said he, eagerly. +<q>Yes; and whipped the <name type="ship">Merrimac</name>!</q> was the answer. <q>Then,</q> replied he, <q>I don’t +care what becomes of me.</q> The concussion in the turret is described as something +terrible; and several of the men, though not otherwise hurt, were rendered insensible for +the time. Each side claimed that they had seriously damaged the other, but there seems +to have been no foundation for these assertions in facts. +</p> + +<p> +But although this, the original <name type="ship">Monitor</name>, was efficient, if not omnipotent, in the calm +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/>waters at the mouth of the James River, she was, as might be expected with her flat, +barge-like bottom, a bad sea-boat, and was afterwards lost. Her ports had to be closed +and caulked, being only five feet above the water, and she was therefore unable to +work her guns at sea. Her constructor had neglected Sir Walter Raleigh’s advice to +Prince Henry touching the model of a ship, <q>that her ports be so laid, as that she +may carry out her guns all weathers.</q> She plunged heavily—completely submerging her +pilot-house at times, the sea washing over and into her turret. The heavy shocks and +jars of the armour, as it came down upon the waves, made her leaky, and she went to +the bottom in spite of pumps capable of throwing 2,000 gallons a minute, which were +in good order and working incessantly. +</p><anchor id="figperuirhu"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name> ATTACKED BY TWO CHILIAN IRONCLADS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_039.jpg" rend="w100"> + <head>THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name> ATTACKED BY TWO CHILIAN IRONCLADS.</head> + <figDesc>THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name> ATTACKED BY TWO CHILIAN IRONCLADS.</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Since the conclusion of the American war, the ironclad question has assumed serious +aspects, and many facts could be cited to show that they have not by any means always +confirmed the first impressions of their strength and invulnerability. Two recent cases +will be fresh in the memories of our readers. The first is the recent engagement +off Peru between the Peruvian ironclad turret-ship <name type="ship">Huascar</name> and the British unarmoured +men-of-war <name type="ship">Shah</name> and <name type="ship">Amethyst</name>. With the political aspect of the affair we have nothing, +of course, to do, in our present work. It was really a question between the guns +quite as much as between the vessels. The <name type="ship">Huascar</name> is only a moderately-strong armoured +vessel, her plates being the same thickness as those of the earliest English ironclad, the +<name type="ship">Warrior</name>, and her armament is two 300-pounders in her turret, and three shell-guns. +On the other hand, the <name type="ship">Shah</name>, the principal one of the two British vessels, is only a large +iron vessel sheathed in wood, and not armoured at all; but she carries, besides smaller +guns, a formidable armament in the shape of two 12-ton and sixteen 6½-ton guns. An +eyewitness of the engagement states<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi>, 17th July, 1877.</note> that, after three hours’ firing, at a distance of +from 400 to 3,000 yards, the only damage inflicted by the opposing vessels was a hole in +the <name type="ship">Huascar’s</name> side, made by a shell, the bursting of which killed one man. <q>One 9-in. shot +(from a 12-ton gun) also penetrated three inches into the turret without effecting any material +damage. There were nearly 100 dents of various depths in the plates, but none of sufficient +depth to materially injure them. The upper works—boats, and everything destructible +by shell—were, of course, destroyed. Her colours were also shot down.</q> According to theory, +the <name type="ship">Shah’s</name> two larger guns should have penetrated the <name type="ship">Huascar’s</name> sides when fired at upwards +of 3,000 yards’ distance. The facts are very different, doubtless because the shots struck +the armour obliquely, at any angles but right ones. The <name type="ship">Huascar</name> was admirably handled +and manœuvred, but her gunnery was so indifferent that none of the shots even struck +the <name type="ship">Shah</name>, except to cut away a couple of ropes, and the latter kept up so hot a +fire of shells that the crew of the former were completely demoralised, and the +officers had to train and fire the guns. She eventually escaped to Iquique, under cover of +a pitchy-dark night. The same correspondent admits, however, that the <name type="ship">Shah</name>, although +a magnificent vessel, is not fitted for the South American station, since Peru has three +ironclads, Chili two, and Brazil and the River Plate Republics several, against which no +ordinary English man-of-war could cope, were the former properly handled. +</p><anchor id="figperuirhu2"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name>.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_043.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name>.</head> + <figDesc>THE PERUVIAN IRONCLAD <name type="ship">HUASCAR</name></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> + <pb n='27'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> +<p> +The recent story of the saucy Russian merchantman,<note place="foot">Berlin correspondence of the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi>, 31st July, 1877.</note> which not merely dared +the Turkish ironclad, but fought her for five hours, and inflicted quite as much +damage as she received, will also be remembered, although it may be taken just for what +it is worth. One Captain Baranoff, of the Imperial Russian Navy, had, in an article +published in the <hi rend='italic'>Golos</hi>, of St. Petersburg, recommended his Government to abandon ironclads, +avoid naval battles, and confine operations at sea to the letting loose of a number +of cruisers against the enemy’s merchantmen. Where a naval engagement was inevitable, +he <q>preferred fighting with small craft, making up by agility and speed what they lacked +in cuirass, and if the worst came to the worst, easily replaced by other specimens of the +same type.</q> The article created much notice; and at the beginning of the present war, +the author was given to understand by the Russian Admiralty that he should have an +opportunity of proving his theories by deeds. The <name type="ship">Vesta</name>, an ordinary iron steamer of +light build, was selected; she had been employed previously in no more warlike functions +than the conveyance of corn and tallow from Russia to foreign ports. She was equipped +immediately with a few 6-in. mortars, her decks being strengthened to receive them, but +no other changes were made. On the morning of the 23rd of July, cruising in the Black +Sea, Captain Baranoff encountered the Turkish ironclad <name type="ship">Assari Tefvik</name>, a formidable vessel +armoured with twelve inches of iron, and carrying 12-ton guns, and nothing daunted by +the disproportion in size and strength, immediately engaged her. Both vessels were skilfully +manœuvred, the ironclad moving about with extraordinary alertness and speed. She +was only hit three times with large balls; the second went through her deck, <q>kindling a +fire which was quickly extinguished;</q> the third was believed to have injured the turret. +Meantime, the <name type="ship">Vesta</name> was herself badly injured, a grenade hitting her close to the powder-magazine, +which would have soon blown up but for the rapid measures taken by her +commander. Her rudder was struck and partially disabled, but still she was not sunk, +as she should have been, according to all theoretical considerations. She eventually +steamed back again to Sebastopol—after two other vessels had come to the ironclad’s +assistance—covered with glory, having for five hours worried, and somewhat injured, a +giant vessel to which, in proportion, she was but a weak and miserable dwarf. +</p> + +<p> +It will be obvious that from neither of the above cases can any positive inferences +be safely drawn. In the former case, the weaker vessel had the stronger guns, and so matters +were partially balanced; in the second example, the ironclad ought to have easily sunk +the merchantman by means of her heavy guns, even from a great distance—but she didn’t. +The ironclad question will engage our attention again, as it will, we fear, that of the +nation, for a very long time to come. +</p> +</div><div> +<pb n='28'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +<index index="toc" level1="II. Men of Peace"/><index index="pdf" level1="II. Men of Peace"/><anchor id="chap02"/> +<head>CHAPTER II.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Men of Peace.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Naval Life in Peace Times—A Grand Exploring Voyage—The Cruise of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Challenger</name>—Its Work—Deep-sea Soundings—Five +Miles Down—Apparatus Employed—Ocean Treasures—A Gigantic Sea-monster—Tristan d’Acunha—A Discovery +Interesting to the Discovered—The Two Crusoes—The Inaccessible Island—Solitary Life—The Sea-cart—Swimming +Pigs—Rescued at Last—The Real Crusoe Island to Let—Down South—The Land of Desolation—Kerguelen—The +Sealers’ Dreary Life—In the Antarctic—Among the Icebergs. +</p></argument> + +<p> +No form of life presents greater contrasts than that of the sailor. Storm and calm alternate; +to-day in the thick of the fight—battling man or the elements—to-morrow we find him +tranquilly pursuing some peaceful scheme of discovery or exploration, or calmly cruising from +one station to another, protecting by moral influence alone the interests of his country. His +deeds may be none the less heroic because his conquests are peaceful, and because Neptune +rather than Mars is challenged to cede his treasures. Anson, Cook, and Vancouver, Parry, +Franklin, M’Clintock, and M’Clure, among a host of others, stand worthily by the side of +our fighting sailors, because made of the same stuff. Let us also, then, for a time, leave +behind the smoke and din, the glories and horrors of war, and cool our fevered imaginations +by descending, in spirit at least, to the depths of the great sea. The records +of the famous voyage of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name><note place="foot">The full official account has not yet been issued. The brief narrative presented here is derived principally from +the lively and interesting series of letters from the pen of Lord George Campbell; from <q>The Cruise of H.M.S. +<name type="ship">Challenger</name>,</q> by W. J. J. Spry, R.N., one of the engineers of the vessel; and the Nautical and other scientific and +technical magazines.</note> will afford a capital opportunity of contrasting +the deeds of the men of peace with those of men of war. +</p> + +<p> +We may commence by saying that no such voyage has in truth ever been undertaken +before.<note place="foot">The Austrian frigate <name type="ship">Novara</name> made, in 1857-8-9, a voyage round <q>and about</q> the world of 51,686 miles. As it +was a sailing vessel, no reliable results could be expected from their deep-sea soundings, and, in fact, on the only two +occasions when they attempted anything very deep, their lines broke.</note> Nearly 70,000 miles of the earth’s watery surface were traversed, and the Atlantic +and Pacific crossed and recrossed several times. It was a veritable <hi rend='italic'>voyage en zigzag</hi>. Apart +from ordinary soundings innumerable, 374 deep-sea soundings, when the progress of the +vessel had to be stopped, and which occupied an hour or two apiece, were made, and at least +two-thirds as many successful dredgings and trawlings. The greatest depth of ocean reached +was 4,575 fathoms (27,450 feet), or <hi rend='italic'>over five miles</hi>. This was in the Pacific, about 1,400 miles +S.E. of Japan. We all know that this ocean derives its name from its generally calmer +weather and less tempestuous seas; and the researches of the officers of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name>, +and of the United States vessel <name type="ship">Tuscarora</name>, show that the bottom slopes to its greatest depths +very evenly and gradually, little broken by submarine mountain ranges, except off volcanic +islands and coasts like those of the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Islands. Off the latter there are +mountains in the sea ranging to as high as 12,000 feet. The general evenness of the bottom +helps to account for the long, sweeping waves of the Pacific, so distinguishable from the short, +<pb n='29'/><anchor id='Pg029'/>cut-up, and <q>choppy</q> waves of the Atlantic. In the Atlantic, on the voyage of the +<name type="ship">Challenger</name> from Teneriffe to St. Thomas, a pretty level bottom off the African coast gradually +deepened till it reached 3,125 fathoms (over three and a half miles), at about one-third of the +way across to the West Indies. If the Alps, Mont Blanc and all, were submerged at this spot, +there would still be more than half a mile of water above them! Five hundred miles further +west there is a comparatively shallow part—two miles or so deep—which afterwards deepens to +three miles, and continues at the same depth nearly as far as the West Indies. +</p><anchor id="figexama_ha"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: EXAMINING A <q>HAUL</q> ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_047.jpg" rend="w80"><head>EXAMINING A <q>HAUL</q> ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></head> + <figDesc>EXAMINING A <q>HAUL</q> ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +A few words as to the work laid out for the <name type="ship">Challenger</name>, and how she did it. She is +a 2,000-ton corvette, of moderate steam-power, and was put into commission, with a +reduced complement of officers and men, Captain (now Sir) George S. Nares, later the +commander of the Arctic expedition, having complete charge and control. Her work +was to include soundings, thermometric and magnetic observations, dredgings and chemical +examinations of sea-water, the surveying of unsurveyed harbours and coasts, and the resurveying, +where practicable, of partially surveyed coasts. The (civil) scientific corps, under +the charge of Professor Wyville Thomson, comprised three naturalists, a chemist and +physicist, and a photographer. The naturalists had their special rooms, the chemist his +laboratory, the photographer his <q>dark-room,</q> and the surveyors their chart-room, to +make room for which all the guns were removed except two. On the upper deck was another +analysing-room, <q>devoted to mud, fish, birds, and vertebrates generally;</q> a donkey-engine for +hauling in the sounding, dredging, and other lines, and a broad bridge amidships, from which +the officer for the day gave the necessary orders for the performance of the many duties connected +with their scientific labours. Thousands of fathoms of rope of all sizes, for dredging +and sounding; tons of sounding-weights, from half to a whole hundredweight apiece; dozens +of thermometers for deep-sea temperatures, and gallons of methylated spirits for preserving +the specimens obtained, were carried on board. +</p><anchor id="figaccumula"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>ACCUMULATOR.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_055.png" rend="w40"><head>THE <q>ACCUMULATOR.</q><note place="foot">This is an apparatus consisting of a number of india-rubber bands suspended from the mast-head, during +dredging operations, which indicates, by its expansion and contraction, how the dredge is passing over the +inequalities of the bottom.</note></head> + <figDesc>THE <q>ACCUMULATOR.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Steam-power is always very essential to deep-sea sounding. No trustworthy results can +be obtained from a ship under sail; a perpendicular sounding is the one thing required, and, of +course, with steam the vessel can be kept head to the wind, regulating her speed so that she +remains nearly stationary. The sounding apparatus used needs some little description. A +block was fixed to the main-yard, from which depended the <q>accumulator,</q> consisting of strong +india-rubber bands, each three-fourths of an inch in diameter and three feet long, which ran +through circular discs of wood at either end. These are capable of stretching seventeen feet, +and their object is to prevent sudden strain on the lead-line from the inevitable jerks and +motion of the vessel. The sounding-rod used for great depths is, with its weights,<note place="foot">The <q>sinkers</q> were usually allowed at the rate of 112 lb. for each 1,000 fathoms.</note> so +arranged that on touching bottom a spring releases a wire sling, and the weights slip off and +are left there. These rods were only employed when the depths were considered to be over +1,500 fathoms; for less depths a long, conical lead weight was used, with a <q>butterfly valve,</q> +or trap, at its basis for securing specimens from the ocean bed. There are several kinds of +<q>slip</q> water-bottles for securing samples of sea-water (and marine objects of small size +floating in it) at great depths. One of the most ingenious is a brass tube, two and a half feet +in length, fitted with easily-working stop-cocks at each end, connected by means of a rod, on +<pb n='30'/><anchor id='Pg030'/>which is a movable float. As the bottle descends the stop-cocks must remain open, but as it +is hauled up again the flat float receives the opposing pressure of the water above it, and, +acting by means of the connecting-rod, shuts both cocks simultaneously, thus inclosing a +specimen of the water at that particular depth. Self-registering thermometers were employed, +sometimes attached at intervals of 100 fathoms to the sounding-line, so as to test the +temperatures at various depths. For dredging, bags or nets from three to five feet in depth, +and nine to fifteen inches in width, attached to iron frames, were employed, whilst at the +bottom of the bags a number of <q>swabs,</q> similar to those used in cleaning decks, were +attached, so as to sweep along the bottom, and bring up small specimens of animal +life—coral, sponges, &c. These swabs were, however, always termed <q>hempen tangles</q>—so +much does science dignify every object it touches! The dredges were afterwards set aside +for the ordinary beam-trawls used in shallow water around our own coasts. Their open +meshes allowed the mud and sand to filter through easily, and their adoption was a source +of satisfaction to some of the officers who looked with horror on the state of their usually +immaculate decks, when the dredges were emptied of their contents. +</p> + +<p> +Not so very long ago, our knowledge of anything beneath the ocean’s surface was +extremely indefinite; for even of the coasts and shallows we knew little, marine zoology and +botany being the last, and not the earliest, branches of natural history investigated by men +of science. It was asserted that the specific gravity of water at great depths would cause the +heaviest weights to remain suspended in mid-sea, and that animal existence was impossible +at the bottom. When, some sixteen years ago, a few star-fish were brought up by a line +from a depth of 1,200 fathoms, it was seriously considered that they had attached themselves +at some midway point, and not at the bottom. In 1868-9-70, the Royal Society borrowed +from the Admiralty two of Her Majesty’s vessels, the <name type="ship">Lightning</name> and <name type="ship">Porcupine</name>; and in one +of the latter’s trips, considerably to the south and west of Ireland, she sounded to a depth +of 2,400 fathoms,<note place="foot">Most of the recorded examples of earlier deep-sea soundings have little scientific value. Unless the sounding-line +sinks perpendicularly, and the vessel remains stationary—to do which she may have to steam against wind and +tide or current—it must be evident that the data obtained are not reliable. From a sailing vessel it is impossible to +obtain absolutely reliable soundings except in, say, a tideless lake, unruffled by wind. It is very evident that if the +sounding line drags after or in any direction from the vessel, the depth indicated may be greatly in excess of the true +depth; indeed, it may be double or treble in some cases. There is one recorded example of a depth of 7,706 fathoms +having been obtained, which too evidently comes under this category. After several years’ soundings on the part of +the <name type="ship">Challenger</name> and the United States vessel <name type="ship">Tuscarora</name>, it has become probable that no part of the ocean has a depth +much greater than 4,500 fathoms. But even this is upwards of five miles!</note> and was very successful in many dredging operations. As a result, +it was then suggested that a vessel should be specially fitted out for a more important +ocean voyage round the world, to occupy three or more years, and the cruise of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name> +was then determined upon. +</p> + +<p> +The story of that cruise is utterly unsensational; it is one simply of calm and unremitting +scientific work, almost unaccompanied by peril. To some the treasures acquired will seem +valueless. Among the earliest gains, obtained near Cape St. Vincent, with a common trawl, +was a beautiful specimen of the Euplectella, <q>glass-rope sponge,</q> or <q>Venus’s flower-basket,</q> +alive. This object of beauty and interest, sometimes seen in working naturalists’ and +conchologists’ windows in London, had always previously been obtained from the seas +<pb n='31'/><anchor id='Pg031'/>of the Philippine Islands and Japan, to which it was thought to be confined, and +its discovery so much nearer home was hailed with delight. It has a most graceful form, +consisting of a slightly curved conical tube, eight or ten inches in height, contracted beneath +to a blunt point. The walls are of light tracery, resembling opaque spun glass, covered with +a lace-work of delicate pattern. The lower end is surrounded by an upturned fringe of lustrous +fibres, and the wider end is closed by a lid of open network. These beautiful objects of nature +make most charming ornaments for a drawing-room, but have to be kept under a glass case, as +they are somewhat frail. In their native element they lie buried in the mud. They were +afterwards found to be <q>the most characteristic inhabitants of the great depths all over the +world.</q> Early in the voyage, no lack of living things were brought up—strange-looking fish, +with their eyes blown nearly out of their heads by the expansion of the air in their air-bladders, +whilst entangled among the meshes were many star-fish and delicate zoophytes, shining with a +vivid phosphorescent light. A rare specimen of the clustered sea-polyp, twelve gigantic +polyps, each with eight long fringed arms, terminating in a close cluster on a stalk or stem +three feet high, was obtained. <q>Two specimens of this fine species were brought from the +coast of Greenland early in the last century; somehow these were lost, and for a century the +animal was never seen.</q> Two were brought home by one of the Swedish Arctic expeditions, +and these are the only specimens ever obtained. One of the lions of the expedition was not +<q>a rare sea-fowl,</q> but a transparent lobster, while a new crustacean, perfectly blind, which +feels its way with most beautifully delicate claws, was one of the greatest curiosities obtained. +Of these wonders, and of some geological points determined, more anon. But they did not +even sight the sea-serpent, much less attempt to catch it. Jules Verne’s twenty miles of +inexhaustible pearl-meadows were evidently missed, nor did they even catch a glimpse of his +gigantic oyster, with the pearl as big as a cocoa-nut, and worth 10,000,000 francs. They +could not, with Captain Nemo, dive to the bottom and land amid submarine forests, where +tigers and cobras have their counterparts in enormous sharks and vicious cephalopods. Victor +Hugo’s <q>devil-fish</q> did not attack a single sailor, nor did, indeed, any formidable cuttle-fish +take even a passing peep at the <name type="ship">Challenger</name>, much less attempt to stop its progress. Does +the reader remember the story recited both by Figuier and Moquin Tandon,<note place="foot">In their popular works on the sea, <q>The Ocean World,</q> and <q>The World of the Sea.</q></note> concerning +one of these gigantic sea-monsters, which should have a strong basis of truth in it, as it +was laid before the French Académie des Sciences by a lieutenant of their navy and a French +consul? +</p><anchor id="figobjeofin"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: OBJECTS OF INTEREST BROUGHT HOME BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q><lb/> +Fig. 1.—Shell of <hi rend='italic'>Globigerina</hi> (highly magnified). +Fig. 2.—<hi rend='italic'>Ophioglypha bullata</hi> (six times the size in nature). +Fig. 3.—<hi rend='italic'>Euplectella Suberea</hi> (popularly <q>Venus’s Flower-basket</q>). +Fig. 4.—<hi rend='italic'>Deidamia leptodactyla</hi> (a Blind Lobster).<lb/> +(<hi rend='italic'>From <q>The Voyage of the Challenger,</q> by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.</hi>)]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_052.png" rend="w80"><head>OBJECTS OF INTEREST BROUGHT HOME BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q><lb/> +Fig. 1.—Shell of <hi rend='italic'>Globigerina</hi> (highly magnified). +Fig. 2.—<hi rend='italic'>Ophioglypha bullata</hi> (six times the size in nature). +Fig. 3.—<hi rend='italic'>Euplectella Suberea</hi> (popularly <q>Venus’s Flower-basket</q>). +Fig. 4.—<hi rend='italic'>Deidamia leptodactyla</hi> (a Blind Lobster).<lb/> +(<hi rend='italic'>From <q>The Voyage of the Challenger,</q> by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.</hi>) +</head><figDesc>OBJECTS OF INTEREST BROUGHT HOME BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></figDesc> +</figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The steam-corvette <name type="ship">Alecton</name>, when between Teneriffe and Madeira, fell in with a +gigantic cuttle-fish, fifty feet long in the body, without counting its eight formidable +arms covered with suckers. The head was of enormous size, out of all proportion to the +body, and had eyes as large as plates. The other extremity terminated in two fleshy +lobes or fins of great size. The estimated weight of the whole creature was 4,000 lbs., +and the flesh was soft, glutinous, and of a reddish-brick colour. <q>The commandant, +wishing, in the interests of science, to secure the monster, actually engaged it in battle. +Numerous shots were aimed at it, but the balls traversed its flaccid and glutinous mass +without causing it any vital injury. But after one of these attacks, the waves were +<pb n='32'/><anchor id='Pg032'/>observed to be covered with foam and blood, and—singular thing—a strong odour of musk +was inhaled by the spectators.... The musket-shots not having produced the +desired results, harpoons were employed, but they took no hold on the soft, impalpable +flesh of the marine monster. When it escaped from the harpoon, it dived under the ship +and came up again at the other side. They succeeded, at last, in getting the harpoon +to bite, and in passing a bowling-hitch round the posterior part of the animal. But +when they attempted to hoist it out of the water, the rope penetrated deeply into the +flesh, and separated it into two parts, the head, with the arms and tentacles, dropping into +the sea and making off, while the fins and posterior parts were brought on board; they +weighed about forty pounds. The crew were eager to pursue, and would have launched +a boat, but the commander refused, fearing that the animal might capsize it. The object +was not, in his opinion, one in which he could risk the lives of his crew.</q> M. Moquin +Tandon, commenting on M. Berthelot’s recital, considers <q>that this colossal mollusc was +sick and exhausted at the time by some recent struggle with some other monster of the +deep, which would account for its having quitted its native rocks in the depths of the +ocean. Otherwise it would have been more active in its movements, or it would have +<pb n='33'/><anchor id='Pg033'/>obscured the waves with the inky liquid which all the cephalopods have at command. +Judging from its size, it would carry at least a barrel of this black liquid.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> afterwards visited Juan Fernandez, the real Robinson Crusoe island where +Alexander Selkirk passed his enforced residence of four years. Thanks to Defoe, he lived +to find himself so famous, that he could hardly have grudged the time spent in his solitary +sojourn with his dumb companions and man Friday. Alas! the romance which enveloped +Juan Fernandez has somewhat dimmed. For a brief time it was a Chilian penal colony, and +after sundry vicissitudes, was a few years ago leased to a merchant, who kept cattle to sell +to whalers and passing ships, and also went seal-hunting on a neighbouring islet. He was +<q>monarch of all he surveyed</q>—lord of an island over a dozen miles long and five or six +broad, with cattle, and herds of wild goats, and capital fishing all round—all for two hundred +a year! Fancy this, ye sportsmen, who pay as much or more for the privileges of a barren +moor! Yet the merchant was not satisfied with his venture, and, at the time of the +<name type="ship">Challenger’s</name> visit, was on the point of abandoning it: by this time it is probably to let. +Excepting the cattle dotted about the foot of the hills and a civilised house or two, the +appearance of the island must be precisely the same now as when the piratical buccaneers +of olden time made it their rendezvous and haunt wherefrom to dash out and harry the +Spaniards; the same to-day as when Alexander Selkirk lived in it as its involuntary +monarch; the same to-day as when Commodore Anson arrived with his scurvy-stricken +<q>crazy ship, a great scarcity of water, and a crew so universally diseased that there were +not above ten foremast-men in a watch capable of doing duty,</q> and recruited them with +fresh meat, vegetables, and wild fruits. +</p><anchor id="figchalatju"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>CHALLENGER</q> AT JUAN FERNANDEZ.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_056.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE <q>CHALLENGER</q> AT JUAN FERNANDEZ.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>CHALLENGER</q> AT JUAN FERNANDEZ.</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q>The scenery,</q> writes Lord George Campbell, <q>is grand: gloomy and wild enough on +the dull, stormy day on which we arrived, clouds driving past and enveloping the highest +ridge of the mountain, a dark-coloured sea pelting against the steep cliffs and shores, and +<pb n='34'/><anchor id='Pg034'/>clouds of sea-birds swaying in great flocks to and fro over the water; but cheerful and +beautiful on the bright sunny morning which followed—so beautiful that I thought, <q>This +beats Tahiti!</q></q> The anchorage of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name> was in Cumberland Bay, a deep-water +inlet from which rises a semi-circle of high land, with two bold headlands, <q>sweeping +brokenly up thence to the highest ridge—a square-shaped, craggy, precipitous mass of +rock, with trees clinging to its sides to near the summit. The spurs of these hills are +covered with coarse grass or moss.... Down the beds of the small ravines run +burns, overgrown by dock-leaves of enormous size, and the banks are clothed with a rich +vegetation of dark-leaved myrtle, bignonia, and winter-bark, tree-shrubs, with tall grass, +ferns, and flowering plants. And as you lie there, humming-birds come darting and +thrumming within reach of your stick, flitting from flower to flower, which dot blue and +white the foliage of bignonias and myrtles. And on the steep grassy slopes above the sea-cliffs +herds of wild goats are seen quietly browsing—quietly, that is, till they scent you, when +they are off—as wild as chamois.</q> This is indeed a description of a rugged paradise! +</p> + +<p> +Near the ship they found splendid, but laborious, cod-fishing; laborious on account of +sharks playing with the bait, and treating the stoutest lines as though made of single +gut; also on account of the forty-fathom depth these cod-fish lived in. Cray-fish and +conger-eels were hauled up in lobster-pots by dozens, while round the ship’s sides flashed +shoals of cavalli, fish that are caught by a hook with a piece of worsted tied roughly on, +swished over the surface, giving splendid play with a rod. <q>And on shore, too, there +was something to be seen and done. There was Selkirk’s <q>look-out</q> to clamber up the +hill-side to—the spot where tradition says he watched day after day for a passing sail, and +from whence he could look down on both sides of his island home, over the wooded +slopes, down to the cliff-fringed shore, on to the deserted ocean’s expanse.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Challenger</name>, in its cruise of over three years, naturally visited many oft-described +ports and settlements with which we shall have nought to do. After a visit to Kerguelen’s +Land—<q>the Land of Desolation,</q> as Captain Cook called it—in the Southern Indian Ocean, +for the purpose of selecting a spot for the erection of an observatory, from whence the +transit of Venus should be later observed, they proceeded to Heard Island, the position of +which required determining with more accuracy. They anchored, in the evening, in a bay of +this most gloomy and utterly desolate place, where they found half-a-dozen wretched sealers +living in two miserable huts near the beach, which were sunk into the ground for warmth +and protection against the fierce winds. Their work is to kill and boil down sea-elephants. +One of the men had been there for two years, and was going to stay another. They are +left on the island every year by the schooners, which go sealing or whaling elsewhere. +Some forty men were on the island, unable to communicate with each other by land, as +the interior is entirely covered with glacier, like Greenland. They have barrels of salt +pork, beef, and a small store of coals, and little else, and are wretchedly paid. <q>Books,</q> +says Lord Campbell, <q>tell us that these sea-elephants grow to the length of twenty-four +feet; but the sealers did not confirm this at all. One of us tried hard to make the Scotch +mate say he had seen one eighteen feet long; but <q>waull, he couldn’t say.</q> Sixteen feet? +<q>Waull, he couldn’t say.</q> Fourteen feet? <q>Waull, yes, yes—something more like that;</q> +but thirteen feet would seem a fair average size.... One of our fellows bought a +<pb n='35'/><anchor id='Pg035'/>clever little clay model of two men killing a sea-elephant, giving for it—he being an +extravagant man—one pound and a bottle of rum. This pound was instantly offered to +the servants outside in exchange for another bottle.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Crossing the Antarctic Circle, they were soon among the icebergs, keeping a sharp +look-out for Termination Land, which has been marked on charts as a +good stretch of coast seen by Wilkes, of the American expedition, thirty +years before. To make a long story short, Captain Nares, after a careful +search, <hi rend='italic'>un-discovered</hi> this discovery, finding no traces of the land. It was +probably a long stretch of ice, or possibly a <hi rend='italic'>mirage</hi>, which phenomenon +has deceived many a sailor before. John Ross once thought that he +had discovered some grand mountains in the Arctic regions, which he +named after the then First Lord of the Admiralty, Croker. Next +year Parry sailed over the site of the supposed range; and the <q>Croker</q> +Mountains became a standing joke against Ross. +</p><anchor id="figchalinan"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: <q>THE CHALLENGER</q> IN ANTARCTIC ICE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_053.png" rend="w80"><head><q>THE CHALLENGER</q> IN ANTARCTIC ICE.</head> + <figDesc><q>THE CHALLENGER</q> IN ANTARCTIC ICE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Icebergs of enormous size were encountered; several of three <hi rend='italic'>miles</hi> in +length and two hundred feet or more in height were seen one day, all +close together. But bergs of this calibre were exceptional; they were, +however, very often over half a mile in length. <q>There are few people +now alive,</q> says the author we have recently quoted, <q>who have seen such +superb Antarctic iceberg scenery as we have. We are steaming towards the +supposed position of land, only some thirty miles distant, over a glass-like +sea, unruffled by a breath of wind; past great masses of ice, grouped so +close together in some cases as to form an unbroken wall of cliff several +miles in length. Then, as we pass within a few hundred yards, the +chain breaks up into two or three separate bergs, and one sees—and +beautifully from the mast-head—the blue sea and distant horizon between +perpendicular walls of glistening alabaster white, against which the long +swell dashes, rearing up in great blue-green heaps, falling back in a +torrent of rainbow-flashing spray, or goes roaring into the azure caverns, +followed immediately by a thundering <hi rend='italic'>thud</hi>, as the compressed air within +buffets it back again in a torrent of seething white foam.</q> Neither words +adequately describe the beauty of many of the icebergs seen. One had three high arched +caverns penetrating far to its interior; another had a large tunnel through which they could +see the horizon. The delicate colouring of these bergs is most lovely—sweeps of azure blue +and pale sea-green with dazzling white; glittering, sparkling crystal merging into depths +of indigo blue; stalactite icicles hanging from the walls and roofs of cavernous openings. +The reader will imagine the beauty of the scene at sunrise and sunset, when as many as +eighty or ninety bergs were sometimes in sight. The sea was intensely green from the +presence of minute algæ, through belts of which the vessel passed, while the sun, sinking +in a golden blaze, tipped and lighted up the ice and snow, making them sparkle as with +<pb n='37'/><anchor id='Pg037'/>brightest gems. A large number of tabular icebergs, with quantities of snow on their +level tops, were met. They amused themselves by firing a 9-pounder Armstrong at one, +which brought the ice down with a rattling crash, the face of the berg cracking, splitting, +and splashing down with a roar, making the water below white with foam and powdered +ice. These icebergs were all stratified, at more or less regular distances, with blue lines, +which before they capsized or canted from displacement of their centres of gravity, were +always horizontal. During a gale, the <name type="ship">Challenger</name> came into collision with a berg, and lost +her jibboom, <q>dolphin-striker,</q> and other head-gear. An iceberg in a fog or gale of wind +is not a desirable obstruction to meet at sea. +</p><anchor id="figchalmafa"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <name type="ship">CHALLENGER</name> MADE FAST TO ST. PAUL’S ROCKS (SOUTH ATLANTIC).]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_057.jpg" rend="w100"> + <head>THE <name type="ship">CHALLENGER</name> MADE FAST TO ST. PAUL’S ROCKS (SOUTH ATLANTIC).</head> + <figDesc>THE <name type="ship">CHALLENGER</name> MADE FAST TO ST. PAUL’S ROCKS (SOUTH ATLANTIC)</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The observations made for deep-sea temperatures gave some remarkable results. Here, +among the icebergs, a band or stratum of water was found, at a depth of eighty to 200 +fathoms, <hi rend='italic'>colder</hi> than the water either above or below it. Take one day as an example: on +the 19th of February the surface temperature of the sea-water was 32°; at 100 fathoms +it was 29·2°; while at 300 fathoms it had risen to 33°. In the Atlantic, on the eastern +side about the tropics, the <hi rend='italic'>bottom</hi> temperature was found to be very uniform at 35·2°, while +it might be broiling hot on the surface. Further south, on the west side of the Atlantic +below the equator, the bottom was found to be very nearly three degrees cooler. It is +believed that the cold current enters the Atlantic from the Antarctic, and does not rise to +within 1,700 fathoms of the surface. These, and many kindred points, belong more properly +to another section of this work, to be hereafter discussed. +</p><anchor id="fignaturoon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE NATURALIST’S ROOM ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_059.png" rend="w80"><head>THE NATURALIST’S ROOM ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE NATURALIST’S ROOM ON BOARD THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> had crossed, and sounded, and dredged the broad Atlantic from +Madeira to the West Indies—finding their deepest water off the Virgin Islands; thence +to Halifax, Nova Scotia; recrossed it to the Azores, Canary, and Cape de Verde Islands; +recrossed it once more in a great zig-zag from the African coast, through the equatorial +regions to Bahia, Brazil; and thence, if the expression may be used, by a great angular +<pb n='38'/><anchor id='Pg038'/>sweep through the Southern Ocean to Tristan d’Acunha <hi rend='italic'>en route</hi> to the Cape, where they +made an interesting discovery, one that, unlike their other findings, was most interesting +to the <hi rend='italic'>discovered</hi> also. It was that of <hi rend='italic'>two</hi> modern Robinson Crusoes, who had been living +by themselves a couple of years on a desolate rocky island, the name of which, <q>Inaccessible,</q> +rightly describes its character and position in mid ocean. Juan Fernandez, the +<hi rend='italic'>locale</hi> of Defoe’s immortal story, is nothing to it now-a-days, and is constantly visited. +On arrival at the island of Tristan d’Acunha, itself a miserable settlement of about a +dozen cottages, the people, mostly from the Cape and St. Helena, some of them mulattoes, +informed the officers of the <name type="ship">Challenger</name> that two Germans, brothers, had some time before +settled, for the purpose of catching seals, on a small island about thirty miles off, and that, +not having been over there or seen any signs of them for a long time, they feared that +they had perished. It turned out afterwards that the Tristan d’Acunha people had not +taken any trouble in the matter, looking on them as interlopers on their fishing-grounds. +They had promised to send them some animals—a bull, cow, and heifer—but, although +they had stock and fowls of all kinds, had left them to their fate. But first as to this +<pb n='39'/><anchor id='Pg039'/>little-known Tristan d’Acunha, of which Lord George Campbell<note place="foot"><q>Log Letters from the <name type="ship">Challenger</name>.</q></note> furnishes the following +account:—<q>It is a circular-shaped island, some nine miles in diameter, a peak rising in +the centre 8,300 feet high—a fine sight, snow-covered as it is two-thirds of the way +down. In the time of Napoleon a guard of our marines was sent there from the Cape; +but the connection between Nap’s being caged at St. Helena and a guard of marines +occupying this island is not very obvious, is it? Any way, that was the commencement +of a settlement which has continued with varying numbers to this day, the marines +having long ago been withdrawn, and now eighty-six people—men, women, and children—live +here.... A precipitous wall of cliff, rising abruptly from the sea, encircles +the island, excepting where the settlement is, and there the cliff recedes and leaves a long +grass slope of considerable extent, covered with grey boulders. The cottages, in number +about a dozen, look very Scotch from the ship, with their white walls, straw roofs, and +stone dykes around them. Sheep, cattle, pigs, geese, ducks, and fowls they have in +plenty, also potatoes and other vegetables, all of which they sell to whalers, who give +them flour or money in exchange. The appearance of the place makes one shudder; +it looks so thoroughly as though it were always blowing there—which, indeed, it is, +heavy storms continually sweeping over, killing their cattle right and left before they +have time to drive them under shelter. They say that they have lost 100 head of +cattle lately by these storms, which kill the animals, particularly the calves, from sheer +fatigue.</q> The men of the place often go whaling or sealing cruises with the ships that +touch there. +</p><anchor id="figdredimus"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: DREDGING IMPLEMENTS USED BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q><lb/> +Fig. 1, Sounding machines. +Fig. 2, Slip water-bottles. +Fig. 3, Deep-sea thermometer. +Fig. 4, The dredge. +Fig. 5, Cup sounding lead.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_060.png" rend="w80"><head>DREDGING IMPLEMENTS USED BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q><lb/> +Fig. 1, Sounding machines. +Fig. 2, Slip water-bottles. +Fig. 3, Deep-sea thermometer. +Fig. 4, The dredge. +Fig. 5, Cup sounding lead.</head> + <figDesc>DREDGING IMPLEMENTS USED BY THE <q>CHALLENGER.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The <name type="ship">Challenger</name> steamed slowly over to Inaccessible Island during the night, and anchored +next morning off its northern side, where rose a magnificent wall of black cliff, splashed +green with moss and ferns, rising sheer 1,300 feet above the sea. Between two headlands +a strip of stony beach, with a small hut on it, could be seen. This was the residence +of our two Crusoes. +</p> + +<p> +Their story, told when the first exuberance of joy at the prospect of being taken +off the island had passed away, was as follows:—One of the brothers had been cast +away on Tristan d’Acunha some years before, in consequence of the burning of his ship. +There he and his companions of the crew had been kindly treated by the settlers, and told +that at one of the neighbouring islands 1,700 seals had been captured in one season. +Telling this to a brother when he at last reached home in the Fatherland, the two of +them, fired with the ambition of acquiring money quickly, determined to exile themselves +for a while to the islands. By taking passage on an outward-bound steamer from +Southampton, and later transferring themselves to a whaler, they reached their destination +in safety on the 27th of November, 1871. They had purchased an old whale-boat—mast, +sails, and oars complete—and landed with a fair supply of flour, biscuit, coffee, tea, sugar, +salt, and tobacco, sufficient for present needs. They had blankets and some covers, +which were easily filled with bird’s feathers—a German could hardly forget his national +luxury, his feather-bed. They had provided themselves with a wheelbarrow, sundry tools, +pot and kettles; a short Enfield rifle, and an old fowling-piece, and a very limited supply +<pb n='40'/><anchor id='Pg040'/>of powder, bullets, and shot. They had also sensibly provided themselves with some +seeds, so that, all in all, they started life on the island under favourable circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +The west side of the island, on which they landed, consisted of a beach some three +miles in length, with a bank of earth, covered with the strong long tussock grass, rising +to the cliff, which it was just possible to scale. The walls of rock by which the island +is bounded afforded few opportunities for reaching the comparatively level plateau at the +top. Without the aid of the grass it was impossible, and in one place, which had to +be climbed constantly, it took them an hour and a half of hard labour, holding on with +hands and feet, and <hi rend='italic'>even teeth</hi>, to reach the summit. Meantime, they had found on the +north side a suitable place for building their hut, near a waterfall that fell from the side +of the mountain, and close to a wood, from which they could obtain all the firewood +they required. Their humble dwelling was partly constructed of spars from the vessel +that had brought them to the island, and was thatched with grass. About this time +(December) the seals were landing in the coast, it being the pupping season, and they +killed nineteen. In hunting them their whale-boat, which was too heavy for two men +to handle, was seriously damaged in landing through the surf; but yet, with constant +bailing, could be kept afloat. A little later they cut it in halves, and constructed from +the best parts a smaller boat, which was christened the <name type="ship">Sea Cart</name>. During the summer +rains their house became so leaky that they pulled it down, and shifted their quarters to +another spot. At the beginning of April the tussock grass, by which they had ascended +the cliff, caught fire, and their means of reaching game, in the shape of wild pigs and +goats, was cut off. Winter (about our summer-time, as in Australia, &c.) was approaching, +and it became imperative to think of laying in provisions. By means of the <name type="ship">Sea Cart</name> +they went round to the west side, and succeeded in killing two goats and a pig, the +latter of which furnished a bucket of fat for frying potatoes. The wild boars there were +found to be almost uneatable; but the sows were good eating. The goats’ flesh was said +to be very delicate. An English ship passed them far out at sea, and they lighted a +fire to attract attention, but in vain; while the surf was running too high, and their +<name type="ship">Cart</name> too shaky to attempt to reach it. +</p> + +<p> +Hitherto they had experienced no greater hardships than they had expected, and were +prepared for. But in June [mid-winter] their boat was, during a storm, washed off the +beach, and broken up. This was to them a terrible disaster; their old supplies were +exhausted, and they were practically cut off from not merely the world in general, but +even the rest of the island. They got weaker and weaker, and by August were little +better than two skeletons. +</p> + +<p> +The sea was too tempestuous, and the distance too great for them to attempt to +swim round (as they afterwards did) to another part of the island. But succour was at +hand; they were saved by the penguins, a very clumsy form of relief. The female +birds came ashore in August to lay their eggs in the nests already prepared by their +lords and masters, the male birds, who had landed some two or three weeks previously. +Our good Germans had divided their last potato, and were in a very weak and despondent +condition when the pleasant fact stared them in the face that they might now fatten on +eggs <hi rend='italic'>ad libitum</hi>. Their new diet soon put fresh heart and courage in them, and when, +<pb n='41'/><anchor id='Pg041'/>early in September, a French bark sent a boat ashore, they determined still to remain +on the island. They arranged with the captain for the sale of their seal-skins, and +bartered a quantity of eggs for some biscuit and a couple of pounds of tobacco. Late +in October a schooner from the Cape of Good Hope called at the island, and on leaving, +promised to return for them, as they had decided to quit the island, not having had any +success in obtaining peltries or anything else that is valuable; but she did not re-appear, +and in November their supplies were again at starvation-point. Selecting a calm day, +the two Crusoes determined to swim round the headland to the eastward, taking with +them their rifles and blankets, and towing after them an empty oil-barrel containing +their clothes, powder, matches, and kettle. This they repeated later on several occasions, +and, climbing the cliffs by the tussock grass, were able to kill or secure on the plateau +a few of the wild pigs. Sometimes one of them only would mount, and after killing a +pig would cut it up and lower the hams to his brother below. They caught three little +sucking-pigs, and towed them alive through the waves, round the point of their landing-place, +where they arrived half drowned. They were put in an enclosure, and fed on green +stuff and penguin’s eggs—good feeding for a delicate little porker. Attempting on +another occasion to tow a couple in the same way, the unfortunate pigs met a watery +grave in the endeavour to weather the point, and one of the brothers barely escaped, +with some few injuries, through a terrible surf which was beating on their part of the +coast. Part of their time was passed in a cave during the cold weather. When the +<name type="ship">Challenger</name> arrived their only rifle had burst in two places, and was of little use, while +their musket was completely burst in all directions, and was being used as a blow-pipe +to freshen the fire when it got low. Their only knives had been made by themselves +from an old saw. Their library consisted of eight books and an atlas, and these, affording +their only literary recreation for two years, they knew almost literally by heart. When +they first landed they had a dog and two pups, which they, doubtless, hoped would +prove something like companions. The dogs almost immediately left, and made for the +penguin rookeries, where they killed and worried the birds by hundreds. One of them +became mad, and the brothers thought it best to shoot the three of them. Captain Nares +gave the two Crusoes a passage to the Cape, where one of them obtained a good situation; +the other returned to Germany, doubtless thinking that about a couple of dozen seal-skins—all +they obtained—was hardly enough to reward them for their two years’ dreary +sojourn on Inaccessible Island. +</p> +<figure url="images/illo_063.png" rend="w40"><figDesc>Illustration</figDesc></figure> +</div><div> +<pb n='42'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +<index index="toc" level1="III. The Men of the Sea"/><anchor id="chap03"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="III. The Men of the Sea"/> +<head>Chapter III.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Men of the Sea.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The great Lexicographer on Sailors—The Dangers of the Sea—How Boys become Sailors—Young Amyas Leigh—The +Genuine Jack Tar—Training-Ships <hi rend='italic'>versus</hi> the old Guard-Ships—<q>Sea-goers and Waisters</q>—The Training Undergone—Routine +on Board—Never-ending Work—Ship like a Lady’s Watch—Watches and <q>Bells</q>—Old Grogram and Grog—The +Sailor’s Sheet Anchor—Shadows in the Seaman’s Life—The Naval Cat—Testimony and Opinion of a Medical +Officer—An Example—Boy Flogging in the Navy—<anchor id="corr042"/><corr sic="Shakspeare">Shakespeare</corr> and Herbert on Sailors and the Sea. +</p></argument> + +<p> +Dr. Johnson, whose personal weight seems to have had something to do with that carried +by his opinion, considered going to sea a species of insanity.<note place="foot">All readers will remember Peter Simple, and how he tells us that <q>It has been from time immemorial +the heathenish custom to sacrifice the greatest fool of the family to the prosperity and naval superiority of the +country,</q> and that he personally <q>was selected by general acclamation!</q> Marryat knew very well, however, that +it was <q>younger sons,</q> and not by any means necessarily the greatest fools of the family who went to sea.</note> <q>No man,</q> said he, <q>will +be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail: for being in a ship +is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.</q> The great lexicographer knew +Fleet Street better than he did the fleet, and his opinion, as expressed above, was hardly +even decently patriotic or sensible. Had all men thought as he professed to do—probably +for the pleasure of saying something ponderously brilliant for the moment—we should have +had no naval or commercial superiority to-day—in short, no England. +</p> + +<p> +The dangers of the sea are serious enough, but need not be exaggerated. One writer<note place="foot">William Pitt, long Master-Attendant at Jamaica Dockyard, who died at Malta, in 1840. The song is often +wrongly attributed to Dibdin, or Tom Hood the elder.</note> +indeed, in serio-comic vein, makes his sailors sing in a gale— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">When you and I, Bill, on the deck</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Are comfortably lying,</l> +<l>My eyes! what tiles and chimney-pots</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">About their heads are flying!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +leading us to infer that the dangers of town-life are greater than those of the sea in a +moderate gale. We might remind the reader that Mark Twain has conclusively shown, +from statistics, that more people die in bed comfortably at home than are killed by all +the railroad, steamship, or other accidents in the world, the inference being that going +to bed is a dangerous habit! But the fact is, that wherever there is danger there will +be brave men found to face it—even when it takes the desperate form just indicated! +So that there is nothing surprising in the fact that in all times there have been men +ready to go to sea. +</p> + +<p> +Of those who have succeeded, the larger proportion have been carried thither by the +spirit of adventure. It would be difficult to say whether it has been more strongly +developed through actual <q>surroundings,</q> as believed by one of England’s most intelligent +and friendly critics,<note place="foot">Alphonse Esquiros, <q>English Seamen and Divers.</q></note> who says, <q>The ocean draws them just as a pond attracts young +ducks,</q> or through the influence of literature bringing the knowledge of wonderful +voyages and discoveries within the reach of all. The former are immensely strong +influences. The boy who lives by, and loves the sea, and notes daily the ships of all +<pb n='43'/><anchor id='Pg043'/>nations passing to and fro, or who, maybe, dwells in some naval or commercial port, +and sees constantly great vessels arriving and departing, and hears the tales of sailors +bold, concerning new lands and curious things, is very apt to become imbued with the +spirit of adventure. How charmingly has Charles Kingsley written on the latter point!<note place="foot"><q>Westward Ho!</q></note> +How young Amyas Leigh, gentle born, and a mere stripling schoolboy, edged his way +under the elbows of the sailor men on Bideford Quay to listen to Captain John Oxenham +tell his stories of heaps—<q>seventy foot long, ten foot broad, and twelve foot high</q>—of +silver bars, and Spanish treasure, and far-off lands and peoples, and easy victories +over the coward Dons! How Oxenham, on a recruiting bent, sang out, with good broad +Devon accent, <q rend="post: none">Who ’lists? who ’lists? who’ll make his fortune?</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none"><q rend="post: none">Oh, who will join, jolly mariners all?</q></q></l> +<l>And who will join, says he, O!</l> +<l>To fill his pockets with the good red goold,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none"><q rend="pre: none">By sailing on the sea, O!</q></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +And how young Leigh, fired with enthusiasm, made answer, boldly, <q>I want to go to +sea; I want to see the Indies. I want to fight the Spaniards. Though I’m a gentleman’s +son, I’d a deal liever be a cabin-boy on board your ship.</q> And how, although he did not +go with swaggering John, he lived to first round the world with great Sir Francis +Drake, and after fight against the <q>Invincible</q> Armada. The story had long before, +and has many a time since, been enacted in various forms among all conditions of men. +To some, however, the sea has been a last refuge, and many such have been converted +into brave and hardy men, perforce themselves; while many others, in the good old days +of press-gangs, appeared, as Marryat tells us, <q>to fight as hard not to be forced into +the service as they did for the honour of the country after they were fairly embarked +in it.</q> It may not generally be known that the law which concerns impressing has +never been abolished, although there is no fear that it will ever again be resorted to in +these days of naval reserves, training-ships, and naval volunteers. +</p> + +<p> +The altered circumstances of the age, arising from the introduction of steam, and +the greatly increased inter-commercial relations of the whole world, have made the +Jack Tar pure and simple comparatively rare in these days; not, we believe, so much +from his disappearance off the scene as by the numbers of differently employed men on +board by whom he is surrounded, and in a sense hidden. A few A.B.’s and ordinary +seamen are required on any steamship; but the whole tribe of mechanicians, from the +important rank of chief engineer downwards, from assistants to stokers and coal-passers, +need not know one rope from another. On the other hand, the rapid increase of +commerce has apparently outrun the natural increase of qualified seamen, and many a +good ship nowadays, we are sorry to say, goes to sea with a very motley crew of +<q>green</q> hands, landlubbers, and foreigners of all nationalities, including Lascars, Malays, +and Kanakas, from the Sandwich Islands. A <q>confusion of tongues,</q> not very desirable +on board a vessel, reigns supreme, and renders the position of the officers by no means +enviable. To obviate these difficulties, and furnish a supply of good material both to +<pb n='44'/><anchor id='Pg044'/>the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine, training-ships have been organised, which have +been, so far, highly successful. Let these embryo defenders of their country’s interests +have the first place. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, at all periods the boys, and others who entered to serve before the mast, +received some training, and picked up the rest if they were reasonably clever. The +brochure of <q>an old salt,</q><note place="foot">Robert Mindry, <q>Chips from the Log of an Old Salt.</q></note> which has recently appeared, gives a fair account of his +own treatment and reception. Running away from London, as many another boy has +done, with a few coppers in his pocket, he tramped to Sheerness, taking by the way a +hearty supper of turnips with a family of sheep in a field. Arrived at his destination, +he found a handsome flag-ship, surrounded by a number of large and small vessels. +Selecting the very smallest—as best adapted to his own size—he went on board, and +asked the first officer he met—one who wore but a single epaulet—whether his ship was +<q><hi rend='italic'><anchor id="corr044"/><corr sic="(quote added)">manned</corr> with boys</hi>?</q> He was answered, <q>No, I want men; and pray what may you +want?</q> <q>I want to go to sea, sir, please.</q> <q>You had better go home to your mother,</q> +was the answer. With the next officer—<q>a real captain, wearing grey hair, and as +straight as a line</q>—he fared better, and was eventually entered as a third-class boy, and +sent on board a guard-ship. Here he was rather fortunate in being taken in charge by a +petty officer, who had, as was often the case then, his wife living on board. The lady +ruled supreme in the mess. She served out the grog, too, and, to prevent intoxication +among the men, used to keep one finger inside the measure! This enabled her to the +better take care of her husband. She is described as the best <q>man</q> in the mess, and +irresistibly reminds us of Mrs. Trotter in <q>Peter Simple,</q> who had such a horror of +rum that she could not be induced to take it except when the water was bad. The water, +however, always <hi rend='italic'>was</hi> bad! But the former lady took good care of the new-comer, while, +as we know, Mrs. Trotter fleeced poor Peter out of three pounds sterling and twelve +pairs of stockings before he had been an hour on board. Mr. Mindry tells the usual +stories of the practical jokes he had to endure—about being sent to the doctor’s mate +for mustard, for which he received a peppering; of the constant thrashings he received—in +one case, with a number of others, receiving two dozen for <hi rend='italic'>losing his dinner</hi>. +He was cook of the mess for the time, and having mixed his dough, had taken it to +the galley-oven, from the door of which a sudden lurch of the ship had ejected it on +the main deck, <q>the contents making a very good representation of the White Sea.</q> The +crime for which he and his companions suffered was for endeavouring to scrape it up +again! But the gradual steps by which he was educated upwards, till he became +a gunner of the first class, prove that, all in all, he had cheerily taken the bull by the +horns, determined to rise as far and fast as he might in an honourable profession. He +was after a year or so transferred to a vessel fitting for the West Indies, and soon got +a taste of active life. This was in 1837. Forty or fifty years before, the guard-ships were +generally little better than floating pandemoniums. They were used partly for breaking in +raw hands, and were also the intermediate stopping-places for men waiting to join other +ships. In a guard-ship of the period described, a most heterogeneous mass of humanity +<pb n='45'/><anchor id='Pg045'/>was assembled. Human invention could not scheme work for the whole, while skulking, +impracticable in other vessels of the Royal Navy, was deemed highly meritorious there. +A great body of men were thus very often assembled together, who resolved themselves +into hostile classes, separated as any two castes of the Hindoos. A clever writer in +<hi rend='italic'>Blackwood’s Magazine</hi>, more than fifty years ago, describes them first as <q>sea-goers,</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +sailors separated from their vessels by illness, or temporary causes, or ordered to other +vessels, who looked on the guard-ship as a floating hotel, and, having what they were +pleased to call <hi rend='italic'>ships of their own</hi>, were the aristocrats of the occasion, who would do no +more work than they were obliged. The second, and by far the most numerous class, +were termed <q>waisters,</q> and were the simple, the unfortunate, or the utterly abandoned, +a body held on board in the utmost contempt, and most of whom, in regard to clothing, +were wretched in the extreme. The <q>waister</q> had to do everything on board that was +menial—swabbing, sweeping, and drudging generally. At night, in defiance of his hard +and unceasing labour, he too often became a bandit, prowling about seeking what he +might devour or appropriate. What a contrast to the clean orderly training-ships of +to-day! Some little information on this subject, but imperfectly understood by the public, +may perhaps be permitted here. +</p><anchor id="figchictrai"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>CHICHESTER</q> TRAINING-SHIP.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_067.png" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>CHICHESTER</q> TRAINING-SHIP.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>CHICHESTER</q> TRAINING-SHIP</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<pb n='46'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +<p> +It is not generally known that our supply of seamen for the Royal Navy is nowadays +almost entirely derived from the training-ships—first established about fourteen years +ago. In a late blue-book it was stated that during a period of five years only 107 men +had been entered from other sources, who had not previously served. Training-ships, +accommodating about 3,000, are stationed at Devonport, Falmouth, Portsmouth, and +Portland, where the lads remain for about a year previous to being sent on sea-going +ships. The age of entry has varied at different periods; it is now fifteen to sixteen and +a half years. The recruiting statistics show whence a large proportion come—from the +men of Devon, who contribute, as they did in the days of Drake and Hawkins, Gilbert +and Raleigh, the largest quota of men willing to make their <q>heritage the sea.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Peter Comrie, R.N., a gentleman who has made this matter a study, informs +the writer that on board these ships, as regards cleanliness, few gentlemen’s sons are +better attended to, while their education is not neglected, as they have a good schoolmaster +on all ships of any size. He says that boys brought up in the service not +merely make the best seamen, but generally like the navy, and stick to it. The order, +cleanliness, and tidy ways obligatory on board a man-of-war, make, in many cases, the +ill-regulated fo’castle of most merchant ships very distasteful to them. Their drilling is +just sufficient to keep them in healthy condition. No one can well imagine the difference +wrought in the appearance of the street arab, or the Irish peasant boy, by a short +residence on board one of these ships. He fills out, becomes plump, loses his gaunt, +haggard, hunted look; is natty in his appearance, and assumes that jaunty, rolling gait +that a person gifted with what is called <q>sea-legs</q> is supposed to exhibit. Still, <q>we,</q> +writes the doctor, <q>have known Irish boys, who had very rarely even perhaps seen +animal food, when first put upon the liberal dietary of the service, complain that they +were being starved, their stomachs having been so used to be distended with large +quantities of vegetables, that it took some time before the organ accommodated itself to +a more nutritious but less filling dietary.</q> +</p> + +<p> +You have only got to watch the boy from the training-ship on leave to judge that +the navy has yet some popularity. Neatly dressed, clean and natty, surrounded by his +quondam playmates, he is <q>the observed of all observers,</q> and is gazed at with admiring +respect by the street arab from a respectful distance. He has, perhaps, learned to <q>spin +a few yarns,</q> and give the approved hitch to his trousers, and, while giving a favourable +account of his life on board ship, with its forecastle jollity and <q>four bitter,</q> is the +best recruiting-officer the service can have. The great point to be attended to, in order +to make him a sailor, is that <q>you must catch him young.</q><note place="foot">The conditions for entering a Government training-ship for the service involve, 1st, the consent of parents +or proper guardians; 2nd, the candidate must sign to serve ten years commencing from the age of eighteen. A +bounty of £6 is paid to provide outfit, and he receives sixpence a day. At the age of eighteen he receives one +shilling and a penny per day—the same as an ordinary seaman. Each candidate passes a medical examination, +and must be from fifteen to sixteen and a half years of age. The standard height is five feet for sixteen years +old—rather a low average.</note> That a good number +have been so caught is proved by the navy estimates, which now provide for over 7,000 +boys, 4,000 of the number in sea-going ships. +</p> +<pb n='47'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +<p> +Governments, as governments, may be paternal, but are rarely very benevolent, and +the above excellent institutions are only organised for the safety and strength of the navy. +There is another class of training-ships, which owe their existence to benevolence, and deserve +every encouragement—those for rescuing our street waifs from the treadmill and prison. The +larger part of these do not enter the navy, but are passed into the Merchant Marine, their +training being very similar. The Government simply <hi rend='italic'>lends</hi> the ship. Thus the <name type="ship">Chichester</name>, +at Greenhithe, a vessel which had been in 1868 a quarter of a century lying useless—<hi rend='italic'>never</hi> +having seen service—was turned over to a society, a mere shell or carcase, her masts, +rigging, and other fittings having to be provided by private subscriptions. Her case +irresistibly reminds the writer of a vessel, imaginary only in name, described by James +Hannay:<note place="foot">In <q>Singleton Fontenoy, R.N.</q></note>—<q>H.M.S. <name type="ship">Patagonian</name> was built as a three-decker, at a cost of £120,000, +when it was discovered that she could not sail. She was then cut down into a frigate, +at a cost of £50,000, when it was found out that she would not tack. She was next +built up into a two-decker, at a cost of another £50,000, and then it was discovered +she could be made useful, so the Admiralty kept her unemployed for ten years!</q> A +good use was, however, found at last for the <name type="ship">Chichester</name>, thanks to benevolent people, the +quality of whose mercy is twice blessed, for they both help the wretched youngsters, +and turn them into good boys for our ships. Some of these street arabs previously +have hardly been under a roof at night for years together. Hear M. Esquiros:—<q>To +these little ones London is a desert, and, though lost in the drifting sands of the +crowd, they never fail to find their way. The greater part of them contract a singular +taste for this hard and almost savage kind of life. They love the open sky, and at night +all they dread is the eye of the policeman; their young minds become fertile in resources, +and glory in their independence in the <q>battle of life;</q> but if no helping hand is +stretched out to arrest them in this fatal and down-hill path, they surely gravitate to the +treadmill and the prison. How could it be otherwise?... The question is, what +are these lads good for?</q> That problem, M. Esquiros, as you with others predicted, +has been solved satisfactorily. The poor lads form excellent raw material for our ever-increasing +sea-service. +</p> + +<p> +The training of a naval cadet—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, an embryo midshipman, or <q>midshipmite</q> (as poor +Peter Simple was irreverently called—before, however, the days of naval cadets)—is very similar +in many respects to that of an embryo seaman, but includes many other acquirements. After +obtaining his nomination from the Admiralty, and undergoing a simple preliminary examination +at the Royal Naval College in ordinary branches of knowledge, he is passed to a +training-ship, which to-day is the <name type="ship">Britannia</name> at Dartmouth. Here he is taught all the ordinary +acquirements in rigging, seamanship, and gunnery; and, to fit him to be an officer, he is +instructed in taking observations for latitude and longitude, in geometry, trigonometry, and +algebra. He also goes through a course of drawing-lessons and modern languages. He is +occasionally sent off on a brig for a short cruise, and after a year on the training-ship, +during which he undergoes a quarterly examination, he is passed to a sea-going ship. His +position on leaving depends entirely on his certificate—if he obtains one of the First Class, he +<pb n='48'/><anchor id='Pg048'/>is immediately rated midshipman; while if he only obtains a Third Class certificate, he will +have to serve twelve months more on the sea-going ship, and pass another examination before +he can claim that rank.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> <q>The Queen’s Regulations and the Admiralty Instructions for the Government of Her Majesty’s Naval +Service;</q> also Glascock’s <q>Naval Officer’s Manual.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +The actual experiences of intelligent sailors, or voyagers, written by themselves, have, +of course, a greater practical value than the sea-stories of clever novelists, while the latter, +as a class, confine themselves very much to the quarter-deck. Dana’s <q>Two Years Before +the Mast</q> is so well known that few of our readers need to be told that it is the story of an +American student, who had undermined his health by over-application, and who took a voyage, +<hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> Cape Horn, to California in order to recover it. But the old brig <name type="ship">Pilgrim</name>, bound to the +northern Pacific coast for a cargo of hides, was hardly a fair example, in some respects, of an +ordinary merchant-vessel, to say nothing of a fine clipper or modern steam-ship. Dana’s +experiences were of the roughest type, and may be read by boys, anxious to go to sea, with +advantage, if taken in conjunction with those of others; many of them are common to all grades +of sea service. A little work by a <q>Sailor-boy,</q><note place="foot"><q>A Sailor-Boy’s Log-Book from Portsmouth to the Peiho,</q> edited by Walter White.</note> published some years ago, gives a very fair +idea of a seaman’s lot in the Royal Navy, and the two stories in conjunction present a fair +average view of sea-life and its duties. +</p> + +<p> +Passing over the young sailor-boy’s admission to the training-ship—the <q>Guardho,</q> as +he terms it—we find his first days on board devoted to the mysteries of knots and hitch-making, +in learning to lash hammocks, and in rowing, and in acquiring the arts of +<q>feathering</q> and <q>tossing</q> an oar. Incidentally he gives us some information on the +etiquette observed in boats passing with an officer on board. <q>For a lieutenant, the coxswain +only gets up and takes his cap off; for a captain, the boat’s crew lay on their oars, and +the coxswain takes his cap off; and for an admiral the oars are tossed (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, raised +perpendicularly, <hi rend='italic'>not</hi> thrown in the air!), and all caps go off.</q> Who would not be an admiral? +While in this <q>instruction</q> he received his sailor’s clothes—a pair of blue cloth +trousers, two pairs of white duck ditto, two blue serge and two white frocks, two pairs of white +<q>jumpers,</q> two caps, two pairs of stockings, a knife, and a marking-type. As soon as he is +<q>made a sailor</q> by these means, he was ordered to the mast-head, and tells with glee how +he was able to go up outside by the futtock shrouds, and not through <q>lubber’s hole.</q> The +reader doubtless knows that the lubber’s hole is an open space between the head of the lower +mast and the edge of the top; it is so named from the supposition that a <q>land-lubber</q> would +prefer that route. The French call it the <hi rend='italic'>trou du chat</hi>—the hole through which the cat would +climb. Next he commenced cutlass-drill, followed by rifle-drill, big-gun practice, instruction +in splicing, and all useful knots, and in using the compass and lead-line. He was afterwards +sent on a brig for a short sea cruise. <q>Having,</q> says he, <q>to run aloft without shoes was +a heavy trial to me, and my feet often were so sore and blistered that I have sat down in the +<q>tops</q> and cried with the pain; yet up I had to go, and furl and loose my sails; and up I did +go, blisters and all. Sometimes the pain was so bad I could not move smartly, and then the +unmerited rebuke from a thoughtless officer was as gall and wormwood to me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Dana, in speaking of the incessant work on board any vessel, says, <q>A ship is like a lady’s +<pb n='49'/><anchor id='Pg049'/>watch—always out of repair.</q> When, for example, in a calm, the sails hanging loosely, the +hot sun pouring down on deck, and no way on the vessel, which lies +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">As idle as a painted ship</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Upon a painted ocean,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +there is always sufficient work for the men, in <q>setting up</q> the rigging, which constantly +requires lightening and repairing, in picking oakum for caulking, in brightening up the metal-work, +and in holystoning the deck. The holystone is a large piece of porous stone,<note place="foot">A naval friend kindly informs me that the Malta holystones are excellent, natural lava being abundant.</note> which is +dragged in alternate ways by two sailors over the deck, sand being used to increase its effect. +It obtains its name from the fact that Sunday morning is a very common time on many +merchant-vessels for cleaning up generally. +</p><anchor id="figinstonbo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: INSTRUCTION ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_071.png" rend="w80"><head>INSTRUCTION ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR.</head> + <figDesc>INSTRUCTION ON BOARD A MAN-OF-WAR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The daily routine of our young sailor on the experimental cruises gave him plenty of +employment. In his own words it was as follows:—Commencing at five a.m.—<q>Turn hands +up; holystone or scrub upper deck; coil down ropes. Half-past six—breakfast, half an +<pb n='50'/><anchor id='Pg050'/>hour; call the watch, watch below, clean the upper deck; watch on deck, clean wood and +brass-work; put the upper decks to rights. Eight a.m.—hands to quarters; clean guns and +arms; division for inspection; prayers; make sail, reef topsails, furl top-sails, top-gallant sails, +royals; reef courses, down top-gallant and royal yards. This continued till eight bells, twelve +o’clock, dinner one hour. <q>All hands again; cutlass, rifle, and big-gun drill till four o’clock; +clear up decks, coil up ropes;</q> and then our day’s work is done.</q> Then they would make +little trips to sea, many of them to experience the woes of sea-sickness for the first time. +</p> + +<p> +But the boys on the clean and well-kept training-brig were better off in all respects than +poor Dana. When first ordered aloft, he tells us, <q>I had not got my <q>sea-legs</q> on, was +dreadfully sea-sick, with hardly strength to hold on to anything, and it was <q>pitch-dark</q> * * * +How I got along I cannot now remember. I <q>laid out</q> on the yards, and held on with all +my strength. I could not have been of much service; for I remember having been +sick several times before I left the top-sail yard. Soon all was snug aloft, and we +were again allowed to go below. This I did not consider much of a favour; for the +confusion of everything below, and that inexpressibly sickening smell, caused by the +shaking up of bilge-water in the hold, made the steerage but an indifferent refuge to +the cold, wet decks. I had often read of the nautical experiences of others, but I felt +as though there could be none worse than mine; for, in addition to every other evil, I +could not but remember that this was only the first night of a two years’ voyage. +When we were all on deck, we were not much better off, for we were continually ordered +about by the officer, who said that it was good for us to be in motion. Yet anything +was better than the horrible state of things below. I remember very well going to the +hatchway and putting my head down, when I was oppressed by nausea, and felt like being +relieved <anchor id="corr050"/><corr sic="(quote missing)">immediately.</corr></q> We can fully recommend the example of Dana, who, acting on the +advice of the black cook on board, munched away at a good half-pound of salt beef and hard +biscuit, which, washed down with cold water, soon, he says, made a man of him. +</p> + +<p> +Some little explanation of the mode of dividing time on board ship may be here found +useful. A <q>watch</q> is a term both for a division of the crew and of their time: a full +watch is four hours. At the expiration of each four hours, commencing from twelve o’clock +noon, the men below are called in these or similar terms—<q>All the starboard (or port) watch +ahoy! Eight bells!</q> The watch from four p.m. to eight p.m. is divided, on a well-regulated +ship, into two <q>dog-watches;</q> the object of this is to make an uneven number of periods—seven, +instead of six, so that the men change the order of their watches daily. Otherwise, +it will be seen that a man, who, on leaving port, stood in a particular watch—from +twelve noon to four p.m.—would stand in the same watch throughout the voyage; and he +who had two night-watches at first would always have them. The periods of the <q>dog-watches</q> +are usually devoted to smoking and recreation for those off duty. +</p> + +<p> +As the terms involved must occur frequently in this work, it is necessary also to explain +for some readers the division of time itself by <q>bells.</q> The limit is <q>eight bells,</q> which +are struck at twelve, four, and eight o’clock a.m. or p.m. The ship’s bell is sounded each +half-hour. Half-past any of the above hours is <q>one bell</q> struck sharply by itself. At the +hour, two strokes are made sharply <hi rend='italic'>following</hi> each other. Expressing the strokes by signs, +half-past twelve would be | (representing one stroke); one o’clock would be || (two strokes +<pb n='51'/><anchor id='Pg051'/>sharply struck, one after the other); half-past one, || |; two o’clock, || ||; half-past two, +|| || |; three o’clock, || || ||; half-past three, || || || |; and four o’clock, || || || ||, or +<q>eight bells.</q> The process is then repeated in the next watch, and the only disturbing +element comes from the elements, which occasionally, when the vessel rolls or pitches greatly, +cause the bell to strike without leave. +</p> + +<p> +Seamen before the mast are divided into three classes—able, ordinary, and boys. In the +merchant service a <q>green hand</q> of forty may be rated as a boy; a landsman must ship +for boy’s wages on the first voyage. Merchant seamen rate themselves—in other words, they +cause themselves to be entered on the ship’s books according to their qualifications and +experience. There are few instances of abuse in this matter, and for good reason. Apart from +the disgrace and reduction of wages and rating which would follow, woe to the man who sets +himself up for an A.B. when he should enter as a boy; for the rest of the crew consider it a +fraud on themselves. The vessel would be short-handed of a man of the class required, and +their work would be proportionately increased. No mercy would be shown to such an impostor, +and his life on board would be that of a dog, but anything rather than that of a <q>jolly +sea-dog.</q><note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> Dana’s <q>Seaman’s Manual.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +There are lights in the sailor’s chequered life. Seamen are, Shakespeare tells us, <q>but +men</q>—and, if we are to believe Dibdin, grog is a decided element in their happier +hours. <q>Grog</q> is now a generic term; but it was not always. One Admiral Vernon—who +persisted in wearing a grogram<note place="foot">A form of heavy pile silk.</note> tunic so much that he was known among his +subordinates as <q>Old Grog</q>—earned immortality of a disagreeable nature by watering +the rum-ration of the navy to its present standard. At 11.30 a.m., on all ships of the +Royal Navy nowadays, half a gill of watered rum—two parts of water to one of the +stronger drink—is served out to each of the crew, unless they have forfeited it by +some act of insubordination. The officers, including the petty officers, draw half a gill +of pure rum; the former put it into the general mess, and many never taste it. <q>Six-water</q> +grog is a mild form of punishment. <q>Splicing the main-brace</q> infers extra +grog served out for extraordinary service. Formerly, and, indeed, as late as forty odd +years ago, the daily ration was a full gill; but, as sailors traded and bartered their drinks +among themselves, it would happen once in awhile that one would get too much <q>on +board.</q> It has happened occasionally in consequence that a seaman has tumbled overboard, +or fallen from the yards or rigging, and has met an inglorious death. Boys are not +allowed grog in the Royal Navy, and there is no absolute rule among merchant-vessels. +In the American navy there is a coin allowance in lieu of rum, and every nation has +its own peculiarities in this matter. In the French navy, wine, very <hi rend='italic'>ordinaire</hi>, and a little +brandy is issued. +</p> + +<p> +There are shadows, too, in the sailor’s life—as a rule, he brings them on himself, +but by no means always. If sailors are <q>but men,</q> officers rank in the same category, +and occasionally act like brutes. So much has been written on the subject of the naval +<q>cat</q>—a punishment once dealt out for most trifling offences, and not abolished yet, +that the writer has some diffidence in approaching the subject. A volume might be +<pb n='52'/><anchor id='Pg052'/>written on the theme; let the testimony of Dr. Stables,<note place="foot"><q>Medical Life in the Navy,</q> by W. Stables, M.D., &c.</note> a surgeon of the Royal Navy, +suffice. It shall be told in his own words:— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">One item of duty there is, which occasionally devolves on the medical officer, and +for the most part goes greatly against the feeling of the young surgeon; I refer to his +compulsory attendance at floggings. It is only fair to state that the majority of captains +and commanders use the cat as seldom as possible, and that, too, only sparingly. In +some ships, however, flogging is nearly as frequent as prayers of a morning. Again, it +is more common on foreign stations than at home, and boys of the first or second class, +marines, and ordinary seamen, are for the most part the victims.... We were at +anchor in Simon’s Bay. All the minutiæ of the scene I remember as though it were +but yesterday. The morning was cool and clear, the hills clad in lilac and green, sea-birds +floating high in air, and the waters of the bay reflecting the blue of the sky, and the +lofty mountain-sides forming a picture almost dream-like in its quietude and serenity. +The men were standing about in groups, dressed in their whitest of pantaloons, bluest +of smocks, and neatest of black-silk neckerchiefs. By-and-by the culprit was led in +by a file of marines, and I went below with him to make the preliminary examination, +in order to report whether or not he might be fit for the punishment.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">He was as good a specimen of the British mariner as one could wish to look +upon—hardy, bold, and wiry. His crime had been smuggling spirits on board.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none"><q>Needn’t examine me, doctor,</q> said he; <q>I aint afeared of their four dozen; they +can’t hurt me, sir—leastways my back, you know—my breast, though; hum—m!</q> and +he shook his head, rather sadly I thought, as he bent down his eyes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none"><q>What,</q> said I, <q>have you anything the matter with your chest?</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none"><q>Nay, doctor, nay; it’s my feelings they’ll hurt. I’ve a little girl at home that +loves me, and, bless you, sir, I won’t look her in the face again nohow.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">I felt his pulse. No lack of strength there, no nervousness; the artery had the +firm beat of health, the tendons felt like rods of iron beneath the finger, and his biceps +stood out hard and round as the mainstay of an old seventy-four.... All hands +had already assembled—the men and boys on one side, and the officers, in cocked hats +and swords, on the other. A grating had been lashed against the bulwark, and another +placed on deck beside it. The culprit’s shoulders and back were bared, and a strong +belt fastened around the lower part of the loins for protection; he was then firmly tied +by the hands to the upper, and by the feet to the lower grating; a little basin of cold +water was placed at his feet, and all was now prepared. The sentence was read, and +orders given to proceed with the punishment. The cat is a terrible instrument of +torture; I would not use it on a bull unless in self-defence; the shaft is about a foot +and a half long, and covered with green or red baize, according to taste; the thongs are +nine, about twenty-eight inches in length, of the thickness of a goose-quill, and with +two knots tied on each. Men describe the first blow as like a shower of molten lead.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">Combing out the thongs with his five fingers before each blow, firmly and +determinedly was the first dozen delivered by the bo’swain’s mate, and as unflinchingly +received.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='53'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">Then, <q>One dozen, sir, please,</q> he reported, saluting the commander.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none"><q>Continue the punishment,</q> was the calm reply.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">A new man, and a new cat. Another dozen reported; again the same reply. +Three dozen. The flesh, like burning steel, had changed from red to purple, and blue, +and white; and between the third and fourth dozen, the suffering wretch, pale enough +now, and in all probability sick, begged a comrade to give him a mouthful of water.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">There was a tear in the eye of the hardy sailor who obeyed him, whispering as +he did so, <q>Keep up, Bill; it’ll soon be over now.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q><q>Five, six,</q> the corporal slowly counted; <q>seven, eight.</q> It is the last dozen, and +how acute must be the torture! <q>Nine, ten.</q> The blood comes now fast enough, and—yes, +gentle reader, I <hi rend='italic'>will</hi> spare your feelings. The man was cast loose at last, and put +on the sick-list; he had borne his punishment without a groan, and without moving +a muscle. A large pet monkey sat crunching nuts in the rigging, and grinning all the +time; I have no doubt <hi rend='italic'>he</hi> enjoyed the spectacle immensely, <hi rend='italic'>for he was only an ape</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Stables gives his opinion on the use of the cat in honest and outspoken terms. +He considers <q>corporal punishment, as applied to men, <hi rend='italic'>cowardly</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>cruel</hi>, and debasing to +<hi rend='italic'>human nature</hi>; and as applied to boys, <hi rend='italic'>brutal</hi>, and sometimes even <hi rend='italic'>fiendish</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The writer has statistics before him which prove that 456 cases of flogging boys +took place in 1875, and that only seven men were punished during that year. There +is every probability that the use of the naval cat will ere long be abolished, and important +as is good discipline on board ship, there are many leading authorities who believe that +it can be maintained without it. The captain of a vessel is its king, reigning in a little +world of his own, and separated for weeks or months from the possibility of reprimand. +If he is a tyrannical man, he can make his ship a floating hell for all on board. A +system of fines for small offences has been proposed, and the idea has this advantage, +that in case they prove on investigation to have been unjustly imposed, the money +can be returned. The disgrace of a flogging sticks to a boy or man, and, besides, as +a punishment is infinitely too severe for most of the offences for which it is inflicted. +It would be a cruel punishment were the judge infallible, but with an erring human +being for an irresponsible judge, the matter is far worse. And that good seamen are +deterred from entering the Royal Navy, knowing that the commission of a peccadillo +or two may bring down the cat on their unlucky shoulders, is a matter of fact. +</p> + +<p> +We shall meet the sailor on the sea many a time and again during the progress +of this work, and see how hardly he earns his scanty reward in the midst of the awful +dangers peculiar to the elements he dares. Shakespeare says that he is— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">A man whom both the waters and the wind,</q></l> +<l>In that vast tennis-court, hath made the ball</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">For them to play on</q>—</l> +</lg> + +<p> +that the men of all others who have made England what she is, have not altogether a +bed of roses even on a well-conducted vessel, whilst they may lose their lives at any +moment by shipwreck and sudden death. George Herbert says— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>Praise the sea, but keep on land.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='54'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> + +<p> +And while the present writer would be sorry to prevent any healthy, capable, adventurous +boy from entering a noble profession, he recommends him to first study the literature +of the sea to the best and fullest of his ability. Our succeeding chapter will exhibit +some of the special perils which surround the sailor’s life, whilst it will exemplify to some +extent the qualities specially required and expected from him. +</p> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="IV. Perils of the Sailor's Life"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="IV. Perils of the Sailor's Life"/><anchor id="chap04"/> +<head>CHAPTER IV.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Perils of the Sailor’s Life.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The Loss of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Captain</name>—Six Hundred Souls swept into Eternity without a Warning—The Mansion and the Cottage alike +Sufferers—Causes of the Disaster—Horrors of the Scene—Noble Captain Burgoyne—Narratives of Survivors—An +almost Incredible Feat—Loss of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Royal George</name>—A great Disaster caused by a Trifle—Nine Hundred Lost—A +Child saved by a Sheep—The Portholes Upright—An involuntary Bath of Tar—Rafts of Corpses—The Vessel Blown +up in 1839-40—The Loss of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Vanguard</name>—Half a Million sunk in Fifty Minutes—Admirable Discipline on Board—All +Saved—The Court Martial. +</p></argument> + +<p> +England, and indeed all Europe, long prior to 1870 had been busily constructing ironclads, +and the daily journals teemed with descriptions of new forms and varieties of ships, armour, +and armament, as well as of new and enormous guns, which, rightly directed, might sink +them to the bottom. Among the more curious of the ironclads of that period, and the +construction of which had led to any quantity of discussion, sometimes of a very angry +kind, was the turret-ship—practically the sea-going <q>monitor</q>—<name type="ship">Captain</name>, which Captain +Cowper Phipps Coles had at length been permitted to construct. Coles, who was an +enthusiast of great scientific attainments, as well as a practical seaman, which too many +of our experimentalists in this direction have not been, had distinguished himself in +the Crimea, and had later made many improvements in rendering vessels shot-proof. His +revolving turrets are, however, the inventions with which his name are more intimately +connected, although he had much to do with the general construction of the <name type="ship">Captain</name>, +and other ironclads of the period. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Captain</name> was a large double-screw armour-plated vessel, of 4,272 tons. Her armour +in the most exposed parts was eight inches in thickness, ranging elsewhere downwards +from seven to as low as three inches. She had two revolving turrets, the strongest and +heaviest yet built, and carried six powerful guns. Among the peculiarities of her +construction were, that she had only nine feet of <q>free-board</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, that was the height +of her sides out of water. The forecastle and after-part of the vessel were raised above +this, and they were connected with a light hurricane-deck. This, as we shall see, played +an important part in the sad disaster we have to relate. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of the 8th of September, 1870, English readers, at their breakfast-tables, +in railway carriages, and everywhere, were startled with the news that the <name type="ship">Captain</name> had +foundered, with all hands, in the Bay of Biscay. Six hundred men had been swept into +<pb n='55'/><anchor id='Pg055'/>eternity without a moment’s warning. She had been in company with the squadron the +night before, and, indeed, had been visited by the admiral, for purposes of inspection, +the previous afternoon. The early part of the evening had been fine; later it had become +what sailors call <q>dirty weather;</q> at midnight the wind rose fast, and soon culminated +in a furious gale. At 2.15 in the morning of the 7th a heavy bank of clouds passed +off, and the stars came out clear and bright, the moon then setting; but no vessel could +be discerned where the <name type="ship">Captain</name> had been last observed. At daybreak the squadron was +all in sight, but scattered. <q><hi rend='italic'>Only ten ships instead of eleven could be discerned, the +<q>Captain</q> being the missing one.</hi></q> Later, it appeared that seventeen of the men and the +gunner had escaped, and landed at Corbucion, north of Cape Finisterre, on the afternoon +of the 7th. <hi rend='italic'>All the men who were saved belonged to the starboard watch</hi>; or, in other words, +none escaped except those on deck duty. Every man below, whether soundly sleeping +after his day’s work, or tossing sleeplessly in his berth, thinking of home and friends and +present peril, or watching the engines, or feeding the furnaces, went down, without the +faintest possibility of escaping his doom. +</p> + +<p> +Think of this catastrophe, and what it involved! The families and friends of +600 men plunged into mourning, and the scores on scores of wives and children into +poverty! In <hi rend='italic'>one</hi> street of Portsea, thirty wives were made widows by the occurrence.<note place="foot">Portsmouth, Devonport, Plymouth, and some Cornish seaport towns and villages were the chief sufferers. +Plymouth had furnished more than one-third of the crew.</note> +The shock of the news killed one poor woman, then in weak health. Nor were the sad +effects confined to the cottages of the poor. The noble-hearted captain of the vessel was +a son of Field-Marshal Burgoyne; Captain Coles, her inventor; a son of Mr. Childers, +the then First Lord of the Admiralty; the younger son of Lord Northbrook; the third +son of Lord Herbert of Lea; and Lord Lewis Gordon, brother of the Marquis of +Huntley, were among the victims of that terrible morning. The intelligence arrived +during the excitement caused by the defeat and capitulation of Sedan, which, involving, +as it did, the deposition of the Emperor and the fate of France, was naturally the great +topic of discussion, but for the time it overshadowed even those great events, for it was +a national calamity. +</p> + +<p> +From the statements of survivors we now know that the watch had been called a +few minutes past midnight; and as the men were going on deck to muster, the ship +gave a terrible lurch to starboard, soon, however, righting herself on that occasion. +Robert Hirst, a seaman, who afterwards gave some valuable testimony, was on the forecastle. +There was a very strong wind, and the ship was then only carrying her three +top-sails, double reefs in each, and the foretop-mast stay-sail. The yards were braced +sharp up, and the ship had little way upon her.<note place="foot">None of the survivors appeared to know whether the <name type="ship">Captain’s</name> screw was revolving at the time. Her +steam was partially up. Had she steamed, there is every probability that the catastrophe would not have +occurred.</note> As the watch was mustered, he heard +Captain Burgoyne give the order, <q>Let go the foretop-sail halyards!</q> followed by, <q>Let +go fore and maintop-sail sheets!</q> By the time the men got to the top-sail sheets the +ship was heeling over to starboard so much that others were being washed off the deck, +<pb n='57'/><anchor id='Pg057'/>the ship lying down on her side, as she was gradually turning over and trembling +through her whole frame with every blow which the short, jumping, vicious seas, now +white with the squall, gave her.<note place="foot">One man testified that he had heard Captain Burgoyne’s inquiries as to how much the ship was heeling +over, the answers given being respectively, <q>18,</q> <q>23,</q> <q>25 degrees.</q> The movement was never checked, +and almost the moment after she had reached 25 degrees, she was keel-uppermost, and about to make that +terrific plunge to the bottom.</note> The roar of the steam from her boilers was terrific, +<q>outscreaming the noise of the storm,</q> but not drowning the shrieks of the poor engineers +and stokers which were heard by some of the survivors. The horrors of their situation +can be imagined. The sea, breaking down the funnel, would soon, no doubt, extinguish the +furnaces, but not until some of their contents had been dashed into the engine-room, +with oceans of scalding water; the boilers themselves may, likely enough, have given +way and burst also. Mercifully, it was not for long. Hirst, with two other men, rushed +to the weather-forecastle netting and jumped overboard. It was hardly more than a few +moments before they found themselves washed on to the bilge of the ship’s bottom, for in +that brief space of time the ship had turned completely over, and almost immediately +went down. Hirst and his companions went down with the ship, but the next feeling +of consciousness by the former was coming into contact with a floating spar, to which +he tied himself with his black silk handkerchief. He was soon, however, washed from +the spar, but got hold of the stern of the second launch, which was covered with +canvas, and floating as it was stowed on board the ship. Other men were there, on the top +of the canvas covering. Immediately after, they fell in with the steam-lifeboat pinnace, +bottom-up, with Captain Burgoyne and several men clinging to it. Four men, of whom +Mr. May,<note place="foot">Mr. May’s statement at the court-martial was in part as follows:—<q>Shortly after 0.15 a.m. on the +7th inst., being in my cabin, which was on the starboard or lee side of the ship, I was disturbed in my sleep +by the noise of some marines. Feeling the ship uneasy, I dressed myself, and took the lantern to look at the +guns in the turrets.... It was but a very short time—from fifteen to twenty minutes—past midnight. +I then went to the after-turret. The guns were all right. Immediately I got inside the turret I felt the ship +heel steadily over, deeper and deeper, and a heavy sea struck her on the weather-side. <hi rend='italic'>The water flowed into +the turret</hi> as I got through the pointing-hole on the top, and I found myself overboard; I struck out, and +succeeded in reaching the steam-pinnace, which was bottom up, on which were Captain Burgoyne and five or +six others. I saw the ship turn bottom-up, and sink stern first, the last I saw of her being her bows. The +whole time of her turning over to sinking was but from five to ten minutes, if so much. Shortly after, I saw +the launch drifting close to us who were on the pinnace; she was but a few yards from us; I called out, +<q>Jump, men—it is your last chance!</q> I jumped, and succeeded, with three others, in reaching her. I do not +know for certain whether Captain Burgoyne jumped or not. I was under the impression he did; but the others +in the launch do not think so. At any rate, he never reached her. When on the pinnace, a large ship, which +I believe to have been the <name type="ship">Inconstant</name>, passed us fifty yards to leeward. We all hailed her; but, I suppose, the +howling of the wind and sea prevented their hearing us.</q></note> the gunner, was one, jumped from off the bottom of the steam-pinnace to +the launch. One account says that Captain Burgoyne incited them, by calling out, +<q>Jump, men, jump!</q> but did not do it himself. The canvas was immediately cut away, +and with the oars free, they attempted to pull up to the steam-pinnace to rescue the +captain and others remaining there. This they found impossible to accomplish. As +soon as they endeavoured to get the boat’s head up to the sea to row her to windward to +where the capsized boat was floating, their boat was swamped almost level to her +<pb n='58'/><anchor id='Pg058'/>thwarts, and two of the men were washed clean out of her. The pump was set going, +and the boat bailed out with their caps, &c., as far as possible. They then made a +second attempt to row the boat against the sea, which was as unsuccessful as before. +Meantime, poor Burgoyne was still clinging to the pinnace, in <q>a storm of broken +waters.</q> When the launch was swept towards him once, one of the men on board +offered to throw him an oar, which he declined, saying, nobly, <q>For God’s sake, men, +keep your oars: you will want them.</q> This piece of self-abnegation probably cost him +his life, for he went down shortly after, following <q>the six hundred</q> of his devoted +crew into <q>the valley of death.</q> The launch was beaten hither and thither; and a +quarter of an hour after the <name type="ship">Captain</name> had capsized, sighted the lights of one of their +own ships, which was driven by in the gale, its officers knowing nothing of the fate of +these unfortunates, or their still more hapless companions. Mr. May, the gunner, took +charge of the launch, and at daybreak they sighted Cape Finisterre, inside which they +landed after twelve hours’ hard work at the oars. +</p><anchor id="figcaptinth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>CAPTAIN</q> IN THE BAY OF BISCAY.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_078.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE <q>CAPTAIN</q> IN THE BAY OF BISCAY.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>CAPTAIN</q> IN THE BAY OF BISCAY</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +One man, when he found the vessel capsizing, crawled over the weather-netting on +the port side, and performed an almost incredible feat. It is well told in his own +laconic style:—<q>Felt ship heel over, and felt she would not right. Made for weather-hammock +netting. She was then on her beam-ends. Got along her bottom by degrees, +as she kept turning over, until I was where her keel would have been if she had one. +The seas then washed me off. I saw a piece of wood about twenty yards off, and swam to +it.</q> In other words, he got over her side, and walked <hi rend='italic'>up</hi> to the bottom! While in +the water, two poor drowning wretches caught hold of him, and literally tore off the legs +of his trousers. He could not help them, and they sank for the last time. +</p> + +<p> +Many and varied were the explanations given of the causes of this disaster. There +had evidently been some uneasiness in regard to her stability in the water at one time, +but she had sailed so well on previous trips, in the same stormy waters, that confidence +had been restored in her. The belief, afterwards, among many authorities, was that she +ought not to have carried sail at all.<note place="foot">The late Admiral Sherard Osborn, in a letter to the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi>, said, <q>The desire of our Admiralty to make +all their fighting-ships cruise under canvas, as well as steam, induced poor Captain Coles to go a step further, +and to make a ship with a low free board a sailing-ship.</q> This was against his judgment, however.</note> This was the primary cause of the disaster, no +doubt; and then, in all probability, when the force of the wind had heeled her over, a +heavy sea struck her and completely capsized her—the water on and over her depressed +side assisting by weighting her downwards. The side of the hurricane-deck acted, when +the vessel was heeled over, as one vast sail, and, no doubt, had much to do with putting +her on her beam-ends. The general impression of the survivors appeared to be that, +with the ship heeling over, the pressure of a strong wind upon the under part of the +hurricane-deck had a greater effect or leverage upon the hull, than the pressure of the +wind on her top-sails. They were also nearly unanimous in their opinion that when +the <name type="ship">Captain’s</name> starboard side was well down in the water, with the weight of water on the +turret-deck, and the pressure of the wind blowing from the port hand on the under surface +of the hurricane-deck, and thus pushing the ship right over, she had no chance of +righting herself again. +</p> + +<pb n='59'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> + +<p> +It is to be remarked that long after the <name type="ship">Captain</name> had sunk, the admiral of the +squadron thought that he saw her, although it was very evident afterwards that it must +have been some other vessel. In his despatch to the Admiralty,<note place="foot">Admiral Milne, + in his despatch dated from H.M.S. <name type="ship">Lord Warden</name>, off Finisterre, September 7th, 1870, +stated that, at a little before 1 a.m., the <name type="ship">Captain</name> was astern of his ship, + <q>apparently closing under <anchor id="corr059"/><corr sic='steam."'>steam.</corr> The signal <q>open order</q> was made, and at once answered; + and at 1.15 a.m. she was on the <name type="ship">Lord Warden’s</name> +(the flag-ship’s) lee quarter, about six points abaft the beam. From that time until about 1.30 a.m. I constantly +watched the ship.... She was heeling over a good deal to starboard,</q> &c. We have seen that she went +down shortly after the midnight watch had been called.</note> which very plainly +indicated that he had some anxiety in regard to her stability in bad weather, he +described her appearance and behaviour up till 1.30 a.m.—more than an hour after her +final exit to the depths below. In the days of superstitious belief, so common among +sailors, a thrilling story of her image haunting the spot would surely have been built +on this foundation. +</p> + +<p> +In the old fighting-days of the Royal Navy, when success followed success, and prize +after prize rewarded the daring and enterprise of its commanders, they did not think +very much of the loss of a vessel more or less, but took the lesser evils with the greater +goods. The seamanship was wonderful, but it was very often utterly reckless. A captain +trained in the school of Nelson and Cochrane would stop at nothing. The country, +accustomed to great naval battles, enriched by the spoils of the enemy—who furnished +some of the finest vessels in our fleet—was not much affected by the loss of a ship, +and the Admiralty was inclined to deal leniently with a spirited commander who had +met with an accident. But then an accident in those days did not mean the loss of +half a million pounds or so. The cost of a large ironclad of to-day would have built a +small wooden fleet of those days. +</p> + +<p> +The loss of the <name type="ship">Captain</name> irresistibly brings to memory another great loss to the Royal +Navy, which occurred nearly ninety years before, and by which 900 lives were in a +moment swept into eternity. It proved too plainly that <q>wooden walls</q> might capsize +as readily as the <q>crankiest</q> ironclad. The reader will immediately guess that we refer +to the loss of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>, which took place at Spithead, on the 28th of August, +1782, in calm weather, but still under circumstances which, to a very great extent, explain +how the <name type="ship">Captain</name>—at the best, a vessel of doubtful stability—capsized in the stormy waters +of Biscay. The <name type="ship">Royal George</name> was, at the time, the oldest first-rate in the service, having +been put into commission in 1755. She carried 108 guns, and was considered a staunch +ship, and a good sailer. Anson, Boscawen, Rodney, Howe, and Hawke had all repeatedly +commanded in her. +</p> + +<p> +From what small causes may great and lamentable disasters arise! <q>During the +washing of her decks, on the 28th, the carpenter discovered that the pipe which admitted +the water to cleanse and sweeten the ship, and which was about three feet under the +water, was out of repair—that it was necessary to replace it with a new one, and to heel +her on one side for that purpose.</q> The guns on the port side of the ship were run out +of the port-holes as far as they would go, and those from the starboard side were drawn +in and secured amidships. This brought her porthole-sills on the lower side nearly even +<pb n='60'/><anchor id='Pg060'/>with the water. <q>At about 9 o’clock a.m., or rather before,</q> stated one of the + <anchor id="corr060"/><corr sic="survivors.">survivors,</corr><note place="foot">A <q>Narrative of the Loss of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>,</q> published at Portsea, and written by a gentleman who was +on the island at the time.</note> +<q>we had just finished our breakfast, and the last lighter, with rum on board, had come +alongside; this vessel was a sloop of about fifty tons, and belonged to three brothers, who +used her to carry things on board the men-of-war. She was lashed to the larboard side +of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>, and we were piped to clear the lighter and get the rum out of her, +and stow it in the hold.... At first, no danger was apprehended from the ship +being on one side, although the water kept dashing in at the portholes at every wave; and +there being mice in the lower part of the ship, which were disturbed by the water which +dashed in, they were hunted in the water by the men, and there had been a rare game going +on.</q> Their play was soon to be rudely stopped. The carpenter, perceiving that the ship +was in great danger, went twice on the deck to ask the lieutenant of the watch to order +the ship to be righted; the first time the latter barely answered him, and the second +replied, savagely, <q>If you can manage the ship better than I can, you had better take +the command.</q> In a very short time, he began himself to see the danger, and ordered +the drummer to beat to right ship. It was too late—the ship was beginning to sink; a +sudden breeze springing upheeled her still more; the guns, shot, and heavy articles generally, +and a large part of the men on board, fell irresistibly to the lower side; and the water, +forcing itself in at every port, weighed the vessel down still more. She fell on her broadside, +with her masts nearly flat on the water, and sank to the bottom immediately. <q>The +officers, in their confusion, made no signal of distress, nor, indeed, could any assistance +have availed if they had, after her lower-deck ports were in the water, which forced itself +in at every port with fearful velocity.</q> In going down, the main-yard of the <name type="ship">Royal +George</name> caught the boom of the rum-lighter and sank her, drowning some of those on +board. +</p> + +<p> +At this terrible moment there were nearly 1,200 persons<note place="foot">The exact number was never known. There were 250 women on board, a large proportion of whom were +the wives and relatives of the sailors; and there were also a number of children, most of whom belonged to +Portsmouth. Besides these, there were a number of Jew and other traders on board.</note> on board. Deducting the +larger proportion of the watch on deck, about 230, who were mostly saved by running up +the rigging, and afterwards taken off by the boats sent for their rescue, and, perhaps, +seventy others who managed to scramble out of the ports, &c., the whole of the remainder +perished. Admiral Kempenfelt, whose flag-ship it was, and who was then writing in his +cabin, and had just before been shaved by the barber, went down with her. The first-captain +tried to acquaint him that the ship was sinking, but the heeling over of the ship had +so jammed the doors of the cabin that they could not be opened. One young man was +saved, as the vessel filled, by the force of the water rushing upwards, and sweeping him +bodily before it through a hatchway. In a few seconds, he found himself floating on +the surface of the sea, where he was, later, picked up by a boat. A little child was almost +miraculously preserved by a sheep, which swam some time, and with which he had doubtless +been playing on deck. He held by the fleece till rescued by a gentleman in a +wherry. His father and mother were both drowned, and the poor little fellow did not +<pb n='61'/><anchor id='Pg061'/>even know their names; all that he knew was that his own name was Jack. His +preserver provided for him. +</p><anchor id="figwrecofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE WRECK OF THE <q>ROYAL GEORGE.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_083.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE WRECK OF THE <q>ROYAL GEORGE.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE WRECK OF THE <q>ROYAL GEORGE</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +One of the survivors,<note place="foot">Mr. Ingram, whose narrative, printed in the little work before quoted, bears all the impress of truth.</note> who got through a porthole, looked back and saw the +opening <q>as full of heads as it could cram, all trying to get out. I caught,</q> said he, +<q>hold of the best bower-anchor, which was just above me, to prevent falling back again +into the porthole, and seizing hold of a woman who was trying to get out of the same +porthole, I dragged her out.</q> The same writer says that he saw <q>all the heads drop +back again in at the porthole, for the ship had got so much on her larboard side <hi rend='italic'>that the +starboard portholes were as upright as if the men had tried to get out of the top of a +<pb n='62'/><anchor id='Pg062'/>chimney, with nothing for their legs and feet to act upon</hi>.</q> The sinking of the vessel +drew him down to the bottom, but he was enabled afterwards to rise to the surface and +swim to one of the great blocks of the ship which had floated off. At the time the ship +was sinking, an open barrel of tar stood on deck. When he rose, it was floating on the +water like fat, and he got into the middle of it, coming out as black as a negro +minstrel! +</p> + +<p> +When this man had got on the block he observed the admiral’s baker in the shrouds +of the mizentop-mast, which were above water not far off; and directly after, the poor +woman whom he had pulled out of the porthole came rolling by. He called out to the +baker to reach out his arm and catch her, which was done. She hung, quite insensible, +for some time by her chin over one of the ratlines of the shrouds, but a surf soon washed +her off again. She was again rescued shortly after, and life was not extinct; she recovered +her senses when taken on board our old friend the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, then lying with other +large ships near the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>. The captain of the latter was saved, but the poor +carpenter, who did his best to save the ship, was drowned. +</p> + +<p> +In a few days after the <name type="ship">Royal George</name> sank, bodies would come up, thirty or forty +at a time. A corpse would rise <q>so suddenly as to frighten any one.</q> <q rend="pre: none">The watermen, +there is no doubt, made a good thing of it; they took from the bodies of the men their +buckles, money, and watches, and then made fast a rope to their heels and towed them +to land.</q> The writer of the narrative from which this account is mainly derived says +that he <q>saw them towed into Portsmouth Harbour, in their mutilated condition, in the +same manner as rafts of floating timber, and promiscuously (for particularity was scarcely +possible) put into carts, which conveyed them to their final sleeping-place, in an excavation +prepared for them in Kingstown churchyard, the burial-place belonging to the parish +of Portsea.</q> Many bodies were washed ashore on the Isle of Wight. +</p> + +<p> +Futile attempts were made the following year to raise the wreck, but it was not till +1839-40 that Colonel Pasley proposed, and successfully carried out, the operations for its +removal. Wrought-iron cylinders, some of the larger of which contained over a ton each +of gunpowder, were lowered and fired by electricity, and the vessel was, by degrees, blown +up. Many of the guns, the capstans, and other valuable parts of the wreck were recovered +by the divers, and the timbers formed then, and since, a perfect godsend to some +of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, who manufactured them into various forms of <q>relics</q> +of the <name type="ship">Royal George</name>. It is said that the sale of these has been so enormous that if they +could be collected and stuck together they would form several vessels of the size of the +fine old first-rate, large as she was! But something similar has been said of the <q>wood +of the true cross,</q> and, no doubt, is more than equally libellous. +</p> + +<p> +It is said, by those who descended to the wreck, that its appearance was most +beautiful, when seen from about a fathom above the deck. It was covered with seaweeds, +shells, starfish, and anemones, while from and around its ports and openings the fish, +large and small, swam and played—darting, flashing, and sparkling in the clear green +water. +</p><anchor id="fighms_vaat"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: H.M.S. <name type="ship">VANGUARD</name> AT SEA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_089.jpg" rend="w100"><head>H.M.S. <name type="ship">VANGUARD</name> AT SEA.</head> + <figDesc>H.M.S. <name type="ship">VANGUARD</name> AT SEA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +There is probably no reasonable being in or out of the navy who does not believe +that the ironclad is the war-vessel of the immediate future. But that a woeful amount of +<pb n='63'/><anchor id='Pg063'/>uncertainty, as thick as the fog in which the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> went down, envelops the subject +in many ways, is most certain. The circumstances connected with that great disaster +are still in the memory of the public, and were simple and distinct enough. During +the last week of August, 1875, the reserve squadron of the Channel Fleet, comprising +the <name type="ship">Warrior</name>, <name type="ship">Achilles</name>, <name type="ship">Hector</name>, <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name>, and <name type="ship">Vanguard</name>, with Vice-Admiral Sir W. +Tarleton’s yacht <name type="ship">Hawk</name>, had been stationed at Kingstown. At half-past ten on the +morning of the 1st of September they got into line for the purpose of proceeding to Queenstown, +Cork. Off the Irish lightship, which floats at sea, six miles off Kingstown, the +<name type="ship">Achilles</name> hoisted her ensign to say farewell—her destination being Liverpool. The sea was +moderate, but a fog came on and increased in density every moment. Half an hour after noon, +the <q>look-out</q> could not distinguish fifty yards ahead, and the officers on the bridge could +not see the bowsprit. The ships had been proceeding at the rate of twelve or fourteen +knots, but their speed had been reduced when the fog came on, and they were running +at not more than half the former speed. The <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> watch reported a sail ahead, +and the helm was put hard aport to prevent running it down. The <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> was then +following close in the wake of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name>, and the action of the latter simply brought +them closer, and presented a broadside to the former, which, unaware of any change, had +continued her course. The commander of the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name>, Captain Hickley, who was on +the bridge at the time, saw the spectre form of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> through the fog, and +ordered his engines to be reversed, but it was too late. The ram of the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> +struck the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> below the armour-plates, on the port side, abreast of the engine-room. +The rent made was very large—amounting, as the divers afterwards found, to +four feet in width—and the water poured into the hold in torrents. It might be only +a matter of minutes before she should go down.<note place="foot">The sentence of the court-martial blamed Captain Dawkins, his navigating-lieutenant, and the ship’s +carpenter, for not endeavouring to stop <q>the breach from the outside with the means at their command, such +as hammocks and sails;</q> for not having <q>ordered Captain Hickley, of H.M.S. <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name>, to tow H.M.S. +<name type="ship">Vanguard</name> into shallow water,</q> such being available at a short distance; the chief-engineer for not <q>applying +the means at his command to relieve the ship of <anchor id="corr063"/><corr sic="(no double quote)">water;</corr></q> the navigating-lieutenant <q>for neglect of duty in not +pointing out to his captain that there was shoaler water within a short distance;</q> and the carpenter in <q>not +taking immediate steps for sounding the compartments, and reporting from time to time the progress of the +water.</q> A lamentable showing, truly, if all these points were neglected! So far as the commander is concerned, +his successful efforts to save the lives of all on board (not knowing when his ship might go down, and +with the remembrance of the sudden loss of the <name type="ship">Captain</name> full in view) speak much in his favour, and in extenuation +of much that would otherwise appear culpable neglect.</note> +</p><anchor id="figlossofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE LOSS OF THE <q>VANGUARD.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_085.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE LOSS OF THE <q>VANGUARD.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE LOSS OF THE <q>VANGUARD</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The vessel was doomed; a very brief examination proved that: nothing remained +but to save the lives of those on board. Captain Dawkins gave the necessary orders +with a coolness which did not represent, doubtless, the conflicting feelings within his +breast. The officers ably seconded him, and the crew behaved magnificently. One of the +mechanics went below in the engine-room to let off the steam, and so prevent an explosion, +at the imminent risk of his life. The water rose quickly in the after-part, and +rushed into the engine and boiler rooms, eventually finding its way into the provision-room +flat, through imperfectly fastened (so-called) <q>water-tight</q> doors, and gradually over +the whole ship. There was no time to be lost. Captain Dawkins called out to his men +<pb n='65'/><anchor id='Pg065'/>that if they preserved order all would be saved. The men stood as at an inspection—not +one moved until ordered to do so. The boats of both ships were lowered. While +the launching was going on, the swell of the tide caused a lifeboat to surge against +the hull, and one of the crew had his finger crushed. This was absolutely the only +casualty. In twenty minutes the whole of the men were transferred to the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name>, +no single breach of discipline occurring beyond the understandable request of a sailor +once in awhile to be allowed to make one effort to secure some keepsake or article of +special value to himself. But the order was stern: <q>Boys, come instantly.</q> As <q>four +bells</q> (2 p.m.) was striking, the last man having been received on the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name>, the +doomed vessel whirled round two or three times, and then sank in deep water.<note place="foot">Nineteen fathoms, or 114 feet. Her main-topmast-head was afterwards twenty-four feet out of water.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is obvious, then, that the discipline and courage of the service had not deteriorated +from that always expected in the good old days. Captain Dawkins was the last man to +leave his sinking ship, and his officers one and all behaved in the same spirit. They +endeavoured to quiet and reassure the men—pointing out to them the fatal consequences +of confusion. Captain Dawkins may or may not have been rightly censured for his seamanship; +there can be no doubt that he performed his duty nobly in these systematic +efforts to save his crew. However much was lost to the nation, no mother had to mourn +the loss of her sailor-boy; no wife had been made a widow, no child an orphan; five +hundred men had been saved to their country. +</p> + +<pb n='66'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> + +<p> +One of the officers of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name>, in a letter to a friend, graphically described +the scene at and after the collision. After having lunched, he entered the ward-room, +where he encountered the surgeon, Dr. Fisher, who was reading a newspaper. <q>After +remarking on the thickness of the fog, Fisher went to look out of one of the ports, +and immediately cried out, <q>God help us! here is a ship right into us!</q> We rushed +on deck, and at that moment the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> struck us with fearful force, spars and +blocks falling about, and causing great danger to us on deck. The <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> then +dropped astern, and was lost sight of in the fog. The water came into the engine-room +in tons, stopping the engines, putting the fires out, and nearly drowning the engineers +and stokers.... The ship was now reported sinking fast, although all the water-tight +compartments had been closed. But in consequence of the shock, some of the +water-tight doors leaked fearfully, letting water into the other parts of the ship. +Minute-guns were being fired, and the boats were got out.... At this moment +the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> appeared, lowering her boats and sending them as fast as possible. The +sight of her cheered us up, as we had been frightened that she would not find us +in the fog, in spite of the guns. The scene on deck can only be realised by those +who have witnessed a similar calamity. The booming of the minute-guns, the noise +of the immense volume of steam rushing out of the escape-funnel, and the orders of the +captain, were strangely mingled, while a voice from a boat reported how fast she was +sinking.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When the vessel went down, the deck of the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> was crowded with men +watching the <hi rend='italic'>finale</hi> of the catastrophe. When she was about to sink, she heeled gradually +over until the whole of her enormous size to the keel was above water. Then she +gradually sank, righting herself as she went down, stern first, the water being +blown from hawse-holes in huge spouts by the force of the air rushing out of the ship. +She then disappeared from view. The men were much saddened to see their home go +down, carrying everything they possessed. They had been paid that morning, and a +large number of them lost their little accumulated earnings. These were, of course, afterwards +allowed them by the Admiralty. +</p><anchor id="figvangassh"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>VANGUARD</q> AS SHE APPEARED AT LOW WATER.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_091.png" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>VANGUARD</q> AS SHE APPEARED AT LOW WATER.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>VANGUARD</q> AS SHE APPEARED AT LOW WATER</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> and the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> were two of a class of broadside ironclads, built +with a view to general and not special utility in warfare. Their thickest armour was +eight inches, a mere strip, 100 feet long by three high, and much of the visible part +of them was unarmoured altogether, while below it varied from six inches to as low +as three-eighths of an inch. It was only the latter thickness where the point of +the <name type="ship">Iron Duke’s</name> ram entered. Their advocates boasted that they could pass through +the Suez Canal, and go anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +Every reader will remember the stormy discussion which ensued, in which not merely +the ironclad question, but the court-martial which followed—and the Admiralty decision +which followed that—were severely handled. Nor could there be much wonder at all this, +for a vessel which had cost the nation over a quarter of a million of pounds sterling, +with equipment and property on board which had cost as much more,<note place="foot">The total estimated loss was £550,000.</note> was lost for ever. +<pb n='67'/><anchor id='Pg067'/>It was in vain that the then First Lord of the Admiralty<note place="foot">Mr. Ward Hunt said publicly that, <q>If the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> had sent an enemy’s ship to the bottom, we +should have called her one of the most formidable ships of war in the world, and all that she has done is +actually what she was intended to do, <hi rend='italic'>except, of course, that the ship she struck was unfortunately our own +property, and not that of the enemy</hi>.</q></note> told us, in somewhat flippant +tones, that we ought to be rather satisfied than otherwise with the occurrence. It was not +altogether satisfactory to learn from Mr. Reed, the principal designer of both ships, that +ironclads were in more danger in times of peace than in times of war.<note place="foot">Mr. Reed wrote to the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi> to the effect that there would, undoubtedly, be a <q>greater measure of safety +during a naval engagement than on ordinary occasions,</q> and explained that <q>the ruling consideration which has +been aimed at in these ships has been so to divide them into compartments, that, when all the water-tight +doors and valves are arranged as they would be on going into action, the breach by a ram of one compartment +only should not suffice to sink the ship.</q></note> In the former +they were residences for several hundred sailors, and many of the water-tight doors could +not be kept closed without inconvenience; in the latter they were fortresses, when the +doors would be closed for safety. The court-martial, constituted of leading naval +authorities and officers, imputed blame for the high rate of speed sustained in a fog; the +public naturally inquired why a high rate of speed was necessary at all at the time, but +their lordships declined to consider this as in any way contributing to the disaster. The +Court expressed its opinion pretty strongly upon the conduct of the officers of the <name type="ship">Iron +Duke</name>, which did the mischief, and also indirectly blamed the admiral in command of the +squadron, but the Admiralty could find nothing wrong in either case, simply visiting their +wrath on the unfortunate lieutenant on deck at the time. So, to make a long and very +unpleasant story short, the loss of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name> brought about a considerable loss of +faith in some of our legally constituted naval authorities.<note place="foot">Sir Henry James, Attorney-General to the previous Government, spoke publicly on the subject in the +plainest terms. He said:—<q>One would have thought that if there were a court-martial on the vessel which +is lost, the officers of the vessel which caused that loss would not go scot free.</q> The Admiralty was blamed +for not having sent the decision of the Court back to it for reconsideration, instead of which they broke a rule +of naval etiquette, and seemed anxious to quash inquiry.</note> +</p><anchor id="figlossofth2"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE LOSS OF THE <q>KENT.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_088.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE LOSS OF THE <q>KENT.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE LOSS OF THE <q>KENT</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="V. Perils of the Sailor's Life (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="V. Perils of the Sailor's Life (continued)"/><anchor id="chap05"/> +<head>CHAPTER V.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Perils of the Sailor’s Life</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<argument><p> +The Value of Discipline—The Loss of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Kent</name>—Fire on Board—The Ship Waterlogged—Death in Two Forms—A Sail +in Sight—Transference of Six Hundred Passengers to a small Brig—Splendid Discipline of the Soldiers—Imperturbable +Coolness of the Captain—Loss of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Birkenhead</name>—Literally Broken in Two—Noble Conduct of the Military—A +contrary Example—Wreck of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Medusa</name>—Run on a Sand-bank—Panic on Board—Raft constructed—Insubordination +and Selfishness—One Hundred and Fifty Souls Abandoned—Drunkenness and Mutiny on the Raft—Riots +and Murders—Reduced to Thirty Persons—The stronger part Massacre the others—Fifteen Left—Rescued at Last—Another +Contrast—Wreck of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Alceste</name>—Admirable Conduct of the Crew—The Ironclad Movement—The Battle +of the Guns. +</p></argument> + +<p> +It is impossible to read the account of any great disaster at sea, without being strongly +impressed with the enormous value of maintaining in the hour of peril the same strict +discipline which, under ordinary circumstances, is the rule of a vessel. Few more striking + <pb n='68'/><anchor id='Pg068'/>examples of this are to be found, than in the story of the loss of the <name type="ship">Kent</name>, which we +are now about to relate. The disaster of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>, which we shall record later, in which +complete anarchy and disregard of discipline, aggravated a hundredfold the horrors of +the situation, only teaches the same lesson from the opposite point of view. Though the +most independent people on the earth, all Englishmen worthy of the name appreciate the +value of proper subordination and obedience to those who have rightful authority to command. +This was almost the only gratifying feature connected with the loss of the +<name type="ship">Vanguard</name>, and the safe and rapid transference of the crew to the <name type="ship">Iron Duke</name> was +due to it. But the circumstances of the case were as nought to some that have preceded +it, where the difficulties and risks were infinitely greater and the reward much less certain. +The <name type="ship">Kent</name> was a fine troop-ship, of 1,530 tons, bound from England for Bengal and China. +She had on board 344 soldiers, forty-three women, and sixty-six children. The officers, private +passengers, and crew brought the total number on board to 640. After leaving the Downs, +on the 19th of February, 1825, she encountered terrible weather, culminating in a gale on +the 1st of March, which obliged them almost to sail under bare poles. The narrative<note place="foot"><q>The loss of the <name type="ship">Kent</name>, East Indiaman,</q> by Lieut.-General Sir Duncan MacGregor, K.C.B.</note> +by Sir Duncan MacGregor, one of the passengers, created an immense sensation at its +first appearance, and was translated into almost every language of the civilised world. He +states that the rolling of the ship, which was vastly increased by a dead weight of some +hundred tons of shot and shells that formed a part of its lading, became so great about +half-past eleven or twelve o’clock at night, that the main-chains were thrown by every +lurch considerably under water; and the best cleated articles of furniture in the cabin and +the cuddy were dashed about in all directions. +</p> + +<p> +It was a little before this period that one of the officers of the ship, with the well-meant +intention of ascertaining that all was fast below, descended with a lantern. He discovered +one of the spirit-casks adrift, and sent two or three sailors for some billets of wood to secure +it. While they were absent, he unfortunately dropped the lamp, and letting go his hold +of the cask in his eagerness to recover it, the former suddenly stove, and the spirits +communicating with the light, the whole deck at that part was speedily in a blaze. The +fire spread rapidly, and all their efforts at extinguishing it were vain, although bucket +after bucket of water, wet sails and hammocks, were immediately applied. The smoke began +to ascend the hatchway, and although every effort was made to keep the passengers in +ignorance, the terrible news soon spread that the ship was on fire. As long as the devouring +element appeared to be confined to the spot where the fire originated, and which they were +assured was surrounded on all sides with water-casks, there was some hope that it might +be subdued; but soon the light-blue vapour that at first arose was succeeded by volumes +of thick, dingy smoke, which ascended through all the hatchways and rolled over the ship. +A thorough panic took possession of most on board. +</p> + +<p> +The deck was covered with six hundred men, women, and children, many almost frantic +with excitement—wives seeking their husbands, children their mothers; strong men appearing +as though their reason was overthrown, weak men maudlin and weeping; many good people +on their knees in earnest prayer. Some of the older and more stout-hearted soldiers and +<pb n='69'/><anchor id='Pg069'/>sailors sullenly took their seats directly over the powder-magazine, expecting momentarily +that it would explode and put them out of their misery. A strong pitchy smell suddenly +wafted over the ship. <q>The flames have reached the cable-tier!</q> exclaimed one; and it +was found to be too true. The fire had now extended so far, that there was but one course +to pursue: the lower decks must be swamped. Captain Cobb, the commander of the <name type="ship">Kent</name>, +was a man of action, and, with an ability and decision that seemed only to increase with +the imminence of the danger, ordered the lower decks to be scuttled, the coverings of the +hatches removed, and the lower ports opened to the free admission of the waves. His +instructions were speedily obeyed, the soldiers aiding the crew. The fury of the flames +was, of course, checked; but several sick soldiers and children, and one woman, unable to +gain the upper deck, were drowned, and others suffocated. As the risk of explosion somewhat +diminished, a new horror arose. The ship became water-logged, and presented indications +of settling down. Death in two forms stared them in the face. +</p> + +<p> +No sail had been seen for many days, the vessel being somewhat out of the regular +course. But, although it seemed hopeless, a man was sent up to the foretop to scan the +horizon. How many anxious eyes were turned up to him, how many anxious hearts beat +at that moment, can well be understood. The sailor threw his eyes rapidly over the waste +of howling waters, and instantly waved his hat, exclaiming, in a voice hoarse with emotion, +<q>A sail on the lee bow!</q> Flags of distress were soon hoisted, minute-guns fired, and +an attempt made to bear down on the welcome stranger, which for some time did not notice +them. But at last it seemed probable, by her slackening sail and altering her course, that +the <name type="ship">Kent</name> had been seen. Hope revived on board; but there were still three painful problems +to be solved. The vessel in the distance was but a small brig: could she take over six +hundred persons on board? Could they be transferred during a terrible gale and heavy sea, +likely enough to swamp all the boats? Might not the <name type="ship">Kent</name> either blow up or speedily +founder, before even one soul were saved? +</p> + +<p> +The vessel proved to be the <name type="ship">Cambria</name>, a brig bound to Vera Cruz, with a number of +miners on board. For fifteen minutes it had been very doubtful to all on the <name type="ship">Kent</name> whether +their signals of distress—and the smoke issuing from the hatchways formed no small +item among them—were seen, or the minute-guns heard. But at length it became +obvious that the brig was making for them, and preparations were made to clear and +lower the boats of the East Indiaman. <q>Although,</q> says Sir Duncan MacGregor, <q>it +was impossible, and would have been improper, to repress the rising hopes that were +pretty generally diffused amongst us by the unexpected sight of the <name type="ship">Cambria</name>, yet I +confess, that when I reflected on the long period our ship had been already burning—on +the tremendous sea that was running—on the extreme smallness of the brig, and +the immense number of human beings to be saved—I could only venture to hope that +a few might be spared.</q> When the military officers were consulting together, as the +brig was approaching, on the requisite preparations for getting out the boats, and +other necessary courses of action, one of the officers asked Major MacGregor in what +order it was intended the officers should move off, to which he replied, <q>Of course, in +funeral order,</q> which injunction was instantly confirmed by Colonel Fearon, who said, +<q>Most undoubtedly—the juniors first; but see that any man is cut down who presumes +<pb n='70'/><anchor id='Pg070'/>to enter the boats before the means of escape are presented to the women and children.</q> +To prevent any rush of troops or sailors to the boats, the officers were stationed near +them with drawn swords. But, to do the soldiers and seamen justice, it was little needed; +the former particularly keeping perfect order, and assisting to save the ladies and +children and private passengers generally. Some of the women and children were placed +in the first boat, which was immediately lowered into a sea so tempestuous that there was +great danger that it would be swamped, while the lowering-tackle not being properly +disengaged at the stern, there was a great prospect for a few moments that its living +freight would be upset in the water. A sailor, however, succeeded in cutting the ropes +with an axe, and the first boat got off safely. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Cambria</name> had been intentionally lain at some distance from the <name type="ship">Kent</name>, lest she +should be involved in her explosion, or exposed to the fire from the guns, which, being +all shotted, went off as the flames reached them. The men had a considerable distance +to row, and the success of the first experiment was naturally looked upon as the measure +of their future hopes. The movements of this boat were watched with intense anxiety +by all on board. <q>The better to balance the boat in the raging sea through which it +had to pass, and to enable the seamen to ply their oars, the women and children were +stowed promiscuously under the seats, and consequently exposed to the risk of being +drowned by the continual dashing of the spray over their heads, which so filled the boat +during the passage that before their arrival at the brig the poor females were sitting +up to their waists in water, and their children kept with the greatest difficulty above +it.</q> Happily, at the expiration of twenty minutes, the cutter was seen alongside their +ark of refuge. The next difficulty was to get the ladies and children on board the +<name type="ship">Cambria</name>, for the sea was running high, and there was danger of the boat being swamped +or stove against the side of the brig. The children were almost thrown on board, while +the women had to spring towards the many friendly arms extended from the vessel, when +the waves lifted the boat momentarily in the right position. However, all were safely +transferred to the brig without serious mishap. +</p> + +<p> +It became impossible for the boats, after the first trip, to come alongside the <name type="ship">Kent</name>, +and a plan was adopted for lowering the women and children from the stern by tying +them two and two together. The heaving of the vessel, and the heavy sea raising the +boat one instant and dropping it the next, rendered this somewhat perilous. Many of +the poor women were plunged several times in the water before they succeeded in landing +safely in the boat, and many young children died from the effects—<q>the same violent +means which only reduced the parents to a state of exhaustion or insensibility,</q> having +entirely quenched the vital spark in their feeble frames. One fine fellow, a soldier, who +had neither wife nor child of his own, but who showed great solicitude for the safety of +others, insisted on having three children lashed to him, with whom he plunged into the +water to reach the boat more quickly. He swam well, but could not get near the boat; +and when he was eventually drawn on board again, two of the children were dead. One +man fell down the hatchway into the flames; another had his back broken, and was +observed, quite doubled, falling overboard; a third fell between the boat and brig, and +his head was literally crushed to pieces; others were lost in their attempts to ascend the +<pb n='71'/><anchor id='Pg71'/>sides of the <name type="ship">Cambria</name>; and others, again, were drowned in their hurry to get on board +the boats. +</p> + +<p> +One of the sailors, who had, with many others, taken his post over the magazine, +at last cried out, almost in ill-humour, <q>Well! if she won’t blow up, I’ll see if I can’t +get away from her.</q> He was saved—and must have felt quite disappointed. One of the +three boats, swamped or stove during the day, had on board a number of men who had +been robbing the cabins during the confusion on board. <q>It is suspected that one or two +of those who went down, must have sunk beneath the weight of their spoils.</q> +</p> + +<p> +As there was so much doubt as to how soon the vessel would explode or go down, +while the process of transference between the vessels occupied three-quarters of an hour +each trip, and other delays were caused by timid passengers and ladies who were naturally +loath to be separated from their husbands, they determined on a quicker mode of placing +them in the boat. A rope was suspended from the end of the spanker-boom, along the +slippery top of which the passengers had either to walk, crawl, or be carried. The reader +need not be told that this great boom or spar stretches out from the mizen-mast far over +the stern in a vessel the size of the <name type="ship">Kent</name>. On ordinary occasions, in quiet weather, it +would be fifteen or twenty feet above the water, but with the vessel pitching and tossing +during the continuous storm, it was raised often as much as forty feet in the air. It +will be seen that, under these circumstances, with the boat at the stern now swept to +some distance in the hollow of a wave, and now raised high on its crest, the lowering of +oneself by the rope, to drop at the right moment, was a perilous operation. It was a +common thing for strong men to reach the boat in a state of utter exhaustion, having +been several times immersed in the waves and half drowned. But there were many +strong and willing hands among the soldiers and sailors ready to help the weak and +fearful ones, and the transference went on with fair rapidity, though with every now and +again some sad casualty to record. The coolness and determination of the officers, +military and marine, the good order and subordination of most of the troops, and the +bravery of many in risking their lives for others, seems at this time to have restored some +little confidence among the timid and shrinking on board. A little later, and the declining +rays and fiery glow on the waves indicated that the sun was setting. One can well understand +the feeling of many on board as they witnessed its disappearance and the approach of darkness. +Were their lives also to set in outer gloom—the ocean to be that night their grave? +</p> + +<p> +Late at night Major MacGregor went down to his cabin in search of a blanket to +shelter him from the increasing cold. <q>The scene of desolation that there presented +itself was melancholy in the extreme. The place which, only a few short hours before, had +been the scene of kindly intercourse and of social gaiety, was now entirely deserted, save +by a few miserable wretches who were either stretched in irrecoverable intoxication on +the floor, or prowling about, like beasts of prey, in search of plunder. The sofas, +drawers, and other articles of furniture, the due arrangement of which had cost so much +thought and pains, were now broken into a thousand pieces, and scattered in confusion +around.... Some of the geese and other poultry, escaped from their confinement, +were cackling in the cuddy; while a solitary pig, wandering from its sty in the forecastle, +was ranging at large in undisturbed possession of the Brussels carpet.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='72'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> + +<p> +It is highly to the credit of the officers, more especially to those who had deck-cabins, +from which it would be easy to remove many portable articles, and even trunks and +boxes, that they entirely devoted their time and energies to saving life. They left the +ship simply with the clothes they stood in, and were the last to leave it, except, of +course, where subordinate officers were detailed to look after portions of the troops. Captain +Cobb, in his resolution to be the last to leave the ship, tried all he could to urge the few +remaining persons on board to drop on the ropes and save themselves. But finding all +his entreaties fruitless, and hearing the guns successively explode in the hold, into which +they had fallen, he at length, after doing all in his power to save them, got himself +into the boat by <q>laying hold of the topping-lift, or rope that connects the driver-boom +with the mizen-top, thereby getting over the heads of the infatuated men who occupied +the boom, unable to go either backward or forward, and ultimately dropping himself into +the water.</q> One of the boats persevered in keeping its station under the <name type="ship">Kent’s</name> stern, until +the flames were bursting out of the cabin windows. The larger part of the poor wretches +left on board were saved: when the vessel exploded, they sought shelter in the chains, where +they stood till the masts fell overboard, to which they then clung for some hours. Ultimately, +they were rescued by Captain Bibbey, of the <name type="ship">Caroline</name>, a vessel bound from Egypt to Liverpool, +<pb n='74'/><anchor id='Pg074'/>who happened to see the explosion at a great distance, and instantly made all sail in the +direction whence it proceeded, afterwards cruising about for some time to pick up any +survivors. +</p> + +<p> +After the arrival of the last boat at the <name type="ship">Cambria</name>, <q>the flames, which had spread along +the upper deck and poop, ascended with the rapidity of lightning to the masts and rigging, +forming one general conflagration, that illumined the heavens to an immense distance, and +was strongly reflected on several objects on board the brig. The flags of distress, hoisted +in the morning, were seen for a considerable time waving amid the flames, until the masts +to which they were suspended successively fell, like stately steeples, over the ship’s side.</q> +At last, about half-past one o’clock in the morning, the devouring element having communicated +to the magazine, the explosion was seen, and the blazing fragments of the once +magnificent <name type="ship">Kent</name> were instantly hurled, like so many rockets, high into the air; leaving, +in the comparative darkness that succeeded, <q>the deathful scene of that disastrous day +floating before the mind like some feverish dream.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The scene on board the brig beggared description. The captain, who bore the honoured +name of Cook, and his crew of eight, did all that was in their power to alleviate the miseries +of the six hundred persons added to their number; while they carried sail, even to the +extent of danger, in order to make nine or ten knots to the nearest port. The Cornish +miners and Yorkshire smelters on board gave up their beds and clothes and stores to the +passengers; and it was extremely fortunate that the brig was on her outward voyage, for, +had she been returning, she would not, in all probability, have had provisions enough to +feed six hundred persons for a single day. But at the best their condition was miserable. +In the cabin, intended for eight or ten, eighty were packed, many nearly in a nude condition, +and many of the poor women not having space to lie down. +</p> + +<p> +The gale increased; but still they crowded all sail—even at the risk of carrying away +the masts—and at length the welcome cry of <q>Land ahead!</q> was reported from mouth +to mouth. They were off the Scilly lights, and speedily afterwards reached Falmouth, where +the inhabitants vied with each other in providing clothing and food and money for all +who needed them. +</p><anchor id="figfalmharb"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: FALMOUTH HARBOUR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_098.png" rend="w80"><head>FALMOUTH HARBOUR.</head> + <figDesc>FALMOUTH HARBOUR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The total loss from the <name type="ship">Kent</name> was eighty-one souls; namely, fifty-four soldiers, one +woman, twenty children, one seaman, and five boys of the crew. How much greater might +it not have been but for the imperturbable coolness, the commanding abilities, and the +persevering and prompt action of Captain Cobb, and the admirable discipline and subordination +of the troops! +</p><anchor id="figlossofth3"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE LOSS OF THE <q>BIRKENHEAD.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_099.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE LOSS OF THE <q>BIRKENHEAD.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE LOSS OF THE <q>BIRKENHEAD</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Another remarkable instance of the same thing is to be found in the case of the <name type="ship">Birkenhead</name>, +where there were desperate odds against any one surviving. The ship was a war-steamer, +conveying troops from St. Simon’s Bay to Algoa Bay, Cape Colony, and had, with crew, a total +complement of 638 souls on board. She struck on a reef, when steaming at the rate of eight +and a half knots, and almost immediately became a total wreck. The rock penetrated her +bottom, just aft of the fore-mast, and the rush of water was so great that most of the men on +the lower troop-deck were drowned in their hammocks. The commanding officer, Major Seton, +called his subordinate officers about him, and impressed upon them the necessity of preserving +order and perfect discipline among the men, and of assisting the commander of the ship +<pb n='75'/><anchor id='Pg075'/>in everything possible. Sixty soldiers were immediately detailed for the pumps, in three +reliefs; sixty more to hold on the tackles of the paddle-box boats, and the remainder were +brought on the poop, so as to ease the fore-part of the ship, which was rolling heavily. +The commander of the ship ordered the horses to be pitched out of the first-gangway, and the +cutter to be got ready for the women and children, who were safely put on board. Just +after they were out of the ship, the entire bow broke off at the fore-mast, and the funnel +went over the side, carrying away the starboard paddle-box and boat. The other paddle-box +boat capsized when being lowered, and their largest boat, in the centre of the ship, could +not be got at, so encumbered was it. Five minutes later, the vessel actually <q><hi rend='italic'>broke in two</hi>,</q> +literally realising Falconer’s lines:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Ah, Heaven! Behold, her crashing ribs divide!</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">She loosens, parts, and spreads in ruin o’er the tide.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q>She parted just abaft the engine-room, and the stern part immediately filled and went down. +A few men jumped off just before she did so; but the greater number remained to the +last, and so did every officer belonging to the troops.</q> A number of the soldiers were +crushed to death when the funnel fell, and few of those at the pumps could reach the deck +before the vessel broke up. The survivors clung, some to the rigging of the main-mast, +part of which was out of water, and others to floating pieces of wood. When the <name type="ship">Birkenhead</name> +divided into two pieces, the commander of the ship called out, <q>All those who can swim, +jump overboard and make for the boats!</q> Two of the military officers earnestly besought +their men not to do so, as, in that case, the boats with the women must be swamped; and, +to the honour of the soldiers, only three made the attempt. +</p> + +<p> +The struggles of a part of them to reach the shore, the weary tramp through a country +covered with thick thorny bushes, before they could reach any farm or settlement; the sufferings +of thirty or more poor fellows who were clinging, in a state of utter exhaustion, cold, and +wretchedness, to the main-topmast and topsail-yard of the submerged vessel, before they were +rescued by a passing schooner, have often been told. The conduct of the troops was perfect; +and it is questionable whether there is any other instance of such thorough discipline at a time +of almost utter hopelessness. The loss of life was enormous, only 192 out of 638 being +saved. Had there been any panic, or mutiny, not even that small remnant would have escaped. +</p> + +<p> +Turn we now to another and a sadder case, where the opposite qualities were most +unhappily displayed, and the consequences of which were proportionately terrible. +</p> + +<p> +On the 17th of June, 1816, the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>, a fine French frigate, sailed from Aix, with +troops and colonists on board, destined for the west coast of Africa. Several settlements +which had previously belonged to France, but which fell into the hands of the English +during the war, were, on the peace of 1815, restored to their original owners; and it was +to take re-possession that the French Government dispatched the expedition, which consisted +of two vessels, one of which was the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>. Besides infantry and artillery, officers and +men, there was a governor, with priests, schoolmasters, notaries, surgeons, apothecaries, +mining and other engineers, naturalists, practical agriculturists, bakers, workmen, and thirty-eight +women, the whole expedition numbering 365 persons, exclusive of the ship’s officers +and company. Of these the <name type="ship">Medusa</name> took 240, making, with her crew and passengers, a +total of 400 on board. +</p> +<pb n='76'/><anchor id='Pg076'/><anchor id="figraftofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_102.png" rend="w80"><head>THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +After making Cape Blanco, the expedition had been ordered to steer due westward to +sea for some sixty miles, in order to clear a well-known sand-bank, that of Arguin. The +captain, however, seems to have been an ill-advised, foolhardy man, and he took a southward +course. The vessel shortened sail every two hours to sound, and every half-hour the lead +was cast, without slackening sail. For some little time the soundings indicated deep water, +but shortly after the course had been altered to S.S.E., the colour of the water changed, +seaweeds floated round the ship, and fish were caught from its sides; all indications of +shallowing. But the captain heeded not these obvious signs, and the vessel suddenly grounded +on a bank. The weather being moderate, there was no reason for alarm, and she would +have been got off safely had the captain been even an average sailor. For the time, the +<name type="ship">Medusa</name> stuck fast on the sand-bank, and as a large part of those on board were landsmen, +consternation and disorder reigned supreme, and reproaches and curses were liberally bestowed +on the captain. The crew was set to work with anchors and cables to endeavour to work +the vessel off. During the day, the topmasts, yards, and booms were unshipped and thrown +overboard, which lightened her, but were not sufficient to make her float. Meantime, a +council was called, and the governor of the colonies exhibited the plan of a raft, which was +considered large enough to carry two hundred persons, with all the necessary stores and +provisions. It was to be towed by the boats, while their crews were to come to it at regular +meal-times for their rations. The whole party was to land in a body on the sandy shore of +the coast—known to be at no great distance—and proceed to the nearest settlements. All +this was, theoretically speaking, most admirable, and had there been any leading spirit in +<pb n='77'/><anchor id='Pg077'/>command, the plan would have been, as was afterwards proved, quite practicable. The raft +was immediately constructed, principally from the spars removed from the vessel as +before mentioned. +</p> + +<p> +Various efforts were made to get the <name type="ship">Medusa</name> off the sandbank, and at one time she +swung entirely, and turned her head to sea. She was, in fact, almost afloat, and a tow-line +applied in the usual way would have taken her into deep water; but this familiar expedient +was never even proposed. Or, even had she been lightened by throwing overboard a part +of her stores temporarily—which could have been done without serious harm to many articles—she +might have been saved. Half-measures were tried, and even these were not acted +on with perseverance. During the next night there was a strong gale and heavy swell, +and the <name type="ship">Medusa</name> heeled over with much violence; the keel broke in two, the rudder was +unshipped, and, still holding to the stern-post by the chains, dashed against the vessel and +beat a hole into the captain’s cabin, through which the waves entered. It was at this time +that the first indications of that unruly spirit which afterwards produced so many horrors +appeared among the soldiers, who assembled tumultuously on deck, and could hardly be quieted. +Next morning there were seven feet of water in the hold, and the pumps could not be +worked, so that it was resolved to quit the vessel without delay. Some bags of biscuit +were taken from the bread-room, and some casks of wine got ready to put on the boats +and raft. But there was an utter want of management, and several of the boats only +received twenty-five pounds of biscuit and no wine, while the raft had a quantity of wine +and no biscuit. To avoid confusion, a list had been made the evening before, assigning +to each his place. No one paid the slightest attention to it, and no one of those in +authority tried to enforce obedience to it. It was a case of <q><hi rend='italic'>Sauve qui peut!</hi></q> with a +vengeance: a disorderly and disgraceful scramble for the best places and an utter and +total disregard for the wants of others. +</p> + +<p> +It is, and always has been, a point of honour for the officers to be among the very +last to leave (except, of course, where their presence might be needed in the boats), and +the captain to be the very last. Here, the captain was among the <hi rend='italic'>first</hi> to scramble over +the side; and his twelve-oared barge only took off twenty-eight persons, when it would have +easily carried many more. A large barge took the colonial governor and his family, <hi rend='italic'>and</hi> the +governor’s trunks. His boat wanted for nothing, and would have accommodated ten or more +persons than it took. When several of the unfortunate crew swam off and begged to be +taken in, they were kept off with drawn swords. The raft<note place="foot">The raft is described in the original work on the shipwreck of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name> substantially as follows:—It was +composed of topmasts, yards, planks, the boom, &c., lashed strongly together; two topmasts formed the sides, and +four other masts, of the same length as the former, were placed in the centre, planks being nailed on them. Long +timbers were placed across the raft, adding considerably to its strength; these projected about ten feet on each side. +There was a rail along the sides, to keep those on board from falling into the sea. Its height being only about a +foot and a half, it was constantly under water, though this could easily have been remedied, by raising a second +floor a foot or two above it. Two of the ship’s yards, joined to the extremities of the sides, at one end met in front +and formed a bow. Its length was sixty feet, and breadth about twenty.</note> took the larger part of the +soldiers, and had in all on board one hundred and fifty persons. The captain coolly proposed +to desert some sixty of the people still on board, and leave them to shift for themselves; +but an officer who threatened to shoot him was the means of making him change his mind, +<pb n='78'/><anchor id='Pg078'/>and over forty were taken off in the long-boat. Seventeen men, many of whom were +helplessly intoxicated, were, however, left to their fate. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of the 5th of July the signal was given to put to sea, and at first +some of the boats towed the raft, which had no one to command it but a midshipman named +Coudin, who, having a painful wound on his leg, was utterly useless. The other officers +consulted their own personal safety only, and, with a few exceptions, this was the case +with every one else. When the lieutenant of the long-boat, fearing that he could not +keep the sea with eighty-eight men on board, and no oars, entreated three of the other +boats, one after the other, to relieve him of a part of his living cargo, they refused utterly; +and the officer of the third, in his hurry to run away, loosed from the raft. This was the +signal for a general desertion. The word was passed from one boat to another to leave +them to their fate, and the captain had not the manliness to protest. The purser of the +<name type="ship">Medusa</name>, with a few others, opposed such a dastardly proceeding, but in vain; and the raft, +without means of propulsion, was abandoned. As it proved afterwards, the boats, which +all reached the land safely, sighted the coast the same evening; and the raft could have +been towed to it in a day or two, or at all events sufficiently near for the purpose. The +people on it could not at first believe in this treacherous desertion, and once and again +buoyed themselves up with the hope that the boats would return or send relief. The +lieutenant on the long-boat seems to have been one of the few officers possessing any spark +of humanity and manliness. He kept his own boat near the raft for a time, in the hope +that the others might be induced to return, but at length had to yield to the clamour of +some eighty men on board with him, who insisted on his proceeding in search of land. +</p> + +<p> +The consternation and despair of those on the raft beggars description. The water +was, even while the sea was calm, up to the knees of the larger part on board, while +the horrors of a slow death from starvation and thirst, and the prospect of being washed +off by the waves, should a storm arise, stared them in the face. Several barrels of flour +had been placed on the raft at first, along with six barrels of wine and two small casks of +water. When only fifty persons had got on it, their weight sunk it so low in the water +that the flour was thrown into the sea, and lost. When the raft quitted the ship, with a +hundred and fifty souls on her, she was a foot to a foot and a half under water, and the +only food on board was a twenty-five-pound bag of biscuit, in a semi-pulpy condition, which +just afforded them one meagre ration. +</p> + +<p> +Some on board, to keep up the courage of the remainder, promulgated the idea that +the boats had merely made sail for the island of Arguin, and that, having landed their +crews, they would return. This for the moment appeased the indignation of the soldiers +and others who had, with frantic gesticulations, been wringing their hands and tearing +their hair. Night came on, and the wind freshened, the waves rolling over them, and +throwing many down with violence. The cries of the people were mingled with the roar +of the waves, whilst heavy seas constantly lifted them off their legs and threatened to wash +them away. Thus, clinging desperately to the ropes, they struggled with death the whole +night through. +</p> + +<p> +About seven the next morning, the sea was again calm, when they found that twelve +or more unfortunate men had, during the night, slipped between the interstices of the raft +<pb n='79'/><anchor id='Pg079'/>and perished. The effects of starvation were beginning to tell upon them:<note place="foot">Later it took with many of them still stranger forms. One M. Savigny had the most agreeable visions; he +fancied himself in a rich and highly-cultivated country, surrounded by happy companions. Some desired their +companions not to fear, that they were going to look for succour, and would soon return; they then plunged +into the sea. Others became furious, and rushed on their companions with drawn swords, asking for the wing +of a chicken, or some bread. Some, thinking themselves still aboard the frigate, asked for their hammock, that they +might go below to sleep. Others imagined that they saw ships, or a harbour, behind which was a noble city. M. +Correard believed he was in Italy, enjoying all the delights of that beautiful country. One of the officers said to +him, <q>I recollect that we have been deserted by the boats, but don’t be afraid; I have just written to the governor, +and in a few hours we shall be in safety.</q> These illusions did not last for any length of time, but were constantly +broken by the war of the elements, and the fitful revolts which constantly disgraced the company.</note> all their faculties +were strangely impaired. Some fancied that they saw lighted signals in the distance, and +answered them by firing off their pistols, or by setting fire to small heaps of gunpowder; +others thought they saw ships or land, when there was nothing in sight. The next day +strong symptoms of mutiny broke out, the officers being utterly disregarded by the soldiers. +The evening again brought bad weather. <q>The people were now dashed about by the fury +of the waves; there was no safety but in the centre of the raft,</q> where they packed +themselves so close that many were nearly suffocated. <q>The soldiers and sailors, now +considering their destruction inevitable, resolved to drown the sense of their situation by +drinking till they should lose their reason;</q> nor could they be persuaded to forego their +mad scheme. They rushed upon a cask of wine which was near the centre, and making +a hole in it, drank so much, that the fumes soon mounted to their heads, in the empty +condition in which they were; and <q>they then resolved to rid themselves of their officers, +and afterwards to destroy the raft by cutting the lashings which kept it together.</q> One +of them commenced hacking away at the ropes with a boarding-hatchet. The civil and +military officers rushed on this ringleader, and though he made a desperate resistance, soon +dispatched him. The people on the raft were now divided into two antagonistic parties—about +twenty civil officers and the better class of passengers on one side, and a hundred or +more soldiers and workmen on the other. <q>The mutineers,</q> says the narrative, <q>drew their +swords, and were going to make a general attack, when the fall of another of their number +struck such a seasonable terror into them that they retreated; but it was only to make +another attempt at cutting the ropes. One of them, pretending to rest on the side-rail +of the raft, began to work;</q> when he was discovered, and a few moments afterwards, with +a soldier who attempted to defend him, was sent to his last account. This was followed +by a general fight. An infantry captain was thrown into the sea by the soldiers, but +rescued by his friends. He was then seized a second time, and the revolters attempted to +put out his eyes. A charge was made upon them, and many put to death. The wretches +threw overboard the only woman on the raft, together with her husband. They were, +however, saved, only to die miserably soon afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +A second repulse brought many of the mutineers to their senses, and temporarily awed +the rest, some asking pardon on their knees. But at midnight the revolt again broke out, +the soldiers attacking the party in the centre of the raft with the fury of madmen, even +biting their adversaries. They seized upon one of the lieutenants, mistaking him for one +of the ship’s officers who had deserted the raft, and he was rescued and protected afterwards +<pb n='80'/><anchor id='Pg080'/>with the greatest difficulty. They threw overboard M. Coudin, an elderly man, who was +covered with wounds received in opposing them, and a young boy of the party, in whom he +took an interest. M. Coudin had the presence of mind both to support the child and to +take hold of the raft; and his friends kept off the brutal soldiery with drawn swords, until +they were lifted on board again. The combat was so fierce, and the weather at night so +bad, that on the return of day it was found that over sixty had perished off the raft. It +is stated that the mutineers had thrown over the remaining water and two casks of wine. +The indications in the narrative would not point to the latter conclusion, as the soldiers +and workmen were constantly intoxicated, and many, no doubt, were washed off by the +waves in that condition. A powerful temperance tract might be written on the loss of +the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>. On the morning of the fourth day after their departure from the frigate, the +dead bodies of twelve of the company, who had expired during the night, were lying on +the raft. This day a shoal of flying-fish played round the raft, and a number of them +got on board,<note place="foot">The writer, during a long voyage (England to Vancouver Island, <hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> Cape Horn), made in 1862, saw flying-fish +constantly falling on the deck, where they remained quivering and glittering in the sunlight. To accomplish +this, they had to fly over a height of about fifteen or sixteen feet, the top of the bulwarks, or walls of the steamship, +being at least that distance above the water.</note> and were entangled in the spaces between the timbers. A small fire, lighted +with flint and steel and gunpowder, was made inside a barrel, and the fish, half-cooked, +was greedily devoured. They did not stop here; the account briefly indicates that they +ate parts of the flesh of their dead companions. Horror followed horror: a massacre +succeeded their savage feast. Some Spaniards, Italians, and negroes among them, who +had hitherto taken no part with the mutineers, now formed a plot to throw their superiors +into the sea. A bag of money, which had been collected as a common fund, and was +hanging from a rude mast hastily extemporised, probably tempted them. The officers’ +party threw their ringleader overboard, while another of the conspirators, finding his villainy +discovered, weighted himself with a heavy boarding-axe, and rushing to the fore part of +the raft, plunged headlong into the sea and was drowned. A desperate combat ensued, +and the fatal raft was quickly piled with dead bodies. +</p> + +<p> +On the fifth morning, there were only thirty alive. The remnant suffered severely, +and one-third of the number were unable to stand up or move about. The salt water and +intense heat of the sun blistered their feet and legs, and gave intense pain. In the course +of the seventh day, two soldiers were discovered stealing the wine, and they were immediately +pushed overboard. This day also, Leon, the poor little boy mentioned before, died from +sheer starvation. +</p> + +<p> +The story has been so far nothing but a record of insubordination, murderous brutality, +and utter selfishness. But the worst has yet to come. Let the survivors tell their own +shameful and horrible story. There were now but twenty-seven left, and <q>of these twelve, +amongst them the woman, were so ill that there was no hope of their surviving, even a +few days; they were covered with wounds, and had almost entirely lost their reason.... +They might have lived long enough to reduce our stock to a very low ebb; but there +was no hope that they could last more than a few days. To put them on short allowance +was only hastening their death; while giving them a full ration, was uselessly diminishing +<pb n='81'/><anchor id='Pg081'/>a quantity already too low. After an anxious consultation, we came to the resolution of +throwing them into the sea, and thus terminating at once their sufferings. This was a +horrible and unjustifiable expedient, but who amongst us would have the cruelty to put +it into execution? Three sailors and a soldier took it on themselves. We turned away +our eyes from the shocking sight, trusting that, in thus endeavouring to prolong our own +lives, we were shortening theirs but a few hours. This gave us the means of subsistence +for six additional days. After this dreadful sacrifice, we cast our swords into the sea, +reserving but one sabre for cutting wood or cordage, as might be necessary.</q> Was there +ever such an example of demoniacal hypocrisy, mingled with pretended humanity! +</p><anchor id="figon__thra"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ON THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA</q>—A SAIL IN SIGHT.<lb/> +(<hi rend='italic'>After the celebrated Painting by Géricault.</hi>)]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_107.jpg" rend="w80"><head>ON THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA</q>—A SAIL IN SIGHT.<lb/> +(<hi rend='italic'>After the celebrated Painting by Géricault.</hi>)</head> + <figDesc>ON THE RAFT OF THE <q>MEDUSA</q>—A SAIL IN SIGHT</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +One can hardly interest himself in the fate of the remaining fifteen, who, if they were +not all human devils, must have carried to their dying days the brand of Cain indelibly +impressed on their memories. A few days passed, and the indications of a close approach +to land became frequent. Meantime, they were suffering from the intense heat, and from +excessive thirst. One more example of petty selfishness was afforded by an officer who +<pb n='82'/><anchor id='Pg082'/>had found a lemon, which he resolved to keep entirely for himself, until the ominous threats +of the rest obliged him to share it. The wine, which should have warmed their bodies +and gladdened their hearts, produced on their weakened frames the worst effects of +intoxication. Five of the number resolved, and were barely persuaded not to commit +suicide, so maddened were they by their potations. Perhaps the sight of the sharks, +which now came boldly up to the edges of the raft, had something to do with sobering +them, for they decided to live. +</p> + +<p> +Three days now passed in intolerable torments. They had become so careless of life, +that they bathed even in sight of the sharks; others were not afraid to place themselves +naked upon the fore part of the raft, which was then entirely under water; and, though +it was exceedingly dangerous, it had the effect of taking away their thirst. They now +attempted to construct a boat of planks and spars. When completed, a sailor went +upon it, when it immediately upset, and the design of reaching land by this means was +abandoned. On the morning of the 17th of July, the sun shone brightly and the sky was +cloudless. Just as they were receiving their ration of wine, one of the infantry officers +discerned the topmasts of a vessel near the horizon. Uniting their efforts, they raised a +man to the top of the mast, who waved constantly a number of handkerchiefs tied together. +After two hours of painful suspense, the vessel, a brig, disappeared, and they once more +resigned themselves to despair. Deciding that they must leave some record of their fate, +they agreed to carve their names, with some account of their disaster, on a plank, in the +hope that it might eventually reach their Government and families. But they were to +be saved: the brig reappeared, and bore down for them. She proved to be a vessel which +had been dispatched by the Governor of Senegal for the purpose of rescuing any survivors; +though, considering the raft had now been seventeen days afloat, there was little expectation +that any of its hundred and fifty passengers still lived. The wounded and blistered limbs, +sunken eyes, and emaciated frames of the remnant told its own tale on board. And yet, +with due order and discipline, presence of mind, and united helpfulness, the ship, with +every soul who had sailed on her, might have been saved; and a fearful story of cruelty, +murder, and cannibalism spared to us. The modern <name type="ship">Medusa</name> has been branded with a name +of infamy worse than that of the famous classical monster after which she was named. The +celebrated picture by Géricault in the Louvre, at Paris, vividly depicts the horrors of the scene. +</p> + +<p> +The wreck of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name> has very commonly been compared and contrasted with that +of the <name type="ship">Alceste</name>, an English frigate, which was wrecked the same year. Lord Amherst was +returning from China in this vessel, after fulfilling his mission to the Court of Pekin, +instituted at the instance of the East India Company, who had complained to Government +of the impediments thrown in the way of their trade by the Chinese. His secretary and +suite were with him; and so there was some resemblance to the case of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>, which +had a colonial governor and his staff on board. The commander of the <name type="ship">Alceste</name> was Captain +(afterwards Sir) Murray Maxwell, a true gentleman and a bluff, hearty sailor. Having +touched at Manilla, they were passing through the Straits of Gaspar, when the ship suddenly +struck on a reef of sunken rocks, and it became evident that she must inevitably and speedily +break up. The most perfect discipline prevailed; and the first efforts of the captain were +naturally directed to saving the ambassador and his subordinates. The island of Palo Leat +<pb n='83'/><anchor id='Pg083'/>was a few miles off; and, although its coast at this part was a salt-marsh, with mangrove-trees +growing out in the water so thick and entangled that it almost prevented them +landing, every soul was got off safely. Good feeling and sensible councils prevailed. At +first there was no fresh water to be obtained. It was +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Water, water everywhere,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Yet not a drop to drink.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +In a short time, however, they dug a deep well, and soon reached plenty. Then the Malays +attacked and surrounded them; at first a few score, at last six or seven hundred strong. +Things looked black; but they erected a stockade, made rude pikes by sticking their knives, +dirks, and small swords on the end of poles; and, although they had landed with just seventy-five +ball-cartridges, their stock soon grew to fifteen hundred. How? Why, the sailors set +to with a will, and made their own, the balls being represented by their jacket-buttons +and pieces of the glass of broken bottles! Of loose powder they had, fortunately, a sufficient +quantity. The Malays set the wreck on fire. The men waited till it had burned low, +and then drove them off, and went and secured such of the stores as could be now reached, +or which had floated off. The natives were gathering thick. Murray made his sailors a +speech in true hearty style, and their wild huzzas were taken by the Malays for war-whoops: +the latter soon <q>weakened,</q> as they say in America. From the highest officer to the +merest boy, all behaved like calm, resolute, and sensible Britons, and every soul was saved. +Lord Amherst, who had gone on to Batavia, sent a vessel for them, on board which Maxwell +was the last to embark. At the time of the wreck their condition was infinitely worse +than that of the <name type="ship">Medusa</name>; but how completely different the sequel! The story is really +a pleasant one, displaying, as it does, the happy results of both good discipline and mutual +good feeling in the midst of danger. <hi rend='italic'>Nil desperandum</hi> was evidently the motto of that +crew; and their philosophy was rewarded. The lessons of the past and present, in regard +to our great ships, have taught us that disaster is not confined to ironclads, nor victory to +wooden walls; neither is good discipline dead, nor the race of true-hearted tars extinct. +<q>Men of iron</q> will soon be the worthy successors of <q>hearts of oak.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Having glanced at the causes which led to the ironclad movement, and noted certain +salient points in its history, let us now for a while discuss the ironclad herself. It has been +remarked, as a matter of reproach to the administrators and builders of the British ironclad +navy, that the vessels composing it are not sufficiently uniform in design, power, and speed. +Mr. Reed, however, tells us that <hi rend='italic'>la marine moderne cuirassée</hi> of France is still more +distinguished by the different types and forms of the vessels; and that ours by comparison +wears <q>quite a tiresome appearance of sameness;</q> while, again, Russia has ironclads even +more diversified than those of France. The objection is, perhaps, hardly a fair one, as the +exigencies of the navy are many and varied. We might have to fight a first-class power, +or several first-class powers, where all our strength would have to be put forth; some +second-class power might require chastising, where vessels of a secondary class might suffice; +while almost any vessel of the navy would be efficient in the case of wars with native tribes, +as, for example, the Maories of New Zealand, or the Indians of the coasts of North-west +America. In a great naval conflict, provided the vessels of our fleet steamed pretty evenly +as regards speed, there would be an advantage in variety; for it might rather puzzle and +<pb n='84'/><anchor id='Pg084'/>worry the enemy, who would not know what next would appear, or what new form turn +up. Mr. Reed puts the matter in a nutshell; although it must be seen that, among +first-class powers with first-class fleets, the argument cuts both ways. <q>In the old days,</q> +says he, <q>when actions had to be fought under sail, and when ships of a class were in +the main alike, the limits within which the arts, the resources, and the audacities of the +navy were restricted were really very narrow; and yet how brilliant were its achievements! +I cannot but believe that, if the English ironclad fleet were now to be engaged in a general +action with an enemy’s fleet, the very variety of our ships—those very improvements +which have occasioned that variety—would be at once the cause of the greatest possible +embarrassment to the enemy, and the means of the most vigorous and diversified attack +upon the hostile fleet. This is peculiarly true of all those varieties which result from +increase in handiness, in bow-fire, in height of port, and so forth; and unless I have mis-read +our naval history, and misappreciate the character of our naval officers of the present day, +the nation will, in the day of trial, obtain the full benefit of these advantages.</q> +</p><anchor id="figsectofa"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SECTION OF A FIRST-CLASS MAN-OF-WAR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_110.jpg" rend="w80"><head>SECTION OF A FIRST-CLASS MAN-OF-WAR.</head> + <figDesc>SECTION OF A FIRST-CLASS MAN-OF-WAR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It needs no argument to convince the reader that the aim of a naval architect should +be to combine in the best manner available, strength and lightness. The dimensions and +outside form of the ship in great part determine her displacement; and her capacity to +carry weights depends largely on the actual weight of her own hull; while the room within +partly depends on the thinness or thickness of her walls. Now, we have seen that +in wooden ships the hull weighs more than in iron ships of equal size; and it will be +apparent that what is gained in the latter case can be applied to <hi rend='italic'>carrying</hi> so much the +more iron armour. Hence, distinguished authorities do not believe in the wood-built ship +<hi rend='italic'>carrying</hi> heavy armour, nearly so much as in the ironclad, iron-<hi rend='italic'>built</hi> ship.<note place="foot">Large merchant-vessels have been constructed of steel, which is stronger than iron, weight for weight; and +consequently, in building vessels of equal strength, a less weight and thickness is required. It is said, that if the +large Atlantic steamers of 3,500 tons and upwards were built of steel, instead of iron, their displacement in the water +would be one-sixth less, and their carrying capacity double. A steel troop-ship, accommodating about 1,000 persons +and drawing only two feet and a quarter of water, was constructed, in 1861, for use on the Lower Indus. She was +taken out in pieces and put together in India, the total weight of the steel employed being only 270 tons, although +she was 375 feet long, with a beam of 46 feet.</note> The durability +<pb n='85'/><anchor id='Pg085'/>and strength are greater. The authority of such a man as Mr. J. Scott Russell, the eminent +shipbuilder, will be conclusive. In a pamphlet,<note place="foot"><q>The Fleet of the Future: Iron or Wood,</q> by J. Scott Russell, F.R.S., &c.</note> published in 1862, he noted the following +ten points: 1, That iron steam ships-of-war may be built as strong as wooden ships of +greater weight, and stronger than wooden ships of equal weight. 2, That iron ships of +equal strength can go on less draught of water than wooden ships. 3, That iron ships +can carry much heavier weights than wooden ships [hence they can carry heavier armour]. +4, That they are more durable. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, That they are safer against the sea, against +fire, explosive shots, red-hot shots, molten metal; and 10, That they can be made impregnable +even against solid shot. +</p><anchor id="figwarrior"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>WARRIOR.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_111.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>WARRIOR.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE <q>WARRIOR</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The last point, alas! is one which Mr. Scott Russell himself would hardly insist upon +to-day. When he wrote his pamphlet, five or six inches of armour, with a wood backing, +withstood anything that could be fired against it. When the armour of the <name type="ship">Warrior</name>, our +<pb n='86'/><anchor id='Pg086'/>first real ironclad, had to be tested, a target, twenty feet by ten feet surface, composed of four +and a half inch iron and eighteen inches of teak backing—the exact counterpart of a slice +out of the ship’s side—was employed. The shot from 68-pounders—the same as composed +her original armament—fired at 200 yards, only made small dents in the target and +rebounded. 200-pounders had no more effect; the shot flew off in ragged splinters, the +iron plates became almost red-hot under the tremendous strokes, and rung like a huge +gong; but that was all. Now we have 6½-ton guns that would pierce her side at 500 yards; +12-ton guns that would put a hole through her armour at over a mile, and 25-ton guns +that would probably penetrate the armour of any ironclad whatever. Why, some of the +ships themselves are now carrying 30-ton guns! It is needless to go on and speak of +monster 81 and 100-ton guns after recording these facts. But their consideration explains +why the thickness of armour has kept on increasing, albeit it could not possibly do so +in an equal ratio. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Reed tells us: <q>This strange contest between attack and defence, however +wasteful, however melancholy, must still go on.</q><note place="foot">Letter to the <hi rend='italic'>Times</hi>, Sept. 6th, 1875 (after the loss of the <name type="ship">Vanguard</name>).</note> Sir W. G. Armstrong (inventor of the +famous guns), on the other hand, says, <q>In my opinion, armour should be wholly abandoned +for the defence of the guns, and, except to a very limited extent, I doubt the expediency +of using it even for the security of the ship. Where armour can be applied for <hi rend='italic'>deflecting</hi> +projectiles, as at the bow of a ship, it would afford great protection, without requiring to +be very heavy.</q><note place="foot">Parliamentary Paper, 1872. Reports of the Committee on Designs for Ships of War &c.</note> Sir William recommends very swift iron vessels, divided into numerous +compartments, with boilers and machinery below the water-line, and only very partially +protected by armour; considering that victory in the contest as regards strength is entirely +on the side of the artillery. Sir Joseph Whitworth (also an inventor of great guns) offered +practically to make guns to penetrate <hi rend='italic'>any</hi> thickness of armour. The bewildered Parliamentary +committee says mournfully in its report: <q>A perfect ship of war is a desideratum which +has never yet been attained, and is now farther than ever removed from our reach;</q><note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi></note> while +Mr. Reed<note place="foot"><q>Our Ironclad Ships.</q></note> again cuts the gordian knot by professing his belief that in the end, <q>guns +will themselves be superseded as a means of attack, and the ship itself, viewed as a steam +projectile—possessing all the force of the most powerful shot, combined with the power +of striking in various directions—will be deemed the most formidable weapon of attack +that man’s ingenuity has devised.</q> The contest between professed ship and gun makers +would be amusing but for the serious side—the immense expense, and the important +interests involved. +</p><anchor id="figrockofgi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR: FROM THE MAINLAND.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_113.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR: FROM THE MAINLAND.</head> + <figDesc>THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR: FROM THE MAINLAND</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><pb n='87'/><anchor id='Pg087'/><div> + <index index="toc" level1="VI. Round the World on a Man-of-War"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VI. Round the World on a Man-of-War"/><anchor id="chap06"/> +<head>CHAPTER VI.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The Mediterranean—White, blue, green, purple Waters—Gibraltar—Its History—Its first Inhabitants the Monkeys—The +Moors—The Great Siege preceded by thirteen others—The Voyage of Sigurd to the Holy Land—The Third Siege—Starvation—The +Fourth Siege—Red-hot balls used before ordinary Cannon-balls—The Great Plague—Gibraltar +finally in Christian hands—A Naval Action between the Dutch and Spaniards—How England won the Rock—An +Unrewarded Hero—Spain’s attempts to regain It—The Great Siege—The Rock itself and its Surroundings—The +Straits—Ceuta, Gibraltar’s Rival—The Saltness of the Mediterranean—<q>Going aloft</q>—On to Malta. +</p></argument> + +<p> +In this and following chapters, we will ask the reader to accompany us in imagination +round the world, on board a ship of the Royal Navy, visiting <hi rend='italic'>en route</hi> the principal +British naval stations and possessions, and a few of those friendly foreign ports which, as +on the Pacific station, stand in lieu of them. We cannot do better than commence with +the Mediterranean, to which the young sailor will, in all probability, be sent for a cruise +after he has been thoroughly <q>broken in</q> to the mysteries of life on board ship, and +where he has an opportunity of visiting many ports of ancient renown and of great +historical interest. +</p> + +<p> +The modern title applied to the sea <q>between the lands</q> is not that of the ancients, +nor indeed that of some peoples now. The Greeks had no special name for it. Herodotus +calls it <q>this sea;</q> and Strabo the <q>sea within the columns,</q> that is, within Calpe and +Abyla—the fabled pillars of Hercules—to-day represented by Gibraltar and Ceuta. The +Romans called it variously <hi rend='italic'>Mare Internum</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Mare Nostrum</hi>, while the Arabians termed +it <hi rend='italic'>Bahr Rüm</hi>—the Roman Sea. The modern Greeks call it <hi rend='italic'>Aspri Thalassa</hi>—the White +Sea; it might as appropriately be called blue, that being its general colour, or green, as +in the Adriatic, or purple, as at its eastern end: but they use it to distinguish it from +the <q>Sea of Storms</q>—the Black Sea. The Straits—<q>the Gate of the Narrow Passage,</q> +as the Arabians poetically describe it, or the <hi rend='italic'>Gut</hi>, as it is termed by our prosaic sailors +and pilots—is the narrow portal to a great inland sea with an area of 800,000 miles, +whose shores are as varied in character as are the peoples who own them. The Mediterranean +is salter than the ocean, in spite of the great rivers which enter it—the Rhone, Po, +Ebro, and Nile—and the innumerable smaller streams and torrents.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> <q>The Mediterranean,</q> by Rear-Admiral Smyth. This is a standard work on all scientific points connected +with the Mediterranean.</note> It has other +physical and special characteristics, to be hereafter considered. +</p> + +<p> +The political and social events which have been mingled with its history are +interwoven with those of almost every people on the face of the globe. We shall see +how much our own has been shaped and involved. It was with the memory of the +glorious deeds of British seamen and soldiers that Browning wrote, when sailing through +the Straits:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Nobly, nobly, Cape St. Vincent to the north-west died away;</q></l> +<l>Sunset ran, one glorious blood-red, reeking into Cadiz Bay;</l> +<l>Bluish, ’mid the burning water, full in face Trafalgar lay;</l> +<l>In the dimmest north-east distance dawned Gibraltar, grand and gray;</l> +<pb n='88'/><anchor id='Pg088'/><l>‘Here, and here, did England help me—how can I help England?’—say</l> +<l>Whoso turns as I, this evening, turns to God to praise and pray,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">While Jove’s planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +And the poet is almost literally correct in his description, for within sight, as we enter +the Straits of Gibraltar, are the localities of innumerable sea and land fights dating from +earliest days. That grand old Rock, what has it not witnessed since the first timid +mariner crept out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic—the <hi rend='italic'>Mare Tenebrosum</hi>,—the +<q>sea of darkness</q> of the ancients? Romans of old fought Carthaginian galleys in its +bay; the conquering Moors held it uninterruptedly for six hundred years, and in all for +over seven centuries; Spain owned it close on two and a half centuries; and England has +dared the world to take it since 1704—one hundred and seventy-three years ago. Its +very armorial bearings, which we have adopted from those given by Henry of Castile +and Leon, are suggestive of its position and value: a castle on a rock with a key pendant—the +key to the Mediterranean. The King of Spain still includes Calpe (Gibraltar) +in his dominions; and natives of the place, Ford tells us, in his <q>Handbook to Spain,</q> +are entitled to the rights and privileges of Spanish birth. It has, in days gone by, +given great offence to French writers, who spoke of <hi rend='italic'>l’ombrageuse puissance</hi> with displeasure. +<q>Sometimes,</q> says Ford, <q>there is too great a <hi rend='italic'>luxe de canons</hi> in this fortress <hi rend='italic'>ornée</hi>; then +the gardens destroy <q>wild nature;</q> in short, they abuse the red-jackets, guns, nursery-maids, +and even the monkeys.</q> The present colony of apes are the descendants of the +aboriginal inhabitants of the Rock. They have held it through all vicissitudes. +</p> + +<p> +The Moorish writers were ever enthusiastic over it. With them it was <q>the Shining +Mountain,</q> <q>the Mountain of Victory.</q> <q>The Mountain of Taric</q><note place="foot">One of the earliest of the Moorish conquerors of Spain, who first fortified the Rock.</note> (Gibraltar), says +a Granadian poet, <q>is like a beacon spreading its rays over the sea, and rising far above +the neighbouring mountains; one might fancy that its face almost reaches the sky, and +that its eyes are watching the stars in the celestial track.</q> An Arabian writer well +describes its position:—<q>The waters surround Gibraltar on almost every side, so as to +make it look like a watch-tower in the midst of the sea.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The fame of the last great siege, already briefly described in these pages,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> <ref target="Pg016">page 16</ref>.</note> has so +completely overshadowed the general history of the Rock that it will surprise many to +learn that it has undergone no less than fourteen sieges. The Moors, after successfully +invading Spain, first fortified it in 711, and held uninterrupted possession until 1309, +when Ferdinand IV. besieged and took it. The Spaniards only held it twenty-five years, +when it reverted to the Moors, who kept it till 1462. <q>Thus the Moors held it +in all about seven centuries and a quarter, from the making a castle on the Rock +to the last sorrowful departure of the remnants of the nation. It has been said that +Gibraltar was the landing-place of the vigorous Moorish race, and that it was the point +of departure on which their footsteps lingered last. In short, it was the European <hi rend='italic'>tête +de pont</hi>, of which Ceuta stands as the African fellow. By these means myriads of +Moslems passed into Spain, and with them much for which the Spaniards are wrongfully +unthankful. It is said that when the Moors left their houses in Granada, which they +<pb n='90'/><anchor id='Pg090'/>did with, so to speak, everything standing, many families took with them the great +wooden keys of their mansions, so confident were they of returning home again, when +the keys should open the locks and the houses be joyful anew. It was not to be as +thus longed for; but many families in Barbary still keep the keys of these long ago +deserted and destroyed mansions.</q><note place="foot"><q>History of Gibraltar and its Sieges,</q> by F. G. Stephens, with photographic illustrations by J. H. Mann. +The writer is much indebted to this valuable work for information embodied in these pages.</note> And now we must mention an incident of its +history, recorded in the <q>Norwegian Chronicles of the Kings,</q> concerning Sigurd the +Crusader—the Pilgrim. After battling his way from the North, with sixty <q>long ships,</q> +King Sigurd proceeded on his voyage to the Holy Land, <q rend="post: none">and came to Niörfa Sound +(Gibraltar Straits), and in the Sound he was met by a large viking force (squadron of +war-ships), and the King gave them battle; and this was his fifth engagement with +heathens since the time he came from Norway. So says Halldor Skualldre:—</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none"><q rend="post: none">He moistened your dry swords with blood,</q></q></l> +<l>As through Niörfa Sound ye stood;</l> +<l>The screaming raven got a feast,</l> +<l>As ye sailed onwards to the East.’</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend="pre: none">Hence he went along Sarkland, or Saracen’s Land, Mauritania, where he attacked a strong +party, who had their fortress in a cave, with a wall before it, in the face of a precipice: +a place which was difficult to come at, and where the holders, who are said to have been +freebooters, defied and ridiculed the Northmen, spreading their valuables on the top of +the wall in their sight. Sigurd was equal to the occasion in craft as in force, for he had +his ships’ boats drawn up the hill, filled them with archers and slingers, and lowered +them before the mouth of the cavern, so that they were able to keep back the defenders +long enough to allow the main body of the Northmen to ascend from the foot of the +cliff and break down the wall. This done, Sigurd caused large trees to be brought to +the mouth of the cave, and roasted the miserable wretches within.</q> Further fights, and +he at last reached Jerusalem, where he was honourably received by Baldwin, whom he +assisted with his ships at the siege of Sidon. Sigurd also visited Constantinople, where +the Emperor Alexius offered him his choice: either to receive six skif-pound (or about a +<hi rend='italic'>ton</hi> of gold), or see the great games of the hippodrome. The Northman wisely chose the +latter, the cost of which was said to be equal to the value of the gold offered. Sigurd +presented his ships to the Emperor, and their splendid prows were hung up in the church +of St. Peter, at Constantinople. +</p><anchor id="figgibrthne"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: GIBRALTAR: THE NEUTRAL GROUND.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_117.jpg" rend="w100"><head>GIBRALTAR: THE NEUTRAL GROUND.</head> + <figDesc>GIBRALTAR: THE NEUTRAL GROUND</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +In the year 1319, Pedro, Infante of Castile, fought the Moors at Granada. The latter +were the victors, and their spoils were enormous, consisting in part of forty-three hundredweights +of gold, one hundred and forty hundredweights of silver, with armour, arms, and +horses in abundance. Fifty thousand Castilians were slain, and among the captives were the +wife and children of the Infante. Gibraltar, then in the hands of Spain, with Tarifa and +eighteen castles of the district, were offered, and refused for her ransom. The body of +the Infante himself was stripped of its skin, and stuffed and hung over the gate of Granada. +</p> + +<p> +The third siege occurred in the reign of Mohammed IV., when the Spanish held the +<pb n='91'/><anchor id='Pg091'/>Rock. The governor at that time, Vasco Perez de Meira, was an avaricious and dishonest +man, who embezzled the dues and other resources of the place and neglected his charge. +During the siege, a grain-ship fell on shore,<note place="foot">On more than one occasion such wrecks have happened, as, for example, when a Danish vessel, laden with +lemons, fell into the hands of General Elliott’s garrison, then suffering fearfully with scurvy, October 11th, 1780. +A year before a storm cast a quantity of drift-wood under the walls. <q>As fuel had long been a scarce article, +this supply was therefore considered as a miraculous interference of Providence in our favour.</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> Drinkwater’s +<q>Gibraltar.</q>)</note> and its cargo would have enabled him to +hold out a long time. Instead of feeding his soldiers, who were reduced to eating leather, +he gave and sold it to his prisoners, with the expectation of either getting heavy ransoms +for them, or, if he should have to surrender, of making better terms for himself. It +availed him nothing, for he had to capitulate; and then, not daring to face his sovereign, +Alfonso XI., he had to flee to Africa, where he ended his days. +</p> + +<p> +Alfonso besieged it twice. The first time the Granadians induced him to abandon it, +promising a heavy ransom; the next time he commenced by reducing the neighbouring town +of Algeciras, which was defended with great energy. When the Spaniards brought forward +their wheeled towers of wood, covered with raw hides, the Moors discharged cannon loaded +with <hi rend='italic'>red-hot</hi> balls. This is noteworthy, for cannon was not used by the English till +three years after, at the battle of Creçy, while it is the first recorded instance of <hi rend='italic'>red-hot</hi> +shot being used at all.<note place="foot">The Romans, however, sometimes employed red-hot bolts, which were ejected from catapults.</note> It is further deserving of notice, that the very means employed +at Algeciras were afterwards so successfully used at the great siege. After taking +Algeciras, Alfonso blockaded Gibraltar, when the plague broke out in his camp; he died +from it, and the Rock remained untaken. This was the epoch of one of those great +pestilences which ravaged Europe. Fifty thousand souls perished in London in 1348 from its +effects; Florence lost two-thirds of her population; in Saragossa three hundred died daily. +The sixth attack on the part of the King of Fez was unsuccessful; as was that in 1436, +when it was besieged by a wealthy noble—one of the De Gusmans. His forces were +allowed to land in numbers on a narrow beach below the fortress, where they were soon +exposed to the rising of the tide and the missiles of the besieged. De Gusman was +drowned, and his body, picked up by the Moors, hung out for twenty-six years from the +battlements, as a warning to ambitious nobles. +</p> + +<p> +At the eighth siege, in 1462, Gibraltar passed finally into Christian hands. The +garrison was weak and the Spaniards gained an easy victory. When Henry IV. learned +of its capture, he rejoiced greatly, and took immediate care to proclaim it a fief of the +throne, adding to the royal titles that of Lord of Gibraltar. The armorial distinctions +still borne by Gibraltar were first granted by him. The ninth siege, on the part of a +De Gusman, was successful, and it for a time passed into the hands of a noble who had +vast possessions and fisheries in the neighbourhood. Strange to say, such were the +troubles of Spain at the time, that Henry the before-named, who was known as <q>the +Weak,</q> two years after confirmed the title to the Rock to the son of the very man who +had been constantly in arms against him. But after the civil wars, and at the advent +of Ferdinand and Isabella, there was a decided change. Isabella, acting doubtless under +<pb n='92'/><anchor id='Pg092'/>the advice of her astute husband, whose entire policy was opposed to such aggrandisement +on the part of a subject, tried to induce the duke to surrender it, offering in exchange +the City of Utrera. Ayala<note place="foot">Lopez de Ayala, <q>Historia de Gibraltar.</q></note> tells us that he utterly refused. His great estates were +protected by it, and he made it a kind of central depôt for his profitable tunny fisheries. +He died in 1492, and the third duke applied to Isabella for a renewal of his grant and +privileges. She promised all, but insisted that the Rock and fortress must revert to +the Crown. But it was not till nine years afterwards that Isabella succeeded in compelling +or inducing the Duke to surrender it formally. Dying in 1504, the queen testified her +wishes as follows:—<q>It is my will and desire, insomuch as the city of Gibraltar has +been surrendered to the Royal Crown, and been inserted among its titles, that it shall for +ever so remain.</q> Two years after her death, Juan de Gusman tried to retake it, and +blockaded it for four months, at the end of which time he abandoned the siege, and had +to make reparation to those whose property had been injured. This is the only bloodless +one among the fourteen sieges. +</p> + +<p> +In 1540 a dash was made at the town, and even at a part of the fortress, by +Corsairs. They plundered the neighbourhood, burned a chapel and hermitage, and dictated +terms in the most high-handed way—that all the Turkish prisoners should be released, +and that their galleys should be allowed to take water at the Gibraltar wells. They +were afterwards severely chastised by a Spanish fleet. +</p> + +<p> +In the wars between the Dutch and Spaniards a naval action occurred, in the year +1607, in the port of Gibraltar, which can hardly be omitted in its history. The great +Sully has described it graphically when speaking of the efforts of the Dutch to secure +the alliance of his master, Henry IV. of France, in their wars against Philip of Spain. +He says: <q rend="post: none">Alvares d’Avila, the Spanish admiral, was ordered to cruise near the Straits of +Gibraltar, to hinder the Dutch from entering the Mediterranean, and to deprive them +of the trade of the Adriatic. The Dutch, to whom this was a most sensible mortification, +gave the command of ten or twelve vessels to one of their ablest seamen, named Heemskerk, +with the title of vice-admiral, and ordered him to go and reconnoitre this fleet, and attack +it. D’Avila, though nearly twice as strong as his enemy, yet provided a reinforcement +of twenty-six great ships, some of which were of a thousand tons burden, and augmented +the number of his troops to three thousand five hundred men. With this accession of +strength he thought himself so secure of victory that he brought a hundred and fifty +gentlemen along with him only to be witnesses of it. However, instead of standing out +to sea, as he ought to have done, he posted himself under the town and castle of Gibraltar, +that he might not be obliged to fight but when he thought proper.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Heemskerk, who had taken none of these precautions, no sooner perceived that his +enemy seemed to fear him than he advanced to attack him, and immediately began the most +furious battle that was ever fought in the memory of man. It lasted eight whole hours. +The Dutch vice-admiral, at the beginning, attacked the vessel in which the Spanish admiral +was, grappled with, and was ready to board her. A cannon-ball, which wounded him in the +thigh soon after the fight began, left him only a hour’s life, during which, and till within +<pb n='93'/><anchor id='Pg093'/>a moment of his death, he continued to give orders as if he felt no pain. When he found +himself ready to expire, he delivered his sword to his lieutenant, obliging him and all that +were with him to bind themselves by an oath either to conquer or die. The lieutenant +caused the same oath to be taken by the people of all the other vessels, when nothing +was heard but a general cry of <q>Victory or Death!</q> At length the Dutch were victorious; +they lost only two vessels, and about two hundred and fifty men; the Spaniards lost +sixteen ships, three were consumed by fire, and the others, among which was the admiral’s +ship, ran aground. D’Avila, with thirty-five captains, fifty of his volunteers, and two +thousand eight hundred soldiers, lost their lives in the fight; a memorable action, which was +not only the source of tears and affliction to many widows and private persons, but filled +all Spain with horror.</q><note place="foot"><q>Memoirs of Sully,</q> bk. xx.</note> +</p><anchor id="figmoortoat"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MOORISH TOWER AT GIBRALTAR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_121.png" rend="w80"><head>MOORISH TOWER AT GIBRALTAR.</head> + <figDesc>MOORISH TOWER AT GIBRALTAR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +England won Gibraltar during the War of the Succession, when she was allied with +Austria and Holland against Spain and France. The war had dragged on with varied results +till 1704, when it was determined to attack Spain at home with the aid of the Portuguese. The +commanders of the allied fleets and troops—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, the Landgrave George of Hesse-Darmstadt, +Sir George Rooke, Admiral Byng, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Admiral Leake, and the three +<pb n='94'/><anchor id='Pg094'/>Dutch admirals—determined to attack Gibraltar, believed to be weak in forces and stores. +On the 21st of July, 1704, the fleet, which consisted of forty-five ships, six frigates, besides +fire and bomb-ships, came to an anchor off the Rock, and landed 5,000 men, so as to at +once cut off the supplies of the garrison. The commanders of the allied forces sent, on +the morning after their arrival, a demand for the surrender of Gibraltar to the Archduke +Charles, whose claims as rightful King of Spain they were supporting. The little garrison<note place="foot">In a memorial presented to Philip V. after the capture, it was stated that the garrison comprised <q>fewer +than 300 men; a few poor and raw peasants.</q> Other accounts range from 150 to 500.</note> +answered valiantly; and had their brave governor, the Marquis Diego de Salinas, been +properly backed, the fortress might have been Spain’s to-day. The opening of the contest +was signalised by the burning of a French privateer, followed by a furious cannonading: +the new and old moles were speedily silenced, and large numbers of marines landed. The +contest was quite unequal, and the besieged soon offered to capitulate with the honours +of war, the right of retaining their property, and six days’ provisions. The garrison +had three days allowed for its departure, and those, as well as the inhabitants of the +Rock, who chose, might remain, with full civil and religious rights. Thus, in three days’ +time the famous fortress fell into the hands of the allies, and possession was taken in the +name of Charles III. Sir George Rooke, however, over-rode this, and pulled down the +standard of Charles, setting up in its stead that of England. A garrison of 1,800 English +seamen was landed. The English were, alone of the parties then present, competent to +hold it; and at the Peace of Utrecht, 1711, it was formally ceded <q>absolutely, with all +manner of right for ever, without exemption or impediment,</q> to Great Britain. +</p> + +<p> +The Spaniards departed from the fortress they had valiantly defended, the majority +remaining at St. Roque. <q>Like some of the Moors whom they had dispossessed, their +descendants are said to preserve until this day the records and family documents which form +the bases of claims upon property on that Rock, which, for more than a century and a half, +has known other masters.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Rooke went absolutely unrewarded. He was persistently ignored by the Government +of the day, and being a man of moderate fortune, consulted his own dignity, and +retired to his country seat. The same year, 1704, the Spanish again attempted, with the +aid of France, to take Gibraltar. England had only three months to strengthen and repair +the fortifications, and the force brought against the Rock was by no means contemptible, +including as it did a fleet of two-and-twenty French men-of-war. Succour arrived; Sir +John Leake succeeded in driving four of the enemy’s ships ashore. An attempt to escalade +the fortress was made, under the guidance of a native goat-herd. He, with a company of +men, succeeded in reaching the signal station, where a hard fight occurred, and our troops +killed or disabled 160 men, and took the remnant prisoners. Two sallies were made from +the Rock with great effect, while an attempt made by the enemy to enter through a narrow +breach resulted in a sacrifice of 200 lives. A French fleet, under Pointé, arrived; the English +admiral captured three and destroyed one of them—that of Pointé himself. To make a +six months’ story short, the assailants lost 10,000 men, and then had to raise the siege. +Although on several occasions our rulers have since the Peace of Utrecht proposed to cede +or exchange the fortress, the spirit of the people would not permit it; and there can be +<pb n='95'/><anchor id='Pg095'/>no doubt whatever that our right to Gibraltar is not merely that of possession—nine points +of the law—but cession wrung from a people unable to hold it. And that, in war, is fair. +</p> + +<p> +Twenty years later Spain again attempted to wring it from us. Mr. Stanhope, then +our representative at Madrid, was told by Queen Isabella: <q>Either relinquish Gibraltar or +your trade with the Indies.</q> We still hold Gibraltar, and our trade with the Indies is +generally regarded as a tolerably good one. In December, 1726, peace or war was made +the alternative regarding the cession; another bombardment followed. An officer<note place="foot"><q>Journal of an Officer during the Siege.</q></note> present +said that it was so severe that <q>we seemed to live in flames.</q> Negotiations for peace +followed at no great distance of time, and the Spaniards suddenly drew off from the attack. +Various offers, never consummated, were made for an exchange. Pitt proposed to cede it +in exchange for Minorca, Spain to assist in recovering it from the French. At another time, +Oran, a third-class port on the Mediterranean shores of Africa, was offered in exchange; and +Mr. Fitzherbert, our diplomatist, was told that the King of Spain was <q>determined never +to put a period to the present war</q> if we did not agree to the terms; and again, that +Oran <q>ought to be accepted with gratitude.</q> The tone of Spain altered very considerably +a short time afterwards, when the news arrived of the destruction of the floating batteries, +and the failure of the grand attack.<note place="foot">See <hi rend='italic'>ante</hi>, <ref target="Pg016">page 16</ref>.</note> This was at the last—the great siege of history. +A few additional details may be permitted before we pass to other subjects. +</p> + +<p> +The actual siege occupied three years and seven months, and for one year and nine +months the bombardment went on without cessation. The actual losses on the part of the +enemy can hardly be estimated; 1,473 were killed, wounded, or missing on the floating +batteries alone. But for brave Curtis, who took a pinnace to the rescue of the poor +wretches on the batteries, then in flames, and the ammunition of which was exploding every +minute, more than 350 fresh victims must have gone to their last account. His boat was +engulfed amid the falling ruins; a large piece of timber fell through its flooring, killing +the coxswain and wounding others. The sailors stuffed their jackets into the leak, and +succeeded in saving the lives of 357 of their late enemies. For many days consecutively +they had been peppering us at the rate of 6,500 shots, and over 2,000 shells each twenty-four +hours. With the destruction of the floating batteries <q>the siege was virtually concluded. +The contest was at an end, and the united strength of two ambitious and powerful nations +had been humbled by a straitened garrison of 6,000 effective men.</q><note place="foot">Sayer’s <q>History of Gibraltar.</q></note> Our losses were +comparatively small, though thrice the troops were on the verge of famine. At the period +of the great siege the Rock mounted only 100 guns; now it has 1,000, many of them +of great calibre. In France, victory for the allies was regarded as such a foregone conclusion +that <q>a drama, illustrative of the destruction of Gibraltar by the floating batteries, +was acted nightly to applauding thousands!</q><note place="foot">Barrow’s <q>Life of Lord Howe.</q></note> The siege has, we believe, been a favourite +subject at the minor English theatres many a time since; but it need not be stated that +the views taken of the result were widely different to those popular at that time in Paris. +</p> + +<p> +Gibraltar has had an eventful history even since the great siege. In 1804 a terrible +epidemic swept the Rock; 5,733 out of a population of 15,000 died in a few weeks. The +climate is warm and pleasant, but it is not considered the most healthy of localities even +<pb n='96'/><anchor id='Pg096'/>now. And on the 28th of October, 1805, the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, in tow of the <name type="ship">Neptune</name>, entered the +bay, with the body of Nelson on board. The fatal shot had done its work; only eleven +days before he had written to General Fox one of his happy, pleasant letters. +</p> + +<p> +The Rock itself is a compact limestone, a form of grey dense marble varied by beds +of red sandstone. It abounds in caves and fissures, and advantage has been taken of +these facts to bore galleries, the most celebrated of which are St. Michael’s and Martin’s, +the former 1,100 feet above the sea. Tradition makes it a barren rock; but the botanists +tell us differently. There are 456 species of indigenous flowering plants, besides many +which have been introduced. The advantages of its natural position have been everywhere +utilised. It bristles with batteries, many of which can hardly be seen. Captain Sayer +tells us that every spot where a gun could be brought to bear on an enemy has one. +<q>Wandering,</q> says he, <q>through the geranium-edged paths on the hill-side, or +clambering up the rugged cliffs to the eastward, one stumbles unexpectedly upon a gun +of the heaviest metal lodged in a secluded nook, with its ammunition, round shot, canister, +and case piled around it, ready at any instant.... The shrubs and flowers that grow +on the cultivated places, and are preserved from injury with so much solicitude, are often +<pb n='97'/><anchor id='Pg097'/>but the masks of guns, which lie crouched beneath the leaves ready for the port-fire.</q> +Everywhere, all stands ready for defence. War and peace are strangely mingled. +</p> + +<p> +Gibraltar has one of the finest colonial libraries in the world, founded by the celebrated +Colonel Drinkwater, whose account of the great siege is still the standard authority. The +town possesses some advantages; but as 15,000 souls out of a population of about double +that number are crowded into one square mile, it is not altogether a healthy place—albeit +much improved of late years. Rents are exorbitant; but ordinary living and bad liquors are +cheap. It is by no means the best place in the world for <q>Jack ashore,</q> for, as Shakespeare +tells us, <q>sailors</q> are <q>but men,</q> and there be <q>land rats and water rats,</q> who live on +their weaknesses. The town has a very mongrel population, of all shades of colour and +character. Alas! the monkeys, who were the first inhabitants of the Rock—tailless Barbary +apes—are now becoming scarce. Many a poor Jocko has fallen from the enemy’s shot, killed +in battles which he, at least, never provoked. +</p> + +<p> +The scenery of the Straits, which we are now about to enter, is fresh and pleasant, +and as we commenced with an extract from one well-known poet, we may be allowed to +finish with that of another, which, if more hackneyed, is still expressive and beautiful. +Byron’s well-known lines will recur to many of our readers:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Through Calpe’s Straits survey the steepy shore;</q></l> +<l>Europe and Afric on each other gaze!</l> +<l>Lands of the dark-eyed maid and dusky Moor</l> +<l>Alike beheld beneath pale Hecate’s blaze;</l> +<l>How softly on the Spanish shore she plays,</l> +<l>Disclosing rock, and slope, and forest brown,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Distinct though darkening with her waning phase.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +In the distance gleams Mons Abyla—the Apes’ Hill of sailors—a term which could +have been, for a very long time, as appropriately given to Gibraltar. It is the other +sentinel of the Straits; while Ceuta, the strong fortress built on its flanks, is held by +Spain on Moorish soil, just as we hold the Rock of Rocks on theirs. Its name is probably +a corruption of <hi rend='italic'>Septem</hi>—Seven—from the number of hills on which it is built. It is to-day +a military prison, there usually being here two or three thousand convicts, while both +convicts and fortress are guarded by a strong garrison of 3,500 soldiers. These in their +turn were, only a few years ago, guarded by the jealous Moors, who shot both guards and +prisoners if they dared to emerge in the neighbourhood. There is, besides, a town, as at +Gibraltar, with over 15,000 inhabitants, and at the present day holiday excursions are +commonly made across the Straits in strong little steamers or other craft. The tide runs +into the Straits from the Atlantic at the rate of four or more knots per hour, and yet +all this water, with that of the innumerable streams and rivers which fall into the +Mediterranean, scarcely suffice to raise a perceptible tide! What becomes of all this +water? Is there a hole in the earth through which it runs off? Hardly: evaporation +is probably the true secret of its disappearance: and that this is the reason is proved by +the greater saltness of the Mediterranean as compared with the Atlantic. +</p> + +<p> +In sailor’s parlance, <q>going aloft</q> has a number of meanings. He climbs the slippery +shrouds to <q>go aloft;</q> and when at last, like poor Tom Bowling, he lies a <q>sheer hulk,</q> and— +</p> + +<pb n='98'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">His body’s under hatches,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">His soul has <q><hi rend='italic'>gone aloft</hi>.</q></q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q>Going-aloft</q> in the Mediterranean has a very different meaning: it signifies passing +upwards and eastwards from the Straits of Gibraltar.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> <q>Malta Sixty Years Ago,</q> by Admiral Shaw.</note> We are now going aloft to Malta, +a British possession hardly second to that of the famed Rock itself. +</p><anchor id="figmalta"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MALTA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_124.jpg" rend="w80"><head>MALTA.</head><figDesc>MALTA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="VII. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VII. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/><anchor id="chap07"/> +<head>CHAPTER VII.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend="small">MALTA AND THE SUEZ CANAL.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Calypso’s Isle—A Convict Paradise—Malta, the <q>Flower of the World</q>—The Knights of St. John—Rise of the Order—The +Crescent and the Cross—The Siege of Rhodes—L’Isle Adam in London—The Great Siege of Malta—Horrible +Episodes—Malta in French and English Hands—St. Paul’s Cave—The Catacombs—Modern Incidents—The Shipwreck +of St. Paul—Gales in the Mediterranean—Experiences of Nelson and Collingwood—Squalls in the Bay of San +Francisco—A Man Overboard—Special Winds of the Mediterranean—The Suez Canal and M. de Lesseps—His +Diplomatic Career—Saïd Pacha as a Boy—As a Viceroy—The Plan Settled—Financial Troubles—Construction of the +Canal—The Inauguration Fête—Suez—Passage of the Children of Israel through the Red Sea. +</p></argument> + +<p> +Approaching Malta, we must <q>not in silence pass Calypso’s Isle.</q> Warburton describes +it, in his delightful work on the East<note place="foot"><q>The Crescent and the Cross.</q></note>—a classic on the Mediterranean—as a little +paradise, with all the beauties of a continent in miniature; little mountains with craggy +summits, little valleys with cascades and rivers, lawny meadows and dark woods, trim +gardens and tangled vineyards—all within a circuit of five or six miles. +</p> + +<p> +One or two uninhabited little islands, <q>that seem to have strayed from the continent +and lost their way,</q> dot the sea between the pleasant penal settlement and Gozo, which +is also a claimant for the doubtful honour of Calypso’s Isle. Narrow straits separate it +from the rock, the <q>inhabited quarry,</q> called Malta, of which Valetta is the port. The +capital is a cross between a Spanish and an Eastern town; most of its streets are flights +of steps. +</p> + +<p> +Although the climate is delightful, it is extremely warm, and there is usually a +glare of heat about the place, owing to its rocky nature and limited amount of tree-shade. +<q>All Malta,</q> writes Tallack,<note place="foot"><q>Malta under the Phœnicians, Knights, and English,</q> by W. Tallack.</note> <q>seems to be light yellow—light yellow rocks, light yellow +fortifications, light yellow stone walls, light yellow flat-topped houses, light yellow palaces, +light yellow roads and streets.</q> Stones and stone walls are the chief and conspicuous objects +in a Maltese landscape; and for good reason, for the very limited soil is propped up and +kept in bounds by them on the hills. With the scanty depth of earth the vegetation +between the said stone walls is wonderful. The green bushy carob and prickly cactus are +<pb n='99'/><anchor id='Pg099'/>to be seen; but in the immediate neighbourhood of Malta few trees, only an occasional +and solitary palm. Over all, the bright blue sky; around, the deep blue sea. You must +not say anything to a Maltese against it; with him it is <q>Flor del Mondo</q>—the <q>Flower +of the World.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The poorest natives live in capital stone houses, many of them with façades and fronts +which would be considered ornamental in an English town. The terraced roofs make up to +its cooped inhabitants the space lost by building. There are five or six hundred promenadable +roofs in the city. Tallack says that the island generally is the abode of industry and contentment. +Expenses are high, except as regards the purchase of fruits, including the famed +<q>blood,</q> <q>Mandolin</q> (sometimes called quite as correctly <q>Mandarin</q>) oranges, and Japan +medlars, and Marsala wine from Sicily. The natives live simply, as a rule, but the +officers and foreign residents commonly do not; and it is true here, as Ford says of the +military gentlemen at Gibraltar, that their faces often look somewhat redder than their +jackets in consequence. As in India, many unwisely adopt the high living of their class, +in a climate where a cool and temperate diet is indispensable. +</p> + +<p> +The four great characteristics of Malta are soldiers, priests, goats, and bells—the latter +not being confined to the necks of the goats, but jangling at all hours from the many church +towers. The goats pervade everywhere; there is scarcely any cow’s milk to be obtained in +Malta. They may often be seen with sheep, as in the patriarchal days of yore, following their +owners, in accordance with the pastoral allusions of the Bible. +</p> + +<p> +What nature commenced in Valetta, art has finished. It has a land-locked harbour—really +several, running into each other—surrounded by high fortified walls, above which rise +houses, and other fortifications above them. There are galleries in the rock following the +Gibraltar precedent, and batteries bristling with guns; barracks, magazines, large docks, +foundry, lathe-rooms, and a bakery for the use of the <q>United</q> Service. +</p> + +<p> +To every visitor the gorgeous church of San Giovanni, with its vaulted roof of gilded +arabesque, its crimson hangings, and carved pulpits, is a great object of interest. Its floor +resembles one grand escutcheon—a mosaic of knightly tombs, recalling days when Malta was +a harbour of saintly refuge and princely hospitality for crusaders and pilgrims of the cross. +An inner chapel is guarded by massive silver rails, saved from the French by the cunning +of a priest, who, on their approach, painted them wood-colour, and their real nature was +never suspected. But amid all the splendour of the venerable pile, its proudest possession +to-day is a bunch of old rusty keys—the keys of Rhodes, the keys of the Knights of St. John. +What history is not locked up with those keys! There is hardly a country in Europe, +Asia, or Northern Africa, the history of which has not been more or less entangled with +that of these Knights of the Cross, who, driven by the conquering Crescent from Jerusalem, +took refuge successively in Cyprus, Rhodes, Candia, Messina, and finally, Malta. +</p> + +<p> +The island had an important place in history and commerce long ere that period. The +Phœnicians held it 700 years; the Greeks a century and a half. The Romans retained +it for as long a period as the Phœnicians; and after being ravaged by Goths and Vandals, +it was for three and a half centuries an appanage of the crown of Byzantium. Next came +the Arabs, who were succeeded by the Normans, and soon after it had become a German +possession, Charles V. presented it to the homeless knights. +</p> + +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> + +<p> +In the middle of the eleventh century, some merchants of the then flourishing +commercial city of Amalfi obtained permission to erect three hostelries or hospitals in +the Holy City, for the relief of poor and invalided pilgrims. On the taking of Jerusalem +by the Crusaders, the position and prospects of the hospitals of St. John became greatly +improved. The organisation became a recognised religious order, vowing poverty, obedience, +and chastity. <anchor id="corr101"/><corr sic="It">Its</corr> members were distinguished by a white cross of four double points worn +on a black robe, of the form commonly to be met in the Maltese filigree jewellery of to-day, +often to be noted in our West End and other shops. Branch hospitals spread all over Europe +with the same admirable objects, and the order received constant acquisitions of property. +Under the guidance of Raymond du Puy, military service was added to the other vows, +and the monks became the White Cross Knights.<note place="foot">In contradistinction to the Red Cross Knights, or Templars, who, though Crusaders, formed a purely +military order.</note> Henceforth each seat of the order +became a military garrison in addition to a hospice, and each knight held himself in +readiness to aid with his arms his distressed brethren against the infidel. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly but surely the Crescent overshadowed the Cross: the Holy City had to be +evacuated. The pious knights, after wandering first to Cyprus, settled quietly in Rhodes, +where for two centuries they maintained a sturdy resistance against the Turks. At the +first siege, in 1480, a handful of the former resisted 70,000 of the latter. The bombardment +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/>was so terrific that it is stated to have been heard a hundred miles off, and for this extraordinary +defence, Peter d’Aubusson, Grand Master, was made a cardinal by the Pope. +At the second siege, L’Isle Adam, with 600 Knights of St. John, and 4,500 troops, +resisted and long repelled a force of 200,000 infidels. But the odds were too great against +him, and after a brave but hopeless defence, which won admiration even from the enemy, +L’Isle Adam capitulated. After personal visits to the Pope, and to the Courts of Madrid, +Paris, and London, the then almost valueless Rock of Malta was bestowed on the knights +in 1530. Its noble harbours, and deep and sheltered inlets were then as now, but there +was only one little town, called Burgo—Valetta as yet was not. +</p><anchor id="figdefeofma"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE DEFENCE OF MALTA BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN AGAINST THE TURKS IN 1565.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_128.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE DEFENCE OF MALTA BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN AGAINST THE TURKS IN 1565.</head> + <figDesc>THE DEFENCE OF MALTA BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN AGAINST THE TURKS IN 1565</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +In London, L’Isle Adam lodged at the provincial hostelry of the order, St. John’s +Clerkenwell, still a house of entertainment, though of a very different kind. Henry VIII. +received him with apparent cordiality, and shortly afterwards confiscated all the English +possessions of the knights! This was but a trifle among their troubles, for in 1565 they +were again besieged in Malta. Their military knowledge, and especially that of their +leader, the great La Valette, had enabled them to already strongly fortify the place. La +Valette had 500 knights and 9,000 soldiers, while the Turks had 30,000 fighting men, +conveyed thither in 200 galleys, and were afterwards reinforced by the Algerine corsair, +Drugot, and his men. A desperate resistance was made: 2,000 Turks were killed in a +single day. The latter took the fortress of St. Elmo, with the loss of Drugot—just before +the terror of the Mediterranean—who was killed by a splinter of rock, knocked off by a +cannon-ball in its flight. The garrison was at length reduced to sixty men, who attended +their devotions in the chapel for the last time. Many of these were fearfully wounded, +but even then the old spirit asserted itself, and they desired to be carried to the ramparts +in chairs to lay down their lives in obedience to the vows of their order. Next day few of +that devoted sixty were alive, a very small number escaping by swimming. The attempts +on the other forts, St. Michael and St. Angelo, were foiled. Into the Eastern Harbour +(now the Grand), Mustapha ordered the dead bodies of the Christian knights and soldiers to +be cast. They were spread out on boards in the form of a cross, and floated by the tide +across to the besieged with La Valette, where they were sorrowfully taken up and interred. +In exasperated retaliation, La Valette fired the heads of the Turkish slain back at their +former companions—a horrible episode of a fearful struggle. St. Elmo alone cost the lives +of 8,000 Turks, 150 Knights of St. John, and 1,300 of their men. After many false +promises of assistance, and months of terrible suspense and suffering, an auxiliary force +arrived from Sicily, and the Turks retired. Out of the 9,500 soldiers and knights who +were originally with La Valette, only 500 were alive at the termination of the great +siege. +</p> + +<p> +This memorable defence was the last of the special exploits of the White Cross +Knights, and they rested on their laurels, the order becoming wealthy, luxurious, and not +a little demoralised. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, the confiscation of +their property in France naturally followed; for they had been helping Louis XVI. with +their revenues just previously. Nine years later, Napoleon managed, by skilful intrigues, +to obtain quiet possession of Malta. But he could not keep it, for after two years of +blockade it was won by Great Britain, and she has held it ever since. At the Congress of +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/>Vienna in 1814, our possession was formally ratified. We hold it on as good a title as +we do Gibraltar, by rights acknowledged at the signing of the Peace Treaty.<note place="foot">The Order of the Knights of St. John exists now as a religious and benevolent body—a shadow of its +former self. There was a period when the revenues of the Order were over £3,000,000 sterling. It still exists, +however, the head-quarters being at Ferrara in Italy. Recent organisations, countenanced and supported by +distinguished noblemen and gentlemen for the relief of sufferers by war, and convalescents in hospital in many parts +of England, are in some sense under its banner; H.R.H. the Prince of Wales is President of one of them—the +National Society for the Sick and Wounded in War. It had been recommended by one writer, that +gentlemen of the present day should become members, and wear at evening entertainments a special dress and +decoration, and that there should also be <hi rend='italic'>dames chevalières</hi>, with decorations also. He believes, of course, +that this would greatly aid the funds for those benevolent purposes.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The supposed scene of St. Paul’s shipwreck is constantly visited, and although some +have doubted whether the Melita of St. Luke is not the island of the same name in the +Adriatic, tradition and probability point to Malta.<note place="foot">For an elaborate, exhaustive disquisition on this subject, <hi rend='italic'>vide</hi> <q>The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul,</q> +by James Smith.</note> At St. Paul’s Bay, there is a small +chapel over the cave, with a statue of the apostle in marble, with the viper in his hand. +Colonel Shaw tells us that the priest who shows the cave recommended him to take a +piece of the stone as a specific against shipwreck, saying, <q>Take away as much as you +please, you will not diminish the cave.</q> Some of the priests aver that there is a miraculous +renovation, and that it cannot diminish! and when they tell you that under one of the +Maltese churches the great apostle did <hi rend='italic'>penance</hi> in a cell for three months, it looks still +more as though they are drawing on their imagination. +</p><anchor id="figcataatci"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CATACOMBS AT CITTA VECCHIA, MALTA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_129.png" rend="w80"><head>CATACOMBS AT CITTA VECCHIA, MALTA.</head> + <figDesc>CATACOMBS AT CITTA VECCHIA, MALTA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The great catacombs at Citta Vecchia, Malta, were constructed by the natives as +places of refuge from the Turks. They consist of whole streets, with houses and sleeping-places. +They were later used for tombs. There are other remains on the island of much +greater antiquity, <hi rend='italic'>Hagiar Chem</hi> (the stones of veneration) date from Phœnician days. +These include a temple resembling Stonehenge, on a smaller scale, where there are seven +statuettes with a grotesque rotundity of outline, the seven Phœnician <hi rend='italic'>Cabiri</hi> (deities; +<q>great and powerful ones</q>). There are also seven divisions to the temple, which is +mentioned by Herodotus and other ancient writers. +</p> + +<p> +To come back to our own time. In 1808, the following remarkable event occurred +at Malta. One Froberg had raised a levy of Greeks for the British Government, +by telling the individual members that they should all be corporals, generals, or what +not. It was to be all officers, like some other regiments of which we have heard. +The men soon found out the deceit, but drilled admirably until the brutality of +the adjutant caused them to mutiny. Malta was at the time thinly garrisoned, and +their particular fort had only one small detachment of troops and thirty artillerymen. The +mutineers made the officer of artillery point his guns on the town. He, however, managed +that the shots should fall harmlessly. Another officer escaped up a chimney, and the Greeks +coming into the same house, nearly suffocated him by lighting a large fire below. Troops +arrived; the mutineers were secured, and a court-martial condemned thirty, half of whom +were to be hanged, and the rest shot. Only five could be hanged at a time: the first +five were therefore suspended by the five who came next, and so on. Of the men who +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/>were to be shot one ran away, and got over a parapet, where he was afterwards shot: +another is thought to have escaped. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Shaw tells the story of a soldier of the Sicilian regiment who had frequently +deserted. He was condemned to be shot. A priest who visited him in prison left behind +him—purposely, there can be little doubt—his iron crucifix. The soldier used it to scrape +away the mortar, and moved stone after stone, until he got into an adjoining cell, where +he found himself no better off, as it was locked. The same process was repeated, until +he at last reached a cell of which the door was open, entered the passage and climbed a +wall, beneath which a sentry was posted. Fortunately for the prisoner, a regular Maltese +shower was pouring down, and the guard remained in his box. The fugitive next reached +a high gate, where it seemed he must be foiled. Not at all! He went back, got his +blanket, cut it into strips, made a rope, and by its means climbed the gate, dropped into +a fosse, from which he reached and swam across the harbour. He lived concealed for some +time among the natives, but venturing one day into the town, was recognised and captured. +The governor considered that after all this he deserved his life, and changed his sentence to +transportation. +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving Malta, which, with its docks, navy-yard, and splendid harbours, +fortifications, batteries, and magazines, is such an important naval and military station, +we may briefly mention the revenue derived, and expenditure incurred by the Government +in connection with it, as both are considerable. The revenue derived from imposts +of the usual nature, harbour dues, &c., is about £175,000. The military expenditure is +about £366,000, which includes the expenses connected with the detachments of artillery, +and the Royal Maltese Fencibles, a native regiment of 600 to 700 men. The expenses +of the Royal Navy would, of course, be incurred somewhere, if not in Malta, and have +therefore nothing to do with the matter. +</p> + +<p> +Our next points of destination are Alexandria and Suez, both intimately identified +with British interests. On our way we shall be passing through or near the same waters +as did St. Paul when in the custody of the centurion Julius, <q>one of Augustus’ band.</q> +It was in <q>a ship of Alexandria</q> that he was a passenger on that disastrous voyage. +At Fair Havens, Crete (or Candia), we know that the Apostle admonished them to stay, +for <q>sailing was now dangerous,</q> but his advice was disregarded, and <q>when the south +wind blew softly</q> the master and owner of the vessel feared nothing, but +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The flattering wind that late with promis’d aid,</q></l> +<l>From Candia’s Bay th’ unwilling ship betray’d,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">No longer fawns beneath the fair disguise,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +and <q>not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon,</q> before +which the ship drave under bare poles. We know that she had to be undergirded; cables +being passed under her hull to keep her from parting; and lightened, by throwing the +freight overboard. For fourteen days the ship was driven hither and thither, till at +length she was wrecked off Melita. Sudden gales, whirlwinds, and typhoons are not +uncommon in the Mediterranean; albeit soft winds and calm seas alternate with them. +</p> + +<p> +On the 22nd May, 1798, Nelson, while in the Gulf of Genoa, was assailed by a +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/>sudden storm, which carried away all the <name type="ship">Vanguard’s</name> topmasts, washed one man overboard, +killed an unfortunate middy and a seaman on board, and wounded others. This +ship, which acted her name at the Nile only two months afterwards, rolled and laboured +so dreadfully, and was in such distress, that Nelson himself declared, <q>The meanest frigate +out of France would have been an unwelcome guest!</q> An officer relates that in the +middle of the Gulf of Lyons, Lord Collingwood’s vessel, the <name type="ship">Ocean</name>, a roomy 98-gun +ship, was struck by a sea in the middle of a gale, that threw her on her beam-ends, +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/>so much so that the men on the <name type="ship">Royal Sovereign</name> called out, <q>The admiral’s gone down!</q> +She righted again, however, but was terribly disabled. Lord Collingwood said afterwards +that the heavy guns were suspended almost <hi rend='italic'>vertically</hi>, and that <q>he thought the topsides +were actually parting from the lower frame of the ship.</q> Admiral Smyth, in his +important physical, hydrographical, and nautical work on the Mediterranean, relates that in +1812, when on the <name type="ship">Rodney</name>, a new 74-gun ship, she was so torn by the united violence +of wind and wave, that the admiral had to send her to England, although sadly in need +of ships. He adds, however, that noble as was her appearance on the waters, <q>she was +one of that hastily-built batch of men-of-war sarcastically termed the <hi rend='italic'>Forty Thieves</hi>!</q> +</p> + +<p> +Many are the varieties of winds accompanied by special characteristics met in the +Mediterranean, and, indeed, sudden squalls are common enough in all usually calm waters. +The writer well remembers such an incident in the beautiful Bay of San Francisco, +California. He had, with friends, started in the morning from the gay city of <q>Frisco</q> +on a deep-sea fishing excursion. The vessel was what is technically known as a <q>plunger,</q> +a strongly-built two-masted boat, with deck and cabins, used in the bay and coast trade +of the North Pacific, or for fishing purposes. When the party, consisting of five ladies, four +gentlemen, the master and two men, started in the morning, there was scarcely a breath +of wind or a ripple on the water, and oars as large as those used on a barge were employed +to propel the vessel. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>The sea was bright, and the bark rode well,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +and at length the desired haven, a sheltered nook, with fine cliffs, seaweed-covered rocks, +and deep, clear water, was reached, and a dozen strong lines, with heavy sinkers, put out. +The sea was bountiful: in a couple of hours enough fish were caught to furnish a +capital lunch for all. A camp was formed on the beach, a large fire of driftwood +lighted, and sundry hampers unpacked, from which the necks of bottles had protruded +suspiciously. It was an <hi rend='italic'>al fresco</hi> picnic by the seaside. The sky was blue, the weather +was delightful, <q>and all went merry as a marriage bell.</q> Later, while some wandered to +a distance and bathed and swam, others clambered over the hills, among the flowers +and waving wild oats for which the country is celebrated. Then, as evening drew on, +preparations were made for a return to the city, and <q>All aboard</q> was the signal, for the +wind was freshening. All remained on deck, for there was an abundance of overcoats and +rugs, and shortly the passing schooners and yachts could hear the strains of minstrelsy from +a not altogether incompetent choir, several of the ladies on board being musically inclined. +The sea gives rise to thoughts of the sea. The reader may be sure that <q>The Bay of +Biscay,</q> <q>The Larboard Watch,</q> <q>The Minute Gun,</q> and <q>What are the Wild Waves +saying?</q> came among a score of others. Meantime, the wind kept freshening, but all of +the number being well accustomed to the sea, heeded it not. Suddenly, in the midst of +one of the gayest songs, a squall struck the vessel, and as she was carrying all sail, put +her nearly on her beam-ends. So violent was the shock, that most things movable on +deck, including the passengers, were thrown or slid to the lower side, many boxes and +baskets going overboard. These would have been trifles, but alas, there is something +sadder to relate. As one of the men was helping to take in sail, a great sea dashed over +the vessel and threw him overboard, and for a few seconds only, his stalwart form was +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/>seen struggling in the waves. Ropes were thrown to, or rather towards him, an empty +barrel and a coop pitched overboard, but it was hopeless— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">That cry is <q>Help!</q> where no help can come,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">For the White Squall rides on the surging wave,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +and he disappeared in an <q>ocean grave,</q> amid the mingled foam and driving spray. No more +songs then; all gaiety was quenched, and many a tear-drop clouded eyes so bright before. +The vessel, under one small sail only (the jib), drove on, and in half an hour broke +out of obscurity and mist, and was off the wharfs and lights of San Francisco in calm +water. The same distance had occupied over four hours in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +In the Mediterranean every wind has its special name. There is the searching north +wind, the <hi rend='italic'>Grippe</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>Mistral</hi>, said to be one of the scourges of gay Provence— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">La Cour de Parlement, le Mistral et la Durance,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Sont les trois fléaux de la Provence.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The north blast, a sudden wind, is called <hi rend='italic'>Boras</hi>, and hundreds of sailors have practically +prayed, with the song, +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>Cease, rude Boreas.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The north-east biting wind is the <hi rend='italic'>Gregale</hi>, while the south-east, often a violent wind, is +the dreaded <hi rend='italic'>Sirocco</hi>, bad either on sea or shore. The last which need be mentioned here, +is the stifling south-west wind, the <hi rend='italic'>Siffante</hi>. But now we have reached the Suez Canal. +</p><anchor id="figm___less"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: M. LESSEPS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_133.png" rend="w80"><head>M. LESSEPS.</head> + <figDesc>M. LESSEPS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +This gigantic work, so successfully completed by M. Lesseps, for ever solved the <hi rend='italic'>possibility</hi> +of a work which up to that time had been so emphatically declared to be an impossibility. +In effect, he <hi rend='italic'>is</hi> a conqueror. <q><hi rend='italic'>Impossible</hi>,</q> said the first Napoleon, <q><hi rend='italic'>n’est pas Français</hi>,</q> +and the motto is a good one for any man or any nation, although the author of the +sentence found many things impossible, including that of which we speak. M. de +Lesseps has done more for peace than ever the Disturber of Europe did with war. +</p> + +<p> +When M. de Lesseps<note place="foot">The Suez Canal, and all appertaining thereto, is well described in the following works:—<q>The Suez Canal,</q> +by F. M. de Lesseps; <q>The History of the Suez Canal,</q> by F. M. de Lesseps, translated by Sir H. D. Wolff; +<q>My Trip to the Suez Canal,</q> &c.</note> commenced with, not the Canal, but the grand conception thereof, +he had pursued twenty-nine years of first-class diplomatic service: it would have been an +honourable career for most people. He gave it up from punctilios of honour; lost, at least +possibly, the opportunity of great political power. He was required to endorse that which +he could not possibly endorse. Lesseps had lost his chance, said many. Let us see. The +man who has conquered the usually unconquerable English prejudice would certainly +surmount most troubles! He has <hi rend='italic'>only</hi> carried out the ideas of Sesostris, Alexander, Cæsar, +Amrou, the Arabian conqueror, Napoleon the Great, and Mehemet Ali. These are +simply matters of history. But history, in this case, has only repeated itself in the +failures, not in the successes. Lesseps has made the success; <hi rend='italic'>they</hi> were the failures! Let +us review history, amid which you may possibly find many truths. The truth alone, as +far as it may be reached, appears in this work. The Peace Society ought to endorse +Lesseps. As it stands, the Peace party—well-intentioned people—ought to raise a statue +to the man who has made it almost impossible for England to be involved in war, +so far as the great East is concerned, for many a century to come.</p> + + <pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> + <p>After all, who is the conqueror—he who kills, or he who saves, thousands? +</p> + +<p> +To prove our points, it will not be necessary to recite the full history of the grandest +engineering work of this century—a century replete with proud engineering works. Here +it can only be given in the barest outline. +</p> + +<p> +Every intelligent child on looking at the map would ask why the natural route to +India was not by the Isthmus of Suez, and why a canal was not made. His schoolmaster +answered, in days gone by, that there was a difference in the levels of the Mediterranean +and the Red Sea. That question has been answered successfully, and the difference has +not ruined the Canal. Others said that it was impossible to dig a canal through the +desert. It has been done! Lord Palmerston, the most serious opponent in England that +Lesseps had,<note place="foot">M. de Lesseps acknowledges frankly that the English people were always with him, and cites example +after example—as in the case of the then Mayor of Liverpool, who would not allow him to pay the ordinary +expenses of a meeting. He says: <q>While finding sympathy in the commercial and lettered classes, I found +heads of wood among the politicians.</q> There were, however, many who supported him in all his ideas, +prominently among whom the present writer must place Richard Cobden.</note> thought that France, our best ally to-day, would have too much influence +in Egypt. Events, thanks to Lord Beaconsfield’s astute policy, by purchasing the Khedive’s +interest, have given England the largest share among the shareholders of all nations. +</p> + +<p> +It would not be interesting to follow all the troubles that Lesseps successfully +combated. The idea had more than once occurred to him, when in 1852 he applied to +Constantinople. The answer was that it in no way concerned the Porte. Lesseps returned +to his farm at Berry, and not unlikely constructed miniature Suez Canals for irrigation, +thought of camels while he improved the breed of cattle, and built houses, but not on the sand +of the desert. Indeed, it was while on the roof of one of his houses, then in course of +construction, that the news came to him of the then Pacha of Egypt’s death (Mehemet +Ali). They had once been on familiar terms. Mehemet Ali was a terribly severe man, +and seeing that his son Saïd Pacha, a son he loved, was growing fat, he had sent him +to climb the masts of ships for two hours a day, to row, and walk round the walls of the +city. Poor little fat boy! he used to steal round to Lesseps’ rooms, and surreptitiously +obtain meals from the servants. Those surreptitious dinners did not greatly hurt the +interests of the Canal, as we shall see. +</p> + +<p> +Mehemet Ali had been a moderate tyrant—to speak advisedly. His son-in-law, +Defderdar, known popularly as the <q>Scourge of God,</q> was his acting vicegerent. The +brute once had his groom shod like a horse for having badly shod his charger. A woman +of the country one day came before him, complaining of a soldier who had bought milk +of her, and had refused to pay for it. <q>Art thou sure of it?</q> asked the tyrant. <q>Take +care! they shall tear open thy stomach if no milk is found in that of the soldier.</q> They +opened the stomach of the soldier. Milk was found in it. The poor woman was saved. +But, although his successor was not everything that could be wished, he had a good +heart, and was not <q>the terrible Turk.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In 1854, Lesseps met Saïd Pacha in his tent on a plain between Alexandria and Lake +Mareotis, a swamp in the desert. His Highness was in good humour, and understood +Lesseps perfectly. A fine Arabian horse had been presented to him by Saïd Pacha a few +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/>days previously. After examining the plans and investigating the subject, the ruler of +Egypt said, <q>I accept your plan. We will talk about the means of its execution during +the rest of the journey. Consider the matter settled. You may rely on me.</q> He sent +immediately for his generals, and made them sit down, repeating the previous conversation, +and inviting them to give their opinion of the proposals of his <hi rend='italic'>friend</hi>. The +impromptu counsellors were better able to pronounce on equestrian evolutions than on a +vast enterprise. But Lesseps, a good horseman, had just before cleared a wall with his +charger, and they, seeing how he stood with the Viceroy, gave their assent by raising +their hands to their foreheads. The dinner-tray then appeared, and with one accord all +plunged their spoons into the same bowl, which contained some first-class soup. Lesseps +considered it, very naturally, as the most important negotiation he had ever made. +</p><anchor id="figbirdofsu"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF SUEZ CANAL.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_137.jpg" rend="w100"><head>BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF SUEZ CANAL.</head> + <figDesc>BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF SUEZ CANAL</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Results speak for themselves. In 1854, there <hi rend='italic'>was not a fly in that hideous desert</hi>. +Water, sheep, fowls, and provisions of all kinds had to be carried by the explorers. When +at night they opened the coops of fowls, and let the sheep run loose, they did it with +confidence. They were sure that next morning, in that desolate place, the animals dare not +desert the party. <q>When,</q> says Lesseps, <q>we struck our camp of a morning, if at the +moment of departure a hen had lurked behind, pecking at the foot of a tamarisk shrub, +quickly she would jump up on the back of a camel, to regain her cage.</q> That desert is +now peopled. There are three important towns. Port Saïd had not existed before: there +is now what would be called a <q>city,</q> in America, on a much smaller basis of truth: it +has 12,000 people. Suez, with 15,000 people, was not much more than a village previously. +Ismaïlia, half-way on the route, has 5,000 or 6,000 of population. There are other towns +or villages. +</p> + +<p> +A canal actually effecting a junction between the two seas <hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> the Nile was made in +the period of the Egyptian dynasties. It doubtless fulfilled its purpose for the passage +of galleys and smaller vessels; history hardly tells us when it was rendered useless. +Napoleon the First knew the importance of the undertaking, and appointed a commission +of engineers to report on it. M. Lepère presented him a report on its feasibility, and +Napoleon observed on it, <q>It is a grand work; and though I cannot execute it now, the +day may come when the Turkish Government will glory in accomplishing it.</q> Other +schemes, including those of eminent Turkish engineers, had been proposed. It remained +to be accomplished in this century. The advantages gained by its construction can hardly +be enumerated here. Suffice it to say that a vessel going by the Cape of Good Hope +from London to Bombay travels nearly 6,000 miles over the ocean; by the Suez Canal +the distance is 3,100, barely more than half the distance. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the history of the financial troubles which obstructed the scheme would be +tedious to the reader. At last there was an International Commission appointed, which +cost the Viceroy of Egypt £12,000, and yet no single member took a farthing for his +services. The names are sufficient to prove with what care it had been selected. On the +part of England, Messrs. Rendel and MacClean, both eminent engineers, with, for a +sufficiently good reason, Commander Hewet of the East India Company’s service, who +for twenty-seven years had been making surveys in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. +France gave two of her greatest engineers, Messrs. Renaud and Liessou: Austria, one +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/>of <hi rend='italic'>the</hi> greatest practical engineers in +the world, M. de Negrelli; Italy, +M. Paléocapa; Germany, the distinguished +Privy Councillor Lentzé; +Holland, the Chevalier Conrad; Spain, +M. de Montesino. They reported +entirely in favour of the route. A +second International Congress followed. +The Viceroy behaved so magnificently +to the scientific gentlemen of all nations +who composed the commission, that +M. de Lesseps thanked him publicly +for having received them almost as +crowned heads. The Viceroy answered +gracefully, <q>Are they not the crowned +heads of science?</q> +</p><anchor id="figmap_ofsu"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MAP OF THE SUEZ CANAL.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_139.png" rend="w100"><head>MAP OF THE SUEZ CANAL.</head> + <figDesc>MAP OF THE SUEZ CANAL</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +At last the financial and political +difficulties were overcome. In 1858, +an office was opened in Paris, into +which money flowed freely. Lesseps +tells good-naturedly some little episodes +which occurred. An old bald-headed +priest entered, doubtless a man who had +been formerly a soldier. <q>Oh! those +English,</q> said he, <q>I am glad to be +able to be revenged on them by taking +shares in the Suez Canal.</q> Another +said, <q>I wish to subscribe for <q>Le +Chemin de Fer de l’Ile de Suède</q></q> +(The Island of Sweden Railway!) It +was remarked to him that the scheme +did not include a railway, and that +Sweden is not an island. <q>That’s all +the same to me,</q> he replied, <q>provided +it be against the English, I subscribe.</q> +Lord Palmerston, whose shade must +feel uneasy in the neighbourhood of +the Canal, could not have been more +prejudiced. At Grenoble, a whole +regiment of engineers—naturally men +of intelligence and technical knowledge, +clubbed together for shares. +The matter was not settled by even +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/>the free inflow of money. The Viceroy had been so much annoyed by the opposition +shown to the scheme, that it took a good deal of tact on the part of its promoter to +make things run smoothly. For the first four years, Lesseps, in making the necessary +international and financial arrangements, travelled 30,000 miles per annum. +</p> + +<p> +At length the scheme emerged from fog to fact. The Viceroy had promised 20,000 +Egyptian labourers, but in 1861 he begged to be let out of his engagement. He had to +pay handsomely for the privilege. Although the men were paid higher than they had ever +been before, their labour was cheap: it cost double or treble the amount to employ foreigners. +</p> + +<p> +The Canal, in its course of a shade over 100 miles, passes through several salt +marshes, <q>Les Petits Bassins des Lacs Amers,</q> in one of which a deposit of salt was +found, seven miles long by five miles wide. It also passes through an extensive piece of +water, Lake Menzaleh. +</p> + +<p> +At Lake Menzaleh the banks are very slightly above the level of the Canal, and +from the deck of a big steamer there is an unbounded view over a wide expanse of lake +and morass studded with islets, and at times gay and brilliant with innumerable flocks +of rosy pelicans, scarlet flamingoes, and snow-white spoonbills, geese, ducks, and other birds. +The pelicans may be caught bodily from a boat, so clumsy are they in the water, without the +expenditure of powder and shot. Indeed, the sportsman might do worse than visit the Canal, +where, it is almost needless to state, the shooting is open to all. A traveller, who has recently +passed through the Canal <hi rend='italic'>en route</hi> to India, writes that there are alligators also to be seen. +The whole of the channel through Lake Menzaleh was almost entirely excavated with dredges. +When it was necessary to remove some surface soil before there was water enough for the +dredges to float, it was done by the natives of Lake Menzaleh, a hardy and peculiar race, +quite at home in digging canals or building embankments. The following account shows +their mode of proceeding:—<q>They place themselves in files across the channel. The men in +the middle of the file have their feet and the lower part of their legs in the water. These +men lean forward and take in their arms large clods of earth, which they have previously +dug up below the water with a species of pickaxe called a fass, somewhat resembling a +short, big hoe. The clods are passed from man to man to the bank, where other men +stand with their backs turned, and their arms crossed behind them, so as to make a sort +of primitive hod. As soon as each of these has had enough clods piled on his back, he +walks off, bent almost double, to the further side of the bank, and there opening his arms, +lets his load fall through to the ground. It is unnecessary to add that this original <hi rend='italic'>métier</hi> +requires the absence of all clothing.</q><note place="foot">O. Ritt, <q>Histoire de l’Isthme de Suez.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +Into the channel thus dug the dredges were floated. One of the machines employed +deserves special mention. The <hi rend='italic'>long couloir</hi> (duct) was an iron spout 230 feet long, five +and a half wide, and two deep, by means of which a dredger working in the centre +of the channel could discharge its contents beyond the bank, assisted by the water which +was pumped into it. The work done by these long-spouted dredges has amounted to as +much as 120,000 cubic yards a-piece of soil in a month. By all kinds of ingenious +appliances invented for the special needs of the occasion, as much as 2,763,000 cubic yards of +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/>excavation were accomplished in a month. M. de Lesseps tells us that <q>were it placed +in the Place Vendôme, it would fill the whole square, and rise five times higher than the +surrounding houses.</q> It would cover the entire length and breadth of the Champs +Elysées, and reach to the top of the trees on either side. +</p><anchor id="figsuezcadr"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE SUEZ CANAL: DREDGES AT WORK.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_143.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE SUEZ CANAL: DREDGES AT WORK.</head> + <figDesc>THE SUEZ CANAL: DREDGES AT WORK</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Port Saïd, which owes its very existence to the Canal, is to-day a port of considerable +importance, where some of the finest steamships in the world stop. All the through +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/>steamers between Europe and the East—our own grand <q>P. & O.</q> (Peninsular and +Oriental) line, the splendid French <q>Messageries,</q> the Austrian Lloyd’s, and dozens of +excellent lines, all make a stay here of eight or ten hours. This is long enough for most +travellers, as, sooth to say, the very land on which it is built had to be <q>made,</q> in other +words, it was a tract of swampy desert. It has respectable streets and squares, docks, +quays, churches, mosques, and hotels. The outer port is formed by two enormous breakwaters, +one of which runs straight out to sea for a distance of 2,726 yards. They +have lighthouses upon them, using electricity as a means of illumination. Messrs. Borel +and Lavalley were the principal contractors for the work. The ingenious machinery used +cost nearly <hi rend='italic'>two and a half million pounds</hi> (actually £2,400,000), and the <hi rend='italic'>monthly</hi> consumption +of coal cost the Company £40,000. +</p> + +<p> +The distance from Port Saïd to Suez is 100 miles. The width of the Canal, where +the banks are low, is about 328 feet, and in deep cuttings 190 feet. The deep channel +is marked with buoys. The mole at the Port Saïd (Mediterranean) end of the Canal +stretches out into the sea for over half a mile, near the Damietta branch of the +Nile. This helps to form an artificial harbour, and checks the mud deposits which might +otherwise choke the entrance. It cost as much as half a million. In the Canal there are +recesses—shall we call them sidings, as on a railway?—where vessels can enter and allow +others to pass. +</p> + +<p> +The scenery, we must confess, is generally monotonous. At Ismaïlia, however, a town +has arisen where there are charming gardens. We are told that <q>it seems only necessary +to pour the waters of the Nile on the desert to produce a soil which will grow anything +to perfection.</q> Here the Viceroy built a temporary palace, and M. de Lesseps himself +has a <hi rend='italic'>châlet</hi>. At Suez itself the scenery is charming. From the height, on which is +placed another of the Khedive’s residences, there is a magnificent panorama in view. In +the foreground is the town, harbour, roadstead, and mouth of the Canal. To the right +are the mountain heights—Gebel Attákah—which hem in the Red Sea. To the left are the +rosy peaks of Mount Sinai, so familiar to all Biblical students as the spot where the +great Jewish Law was given by God to Moses; and between the two, the deep, deep +blue of the Gulf. Near Suez are the so-called <q>Wells of Moses,</q> natural springs of rather +brackish water, surrounded by tamarisks and date-palms, which help to form an oasis—a +pic-nic ground—in the desert. Dean Stanley has termed the spot <q>the Richmond of Suez.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving the Canal on our outward voyage, it will not be out of place to note +the inauguration <hi rend='italic'>fête</hi>, which must have been to M. de Lesseps the proudest day of a useful +life. Two weeks before that event, the engineers were for the moment baffled by a +temporary obstruction—a mass of solid rock in the channel. <q>Go,</q> said the unconquerable +projector, <q>and get powder at Cairo—powder in quantities; and then, if we can’t +blow up the rock, we’ll blow up ourselves.</q> That rock was very soon in fragments! The +spirit and <hi rend='italic'>bonhomie</hi> of Lesseps made everything easy, and the greatest difficulties surmountable. +<q>From the beginning of the work,</q> says he, <q>there was not a tent-keeper who did +not consider himself an agent of civilisation.</q> This, no doubt, was the great secret of his +grand success. +</p><anchor id="figopenofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL—PROCESSION OF SHIPS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_141.jpg" rend="w100"><head>OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL—PROCESSION OF SHIPS.</head> + <figDesc>OPENING OF THE SUEZ CANAL—PROCESSION OF SHIPS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The great day arrived. On the 16th of November, 1868, there were 160 vessels +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/>ready to pass the Canal. At the last moment that evening it was announced that an +Egyptian frigate had run on one of the banks of the Canal, and was hopelessly stuck +there, obstructing the passage. She could not be towed off, and the united efforts of +several hundred men on the bank could not at first move her. The Viceroy even proposed +to blow her up. It was only five minutes before arriving at the site of the accident +that an Egyptian admiral signalled to Lesseps from a little steam-launch that the Canal +was free. A procession of 130 vessels was formed, the steam yacht <name type="ship">L’Aigle</name>, <hi rend='italic'>en avant</hi>, +carrying on board the Empress of the French, the Emperor of Austria, and the Viceroy. +This noble-hearted Empress, who has been so long exiled in a country she has learned to love, +told Lesseps at Ismaïlia that during the whole journey she had felt <q>as though a circle +of fire were round her head,</q> fearing that some disaster might mar the day’s proceedings. +Her pent-up feelings gave way at last; and when success was assured, she retired to +her cabin, where sobs were heard by her devoted friends—sobs which did great honour to +her true and patriotic heart. +</p> + +<p> +The Viceroy on that occasion entertained 6,000 foreigners, a large proportion of +whom were of the most distinguished kind. Men of all nationalities came to honour an +enlightened ruler, and witness the opening of a grand engineering work, which had been +carried through so many opposing difficulties; to applaud the man of cool head and active +brain, who had a few years before been by many jeered at, snubbed, and thwarted. To +suitably entertain the vast assemblage, the Viceroy had engaged 500 cooks and 1,000 +servants, bringing many of them from Marseilles, Trieste, Genoa, and Leghorn. +</p> + +<p> +Although the waters of the Canal are usually placid—almost sleepily calm—they are +occasionally lashed up into waves by sudden storms. One such, which did some damage, +occurred on December 9th, 1877. +</p> + +<p> +And now, before leaving the subject, it will be right to mention a few facts of +importance. The tonnage of vessels passing the Canal quadrupled in five years. As many +as thirty-three vessels have been passing in one day at the same time, although this was +exceptional. In 1874, the relative proportions, as regards the nationalities of tonnage, +if the expression may be permitted, were as follows:— +</p> +<table> + <row> + <cell>English</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">222,000</cell> + <cell>tons.</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>French</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">103,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Dutch</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">84,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Austrian</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">63,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Italian</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">50,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Spanish</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">39,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>German</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">28,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Various</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">65,000</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> +</table> + +<p> +The present tonnage passing the Canal is much greater. All the world knows how and +why England acquired her present interest in the Canal, but all the world does not +appreciate its value to the full extent. +</p> + +<p> +Suez has special claims to the attention of the Biblical student, for near it—according +to some, eighteen miles south of it—the children of Israel passed through the Red +Sea; 2,000,000 men, women, and children, with flocks of cattle went dryshod through the +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/>dividing walls of water. Holy Writ informs us that <q>the Lord caused the sea to go back by +a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.</q><note place="foot">Exodus xiv. 21, <hi rend='italic'>et seq.</hi></note> + + The effect of wind, in both raising large masses of water and in driving them back, is +well known, while there are narrow parts of the Red Sea which have been forded. In +the morning <q>the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, +even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.</q> We know the sequel. The +waters returned, and covered the Egyptian hosts; <q>there remained not so much as one +of them.</q> <q rend="post: none">Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and +spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse +and his rider hath he thrown in the sea. * * *</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also +are drowned in the Red Sea.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.</q> +</p><anchor id="figcatcpeon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CATCHING PELICANS ON LAKE MENZALEH.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_146.png" rend="w80"><head>CATCHING PELICANS ON LAKE MENZALEH.</head> + <figDesc>CATCHING PELICANS ON LAKE MENZALEH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +<index index="toc" level1="VIII.Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="VIII.Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/><anchor id="chap08"/> +<head>CHAPTER VIII.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='small'>THE INDIA AND CHINA STATIONS.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The Red Sea and its Name—Its Ports—On to the India Station—Bombay: Island, City, Presidency—Calcutta—Ceylon, +a Paradise—The China Station—Hong Kong—Macao—Canton—Capture of Commissioner Yeh—The Sea of Soup—Shanghai—<q>Jack</q> +Ashore there—Luxuries in Market—<anchor id="corr117"/><corr sic="Drawbacks,">Drawbacks:</corr> Earthquakes, and Sand Showers—Chinese +Explanations of Earthquakes—The Roving Life of the Sailor—Compensating Advantages—Japan and its People—The +Englishmen of the Pacific—Yokohama—Peculiarities of the Japanese—Off to the North. +</p></argument> + +<p> +The Red Sea separates Arabia from Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia. Its name is +either derived from the animalculæ which sometimes cover parts of its surface, or, more +probably, from the red and purple coral which abound in its waters. The Hebrew name +signifies <q>the Weedy Sea,</q> because the corals have often plant-like forms. There are reefs +of coral in the Red Sea which utterly prevent approach to certain parts of the coasts. Many +of the islands which border it are of volcanic origin. On the Zeigar Islands there was an +alarming eruption in 1846. England owns one of the most important of the islands, +that of Perim, in the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. It is a barren, black rock, but possesses +a fine harbour, and commands one entrance of the Red Sea. It was occupied by Great +Britain in 1799, abandoned in 1801, and re-occupied on the 11th of February, 1857. Its +fortifications possess guns of sufficient calibre and power to command the Straits. +</p><anchor id="figjiddfrth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: JIDDAH, FROM THE SEA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_147.png" rend="w80"><head>JIDDAH, FROM THE SEA.</head> + <figDesc>JIDDAH, FROM THE SEA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The entire circuit of the Red Sea is walled by grand mountain ranges. Some of its +ports and harbours are most important places. There is Mocha, so dear to the coffee-drinker; +Jiddah, the port for the holy city of Mecca, whither innumerable pilgrims +repair; Hodeida, and Locheia. It was in Jiddah that, in 1858, the Moslem population +rose against the Christians, and killed forty-five, including the English and French consuls. +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/>On the African side, besides Suez, there are the ports of Cosseir, Suakim, and Massuah. +The Red Sea is deep for a partially inland sea; there is a recorded instance of soundings +to 1,000 fathoms—considerably over a mile—and no bottom found. +</p> + +<p> +After leaving the Red Sea, where shall we proceed? We have the choice of the +India, China, or Australia Stations. Actually, to do the voyage systematically, Bombay +would be the next point. +</p> + +<p> +Bombay, in general terms, is three things: a city of three-quarters of a million +souls; a presidency of 12,000,000 inhabitants; or an island—the island of Mambai, +according to the natives, or Buon Bahia, the <q>good haven,</q> if we take the Portuguese +version. The city is built on the island, which is not less than eight miles long by three +broad, but the presidency extends to the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +In 1509, the Portuguese visited it, and in 1530 it became theirs. In 1661, it was +blindly ceded to our Charles II., as simply a part of the dowry of his bride, the Infanta +Catherine. Seven years after Charles the Dissolute had obtained what is now the most +valuable colonial possession of Great Britain, he ceded it to the Honourable East India +Company—though, of course, for a handsome consideration. +</p> + +<p> +Bombay has many advantages for the sailor. It is always accessible during the +terrible south-west monsoons, and possesses an anchoring ground of fifty miles, +sheltered by islands and a magnificent series of breakwaters, at the south end of +which is a grand lighthouse. Its docks and dockyards cover fifty acres; ship-building is +carried on extensively; and there is an immense trade in cotton, coffee, opium, spices, +gums, ivory, and shawls. Of its 700,000 inhabitants, 50,000 are Parsees—Persians—descendants +of the original Fire-worshippers. A large proportion of them are merchants. +It may not be generally known to our readers that the late Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy—who +left wealth untold, although all his days he had been a humane and charitable +man, and who established in Bombay alone two fine hospitals—was a Parsee. +</p> + +<p> +Calcutta, in 1700, was but a collection of petty villages, surrounding the factories +or posts of the East India Company, and which were presented to that corporation +by the Emperor of Delhi. They were fortified, and received the name of Fort William, +in honour of the reigning king. It subsequently received the title of Calcutta, that +being the name of one of the aforesaid villages. Seven years after that date, Calcutta +was attacked suddenly by Surajah Dowlah, Nawab of Bengal. Abandoned by many who +should have defended it, 146 English fell into the enemy’s hands, who put them into that +confined and loathsome cell of which we have all read, the <q>Black Hole of Calcutta.</q> +Next morning but twenty-three of the number were found alive. Lord Clive, eight months +later, succeeded in recapturing Calcutta, and after the subsequently famous battle of Plassey, +the possessions of the East India Company greatly extended. To-day Calcutta has a <q>Strand</q> +longer than that of London, and the batteries of Fort William, which, with their outworks, +cover an area half a mile in diameter, and have cost £2,000,000, form the strongest fortress +in India. +</p> + +<p> +Across the continent by railway, and we land easily in Calcutta. It has, with its +suburbs, a larger population than Bombay, but can never rival it as a port, because it is +a hundred miles up the Hooghly River, and navigation is risky, although ships of 2,000 +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/>tons can reach it. It derives its name from Kali Ghatta, the ghaut or landing-place of +the goddess Kali. Terrible cyclones have often devastated it; that in 1867 destroyed +30,000 native houses, and a very large amount of human life. +</p><anchor id="figcyclatca"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CYCLONE AT CALCUTTA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_150.jpg" rend="w80"><head>CYCLONE AT CALCUTTA.</head> + <figDesc>CYCLONE AT CALCUTTA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The sailor’s route would, however, take him, if bound to China or Australia, round +the island of Ceylon, in which there are two harbours, Point de Galle, used as a stopping-place, +a kind of <q>junction</q> for the great steamship lines, of which the splendid Peninsular +and Oriental (the <q>P. & <anchor id="corr119"/><corr sic="O">O.</corr></q>) Company, is the principal. Point de Galle is the most +convenient point, but it does not possess a first-class harbour. At Trincomalee, however, +there is a magnificent harbour. +</p> + +<p> +Ceylon is one of the most interesting islands in the world. It is the Serendib of the +<q>Arabian Nights,</q> rich in glorious scenery, equable climate, tropical vegetation, unknown +quantities of gems and pearls, and many minerals. The sapphire, ruby, topaz, garnet, +and amethyst abound. A sapphire was found in 1853 worth £4,000. Its coffee +plantations are a source of great wealth. Palms, flowering shrubs, tree ferns, rhododendrons, +as big as timber trees, clothe the island in perennial verdure. The elephant, wild boar, +leopard, bear, buffalo, humped ox, deer, palm-cat and civet are common, but there are few +dangerous or venomous animals. The Singhalese population, really Hindoo colonists, +are effeminate and cowardly. The Kandyans, Ceylonese Highlanders, who dwell in the +mountains, are a more creditable race, sturdy and manly. Then there are the Malabars, +early Portuguese and Dutch settlers, with a sprinkling of all nationalities. +</p> + +<p> +There, too, are the outcast Veddahs, the real wild men of the woods. With them +there is no God—no worship. The Rock Veddahs live in the jungle, follow the chase, +sleep in caves or in the woods, eat lizards, and consider roast monkey a prime dish. The +Village Veddahs are a shade more civilised. +</p> + +<p> +One reads constantly in the daily journals of the India, China, or Australian Stations, and +the reader may think that they are very intelligible titles. He may be surprised to learn that +the East India Station not merely includes the ports of India and Ceylon, but the whole +Indian Ocean, as far south as Madagascar, and the east coast of Africa, including Zanzibar +and Mozambique, where there are dockyards. The China Station includes Japan, Borneo, +Sumatra, the Philippine Islands, and the coast of Kamchatka and Eastern Siberia to +Bering Sea. The Australian Station includes New Zealand and New Guinea. The leading +stations in China are Hong Kong, Canton, and Shanghai. Vessels bound to the +port of Canton have to enter the delta of the Pearl River, the area of which is largely +occupied with isles and sandbanks. There are some thirty forts on the banks. When +the ship has passed the mouth of this embouchure, which forms, in general terms, a kind +of triangle, the sides of which are 100 miles each in length, you can proceed either to +the island of Hong Kong, an English colony, or to the old Portuguese settlement of +Macao. +</p> + +<p> +The name Hong Kong is a corruption of Hiang Kiang,<note place="foot"><q>Life in China,</q> by William C. Milne, M.A.</note> which is by interpretation +<q>Scented Stream.</q> Properly, the designation belongs to a small stream on the southern +side of the island, where ships’ boats have long been in the habit of obtaining fine pure +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/>water; but now the name is given by foreigners to the whole island. The island is +about nine miles in length, and has a very rugged and barren surface, consisting of rocky +ranges of hills and mountains, intersected by ravines, through which streams of the purest +water flow unceasingly. Victoria, Hong Kong, is the capital of the colony, and the seat +of government. It extends for more than three miles east and west, part of the central +grounds being occupied by military barracks and hospitals, commissariat buildings, colonial +churches, post-office, and harbour-master’s depôt, all of which are overlooked by the +Government-house itself, high up on the hill. Close to the sea-beach are the commercial +houses, clubs, exchange, and market-places. +</p> + +<p> +It was the shelter, security, and convenience offered by the harbour that induced our +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/>Government to select it for a British settlement; it has one of the noblest roadsteads in +the world. Before the cession to England in 1841, the native population on the island +did not exceed 2,000; now there are 70,000 or 80,000. +</p> + +<p> +Macao (pronounced <hi rend='italic'>Macow</hi>) is forty miles to the westward of Hong Kong, and an +agreeable place as regards its scenery and surroundings, but deficient as regards its harbour +accommodation. Dr. Milne, himself a missionary resident for fourteen years in China, +says, writing in 1859: <q>To some of the present generation of English residents in China, +there can be anything but associations of a comfortable kind connected with Macao, +recollecting as they must the unfriendly policy which the Portuguese on the spot pursued +some sixteen or seventeen years since, and the bitterly hostile bearing which the Chinese +of the settlement were encouraged to assume towards the <q>red-haired English.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +Macao is a peninsula, eight miles in circuit, stretching out from a large island. +The connecting piece of land is a narrow isthmus, which in native topography is called +<q>the stalk of a water-lily.</q> In 1840 a low wall stretched across this isthmus, the +foundation stones of which had been laid about three hundred years ago, with the acknowledged +object of limiting the movements of foreigners. This was the notorious <q>barrier,</q> +which, during the Chinese war of 1840-1, was used to annoy the English. As large +numbers of the peasantry had to pass the <q>barrier gates</q> with provisions for the mixed +population at Macao, it was a frequent manœuvre with the Chinese authorities to stop the +market supplies by closing the gate, and setting over it a guard of half-starved and +ravenous soldiery. +</p><anchor id="figmacao"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MACAO.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_154.jpg" rend="w80"><head>MACAO.</head> + <figDesc>MACAO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Leaving Macao for Canton, the ship passes the celebrated <q>Bogue Forts,</q> threads +her course through a network of islets and mud-banks, and at last drops anchor twelve +miles from the city off the island of Whampoa, where the numerous and grotesque junks, +<q>egg boats,</q> <q>sampans,</q> &c., indicate a near approach to an important place. The name +Canton is a European corruption of Kwang-tung, the <q>Broad East.</q> Among the Chinese +it is sometimes described poetically as <q>the city of the genii,</q> <q>the city of grain,</q> and +the <q>city of rams.</q> The origin of these terms is thus shown in a native legend. After +the foundation of the city, which dates back 2,000 years, five genii, clothed in garments +of five different colours, and riding on five rams of different colours, met on the site of +Canton. Each of the rams bore in its mouth a stalk of grain having five ears, and +presented them to the tenants of the soil, to whom they spake in these words:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>May famine and death never visit you!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Upon this the rams were immediately petrified into stone images. There is a +<q>Temple of the Five Rams</q> close to one of the gates of Canton. +</p> + +<p> +The river scene at Canton is most interesting. It is a floating town of huts built +on rafts and on piles, with boats of every conceivable size, shape and use, lashed together. +<q>It is,</q> says Dr. Milne, <q>an <hi rend='italic'>aquarium</hi> of human occupants.</q> Canton has probably a +population of over a million. The entire circuit of city and suburbs cannot be far +from ten miles. +</p> + +<p> +Canton was bombarded in 1857-8 by an allied English and French force. Ten days +were given to the stubborn Chinese minister, Yeh, to accede to the terms dictated by the Allies, +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/>and every means was taken to inform the native population of the real <hi rend='italic'>casus belli</hi>, and +to advise them to remove from the scene of danger. Consul Parkes and Captain Hall +were engaged among other colporteurs in the rather dangerous labour of distributing tracts +and bills. In one of their rapid descents, Captain Hall caught a mandarin in his chair, +not far from the city gate, and pasted him up in it with bills, then starting off the +bearers to carry this new advertising van into the city! The Chinese crowd, always alive +to a practical joke, roared with laughter. When the truce expired, more than 400 guns and +mortars opened fire upon the city, great pains being taken only to injure the city walls, official +Chinese residences, and hill forts. Then a force of 3,000 men was landed, and the city +was between two fires. The hill-forts were soon taken, and an expedition planned +and executed, chiefly to capture the native officials of high rank. Mr. Consul Parkes, +with a party, burst into a <hi rend='italic'>yamun</hi>, an official residence, and in a few seconds Commissioner +Yeh was in the hands of the English. An ambitious <hi rend='italic'>aide-de-camp</hi> of Yeh’s staff protested +strongly that the captive was the wrong man, loudly stammering out, <q><hi rend='italic'>Me</hi> Yeh! <hi rend='italic'>Me</hi> Yeh!</q> +But this attempted deceit was of no avail; the prize was safely bagged, and shortly +afterwards the terms of peace were arranged. The loss of life in the assault was not +over 140 British and 30 French. +</p> + +<p> +Shanghai is a port which has grown up almost entirely since 1844, the date of its +first occupation by foreigners for purposes of commerce. Then there were only forty-four +foreign merchant ships, twenty-three foreign residents and families, one consular flag, and +two Protestant missionaries. Twelve years later, there were, for six months’ returns, 249 +British ships, fifty-seven American, eleven Hamburg, eleven Dutch, nine Swedish, seven +Danish, six Spanish, and seven Portuguese, besides those of other nationalities. The +returns for the whole year embraced 434 ships of all countries; tea exports, 76,711,659 +pounds; silk, 55,537 bales. +</p> + +<p> +Shanghai (<q>the Upper Sea</q>) has been written variously Canhay, Changhay, Xanghay, +Zonghae, Shanhae, Shanghay, and so forth. Its proper pronunciation is as if the final +syllable were <q>high,</q> not <q>hay.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Sailing towards the north of China,</q> says Milne, <q>keeping perhaps fifty or sixty +miles off the coast, as the ship enters the thirtieth parallel, a stranger is startled some +fine morning by coming on what looks like a shoal—perhaps a sand-bank, a reef—he +knows not what. It is an expanse of coloured water, stretching out as far as the eye +can reach, east, north, and west, and entirely distinct from the deep-blue sea which +hitherto the vessel had been ploughing. Of course, he finds that it is the <q>Yellow Sea;</q> +a sea so yellow, turbid, and thick, certainly, that you might think all the pease-soup in +creation, and a great deal more, had been emptied into one monster cistern.</q> The name +is therefore appropriate, as are the designations of several others: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The Yellow Sea, the Sea that’s Red,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The White, the Black, the one that’s Dead.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Between the thirtieth degree of north latitude, where the group of the Choosan +Islands commences, and the thirty-seventh degree, this sea of soup, this reservoir of +tawny liquid, ranges, fed by three great rivers, the Tseen-Tang, the Yangtsze-Kiang, and +the Hwang-Ho, the greatest of which is the second, and which contributes the larger part +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/>of the muddy solution held in its waters. Forty-five miles from the <hi rend='italic'>embouchure</hi> of the +Yangtsze-Kiang, you reach the Woosung anchorage, and a few miles further the city of +Shanghai, where the tributary you have been following divides into the Woosung and +Whampoa branches, at the fork of which the land ceded to the British is situated. +Here there is a splendid British consulate, churches, mansions, and foreign mercantile +houses. +</p> + +<p> +The old city was built over three centuries ago, and is encircled, as indeed are nearly +all large Chinese cities and towns, by a wall twenty-four feet high and fifteen broad; it +is nearly four miles in circumference. Shanghai was at one time greatly exposed to the +depredations of freebooters and pirates, and partly in consequence of this the wall is +plentifully provided with loop-holes, arrow-towers, and military observatories. The six +great gates of the city of Shanghai have grandiloquent titles, <hi rend='italic'>à la Chinoise</hi>. The +north gate is the <q>calm-sea gate;</q> the great east gate is that for <q>paying obeisance to +the honourable ones;</q> the little east one is <q>the precious girdle gate;</q> the great +south is the gate for <q>riding the dragon,</q> while another is termed <q>the pattern +Phœnix.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<anchor id="corr123"/><corr sic="It">Its</corr> oldest name is Hoo. In early days the following curious mode of catching fish was +adopted. Rows of bamboo stakes, joined by cords, were driven into the mud of the stream, +among which, at ebb tide, the fish became entangled, and were easily caught. This mode of +fishing was called <hi rend='italic'>hoo</hi>, and as at one time Shanghai was famous for its fishing stakes, it +gained the name of the <q>Hoo city.</q> The tides rise very rapidly in the river, and sometimes +give rise to alarming inundations. Lady Wortley’s description of the waters of the +Mississippi apply to the river-water of Shanghai; <q>it looks marvellously like an enormous +running stream of apothecary’s stuff, a very strong decoction of mahogany-coloured bark, +with a slight dash of port wine to deepen its hue; it is a mulatto-complexioned river, +there is no doubt of that, and wears the deep-tanned livery of the burnished sun.</q> +Within and without the walls, the city is cut up by ditches and moats, which, some +years ago, instead of being sources of benefit and health to the inhabitants, as they were +originally intended to be, were really open sewers, breathing out effluvia and pestilence. +In some respects, however, Shanghai is now better ordered as regards municipal +arrangements. +</p> + +<p> +The fruits of the earth are abundant at Shanghai, and <q>Jack ashore</q> may revel in +delicious peaches, figs, persimmons, cherries, plums, oranges, citrons, and pomegranates, +while there is a plentiful supply of fish, flesh, and fowl. Grains of all kinds, rice, and +cotton are cultivated extensively; the latter gives employment at the loom for thousands. +On the other hand there are drawbacks in the shape of clouds of musquitoes, flying-beetles, +heavy rains, monsoons, and earthquakes. The prognostics of the latter are a +highly electric state of the atmosphere, long drought, excessive heat, and what can only +be described as a stagnation of all nature. Dr. Milne, reciting his experiences, says: +<q>At the critical moment of the commotion, the earth began to rock, the beams and walls +cracked like the timbers of a ship under sail, and a nausea came over one, a sea-sickness +really horrible. At times, for a second or two previous to the vibration, there was heard +a subterraneous growl, a noise as of a mighty rushing wind whirling about under ground.</q> +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/>The natives were terror-struck, more especially if the quake happened at night, and there +would burst a mass of confused sounds, <q>Kew ming! Kew ming!</q> (<q>Save your lives! +save your lives!</q>) Dogs added their yells to the medley, amid the striking of gongs and +tomtoms. Next day there would be exhaustless gossip concerning upheaval and sinking +of land, flames issuing from the hill-sides, and ashes cast about the country. The Chinese +ideas on the subject are various. Some thought the earth had become too hot, and that it had +to relieve itself by a shake, or that it was changing its place for another part of the universe. +Others said that the Supreme One, to bring transgressors to their senses, thought to +alarm them by a quivering of the earth. The notion most common among the lower +classes is, that there are six huge sea-monsters, great fish, which support the earth, and +that if any one of these move, the earth must be agitated. Superstition is rife in +ascribing these earth-shakings chiefly to the remissness of the priesthood. In almost every +temple there is a <hi rend='italic'>muh-yu</hi>—an image of a scaly wooden fish, suspended near the altar, and +among the duties of the priests, it is rigidly prescribed that they keep up an everlasting +tapping on it. If they become lax in their duties, the fish wriggle and shake the earth +to bring the drowsy priests to a sense of their duty. +</p> + +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> + +<p> +A singular meteorological phenomenon often occurs at Shanghai—<hi rend='italic'>a fall of dust</hi>, +fine, light and impalpable, sometimes black, ordinarily yellow. The sun or moon will +scarcely be visible through this sand shower. The deposit of this exquisite powder is +sometimes to the extent of a quarter of an inch, after a fall of a day or two; it will +penetrate the closest venetian blinds; it overspreads every article of furniture in the house; +finds its way into the innermost chambers and recesses. In walking about, one’s clothes +are covered with dust—the face gets grimy, the mouth and throat parched; the teeth +grate; the eyes, ears, and nostrils become itchy and irritable. The fall sometimes extends +as far as Ningpo in the interior—also some 200 miles out at sea. Some think that it is +blown all the way from the steppes of Mongolia, after having been wafted by typhoons +into the upper regions of the air: others think that it comes across the seas from the +Japanese volcanoes, which are constantly subject to eruptions. +</p><anchor id="figvessinth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: VESSELS IN THE PORT OF SHANGHAI.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_155.png" rend="w80"><head>VESSELS IN THE PORT OF SHANGHAI.</head> + <figDesc>VESSELS IN THE PORT OF SHANGHAI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The population of Shanghai, rapidly increasing, is probably about 400,000 to 450,000 +souls. It swarms with professional beggars. Among the many creditable things cited by +Milne regarding the Chinese, is the number of native charitable institutions in Canton, +Ningpo, and Shanghai, including Foundling Hospitals, the (Shanghai) <q>Asylum for Outcast +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/>Children, retreats for poor and destitute widows, shelters for the maimed and blind, medical +dispensaries, leper hospitals, vaccine establishments, almshouses, free burial societies,</q> and so +forth. So much for the heartless Chinese. +</p> + +<p> +The sailor certainly has this compensation for his hard life, that he sees the world, +and visits strange countries and peoples by the dozen, privileges for which many a man +tied at home by the inevitable force of circumstances would give up a great deal. What +an oracle is he on his return, amid his own family circle or friends! How the youngsters +in particular hang on his every word, look up at his bronzed and honest face, and +wish that they could be sailors,— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>Strange countries for to see.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +How many curiosities has he not to show—from the inevitable parrot, chattering in a +foreign tongue, or swearing roundly in English vernacular, to the little ugly idol brought +from India, but possibly manufactured in Birmingham!<note place="foot">The reader may have heard of mummies manufactured in Cairo for the English market. The idol trade +of Birmingham has often been stated as a fact.</note> If from China, he will probably +have brought home some curious caddy, fearfully and wonderfully inlaid with dragons and +impossible landscapes; an ivory pagoda, or, perhaps, one of those wonderfully-carved +balls, with twenty or so more inside it, all separate and distinct, each succeeding +one getting smaller and smaller. He may have with him a native oil-painting; if a +portrait, stolid and hard; but if of a ship, true to the last rope, and exact in every +particular. In San Francisco, where there are 14,000 or more Chinese, may be seen +native paintings of vessels which could hardly be excelled by a European artist, and the +cost of which for large sizes, say 3½ by 2½ feet, was only about fifteen dollars (£3). +What with fans, handkerchiefs, Chinese ladies’ shoes for feet about three inches in length, +lanterns, chopsticks, pipes, rice-paper drawings, books, neat and quaint little porcelain +articles for presents at home, it will be odd if Jack, who has been mindful of the <q>old +folks at home,</q> and the young folks too, and the <q>girl he left behind him,</q> does not +become a very popular man. +</p> + +<p> +And then his yarns of Chinese life! How on his first landing at a port, the +natives in proffering their services hastened to assure him in <q>pigeon English</q> (<q>pigeon</q> +is a native corruption of <q>business,</q> as a mixed jargon had and has to be used in trading +with the lower classes) that <q>Me all same Englische man; me belly good man;</q> or <q>You +wantee washy? me washy you?</q> which is simply an offer to do your laundry work;<note place="foot">Readers who have seen Mr. Edouin’s impersonations of a Chinaman may be assured that they are true to +nature, and not burlesques. That gentleman carefully studied the Chinese while engaged professionally in San +Francisco.</note> +or <q>You wantee glub (grub); me sabee (know) one shop all same Englische belly good.</q> +Or, perhaps, he has met a Chinaman accompanying a coffin home, and yet looking quite +happy and jovial. Not knowing that it is a common custom to present coffins to relatives +during lifetime, he inquires, <q>Who’s dead, John?</q> <q>No man hab die,</q> replies the +Celestial, <q>no man hab die. Me makee my olo fader cumsha. Him likee too muchee, +countoo my number one popa, s’pose he die, can catchee,</q> which freely translated is—<q>No +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/>one is dead. It is a present from me to my aged father, with which he will be much +pleased. I esteem my father greatly, and it will be at his service when he dies.</q> How +one of the common names for a foreigner, especially an Englishman, is <q>I say,</q> which +derived its use simply from the Chinese hearing our sailors and soldiers frequently ejaculate +the words when conversing, as for example, <q>I say, Bill, there’s a queer-looking pigtail!</q> +The Chinese took it for a generic name, and would use it among themselves in the most +curious way, as for example, <q>A red-coated <hi rend='italic'>I say</hi> sent me to buy a fowl;</q> or <q>Did you +see a tall <hi rend='italic'>I say</hi> here a while ago?</q> The application is, however, not more curious +than the title of <q>John</q> bestowed on the Chinaman by most foreigners as a generic +distinction. Less flattering epithets used to be freely bestowed on us, especially in the +interior, such as <q>foreign devil,</q> <q>red-haired devil,</q> &c. The phrase Hungmaou, <q>red-haired,</q> +is applied to foreigners of all classes, and arose when the Dutch first opened up +trade with China. A Chinese work, alluding to their arrival, says, <q>Their raiment was +red, and their hair too. They had bluish eyes, deeply sunken in their head, and our +people were quite frightened by their strange aspect.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Jack will have to tell how many strange anomalies met his gaze. For example, in +launching their junks and vessels, they are sent into the water <hi rend='italic'>sideways</hi>. The horseman +mounts on the <hi rend='italic'>right</hi> side. The scholar, reciting his lesson, <hi rend='italic'>turns his back</hi> on his master. +And if Jack, or, at all events one of his superior officers, goes to a party, he should not +wear light pumps, but as thick solid shoes as he can get; <hi rend='italic'>white lead</hi> is used for +<hi rend='italic'>blacking</hi>. On visits of ceremony, you should keep your hat <hi rend='italic'>on</hi>; and when you advance +to your host, you should close your fists and <hi rend='italic'>shake hands with yourself</hi>. Dinners commence +with sweets and fruits, and <hi rend='italic'>end</hi> with fish and soup. White is the funereal colour. You +may see adults gravely flying kites, while the youngsters look on; shuttlecocks are +battledored by the <hi rend='italic'>heel</hi>. Books begin at the end; the paging is at the bottom, and +in reading, you proceed from right to left. The surname precedes the Christian name. +The fond mother holds her babe to her nose to smell it—as she would a rose—instead +of kissing it. +</p> + +<p> +What yarns he will have to tell of pigtails! How the Chinese sailor lashes it +round his cap at sea; how the crusty pedagogue, with no other rod of correction, will, +on the spur of the moment, lash the refractory scholar with it; and how, for fun, a wag +will tie two or three of his companions’ tails together, and start them off in different +directions! But he will also know from his own or others’ experiences that the foreigner +must not attempt practical jokes upon John Chinaman’s tail. <q><hi rend='italic'>Noli me tangere</hi>,</q> says +Dr. Milne, <q>is the order of the tail, as well as of the thistle.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now that most of the restrictions surrounding foreigners in Japan have been +removed, and that enlightened people—the Englishmen of the Pacific in enterprise and +progress—have taken their proper place among the nations of the earth, visits to Japan +are commonly made by even ordinary tourists making the circuit of the globe, and we +shall have to touch there again in another <q>voyage round the world</q> shortly to follow. +The English sailors of the Royal Navy often have an opportunity of visiting the charming +islands which constitute Japan. Its English name is a corruption of <hi rend='italic'>Tih-punquo</hi>—Chinese +for <q>Kingdom of the Source of the Sun.</q> Marco Polo was the first to bring +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/>to Europe intelligence of the bright isles, whose Japanese name, Nipon or Niphon, +means literally <q>Sun-source.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On the way to Yokohama, the great port of Japan, the voyager will encounter +the monsoons, the north-east version of which brings deliciously cool air from October +to March, while the south-west monsoon brings hot and weary weather. On the way +Nagasaki, on the island of Kiusiu, will almost certainly be visited, which has a harbour with +a very narrow entrance, with hills running down to the water’s edge, beautifully covered +with luxuriant grass and low trees. The Japanese have planted batteries on either side, +which would probably prevent any vessel short of a strong ironclad from getting in or +out of the harbour. The city has a population at least of 150,000. There are a number of +Chinese restricted to one quarter, surrounded by a high wall, in which is a heavy gate, +that is securely locked every night. Their dwellings are usually mean and filthy, and compare +very unfavourably with the neat, clean, matted dwellings of the Japanese. The latter +despise the former; indeed, you can scarcely insult a native more than to compare him +with his brother of Nankin. The Japanese term them the Nankin Sans. +</p> + +<p> +The island of Niphon, on which Yokohama is situated, is about one hundred and +seventy miles long by seventy broad, while Yesso is somewhat longer and narrower. Japan +really became known to Europe through Fernando Mendez Pinto, a + <anchor id="corr129"/><corr sic="Portugese">Portuguese</corr> who was +shipwrecked there in 1549. Seven years later the famous Jesuit, Francis Xavier, +introduced the Catholic faith, which for a long time made great progress. But a fatal +mistake was made in 1580, when an embassy was sent to the Pope with presents and +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/>vows of allegiance. The reigning Tycoon<note place="foot">The Tycoon is nominated out of the members of three families having hereditary rights. The princes +or Daimios number three or four hundred, many having enormous incomes and armies of retainers. The Prince +of Kangâ, for example, has £760,000 a year; the Prince of Satsuma £487,000; and the Prince of Owari £402,900.</note> had his eyes opened by this act, and +saw that to profess obedience to any spiritual lord was to weaken his own power +immeasurably. The priests of the old religions, too, complained bitterly of the loss of their +flocks, and the Tycoon determined to crush out the Christian faith. Thousands upon +thousands of converts were put to death, and the very last of them are said to have +been hurled from the rock of Papenberg, at Nagasaki, into the sea. In 1600, William +Adams, an English sailor on a Dutch ship, arrived in the harbour of Bungo, and speedily +became a favourite with the Tycoon, who, through him, gave the English permission to +establish a trading <q>factory</q> on the island of Firando. This was later on abandoned, but +the Dutch East India Company continued the trade on the same island, under very severe +restrictions. The fire-arms and powder on their ships were taken from them immediately +on arrival, and only returned when the ships were ready for sea again. +</p><anchor id="figyokohama"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: YOKOHAMA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_158.jpg" rend="w100"><head>YOKOHAMA.</head><figDesc>YOKOHAMA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Yokohama, the principal port, stands on a flat piece of ground, at the wide end of a +valley, which runs narrowing up for several miles in the country. The site was reclaimed +from a mere swamp by the energy of the Government; and there is now a fine sea-wall +facing the sea, with two piers running out into it, on each of which there is a custom-house. +The average Japanese in the streets is clothed in a long thin cotton robe, open +in front and gathered at the waist by a cloth girdle. This constitutes the whole of his +dress, save a scanty cloth tied tightly round the loins, cotton socks and wooden clogs. +The elder women look hideous, but some of their ugliness is self-inflicted, as it is the +fashion, when a woman becomes a wife, to draw out the hair of her eyebrows and varnish +her teeth black! Their teeth are white, and they still have their eyebrows, but are too +much prone to the use of chalk and vermilion on their cheeks. Every one is familiar +with the Japanese stature—under the general average—for there are now a large number +of the natives resident in London. +</p> + +<p> +Jack will soon find out that the Japanese <hi rend='italic'>cuisine</hi> is most varied. Tea and sacki, or +rice beer, are the only liquors used, except, of course, by travelled, Europeanised, or +Americanised Japanese. They sit on the floor, squatting on their heels in a manner which +tires Europeans very rapidly, although they look as comfortable as possible. The floor +serves them for chair, table, bed, and writing-desk. At meals there is a small stand, about +nine inches high, by seven inches square, placed before each individual, and on this is deposited +a small bowl, and a variety of little dishes. Chopsticks are used to convey the food to their +mouths. Their most common dishes are fish boiled with onions, and a kind of small bean, +dressed with oil; fowls stewed and cooked in all ways; boiled rice. Oil, mushrooms, +carrots, and various bulbous roots, are greatly used in making up their dishes. In the way +of a bed in summer, they merely lie down on the mats, and put a <hi rend='italic'>wooden</hi> pillow under +their heads; but in winter indulge in warm quilts, and have brass pans of charcoal +at the feet. They are very cleanly, baths being used constantly, and the public bath-houses +being open to the street. Strangely enough, however, although so particular in +bodily cleanliness, they never wash their clothes, but wear them till they almost drop to +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/>pieces. A gentleman who arrived there in 1859, had to send his clothes to Shanghai to +be washed—a journey of 1,600 miles! Since the great influx of foreigners, however, +plenty of Niphons have turned laundrymen. +</p> + +<p> +Their tea-gardens, like those of the Chinese, are often large and extremely ornamental, +and at them one obtains a cup of genuine tea made before your eyes for one-third of +a halfpenny.<note place="foot">For further details concerning this most interesting people, <hi rend='italic'>vide</hi> Dr. Robert Brown’s <q>Races of Mankind.</q></note> +</p><anchor id="figfusimoun"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE FUSIYAMA MOUNTAIN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_159.png" rend="w80"><head>THE FUSIYAMA MOUNTAIN.</head> + <figDesc>THE FUSIYAMA MOUNTAIN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The great attraction, in a landscape point of view, outside Yokohama, is the grand +Fusiyama Mountain, an extinct volcano, the great object of reverence and pride in the +Japanese heart, and which in native drawings and carvings is incessantly represented. +A giant, 14,000 feet high, it towers grandly to the clouds, snow-capped and streaked. +It is deemed a holy and worthy deed to climb to its summit, and to pray in the +numerous temples that adorn its sides. Thousands of pilgrims visit it annually. And +now let us make a northward voyage. +</p><anchor id="figtea_main"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: A TEA MART IN JAPAN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_163.jpg" rend="w100"><head>A TEA MART IN JAPAN.</head> + <figDesc>A TEA MART IN JAPAN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="IX. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="IX. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/><anchor id="chap09"/> +<head>CHAPTER IX.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend="small">NORTHWARD AND SOUTHWARD—THE AUSTRALIAN STATION.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The Port of Peter and Paul—Wonderful Colouring of Kamchatka Hills—Grand Volcanoes—The Fight at Petropaulovski—A +Contrast—An International Pic-nic—A Double Wedding—Bering’s Voyages—Kamchatka worthy of Further +Exploration—Plover Bay—Tchuktchi Natives—Whaling—A Terrible Gale—A Novel <q>Smoke-stack</q>—Southward +again—The Liverpool of the East—Singapore, a Paradise—New Harbour—Wharves and Shipping—Cruelties of the +Coolie Trade—Junks and Prahus—The Kling-gharry Drivers—The Durian and its Devotees—Australia—Its Discovery—Botany +Bay and the Convicts—The First Gold—Port Jackson—Beauty of Sydney—Port Philip and Melbourne. +</p></argument> + +<p> +Many English men-of-war have visited the interesting peninsula of Kamchatka, all included +in the China station. How well the writer remembers the first time he visited Petropaulovski, +the port of Peter and Paul! Entering first one of the noblest bays in the whole world—glorious +Avatcha Bay—and steaming a short distance, the entrance to a capital harbour disclosed +itself. In half an hour the vessel was inside a landlocked harbour, with a sand-spit +protecting it from all fear of gales or sudden squalls. Behind was a highly-coloured little +town, red roofs, yellow walls, and a church with burnished turrets. The hills around were +autumnly frost-coloured; but not all the ideas the expression will convey to an artist could +conjure up the reality. Indian yellow merging through tints of gamboge, yellow, and +brown ochre to sombre brown; madder lake, brown madder, Indian red to Roman sepia; +greys, bright and dull greens indefinable, and utterly indescribable, formed a <hi rend='italic'>mélange</hi> of +colour which defied description whether by brush or pen. It was delightful; but it was +puzzling. King Frost had completed at night that which autumn had done by day. +Then behind rose the grand mountain of Koriatski, one of a series of great volcanoes. +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/>It seemed a few miles off; it was, although the wonderful clearness of the atmosphere +belied the fact, some thirty miles distant. An impregnable fortress of rock, streaked and +capped with snow, it defies time and man. Its smoke was constantly observed; its +pure snows only hid the boiling, bubbling lava beneath. +</p> + +<p> +With the exception of a few decent houses, the residences of the civil governor, +captain of the port, and other officials, and a few foreign merchants, the town makes +no great show. The poorer dwellings are very rough, and, indeed, are almost exclusively +log cabins. A very picturesque and noticeable building is the old Greek church, +which has painted red and green roofs, and a belfry full of bells, large and small, +detached from the building, and only a foot or two raised above the ground. It is to +be noted that the town, as it existed in Captain Clerke’s time, was built on the sand-spit. +It was once a military post, but the Cossack soldiers have been removed to +the Amoor. +</p> + +<p> +There are two monuments of interest in Petropaulovski; one in honour of Bering, +the second to the memory of La Perouse. The former is a plain cast-iron column, +railed in, while the latter is a most nondescript construction of sheet iron, and is of +octagonal form. Neither of these navigators is buried in the town. Poor Bering’s +remains lie on the island where he miserably perished, and which now bears his name; +while of the fate of La Perouse, and his unfortunate companions, little is known. +</p> + +<p> +In 1855, Petropaulovski was visited by the allied fleets, during the period of our war with +Russia. They found an empty town, for the Russian Government had given up all idea +of defending it. The combined fleet captured one miserable whaler, razed the batteries, +and destroyed some of the government buildings. There were good and sufficient reasons +why they should have done nothing. The poor little town of Saints Peter and Paul was +beneath notice, as victory there could never be glorious. But a stronger reason existed +in the fact, recorded in a dozen voyages, that from the days of Cook and Clerke to our +own, it had always been famous for the unlimited hospitality and assistance shown to +explorers and voyagers, without regard to nationality. All is <hi rend='italic'>not</hi> fair in war. Possibly, +however, reason might be found for the havoc done, in the events of the previous year. +</p> + +<p> +In August, 1854, the inhabitants of Petropaulovski had covered themselves with glory, +much to their own surprise. On the 28th of the month, six English and French vessels—the +<name type="ship">President</name>, <name type="ship">Virago</name>, <name type="ship">Pique</name>, <name type="ship">La Fort</name>, <name type="ship">l’Eurydice</name>, and <name type="ship">l’Obligado</name>—entered Avatcha Bay. +Admiral Price reconnoitred the harbour and town, and placed the <name type="ship">Virago</name> in position at +2,000 yards. The Russians had two vessels, the <name type="ship">Aurora</name> and <name type="ship">Dwina</name>, to defend the harbour, +and a strong chain was placed across its narrow entrance. The town was defended by +seven batteries and earthworks, mounting fifty guns. +</p> + +<p> +It was not difficult to silence the batteries, and they were accordingly silenced. The +townspeople, with their limited knowledge of the English—those English they had always +so hospitably received, and who were now doing their best to kill them—thought their +hour was come, and that, if not immediately executed, they would have to languish exiles +in a foreign land, far from their beautiful Kamchatka. The town was, and is, defended +almost as much by nature as by art. High hills shut it in so completely, and the harbour +entrance can be so easily defended, that there is really only one vulnerable point, in its rear, +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/>where a small valley opens out into a plot of land bordering the bay. Here it was thought +desirable to land a body of men. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, 700 marines and sailors were put ashore. The men looked forward to +an easy victory, and hurriedly, in detached and straggling style, pressed forward to +secure it. Alas! they had reckoned without their host—they were rushing heedlessly +into the jaws of death. A number of bushes and small trees existed, and still exist, +on the hill-sides surrounding this spot, and behind them were posted Cossack sharp-shooters, +who fired into our men, and, either from skill or accident, picked off nearly every officer. +The men, not seeing their enemy, and having lost their leaders, became panic-struck, +and fell back in disorder. A retreat was sounded, but the men struggling in the bushes +and underbrush (and, in truth, most of them being sailors, were out of their element on +land) became much scattered, and it was generally believed that many were killed by the +random shots of their companions. A number fled up a hill at the rear of the town; their +foes pursued and pressed upon them, and many were killed by falling over the steep cliff +in which the hill terminates. +</p> + +<p> +The inhabitants, astonished at their own prowess, and knowing that they could not +hold the town against a more vigorous attack, were preparing to vacate it, when the fleet +weighed anchor and set sail, and no more was seen of them that year! The sudden death +of our admiral is always attributed to the events of that attack, as he was known not to +have been killed by a ball from the enemy.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> <q>Nautical Magazine,</q> October, 1855.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The writer has walked over the main battle-field, and saw cannon-balls unearthed +when some men were digging gravel, which had laid there since the events of 1854. +The last time he passed over it, in 1866, was when proceeding with some Russian and +American friends to what might be termed an <q>international</q> pic-nic, for there were +present European and Asiatic Russians, full and half-breed natives, Americans, including +genuine <q>Yankee</q> New Englanders, New Yorkers, Southerners, and Californians, Englishmen, +Frenchmen, Germans, and one Italian. Chatting in a babel of tongues, the party +climbed a path on the hill-side, leading to a beautiful grassy opening, overlooking the +glorious bay below, which extended in all directions a dozen or fifteen miles, and on one +side farther than the eye could reach. Several grand snow-covered volcanoes towered above, +thirty to fifty miles off; one, of most beautiful outline, that of Vilutchinski, was on +the opposite shore of Avatcha Bay. +</p> + +<p> +The sky was bright and blue, and the water without a ripple; wild flowers were abundant, +the air was fragrant with them, and, but for the mosquitoes (which are <hi rend='italic'>not</hi> confined +to hot countries, but flourish in the short summer of semi-Arctic climes), it might +have been considered an earthly edition of paradise! But even these pests could not +worry the company much, for not merely were nearly all the men smokers, but most +of the ladies also! Here the writer may remark, parenthetically, that many of the +Russian ladies smoke cigarettes, and none object to gentlemen smoking at table or elsewhere. +At the many dinners and suppers offered by the hospitable residents, it was +customary to draw a few whiffs between the courses; and when the cloth was removed, +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/>the ladies, instead of retiring to another room, sat in company with the gentlemen, the +larger proportion joining in the social weed. After the enjoyment of a liberal <hi rend='italic'>al fresco</hi> +dinner, songs were in order, and it would be easier to say what were not sung than to +give the list of those, in all languages, which were. Then after the songs came some +games, one of them a Russian version of <q>hunt the slipper,</q> and another <hi rend='italic'>very</hi> like +<q>kiss in the ring.</q> The writer particularly remembers the latter, for he had on that +occasion the honour of kissing the Pope’s wife! This needs explanation, although the +Pope was his friend. In the Greek Church the priest is <q>allowed to marry,</q> and his +title, in the Russian language, is <q>Pope.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And the recollection of that particular <q>Pope</q> recalls a well-remembered ceremony—that +of a <hi rend='italic'>double</hi> wedding in the old church. During the ceremony it is customary to +crown the bride and bridegroom. In this case two considerate male friends held the +crowns for three-quarters of an hour over the brides’ heads, so as not to spoil the artistic +arrangement of their hair and head-gear. It seems also to be the custom, when, as in the +present case, the couples were in the humbler walks of life, to ask some wealthy individual +to act as master of the ceremonies, who, if he accepts, has to stand all the expenses. +In this case M. Phillipeus, a merchant who has many times crossed the frozen steppes +of Siberia in search of valuable furs, was the victim, and he accepted the responsibility +of entertaining all Petropaulovski, the officers of the splendid Russian corvette, the <name type="ship">Variag</name>, +and those of the Telegraph Expedition, with cheerfulness and alacrity. +</p> + +<p> +The coast-line of Kamchatka is extremely grand, and far behind it are magnificent +volcanic peaks. The promontory which terminates in the two capes, Kamchatka and +Stolbevoy, has the appearance of two islands detached from the mainland, the intervening +country being low. This, a circumstance to be constantly observed on all coasts, was, +perhaps, specially noticeable on this. The island of St. Lawrence, in Bering Sea, +was a very prominent example. It is undeniable that the apparent gradual rise of a +coast, seen from the sea as you approach it, affords a far better proof of the rotundity +of the earth than the illustrations usually employed, that of a ship, which you are +supposed to see by instalments, from the main-royal sail (if not from the <q>sky-scraper</q> +or <q>moon-raker</q>) to the hull. The fact is, that the royal and top-gallant sails of +a vessel on the utmost verge of the horizon may be, in certain lights, barely distinguishable, +while the dark outline of an irregular and rock-bound coast can be seen by +any one. First, maybe, appears a mountain peak towering in solitary grandeur above +the coast-line, and often far behind it, then the high lands and hills, then the cliffs +and low lands, and, lastly, the flats and beaches. +</p> + +<p> +It was from the Kamchatka River, which enters Bering Sea near the cape of the +same name, that Vitus Bering sailed on his first voyage. That navigator was a persevering +and plucky Dane, who had been drawn into the service of Russia through the fame of +Peter the Great, and his first expedition was directly planned by that sagacious monarch, +although he did not live to carry it out. Müller, the historian of Bering’s career, says: +<q>The Empress Catherine, as she endeavoured in all points to execute most precisely the +plans of her deceased husband, in a manner began her reign with an order for the +expedition to Kamchatka.</q> Bering had associated with him two active subordinates, +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/>Spanberg and Tschirikoff. They left St. Petersburg on February 5th, 1725, proceeding +to the Ochotsk Sea, <hi rend='italic'><anchor id="corr136"/><corr sic="via">viâ</corr></hi> Siberia. It is a tolerable proof of the difficulties of travel in +those days, that it took them <hi rend='italic'>two years</hi> to transport their outfit thither. They crossed +to Kamchatka, where, on the 4th of April, 1728, Müller tells us, <q>a boat was put upon +the stocks, like the packet-boats used in the Baltic, and on the 10th of July was launched, +and named the boat <name type="ship">Gabriel</name>.</q> A few days later, and she was creeping along the coast of +Kamchatka and Eastern Siberia. Bering on this first voyage discovered St. Lawrence +Island, and reached as far north as 67° 18′, where, finding the land trend to the westward, +he came to the conclusion that he had reached the eastern extremity of Asia, and that +Asia and America were distinct continents. On the first point he was not, as a matter +of detail, quite correct; but the second, the important object of his mission, settled for +ever the vexed question. +</p> + +<p> +A second voyage was rather unsuccessful. His third expedition left Petropaulovski on +the 4th of July, 1741. His little fleet became dispersed in a storm, and Bering pursued +his discoveries alone. These were not unimportant, for he reached the grand chain of +the rock-girt Aleutian Islands, and others nearer the mainland of America. At length +the scurvy broke out in virulent form among his crew, and he attempted to return to +Kamchatka. The sickness increased so much that the <q>two sailors who used to be at the +rudder were obliged to be led in by two others who could hardly walk, and when one +could sit and steer no longer, one in little better condition supplied his place. Many +sails they durst not hoist, because there was nobody to lower them in case of need.</q> At +length land appeared, and they cast anchor. A storm arose, and the ship was driven on +the rocks; they cast their second anchor, and the cable snapped before it took ground. +A great sea pitched the vessel bodily over the rocks, behind which they happily found +quieter water. The island was barren, devoid of trees, and with little driftwood. They +had to roof over gulches or ravines, to form places of refuge. On the <q>8th of November +a beginning was made to land the sick; but some died as soon as they were brought +from between decks in the open air, others during the time they were on the deck, some +in the boat, and many more as soon as they were brought on shore.</q> On the following +day the commander, Bering, himself prostrated with disease, was brought ashore, and +moved about on a hand-barrow. He died a month after, in one of the little ravines, or +ditches, which had been covered with a roof, and when he expired was almost covered +with the sand which fell from its sides, and which he desired his men not to remove, as +it gave him some little warmth. Before his remains could be finally interred they had +literally to be disinterred. +</p> + +<p> +The vessel, unguarded, was utterly wrecked, and their provisions lost. They subsisted +mainly that fearful winter on the carcases of dead whales, which were driven ashore. +In the spring the pitiful remnant of a once hardy crew managed to construct a small +vessel from the wreck of their old ship, and at length succeeded in reaching Kamchatka. +They then learned that Tschirikoff, Bering’s associate, had preceded them, but with the +loss of thirty-one of his crew from the same fell disease which had so reduced their +numbers. Bering’s name has ever since been attached to the island where he died. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt that Kamchatka would repay a detailed exploration, which it +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/>has never yet received. It is a partially settled country. The Kamchatdales are a +good-humoured, harmless, and semi-civilised race, and the Russian officials and settlers +at the few little towns would gladly welcome the traveller. The dogs used for sledging +in winter are noble animals, infinitely stronger than those of Alaska or even Greenland. +The attractions for the Alpine climber cannot be overstated. The peninsula contains a +chain of volcanic peaks, attaining, it is stated, in the Klutchevskoi Mountain a height +of 16,000 feet. In the country immediately behind Petropaulovski are the three +peaks, Koriatski, Avatcha, and Koseldskai; the first is about 12,000 feet in height, +and is a conspicuous landmark for the port. A comparatively level country, covered +with rank grass and underbrush, and intersected by streams, stretches very nearly to +their base. +</p><anchor id="figpetranth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: PETROPAULOVSKI AND THE AVATCHA MOUNTAIN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_167.png" rend="w80"><head>PETROPAULOVSKI AND THE AVATCHA MOUNTAIN.</head> + <figDesc>PETROPAULOVSKI AND THE AVATCHA MOUNTAIN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +And now, before leaving the Asiatic coast, let us, as many English naval vessels +have done, pay a flying visit to a still more northern harbour, that of Plover Bay, +which forms the very apex of the China Station. Sailing, or steaming, through Bering +Sea, it is satisfactory to know that so shallow is it that a vessel can anchor in almost +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/>any part of it, though hundreds of miles from land.<note place="foot">Captain Scammon, detailed from the United States Revenue Service, to take the post of Chief of Marine +in the telegraph expedition on which the writer served, made a series of soundings. For nearly two <hi rend='italic'>degrees</hi> (between +latitudes 64° and 66° N.) the average depth is under 19½ fathoms.</note> Plover Bay does <hi rend='italic'>not</hi> derive its +name from the whaling which is often pursued in its waters, although an ingenious +Dutchman, of the service in which the writer was engaged at the periods of his visits, +persisted in calling it <q>Blubber</q> Bay; its name is due to the visit of H.M.S. <name type="ship">Plover</name> +in 1848-9, when engaged in the search for Sir John Franklin. The bay is a most secure +haven, sheltered at the ocean end by a long spit, and walled in on three sides by rugged +mountains and bare cliffs, the former composed of an infinite number of fragments of +rock, split up by the action of frost. Besides many coloured lichens and mosses, there +is hardly a sign of vegetation, except at one patch of country near a small inner harbour, +where domesticated reindeer graze. On the spit before mentioned is a village of Tchuktchi +natives; their tents are composed of hide, walrus, seal, or reindeer, with here and there +a piece of old sail-cloth, obtained from the whalers, the whole patchwork covering a +framework formed of the large bones of whales and walrus. The remains of underground +houses are seen, but the people who used them have passed away. The present race makes +no use of such houses. Their canoes are of skin, covering sometimes a wooden and +sometimes a bone frame. On either side of one of these craft, which is identical with +the Greenland <q>oomiak,</q> or women’s boat, it is usual to have a sealskin blown out tight, +and the ends fastened to the gunwale; these serve as floats to steady the canoe. They +often carry sail, and proceed safely far out to sea, even crossing Bering Straits to the +American side. The natives are a hardy race; the writer has seen one of them carry +the awkward burden of a carpenter’s chest, weighing two hundred pounds, without +apparent exertion. One of their principal men was of considerable service to the +expedition and to a party of telegraph constructors, who were left there in a wooden +house made in San Francisco, and erected in a few days in this barren spot. This native, +by name Naukum, was taken down into the engine-room of the telegraph steamer—<name type="ship">G. +S. Wright</name>. He looked round carefully and thoughtfully, and then, shaking his head, +said, solemnly, <q>Too muchee wheel; makee man too muchee think!</q> His curiosity +on board was unappeasable. <q>What’s that fellow?</q> was his query with regard to +anything, from the donkey-engine to the hencoops. Colonel Bulkley gave him a suit of +mock uniform, gorgeous with buttons. One of the men remarked to him, <q>Why, +Naukum, you’ll be a king soon!</q> But this magnificent prospect did not seem, judging +from the way he received it, to be much to his taste. This man had been sometimes +entrusted with as much as five barrels of villainous whisky for trading purposes, and +he had always accounted satisfactorily to the trader for its use. The whisky sold to the +natives is of the most horrible kind, scarcely superior to <q>coal oil</q> or paraffine. They +appeared to understand the telegraph scheme in a general way. One explaining it, said, +<q>S’pose lope fixy, well; one Melican man Plower Bay, make talky all same San Flancisco +Melican.</q> Perhaps quite as lucid an explanation as you could get from an agricultural +labourer or a street arab at home. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Bulkley, at his second visit to Plover Bay, caused a small house of planks +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/>to be constructed for Naukum, and made him many presents. A draughtsman attached +to the party made a sketch, <q>A Dream of the Future,</q> which was a lively representation +of the future prospects of Naukum and his family. The room was picturesque with +paddles, skins, brand-new Henry rifles, preserved meat tins, &c.; and civilisation was +triumphant. +</p> + +<p> +Although Plover Bay is almost in sight of the Arctic Ocean, very little snow remained +on the barren country round it, except on the distant mountains, or in deep ravines, where +it has lain for ages. <q>That there snow,</q> said one of the sailors, pointing to such a spot, +<q>is three hundred years old if it’s a day. Why, don’t you see the wrinkles all over the +face of it?</q> Wrinkles and ridges are common enough in snow; but the idea of associating +age with them was original. +</p> + +<p> +The whalers are often very successful in and outside Plover Bay in securing +their prey. Each boat is known by its own private mark—a cross, red stripes, or what +not—on its sail, so that at a distance they can be distinguished from their respective +vessels. When the whale is harpooned, often a long and dangerous job, and is floating +dead in the water, a small flag is planted in it. After the monster is towed alongside +the vessel, it is cut up into large rectangular chunks, and it is a curious and not +altogether pleasant sight to witness the deck of a whaling ship covered with blubber. +This can be either barreled, or the oil <q>tryed out</q> on the spot. If the latter, the +blubber is cut into <q>mincemeat,</q> and chopping knives, and even mincing machines, are +employed. The oil is boiled out on board, and the vessel when seen at a distance +looks as if on fire. On these occasions the sailors have a feast of dough-nuts, which +are cooked in boiling whale-oil, fritters of whale brain, and other dishes. The writer +has tasted whale in various shapes, but although it is eatable, it is by no means luxurious +food. +</p><anchor id="figwhalatwo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: WHALERS AT WORK.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_170.jpg" rend="w80"><head>WHALERS AT WORK.</head> + <figDesc>WHALERS AT WORK</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It was in these waters of Bering Sea and the Arctic that the <name type="ship">Shenandoah</name> played such +havoc during the American war. In 1865 she burned <hi rend='italic'>thirty</hi> American whalers, taking +off the officers and crews, and sending them down to San Francisco. The captain of an +English whaler, the <name type="ship">Robert Tawns</name>, of Sydney, had warned and saved some American +vessels, and was in consequence threatened by the pirate captain. The writer was an +eye-witness of the results of this wanton destruction of private property. The coasts +were strewed with the remains of the burned vessels, while the natives had boats, spars, &c., +in numbers. +</p> + +<p> +But Plover Bay has an interest attaching to it of far more importance than anything +to be said about whaling or Arctic expeditions. It is more than probable that from or +near that bay the wandering Tunguse, or Tchuktchi, crossed Bering Straits, and peopled +America. The latter, in canoes holding fifteen or twenty persons, do it now; why not +in the <q>long ago?</q> The writer has, in common with many who have visited Alaska +(formerly Russian-America, before the country was purchased by the United States), +remarked the almost Chinese or Japanese cast of features possessed by the coast natives +of that country. Their Asiatic origin could not be doubted, and, on the other hand, +Aleuts—natives of the Aleutian Islands, which stretch out in a grand chain from Alaska—who +had shipped as sailors on the Russo-American Telegraph Expedition, and a Tchuktchi +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/>boy brought down to be educated, were constantly taken for Japanese or Chinamen in +San Francisco, where there are 40,000 of the former people. Junks have on two occasions +been driven across the Pacific Ocean, and have landed their crews.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Vide</hi> Washington Irving’s <q>Astoria;</q> also, Sir Edward Belcher’s <q>Voyage of the <name type="ship">Sulphur</name>.</q></note> These facts +occurred in 1832-3; the first on the coast near Cape Flattery, North-west America, and +the second in the harbour of Oahu, Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands. In the former case +all the crew but two men and a boy were killed by the natives. In the latter case, +however, the Sandwich Islanders treated the nine Japanese, forming the crew of the junk, +with kindness, and, when they saw the strangers so much resembling them in many +respects, said, <q>It is plain, now, we come from Asia.</q> How easily, then, could we account +for the peopling of any island or coast in the Pacific. Whether, therefore, stress of weather +obliged some unfortunate Chinamen or Japanese to people America, or whether they, or, +at all events, some Northern Asiatics, took the <q>short sea route,</q> <hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> Bering Straits, +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/>there is a very strong probability in favour of the New World having been peopled from +not merely the Old World, but the Oldest World—Asia. +</p> + +<p> +The Pacific Ocean generally bears itself in a manner which justifies its title. The +long sweeps of its waves are far more pleasant to the sailor than the <q>choppy</q> waves of +the Atlantic. But the Pacific is by no means always so, as the writer very well knows. +He will not soon forget November, 1865, nor will those of his companions who still +survive. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Petropaulovski on November 1st, a fortnight of what sailors term <q>dirty weather</q> +culminated in a gale from the south-east. It was no <q>capful of wind,</q> but a veritable tempest, +which broke over the devoted ship. At its outset, the wind was so powerful that it blew +the main-boom from the ropes which held it, and it swung round with great violence +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/>against the <q>smoke-stack</q> (funnel) of the steamer, knocking it overboard. The guys, +or chains by which it had been held upright, were snapped, and it went to the bottom. +Here was a dilemma; the engines were rendered nearly useless, and a few hours later +were made absolutely powerless, for the rudder became disabled, and the steering-wheel +was utterly unavailable. During this period a very curious circumstance happened; the +sea driving faster than the vessel—itself a log lying in the trough of the waves, which +rose in mountains on all sides—acted on the screw in such a manner that in its turn it +worked the engines at a greater rate than they had ever attained by steam! After much +trouble the couplings were disconnected, but for several hours the jarring of the machinery +revolving at lightning speed threatened to make a breach in the stern. +</p> + +<p> +No one on board will soon forget the night of that great gale. The vessel, scarcely +larger than a <q>penny</q> steamer, and having <q>guards,</q> or bulwarks, little higher than +the rail of those boats, was engulfed in the tempestuous waters. It seemed literally +to be driving under the water. Waves broke over it every few minutes; a rope had +to be stretched along the deck for the sailors to hold on by, while the brave commander, +Captain Marston, was literally <hi rend='italic'>tied</hi> to the aft bulwark, where, half frozen and +half drowned, he remained at his post during an entire night. The steamer had the +<q>house on deck,</q> so common in American vessels. It was divided into state-rooms, +very comfortably fitted, but had doors and windows of the lightest character. At the +commencement of the gale, these were literally battered to pieces by the waves dashing +over the vessel; it was a matter of doubt whether the whole house might not be carried +off bodily. The officers of the expedition took refuge in the small cabin aft, which had +been previously the general ward-room of the vessel, where the meals were served. A +great sea broke over its skylight, smashing the glass to atoms, putting out the lamps and +stove, and filling momentarily the cabin with about three feet of water. A landsman +would have thought his last hour had come. But the hull of the vessel was sound; the +pumps were in good order, and worked steadily by a <q>donkey</q> engine in the engine-room, +and the water soon disappeared. The men coiled themselves up that night amid a pile of +ropes and sails, boxes, and miscellaneous matters lying on the <q>counter</q> of the vessel, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +that part of the stern lying immediately over the rudder. Next morning, in place of +the capital breakfasts all had been enjoying—fish and game from Kamchatka, tinned fruits +and meats from California, hot rolls and cakes—the steward and cook could only, with +great difficulty, provide some rather shaky coffee and the regular <q>hard bread</q> (biscuit) +of the ship. +</p> + +<p> +The storm increased in violence; it was unsafe to venture on deck. The writer’s +room-mate, M. Laborne, a genial and cultivated man of the world, who spoke seven +languages fluently, sat down, and wrote a last letter to his mother, enclosing it +afterwards in a bottle. <q>It will never reach her,</q> said poor Laborne, with tears dimming +his eyes; <q>but it is all I can do.</q> Each tried to comfort the other, and prepare +for the worst. <q>If we are to die, let us die like men,</q> said Adjutant Wright. <q>Come +down in the engine-room,</q> another said, <q>and if we’ve got to die, let’s die +decently.</q> The chief engineer lighted a fire on the iron floor below the boilers, and +it was the only part of the vessel which was at all comfortable. Noble-hearted +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/>Colonel Bulkley spent his time in cheering the men, and reminding them that +the sea has been proved to be an infinitely safer place than the land. No single one +on board really expected to survive. Meantime, the gale was expending its rage +by tearing every sail to ribbons. Rags and streamers fluttered from the yards; there +was not a single piece of canvas intact. The cabins held a wreck of trunks, furniture, +and crockery. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the cabins several boxes of soap, in bars, had been stored. When the gale +commenced to abate, some one ventured into the house on deck, when it was discovered +that it was full of soapsuds, which swashed backwards and forwards through the series +of rooms. The water had washed and rewashed the bars of soap till they were not thicker +than sticks of sealing-wax. +</p><anchor id="figour_pasm"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: OUR <q>PATENT SMOKE-STACK.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_171.jpg" rend="w80"><head>OUR <q>PATENT SMOKE-STACK.</q></head> + <figDesc>OUR <q>PATENT SMOKE-STACK</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +At last, after a week of this horrible weather, morning broke with a sight of the sun, +and moderate wind. There were spare sails on board, and the rudder could be repaired; +but what could be done about the funnel? The engineer’s ingenuity came out conspicuously. +He had one of the usual water-tanks brought on deck, and the two ends knocked out. +Then, setting it up over the boiler, he with pieces of sheet-iron raised this square erection +till it was about nine feet high, and it gave a sufficient draught to the furnaces. +<q>Covert’s Patent Smoke-Stack</q> created a sensation on the safe arrival of the vessel in +San Francisco, and was inspected by hundreds of visitors. The little steamer had ploughed +through 10,000 miles of water that season. She was immediately taken to one of the +wharfs, and entirely remodelled. The sides were slightly raised, and a ward-room and aft-cabin, +handsomely fitted in yacht-fashion, took the place of the house on deck. It was +roofed or decked at top in such a manner that the heaviest seas could wash over the +vessel without doing the slightest injury, and she afterwards made two voyages, going +over a distance of 20,000 miles. Poor old <name type="ship">Wright</name>! She went to the bottom at last, with +all her crew and passengers, some years later, off Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the +Straits of Fuca, and scarcely a vestige of her was ever found. +</p> + +<p> +And now, retracing our steps <hi rend='italic'>en route</hi> for the Australian station, let us call at one +of the most important of England’s settlements, which has been termed the Liverpool of +the East. Singapore consists of an island twenty-five miles long and fifteen or so broad, +lying off the south extremity of Malacca, and having a city of the same name on its +southern side. The surface is very level, the highest elevation being only 520 feet. In +1818, Sir Stamford Raffles found it an island covered with virgin forests and dense jungles, +with a miserable population on its creeks and rivers of fishermen and pirates. It has +now a population of about 100,000, of which Chinese number more than half. In 1819 +the British flag was hoisted over the new settlement; but it took five years on the part +of Mr. Crawford, the diplomatic representative of Great Britain, to negotiate terms with +its then owner, the Sultan of Johore, whereby for a heavy yearly payment it was, with +all the islands within ten miles of the coast, given up with absolute possession to the +Honourable East India Company. Since that period, its history has been one of unexampled +prosperity. It is a free port, the revenue being raised entirely from imports on opium +and spirits. Its prosperity as a commercial port is due to the fact that it is an entrepôt +for the whole trade of the Malayan Archipelago, the Eastern Archipelago, Cochin China, +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/>Siam, and Java. Twelve years ago it exported over sixty-six million rupees’ worth of +gambier, tin, pepper, nutmegs, coffee, tortoise-shell, rare woods, sago, tapioca, camphor, +gutta-percha, and rattans. It is vastly greater now. Exclusive of innumerable native +craft, 1,697 square-rigged vessels entered the port in 1864-5. It has two splendid +harbours, one a sheltered roadstead near the town, with safe anchorage; the other, a +land-locked harbour, three miles from the town, capable of admitting vessels of the +largest draught. Splendid wharfs have been erected by the many steam-ship companies +and merchants, and there are fortifications which command the harbour and roads. +</p> + +<p> +<q>A great deal has been written about the natural beauties of Ceylon and Java,</q> says +Mr. Cameron,<note place="foot"><q>Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India,</q> by John Cameron, Esq.</note> + <q rend="post: none">and some theologians, determined to give the first scene in the Mosaic +narrative a local habitation, have fixed the paradise of unfallen man on one or other of +those noble islands. Nor has their enthusiasm carried them to any ridiculous extreme; +for the beauty of some parts of Java and Ceylon might well accord with the description +given us, or rather which we are accustomed to infer, of that land from which man was +driven on his first great sin.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>I have seen both Ceylon and Java, and admired in no grudging measure their many +charms; but for calm placid loveliness, I should place Singapore high above them both. +It is a loveliness, too, that at once strikes the eye, from whatever point we view the +island, which combines all the advantages of an always beautiful and often imposing +coast-line, with an endless succession of hill and dale stretching inland. The entire +circumference of the island is one panorama, where the magnificent tropical forest, with +its undergrowth of jungle, runs down at one place to the very water’s edge, dipping its +large leaves in the glassy sea, and at another is abruptly broken by a brown rocky cliff, +or a late landslip, over which the jungle has not yet had time to extend itself. Here +and there, too, are scattered little green islands, set like gems on the bosom of the +hushed waters, between which the excursionist, the trader, or the pirate, is wont to steer +his course. <q>Eternal summer gilds these shores;</q> no sooner has the blossom of one tree +passed away, than that of another takes its place and sheds perfume all around. As for +the foliage, that never seems to die. Perfumed isles are in many people’s minds merely +fabled dreams, but they are easy of realisation here. There is scarcely a part of the +island, except those few places where the original forest and jungle have been cleared away, +from which at night-time, on the first breathings of the land winds, may not be felt +those lovely forest perfumes, even at the distance of more than a mile from shore. These +land winds—or, more properly, land airs, for they can scarcely be said to blow, but only +to breathe—usually commence at ten o’clock at night, and continue within an hour or +two of sunrise. They are welcomed by all—by the sailor because they speed him on either +course, and by the wearied resident because of their delicious coolness.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Another writer<note place="foot">J. Thomson, <q>The Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China.</q></note> speaks with the same enthusiasm of the well-kept country roads, and +approaches to the houses of residents, where one may travel for miles through unbroken +avenues of fruit-trees, or beneath an over-arching canopy of evergreen palms. The long +and well-kept approaches to the European dwellings never fail to win the praise of +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/>strangers. <q>In them may be discovered the same lavish profusion of overhanging foliage +which we see around us on every side; besides that, there are often hedges of wild +heliotrope, cropped as square as if built up of stone, and forming compact barriers of +green leaves, which yet blossom with gold and purple flowers.</q> Behind these, broad +bananas nod their bending leaves, while a choice flower-garden, a close-shaven lawn, and +a croquet-ground, are not uncommonly the surroundings of the residence. If it is early +morning, there is an unspeakable charm about the spot. The air is cool, even bracing; +and beneath the shade of forest trees, the rich blossom of orchids are seen depending +from the boughs, while songless birds twitter among the foliage, or beneath shrubs which +the convolvulus has decked with a hundred variegated flowers. Here and there the slender +stem of the aloe, rising from an armoury of spiked leaves, lifts its cone of white bells +on high, or the deep orange pine-apple peeps out from a green belt of fleshy foliage, and +breathes its bright fragrance around. The house will invariably have a spacious verandah, +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/>underneath which flowers in China vases, and easy chairs of all kinds, are placed. + If +perfect peace can steal through the senses into the soul—if it can be distilled like some +subtle ether from all that is beautiful in nature—surely in such an island as this we +shall find that supreme happiness which we all know to be unattainable <anchor id="corr146"/><corr sic='elsewhere."'>elsewhere.</corr> +Alas! even in this bright spot, unalloyed bliss cannot be expected. The temperature is +very high, showing an average in the shade, all the year round, of between 85° and +95° Fahr. Prickly heat, and many other disorders, are caused by it on the European +constitution. +</p><anchor id="figviewinth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: VIEW IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_175.png" rend="w80"><head>VIEW IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.</head> + <figDesc>VIEW IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The old Strait of Singhapura, that lies between the island of Singapore and the +mainland of Johore, is a narrow tortuous passage, for many centuries the only thoroughfare +for ships passing to the eastward of Malacca. Not many years ago, where charming +bungalows, the residences of the merchants, are built among the ever verdant foliage, it +was but the home of hordes of piratical marauders, who carried on their depredations with +a high hand, sometimes adventuring on distant voyages in fleets of forty or fifty prahus. +Indeed, it is stated, in the old Malay annals, that for nearly two hundred years the entire +population of Singapore and the surrounding islands and coasts of Johore subsisted on fishing +and pirating; the former only being resorted to when the prevailing monsoon was too strong +to admit of the successful prosecution of the latter. Single cases of piracy sometimes +occur now; but it has been nearly stopped. Of the numberless vessels and boats which +give life to the waters of the old strait, nearly all have honest work to do—fishing, +timber carrying, or otherwise trading. <q>A very extraordinary flotilla,</q> says Mr. Cameron, +<q>of a rather nondescript character may be often seen in this part of the strait at certain +seasons of the year. These are huge rafts of unsawn, newly-cut timber; they are generally +500 or 600 feet long, and sixty or seventy broad, the logs being skilfully laid together, +and carefully bound by strong rattan-rope, each raft often containing 2,000 logs. They +have always one or two attap-houses built upon them, and carry crews of twenty or +twenty-five men, the married men taking their wives and children with them. The timber +composing them is generally cut many miles away, in some creek or river on the +mainland.</q> They sometimes have sails. They will irresistibly remind the traveller of +those picturesque rafts on the Rhine, on which there are cabins, with the smoke curling +from their stove-pipes, and women, children, and dogs, the men with long sweeps keeping +the valuable floating freight in the current. Many a German, now in England or +America, made his first trip through the Fatherland to its coast on a Rhine raft. +</p> + +<p> +The sailor generally makes his first acquaintance with the island of Singapore by +entering through New Harbour, and the scenery is said to be almost unsurpassed by +anything in the world. The steamer enters between the large island and a cluster of +islets, standing high out of the water with rocky banks, and covered to their summits by +rich green jungle, with here and there a few forest trees towering above it high in the +air. Under the vessel’s keel, too, as she passes slowly over the shoaler patches of the +entrance, may be seen beautiful beds of coral, which, in their variegated colours and +fantastic shapes, vie with the scenery above. The Peninsular and Oriental Steamers’ wharfs +are situated at the head of a small bay, with the island of Pulo Brani in front. They +have a frontage of 1,200 feet, and coal sheds built of brick, and tile-roofed; they often +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/>contain 20,000 tons of coal. Including some premises in Singapore itself, some £70,000 +or £80,000 have been expended on their station—a tolerable proof of the commercial +importance of the place. Two other companies have extensive wharfs also. The passengers +land here, and drive up to the city, a distance of some three miles. Those who remain on +board, and <q>Jack</q> is likely to be of the number, for the first few days after arrival, find +entertainment in the feats of swarms of small Malay boys, who immediately surround +the vessel in toy boats just big enough to float them, and induce the passengers to throw +small coins into the water, for which they dive to the bottom, and generally succeed in +recovering. Almost all the ships visiting Singapore have their bottoms examined, and +some have had as many as twenty or thirty sheets of copper put on by Malay divers. +One man will put on as many as two sheets in an hour, going down a dozen or more +times. There are now extensive docks at and around New Harbour. +</p> + +<p> +On rounding the eastern exit of New Harbour, the shipping and harbour of Singapore +at once burst on the view, with the white walls of the houses, and the dark verdure of +the shrubbery of the town nearly hidden by the network of spars and rigging that +intervenes. The splendid boats of the French Messageries, and our own Peninsular and +Oriental lines, the opium steamers of the great firm of Messrs. Jardine, of China, and +Messrs. Cama, of Bombay; and the beautifully-modelled American or English clippers, +which have taken the place of the box-shaped, heavy-rigged East Indiamen of days of +yore, with men-of-war of all nations, help to make a noble sight. This is only part +of the scene, for <anchor id="corr147"/><corr sic="interspered">interspersed</corr> are huge Chinese junks of all sizes, ranging up to 600 or +700 tons measurement. The sampans, or two-oared Chinese boats, used to convey passengers +ashore, are identical in shape. All have alike the square bow and the broad flat stern, +and from the largest to the smallest, on what in a British vessel would be called her +<q>head-boards,</q> all have two eyes embossed and painted, glaring out over the water. +John Chinaman’s explanation of this custom is, that if <q>no got eyes, no can see.</q> During +the south-west monsoon they are in Singapore by scores, and of all colours, red, green, +black, or yellow; these are said to be the badge of the particular province to which they +belong. Ornamental painting and carving is confined principally to the high stern, which +generally bears some fantastic figuring, conspicuous in which can invariably be traced +the outlines of a spread eagle, not unlike that on an American dollar. Did <q>spread-eagleism</q> +as well as population first reach America from China? +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is difficult,</q> says Mr. Cameron, <q>while looking at these junks, to imagine how +they can manage in a seaway; and yet at times they must encounter the heaviest weather +along the Chinese coast in the northern latitudes. It is true that when they encounter +a gale they generally run before it; but yet in a typhoon this would be of little avail to +ease a ship. There is no doubt they must possess some good qualities, and, probably, +speed, with a fair wind in a smooth sea, is one of them. Not many years ago a boat-builder +in Singapore bought one of the common sampans used by the coolie boatmen, +which are exactly the same shape as the junks, and rigged her like an English cutter, +giving her a false keel, and shifting weather-board, and, strange to say, won with her +every race that he tried.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Passing the junks at night, a strange spectacle may be observed. Amid the beating +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/>of gongs, jangling of bells, and discordant shouts, the nightly religious ceremonies of +the sailors are performed. Lanterns are swinging, torches flaring, and gilt paper burning, +while quantities of food are scattered in +the sea as an offering of their worship. +Many of those junks, could they but +speak, might reveal a story, gentle +reader— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">A tale unfold, whose lightest word</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Would harrow up thy soul.</q></l> +</lg><anchor id="figjunkina"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: JUNKS IN A CHINESE HARBOUR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_178.png" rend="w60"><head>JUNKS IN A CHINESE HARBOUR.</head> + <figDesc>JUNKS IN A CHINESE HARBOUR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The chief trade of not a few has been, +and still is, the traffic of human freight; +and it is, unfortunately, only too lucrative. +Large numbers of junks leave +China for the islands annually packed +with men, picked up, impressed, or +lured on board, and kept there till the +gambier and pepper planters purchase +them, and hurry them off to the interior. +It is not so much that they +usually have to complain of cruelty, +or even an unreasonably long term of +servitude; their real danger is in the +overcrowding of the vessels that bring +them. The men cost nothing, except +a meagre allowance of rice, and the +more the shipper can crowd into his +vessel the greater must be his profit. +<q>It would,</q> says the writer just +quoted, <q>be a better speculation for +the trader whose junk could only carry +properly 300 men, to take on board +600 men, and lose 250 on the way +down, than it would be for him to +start with his legitimate number, and +land them all safely; for in the first +case, he would bring 350 men to +market, and in the other only 300. +That this process of reasoning is +actually put in practice by the Chinese, there was not long ago ample and very +mournful evidence to prove. Two of these junks had arrived in the harbour of +Singapore, and had remained unnoticed for about a week, during which the owners had +bargained for the engagement of most of their cargo. At this time two dead bodies +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/>were found floating in the harbour; an inquest was held, and it then transpired that +one of these two junks on the way down from China had lost 250 men out of 600, and +the other 200 out of 400.</q> +</p><anchor id="figislainth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ISLANDS IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_179.jpg" rend="w100"><head>ISLANDS IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA.</head> + <figDesc>ISLANDS IN THE STRAITS OF MALACCA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The Malay prahus are the craft of the inhabitants of the straits, and are something +like the Chinese junks, though never so large as the largest of the latter, rarely exceeding +fifty or sixty tons burden. They have one mast, a tripod made of three bamboos, two +or three feet apart at the deck, and tapering up to a point at the top. Across two +of the bamboos smaller pieces of the same wood are lashed, making the mast thus act as +a shroud or ladder also. They carry a large lug-sail of coarse grass-cloth, having a yard +both at top and bottom. The curious part of them is the top hamper about the stem. +With the deck three feet out of the water forward, the top of the housing is fifteen or +more feet high. They are steered with two rudders, one on either quarter. In addition +to the ships and native craft, are hundreds of small boats of all descriptions constantly +moving about with fruits, provisions, birds, monkeys, shells, and corals for sale. The sailor +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/>has a splendid chance of securing, on merely nominal terms, the inevitable parrot, a funny +little Jocko, or some lovely corals, of all hues, green, purple, pink, mauve, blue, and in +shape often resembling flowers and shrubbery. A whole boat-load of the latter may be +obtained for a dollar and a half or a couple of dollars. +</p><anchor id="figchinjuat"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CHINESE JUNK AT SINGAPORE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_181.jpg" rend="w80"><head>CHINESE JUNK AT SINGAPORE.</head> + <figDesc>CHINESE JUNK AT SINGAPORE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Singapore has a frontage of three miles, and has fine Government buildings, court-house, +town-hall, clubs, institutes, masonic lodge, theatre, and the grandest English +cathedral in Asia—that of St. Andrew’s. In Commercial Square, the business centre of +Singapore, all nationalities seem to be represented. Here, too, are the Kling gharry-drivers, +having active little ponies and neat conveyances. Jack ashore will be pestered +with their applications. <q>These Klings,</q> says Mr. Thomson, <q>seldom, if ever, resort to +blows; but their language leaves nothing for the most vindictive spirit to desire. Once, +at one of the landing-places, I observed a British tar come ashore for a holiday. He was +forthwith beset by a group of Kling gharry-drivers, and, finding that the strongest of British +words were as nothing when pitted against the Kling vocabulary, and that no half-dozen +of them would stand up like men against his huge iron fists, he seized the nearest man, +and hurled him into the sea. It was the most harmless way of disposing of his enemy, +who swam to a boat, and it left Jack in undisturbed and immediate possession of the +field.</q> The naval officer will find excellent deer-hunting and wild-hog shooting to be had near +the city, and tiger-hunting at a distance. Tigers, indeed, were formerly terribly destructive +of native life on the island; it was said that a man <hi rend='italic'>per diem</hi> was sacrificed. Now, cases +are more rare. For good living, Singapore can hardly be beaten; fruit in particular is +abundant and cheap. Pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, bananas of thirty varieties, mangoes, custard-apples, +and oranges, with many commoner fruits, abound. Then there is the mangosteen, +the delicious <q>apple of the East,</q> thought by many to surpass any fruit in the world, +and the durian, a fruit as big as a boy’s head, with seeds as big as walnuts enclosed in +a pulpy, fruity custard. The taste for this fruit is an acquired one, and is impossible to +describe, while the smell is most disgusting. So great is the longing for it, when once the +taste <hi rend='italic'>is</hi> acquired, that the highest prices are freely offered for it, particularly by some of +the rich natives. A former King of Ava spent enormous sums over it, and could hardly +then satisfy his rapacious appetite. A succeeding monarch kept a special steamer at +Rangoon, and when the supplies came into the city it was loaded up, and dispatched at +once to the capital—500 miles up a river. The smell of the durian is so unpleasant that +the fruit is never seen on the tables of the merchants or planters; it is eaten slily in +corners, and out of doors. +</p><anchor id="figsinglose"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SINGAPORE, LOOKING SEAWARDS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_184.png" rend="w80"><head>SINGAPORE, LOOKING SEAWARDS.</head> + <figDesc>SINGAPORE, LOOKING SEAWARDS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +And Jack ashore will find many other novelties in eating. Roast monkey is obtainable, +although not eaten as much as formerly by the Malays. In the streets of Singapore a +meal of three or four courses can be obtained for three halfpence from travelling <hi rend='italic'>restaurateurs</hi>, +always Chinamen, who carry their little charcoal stoves and soup-pots with them. The +authority principally quoted says that, contrary to received opinion, they are very clean +and particular in their culinary arrangements. One must not, however, too closely examine +the nature of the viands. And now let us proceed to the Australian Station, which includes +New Guinea, Australia proper, and New Zealand. +</p><anchor id="figlookdoon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: LOOKING DOWN ON SINGAPORE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_185.png" rend="w80"><head>LOOKING DOWN ON SINGAPORE.</head> + <figDesc>LOOKING DOWN ON SINGAPORE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +This is a most important colony of Great Britain, although by no means its most +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/>important possession, a country as English as England itself, tempered only by a slight +colonial flavour. Here Jack will find himself at home, whether in the fine streets of +Melbourne, or the older and more pleasant city of Sydney, with its beautiful surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +When the seventeenth century was in its early youth, that vast ocean which stretches +from Asia to the Antarctic was scarcely known by navigators. The coasts of Eastern +Africa, of India, and the archipelago of islands to the eastward, were partially explored; +but while there was a very strong belief that a land existed in the southern hemisphere, +it was an inspiration only based on probabilities. The pilots and map-makers put down, +as well as they were able, the discoveries already made; <hi rend='italic'>must</hi> there not be <hi rend='italic'>some</hi> great +island or continent to balance all that waste of water which they were forced to place +on the southern hemisphere? Terra Australis, <q>the Southern Land,</q> was therefore in a +sense discovered before its discovery, just as the late Sir Roderick Murchison predicted +gold there before Hargreaves found it.<note place="foot">It is stated that an old man, named Macgregor, had long before been in the habit of bringing once a +year to Sydney small pieces of gold, which he always sold to a jeweller there, and also that a convict had +been whipped for having lumps of gold in his possession prior to the above. Hargreaves’ claim rests both on +the actual amount discovered, and on his publishing the fact at once.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the year 1606, Pedro Fernando de Quiros started from Peru on a voyage of +discovery to the westward. He found some important islands, to which he gave the +name <q>Australia del Espiritu Santo,</q> and which are now believed to have been part of +the New Hebrides group. The vessel of his second in command became separated in +consequence of a storm, and by this Luis vas Torres in consequence reached New Guinea +and Australia proper, besides what is now known as Torres Straits, which channel separates +them. The same year a Dutch vessel coasted about the Gulf of Carpentaria, and it is +to the persistent efforts of the navigators of Holland that the Australian coasts became +well explored. From 1616, at intervals, till 1644, they instigated many voyages, the +leading ones of which were the two made by Tasman, in the second of which he +circumnavigated Australia. <q>New Holland</q> was the title long applied to the western +part of Australia—sometimes, indeed, to the whole country. +</p> + +<p> +The voyages of the Dutch had not that glamour of romance which so often attaches +to those of the Spanish and English. They did not meet natives laden with evidences +of the natural wealth of their country, and adorned by barbaric ornaments. On the +contrary, the coasts of Australia did not appear prepossessing, while the natives were +wretched and squalid. Could they have known of its after-destiny, England might not +hold it to-day. When Dampier, sent out by William III. more than fifty years afterwards, +re-discovered the west coast of Australia, he had little to record more than the number +of sharks on the coast, his astonishment at the kangaroos jumping about on shore, and +his disgust for the few natives he met, whom he described as <q>the most unpleasant-looking +and worst-featured of any people</q> he had ever encountered. +</p> + +<p> +Nearly seventy years elapsed before any other noteworthy discovery was made in regard +to Australia. In Captain Cook’s first voyage, in 1768, he explored and partially surveyed +the eastern part of its coasts, and discovered the inlet, to which a considerable notoriety +afterwards clung, which he termed Botany Bay, on account of the luxuriant vegetation +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/>of its shores. Rounding the western side, he proceeded northwards to Torres Straits, near +which, on a small island off the mainland, he took possession of the whole country, +in the name of his sovereign, George III., christening it <hi rend='italic'>New South Wales</hi>. It is still +called <hi rend='italic'>Possession</hi> Island. Captain Cook gave so favourable an account of Botany Bay on +his return, that it was determined at once to form a colony, in which convict labour +should be systematically employed. Accordingly, a fleet of eleven vessels, under Captain +Phillip, left Portsmouth on the 13th of May, 1787, and after a tedious voyage, reached +Botany Bay the following January. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Phillip found the bay was not a safe anchorage, and in other respects was +unsuitable. A few miles to the northward he discovered an inlet, now named Port +Jackson—from the name of the seaman who discovered it—and which had been overlooked +by Cook. The fleet was immediately removed thither, the convicts landed, +and the British flag raised on the banks of Sydney Cove. Of the thousand individuals +who formed this first nucleus of a grand colony, more than three-fourths were convicted +offenders. For some time they were partially dependent on England for supplies. It had +been arranged that they should not, at first, be left without sufficient provisions. The +first ship sent out after the colonists had been landed for this purpose was struck by +an iceberg in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, and might not have been +saved at all, but for the seamanship of the <q>gallant, good Riou,</q> who afterwards lost +his life at the battle of Copenhagen. He managed to keep her afloat, and she was at +length towed into Table Bay, and a portion of her stores saved. Meantime, the colonists +were living <q>in the constant belief that they should one day perish of hunger.</q> +Governor Phillip set a noble example by putting himself on the same rations as the +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/>meanest convict; and when on state occasions he was obliged to invite the officers of +the colony to dine with him at the Government House, he used to intimate to the +guests that <q>they must bring their bread along with them.</q> At last, in June, 1790, +some stores arrived; and in the following year a second fleet of vessels came out from +England, one ship of the Royal Navy and ten transports; 1,763 convicts had left +England on board the latter, of whom nearly 200 died on the voyage, and many more +on arrival. The number of free settlers was then, and long afterwards, naturally very +small; they did not like to be so intimately and inevitably associated with convicted +criminals. In 1810 the total population of Australia was about 10,000. In 1836 it had +risen to 77,000, two-fifths of whom were convicts in actual bondage, while of the +remainder, a large proportion had at one time been in the same condition. Governor +King, one of the earlier officials of the colony, complained that <q>he could not make +farmers out of pickpockets;</q> and Governor Macquarie later said that <q>there were only +two classes of individuals in New South Wales—those who had been convicted, and those +who ought to have been.</q> Under these discouraging circumstances, coupled with all kinds +of other difficulties, the colony made slow headway. Droughts and inundations, famine or +scarcity, and hostility on the part of the natives, helped seriously to retard its progress. +About the period of Sir Thomas Brisbane’s administration, there was an influx of a better +class of colonists, owing to the inauguration of free emigration. In 1841, transportation +to New South Wales ceased. Ten years later the discovery of gold by Mr. E. H. Hargreaves +(on the 12th of February, 1851) caused the first great <q>rush</q> to the colony, +which influx has since continued, partly for better reasons than gold-finding—the grand +chances offered for stock-raising, agricultural, horticultural, and vinicultural pursuits. +</p> + +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> + +<p> +To the north and south of Sydney, the coast is a nearly unbroken range of iron-bound +cliffs. But as a vessel approaches the shore, a narrow entrance, between the two +<q>Heads</q> of Port Jackson, as they are called, discloses itself. It is nowhere greater +than a mile in width, and really does not appear so much, on account of the height of +the cliffs. On entering the harbour a fine sea-lake appears in view, usually blue and calm, +and in one of its charming inlets is situated the city of Sydney. <q>There is not,</q> writes +Professor Hughes, <q>a more thoroughly English town on the face of the globe—not even +in England itself—than this southern emporium of the commerce of nations. Sydney is +entirely wanting in the novel and exotic aspect which belongs to foreign capitals. The +emigrant lands there, and hears his own mother tongue spoken on every side; he looks around +upon the busy life of its crowded streets, and he gazes on scenes exactly similar to those +daily observable in the highways of London, Liverpool, Birmingham, or Manchester.... +<q>Were it not,</q> says Colonel Mundy, <q>for an occasional orange-tree in full bloom, or fruit +in the background of some of the older cottages, or a flock of little green parrots whistling +as they alight for a moment on a house-top, one might fancy himself in Brighton or +Plymouth.</q></q><note place="foot"><q>The Australian Colonies: their Origin and Present Condition.</q></note> Gay equipages crowd its streets, which are lined with handsome shops; +the city abounds in fine public buildings. In the outskirts of the city are flour-mills of +all kinds, worked by horse, water, wind, and steam; great distilleries and breweries, soap +and candle works, tanneries, and woollen-mills, at the latter of which they turn out an +excellent tweed cloth. Ship-building is carried on extensively around Port Jackson. +Although now overshadowed by the commercial superiority of Melbourne, it has the preeminence +as a port. In fact, Melbourne is not a sea-port at all, as we shall see. Vessels +of large burdens can lie alongside the wharves of Sydney, and <q>Jack,</q> in the Royal Navy +at least, is more likely to stop there for awhile, than ever to see Melbourne. He will find it a +cheap place in most respects, for everywhere in New South Wales meat is excessively low-priced; +they used formerly to throw it away, after taking off the hides and boiling out the +fat, but are wiser now, and send it in tins all over the world. Such fruits as the peach, +nectarine, apricot, plum, fig, grape, cherry, and orange are as plentiful as blackberries. +The orangeries and orchards of New South Wales are among its sights; and in the +neighbourhood of Sydney and round Port Jackson there are beautiful groves of orange-trees, +which extend in some places down to the water’s edge. Individual settlers have +groves which yield as many as thirty thousand dozen oranges per annum. One may there +literally <q>sit under his own vine and fig-tree.</q> If a peach-stone is thrown down in almost +any part of Australia where there is a little moisture, a tree will spring up, which in a +few years will yield handsomely. A well-known botanist used formerly to carry with +him, during extensive travels, a small bag of peach-stones to plant in suitable places, and +many a wandering settler has blessed him since. Pigs were formerly often fed on peaches, +as was done in California, a country much resembling Southern Australia; it is only of +late years they have been utilised in both places by drying or otherwise preserving. A +basket-load may be obtained in the Sydney markets during the season for a few pence. +The summer heat of Sydney is about that of Naples, while its winter corresponds with +that of Sicily. +</p> + +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> + +<p> +But are there no drawbacks to all this happy state of things? Well, yes; about the +worst is a hot blast which sometimes blows from the interior, known popularly in Sydney +as a <q>brick-fielder</q> or <q>southerly buster.</q> It is much like that already described, +and neither the most closely-fastened doors nor windows will keep out the fearful dust-storm. +<q>Its effect,</q> says Professor Hughes, <q>is particularly destructive of every sense of +comfort; the dried and dust-besprinkled skin acquiring for the time some resemblance to +parchment, and the hair feeling more like hay than any softer material.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Should Jack or his superior officers land during the heat of autumn, he may have +the opportunity of passing a novel Christmas—very completely un-English. The gayest +and brightest flowers will be in bloom, and the musquitoes out in full force. <q>Sitting,</q> +says a writer, <q>in a thorough draught, clad in a holland blouse, you may see men and +boys dragging from the neighbouring bush piles of green stuff (oak-branches in full leaf +and acorn, and a handsome shrub with a pink flower and pale green leaf—the <q>Christmas</q> +of <anchor id="corr155"/><corr sic="Australia,">Australia)</corr> for the decoration of churches and dwellings, and stopping every fifty yards +to wipe their perspiring brows.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving Sydney, the grand park, called <q>The Domain,</q> which stretches down to +the blue water in the picturesque indentations around Port Jackson, must be mentioned. +It contains several hundred acres, tastefully laid out in drives, and with public walks cut +through the indigenous or planted shrubberies, and amidst the richest woodland scenery, +or winding at the edge of the rocky bluffs or by the margin of the glittering waters. +Adjoining this lovely spot is one of the finest botanic gardens in the world, considered +by all Sydney to be a veritable Eden. +</p> + +<p> +Port Phillip, like Port Jackson, is entered by a narrow passage, and immediately inside +is a magnificent basin, thirty miles across in almost any direction. It is so securely +sheltered that it affords an admirable anchorage for shipping. Otherwise, Melbourne, +now a grand city with a population of about 300,000, would have had little chance of +attaining its great commercial superiority over any city of Australia. Melbourne is +situated about eight miles up the Yarra-Yarra (<q>flowing-flowing</q>) river, which flows into +the head of Port Phillip. That poetically-named, but really lazy, muddy stream is only +navigable for vessels of very small draught. But Melbourne has a fine country to back +it. Many of the old and rich mining-districts were round Port Phillip, or on and about +streams flowing into it. Wheat, maize, potatoes, vegetables and fruits in general, are +greatly cultivated; and the colony of Victoria is pre-eminent for sheep-farming and cattle-runs, +and the industries connected with wool, hides, tallow, and, of late, meat, which they +bring forth. Melbourne itself lies rather low, and its original site, now entirely filled in, +was swampy. Hence came occasional epidemics—dysentery, influenza, and so forth. +</p><anchor id="figtimbwhat"/> +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/><pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: A TIMBER WHARF AT SAN FRANCISCO.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_188.png" rend="w80"><head>A TIMBER WHARF AT SAN FRANCISCO.</head> + <figDesc>A TIMBER WHARF AT SAN FRANCISCO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="X. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="X. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued"/><anchor id="chap10"/> +<head>CHAPTER X.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend="small">THE PACIFIC STATION.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Across the Pacific—Approach to the Golden Gate—The Bay of San Francisco—The City—First Dinner Ashore—Cheap +Luxury—San Francisco by Night—The Land of Gold, Grain, and Grapes—Incidents of the Early Days—Expensive +Papers—A Lucky Sailor—Chances for English Girls—The Baby at the Play—A capital Port for Seamen—Hospitality +of Californians—Victoria, Vancouver Island—The Naval Station at Esquimalt—A Delightful Place—Advice to Intending +Emigrants—British Columbian Indians—Their fine Canoes—Experiences of the Writer—The Island on Fire—The +Chinook Jargon—Indian <q>Pigeon-English</q>—North to Alaska—The Purchase of Russian America by the +United States—Results—Life at Sitka—Grand Volcanoes of the Aleutian Islands—The Great Yukon River—American +Trading Posts round Bering Sea. +</p></argument> + +<p> +A common course for a vessel crossing the Pacific would be from Australia or New +Zealand to San Francisco, California. The mail-steamers follow this route, touching at +the Fiji and Hawaiian groups of islands; and the sailor in the Royal Navy is as likely +to find this route the orders of his commander as any other. If the writer, in describing the +country he knows better than any other, be found somewhat enthusiastic and gushing, he +will at least give reasons for his warmth. On this subject, above all others, he writes +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/><hi rend='italic'>con amore</hi>. He spent over twelve years on the Pacific coasts of America, and out of that +time about seven in the Golden State, California. +</p> + +<p> +It has been said, <q>See Naples, and die!</q> The reader is recommended to see the +glorious Bay of San Francisco before he makes up his mind that there is nought else +worthy of note, because he has sailed on the blue waters of the most beautiful of the +Mediterranean bays. How well does the writer remember his first sight of the Golden +Gate, as the entrance to San Francisco Bay is poetically named! The good steamer on which +he had spent some seventy-five days—which had passed over nearly the entire Atlantic, +weathered the Horn, and then, with the favouring <q>trade-winds,</q> had sailed and steamed +up the Pacific with one grand sweep to California, out of sight of land the whole +time—was sadly in want of coals when she arrived off that coast, which a dense fog entirely +hid from view. The engines were kept going slowly by means of any stray wood +on board; valuable spars were sacrificed, and it was even proposed to strip the woodwork +out of the steerage, which contained about two hundred men, women, and children. Guns +and rockets were fired, but at first with no result, and the prospect was not cheering. +But at last the welcome little pilot-boat loomed through the fog, and was soon alongside, +and a healthy, jovial-looking pilot came aboard. <q>You can all have a good dinner to-night +ashore,</q> said that excellent seaman to the passengers, <q>and the sea shan’t rob you of it.</q> +The fog lifted as the vessel slowly steamed onwards. +</p> + +<p> +On approaching the entrance to the bay, on the right cliffs and rocks are seen, with +a splendid beach, where carriages and buggies are constantly passing and repassing. On +the top of a rocky bluff, the Seal Rock or <q>Cliff</q> House, a popular hotel; below it, in +the sea, a couple or so of rocky islets covered with sea-lions, which are protected by a +law of the State. To the left, outside some miles, the Farralone Islands, with a capital +lighthouse perched on the top of one of them. Entering the Golden Gate, and looking +to the right again, the Fort Point Barracks and the outskirts of the city; to the left the +many-coloured headlands and cliffs, on whose summits the wild oats are pale and golden +in the bright sunlight. Before one, several islands—Alcatraz, bristling with guns, and +covered with fortifications; Goat Island, presumably so called because on it there are no goats. +Beyond, fifty miles of green water, and a forest of shipping; and a city, the history of +which has no parallel on earth. Hills behind, with streets as steep as those of Malta; high +land, with spires, and towers, and fine edifices innumerable; and great wharves, and slips, +and docks in front of all; with steamships and steam ferry-boats constantly arriving and +departing. And now the vessel anchors in the stream, and if not caring to haggle over +the half-dollar—a large sum in English ears—which the boatman demands from each +passenger who wishes to go ashore, the traveller finds himself in a strange land, and +amid a people of whom he will learn to form the very highest estimate. +</p> + +<p> +That first dinner, after the eternal bean-coffee, boiled tea, tinned meats, dried vegetables, +and <q>salt horse</q> of one’s ship, in a neat <hi rend='italic'>restaurant</hi>, where it seems everything on earth +can be obtained, will surprise most visitors. An irreproachable <hi rend='italic'>potage</hi>: broiled salmon (the +fish is a drug, almost, on the Pacific coasts); turtle steaks, oyster plant, artichokes, and +green corn; a California quail <q>on toast;</q> grand muscatel grapes, green figs, and a +cooling slice of melon; Roquefort cheese, or a very good imitation of it; black coffee, and +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/>cigars; native wine on the table; California cognac on demand; service excellent—napkins, +hot plates, flowers on the table; price moderate for the luxuries obtained, and <hi rend='italic'>no waiter’s +fees</hi>. The visitor will mentally forgive the boatman of the morning. Has he arrived in +the Promised Land, in the Paradise of <hi rend='italic'>bon vivants</hi>? It seems so. In the evening, he may +take a stroll up Montgomery Street, and a good seat at a creditably performed opera may be +obtained. Nobody knows better than the sailor and the traveller the splendid luxury of +such moments, after a two or three months’ monotonous voyage. And, in good sooth, +he generally abandons himself to it. He has earned it, and who shall say him nay? +The same evening may be, he will go to a 300-roomed hotel—they have now one of +750 rooms—where, for three dollars (12s. 6d.), he can sup, sleep, breakfast, and dine +sumptuously. He will be answered twenty questions for nothing by a civil clerk in the +office of the hotel, read the papers for nothing in the reading-room, have a bath—for +nothing—and find that it is not the thing to give fees to the waiters. It is a new +revelation to many who have stopped before in dozens of first-class English and Continental +houses. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Seen,</q> says Mr. W. F. Rae,<note place="foot">In his work <q>Westward by Rail,</q> which contains a most reliable account of California, its history and progress.</note> <q>as I saw it for the first time, the appearance of +San Francisco is enchanting. Built on a hill-slope, up which many streets run to +the top, and illumined as many of these streets were with innumerable gas-lamps, the +effect was that of a huge dome ablaze with lamps arranged in lines and circles. Those +who have stood in Princes Street at night, and gazed upon the Old Town and Castle of +Edinburgh, can form a very correct notion of the fairy-like spectacle. Expecting to find +San Francisco a city of wonders, I was not disappointed when it seemed to my eyes a +city of magic—such a city as Aladdin might have ordered the genii to create in order to +astonish and dazzle the spectator. I was warned by those whom personal experience of +the city had taught to distinguish glitter from substance, not to expect that the reality +of the morrow would fulfil the promise of the evening. Some of the parts which now +appeared the most fascinating were said to be the least attractive when viewed by day. +Still, the panorama was deprived of none of its glories by these whispers of well-meant +warning.</q> The present writer has crossed the Bay in the ferry and other boats a hundred +times, and on a fine night—and they have about nine months of fine nights in California—he +never missed the opportunity of going forward towards the bows of the boat when +it approached San Francisco. As Mr. Rae writes, <q>The full-orbed stars twinkling overhead +are almost rivalled by the myriads of gas-lights illuminating the land.</q> Less than thirty +years ago this city of 300,000 souls was but a mission-village, and the few inhabitants +of California were mostly demoralised Mexicans, lazy half-breeds, and wretched Indians, +who could almost live without work, and, as a rule, did so. Wild cattle roamed at will, +and meat was to be had for the asking. The only ships which arrived were like the brig +<name type="ship">Pilgrim</name>, described by Dana in <q>Two Years before the Mast,</q> bound to California for hides +and tallow. Now, the tonnage of the shipping of all nations which enters the port of +San Francisco is enormous. The discovery made by Marshall, in 1847, <hi rend='italic'>first</hi> brought +about the revolution. <q>Such is the power of gold.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Now</hi>, California depends far +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/>more on her corn, and wool, and hides, her wine, her grapes, oranges, and other fruits, +and on innumerable industries. Reader, you have eaten bread made from California wheat—it +fetches a high price in Liverpool on account of its fine quality; you may have been clothed +in California wool, and your boots made of her leather; more than likely you have drunk +California wine, of which large quantities are shipped to Hamburgh, where they are watered +and doctored for the rest of Europe, and exported under French and German names; your +head may have been shampooed with California borax; and your watch-chain was probably, +and some of your coin assuredly, made from the gold of the Golden State. +</p> + +<p> +This is not a book on <q>The Land,</q> but two or three stories of Californian life in +the early days may, however, be forgiven. The first is of a man who had just landed +from a ship, and who offered a somewhat seedy-looking customer, lounging on the wharf, +a dollar to carry his portmanteau. He got the reply, <q>I’ll give you an ounce of +gold to see you carry it yourself.</q> The new arrival thought he had come to a splendid +country, and shouldered his burden like a man, when the other, a successful gold-finder, +not merely gave him his ounce—little less than £4 sterling—but treated him to a +bottle of champagne, which cost another ounce. The writer can well believe the story, for +he paid two and a half dollars—nearly half a guinea—for an <hi rend='italic'>Illustrated London News</hi>, +and two dollars for a copy of <hi rend='italic'>Punch</hi>, in the Cariboo mines, in 1863; while a friend—now +retired on a competency in England—started a little weekly newspaper, the size of a +sheet of foolscap, selling it for one dollar (4s. 2d.) per copy. He was fortunately not merely +a competent writer, but a practical printer. He composed his articles on paper first, and +then in type; worked the press, delivered them to his subscribers, collected advertisements and +payments, and no doubt would have made his own paper—if rags had not been too +costly! +</p> + +<p> +A sailor purchased, about the year 1849, in an auction-room, while out on a <q>spree,</q> +the lots of land on which the Plaza, one of the most important business squares of San +Francisco, now stands. He went off again, and after several years cruising about the world, +returned to find himself a millionaire. The City Hall stands on that property; it is +surrounded by offices, shops, and hotels, and very prettily planted with shrubs, grass-plots, +and flowers. +</p> + +<p> +There was a period when females were so scarce in California that the miners and farm-hands, +ay, and farmers and proprietors too—a large number of these were old sailors—would +travel any distance merely to see +one.<note place="foot">At the Cariboo mines, British Columbia, in 1863, there were 7,000 men on the various + <anchor id="corr159"/><corr sic="creeks,">creeks.</corr> There were +not over a dozen women there!</note> At this present time any decent English housemaid +receives twenty dollars (£4) per month, and is <q>found,</q> while a superior servant, a first-class +cook, or competent housekeeper, gets anything from thirty dollars upwards. +</p> + +<p> +Theatres at San Francisco were once rude buildings of boards and canvas, and the +stalls were benches. A story is told that at a performance at such a house quite a +commotion was caused by the piercing squall of a healthy baby—brought in by a mother +who, perhaps, had not had any amusement for a year or two, and most assuredly had no +servant with whom to leave it at home—which was heard above the music. <q>Here, you +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/>fiddlers,</q> roared out a stalwart man in a red shirt and <q>gum</q> boots, just down from the +mines, <q>stop that tune; I haven’t heard a baby cry for several years; it does me good to hear +it.</q> The <q>one touch of nature</q> made that rough audience akin, and all rose to their feet, +cheering the baby, and insisting that the orchestra must stop, and stop it did until the child +was quieted. Then a collection was made—not of coppers and small silver, but of ounces +and dollars—to present the child with something handsome as a souvenir of its success. +</p><anchor id="figbay_ofsa"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_192.png" rend="w80"><head>THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO.</head> + <figDesc>THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +San Francisco, as the most important commercial emporium and port of the whole +Pacific, has a particular interest to the <q>man of the sea.</q> It has societies, <q>homes,</q> and +bethels for his benefit, and a fine marine hospital. At the Merchants’ Exchange he will +find the latest shipping-news and quotations, while many public institutions are open to +him, as to all others. Above all, he will find one of the most conscientious and kind, as +well as influential, of British Consuls there—and how often the sailor abroad may need his +interference, only the sailor and merchant knows—who is also one of the oldest in +H.B.M. consular service. No matter his sect, it is represented; San Francisco is full of +churches and chapels. If he needs instruction and literary entertainment, he will get it at the +splendid Mercantile Library, or admirably-conducted Mechanics’ Institute. There is a capital +<q>Art Association,</q> with hundreds of members. He will find journalism of a new type: +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/><q>live,</q> vigorous, generous, and semi-occasionally vicious. The papers of San Francisco will, +however, compare favourably with those of any other American city, short of New York +and Boston. The sailor will find the city as advanced in all matters pertaining to modern +civilisation, whether good or bad, as any he has ever visited. The naval officer will +find admirable clubs, and if of the Royal Navy will most assuredly be put on the books +of one or more of them for the period of his stay. He will find, too, that San Francisco +hospitality is unbounded, that balls and parties are nowhere better carried out, and that the +rising generation of California girls are extremely good-looking, and that the men are +stalwart, fine-looking fellows, very unlike the typical bony Yankee, who, by-the-by, is +getting very scarce even in his own part of the country, the New England States. +</p> + +<p> +If Jack has been to China, he will recognise the truth of the fact that parts of San +Francisco are Chinese as Hong Kong itself. There are Joss-houses, with a big, stolid-looking +idol sitting in state, the temple gay with tinsel and china, metal-work and paint, +smelling faintly of incense, and strongly of burnt paper. There are Chinese <hi rend='italic'>restaurants</hi> +by the dozen, from the high-class dining-rooms, with balconies, flowers, small banners +and inscriptions, down to the itinerant <hi rend='italic'>restaurateur</hi> with his charcoal-stove and soup-pot. +Then there are Chinese theatres, smelling strongly of opium and tobacco, where the +orchestra sits at the back of the stage, which is curtainless and devoid of scenery. The +dresses of the performers are gorgeous in the extreme. When any new arrangement of +properties, &c., is required on the stage, the changes are made before your eyes; as, for +example, placing a table to represent a raised balcony, or piling up some boxes to form a +castle, and so forth. Their dramas are often almost interminable, for they take the reign +of an emperor, for example, and play it through, night after night, from his birth to his +death. In details they are very literal, and hold <q>the mirror up to nature</q> fully. If +the said emperor had special vices, they are displayed on the stage. The music is, to +European ears, fearful and wonderful—a mixture of discordant sounds, resembling those +of ungreased cart-wheels and railway-whistles, mingled with the rolling of drums +and striking of gongs. Some of the streets are lined with Chinese shops, ranging from +those of the merchants in tea, silks, porcelain, and lacquered ware—a dignified and polite +class of men, who are often highly educated, and speak English extremely well—to those +of the cigar-makers, barbers, shoemakers, and laundry-<hi rend='italic'>men</hi>. Half the laundry-work in +San Francisco is performed by John Chinaman. There is one Chinese hotel or caravanserai, +which looks as though it might at a stretch accommodate two hundred people, in +which 1,200 men are packed. +</p> + +<p> +The historian of the future will watch with interest the advancing or receding waves +of population as they move over the surface of the globe, now surging in great waves of +resistless force, now peacefully subsiding, leaving hardly a trace behind. The Pacific Mail +Steamship Company’s steamers have brought from China to San Francisco as many as +1,200 Chinamen—and, very occasionally, of course, more than that number—on a single trip. +The lowest estimate of the number of Chinese in California is 70,000, while they are +spread all over the Pacific states and territories, and, indeed, in lesser numbers, all over +the American continent. One finds them in New England factories, New York laundries, +and Southern plantations. Their reception in San Francisco used to be with brickbats and +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/>other missiles, and hooting and jeering, on the part of the lower classes of the community. +This is not the place to enter into a discussion on the political side of the question. Suffice +it to say that they were and still are a necessity in California, where the expense of reaching +the country has kept out <q>white</q> labour to an extent so considerable, that it still +rules higher than in almost any part of the world. The respectable middle classes would +hardly afford servants at all were it not for the Chinese. All the better classes support +their claims to full legal and social rights. The Chinamen who come to San Francisco +are not coolies, and a large number of them pay their own passages over. When brought +over by merchants, or one of the six great Chinese companies, their passage-money is +advanced, and they, of course, pay interest for the accommodation. On arrival in California, +if they do not immediately go to work, they proceed to the <q>Company-house</q> of +their particular province, where, in a kind of caravanserai, rough accommodations for +sleeping and cooking are afforded. Hardly a better system of organisation could be +adopted than that of the companies, who know exactly where each man in their debt is +to be found, if he is hundreds of miles from San Francisco. Were it possible to adopt +the same system in regard to emigrants from this country, thousands would be glad to +avail themselves of the opportunity of proceeding to the Golden State. +</p> + +<p> +One little anecdote, and the Chinese must be left to their fate. It happened in +1869. Two Chinese merchants had been invited by one of the heads of a leading +steamship company to visit the theatre, where they had taken a box. The merchants, +men of high standing among their countrymen, accepted. Their appearance in front +of it was the signal for an outburst of ruffianism on the part of the gallery; it was +the <q>gods</q> <hi rend='italic'>versus</hi> the celestials, and for a time the former had it all their own way. +In vain Lawrence Barrett, the actor, came forward on the stage to try and appease +them. He is supposed to have said that any well-conducted person had a right to his seat +in the house. An excited gentleman in the dress-circle reiterated the same ideas, and was +rewarded by a torrent of hisses and caterwauling. The Chinamen, alarmed that it might +result in violence to them, would have retired, but a dozen gentlemen from the dress-circle +and orchestra seats requested them to stay, promising them protection, and the +merchants remained. They could see that all the better and more respectable part of the +house wished them to remain. After twenty or more minutes of interruption, the gallery +was nearly cleared by the police, and the performance allowed to proceed. And yet the +very class who are so opposed to the Caucasian complain that he does not spend his money +in the country where he makes it, but hoards it up for China. The story explains the +actual position of the Chinaman in America to-day. The upper and middle classes, ay, +and the honest mechanics who require their assistance, support their claims; the lowest +scum of the population persecute, injure, and not unfrequently murder them. Many a +poor John Chinaman has, as they say in America, been <q>found missing.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The sailor ashore in San Francisco may likely enough have an opportunity of feeling +the tremor of an earthquake. As a rule, they have been exceedingly slight, but that of +the 21st October, 1868, was a serious affair. Towers and steeples swayed to and fro: tall +houses trembled, badly-built wooden houses became disjointed; walls fell. Many buildings, +for some time afterwards, showed the effects in cracked walls and plastering, dislocated +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/>doors and window-frames. A writer in the <hi rend='italic'>Overland Monthly</hi>, soon after the event, put +the matter forcibly when recalling the great earthquake of Lisbon. He said, <q>Over the +parts of the city where ships anchored twenty years ago, they may anchor again,</q> for +the worst effects were confined to the <q>made</q> ground—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, land reclaimed from the +Bay. Dwellings on the rocky hills were scarcely injured at all, reminding us of the +relative fates of the man <q>who built his house upon a rock</q> and of him who placed +it on the sand. Four persons only were killed on that occasion, all of them from the +fall of badly-constructed walls, loose parapets, &c. The alarm in the city was great; +excited people rushing wildly through the streets, and frightened horses running through +the crowds. +</p> + +<p> +California possesses other ports of importance, but as regards English naval interests +in the Pacific, Esquimalt, Vancouver Island, B.C., which has a fine land-locked harbour of +deep water, dock, and naval hospital, deserves the notice of the reader. It is often the +rendezvous for seven or eight of H.M.’s vessels, from the admiral’s flag-ship to the tiniest +steam gun-boat. Victoria, the capital, is three miles off, and has a pretty little harbour +itself, not, however, adapted for large vessels. Formerly the colonies of Vancouver Island +and British Columbia, the mainland, were separate and distinct colonies; they are now +identified under the latter name. Their value never warranted the full paraphernalia of a +double colonial government—two governors, colonial secretaries, treasurers, attorney-generals, +&c., &c.; for these countries, charming and interesting to the tourist and artist, will only +attract population slowly. The resources of British Columbia in gold, timber, coal, fisheries, +&c., are considerable; but the long winters on the mainland, and the small quantity of +open land, are great drawbacks. Approaching Vancouver Island from the sea, the <q>inside +channel</q> is entered through the grand opening to the Straits of Fuca, which Cook missed +and Vancouver discovered. To the eastward are the rocks and light of Cape Flattery, +while the rather low termination of Vancouver Island, thick with timber, is seen to the +westward. The scene in the Straits is often lively with steamers and shipping, great men-of-war, +sometimes of foreign nationalities; coast packet-boats proceeding not merely to +Vancouver Island, but to the ports of Washington Territory, on the American side; timber +(called <q>lumber</q> always on that side of the world) vessels; colliers proceeding to Nanaimo +or Bellingham Bay to the coal-mines; coasting and trading schooners; and Indian canoes, +some of them big enough to accommodate sixty or more persons, and carrying a good +amount of sail. The Straits have many beauties; and as, approaching the entrance of +Esquimalt Harbour, the Olympian range of mountains, snow-covered and rugged, loom +in the distance, the scene is grandly beautiful; while in the channel, rocky islets and +islands, covered with pine and arbutus, abound. Outside the Straits two lighthouses are +placed, to warn the unwary voyager by night. Often those lighthouses may be noted +apparently upside down! Mirage is common enough in the Straits of Fuca. +</p> + +<p> +Victoria, in 1862, had at least 12,000 or 15,000 people, mostly drawn thither by +the fame of the Cariboo mines, on the mainland of British Columbia. Not twenty per +cent. ever reached those mines. When ships arrived in the autumn, it was utterly +useless to attempt the long journey of about 600 miles, partly by steamer, but two-thirds +of which must be accomplished on foot or horseback, or often mule-back, over +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/>rugged mountain-paths, through swamps and forests. Consequently, a large number had +to spend the winter in idleness; and in the spring, in many cases, their resources were +exhausted. Many became tired of the colony; <q>roughing it</q> was not always the +pleasant kind of thing they had imagined, and so they went down to California, or left +for home. Others were stuck fast in the colony, and many suffered severe privations; +although, so long as they could manage to live on salmon alone, they could obtain +plenty from the Indians, who hawked it about the streets for a shilling or two shillings +apiece—the latter for a very large fish. The son of a baronet at one time might be +seen breaking stones for a living in Victoria; and unless men had a very distinct +calling, profession, or trade, they had to live on their means or have a very rough +time of it. +</p> + +<p> +These remarks are not made to deter adventurous spirits from going abroad; but we +would advise them to <q>look well before they leap.</q> But how utterly unfitted for mining-work +were the larger part of the young men who had travelled so far, only to be disappointed. +There was no doubt of the gold being there: two hundred ounces of the precious metal +have been <q>washed out</q> in an eight hours’ <q>shift</q> (a <q>shift</q> is the same as a <q>watch</q> +on board ship); and this was kept up for many days in succession, the miners working day and +night. But that mine had been three years in process of development, and only one of the +original proprietors was among the lucky number of shareholders. A day or so before the +first gold had been found—<q>struck</q> is the technical expression—his credit was exhausted, +and he had begged vainly for flour, &c., to enable him to live and work. The ordinary +price of a very ordinary meal was <hi rend='italic'>two dollars</hi>; and it will be seen that, unless employed, +or simply travelling for pleasure, it was a ruinous place to stop in. Fancy, then, the +condition of perhaps as many as 4,000 unemployed men, out of a total of 7,000 men, on +the various creeks, a good half of whom were of the middle and upper classes at home. +But for one happy fact, that beef—which, as the miners said, <hi rend='italic'>packed itself</hi> into the mines +(in other words, the cattle were driven in from a distance of hundreds of miles)—was +reasonably cheap, hundreds of them must have starved. Everything—from flour, tea, +sugar, bacon, and beans, to metal implements and machinery—had to be packed there on +the backs of mules, and cost from fifty cents and upwards per pound for the mere cost of +transportation. Tea was ten shillings a pound, flour and sugar a dollar a pound, and so on. +Those who fancy that gold-mining, and especially deep gravel-mining, as in Cariboo, is +play-work, may be told that it is perhaps the hardest, as it is certainly the most risky +and uncertain, work in the world; and that it requires machinery, expensive tools, &c., +which, in places like Cariboo, cost enormous sums to supply. If labour was to be employed—good +practical miners, carpenters, &c. (much of the machinery was of wood)—received, +at that period, ten to sixteen dollars per day. This digression may be pardoned, as the +sea is so intimately bound up with questions of emigration. Apart from this, from +personal observation, the writer knows that quite a proportion of miners have been sailors, +and, in many cases, deserted their ships. In the <q>early days</q> of Australia, California, +and British Columbia, this was eminently the case. +</p> + +<p> +A large proportion of the sailors in the Royal Navy have, or will at some period, +pass some time on the Pacific station, in which case, they will inevitably go to Vancouver +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/>Island, where there is much to interest them.<note place="foot">Excepting at San Francisco, the only docks worthy of the name on the <hi rend='italic'>whole</hi> Pacific coasts of America +are those of England’s naval station at Esquimalt.</note> They will find Victoria a very pretty little +town, with Government house, cathedral, churches and chapels, a mechanics’ institute, a +theatre, good hotels and restaurants—the latter generally in French hands. He will find +a curious mixture of English and American manners and customs, and a very curious +mixture of coinage—shillings being the same as quarter-dollars, while crowns are only +the value of dollars (5s., against 4s. 2d.). Some years ago the island system was +different from that of the mainland; on the latter, florins were equal to half-dollars +(which they are, nearly), while on the island they were 37½ cents only (1s. 7½d.). The +Hudson’s Bay Company, which has trading-posts throughout British Columbia, took +advantage of the fact to give change for American money, on their steamers, in English +florins, obtaining them on the island. They thus made nearly twenty-five per cent. in their +transaction, besides getting paid the passenger’s fare. Yet the traveller, strange to say, +did not lose by this, for, on landing at New Westminster, he found that what was rated +at a little over eighteenpence on Vancouver Island, had suddenly, after travelling only +seventy miles or so, increased in value to upwards of two shillings! +</p><anchor id="figbritcasa"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE BRITISH CAMP: SAN JUAN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_197.png" rend="w80"><head>THE BRITISH CAMP: SAN JUAN.</head> + <figDesc>THE BRITISH CAMP: SAN JUAN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Outside Victoria there are many pleasant drives and walks: to <q>The Arm,</q> where, +amid a charming landscape, interspersed with pines and natural fir woods, wild flowers, and +mossy rocks, there is a pretty little rapid, or fall; to Saanich, where the settlers’ homesteads +have a semi-civilised appearance, half of the houses being of squared logs, but +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/>comfortable withal inside, and where a rude plenty reigns; or to Beacon Hill, where there +is an excellent race-course and drive, which commands fine views up and down the +Straits. In sight is San Juan Island, over which England and America once squabbled, +while the two garrisons which occupied it fraternised cordially, and outvied with each +other in hospitality. The island—rocky, and covered with forest and underbrush, with a +farm or two, made by clearing away the big trees, with not a little difficulty, and burning +and partially uprooting the stumps—does not look a worthy subject for international +differences. But the fact is, that it commands the Straits to some extent. However, all +that is over now, and it is England’s property by diplomatic arrangement. There are +other islands, nearly as large, in the archipelago which stretches northward up the Gulf +of Georgia, which have not a single human inhabitant, and have never been visited, except +by some stray Indians, miners, or traders who have gone ashore to cook a meal or camp +for the night. +</p> + +<p> +Any one who has travelled by small canoes on the sea must remember those happy +camping-times, when, often wet, and always hungry and tired, the little party cautiously +selected some sheltered nook or specially good beach, and then paddled with a will ashore. +No lack of drift-wood or small trees on that coast, and no lord of the manor to interfere +with one taking it. A glorious fire is soon raised, and the cooking preparations commenced. +Sometimes it is only the stereotyped tea—frying-pan bread (something like the Australian +<q>damper,</q> only baked before the fire), or <q>slapjacks</q> (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, flour-and-water pancakes), fried +bacon, and boiled Chili beans; but ofttimes it can be varied by excellent fish, game, bear-meat, +venison, or moose-meat, purchased from some passing Indians, or killed by themselves. +It is absurd to suppose that <q>roughing it</q> need mean hardship and semi-starvation all the +time. Not a bit of it! On the northern coasts now being described, one may often live +magnificently, and most travellers learn instinctively to cook, and make the most of things. +Nothing is finer in camp than a <hi rend='italic'>roast</hi> fish—say a salmon—split and gutted, and stuck on a +stick before the fire, not over it. A few dozen turns, and you have a dish worthy of a prince. +Or a composition stew—say of deer and bear-meat and beaver’s tail, well seasoned, and +with such vegetables as you may obtain there; potatoes from some seaside farm—and there +are such on that coast, where the settler is as brown as his Indian wife—or compressed +vegetables, often taken on exploring expeditions. Or, again, venison dipped in a thick +batter and thrown into a pan of boiling-hot fat, making a kind of meat fritter, with not a +drop of its juices wasted. Some of these explorers and miners are veritable <hi rend='italic'>chefs</hi>. They +can make good light bread in the woods from plain flour, water, and salt, and ask no +oven but a frying-pan. They will make beans, of a kind only given to horses at home, +into a delicious dish, by boiling them soft—a long job, generally done at the night +camp—and then frying them with bread-crumbs and pieces of bacon in the morning, till they +are brown and crisp. +</p> + +<p> +It was at one of these camps, on an island in the Gulf of Georgia, that a camp fire +spread to some grass and underbrush, mounted with lightning rapidity a steep slope, and +in a few minutes the forest at the top was ablaze. The whole island was soon in flames! +For hours afterwards the flames and smoke could be seen. No harm was done; for it is +extremely unlikely that island will be inhabited for the next five hundred years. But +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/>forest fires in partially inhabited districts are more serious, or when near trails or roads. +In the long summer of Vancouver Island, where rain, as in California, is almost unknown, +these fires, once started, may burn for weeks—ay, months. +</p> + +<p> +The Indians of this part of the coast, of dozens of petty tribes, all speaking different +languages, or, at all events, varied dialects, are not usually prepossessing in appearance, but +the male half-breeds are often fine-looking fellows, and the girls pretty. The sailor will +be interested in their cedar canoes, which on Vancouver Island are beautifully modelled. A +first-class clipper has not more graceful lines. They are always cut from one log, and are +finely and smoothly finished, being usually painted black outside, and finished with +red ornamental work within. They are very light and buoyant, and will carry great +weights; but one must be careful to avoid rocks on the coast, or <q>snags</q> in the +rivers, for any sudden concussion will split them all to pieces. When on the +Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition, a party of men found themselves suddenly +deposited in a swift-running stream, from the canoe having almost parted in half, +after touching on a sunken rock or log. All got to shore safely, and it took +about half a day of patching and caulking to make her sufficiently river-worthy +(why not say <q>river-worthy</q> as well as <q>sea-worthy?</q>) to enable them to reach +camp. The writer, in 1864, came down from the extreme end of Bute Inlet—an +arm of the sea on the mainland of British Columbia—across the Gulf of Georgia (twenty +miles of open sea), coasting southwards to Victoria, V.I., the total voyage being 180 +miles, in an open cedar canoe, only large enough for four or five people. The trip occupied +five days. But while there is some risk in such an undertaking, there is little in a +voyage in the great Haidah canoes of Queen Charlotte’s Island (north of Vancouver Island). +These canoes are often eighty feet long, but are still always made from a single log, the +splendid pines of that coast<note place="foot">Douglas pines have been measured in British Columbia which were <hi rend='italic'>forty-eight</hi> feet in circumference at their +base, and therefore about sixteen feet through. These magnificent trees are only second in size to the <q>Big +Trees</q> of California.</note> affording ample opportunity. They have masts, and carry +as much sail as a schooner, while they can be propelled by, say, forty or fifty paddles, +half on either side, wielded by as many pairs of brawny arms. The savage Haidahs are +a powerful race, of whom not much is known. They, however, often come to Victoria, or +the American ports on Puget Sound, for purposes of trading. +</p> + +<p> +<q>How,</q> it might be asked, <q>does the trade communicate with so many varieties of +natives, all speaking different tongues?</q> The answer is that there is a jargon, a kind of +<q>pigeon-English,</q> which is acquired, more or less, by almost all residents on the coast for +purposes of intercourse with their Indian servants or others. This is the Chinook jargon, a +mixture of Indian, English, and French—the latter coming from the French Canadian +<hi rend='italic'>voyageurs</hi>, often to be found in the employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company, as they were +formerly in the defunct North-West Company. Some of the words used have curious +origins. Thus, an Englishman is a <q>King-George-man,</q> because the first explorers, Cook, +Vancouver, and others, arrived there during the Georgian era. An American is a +<q>Boston-man,</q> because the first ships from the United States which visited that coast +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/>hailed from Boston. This lingo has no grammar, and a very few hundred words satisfies +all its requirements. Young ladies, daughters of Hudson’s Bay Company’s employés +in Victoria, rattle it off as though it were their mother-tongue. <q>Ikte mika tikkee?</q> +(<q>What do you want?</q>) is probably the first query to an Indian who arrives, and has +something to sell. <q>Nika tikkee tabac et la biscuit</q> (<q>I want some tobacco and biscuit</q>). +<q>Cleush; mika potlatch salmon?</q> (<q>Good; will you give me a salmon?</q>). <q>Naāāāwitka, +Se-ām</q> (<q>Yes, sir</q>); and for a small piece of black cake-tobacco and two or three +biscuits (sailors’ <q>hard bread</q> or <q>hard tack</q>) he will exchange a thirty-pound or so +salmon. +</p> + +<p> +The Chinook jargon, in skilful hands, is susceptible of much. But it is not adapted +for sentiment or poetry, although a naval officer, once stationed on the Pacific side, did +evolve an effusion, which the sailor is almost sure to hear there. It needed, however, a fair +amount of English to make it read pleasantly. Old residents and visitors will recognise +some of its stanzas:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Oh! be not quass of nika;</q></l> +<l>Thy seahoose turn on me;</l> +<l>For thou must but hyas cumtux,</l> +<l>That I hyas tikkee thee!</l> +<l>Nika potlatch hyu ictas;</l> +<l>Nika makook sappalell</l> +<l>Of persicees and la biscuit,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">I will give thee all thy fill!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +which, addressed to a <q>sweet Klootchman,</q> a <q>forest maiden,</q> means, that loving her so +much, all that he had was hers. Much greater absurdities have been put in plain English. +</p> + +<p> +A bishop of British Columbia was, however, hardly so successful; not being himself +a student of Chinook, the entire vocabulary of which would have taken him rather less time +to learn than the barest elements of Latin, he engaged an interpreter, through whom to +address the Indians. The latter was perfectly competent to say all that <hi rend='italic'>can</hi> be said in +Chinook, but was rather nonplussed when his lordship commenced his address by <q>Children +of the forest!</q> He scratched his head and looked at the bishop, who, however, was +determined, and commenced once more, <q>Children of the forest!</q> The interpreter knew +that it must make nonsense, but he was cornered, and had to do it. And this is what he +said: <q>Tenass man copa stick!</q>—literally, <q>Little men among the stumps</q> (or trunks +of trees). The writer will not comment upon the subject here, more than to say that +Chinook is <hi rend='italic'>not</hi> adapted for the translation of Milton or Shakespeare; while the simplest +story or parable of the Scriptures must be unintelligible, or worse, when attempted in that +jargon. +</p> + +<p> +The only other settlement on Vancouver Island which has any direct interest to the +Royal Navy, is Nanaimo, the coal-mines of which yield a large amount of the fuel used +by the steamships when in that neighbourhood and about all that is used on the island; a +quantity is also shipped to San Francisco. The mines are worked by English companies, +and are so near the coast that, by means of a few tramways and locomotives, the coal +is conveyed to the wharves, where it can be at once put on board. It is a pleasant +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/>little place, and many an English miner would be glad to be as well off as the men +settled there, who earn more money than at home, own their cottages and plots of +land, obtain most of their supplies cheaper than in England, and have a beautiful gulf +before them, in summer, at least, as calm as a lake, on which boating and canoeing is all +the rage in the evenings or on holidays. +</p> + +<p> +The Pacific Station is an extensive one, for it commences at the most northernmost +parts of Bering Sea, and extends below Cape Horn. It embraces the Alaskan coast. +Many English men-of-war have visited these latitudes, principally, however, in the cause +of science and discovery. +</p> + +<p> +In the old days, when the colony of Russian America was little better than are many +parts of Siberia—convict settlements—the few Government officials and officers of the +Russian Fur Company were, it may well be believed, only too ready to welcome any change +in the monotony of their existence, and a new arrival, in the shape of a ship from some +foreign port, was a day to be remembered, and of which to make much. The true +Russians are naturally hospitably and sociably inclined, and such times were the occasion +for balls, dinners, and parties to any extent. The writer well remembers his first visit to +Sitka, which, although the capital of Alaska, is situated on an island off the mainland. +On approaching the small and partially land-locked harbour, a mountain of no inconsiderable +height, wooded to the top, appeared in view, and below it a little town of highly-coloured +roofs, in the middle of which rose a picturesque rock, surmounted by a semi-fortified +castle, which, in the distance at least, looked most imposing. Near this, but separated by +a stockade, was the village of the Kalosh Indians, a powerful tribe, who had at times, as +the members of the expedition learned, given a considerable amount of trouble to the +Russians—in 1804 they murdered nearly the whole of the Russian garrison—while beyond +on every side were rocky shores and wooded heights. An old hulk or two, lying on the +beach below the old castle, itself principally built of wood, the residence of the Governor of +Russian America, then Prince Maksutoff, which had been roofed in and were used for +magazines of stores, and some rather shaky pile-wharfs, made up the town. +</p> + +<p> +Soon was experienced the warmth of a Russian welcome, and for a week afterwards +a succession of gaieties followed, which were so very gay that they would +have killed most men, unless they had been fortified with a long sea-trip just before. +Every Russian seemed to wish the party to consider all that he had at their service; the +<hi rend='italic'>samovar</hi> boiled up everywhere as they approached; the little lunch-table of anchovies, and +pickles, rye-bread, butter, cheese, and so forth, with the everlasting <hi rend='italic'>vodka</hi>, was everywhere +ready, and except duty called, no one was obliged to go off at night to the three vessels +comprising the expedition to which the writer was attached, for the best bed in the house +was always at his service. There was only one bar-room in the whole town, and there only +a kind of <hi rend='italic'>lager-bier</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>vodka</hi> were to be obtained. When the country was, for a +consideration of 7,250,000 dollars, transferred to the United States, there was a <q>rush</q> +from Victoria and San Francisco. Keen Hebrew traders, knowing that furs up country +bore a merely nominal price, and that Sitka was the great <hi rend='italic'>entrepôt</hi> for their collection—a +million dollars’ worth being frequently gathered there at a time—thought they would be +able to buy them for next to nothing still. Parcels of land in the town, which had not at +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/>the utmost a greater value than a few hundred dollars, now ran up to fabulous prices; +10,000 dollars was asked for a log house! Hotels, <q>saloons</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, bar-rooms <hi rend='italic'>à l’Américaine</hi>—German +lager-bier cellars, and barbers’ shops sprang up like mushrooms; a newspaper-office +was opened, and everything reminded one of the sudden growth of mining-towns +in the early days of California. Alas! everything else went up in proportion, excepting +salmon, which must be a drug on that coast for many centuries to come;<note place="foot">On many parts of the North-west Pacific coasts of America, from Oregon northwards to Bering Straits, +the salmon, in their season, swarm so that a boat can hardly make a way through their <q>schools.</q></note> provisions +greatly rose in price, and the competition for furs was so great that they became nearly +as dear as in San Francisco. The consequence may be imagined; there was an exodus, +and the following January the whole city could have been bought for a song. The +Russian officials, of course, left it shortly after the transfer, and most of the others as +speedily as they could. The <q>capital</q> has never recovered from the shock; for, although +organised fur-companies are scattered over the country, in one instance the United States +Government leasing the sole right—that of fur-sealing, on the Aleutian Islands—to a firm +which has a Russian prince as a partner, Sitka is not the <hi rend='italic'>entrepôt</hi> it was; everything in +furs is brought to San Francisco before being consigned to all quarters of the globe. The +value of Alaska to the United States is at present very small, but so little is known +about it that one can hardly form an estimate concerning its future. It possesses minerals, +but these will always be worked with difficulty, on account of the climate. Its grand +salmon-fisheries are, however, a tangible property; the cod in Bering Sea is as plentiful +as it ever was on the Newfoundland banks; and there are innumerable forests of trees, +easily accessible, reaching down to the coast—of pines, firs, and cedars, of size sufficient +for the tallest masts and largest spars, so that Alaska has a direct interest for the +ship-builder. +</p> + +<p> +By its acquisition, the United States not merely extended its seaboard for, say, 1,500 +miles north, but it obtained Mount St. Elias, by far the largest peak of the North +American continent, and one of the loftiest mountains of the globe. <q>Upon Mont +Blanc,</q> says an American writer,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>Harper’s Magazine</hi> (New York), April, 1869.</note> <q>pile the loftiest summit in the British Islands, and +they would not reach the altitude of Mount St. Elias. If a man could reach its summit, +he would be two miles nearer the stars than any other American could be, east of the +Mississippi.... As a single peak it ranks among the half-dozen loftiest on the +globe. Some of the Himalaya summits reach, indeed, a couple of miles nearer Orion +and the Pleiades, but they rise from an elevated plateau sloping gradually upwards for +hundreds of miles. As an isolated peak, St. Elias may look down upon Mont Blanc and +Teneriffe, and claim brotherhood with Chimborazo and Cotopaxi.</q> It acquired also one of +the four great rivers of the globe, of which the writer had the pleasure of being one of the +earliest explorers. The Yukon, which renders the waters of Bering Sea fresh or semi-fresh +for a dozen miles beyond its many mouths, is a sister-river to the Amazon, Mississippi, +and, perhaps, the Plata; it has affluents to which the Rhine or Rhône are but brooks. +</p> + +<p> +The Kalosh Indians of Sitka live in semi-civilised wooden barns or houses, with +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/>invariably a round hole for a door, through which one creeps. They are particularly +ingenious in carving; and Jack has many an opportunity of obtaining grotesque +figures, cut from wood or slate-stone, for a cast-off garment or a half-dollar. One brought +home represents the Russian soldier of the period, prior to the American annexation, and +is scarcely a burlesque of his stolid face, gigantic moustache, close fitting coat with very +tight sleeves, and loose, baggy trousers. Masks may be seen cut from some white stone, +which would not do dishonour to a European sculptor. But now, leaving Sitka, let us +make a rapid trip to the extreme northern end of the Pacific Station. +</p> + +<p> +Men-of-war proceeding north of Sitka—which, except for purposes of science or war, +is not likely to be the case, although the Pacific Station extends to the northernmost parts +of Alaska—would voyage into Bering Sea through Ounimak Pass, one of the best passages +between the rocky and rugged Aleutian Islands. In the pass the scenery is superb, grand +volcanic peaks rising in all directions. While there, many years ago, the writer well +remembers going on deck one morning, when mists and low clouds hung over the then +placid waters, and seeing what appeared to be a magnificent mountain peak, snowy and +scarped, right overhead the vessel, and having a wreath of white cloud surrounding it, +while a lower and greyer bank of mist hid its base. It seemed baseless, and as though +rising from nothing; while the bright sunlight above all, and which did not reach the +vessel, lit up the eternal snows in brilliant contrasts of light and shadow. This was the +grand peak of Sheshaldinski, which rises nearly 9,000 feet above the sea level. +</p> + +<p> +The Aleutian Islands are thinly inhabited, and the Aleuts—a harmless, strong, +half-Esquimaux kind of people—often leave them. They make very good sailors. The few +Russian settlements, among the principal of which was Kodiak, were simply trading posts +and fur-sealing establishments. Since the purchase of Alaska, the United States Government +has leased them to a large mercantile firm, which makes profits from the sealing. +North of the islands, after steaming over a considerable waste of waters, the only settlements +on the coast of the whole country are Michaelovski and Unalachleet, both trading posts; +while south of the former are the many mouths of one of the grandest rivers in the +world, the Yukon, almost a rival to the Amazon and Mississippi. That section of the +country lying round the great river is tolerably rich in fur-bearing animals, including +sable, mink, black and silver-grey fox, beaver, and bear. The moose and deer abound; +while fish, more especially salmon, is very abundant. Salmon, thirty or more pounds in +weight, caught in the Yukon, has often been purchased for a half-ounce of tobacco or four +or five common sewing-needles. The coasts of Northern Alaska are rugged and uninviting, +and not remarkable for the grand scenery common in the southern division. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving the north, and passing the leading station already described on Vancouver +Island, the sailor has the whole Pacific coasts of both Americas, clear to Cape Horn, before +him as part of the Pacific Station. There is Mexico, with its port of Acapulco; New +Granada, with the important sea-port town of Panama; Callao, Peru; and Valparaiso, in +Chili: at any of which H.B.M. vessels are commonly to be found. Panama is, indeed, +a very important central point, as officers of the Royal Navy, ordered to join vessels +elsewhere, usually leave their own at Panama, cross the isthmus, and take steamer to +England, <hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> St. Thomas’s, or by way of New York, thence crossing to Liverpool. The +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/>railroad—which, during its construction, is said to have cost the life of a Chinaman for +every sleeper laid down, so fatal was the fever of the isthmus—has the dearest fares of +any in the world. The distance from Panama across to Aspinwall (Colon) is about +forty miles, and the fare is £5! An immense amount of travel crosses the isthmus; and +it is only matter of time for a canal to be cut through some portion of it, or the isthmus +of Darien adjoining. Steamers of the largest kind are arriving daily at Panama from +San Francisco, Mexico, and all parts of South America; while, on the Atlantic side, +they come from Southampton, Liverpool, New York and other American ports. +</p> + +<p> +Southward, with favouring breezes and usually calm seas, one soon arrives at Callao—a +place which may yet become a great city, but which, like everything else in Peru, has +been retarded by interminable dissensions in regard to government and politics, and by the +ignorance and bigotry of the masses. Peru had an advantage over Chili in wealth and +importance at one time; but, while the latter country is to-day one of the most satisfactory +and stable republics in the world, one never knows what is going to happen next in Peru. +Hence distrust in commerce; and hence the sailor will not find a tithe of the shipping in +Callao Roads that he will at the wharfs of Valparaiso. Lima, the capital, is situated +behind Callao, at a distance of about six miles. When seen from the deck of a vessel in +the roadstead, the city has a most imposing appearance, with its innumerable domes and +spires rising from so elevated a situation, and wearing a strange and rather Moorish air. +On nearing the city, everything speaks eloquently of past splendour and present wretchedness; +public walks and elegant ornamental stone seats choked with rank weeds, and all in ruins. +You enter Lima through a triumphal arch, tawdry and tumbling to pieces; you find that +the churches, which looked so imposing in the distance, are principally stucco and tinsel. +Lima has a novelty in one of its theatres. It is built in a long oval, the stage occupying +nearly the whole of one long side, all the boxes being thus comparatively near it. The pit +audience is men, and the galleries, women; and all help to fill the house, between the +acts, with tobacco smoke from their cigarettes. +</p> + +<p> +The sailor, who has been much among Spanish people or those of Spanish origin, will +find the Chilians the finest race in South America. Valparaiso Harbour is always full of +shipping, its wharfs piled with goods; while the railroad and old road to the capital, +Santiago, bears evidence of the material prosperity of the country. The country roads are +crowded with convoys of pack-mules, while the ships are loading up with wheat, wines, and +minerals, the produce of the country. Travelling is free everywhere. Libraries, schools, +literary, scientific, and artistic societies abound; the best newspapers published in South +America are issued there. Santiago, the city of marble palaces—where even horses are +kept in marble stalls—is one of the most delightful places in the world. The lofty +Andes tower to the skies in the distance, forming a grand background, and a fruitful, +cultivated, and peaceful country surrounds it. +</p> + +<p> +Valparaiso—the <q>Vale of Paradise</q>—was probably named by the early Spanish +adventurers in this glowing style because any coast whatever is delightful to the mariner +who has been long at sea. Otherwise, the title would seem to be of an exaggerated nature. +The bay is of a semi-circular form, surrounded by steep hills, rising to the height of near +2,000 feet, sparingly covered with stunted shrubs and thinly-strewed grass. The town is +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/>built along a narrow strip of land, between the cliffs and the sea; and, as this space is +limited in extent, the buildings have straggled up the sides and bottoms of the numerous +ravines which intersect the hills. A suburb—the Almendral, or Almond Grove—much +larger than the town proper, spreads over a low sandy plain, about half a mile broad, bordering +the bay. In the summer months—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, November to March—the anchorage is safe and +pleasant; but in the wintry months, notably June and July, gales are prevalent from the +north, in which direction it is open to the sea. +</p><anchor id="figportofva"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE PORT OF VALPARAISO.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_205.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE PORT OF VALPARAISO.</head> + <figDesc>THE PORT OF VALPARAISO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Captain Basil Hall, R.N., gave some interesting accounts of life in Chili in his +published Journal,<note place="foot"><q>Extracts from a Journal written on the Coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, &c.</q></note> and they are substantially true at the present day. He reached +Valparaiso at Christmas, which corresponds in climate to our midsummer. Crowds thronged +the streets to enjoy the cool air in the moonlight; groups of merry dancers were seen at +every turn; singers were bawling out old Spanish romances to the tinkle of the guitar; +wild-looking horsemen pranced about in all directions, stopping to talk with their friends, +but never dismounting; and harmless bull-fights, in which the bulls were only teased, +not killed, served to make the people laugh. The whole town was <hi rend='italic'>en carnival</hi>. <q>In the +course of the first evening of these festivities,</q> says Captain Hall, <q>while I was rambling +about the streets with one of the officers of the ship, our attention was attracted, by the +sound of music, to a crowded pulperia, or drinking-house. We accordingly entered, and +the people immediately made way and gave us seats at the upper end of the apartment. +We had not sat long before we were startled by the loud clatter of horses’ feet, and in the +next instant, a mounted peasant dashed into the company, followed by another horseman, +who, as soon as he reached the centre of the room, adroitly wheeled his horse round, and +the two strangers remained side by side, with their horses’ heads in opposite directions. +Neither the people of the house, nor the guests, nor the musicians, appeared in the least +surprised by this visit; the lady who was playing the harp merely stopped for a moment +to remove the end of the instrument a few inches further from the horses’ feet, and the +music and conversation went on as before. The visitors called for a glass of spirits, and +having chatted with their friends around them for two minutes, stooped their heads to avoid +the cross-piece of the doorway, and putting spurs to their horses’ sides, shot into the streets +as rapidly as they had entered; the whole being done without discomposing the company +in the smallest degree.</q> The same writer speaks of the common people as generally very +temperate, while their frankness and hospitality charmed him. Brick-makers, day-labourers, +and washerwomen invited him and friends into their homes, and their first anxiety was that +the sailors might <q>feel themselves in their own house;</q> then some offering of milk, bread, or +spirits. However wretched the cottage or poor the fare, the deficiency was never made more +apparent by apologies; with untaught politeness, the best they had was placed before them, +graced with a hearty welcome. Their houses are of adobes, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, sun-dried bricks, thatched in +with broad palm-leaves, the ends of which, by overhanging the walls, afford shade from the +scorching sun and shelter from the rain. Their mud floors have a portion raised seven or +eight inches above the level of the rest, and covered with matting, which forms the couch +for the invariable <hi rend='italic'>siesta</hi>. In the cottages Hall saw young women grinding baked corn in +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/>almost Scriptural mills of two stones each. From the coarse flour obtained, the poor people +make a drink called <hi rend='italic'>ulpa</hi>. In the better class of houses he was offered Paraguay tea, or +mattee, an infusion of a South American herb. The natives drink it almost boiling hot. +It is drawn up into the mouth through a silver pipe: however numerous the company, all +use the same tube, and to decline on this account is thought the height of rudeness. The +people of Chili, generally, are polite to a degree; and Jack ashore will have no cause to +complain, provided he is as polished as are they. He generally contrives, however, to make +himself popular, while his little escapades of wildness are looked upon in the light of long +pent-up nature bursting forth. +</p> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="XI. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XI. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/><anchor id="chap11"/> +<head>CHAPTER XI.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend="small">FROM THE HORN TO HALIFAX.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The dreaded Horn—The Land of Fire—Basil Hall’s Phenomenon—A Missing Volcano—The South American Station—Falkland +Islands—A Free Port and Naval Station—Penguins, Peat, and Kelp—Sea Trees—The West India Station—Trinidad—Columbus’s +First View of it—Fatal Gold—Charles Kingsley’s Enthusiasm—The Port of Spain—A Happy-go-lucky +People—Negro Life—Letters from a Cottage Ornée—Tropical Vegetation—Animal Life—Jamaica—Kingston +Harbour—Sugar Cultivation—The Queen of the Antilles—Its Paseo—Beauty of the Archipelago—A Dutch Settlement +in the Heart of a Volcano—Among the Islands—The Souffrière—Historical +Reminiscences—<anchor id="corr175"/><corr sic="Bermuda">Bermuda:</corr> Colony, Fortress, +and Prison—Home of Ariel and Caliban—The Whitest Place in the World—Bermuda Convicts—New York Harbour—The +City—First Impressions—Its fine Position—Splendid Harbour—Forest of Masts—The Ferry-boats, Hotels, and +Bars—Offenbach’s Impressions—Broadway, Fulton Market, and Central Park—New York in Winter—Frozen Ships—The +great Brooklyn Bridge—Halifax and its Beauties—Importance of the Station—Bedford Basin—The Early +Settlers—The Blue Noses—Adieu to America. +</p></argument> + +<p> +And now the exigencies of the service require us to tear ourselves away from gay and +pleasant Valparaiso, and voyage in spirit round the Horn to the South-East American +Station, which includes the whole coast, from Terra del Fuego to Brazil and Guiana. +Friendly ports, Rio and Montevideo, are open to the Royal Navy as stations for +necessary repairs or supplies; but the only strictly British port on the whole station is +that at the dreary Falkland Islands, to be shortly described. +</p> + +<p> +Every schoolboy knows that Cape Horn is even more dreaded than the other <q>Cape +of Storms,</q> otherwise known as <q>The Cape,</q> <hi rend='italic'>par excellence</hi>. In these days, the introduction +of steam has reduced much of the danger and horrors of the passage round, though on +occasions they are sufficiently serious. In fact, now that there is a regular tug-boat service +in the Straits of Magellan, there is really no occasion to go round it at all. In 1862 the +writer rounded it, in a steamer of good power, when the water was as still as a mill-pond, +and the Horn itself—a barren, black, craggy, precipitous rock, towering above the utter +desolation and bleakest solitudes of that forsaken spot—was plainly in sight. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Basil Hall, and his officers and crew, in 1820, when rounding Cape Horn +observed a remarkable phenomenon, which may account for the title of the <q>Land of Fire</q> +bestowed upon it by Magellan. A brilliant light suddenly appeared in the north-western +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/>quarter. <q>At first of a bright red, it became fainter and fainter, till it disappeared altogether. +After the lapse of four or five minutes, its brilliancy was suddenly restored, and it seemed +as if a column of burning materials had been projected into the air. This bright appearance +lasted from ten to twenty seconds, fading by degrees as the column became lower, till at +length only a dull red mass was distinguishable for about a minute, after which it again +vanished.</q> The sailors thought it a revolving light, others that it must be a forest on fire. +All who examined it carefully through a telescope agreed in considering it a volcano, like +Stromboli, emitting alternately jets of flame and red-hot stones. The light was visible +till morning; and although during the night it appeared to be not more than eight or +ten miles off, no land was to be seen. The present writer would suggest the probability +of its having been an electrical phenomenon. +</p><anchor id="figcapehorn"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CAPE HORN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_208.png" rend="w80"><head>CAPE HORN.</head> + <figDesc>CAPE HORN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The naval station at the Falklands is at Port Stanley, on the eastern island, where +there is a splendid land-locked harbour, with a narrow entrance. The little port is, and +has been, a haven of refuge for many a storm-beaten mariner: not merely from the fury +of the elements, but also because supplies of fresh meat can be obtained there, and, indeed, +everything else. Wild cattle, of old Spanish stock, roam at will over many parts of the +two islands. When the writer was there, in 1862, beef was retailed at fourpence per +pound, and Port Stanley being a free port, everything was very cheap. How many boxes +of cigars, pounds of tobacco, cases of hollands, and demijohns of rum were, in consequence, +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/>taken on board by his 300 fellow-passengers would be a serious calculation. The little +town has not much to recommend it: It has, of course, a Government House and a church, +and barracks for the marines stationed there. It is, moreover, the head-quarters of the +Falkland Islands Company, a corporation much like the Hudson’s Bay Company, trading +in furs and hides, and stores for ships and native trade. The three great characteristics +of Port Stanley are the penguins, which abound, and are to be seen waddling in troops +in its immediate vicinity, and stumbling over the stones if pursued; the kelp, which is so +thick and strong in the water at the edge of the bay in places, that a strong boat’s crew +can hardly get <q>way</q> enough on to reach the shore; and the peat-bogs, which would remind +an Irishman of his beloved Erin. Peat is the principal fuel of the place; and what glorious +fires it makes! At least, so thought a good many of the passengers who took the opportunity +of living on shore during the fortnight of the vessel’s stay. For about three shillings and +sixpence a day one could obtain a good bed, meals of beef-steaks and joints and fresh +vegetables—very welcome after the everlasting salt junk and preserved vegetables of the +ship—with the addition of hot rum and water, nearly <hi rend='italic'>ad libitum</hi>. Then the privilege of +stretching one’s legs is something, after five or six weeks’ confinement. There is duck and +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/>loon-shooting to be had, or an excursion to the lighthouse, a few miles from the town, +where the writer found children, of several years of age, who had never even beheld the +glories of Port Stanley, and yet were happy; and near which he saw on the beach <hi rend='italic'>sea-trees</hi>—for +<q>sea-weed</q> would be a misnomer, the trunks being several feet in circumference—slippery, +glutinous, marine vegetation, uprooted from the depths of ocean. Some of them +would create a sensation in an aquarium. +</p> + +<p> +The harbour of Port Stanley is usually safe enough, but, in the extraordinary gales +which often rage outside, does not always afford safe anchorage. The steamship on which +the writer was a passenger lay far out in the bay, but the force of a sudden gale made +her drag her anchors, and but for the steam, which was immediately got up, she would +have gone ashore. A sailing-vessel must have been wrecked in the same position. Of course, +the power of the engines was set against the wind, and she was saved. Passengers ashore +could not get off for two days, and those on board could not go ashore. No boat could +have lived, even in the bay, during a large part of the time. +</p> + +<p> +The West Indian Station demands our attention next. Unfortunately, it must not +take the space it deserves, for it would occupy that required for ten books of the size of this—ay, +twenty—to do it the barest justice. Why? Read Charles Kingsley’s admirable +work, <q>At Last</q>—one, alas! of the last tasks of a well-spent life—and one will see +England’s interest in those islands, and must think also of those earlier days, when +Columbus, Drake, and Raleigh sailed among the waters which divide them—days of +geographical discovery worth speaking of, of grand triumphs over foes worth fighting, and +of gain amounting to something. +</p><anchor id="figlandofco"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS AT TRINIDAD.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_209.png" rend="w80"><head>THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS AT TRINIDAD.</head> + <figDesc>THE LANDING OF COLUMBUS AT TRINIDAD</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On the 31st July, 1499, Columbus, on his third voyage, sighted the three hills which +make the south-eastern end of Trinidad. He had determined to name the first land he +should sight after the Holy Trinity, and so he did. The triple peaks probably +reminded him. +</p> + +<p> +Washington Irving tells us, in his <q>Life of Columbus,</q> that he was astonished at the +verdure and fertility of the country, having expected that it would be parched, dry, and +sterile as he approached the equator; whereas, he beheld beautiful groves of palm-trees, +and luxuriant forests sweeping down to the sea-side, with gurgling brooks and clear, deep +streams beneath the shade. The softness and purity of the climate, and the beauty of the +country, seemed, after his long sea voyage, to rival the beautiful province of Valencia itself. +Columbus found the people a race of Indians fairer than any he had seen before, <q>of good +stature, and of very graceful bearing.</q> They carried square bucklers, and had bows and +arrows, with which they made feeble attempts to drive off the Spaniards who landed at +Punta Arenal, near Icacque, and who, finding no streams, sank holes in the sand, and so +filled their casks with fresh water—as is done by sailors now-a-days in many parts of the +world. <q>And there,</q> says Kingsley, <q>that source of endless misery to these harmless +creatures, a certain Cacique—so goes the tale—took off Columbus’s cap of crimson velvet, +and replaced it with a circle of gold which he wore.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Alas for them! that fatal present of gold brought down on them enemies far more +ruthless than the Caribs of the northern islands, who had a habit of coming down in their +canoes and carrying off the gentle Arrawaks, to eat them at their leisure—after the fashion +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/>which Defoe, always accurate, has immortalised in <q>Robinson Crusoe.</q> Crusoe’s island has +been thought by many to be meant for Tobago; Man Friday having been stolen in +Trinidad. +</p> + +<p> +No scenery can be more picturesque than that afforded by the entrance to Port of +Spain, the chief town in the colony of Trinidad, itself an island lying outside the delta of +the great Orinoco River. <q>On the mainland,</q> wrote Anthony Trollope,<note place="foot"><q>The West Indies and the Spanish Main.</q></note> <q>that is, the +land of the main island, the coast is precipitous, but clothed to the very top with the +thickest and most magnificent foliage. With an opera-glass, one can distinctly see the +trees coming forth from the sides of the rocks, as though no soil were necessary for them, +and not even a shelf of stone needed for their support. And these are not shrubs, but +forest trees, with grand spreading branches, huge trunks, and brilliant-coloured foliage. +The small island on the other side is almost equally wooded, but is less precipitous.</q> There, +and on the main island itself, are nooks and open glades where one would not be badly off +with straw hats and muslin, pigeon-pies and champagne. One narrow shady valley, into +which a creek of the sea ran, made Trollope think that it must have been intended for +<q>the less noisy joys of some Paul of Trinidad with his Creole Virginia.</q> The same writer, +after describing the Savannah, which includes a park and race-course, speaks of the Government +House, then under repairs. The governor was living in a cottage, hard by. <q>Were I +that great man,</q> said he, <q>I should be tempted to wish that my great house might always +be under repair, for I never saw a more perfect specimen of a pretty spacious cottage, +opening, as a cottage should do, on all sides and in every direction.... And then +the necessary freedom from boredom, etiquette, and governors’ grandeur, so hated by +governors themselves, which must necessarily be brought about by such a residence! I +could almost wish to be a governor myself, if I might be allowed to live in such a cottage.</q> +The buildings of Port of Spain are almost invariably surrounded by handsome flowering +trees. A later writer tells us that the governors since have stuck to the cottage, and the +gardens of the older building have been given to the city as a public pleasure-ground. +Kingsley speaks of it as a paradise. +</p> + +<p> +Jack ashore, who, after a long and perhaps stormy voyage, would look upon any land +as a haven of delight, will certainly think that he has at last reached the <q>happy land.</q> +It is not merely the climate, the beauty, or the productions of the country; nor the West +Indian politeness and hospitality—both proverbial; but the fact that nobody seems to do, +or wants to do, anything, and yet lives ten times as well as the poorer classes of England. +There are 8,000 or more human beings in Port of Spain alone, who <q>toil not, neither do +they spin,</q> and have no other visible means of subsistence except eating something or +other—mostly fruit—all the live-long day, who are happy, very happy. The truth is, that +though they will, and frequently do, eat more than a European, they can almost do without +food, and can live, like the Lazzaroni, on warmth and light. <q>The best substitute for a +dinner is a sleep under a south wall in the blazing sun; and there are plenty of south +walls in Port of Spain.</q> Has not a poor man, under these circumstances, the same right +to be idle as a rich one? Every one there looks strong, healthy, and well-fed. The author +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/>of <q>Westward Ho!</q> was not likely to be deceived, and says: <q>One meets few or none +of those figures and faces—small, scrofulous, squinny, and haggard—which disgrace the +civilisation of a British city. Nowhere in Port of Spain will you see such human beings +as in certain streets of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow. Every one plainly can live and +thrive if they choose; and very pleasant it is to know that.</q> And wonderfully well does +that mixed and happy-go-lucky population assimilate. Trinidad belongs to Great Britain; +but there are more negroes, half-breeds, Hindoos, and Chinese there than Britons by ten +times ten; and the language of the island is mainly French, not English or Spanish. Under +cool porticoes and through tall doorways are seen dark shops, built on Spanish models, and +filled with everything under the sun. On the doorsteps sit negresses, in flashy Manchester +<q>prints</q> and stiff turbans, <q>all aiding in the general work of doing nothing,</q> or offering +for sale fruits, <anchor id="corr181"/><corr sic="sweatmeats">sweetmeats</corr>, or chunks of sugar-cane. These women, as well as the men, +invariably carry everything on their heads, whether it be a half-barrow load of yams, a +few ounces of sugar, or a beer-bottle. +</p><anchor id="figviewinja"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: VIEW IN JAMAICA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_212.jpg" rend="w80"><head>VIEW IN JAMAICA.</head> + <figDesc>VIEW IN JAMAICA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +One of the regrets of an enthusiastic writer must ever be that he cannot visit all the +lovely and interesting spots which he may so easily describe. The present one, enamoured +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/>with San Francisco, which he <hi rend='italic'>has</hi> visited, and Singapore and Sydney, which as yet he +hasn’t, would, if such writers as Charles Kingsley and Anthony Trollope are to be credited, +add Trinidad to the list. Read the former’s <q>Letter from a West Indian Cottage Ornée,</q> +or the latter’s description of a ride through the cool woods and sea-shore roads, to be +convinced that Trinidad is one of the most charming islands in the whole world. Bamboos +keep the cottage gravel path up, and as tubes, carry the trickling, cool water to the cottage +bath; you hear a rattling as of boards or stiff paper outside your window: it is the clashing +together of a fan-palm, with leaf-stalks ten feet long and fans more feet wide. The orange, +the pine-apple, and the <q>flower fence</q> (<hi rend='italic'>Poinziana</hi>); the cocoa-palm, the tall Guinea grass, +and the <q>groo-groos</q> (a kind of palm: <hi rend='italic'>Acrocomia sclerocarpa</hi>); the silk-cotton tree, the +tamarind, and the Rosa del monte bushes—twenty feet high, and covered with crimson roses; +tea shrubs, myrtles, and clove-trees intermingle with vegetation common elsewhere. Thus +much for a mere chance view. +</p> + +<p> +The seaman ashore will note many of these beauties; but his superior officers will see +more. The <hi rend='italic'>cottage ornée</hi>, to which they will be invited, with its lawn and flowering shrubs, +tiny specimens of which we admire in hot-houses at home; the grass as green as that of +England, and winding away in the cool shade of strange evergreens; the yellow cocoa-nut +palms on the nearest spur of hill throwing back the tender blue of the distant mountains; +groups of palms, with perhaps <hi rend='italic'>Erythrinas umbrosa</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>Bois immortelles</hi>, they call them in +Trinidad), with vermilion flowers—trees of red coral, sixty feet high—interspersed; a glimpse +beyond of the bright and sleeping sea, and the islands of the Bocas <q>floating in the shining +waters,</q> and behind a luxuriously furnished cottage, where hospitality is not a mere name, +but a very sound fact; what on earth can man want more? +</p> + +<p> +Kingsley, in presence of the rich and luscious beauty, the vastness and repose, to be +found in Trinidad, sees an understandable excuse for the tendency to somewhat grandiose +language which tempts perpetually those who try to describe the tropics, and know well +that they can only fail. He says: <q>In presence of such forms and such colouring as this, +one becomes painfully sensible of the poverty of words, and the futility, therefore, of all +word-painting; of the inability, too, of the senses to discern and define objects of such +vast variety; of our æsthetic barbarism, in fact, which has no choice of epithets, save such +as <q>great,</q> and <q>vast,</q> and <q>gigantic;</q> between such as <q>beautiful,</q> and <q>lovely,</q> and +<q>exquisite,</q> and so forth: which are, after all, intellectually only one stage higher than the +half-brute <q>Wah! wah!</q> with which the savage grunts his astonishment—call it not +admiration; epithets which are not, perhaps, intellectually as high as the <q>God is great!</q> +of the Mussulman, who is wise enough not to attempt any analysis, either of Nature or +of his feelings about her, and wise enough, also ... in presence of the unknown, +to take refuge in God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Monkeys of many kinds, jaguars, toucans, wild cats; wonderful ant-eaters, racoons, +and lizards; and strange birds, butterflies, wasps, and spiders abound, but none of those +animals which resent the presence of man. Happy land! +</p> + +<p> +But the gun has fired. H.M.S. <name type="ship">Sea</name> is getting all steam up. The privilege of leave +cannot last for ever: it is <q>All aboard!</q> Whither bound? In the archipelago of the +West Indies there are so many points of interest, and so many ports which the sailor of +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/>the Royal Navy is sure to visit. There are important docks at Antigua, Jamaica, and +Bermuda; while the whole station—known professionally as the <q>North American and +West Indian</q>—reaches from the north of South America to beyond Newfoundland, Kingston, +and Jamaica, where England maintains a flag-ship and a commodore, a dockyard, and a +naval hospital. +</p><anchor id="figkinghaja"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: KINGSTON HARBOUR, JAMAICA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_213.jpg" rend="w80"><head>KINGSTON HARBOUR, JAMAICA.</head> + <figDesc>KINGSTON HARBOUR, JAMAICA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Kingston Harbour is a grand lagoon, nearly shut in by a long sand-spit, or rather +bank, called <q>The Palisades,</q> at the point of which is Port Royal, which, about ninety +years ago, was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. Mr. Trollope says that it is on record +that hardy <q>subs</q> and hardier <q>mids</q> have ridden along the Palisades, and have not +died from sunstroke in the effort. But the chances were much against them. The ordinary +ingress and egress, as to all parts of the island’s coasts, is by water. Our naval establishment +is at Port Royal. +</p> + +<p> +Jamaica has picked up a good deal in these later days, but is not the thriving country +it was before the abolition of slavery. Kingston is described as a formal city, with streets +at right angles, and with generally ugly buildings. The fact is, that hardly any Europeans +or even well-to-do Creoles live in the town, and, in consequence, there are long streets, which +might almost belong to a city of the dead, where hardly a soul is to be seen: at all events, +in the evenings. All the wealthier people—and there are a large number—have country +seats—<q>pens,</q> as they call them, though often so charmingly situated, and so beautifully +surrounded, that the term does not seem very appropriate. The sailor’s pocket-money will +go a long way in Kingston, if he confines himself to native productions; but woe unto +him if he will insist on imported articles! All through the island the white people are +very English in their longings, and affect to despise the native luxuries. Thus, they will +give you ox-tail soup when real turtle would be infinitely cheaper. <q>When yams, avocado +pears, the mountain cabbage, plantains, and twenty other delicious vegetables may be had +for the gathering, people will insist on eating bad English potatoes; and the desire for +English pickles is quite a passion.</q> All the servants are negroes or mulattoes, who are +greatly averse to ridicule or patronage; while, if one orders them as is usual in England, +they leave you to wait on yourself. Mr. Trollope discovered this. He ordered a lad in +one of the hotels to fill his bath, calling him <q>old fellow.</q> <q>Who you call fellor?</q> asked +the youth; <q>you speak to a gen’lman gen’lmanly, and den he fill de bath.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The sugar-cane—and by consequence, sugar and rum—coffee, and of late tobacco, are +the staple productions of Jamaica. There is one district where the traveller may see +an unbroken plain of 4,000 acres under canes. The road over Mount Diabolo is very fine, +and the view back to Kingston very grand. Jack ashore will find that the people all +ride, but that the horses always walk. There are respectable mountains to be ascended in +Jamaica: Blue Mountain Peak towers to the height of 8,000 feet. The highest inhabited +house on the island, the property of a coffee-planter, is a kind of half-way house of +entertainment; and although Mr. Trollope—who provided himself with a white companion, +who, in his turn, provided five negroes, beef, bread, water, brandy, and what seemed to +him about ten gallons of rum—gives a doleful description of the clouds and mists and fogs +which surrounded the Peak, others may be more fortunate. +</p> + +<p> +The most important of the West Indian Islands, Cuba—<q>Queen of the +Antilles</q>—<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/>does not, as we all know, belong to England, but is the most splendid appanage of +the Spanish crown. Havana, the capital, has a grand harbour, large, commodious, +and safe, with a fine quay, at which the vessels of all nations lie. The sailor will note +one peculiarity: instead of laying alongside, the ships are fastened <q>end on</q>—usually the +bow being at the quay. The harbour is very picturesque, and the entrance to it is defended +by two forts, which were taken once by England—in Albemarle’s time—and now could be +knocked to pieces in a few minutes by any nation which was ready with the requisite +amount of gunpowder. +</p><anchor id="fighavana"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: HAVANA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_216.png" rend="w80"><head>HAVANA.</head> + <figDesc>HAVANA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Havana is a very gay city, and has some special attractions for the sailor—among +others being its good cigars and cheap Spanish wine and fruits. Its greatest glory +is the Paseo—its Hyde Park, Bois de Boulogne, Corso, Cascine, Alamèda—where the +Cuban belles and beaux delight to promenade and ride. There will you see them, in bright-coloured, +picturesque attire—sadly Europeanised and Americanised of late, though—seated +in the volante, a kind of hanging cabriolet, between two large wheels, drawn by one or +two horses, on one of which the negro servant, with enormous leggings, white breeches, red +jacket, and gold lace, and broad-brimmed straw hat, rides. The volante is itself bright with +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/>polished metal, and the whole turn-out has an air of barbaric splendour. These carriages +are never kept in a coach-house, but are usually placed in the halls, and often even in the +dining-room, as a child’s perambulator might with us. Havana has an ugly cathedral +and a magnificent opera-house. +</p> + +<p> +Slave labour is common, and many of the sugar and tobacco planters are very wealthy. +Properties of many hundred acres under cultivation are common. Mr. Trollope found the +negroes well-fed, sleek, and fat as brewers’ horses, while no sign of ill-usage came before +him. In crop times they sometimes work sixteen hours a day, and Sunday is not then a +day of rest for them. There are many Chinese coolies, also, on the island. +</p> + +<p> +Kingsley, speaking of the islands in general, says that he <q>was altogether unprepared +for their beauty and grandeur.</q> Day after day, the steamer took him past a shifting +diorama of scenery, which he likened to Vesuvius and Naples, repeated again and again, +with every possible variation of the same type of delicate loveliness. Under a cloudless +sky, and over the blue waters, banks of light cloud turned to violet and then to green, and +then disclosed grand mountains, with the surf beating white around the base of tall cliffs +and isolated rocks, and the pretty country houses of settlers embowered in foliage, and +gay little villages, and busy towns. <q>It was easy,</q> says that charming writer, <q>in presence +of such scenery, to conceive the exultation which possessed the souls of the first discoverers +of the West Indies. What wonder if they seemed to themselves to have burst into fairy-land—to +be at the gates of the earthly Paradise? With such a climate, such a soil, such +vegetation, such fruits, what luxury must not have seemed possible to the dwellers along +those shores? What riches, too, of gold and jewels, might not be hidden among those +forest-shrouded glens and peaks? And beyond, and beyond again, ever new islands, new +continents, perhaps, and inexhaustible wealth of yet undiscovered worlds.</q><note place="foot"><q>At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +The resemblance to Mediterranean, or, more especially, Neapolitan, scenery is very +marked. <q>Like causes have produced like effects; and each island is little but the peak +of a volcano, down whose shoulders lava and ash have slidden toward the sea.</q> Many +carry several cones. One of them, a little island named Saba, has a most remarkable +settlement <hi rend='italic'>half-way up a volcano</hi>. Saba rises sheer out of the sea 1,500 or more feet, and, +from a little landing-place, a stair runs up 800 feet into the very bosom of the mountain, +where in a hollow live some 1,200 honest Dutchmen and 800 negroes. The latter were, +till of late years, nominally the slaves of the former; but it is said that, in reality, it was +just the other way. The blacks went off when and whither they pleased, earned money +on other islands, and expected their masters to keep them when they were out of work. +The good Dutch live peaceably aloft in their volcano, grow garden crops, and sell them +to vessels or to surrounding islands. They build the best boats in the West Indies up +in their crater, and lower them down the cliff to the sea! They are excellent sailors and +good Christians. Long may their volcano remain quiescent! +</p> + +<p> +When the steamer stops at some little port, or even single settlement, the negro +boats come alongside with luscious fruit and vegetables—bananas and green oranges; the +sweet sop, a fruit which looks like a strawberry, and is as big as an orange; the +custard-<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/>apples—the pulp of which, those who have read <q>Tom Cringle’s Log</q> will remember, +is fancied to have an unpleasant resemblance to brains; the avocado, or alligator-pears, +otherwise called <q>midshipman’s butter,</q> which are eaten with pepper and salt; scarlet +capsicums, green and orange cocoa-nuts, roots of yam, and cush-cush, help to make up +baskets as varied in colour as the gaudy gowns and turbans of the women. Neither must +the junks of sugar-cane be omitted, which the <q>coloured</q> gentlemen and ladies delight +to gnaw, walking, sitting, and standing; increasing thereby the size of their lips, and +breaking out, often enough, their upper front teeth. Rude health is in their faces; their +cheeks literally shine with fatness. +</p> + +<p> +But in this happy archipelago there are drawbacks: in the Guadaloupe earthquake of +1843, 5,000 persons lost their lives in the one town of Point-à-Pitre alone. The Souffrière +volcano, 5,000 feet high, rears many a peak to the skies, and shows an ugly and uncertain +humour, smoking and flaming. The writer so often quoted gives a wonderfully beautiful +description of this mountain and its surroundings. <q>As the sun rose, level lights of +golden green streamed round the peak, right and left, over the downs; but only for a +while. As the sky-clouds vanished in his blazing rays, earth-clouds rolled up from the +valleys behind, wreathed and weltered about the great black teeth of the crater, and then +sinking among them and below them, shrouded the whole cone in purple darkness for +the day; while in the foreground blazed in the sunshine broad slopes of cane-field; below +them again the town (the port of Basse Terre), with handsome houses, and old-fashioned +churches and convents, dating possibly from the seventeenth century, embowered in mangoes, +tamarinds, and palmistes; and along the beach, a market beneath a row of trees, with +canoes drawn up to be unladen, and gay dresses of every hue. The surf whispered softly +on the beach. The cheerful murmur of voices came off the shore, and above it, the tinkling +of some little bell, calling good folks to early mass. A cheery, brilliant picture as man +could wish to see, but marred by two ugly elements. A mile away on the low northern +cliff, marked with many a cross, was the lonely cholera cemetery, a remembrance of the +fearful pestilence which, a few years since, swept away thousands of the people: and above +frowned that black giant, now asleep: but for how long?</q> +</p> + +<p> +The richness of the verdure which clothes these islands to their highest peaks seems a +mere coat of green fur, and yet is often gigantic forest trees. The eye wanders over the +green abysses, and strains over the wealth of depths and heights, compared with which +fine English parks are mere shrubberies. There is every conceivable green, or rather of +hues, ranging from pale yellow through all greens into cobalt; and <q>as the wind stirs +the leaves, and sweeps the lights and shadows over hill and glen, all is ever-changing, +iridescent, like a peacock’s tail; till the whole island, from peak to shore, seems some +glorious jewel—an emerald, with tints of sapphire and topaz, hanging between blue sea +and white surf below, and blue sky and white cloud above.</q> And yet, over all this beauty, +dark shadows hang—the shadow of war and the shadow of slavery. These seas have been +oft reddened with the blood of gallant sailors, and every other gully holds the skeleton of +an Englishman. +</p> + +<p> +Here it was that Rodney broke De Grasse’s line, took and destroyed seven French +ships of war, and scattered the rest: saving Jamaica, and, in sooth, the whole West +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/>Indies, and bringing about the honourable peace of 1783. Yon lovely roadstead of Dominica: +there Rodney caught up with the French just before, and would have beaten them so much +the earlier but for his vessels being becalmed. In that deep bay at Martinique, now lined +with gay houses, was for many years the Cul-de-sac Royal, the rendezvous and stronghold +of the French fleet. That isolated rock hard by, much the shape and double the size of +the great Pyramids, is Sir Samuel Hood’s famous Diamond Rock,<note place="foot"><q>Naval Chronicles,</q> vol. xii.</note> to which that brave +old navigator literally tied with a hawser or two his ship, the <name type="ship">Centaur</name>, and turned the +rock into a fortress from whence to sweep the seas. The rock was for several months +rated on the books of the Admiralty as <q>His Majesty’s Ship, <name type="ship">Diamond Rock</name>.</q> She had +at last to surrender, for want of powder, to an overwhelming force—two seventy-fours +and fourteen smaller ships of war—but did not give in till seventy poor Frenchmen were +lying killed or wounded, and three of their gun-boats destroyed, her own loss being only two +men killed and one wounded. Brave old sloop of war! And, once more, those glens +and forests of St. Lucia remind us of Sir John Moore and Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who +fought, not merely the French, but the <q>Brigands</q>—negroes liberated by the Revolution +of 1792. +</p><anchor id="figcentatth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <name type="ship">CENTAUR</name> AT THE DIAMOND ROCK, MARTINIQUE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_219.jpg" rend="w100"><head>THE <name type="ship">CENTAUR</name> AT THE DIAMOND ROCK, MARTINIQUE.</head> + <figDesc>THE <name type="ship">CENTAUR</name> AT THE DIAMOND ROCK, MARTINIQUE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But the good ship must proceed; and as British naval interests are under consideration, +let her bows be turned to Bermuda—a colony, a fortress and a prison, and where England +owns an extensive floating dock, dock-yards, and workshops.<note place="foot">Other islands of the West Indies, as St. Thomas’s, which is a kind of leading <q>junction</q> for mail +steamers, and St. Domingo—so intimately connected with the voyages of Columbus—will be mentioned hereafter.</note> Trollope says that its +geological formation is mysterious. <q>It seems to be made of soft white stone, composed +mostly of little shells—so soft, indeed, that you might cut Bermuda up with a hand-saw. +And people are cutting up Bermuda with hand-saws. One little island, that on which +the convicts are established, has been altogether so cut up already. When I visited it, +two fat convicts were working away slowly at the last fragment.</q> Bermuda is the crater +of an extinct volcano, and is surrounded by little islets, of which there is one for every +day of the year in a space of twenty by three miles. These are surrounded again by +reefs and rocks, and navigation is risky. +</p> + +<p> +Were the Bermudas the scene of Ariel’s tricks? They were first discovered, in 1522, +by Bermudez, a Spaniard; and Shakespeare seems to have heard of them, for he +speaks of the +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>Still vexed Bermoothes.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Trollope says that there is more of the breed of Caliban in the islands than of Ariel. +Though Caliban did not relish working for his master more than the Bermudian of +to-day, there was an amount of energy about him entirely wanting in the existing +islanders. +</p> + +<p> +There are two towns, St. George and Hamilton, on different islands. The former is +the head-quarters of the military, and the second that of the governor. It is the +summer head-quarters of the admiral of the station. The islands are, in general, +wonderfully fertile, and will, with any ordinary cultivation, give two crops of many +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/>vegetables in the year. It has the advantages of the tropics, <hi rend='italic'>plus</hi> those of more temperate +climes. For tomatoes, onions, beet-root, sweet potatoes, early potatoes, as well as all kinds +of fruits, from oranges, lemons, and bananas to small berries, it is not surpassed by any +place in the world; while arrowroot is one of its specialities. It is the early market-garden +for New York. Ship-building is carried on, as the islands abound in a stunted cedar, +good for the purpose, when it can be found large enough. The working population are +almost all negroes, and are lazy to a degree. But the whites are not much better; and +the climate is found to produce great lassitude. +</p><anchor id="figbermfrgi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BERMUDA, FROM GIBBS HILL.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_222.png" rend="w100"><head>BERMUDA, FROM GIBBS HILL.</head> + <figDesc>BERMUDA, FROM GIBBS HILL</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It is the sea round the Bermudas, more than the islands themselves, perhaps, that +give its beauty. Everywhere the water is wonderfully clear and transparent, while the +land is broken up into narrow inlets and headlands, and bays and promontories, nooks +and corners, running here and there in capricious and ever-varying forms. The oleander, +with their bright blossoms, are so abundant, almost to the water’s edge, that the Bermudas +might be called the <q>Oleander Isles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Bermuda convict, in Trollope’s time, seemed to be rather better off than most +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/>English labourers. He had a pound of meat—good meat, + <anchor id="corr189"/><corr sic="too">too,</corr> while the Bermudians +were tugging at their teeth with tough morsels; he had a pound and three-quarters of +bread—more than he wanted; a pound of vegetables; tea and sugar; a glass of grog +per diem; tobacco-money allowed, and eight hours’ labour. He was infinitely better off +than most sailors of the merchant service. +</p><anchor id="fignortrobe"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE NORTH ROCK, BERMUDA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_223.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE NORTH ROCK, BERMUDA.</head> + <figDesc>THE NORTH ROCK, BERMUDA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +St. George, the military station of the colony, commands the only entrance among +the islands suitable for the passage of large vessels, the narrow and intricate channel +which leads to its land-locked haven being defended by strong batteries. The lagoons, +and passages, and sea canals between the little islands make communication by water +as necessary as in Venice. Every one keeps a boat or cedar canoe. He will often +do his business on one island and have his residence on a second. Mark Twain has +a wonderful facility for description; and his latest articles, <q>Random Notes of an Idle +Excursion,</q> contain a picturesque account of the Bermudas, and more particularly of +Hamilton, the leading port. He says that he found it a wonderfully white town, white +as marble—snow—flour. <q>It was,</q> says he, <q rend="post: none">a town compacted together upon the sides +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/>and tops of a cluster of small hills. Its outlying borders fringed off and thinned away +among the cedar forests, and there was no woody distance of curving coast or leafy islet +sleeping on the dimpled, painted sea but was flecked with shining white points—half-concealed +houses peeping out of the foliage. * * * There was an ample pier of heavy +masonry; upon this, under shelter, were some thousands of barrels, containing that product +which has carried the fame of Bermuda to many lands—the potato. With here and there +an onion. That last sentence is facetious, for they grow at least two onions in Bermuda +to one potato. The onion is the pride and the joy of Bermuda. It is her jewel, her gem +of gems. In her conversation, her pulpit, her literature, it is her most frequent and +eloquent figure. In Bermudian metaphor it stands for perfection—perfection absolute.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Bermudian, weeping over the departed, exhausts praise when he says, <q>He was +an onion!</q> The Bermudian, extolling the living hero, bankrupts applause when he says, +<q>He is an onion!</q> The Bermudian, setting his son upon the stage of life to dare and +do for himself, climaxes all counsel, supplication, admonition, comprehends all ambition, +when he says, <q>Be an onion!</q></q> When the steamer arrives at the pier, the first question +asked is not concerning great war or political news, but concerns only the price of +onions. All the writers agree that for tomatoes, onions, and vegetables generally, the +Bermudas are unequalled; they have been called, as noted before, the market-gardens of New +York. +</p> + +<p> +Jack who is fortunate enough to be on the West India and North American Stations +must be congratulated. <q>The country roads,</q> says the clever writer above quoted, <q rend="post: none">curve +and wind hither and thither in the delightfulest way, unfolding pretty surprises at every +turn; billowy masses of oleander that seem to float out from behind distant projections, +like the pink cloud-banks of sunset; sudden plunges among cottages and gardens, life +and activity, followed by as sudden plunges into the sombre twilight and stillness of the +woods; glittering visions of white fortresses and beacon towers pictured against the sky +on remote hill-tops; glimpses of shining green sea caught for a moment through opening +headlands, then lost again; more woods and solitude; and by-and-by another turn lays +bare, without warning, the full sweep of the inland ocean, enriched with its bars of soft +colour, and graced with its wandering sails.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Take any road you please, you may depend upon it you will not stay in it half a +mile. Your road is everything that a road ought to be; it is bordered with trees, and +with strange plants and flowers; it is shady and pleasant, or sunny and still pleasant; it +carries you by the prettiest and peacefulest and most home-like of homes, and through +stretches of forest that lie in a deep hush sometimes, and sometimes are alive with the +music of birds; it curves always, which is a continual promise, whereas straight roads +reveal everything at a glance and kill interest. * * * There is enough of variety. +Sometimes you are in the level open, with marshes, thick grown with flag-lances that are +ten feet high, on the one hand, and potato and onion orchards on the other; next you are +on a hill-top, with the ocean and the islands spread around you; presently the road winds +through a deep cut, shut in by perpendicular walls thirty or forty feet high, marked with +the oddest and abruptest stratum lines, suggestive of sudden and eccentric old upheavals, +and garnished with, here and there, a clinging adventurous flower, and here and there +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/>a dangling vine; and by-and-by, your way is along the sea edge, and you may look down +a fathom or two through the transparent water and watch the diamond-like flash and +play of the light upon the rocks and sands on the bottom until you are tired of it—if +you are so constituted as to be able to get tired of it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But as there are spots in the sun, and the brightest lights throw the deepest shadows +everywhere; so on the Bermuda coasts there are, in its rare storms, dangers of no small kind +among its numerous reefs and rocks. The North Rock, in particular, is the monument which +marks the grave of many a poor sailor in by-gone days. At the present time, however, +tug-boats, and the use of steam generally, have reduced the perils of navigation among the +hundreds of islands which constitute the Bermuda group to a minimum. +</p> + +<p> +The recent successful trip of Cleopatra’s Needle in a vessel of unique construction will +recall that of the Bermuda floating-dock, which it will be remembered was towed across +the Atlantic and placed in its present position. +</p> + +<p> +Bermuda being, from a naval point of view, the most important port on the North +American and West Indian Stations, it had long been felt to be an absolute necessity that +a dock capable of holding the largest vessels of war should be built in some part of the +island. After many futile attempts to accomplish this object, owing to the porous nature +of the rock of which the island is formed, it was determined that Messrs. Campbell, +Johnstone & Co., of North Woolwich, should construct a floating-dock according to their +patented inventions: those built by them for Carthagena, Saigon, and Callao having been +completely successful. The dimensions of the dock for Bermuda, which was afterwards +named after that island, are as follows:— +</p> +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'lw27m) r l'"> + <row> + <cell>Length over all</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">381</cell> + <cell>feet.</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Length between caissons</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">330</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Breadth over all</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">124</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Breadth between sides</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">84</cell> + <cell>„</cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell>Depth inside</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right">53</cell> + <cell>„ 5 in.</cell> + </row> +</table> + +<p> +She is divided into eight longitudinal water-tight compartments, and these again into +sets of compartments, called respectively load on and balance chambers. Several small +compartments were also made for the reception of the pumps, the machinery for moving +capstans, and cranes, all of which were worked by steam. She is powerful and large +enough to lift an ironclad having a displacement of 10,400 tons, and could almost dock +the <name type="ship">Great Eastern</name>. +</p> + +<p> +The building of the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> was begun in August, 1866; she was launched in +September, 1868, and finally completed in May, 1869. For the purposes of navigation +two light wooden bridges were thrown across her, on the foremost of which stood her +compass, and on the after the steering apparatus. She was also supplied with three +lighthouses and several semaphores for signalling to the men-of-war which had her in +tow, either by night or day. In shape she is something like a round-bottomed canal boat +with the ends cut off. From an interesting account of her voyage from Sheerness to +Bermuda by <q>One of those on Board,</q> we gather the following information respecting +her trip. Her crew numbered eighty-two hands, under a Staff-Commander, R.N.; there +were also on board an assistant naval surgeon, an Admiralty commissioner, and the writer +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/>of the book from which these particulars are taken. The first rendezvous of the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> +was to be at the Nore. +</p><anchor id="figbermfldo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE BERMUDA FLOATING DOCK.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_226.png" rend="w80"><head>THE BERMUDA FLOATING DOCK.</head> + <figDesc>THE BERMUDA FLOATING DOCK</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On the afternoon of the 23rd of June, 1869, the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> was towed to the Nore +by four ordinary Thames tugs, accompanied by H.M.SS. <name type="ship">Terrible</name>, <name type="ship">Medusa</name>, <name type="ship">Buzzard</name>, and +<name type="ship">Wildfire</name>. On arriving at the Nore off the lightship she found the <name type="ship">Northumberland</name> +waiting for her. The tugs cast off, and a hawser was passed to the <name type="ship">Northumberland</name>, +which took her in tow as far as Knob Channel, the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> bringing up astern. The +<name type="ship">Agincourt</name> was now picked up, and passing a hawser on board the <name type="ship">Northumberland</name>, took +the lead in the maritime tandem. A hawser was now passed to the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> from the +stern of the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name>, so that by towing that vessel she might be kept from swaying +from side to side. The <name type="ship">Medusa</name> steamed on the quarter of the <name type="ship">Northumberland</name>, and the +<name type="ship">Buzzard</name> acted as a kind of floating outrider to clear the way. The North Foreland was passed +the same evening, at a speed of four knots an hour. Everything went well until the 25th, +when she lost sight of land off the Start Point late in the afternoon of that day. On the +28th she was half-way across the Bay of Biscay, when, encountering a slight sea and a +freshening wind, she showed her first tendency to roll, an accomplishment in which she was +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/>afterwards beaten by all her companions, although the prognostications about her talents in +this direction had been of the most lugubrious description. It must be understood that the +bottom of her hold, so to speak, was only some ten feet under the surface of the water, and +that her hollow sides towered some sixty feet above it. On the top of each gunwale were +wooden houses for the officers, with gardens in front and behind, in which mignonette, +sweet peas, and other English garden flowers, grew and flourished, until they encountered +the parching heat of the tropics. The crew was quartered in the sides of the vessel; +and the top of the gunwales, or quarter-decks, as they might be called, communicated with +the lower decks by means of a ladder fifty-three feet long. +</p><anchor id="figvoyaofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: VOYAGE OF THE <q>BERMUDA.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_227.png" rend="w80"><head>VOYAGE OF THE <q>BERMUDA.</q></head> + <figDesc>VOYAGE OF THE <q>BERMUDA</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +To return, however, to the voyage. Her next rendezvous was at Porto Santo, a small +island on the east coast of the island of Madeira. On July 4th, about six o’clock +in the morning, land was signalled. This proved to be the island of Porto Santo; and +she brought up about two miles off the principal town early in the afternoon, having +made the voyage from Sheerness in exactly eleven days. Here the squadron was joined +by the <name type="ship">Warrior</name>, <name type="ship">Black Prince</name>, and <name type="ship">Lapwing</name> (gunboat), the <name type="ship">Helicon</name> leaving them for +Lisbon. Towards nightfall they started once more in the following order, passing to the +south of Bermuda. The <name type="ship">Black Prince</name> and <name type="ship">Warrior</name> led the team, towing the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name>, +the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> being towed by her in turn, to prevent yawing, and the <name type="ship">Lapwing</name> following +close on the heels of the <name type="ship">Terrible</name>. All went well until the 8th, when the breeze freshened, +the dock rolling as much as ten degrees. Towards eight o’clock in the evening a mighty +crash was heard, and the whole squadron was brought up by signal from the lighthouses. +On examination it was found that the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> had carried away one of the chains of +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/>her immense rudder, which was swaying to and fro in a most dangerous manner. The +officers and men, however, went to work with a will, and by one o’clock the next morning +all was made snug again, and the squadron proceeded on its voyage. During this portion +of the trip, a line of communication was established between the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> and the <name type="ship">Warrior</name>, +and almost daily presents of fresh meat and vegetables were sent by the officers of the +ironclad to their unknown comrades on board the dock. On the 9th, the day following +the disaster to the rudder, they fell in with the north-east trade winds, which formed the +subject of great rejoicing. Signals were made to make all sail, and reduce the quantity +of coal burned in the boilers of the four steam vessels. The next day, the <name type="ship">Lapwing</name>, +being shorter of coal than the others, she was ordered to take the place of the <name type="ship">Terrible</name>, the +latter ship now taking the lead by towing the <name type="ship">Black Prince</name>. The <name type="ship">Lapwing</name>, however, +proved not to be sufficiently powerful for this service. A heavy sea springing up, +the dock began to yaw and behave so friskily that the squadron once more brought to, +and the old order of things was resumed. +</p> + +<p> +On the 25th the <name type="ship">Lapwing</name> was sent on ahead to Bermuda to inform the authorities of +the close advent of the dock. It was now arranged that as the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> drew less water +than any of the other ships, she should have the honour of piloting the dock through the +Narrows—a narrow, tortuous, and shallow channel, forming the only practicable entrance +for large ships to the harbour of Bermuda. On the morning of the 28th, Bermuda lighthouse +was sighted, and the <name type="ship">Spitfire</name> was shortly afterwards picked up, having been sent +by the Bermudan authorities to pilot the squadron as far as the entrance of the Narrows. +She also brought the intelligence that it had been arranged that the <name type="ship">Viper</name> and the +<name type="ship">Vixen</name> had been ordered to pilot the dock into harbour. As they neared Bermuda, the +squadron were met by the naval officer in charge of the station, who, after having had +interviews with the captains of the squadron and of the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name>, rescinded the order +respecting the <name type="ship">Vixen</name> and the <name type="ship">Viper</name>, and the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> was once more deputed to tow the +<name type="ship">Bermuda</name> through the Narrows. Just off the mouth of this dangerous inlet, the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> +being in tow of the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> only, the dock became uncontrollable, and would have done +her best to carry Her Majesty’s ship to Halifax had not the <name type="ship">Warrior</name> come to her aid, +after the <name type="ship">Spitfire</name> and <name type="ship">Lapwing</name> had tried ineffectually to be of assistance. +</p> + +<p> +By this time, however, the water in the Narrows had become too low for the +<name type="ship">Warrior</name>; the <name type="ship">Bermuda</name> had, therefore, to wait until high water next morning in order to +complete the last, and, as it proved, the most perilous part of her journey. After the +<name type="ship">Warrior</name> and the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> had towed the dock through the entrance of the inlet, the first-named +ship cast off. The dock once more became unmanageable through a sudden gust +of wind striking her on the quarter. Had the gust lasted for only a few seconds longer, +the dock would have stranded—perhaps for ever. She righted, however, and the <name type="ship">Terrible</name> +steaming hard ahead, she passed the most dangerous point of the inlet, and at last rode +securely in smooth water, within a few cables’ length of her future berth, after a singularly +successful voyage of thirty-six days. +</p> + +<p> +It says much for the naval and engineering skill of all concerned in the transport of +this unwieldy mass of iron, weighing 8,000 tons, over nearly 4,000 miles of ocean, without +the loss of a single life, or, indeed, a solitary accident that can be called serious. The +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/>conception, execution, and success of the project are wholly unparalleled in the history of +naval engineering. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Bermuda, whither away? To the real capital of America, New York. It +is true that English men-of-war, and, for the matter of that, vessels of the American navy, +comparatively seldom visit that port, which otherwise is crowded by the shipping of all +nations. There are reasons for this. New York has not to-day a dock worthy of the +name; magnificent steamships and palatial ferry-boats all lie alongside wharfs, or enter +<q>slips,</q> which are semi-enclosed wharfs. Brooklyn and Jersey City have, however, docks. +</p> + +<p> +Who that has visited New York will ever forget his first impressions? The grand +Hudson, or the great East River, itself a strait: the glorious bay, or the crowded island, +alike call for and deserve enthusiastic admiration. If +one arrives on a sunny day, maybe not a zephyr agitates +the surface of the noble Hudson, or even the bay itself: +the latter landlocked, save where lost in the broad +Atlantic; the former skirted by the great Babylon of +America and the wooded banks of Hoboken. Round +the lofty western hills, a fleet of small craft—with rakish +hulls and snowy sails—steal quietly and softly, while +steamboats, that look like floating islands, almost pass +them with lightning speed. Around is the shipping of +every clime; enormous ferry-boats radiating in all directions; +forests of masts along the wharfs bearing the +flags of all nations. And where so much is strange, +there is one consoling fact: you feel yourself at home. +You are among brothers, speaking the same language, +obeying the same laws, professing the same religion. +</p><anchor id="figmap_ofne"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MAP OF NEW YORK HARBOUR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_229.png" rend="w60"><head>MAP OF NEW YORK HARBOUR.</head> + <figDesc>MAP OF NEW YORK HARBOUR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +New York city and port of entry, New York county, State of New York, lies at the +head of New York Bay, so that there is a good deal of New York about it. It is the +commercial emporium of the United States, and if it ever has a rival, it will be on the +other side of the continent, somewhere not far from San Francisco. Its area is, practically, +the bulk of Manhattan or New York Island, say thirteen miles long by two wide. Its +separation from the mainland is caused by the Harlem River, which connects the Hudson +and East Rivers, and is itself spanned by a bridge and the Croton aqueduct. New York +really possesses every advantage required to build a grand emporium. It extends between +two rivers, each navigable for the largest vessels, while its harbour would contain the +united or disunited navies, as the case may be, of all nations. The Hudson River, in +particular, is for some distance up a mile or more in width, while the East River averages +over two-fifths of a mile. The population of New York, with its suburban appendages, +including the cities of Brooklyn and Jersey City, is not less than that of Paris. +</p> + +<p> +The harbour is surrounded with small settlements, connected by charmingly-situated +villas and country residences. It is toward its northern end that the masts, commencing +with a few stragglers, gradually thicken to a forest. In it are three fortified islands. +By the strait called the <q>Narrows,</q> seven miles from the lower part of the city, and +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/>which is, for the space of a mile, about one mile wide, it communicates with the outer +harbour, or bay proper, which extends thence to Sandy Hook Light, forty miles from +the city, and opens directly into the ocean, forming one of the best roadsteads on the +whole Atlantic coasts of America. The approach to the city, as above indicated, is very +fine, the shores of the bay being wooded down to the water’s edge, and thickly studded +with villages, farms, and country seats. The view of the city itself is not so prepossessing; +like all large cities, it is almost impossible to find a point from which to grasp the +grandeur in its entirety, and the ground on which it is built is nowhere elevated. Therefore +there is very little to strike the eye specially. Many a petty town makes a greater +show in this respect. +</p> + +<p> +Those ferry-boats! The idea in the minds of most Englishmen is associated with +boats that may pass over from one or two to a dozen or so people, possibly a single horse, +or a donkey-cart. There you find steamers a couple of hundred or more feet long, with, +on either side of the engines, twenty or more feet space. On the true deck there is +accommodation for carriages, carts, and horses by the score; above, a spacious saloon for +passengers. They have powerful engines, and will easily beat the average steamship. On +arrival at the dock, they run into a kind of slip, or basin, with piles around stuck in the +soft bottom, which yield should she strike them, and entirely do away with any fear of +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/>concussion. <q>I may here add,</q> notes an intelligent writer,<note place="foot"><q>Lands of the Slave and the Free,</q> by the Hon. Henry A. Murray.</note> <q>that during my whole +travels in the States, I found nothing more perfect in construction and arrangement than +the ferries and their boats, the charges for which are most moderate, varying according to +distances, and ranging from one halfpenny upwards.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The sailor ashore in New York—and how many, many thousands visit it every year!—will +find much to note. The public buildings of the great city are not remarkable; but +the one great street, Broadway, which is about eight miles long, and almost straight, is +a very special feature. Unceasing throngs of busy men and women, loungers and idlers, +vehicles of all kinds, street cars, omnibuses, and carriages—there are no cabs hardly in +New York—pass and re-pass from early morn to dewy eve, while the shops, always +called <q>stores,</q> rival those of the Boulevards or Regent Street. Some of the older streets +were, no doubt, as Washington Irving tells us, laid out after the old cow-paths, as they +are as narrow and tortuous as those of any European city. The crowded state of Broadway +at certain points rivals Cheapside. The writer saw in 1867 a light bridge, which spanned +the street, and was intended for the use of ladies and timid pedestrians. When, in 1869, +he re-passed through the city it had disappeared, and on inquiry he learnt the reason. +Unprincipled roughs had stationed themselves at either end, and levied black-mail toll on +old ladies and unsophisticated country-people. +</p> + +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +<p> +So extreme is the difference between the intense heat of summer and the equally +intense cold of winter in New York, that the residents regularly get thin in the +former and stout in the latter. And what a sight are the two rivers at that time! Huge +masses of ice, crashing among themselves, and making navigation perilous and sometimes +impossible, descending the stream at a rapid rate; docks and slips frozen in; the riggings +and shrouds of great ships covered with icicles, and the decks ready for immediate use as +skating-rinks. The writer crossed in the ferry-boat from Jersey City to New York, in +January, 1875, and acquired a sincere respect for the pilot, who wriggled and zig-zagged +his vessel through masses of ice, against which a sharp collision would not have been a +joke. When, on the following morning, he left for Liverpool, the steamship herself was +a good model for a twelfth-night cake ornament, and had quite enough to do to get +out from the wharf. Five days after, in mid-Atlantic, he was sitting on deck in the +open air, reading a book, so much milder at such times is it on the open ocean. +</p><anchor id="figbroobrid"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BROOKLYN BRIDGE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_230.png" rend="w80"><head>BROOKLYN BRIDGE.</head> + <figDesc>BROOKLYN BRIDGE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But our leave is over, and although it would be pleasant to travel in imaginative +company up the beautiful Hudson, and visit one of the wonders of the world—Niagara, +to-day a mere holiday excursion from New York—we must away, merely briefly noting +before we go another of the wonders of the world, a triumph of engineering skill: the +great Brooklyn bridge, which connects that city with New York. Its span is about three-quarters +of a mile; large ships can pass under it, while vehicles and pedestrians cross in +mid-air over their mast tops, between two great cities, making them one. Brooklyn is a +great place for the residences of well-to-do New Yorkers, and the view from its <q>Heights</q>—an +elevation covered with villas and mansions—is grand and extensive. Apart from this, +Brooklyn is a considerable city, with numerous churches and chapels, public buildings, and +places of amusement. +</p><anchor id="figferrneyo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: FERRY-BOAT, NEW YORK HARBOUR.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_231.png" rend="w80"><head>FERRY-BOAT, NEW YORK HARBOUR.</head> + <figDesc>FERRY-BOAT, NEW YORK HARBOUR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Halifax is the northernmost depôt of the whole West India and North American +Station, and is often a great rendezvous of the Royal Navy. It is situated on a peninsula +on the south-east coast of Nova Scotia, of which it is the capital. Its situation is +very picturesque. The town stands on the declivity of a hill about 250 feet high, rising +from one of the finest harbours in the world. The city front is lined with handsome +wharfs, while merchants’ houses, dwellings, and public edifices arrange themselves on +tiers, stretching along and up the sides of the hill. It has fine wide streets; the +principal one, which runs round the edge of the harbour, is capitally paved. The harbour +opposite the town, where ships usually anchor, is rather more than a mile wide, and after +narrowing to a quarter of a mile above the upper end of the town, expands into Bedford Basin, +a completely land-locked sheet of water. This grand sea-lake has an area of ten square +miles, and is capable of containing any number of navies. Halifax possesses another +advantage not common to every harbour of North America: it is accessible at all seasons, +and navigation is rarely impeded by ice. There are two fine lighthouses at Halifax; that +on an island off Sambro Head is 210 feet high. The port possesses many large ships of +its own, generally employed in the South Sea whale and seal fishery. It is a very prosperous +fishing town in other respects. +</p> + +<p> +The town of Halifax was founded in 1749. The settlers, to the number of 3,500, +largely composed of naval and military men, whose expenses out had been paid by the +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/>British Government to assist in the formation of the station, soon cleared the ground from +stumps, &c., and having erected a wooden government house and suitable warehouses for +stores and provisions, the town was laid out so as to form a number of straight and handsome +streets. Planks, doors, window-frames, and other portions of houses, were imported +from the New England settlements, and the more laborious portion of the work, which +the settlers executed themselves, was performed with great dispatch. At the approach of +winter they found themselves comfortably settled, having completed a number of houses +and huts, and covered others in a manner which served to protect them from the rigour +of the weather, there very severe. There were now assembled at Halifax about 5,000 +people, whose labours were suddenly suspended by the intensity of the frost, and there +was in consequence considerable enforced idleness. Haliburton<note place="foot"><q>Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia,</q> by Judge Haliburton.</note> mentions the difficulty +that the governor had to employ the settlers by sending them out on various expeditions, +in palisading the town, and in other public works. +</p> + +<p> +In addition to £40,000 granted by the British Government for the embarkation and +other expenses of the first settlers, Parliament continued to make annual grants for the +same purpose, which, in 1755, amounted to the considerable sum of £416,000. +</p> + +<p> +The town of Halifax was no sooner built than the French colonists began to be +alarmed, and although they did not think proper to make an open avowal of their jealousy +and disgust, they employed their emissaries clandestinely in exciting the Indians to harass +the inhabitants with hostilities, in such a manner as should effectually hinder them from +extending their plantations, or perhaps, indeed, induce them to abandon the settlement. +The Indian chiefs, however, for some time took a different view of the matter, waited +upon the governor, and acknowledged themselves subjects of the crown of England. The +French court thereupon renewed its intrigues with the Indians, and so far succeeded that +for several years the town was frequently attacked in the night, and the English could +not stir into the adjoining woods without the danger of being shot, scalped, or taken +prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +Among the early laws of Nova Scotia was one by which it was enacted that no debts +contracted in England, or in any of the colonies prior to the settlement of Halifax, or to +the arrival of the debtor, should be recoverable by law in any court in the province. As +an asylum for insolvent debtors, it is natural to suppose that Halifax attracted thither +the guilty as well as the unfortunate; and we may form some idea of the state of public +morals at that period from an order of Governor Cornwallis, which, after reciting that the +dead were usually attended to the grave by neither relatives or friends, twelve citizens +should in future be summoned to attend the funeral of each deceased person. +</p> + +<p> +The Nova Scotians are popularly known by Canadians and Americans as <q>Blue Noses,</q> +doubtless from the colour of their nasal appendages in bitter cold weather. It has been +already mentioned that Halifax is now a thriving city; but there must have been a period +when the people were not particularly enterprising, or else that most veracious individual, +<q>Sam Slick,</q> greatly belied them. Judge Haliburton, in his immortal <q>Clockmaker,</q> +introduces the following conversation with Mr. Slick:— +</p> + +<p> +<q><q>You appear,</q> said I to Mr. Slick, <q>to have travelled over the whole of this province, +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/>and to have observed the country and the people with much attention; pray, what is your +opinion of the present state and future prospects of Halifax?</q> <q>If you will tell me,</q> +said he, <q>when the folks there will wake up, then I can answer you; but they are fast +asleep. As to the province, it’s a splendid province, and calculated to go ahead; it will +grow as fast as a Virginny gall—and they grow so amazing fast, if you put one of your +arms round one of their necks to kiss them, by the time you’ve done they’ve growed up +into women. It’s a pretty province, I tell you, good above and better below: surface +covered with pastures, meadows, woods, and a nation sight of water privileges; and under +the ground full of mines. It puts me in mind of the soup at <hi rend='italic'>Tree</hi>mont house—good enough +at top, but dip down and you have the riches—the coal, the iron ore, the gypsum, and +what not. As for Halifax, it’s well enough in itself, though no great shakes neither; a +few sizeable houses, with a proper sight of small ones, like half-a-dozen old hens with +their broods of young chickens: but the people, the strange critters, they are all asleep. +They walk in their sleep, and talk in their sleep, and what they say one day they forget +the next; they say they were dreaming.</q></q> This was first published in England in 1838; +all accounts now speak of Halifax as a well-built, paved, and cleanly city, and of its +inhabitants as enterprising. +</p><anchor id="figislaofas"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE ISLAND OF ASCENSION.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_234.png" rend="w80"><head>THE ISLAND OF ASCENSION.</head> + <figDesc>THE ISLAND OF ASCENSION</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf><anchor id="figtridacu"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: TRISTAN D’ACUNHA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_235.jpg" rend="w100"><head>TRISTAN D’ACUNHA.</head> + <figDesc>TRISTAN D’ACUNHA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div> +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XII. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XII. Round the World on a Man-of-War (continued)"/><anchor id="chap12"/> +<head>CHAPTER XII.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>Round the World on a Man-of-War</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend="small">THE AFRICAN STATION.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Its Extent—Ascension—Turtle at a Discount—Sierra Leone—An Unhealthy Station—The Cape of Good Hope—Cape Town—Visit +of the Sailor Prince—Grand Festivities—Enthusiasm of the Natives—Loyal Demonstrations—An African +<q>Derby</q>—Grand Dock Inaugurated—Elephant Hunting—The Parting Ball—The Life of a Boer—Circular Farms—The +Diamond Discoveries—A £12,000 Gem—A Sailor First President of the Fields—Precarious Nature of the Search—Natal—Inducements +held out to Settlers—St. Helena and Napoleon—Discourteous Treatment of a Fallen Foe—The +Home of the Caged Lion. +</p></argument> + +<p> +And now we are off to the last of the British naval stations under consideration—that +of the African coast. It is called, in naval phraseology, <q>The West Coast of Africa +and Cape of Good Hope Station,</q> and embraces not merely all that the words imply, but +a part of the east coast, including the important colony of Natal. Commencing at latitude +20° N. above the Cape Verd Islands, it includes the islands of Ascension, St. Helena, +Tristan d’Acunha, and others already described. +</p> + +<p> +Ascension, which is a British station, with dockyard, and fort garrisoned by artillery +and marines, is a barren island, about eight miles long by six broad. Its fort is in lat. +70° 26′ N.: long., 140° 24′ W. It is of volcanic formation, and one of its hills rises to +the considerable elevation of 2,870 feet. Until the imprisonment of Napoleon at St. +Helena, it was utterly uninhabited. At that period it was garrisoned with a small British +force; and so good use was made of their time that it has been partly cultivated and +very greatly improved. Irrigation was found, as elsewhere, to work wonders, and as +there are magnificent springs, this was rendered easy. Vast numbers of turtle are taken +on its shores; and, in consequence, the soldiers prefer the soup of pea, and affect to despise +turtle steaks worth half a guinea apiece in London, and fit to rejoice the heart of an +alderman! The writer saw the same thing in Vancouver Island, where at the boarding-house +of a very large steam saw-mill, the hands struck against the salmon, so abundant +on those coasts. They insisted upon not having it more than twice a week for dinner, +and that it should be replaced by salt pork. The climate of Ascension is remarkably +healthy. The object in occupying it is very similar to the reason for holding the Falkland +Islands—to serve as a depôt for stores, coal, and for watering ships cruising in the +South Atlantic. +</p> + +<p> +Sierra Leone is, perhaps, of all places in the world, the last to which the sailor would +wish to go, albeit its unhealthiness has been, as is the case with Panama, grossly +exaggerated. Thus we were told that when a clergyman with some little influence was +pestering the Prime Minister for the time being for promotion, the latter would appoint +him to the Bishopric of Sierra Leone, knowing well that in a year or so the said bishopric +would be vacant and ready for another gentleman! +</p><anchor id="figsierleon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SIERRA LEONE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_238.png" rend="w80"><head>SIERRA LEONE.</head> + <figDesc>SIERRA LEONE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Sierra Leone is a British colony, and the capital is Free Town, situated on a peninsula +lying between the broad estuary of the Sherboro and the Sierra Leone rivers, connected +with the mainland by an isthmus not more than one mile and a half broad. The colony +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/>also includes a number of islands, among which are many good harbours. Its history +has one interesting point. When, in 1787, it became a British colony, a company was +formed, which included a scheme for making it a home for free negroes, and to prove +that colonial produce could be raised profitably without resorting to slave labour. Its +prosperity was seriously affected during the French Revolution by the depredations of +French cruisers, and in 1808 the company ceded all its rights to the Crown. Its population +includes negroes from 200 different African tribes, many of them liberated from slavery +and slave-ships, a subject which will be treated hereafter in this work. +</p> + +<p> +One of the great industries of Sierra Leone is the manufacture of cocoa-nut oil. The +factories are extensive affairs. It is a very beautiful country, on the whole, and when +acclimatised, Europeans find that they can live splendidly on the products of the country. +The fisheries, both sea and river, are wonderfully productive, and employ about 1,500 +natives. Boat-building is carried on to some extent, the splendid forests yielding timber +so large that canoes capable of holding a hundred men have been made from a single +log, like those already mentioned in connection with the north-west coast of America. +Many of the West Indian products have been introduced; sugar, coffee, indigo, ginger, +cotton, and rice thrive well, as do Indian corn, the yam, plantain, pumpkins, banana, +cocoa, baobab, pine-apple, orange, lime, guava, papaw, pomegranate, orange, and lime. +Poultry is particularly abundant. It therefore might claim attention as a fruitful and +productive country but for the malaria of its swampy rivers and low lands. +</p> + +<p> +And now, leaving Sierra Leone, our good ship makes for the Cape of Good Hope, +passing, mostly far out at sea, down that coast along which the Portuguese mariners crept +so cautiously yet so surely till Diaz and Da Gama reached South Africa, while the latter +showed them the way to the fabled Cathaia, the Orient—India, China, and the Spice +Islands. +</p> + +<p> +In the year 1486 <q>The Cape</q> of capes <hi rend='italic'>par excellence</hi>, which rarely nowadays bears +its full title, was discovered by Bartholomew de Diaz, a commander in the service of +John II. of Portugal. He did not proceed to the eastward of it, and it was reserved for +the great Vasco da Gama—afterwards the first Viceroy of India—an incident in whose +career forms, by-the-by, the plot of <hi rend='italic'>L’Africaine</hi>, Meyerbeer’s grand opera, to double it. +It was called at first Cabo Tormentoso—<q>the Cape of Storms</q>—but by royal desire +was changed to that of <q>Buon Esperanza</q>—<q>Good Hope</q>—the title it still bears. +Cape Colony was acquired by Great Britain in 1620, although for a long time it was +practically in the hands of the Dutch, a colony having been planted by their East India +Company. The Dutch held it in this way till 1795, when the territory was once more +taken by our country. It was returned to the Dutch at the Peace of Amiens, only to be +snatched from them again in 1806, and finally confirmed to Britain at the general peace +of 1815. +</p> + +<p> +The population, including the Boers, or farmers of Dutch descent, Hottentots, Kaffirs, +and Malays, is not probably over 600,000, while the original territory is about 700 miles +long by 400 wide, having an area of not far from 200,000 square miles. The capital +of the colony is Cape Town, lying at the foot, as every schoolboy knows, of the celebrated +Table Mountain. +</p> + +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> + +<p> +A recent writer, Mr. Boyle,<note place="foot"><q>To the Cape for Diamonds.</q> By Frederick Boyle.</note> speaks cautiously of Cape Town and its people. There +are respectable, but not very noticeable, public buildings. <q>Some old Dutch houses there +are, distinguishable chiefly by a superlative flatness and an extra allowance of windows. +The population is about 30,000 souls, white, black, and mixed. I should incline to +think more than half fall into the third category. They seem to be hospitable and good-natured +in all classes.... There is complaint of slowness, indecision, and general +<q>want of go</q> about the place. Dutch blood is said to be still too apparent in business, +in local government, and in society. I suppose there is sound basis for these accusations, +since trade is migrating so rapidly towards the rival mart of Port Elizabeth.... But +ten years ago the entire export of wool passed through Cape Town. Last year, as I find +in the official returns, 28,000,000 lbs. were shipped at the eastern port out of the whole +37,000,000 lbs. produced in the colony. The gas-lamps, put up by a sort of <hi rend='italic'>coup d’état</hi> +in the municipality, were not lighted until last year, owing to the opposition of the Dutch +town councillors. They urged that decent people didn’t want to be out at night, and the +ill-disposed didn’t deserve illumination. Such facts seem to show that the city is not +quite up to the mark in all respects.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> + +<p> +Simon’s Bay, near Table Bay, where Cape Town is situated, is a great rendezvous +for the navy; there are docks and soldiers there, and a small town. The bay abounds +in fish. The Rev. John Milner, chaplain of the <name type="ship">Galatea</name>, says that during the visit of +Prince Alfred, <q>large shoals of fish (a sort of coarse mackerel) were seen all over the +bay; numbers came alongside, and several of them were harpooned with grains by some +of the youngsters from the accommodation-ladder. Later in the day a seal rose, and +continued fishing and rising in the most leisurely manner. At one time it was within +easy rifle distance, and might have been shot from the ship.</q><note place="foot"><q>The Cruise of H.M. Ship <name type="ship">Galatea</name>.</q> By the Rev. John Milner, B.A., Chaplain, and Oswald W. Brierly.</note> Fish and meat are so +plentiful in the colony that living is excessively cheap. +</p><anchor id="figcapetown"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CAPE TOWN.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_239.png" rend="w80"><head>CAPE TOWN.</head> + <figDesc>CAPE TOWN</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The visit of his Royal Highness the Sailor Prince, in 1867, will long be remembered in +the colony. That, and the recent diamond discoveries, prove that the people cannot be accused +of sloth and want of enterprise. On arrival at Simon’s Bay, the first vessels made out +were the <name type="ship">Racoon</name>, on which Prince Alfred had served his time as lieutenant, the <name type="ship">Petrel</name>, +just returned from landing poor Livingstone at the Zambesi, and the receiving-ship +<name type="ship">Seringapatam</name>. Soon followed official visits, dinner, ball, and fireworks from the ships. +When the Prince was to proceed to Cape Town, all the ships fired a royal salute, and +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/>the fort also, as he landed at the jetty, where he was received by a guard of honour of +the 99th Regiment. A short distance from the landing-place, at the entrance to the +main street, was a pretty arch, decorated with flowering shrubs, and the leaves of the +silver-tree. On his way to this his Royal Highness was met by a deputation from +the inhabitants of Simon’s Town and of the Malay population. <q>This was a very +interesting sight; the chief men, dressed in Oriental costumes, with bright-coloured robes +and turbans, stood in front, and two of them held short wands decorated with paper flowers +of various colours. The Duke shook hands with them, and then they touched him with +their wands. They seemed very much pleased, and looked at him in an earnest and +affectionate manner. Several of the Malays stood round with drawn swords, apparently +acting as a guard of honour. The crowd round formed a very motley group of people +of all colours—negroes, brown Asiatics, Hottentots, and men, women, and children of +every hue. The policemen had enough to do to keep them back as they pressed up close +round the Duke.</q> After loyal addresses had been received, and responded to, the Prince +and suite drove off for Cape Town, the ride to which is graphically described by the +chaplain and artist of the expedition. <q rend="post: none">The morning was very lovely. Looking to +seaward was the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Hanglip, and the high, broken shores of +Hottentot Holland, seen over the clear blue water of the bay. The horses, carriages, +escort with their drawn swords, all dashing at a rattling pace along the sands in the +bright sunshine, and the long lines of small breakers on the beach, was one of the most +exhilarating sights imaginable. In places the cavalcade emerged from the sands up on +to where the road skirts a rocky shore, and where at this season of the year beautiful +arum lilies and other bright flowers were growing in the greatest profusion. About four +miles from Simon’s Bay, we passed a small cove, called Fish-hook Bay, where a few +families of Malay fishermen reside. A whale they had killed in the bay the evening +before lay anchored ready for <q>cutting in.</q> A small flag, called by whalers a <q>whiff,</q> +was sticking up in it. We could see from the road that it was one of the usual southern +<q>right</q> whales which occasionally come into Simon’s Bay, and are captured there. After +crossing the last of the sands, we reached Kalk Bay, a collection of small houses where +the people from Cape Town come to stay in the summer. As we proceeded, fresh carriages +of private individuals and horsemen continued to join on behind, and it was necessary +to keep a bright look-out to prevent them rushing in between the two carriages containing +the Duke and Governor, with their suites. Various small unpretending arches (every +poor man having put up one on his own account), with flags and flowers, spanned the +road in different places between Simon’s Town and Farmer Peck’s, a small inn about +nine miles from the anchorage, which used formerly to have the following eccentric +sign-board:—</q> +</p> + +<lg> + <head rend="margin-left: 2; text-align: left">‘THE GENTLE SHEPHERD OF SALISBURY PLAIN.</head> + +<head type="sub" rend="margin-left: 4; text-align: left">‘FARMER PECKS.</head> +<l>‘Multum in Parvo! Pro bono publico!</l> +<l>Entertainment for man or beast, all of a row,</l> +<l>Lekher kost, as much as you please;</l> +<l>Excellent beds, without any fleas.</l> +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/><l>Nos patriam fugimus! now we are here,</l> +<l>Vivamus! let us live by selling beer.</l> +<l>On donne à boire et à manger ici;</l> +<l>Come in and try it, whoever you be.’</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<q rend="pre: none">This house was decorated with evergreens, and over the door was a stuffed South +African leopard springing on an antelope. A little further on, after discussing lunch +at a half-way house, a goodly number of volunteer cavalry, in blue-and-white uniforms, +appeared to escort the Sailor Prince into Cape Town. The road passes through pleasant +country; but the thick red dust which rose as the cavalcade proceeded was overwhelming. +It was a South African version of the <q>Derby</q> on a hot summer’s day. At various +places parties of school-children, arrayed along the road-side, sung the National Anthem +in little piping voices, the singing being generally conducted by mild-looking men in +black gloves and spectacles. At one place stood an old Malay, playing <q>God Save the +Queen</q> on a cracked clarionet, who, quite absorbed as he was in his music, and apparently +unconscious of all around him, looked exceedingly comic. There was everywhere a great +scrambling crowd of Malays and black boys, running and tumbling over each other, +shouting and laughing; women with children tied on their backs, old men, and girls +dressed in every conceivable kind of ragged rig and picturesque colour, with head-gear +of a wonderful nature, huge Malay hats, almost parasols in size, and resembling the +thatch of an English corn-rick; crowns of old black hats; turbans of all proportions and +colours, swelled the procession as it swept along. When the cavalry-trumpet sounded +<q>trot,</q> the cloud of dust increased tenfold. Everybody, apparently, who could muster a +horse was mounted, so that ahead and on every side the carriage in which we were following +the Duke was hemmed in and surrounded, and everything became mixed up in one thick +cloud of red dust, in which helmets, swords, hats, puggeries, turbans, and horses almost +disappeared. The crowd hurraed louder than ever, pigs squealed, dogs howled, riders +tumbled off; the excitement was irresistible. <q>Oh! this is fun; stand up—never mind +dignity. Whoo-whoop!</q> and we were rushed into the cloud of dust, to escape being +utterly swamped and left astern of the Duke, standing up in the carriage, and holding +on in front, to catch what glimpses we could of what was going on.... Some of +the arches were very beautiful; they were all decorated with flowering shrubs, flowers +(particularly the arum lily) and leaves of the silver-tree. In one the words <hi rend='smallcaps'>Welcome +Back</hi><note place="foot">Alluding to the previous visit of Prince Alfred when a midshipman.</note> were formed with oranges. One of the most curious had on its top a large +steamship, with <name type="ship">Galatea</name> inscribed upon it, and a funnel out of which real smoke was +made to issue as the Duke passed under. Six little boys dressed as sailors formed the +crew, and stood up singing <q>Rule Britannia.</q></q> And so they arrived in Cape Town, +to have <hi rend='italic'>levées</hi>, receptions, entertainments, and balls by the dozen. +</p> + +<p> +While at the Cape the Duke of Edinburgh laid the foundation of a grand graving-dock, +an adjunct to the Table Bay Harbour Works, a most valuable and important addition +to the resources of the Royal Navy, enabling the largest ironclad to be repaired at that +distant point. The dock is four hundred feet long, and ninety feet wide. For more +than forty years previously frequent but unsuccessful efforts had been made to provide +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/>a harbour of refuge in Table Bay; now, in addition to this splendid dock, it has a +fine breakwater. +</p> + +<p> +Officers of the Royal Navy may occasionally get the opportunity afforded the Prince, +of attending an elephant hunt. From the neighbourhood of the Cape itself the biggest +of beasts has long retired; but three hundred miles up the coast, at Featherbed Bay, +where there is a settlement, it is still possible to enjoy some sport. +</p> + +<p> +To leave the port or town of Knysna—where, by-the-by, the Duke was entertained +at a great feed of South African oysters—was found to be difficult and perilous. The +entrance to the harbour is very fine; a high cliff comes down sheer to the sea on one side, +while on the other there is an angular bluff, with a cave through it. As the <name type="ship">Petrel</name> +steamed out, a large group of the ladies of the district waved their handkerchiefs, and +the elephant-hunters cheered. It was now evident, from the appearance of the bar, that +the <name type="ship">Petrel</name> had not come out a moment too soon. A heavy sea of rollers extended nearly +the whole way across the mouth of the harbour, and broke into a long thundering crest +of foam, leaving only one small space on the western side clear of actual surf. For this +opening the <name type="ship">Petrel</name> steered; but even there the swell was so great that the vessel reared and +pitched fearfully, and touched the bottom as she dipped astern into the deep trough of the sea. +The slightest accident to the rudder, and nothing short of a miracle could have saved them +from going on to the rocks, where a tremendous surf was breaking. Providentially, she got +out safely, and soon the party was transferred to the <name type="ship">Racoon</name>, which returned to Simon’s Bay. +</p><anchor id="figgalapakn"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>GALATEA</q> PASSING KNYSNA HEADS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_243.png" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>GALATEA</q> PASSING KNYSNA HEADS.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>GALATEA</q> PASSING KNYSNA HEADS.</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On his return from the elephant hunt, the Prince gave a parting ball. A capital ballroom, +135 feet long by 44 wide, was improvised out of an open boat-house by a party +of blue-jackets, who, by means of ships’ lanterns, flags, arms arranged as ornaments, and +beautiful ferns and flowers, effected a transformation as wonderful as anything recorded in +the <q>Arabian Nights,</q> the crowning feature of the decorations being the head of one +of the elephants from the Knysna, surmounting an arch of evergreens. Most of the +visitors had to come all the way from Cape Town, and during the afternoon were to be +seen flocking along the sands in vehicles of every description, many being conveyed to +Simon’s Town a part of the distance in a navy steam-tender or the <name type="ship">Galatea’s</name> steam-launch. +The ball was, of course, a grand success. +</p> + +<p> +This not being a history of Cape Colony, but rather of what the sailor will find at or +near its ports and harbours, the writer is relieved from any necessity of treating on past +or present troubles with the Boers or the natives. Of course, everything was tinted +<hi rend='italic'>couleur de rose</hi> at the Prince’s visit, albeit at that very time the colony was in a bad way, with +over speculation among the commercial classes, a cattle plague, disease among sheep, and +a grape-disease. Mr. Frederick Boyle, whose recent work on the Diamond-fields has been +already quoted, and who had to leave a steamer short of coal at Saldanha Bay, seventy or +eighty miles from Cape Town, and proceed by a rather expensive route, presents a picture +far from gratifying of some of the districts through which he passed. At Saldanha Bay +agriculture gave such poor returns that it did not even pay to export produce to the +Cape. The settlers <hi rend='italic'>exist</hi>, but can hardly be said to live. They have plenty of cattle and +sheep, sufficient maize and corn, but little money. Mr. Boyle describes the homestead of +a Boer substantially as follows:— +</p> +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> + +<p> +Reaching the home of a farmer named Vasson, he found himself in the midst of a +scene quite patriarchal. All the plain before the house was white with sheep and lambs, +drinking at the <q>dam</q> or in long troughs. The dam is an indispensable institution in a +country where springs are scarce, and where a river is a prodigy. It is the new settler’s +first work, even before erecting his house, to find a hollow space, and dam it up, so as to +make a reservoir. He then proceeds to make the best sun-dried bricks he can, and to erect +his cottage, usually of two, and rarely more than three, rooms. Not unfrequently, there +is a garden, hardly worthy of the name, where a few potatoes and onions are raised. The +farmers, more especially the Dutch, are <q>the heaviest and largest in the world.</q> At an +early age their drowsy habits and copious feeding run them into flesh. <q>Three times a +day the family gorges itself upon lumps of mutton, fried in the tallowy fat of the sheep’s +tail, or else—their only change of diet—upon the tasteless <hi rend='italic'>fricadel</hi>—kneaded balls of +meat and onions, likewise swimming in grease. Very few vegetables they have, and those +are rarely used. Brown bread they make, but scarcely touch it. Fancy existing from +birth to death upon mutton scraps, half boiled, half fried, in tallow! So doth the Boer. +It is not eating, but devouring, with him. And fancy the existence! always alone with +one’s father, mother, brothers, and sisters; of whom not one can do more than write his +name, scarce one can read, not one has heard of any event in history, nor dreamed of such +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/>existing things as art or science, or poetry, or aught that pertains to civilisation.</q> An +unpleasant picture, truly, and one to which there are many exceptions. It was doubtful +whether Mr. Vasson could read. His farm was several thousand acres. The ancient law +of Cape Colony gave the settler 3,000 <hi rend='italic'>morgen</hi>—something more than 6,000 acres. He was +not obliged to take so much, but, whatever the size of his farm might be, it must be +<hi rend='italic'>circular</hi> in shape; and as the circumference of a property could only touch the adjoining +grants it follows that there were immense corners or tracts of land left waste between. +Clever and ambitious farmers, in these later days, have been silently absorbing said corners +into their estates, greatly increasing their size. +</p> + +<p> +The Cape cannot be recommended to the notice of poor emigrants, but to capitalists +it offers splendid inducements. Mr. Irons, in his work on the Cape and Natal settlements,<note place="foot"><q>The Settler’s Guide to the Cape of Good Hope,</q> &c., by Mr. Irons.</note> +cites several actual cases, showing the profits on capital invested in sheep-farming. In one +case £1,250 realised, in about three years, £2,860, which includes the sale of the wool. +A second statement gives the profits on an outlay of £2,225, after seven years. It amounts +to over £8,000. Rents in the towns are low; beef and mutton do not exceed fourpence +per pound, while bread, made largely from imported flour, is a shilling and upwards per +four-pound loaf. +</p> + +<p> +So many sailors have made for the Diamond-fields, since their discovery, from the Cape, +Port Elizabeth, or Natal, and so many more will do the same, as any new deposit is found, +that it will not be out of place here to give the facts concerning them. In 1871, when +Mr. Boyle visited them, the ride up cost from £12 to £16, with additional expenses for +meals, &c. Of course, a majority of the 50,000 men who have been congregated at times +at the various fields could not and did not afford this; but it is a tramp of 750 miles +from Cape Town, or 450 from Port Elizabeth or Natal. From the Cape, a railway, for about +sixty miles, eases some of the distance. On the journey up, which reads very like Western +experiences in America, two of three mules were twenty-six hours and a half in harness, +and covered 110 miles! South Africa requires a society for the prevention of cruelty to +animals, one would think. Mr. Boyle also saw another way by which the colonist may +become rapidly wealthy—in ostrich-farming. Broods, purchased for £5 to £9, in three years +gain their full plumages, and yield in feathers £4 to £6 per annum. They become quite +tame, are not delicate to rear, and are easily managed. And they also met the down coaches +from the fields, on one of which a young fellow—almost a boy—had no less than 235 carats +with him. At last they reached Pniel (<q>a camp</q>), a place which once held 5,000 workers +and delvers, and in November, 1872, was reduced to a few hundred, like the deserted +diggings in California and Australia. It had, however, yielded largely for a time. +</p> + +<p> +The words, <q>Here be diamonds,</q> are to be found inscribed on an old mission-map of +a part of the Colony, of the date of 1750, or thereabouts. In 1867, a trader up country, +near Hope Town, saw the children of a Boer playing with some pebbles, picked up along +the banks of the Orange River. An ostrich-hunter named O’Reilly was present, and the +pair of them were struck with the appearance of one of the stones, and they tried it on +glass, scratching the sash all over. A bargain was soon struck: O’Reilly was to take it +to Cape Town; and there Sir P. E. Wodehouse soon gave him £500 for it. Then came an +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/>excitement, of course. In 1869, a Hottentot shepherd, named Swartzboy, brought to a +country store a gem of 83½ carats. The shopman, in his master’s absence, did not like to +risk the £200 worth of goods demanded. Swartzboy passed on to the farm of one Niekirk, +where he asked, and eventually got, £400. Niekirk sold it for £12,000 the same day! +Now, of course, the excitement became a fevered frenzy. +</p> + +<p> +Supreme among the camps around Pniel reigned Mr. President Parker, a sailor who, +leaving the sea, had turned trader. Mr. Parker, with his counsellors, were absolute in +power, and, all in all, administered justice very fairly. Ducking in the river was the +mildest punishment; the naval <q>cat</q> came next; while dragging through the river was +the third grade; last of all came the <q>spread eagle,</q> in which the culprit was extended +flat, hands and feet staked down, and so exposed to the angry sun. +</p> + +<p> +In a short time, the yield from the various fields was not under £300,000 per month, +and claims were sold at hundreds and thousands of pounds apiece. Then came a time of +depression, when the dealers would not buy, or only at terribly low prices. Meantime, +although meat was always cheap, everything else was very high. A cabbage, for example, +often fetched 10s., a water-melon 15s., and onions and green figs a shilling apiece. Forage +for horses was half-a-crown a bundle of four pounds. To-day they are little higher on the +Fields than in other parts of the Colony. +</p> + +<p> +That a number of diggers have made snug little piles, ranging from two or three to eight, +ten, or more thousand pounds, is undeniable, but they were very exceptional cases, after +all. The dealers in diamonds, though, often turned over immense sums very rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +And now, before taking our leave of the African station, let us pay a flying visit +to Natal, which colony has been steadily rising of late years, and which offers many +advantages to the visitor and settler. The climate, in spite of the hot sirocco which +sometimes blows over it, and the severe thunderstorms, is, all in all, superior to most of +the African climates, inasmuch as the rainfall is as nearly as possible that of London, and +it falls at the period when most wanted—at the time of greatest warmth and most +active vegetation. The productions of Natal are even more varied than those of the Cape, +while arrowroot, sugar, cotton, and Indian corn are staple articles. <hi rend='italic'>The</hi> great industries +are cattle and sheep-rearing, and, as in all parts of South Africa, meat is excessively +cheap, retailing at threepence or fourpence a pound. +</p> + +<p> +Natal was discovered by Vasco da Gama, and received from him the name of Terra +Natalis—<q>Land of the Nativity</q>—because of his arriving on Christmas Day. Until 1823 +it was little known or visited. A settlement was then formed by a party of Englishmen, +who were joined by a number of dissatisfied Dutchmen from the Cape. In 1838 the +British Government took possession. There was a squabble, the colonists being somewhat +defiant for a while, and some little fighting ensued. It was proposed by the settlers to +proclaim the Republic of Natalia, but on the appearance of a strong British force, they +subsided quietly, and Natal was placed under the control of the Governor of the Cape. +In 1856, it was erected into a separate colony. +</p> + +<p> +To moderate capitalists it offers many advantages. Land is granted on the easiest +terms, usually four shillings per acre; and free grants are given, in proportion to a settler’s +capital: £500 capital receives a land order for 200 acres. An arrowroot plantation and +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/>factory can be started for £500 or £600, and a coffee plantation for something over £1,000. +Sugar-planting, &c., is much more expensive, and would require for plant, &c., £5,000, +or more. +</p> + +<p> +And now, on the way home from the African station, the good ship will pass close +to, if indeed it does not touch at, the Island of St. Helena, a common place of refreshment +for vessels sailing to the northward. Vessels coming southward rarely do so; sailing +ships can hardly make the island. It lies some 1,200 miles from the African coasts, in +mid-ocean. St. Helena has much the appearance, seen from a distance, of the summit of +some great submarine mountain, its rugged and perpendicular cliffs rising from the shore +to altitudes from 300 to 1,500 feet. In a few scattered places there are deep, precipitous +ravines, opening to the sea, whose embouchures form difficult but still possible landing-places +for the fishermen. In one of the largest of these, towards the north-west, the +capital and port of the island, James Town, is situated. It is the residence of the +authorities. The anchorage is good and sufficiently deep, and the port is well protected +from the winds. The town is entered by an arched gateway, within which is a spacious +parade, lined with official residences, and faced by a handsome church. The town is +in no way remarkable, but has well-supplied shops. The leading inhabitants prefer to live +outside it on the higher and cooler plateaux of the island, where many of them have very +fine country houses, foremost of which is a villa named Plantation House, belonging to +the governor, surrounded by pleasant grounds, handsome trees and shrubs. In the garden +grounds tropical and ordinary fruits and vegetables flourish; the mango, banana, tamarind, +and sugar-cane; the orange, citron, grape, fig, and olive, equally with the common fruits +of England. The yam and all the European vegetables abound; three crops of potatoes +have been often raised from the same ground in one year. The hills are covered with +the cabbage tree, and the log-wood and gum-wood trees. Cattle and sheep are scarce, +but goats browse in immense herds on the hills. No beasts of prey are to be met, but +there are plenty of unpleasant and poisonous insects. Game and fish are abundant, and +turtles are often found. All in all, it is not a bad place for Jack after a long voyage, +although not considered healthy. It has a military governor, and there are barracks. +</p> + +<p> +The interior is a plateau, divided by low mountains, the former averaging 1,500 +feet above the sea. The island is undoubtedly of volcanic origin. It was discovered on +the 22nd May (St. Helena’s Day), by Juan de Nova, a Portuguese. The Dutch first +held it, and it was wrested from them first by England in 1673, Charles II. soon afterwards +granting it to the East India Company, who, with the exception of the period of +Napoleon’s imprisonment, held the proprietorship to 1834, when it became an appanage +of the Crown. +</p> + +<p> +The fame of the little island rests on its having been the prison of the great disturber +of Europe. Every reader knows the circumstances which preceded that event. +He had gone to Rochefort with the object of embarking for America, but finding the +whole coast so blockaded as to render that scheme impracticable, surrendered himself to +Captain Maitland, commander of the English man-of-war <name type="ship">Bellerophon</name>, who immediately +set sail for Torbay. No notice whatever was taken of his letter—an uncourteous proceeding, +to say the least of it, towards a fallen foe—and on the 7th of August he was removed +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/>to the <name type="ship">Northumberland</name>, the flag-ship of Sir George Cockburn, which immediately set sail for +St. Helena. +</p> + +<p> +On arrival the imperial captive was at first lodged in a sort of inn. The following +day the ex-emperor and suite rode out to visit Longwood, the seat selected for his residence, +and when returning noted a small villa with a pavilion attached to it, about two +miles from the town, the residence of Mr. Balcombe, an inhabitant of the island. The spot +attracted the emperor’s notice, and the admiral, who had accompanied him, thought it +would be better for him to remain there than to go back to the town, where the sentinels +at the doors and the gaping crowds in a manner confined him to his chamber. The place +pleased the emperor, for the position was quiet, and commanded a fine view. The +pavilion was a kind of summer-house on a pointed eminence, about fifty paces from the +house, where the family were accustomed to resort in fine weather, and this was the +retreat hired for the temporary abode of the emperor. It contained only one room on +the ground-floor, without curtains or shutters, and scarcely possessed a seat; and when +Napoleon retired to rest, one of the windows had to be barricaded, so draughty was it, in +order to exclude the night air, to which he had become particularly sensitive. What a +contrast to the gay palaces of France! +</p><anchor id="figsthelena"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ST. HELENA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_247.png" rend="w80"><head>ST. HELENA.</head> + <figDesc>ST. HELENA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +In December the emperor removed to Longwood, riding thither on a small Cape +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/>horse, and in his uniform of a chasseur of the guards. The road was lined with spectators, +and he was received at the entrance to Longwood by a guard under arms, who +rendered the prescribed honour to their illustrious captive. The place, which had been a +farm of the East India Company, is situated on one of the highest parts of the island, and +the difference between its temperature and that of the valley below is very great. It is +surrounded by a level height of some extent, and is near the eastern coast. It is stated +that continual and frequently violent winds blow regularly from the same quarter. The +sun was rarely seen, and there were heavy rainfalls. The water, conveyed to Longwood +in pipes, was found to be so unwholesome as to require boiling before it was fit for use. +The surroundings were barren rocks, gloomy deep valleys, and desolate gullies, the only +redeeming feature being a glimpse of the ocean on one hand. All this after La Belle +France! +</p> + +<p> +Longwood as a residence had not much to boast of. The building was rambling and +inconveniently arranged; it had been built up by degrees, as the wants of its former +inmates had increased. One or two of the suite slept in lofts, reached by ladders and +trap-doors. The windows and beds were curtainless, and the furniture mean and scanty. +Inhospitable and in bad taste, ye in power at the time! In front of the place, and +separated by a tolerably deep ravine, the 53rd Regiment was encamped in detached bodies +on the neighbouring heights. Here the caged lion spent the last five weary years of his +life till called away by the God of Battles. +</p> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="XIII. The Service.--Officers' Life on Board"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XIII. The Service.--Officers' Life on Board"/><anchor id="chap13"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIII.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Service.—Officers’ Life on Board.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Conditions of Life on Ship-board—A Model Ward-room—An Admiral’s Cabin—Captains and Captains—The Sailor and his +Superior Officers—A Contrast—A Commander of the Old School—Jack Larmour—Lord Cochrane’s Experiences—His +Chest Curtailed—The Stinking Ship—The First Command—Shaving under Difficulties—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Speedy</name> and her Prizes—The +Doctor—On Board a Gun-boat—Cabin and Dispensary—Cockroaches and Centipedes—Other horrors—The +Naval Chaplain—His Duties—Stories of an Amateur—The Engineer—His Increasing Importance—Popularity of the +Navy—Nelson always a Model Commander—The Idol of his Colleagues, Officers, and Men—Taking the Men into +his Confidence—The Action between the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Bellona</name> and <name type="ship" rend="italic">Courageux</name>—Captain Falknor’s Speech to the Crew—An Obsolete +Custom—Crossing the Line—Neptune’s Visit to the Quarter-deck—The Navy of To-day—Its Backbone—Progressive +Increase in the Size of Vessels—Naval Volunteers—A Noble Movement—Excellent Results—The Naval Reserve. +</p></argument> + +<p> +In the previous pages we have given some account of the various stations visited by the Royal +Navy of Great Britain. Let us next take a glance at the ships themselves—the quarter-deck, +the captain’s cabin, and the ward-room. In a word, let us see how the officers of a ship +live, move, and have their being on board. +</p> + +<p> +Their condition depends very much on their ship, their captain, and themselves. +The first point may be dismissed briefly, as the general improvement in all descriptions +of vessels, including their interior arrangements, is too marked to need mentioning. The +ward-room of a modern man-of-war is often as well furnished as any other dining-room—handsomely +carpeted, the sides adorned with pictures, with comfortable chairs and lounges, +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/>and excellent appointments at table. In the ward-room of a Russian corvette visited by +the writer, he found a saloon large enough for a ball, with piano, and gorgeous side-board, +set out as in the houses of most of the northern nations of Europe, with sundry bottles +and incitives to emptying them, in the shape of salt anchovies and salmon, caviare and +cheese. In a British flag-ship he found the admiral’s cabin, while in port at least, a +perfect little bijou of a drawing-room, with harmonium and piano, vases of flowers, portfolios +of drawings, an elaborate stove, and all else that could conduce to comfort and +luxury. Outside of this was a more plainly-furnished cabin, used as a dining-room. Of +course much of this disappears at sea. The china and glass are securely packed, and all +of the smaller loose articles stowed away; the piano covered up in canvas and securely +<q>tied up</q> to the side; likely enough the carpet removed, and a rough canvas substituted. +Still, all is ship-shape and neat as a new pin. The few <q>old tubs</q> of vessels +still in the service are rarely employed beyond trifling harbour duties, or are kept for +emergencies on foreign stations. They will soon disappear, to be replaced by smart and +handy little gun-boats or other craft, where, if the accommodations are limited, at least +the very most is made of the room at command. How different all this is to many of +the vessels of the last century and commencement of this, described by our nautical +novelists as little better than colliers, pest ships, and tubs, smelling of pitch, paint, +bilge-water, tar, and rum! Readers will remember Marryat’s captain, who, with his wife, +was so inordinately fond of pork that he turned his ship into a floating pig-sty. At his +dinner there appeared mock-turtle soup (of pig’s head); boiled pork and pease pudding; +roast spare rib; sausages and pettitoes; and, last of all, sucking-pig. He will doubtless +remember how he was eventually frightened off the ship, then about to proceed to the +West Indies, by the doctor telling him that with his habit of living he would not give +much for his life on that station. But although Marryat’s characters were true to the +life of his time, you would go far to find a similar example to-day. Captains still have +their idiosyncrasies, but not of such a marked nature. There may be indolent captains, +like he who was nicknamed <q>The Sloth;</q> or, less likely, prying captains, like he in +<q>Peter Simple,</q> who made himself so unpopular that he lost all the good sailors on +board, and had to put up with a <q>scratch crew;</q> or (a comparatively harmless variety) +captains who amuse their officers with the most outrageous yarns, but who are in all +else the souls of honour. Who can help laughing over that Captain Kearney, who tells +the tale of the Atta of Roses ship? He relates how she had a puncheon of the precious +essence on board; it could be smelt three miles off at sea, and the odour was so strong +on board that the men fainted when they ventured near the hold. The timbers of the +ship became so impregnated with the smell that they could never make any use of her +afterwards, till they broke her up and sold her to the shopkeepers of Brighton and Tunbridge-wells, +who turned her into scented boxes and fancy articles, and then into money. +The absolutely vulgar captain is a thing of the past, for the possibilities of entering <q>by +the hawse-hole,</q> the technical expression applied to the man who was occasionally in the +old times promoted from the fo’castle to the quarter-deck, are very rare indeed nowadays. +Still, there are gentlemen—and there are gentlemen. The perfect example is a +<hi rend='italic'>rara avis</hi> everywhere. +</p><anchor id="figon__deof"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ON DECK OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_249.jpg" rend="w80"><head>ON DECK OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.</head> + <figDesc>ON DECK OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +<p> +The true reason why a captain may make his officers and men constitute an agreeable +happy family, or a perfect pandemonium of discontent and misery, consists in the abuse +of his absolute power. That power is necessarily bestowed on him; there must be a +head; without good discipline, no vessel can be properly handled, or the emergencies of +seamanship and warfare met. But as he can in minor matters have it all his own way, +and even in many more important ones can determine absolutely, without the fear of anything +or anybody short of a court-martial, he may, and often does, become a martinet, if +not a very tyrant. +</p> + +<p> +The subordinate officer’s life may be rendered a burden by a cantankerous and exacting +captain. Every trifling omission may be magnified into a grave offence. Some captains +seem to go on the principle of the Irishman who asked, <q>Who’ll tread on my coat tails?</q> +or of the other, <q>Did you blow your nose at me, sir?</q> And again, that which in the +captain is no offence is a very serious one on the part of the officer or seaman. He may +exhaust the vocabulary of abuse and bad language, but not a retort may be made. In the +Royal Navy of to-day, though by no means in the merchant service, this is, however, +nearly obsolete. However tyrannically disposed, the language of commanders and officers is +nearly sure to be free from disgraceful epithets, blasphemies, and scurrilous abuse, cursing +and swearing. Officers should be, and generally are, gentlemen. +</p> + +<p> +A commanding lieutenant of the old school—a type of officer not to be found in the +Royal Navy nowadays—is well described by Admiral Cochrane.<note place="foot"><q>The Autobiography of a Seaman.</q> By Thomas, tenth Earl of Dundonald, G.C.B., Admiral of the +Red, &c. &c.</note> <q>My kind uncle,</q> writes +he, <q rend="post: none">the Hon. John Cochrane, accompanied me on board the <name type="ship">Iliad</name> for the purpose of +introducing me to my future superior officer, Lieutenant Larmour, or, as he was more +familiarly known in the service, Jack Larmour—a specimen of the old British seaman, little +calculated to inspire exalted ideas of the gentility of the naval profession, though presenting +at a glance a personification of its efficiency. Jack was, in fact, one of a not very numerous +class, whom, for their superior seamanship, the Admiralty was glad to promote from the +forecastle to the quarter-deck, in order that they might mould into ship-shape the questionable +materials supplied by parliamentary influence, even then paramount in the navy to +a degree which might otherwise have led to disaster. Lucky was the commander who +could secure such an officer for his quarter-deck.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">On my introduction, Jack was dressed in the garb of a seaman, with marlinspike +slung round his neck, and a lump of grease in his hand, and was busily employed in +setting up the rigging. His reception of me was anything but gracious. Indeed, a tall +fellow, over six feet high, the nephew of his captain, and a lord to boot, were not very +promising recommendations for a midshipman. It is not impossible he might have learned +from my uncle something about a military commission of several years’ standing; and +this, coupled with my age and stature, might easily have impressed him with the idea +that he had caught a scapegrace with whom the family did not know what to do, and +that he was hence to be saddled with a <q>hard bargain.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">After a little constrained civility on the part of the first lieutenant, who was +evidently not very well pleased with the interruption to his avocation, he ordered me to +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/><q>get my traps below.</q> Scarcely was the order complied with, and myself introduced to +the midshipman’s berth, than I overheard Jack grumbling at the magnitude of my equipments. +<q>This Lord Cochrane’s chest? Does Lord Cochrane think he is going to bring +a cabin aboard? Get it up on the main-deck!</q></q> +</p><anchor id="figbetwdeof"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BETWEEN DECKS OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_253.jpg" rend="w100"><head>BETWEEN DECKS OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.</head> + <figDesc>BETWEEN DECKS OF A MAN-OF-WAR, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q rend="post: none">This order being promptly obeyed, amidst a running fire of similar objurgations, +the key of the chest was sent for, and shortly afterwards the sound of sawing became +audible. It was now high time to follow my property, which, to my astonishment, had +been turned out on the deck—Jack superintending the sawing off one end of the chest +just beyond the keyhole, and accompanying the operation by sundry uncomplimentary +observations on midshipmen in general, and on myself in particular.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The metamorphosis being completed to the lieutenant’s satisfaction—though not at all +to mine, for my neat chest had become an unshapely piece of lumber—he pointed out the +<q>lubberliness of shore-going people in not making keyholes where they could most easily +be got at,</q> viz., at the end of a chest instead of the middle!</q> Lord Cochrane took it +easily, and acknowledges warmly the service Jack Larmour rendered him in teaching him +his profession. +</p> + +<p> +Later, Lord Cochrane, when promoted to a lieutenancy, was dining with Admiral +Vandepat, and being seated near him, was asked what dish was before him. <q>Mentioning +its nature,</q> says he, <q>I asked whether he would permit me to help him. The +uncourteous reply was—that whenever he wished for anything he was in the habit of asking +for it. Not knowing what to make of a rebuff of this nature, it was met with an inquiry +if he would allow me the honour of taking wine with him. <q>I never take wine with +any man, my lord,</q> was the unexpected reply, from which it struck me that my lot was +cast among Goths, if no worse.</q> Subsequently he found that this apparently gruff old +admiral assumed some of this roughness purposely, and that he was one of the kindest +commanders living. +</p> + +<p> +In 1798, when with the Mediterranean fleet, ludicrous examples, both of the not +very occasional corruption of the period, and the rigid etiquette required by one’s superior +officer, occurred to Lord Cochrane, and got him into trouble. The first officer, Lieutenant +Beaver, was one who carried the latter almost to the verge of despotism. He looked after +all that was visible to the eye of the admiral, but permitted <q>an honest penny to be +turned elsewhere.</q> At Tetuan they had purchased and killed bullocks <hi rend='italic'>on board the +flagship</hi>, for the use of the whole squadron. The reason for this was that the hides, being +valuable, could be stowed away in her hold or empty beef-casks, as especial perquisites to +certain persons on board. The fleshy fragments on the hides soon decomposed, and rendered +the hold of the vessel so intolerable that she acquired the name of the <q>Stinking Scotch +ship.</q> Lord Cochrane, as junior lieutenant, had much to do with these arrangements, +and his unfavourable remarks on these raw-hide speculations did not render those interested +very friendly towards him. One day, when at Tetuan, he was allowed to go wild-fowl +shooting ashore, and became covered with mud. On arriving rather late at the ship, he +thought it more respectful to don a clean uniform before reporting himself on the quarter-deck. +He had scarcely made the change, when the first lieutenant came into the ward-room, +and harshly demanded of Lord Cochrane the reason for not having reported himself. +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/>His reply was, that as the lieutenant had seen him come up by the side he must be aware +that he was not in a fit condition to appear on the quarter-deck. The lieutenant replied +so offensively before the ward-room officers, that he was respectfully reminded by Cochrane +of a rule he had himself laid down, that <q>Matters connected with the service were not +there to be spoken of.</q> Another retort was followed by the sensible enough reply, +<q>Lieutenant Beaver, we will, if you please, talk of this in another place.</q> Cochrane was +immediately reported to the captain by Beaver, as having challenged him: the lieutenant +actually demanded a court-martial! And the court-martial was held, the decision being +that Cochrane should be admonished to be <q>more careful in future.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Lord Cochrane was soon after given a command. The vessel to which he was appointed +was, even eighty years ago, a mere burlesque of a ship-of-war. She was about the size of +an average coasting brig, her burden being 158 <anchor id="corr219"/><corr sic="tons">tons.</corr> She was crowded rather than +manned, with a crew of eighty-four men and six officers. Her armament consisted of +fourteen <hi rend='italic'>4-pounders</hi>! a species of gun little larger than a blunderbuss, and formerly known +in the service as <q>minion,</q> an appellation quite appropriate. The cabin had not so +much as room for a chair, the floor being entirely occupied by a small table surrounded +with lockers, answering the double purpose of store-chests and seats. The difficulty was +to get seated, the ceiling being only five feet high, so that the object could only be +accomplished by rolling on the lockers: a movement sometimes attended with unpleasant +failure. Cochrane’s only practicable way of shaving consisted in removing the skylight, and +putting his head through to make a toilet-table of the quarter-deck! +</p> + +<p> +On this little vessel—the <name type="ship">Speedy</name>—Cochrane took a number of prizes, and having on +one occasion manned a couple of them with half his crew and sent them away, was forced +to tackle the <name type="ship">Gamo</name>, a Spanish frigate of thirty-two heavy guns and 319 men. The exploit +has hardly been excelled in the history of heroic deeds. The commander’s orders were +not to fire a single gun till they were close to the frigate, and he ran the <name type="ship">Speedy</name> under +her lee, so that her yards were locked among the latter’s rigging. The shots from the +Spanish guns passed over the little vessel, only injuring the rigging, while the <name type="ship">Speedy’s</name> +mere pop-guns could be elevated, and helped to blow up the main-deck of the enemy’s +ship. The Spaniards speedily found out the disadvantage under which they were fighting, +and gave the orders to board the little English vessel; but it was avoided twice by sheering +off sufficiently, then giving them a volley of musketry and a broadside before they could +recover themselves. After the lapse of an hour, the loss to the <name type="ship">Speedy</name> was only four +men killed and two wounded, but her rigging was so cut up and the sails so riddled +that Cochrane told his men they must either take the frigate or be taken themselves, in +which case the Spaniards would give no quarter. The doctor, Mr. Guthrie, bravely volunteered +to take the helm, and leaving him for the time both commander and crew of the +ship, Cochrane and his men were soon on the enemy’s deck, the <name type="ship">Speedy</name> being put close +alongside with admirable skill. A portion of the crew had been ordered to blacken their +faces and board by the <name type="ship">Gamo’s</name> head. The greater portion of the Spanish crew were +prepared to repel boarders in that direction, but stood for a few moments as it were transfixed +to the deck by the apparition of so many diabolical-looking figures emerging from +the white smoke of the bow guns, while the other men rushed on them from behind +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/>before they could recover from their surprise at the unexpected phenomenon. Observing +the Spanish colours still flying, Lord Cochrane ordered one of his men to haul them +down, and the crew, without pausing to consider by whose orders they had been struck, +and naturally believing it to be the act of their own officers, gave in. The total English +loss was three men killed, and one officer and seventeen men wounded. The <name type="ship">Gamo’s</name> loss +was the captain, boatswain, and thirteen seamen killed, with forty-one wounded. It +became a puzzle what to do with 263 unhurt prisoners, the <name type="ship">Speedy</name> having only forty-two +sound men left. Promptness was necessary; so, driving the prisoners into the hold, with +their own guns pointed down the hatchway, and leaving thirty men on the prize, Cochrane +shaped the vessel’s course to Port Mahon, which was reached safely. Some Barcelona +gun-boats, spectators of the action, did not venture to rescue the frigate. +</p> + +<p> +The doctor on board a man-of-war has, perhaps, on the whole, better opportunities +and, in times of peace, more leisure than the other officers for noting any circumstances +of interest that may occur. Dr. Stables, in his interesting little work,<note place="foot"><q>Medical Life in the Navy.</q></note> describes his +cabin on board a small gun-boat as a miserable little box, such as at home he would have +kept rabbits or guinea-pigs in, but certainly not pigeons. He says that it might do for +a commodore—Commodore Nutt. It was ventilated by a small scuttle, seven inches in +diameter, which could only be raised in harbour, and beneath which, when he first went +to sea, he was obliged to put a leather hat-box to catch the water; unfortunately, the +bottom rotted out, and he was at the mercy of the waves. This cabin was alive with +scorpions, cockroaches, and other <q>crawling ferlies,</q> +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>That e’en to name would be unlawfu’.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +His dispensary was off the steerage, and sister-cabin to the pantry. To it he gained access +by a species of crab-walking, squeezing himself past a large brass pump, edging in sideways. +The sick would come one by one to the dispensary, and there he saw and treated +each case as it arrived, dressing wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores. There was no +sick berth attendant, but the lieutenant told off <q>a little cabin-boy</q> for his use. He was +not a model cabin-boy, like the youngster you see in the theatres. He certainly managed at +times to wash out the dispensary, in the intervals of catching cockroaches and making +poultices, but in doing the first he broke half the bottles, and making the latter either +let them burn or put salt into them. Finally, he smashed so much of the doctor’s apparatus +that he was kicked out. In both dispensary and what Dr. Stables calls his <q>burrow,</q> +it was difficult to prevent anything from going to utter destruction. The best portions +of his uniform got eaten by cockroaches or moulded by damp, while his instruments +required cleaning every morning, and even this did not keep the rust at bay. +</p> + +<p> +And then, those terrible cockroaches! To find, when you awake, a couple, each +two inches in length, meandering over your face, or even in bed with you!—to find one +in a state of decay in the mustard-pot!—to have to remove their droppings and eggs from +the edge of your plate previous to eating your soup! and so on, <hi rend='italic'>ad nauseam</hi>. But on +small vessels stationed in the tropics—as described by the doctor—there were, and doubtless +sometimes are now, other unpleasantnesses. For instance, you are looking for a book, and +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/>put your hand on a full-grown scaly scorpion. Nice sensation! the animal twining round +your finger, or running up your sleeve! <hi rend='italic'>Dénoûment</hi>: cracking him under foot—joy at +escaping a sting! +</p><anchor id="fignavaofan"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: NAVAL OFFICERS AND SEAMEN, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_257.jpg" rend="w80"><head>NAVAL OFFICERS AND SEAMEN, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.</head> + <figDesc>NAVAL OFFICERS AND SEAMEN, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q rend="post: none">You are enjoying your dinner, but have been for some time sensible of a strange, +titillating feeling about the region of your ankle; you look down at last, to find a +centipede on your sock, with his fifty hind legs—you thank God not his fore-fifty!—abutting +on your shin. <hi rend='italic'>Tableaux</hi>: green-to-red light from the eyes of the many-legged—horror +of yourself as you wait till he thinks proper to <q>move on.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">To awake in the morning, and find a large, healthy-looking tarantula squatting on +your pillow, within ten inches of your nose, with his basilisk eyes fixed on yours, and +apparently saying: <q>You’re awake, are you? I’ve been sitting here all the morning, +watching you.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>You think, if you move, he’ll bite you somewhere—and if he <hi rend='italic'>does</hi> bite you, you’ll +go mad, and dance <hi rend='italic'>ad libitum</hi>—so you twist your mouth in the opposite direction, and +ejaculate—<q>Steward!</q> But the steward does not come; in fact, he is forward, seeing +after breakfast. Meanwhile, the gentleman on the pillow is moving his horizontal +mandibles in a most threatening manner; and just as he moves for your nose, you tumble +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/>out of your bed with a shriek, and, if a very nervous person, probably run on deck in +your shirt!</q> +</p> + +<p> +The doctor’s last description of an accumulation of these horrors is fearful to even +think about. The bulkheads all around your berth are black with cock and hen-roaches, +a few of which are nipping your toe, and running off with little bits of the skin of your +leg; while a troop of ants are carrying a dead one over your pillow; musquitoes and flies +attacking you everywhere; rats running in and rats running out; your lamp just flickering +and dying away into darkness, with the delicious certainty that an indefinite number of +earwigs and scorpions, besides two centipedes and a tarantula, are hiding themselves +somewhere in your cabin! All this is possible; still Dr. Stables describes life on other +vessels under more favourable auspices. +</p> + +<p> +The important addition of a chaplain to the establishment on board our ships of war +seems, from the following letter of George, Duke of Buckingham, to have been first +adopted in the year 1626:— +</p> + +<p> +<text> + <body> + <salute rend="text-align: center">“<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Duke of Buckingham to the University of Cambridge.</hi></salute> + <p> +<q rend="post: none">After my hearty commendations. His Majesty having given order for preachers to goe in every of his +ships to sea, choyce hath been made of one Mr. Daniel Ambrose, Master of Arts and Fellow of your College, +to be one. Accordingly, upon signification to me to come hither, I thought good to intimate unto you, that +His Majesty is so careful of such scholars as are willing to put themselves forward in so good actions, as that +he will expect—and I doubt not but that you will accordingly take order—that the said Mr. Ambrose shall suffer +noe detriment in his place with you, by this his employment; but that you will rather take care that he shall +have all immunities and emoluments with advantage, which have been formerly, or may be, granted to any upon +the like service. Wherein, not doubting of your affectionate care, I rest,</q> + </p> + <signed>“Your very loving friend,<lb/> + “<hi rend='smallcaps'>G. Buckingham</hi>.</signed> + <dateline rend='italic; text-align: left'>“York House, July 29th, 1626.”</dateline> + </body> +</text> +</p> + +<p> +Sailors, in spite of their outbursts of recklessness, have frequently, from the very +nature of their perilous calling, an amount of seriousness underlying their character, which +makes them particularly amenable to religious influences. The chaplain on a large modern +ironclad or frigate has as many men in his charge, as regards spiritual matters, as the +vicar of a country town or large village, whilst he has many more opportunities of reaching +them directly. Many of our naval chaplains are noble fellows; and to them come the +sailors in any distress of mind, for the soothing advice so readily given. He may not dare +to interfere with the powers that be when they are in danger of punishment, except in +very rare cases; but he can point them out their path of duty, and how to walk in it, +making them better sailors and happier men. He can lend them an occasional book, or +write for them an occasional letter home; induce them to refrain from dissipation when +on liberty; cheer them in the hour of greatest peril, while on the watery deep, and give +them an occasional reproof, but in kindness, not in anger. To his brother officers he has +even better opportunities of doing good than to the men. On the smaller classes of vessels—gun-boats +and the like—the captain has to perform chaplain’s duties, by reading prayers +on the Sabbath. This is the case also on well-regulated steamships or passenger sailing-vessels +of the merchant service. The fine steamers of such lines as the Cunard, or White +Star, of the Royal Mail Company, or of the P. and O., have, of course, frequently, some +clergyman, minister, or missionary on board, who is willing to celebrate divine service. +</p> + +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> + +<p> +A Committee of the Lower House of Convocation has recently collected an immense +amount of statistics regarding the provision made by private ship-owners for the spiritual +welfare of their men, and the result as regards England is not at all satisfactory. In +point of fact, it is rarely made at all. The committee seeks to encourage the growth of +religion among sailors by providing suitable and comfortable church accommodation at all +ports, and urges owners to instruct their captains as to conducting divine service on +Sundays, and to furnish Bibles, prayer-books, and instructive works of secular literature. +Too much must not, however, be expected from Jack. The hardships and perils through +which he passes excuse much of his exuberance ashore. It is his holiday-time; and, so +long as he is only gay, and not abandoned, the most rigid must admit that he has earned +the right to recreation. A distinguished French naval officer used to say that the sailor +fortunately had no memory. <q>Happy for him,</q> said he, <q>that he is thus oblivious. Did +he remember all the gales and tempests, the cold, the drenching rain, the misery, the +privations, the peril to life and limb which he has endured, he would never, when he +sets foot on shore, go to sea again. But he has no memory. The clouds roll away, the +sea is calm, the sun shines, the boat bears him to land; the wine flows; the music strikes +up; pretty girls smile: he forgets all the past, and lives only in the present.</q> +</p> + +<p> +While the chaplain may, and no doubt generally does, earn the respect and esteem +of the men, woe to any example of the <q>Chadband</q> order who shall be found on board. +This is, in the Royal Navy, almost impossible; but it sometimes happens that, on passenger +ships, some sanctimonious and fanatical individual or other has had a very rough time +of it. He is regarded as a kind of Jonah. In a recent number of that best of American +magazines, the <hi rend='italic'>Atlantic Monthly</hi>, the woes and trials of one poor Joseph Primrose, a well-meaning +minister who went out to America in 1742, are amusingly recounted. There were, aboard +the <name type="ship">Polly</name>, the vessel in which he took passage, several of the crew who viewed their +religious exercises askance. <q>These men,</q> says he, <q>had been foremost in a general +indignation uprising that had ensued upon the stoppage of their daily allowance of rum; +which step had been taken on my earnest recommendation. For this injurious drink we +had substituted a harmless and refreshing beverage concocted of molasses, vinegar, and +water, from a choice receipt I had come upon in a medical book aboard the vessel. The +sailors, to a man, refused to touch it, egged on by these contumacious fellows, and more +especially by one Springer, a daring villain, who reviled me with bitter execrations. In +fine, the captain was obliged, for our own safety, to restore the cherished dram; and I +had the mortification to find myself, from that time forth, an object of dislike and +suspicion to these men, who were kept within decent bounds only by respect for their +master. I became convinced, on reflection, that I had gone the wrong way about +this unfortunate piece of business; having, in fact, made a very serious error in the +beginning, gentle argument and good example being more apt to bring about the desired +end than compulsory measures, these dulling the understanding by rousing the temper, +especially among persons of the meaner sort. All my efforts—and they were not few—to +place myself on a friendly footing with these men were of no avail: they had conceived +the notion that I was their enemy, and met all my advances with obstinate coldness. As +Captain Hewlett exacted the daily attendance at prayers of every soul on board, these +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/>knaves were compelled to be on hand with their fellows; but they rarely failed to conduct +themselves with such indecent levity as made me rue their presence, playing covertly at +cat’s-cradle, jack-straws, and what not; besides grinning familiarly in my face, whenever +they could contrive to catch my eye.</q> This unseemly behaviour was as nothing to what +followed ashore. While addressing a large assemblage, he noted the advent of a number +of unmannerly fellows, who, with a great deal of clatter, elbowed their way to the front. <q>The +moment I clapped eyes upon them,</q> says poor Primrose, <q>I knew them for the sailors +who had so persecuted me aboard the <name type="ship">Polly</name>, and my heart sank at the bare sight of them.</q> +They sung, or rather bawled, ribald words to the music of the hymns; and one of them, +when rebuked by some gentleman present, whipped out his cutlass, and a general row +ensued, which broke up the assembly. A little later, Primrose induced a tavern-keeper to +allow him to preach on his premises. <q>A West Indian vessel coming into port about the +middle of April, and a horde of roystering sailors gathering in the common room of the +<q>Sailor’s Rest</q> to drink, I announced a discourse on the subject of <q>gin-guzzling,</q> +choosing one that I had delivered aboard the <name type="ship">Polly</name>, and which seemed to fit the occasion +to a nicety. No sooner had the landlord seen the notice to this effect that I had attached +to his door-cheek, than he sends for me to repair to the tavern without loss of time; +and on my appearance, in great haste, comes blustering up to me in a most offensive +manner, demanding whether I purposed the ruin of his trade, by putting forth of such a +mischievous paper; adding, with astounding audacity, that he should certainly lose all +the custom I had been the means of fetching to his house, did I persist in my intent. +Mark the cunning of the knave! He had encouraged my labours for none other purpose +than the bringing of fresh grist to his mill; and here was I, blindly leading precious +souls to destruction, the poor dupe of a specious villain—a wretch without bowels! My +agony of mind on being thus suddenly enlightened was of such a desperate sort, that, +gnashing my teeth, I leapt upon the miscreant, and, bearing him to the ground with an +awful crash, beat him about the head and shoulders with the stout cane I carried; and +with such good will, that I presently found myself lying in the town gaol, covered with +the blood of my enemy, and every bone in my body aching from the unaccustomed exercise.... +Truly was I as forlorn and friendless a creature as the world ever saw. My +clothing had been rent beyond repair in the shameful struggle, and, yet worse, one of my +shoes was gone—how and where I knew not; and although I promised the gaoler’s little +lad a penny in the event of his finding it, nothing was ever heard of it from that day to +this. One thought alone cheered me in the dark abyss into which I was fallen. I had +administered wholesome and righteous correction in proper season: hip and thigh had I +hewed my enemy; and, to reflect upon that, was as a healing balm to my sore bones.</q> +Mr. Primrose was at length released, and returned to England. +</p> + +<p> +Another officer of the Royal Navy—the engineer—deserves particular notice, for his +position is becoming daily of more and more importance. It is not merely the care and +working of the engines which propel the vessel in which he is concerned; the chief and +his subordinates have charge of various hydraulic arrangements often used now-a-days on +large vessels, in connection with the steering apparatus; of electrical and gas-producing +apparatus; the mechanical arrangements of turrets and gun-carriages; pumping machinery; +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/>the management of steam-launches and torpedoes. Take the great ironclad <name type="ship">Thunderer</name> (that +on which the terrible boiler explosion occurred) as an example: she has <hi rend='italic'>twenty-six</hi> engines +for various purposes, apart from the engines used to propel the vessel, which have an +actual power of 6,000 horses. The <name type="ship">Téméraire</name> has <hi rend='italic'>thirty-four</hi> engines distinct from those +required for propulsion. A competent authority says that, <q>with the exception of the +paymaster’s and surgeon’s stores, he is responsible for everything in and outside the +ship (meaning the hull, apart from the navigator’s duties), to say nothing of his duties +while under weigh.</q> And yet engineers of the navy do not yet either derive the status +or emoluments fairly due to them, considering the great and increasing responsibilities thrown +upon them of late years. Sir Walter Scott makes Rob Roy express <q>his contempt of +weavers and spinners, and sic-like mechanical persons, and their pursuits;</q> and in the naval +service some such feeling still lingers. +</p><anchor id="figengiofhm"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ENGINE-ROOM OF H.M.S. <q>WARRIOR.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_261.png" rend="w80"><head>ENGINE-ROOM OF H.M.S. <q>WARRIOR.</q></head> + <figDesc>ENGINE-ROOM OF H.M.S. <q>WARRIOR.</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The first serious introduction of steam-vessels into the Royal Navy occurred about +the year 1829, the Navy List of that year showing seven, of which three only were commissioned, +and these for home ports. No mention is made of engineers; they were simply +taken over from the contractor with the vessel, and held no rank whatever. In 1837 an +Admiralty Circular conferred warrants on engineers, <hi rend='italic'>who were to rank immediately below + <pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/>carpenters</hi>; they were to be assisted by boys, trained by themselves. Three years later, the +standard was raised, and they were divided into three classes; in 1842 a slight increase of pay +was given, and they were advanced to the magnificent rank of <q>after captains’ clerks,</q> and +were given a uniform, with buttons having a steam-engine embossed upon them. In 1847 +the Government found that the increasing demands of the merchant and passenger service +took all the best men (the engineers’ pay, to-day, is better on first-class steamship lines than +in the Navy), and they were forced to do something. The higher grades were formed into +chief engineers, and they were raised to the rank of commissioned officers, taking their place +after masters. The first great revolution in regard to the use of steam in the Royal Navy +took place in 1849, by means of the screw-propeller. In that year Dupuy Delorme +constructed the <name type="ship">Napoleon</name>, a screw-vessel carrying 100 guns, and with engines of 600 horse-power, +and England had to follow. Then came the Russian War, the construction of ironclad +batteries, and finally, the ironclad movement, which commenced in England in 1858, by the +construction of the <name type="ship">Warrior</name> and similar vessels. +</p> + +<p> +It becomes a particularly serious question, at the present time, whether the system, +as regards the rank and pay of engineers, does not deter the most competent men from +entering the Royal Navy. Many very serious explosions and accidents have occurred on +board ironclads, which would seem to indicate that our great commercial steamship lines +are far better engineered. The Admiralty has organised a system for training students +at the dockyard factories, followed up by a course of study at the Naval College, Greenwich; +and it is to be hoped that these efforts will lead to greater efficiency in the service. A +naval engineer of the present day needs to be a man of liberal education, and of +considerable scientific knowledge, both theoretical and practical, and he should then receive +on board that recognition which his talents would command ashore. At present, a chief +engineer, R.N., ranks with a commander, and other engineers with lieutenants. It is +probable that, at some date in the not very distant future, higher ranks will be thrown +open to the engineer, as his importance on board is steadily increasing. +</p> + +<p> +The seamen of all nations, it has, in effect, been said, resemble each the other more +than do the nations to which they belong. <q>As,</q> says a well-known writer, <q>the sea +receives and amalgamates the waters of all the rivers which pour into it, so it tends to +amalgamate the men who make its waves their home.... The seaman from the +United States is said to carry to the forecastle a large stock of <q>equality and the rights +of man,</q> and to be unpleasantly distinguished by the inbred disrespect for authority which +cleaves, perhaps inseparably, to a democrat who believes that he has whipped mankind, +and that it is his mission, at due intervals, to whip them again. But, on board, he, too, +tones down to the colour of blue water, and is more a seaman than anything else.</q> The +French sailor is painted, by Landelle, as the embodiment of the same frolicsome lightheartedness, +carelessness of the future, abandonment to impulse, and devotion to his +captain, comrades, and ship, with which we are familiar in the English sailor, on the +stage. But although depicted as much more polished than, it is to be feared, the average +sailor could be in truth, he finishes by saying: <q>Il est toujours prêt à céder le haut +du pavé <hi rend='italic'>à tout autre qu’à un soldat</hi>.</q> It would seem, then, that the French sailor +revenges the treatment of society on the soldiers of his country. Is there not a similar +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/>feeling existing, perhaps to a more limited extent, between the sailors and soldiers +of our own country? It hardly, however, extends to the officers of the <q>United +Service.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Another trait of the British sailor’s character: Jack will forgive much to the officer +who is ever ready, brave, and daring, who is a true seaman in times of peace, and a sailor +<hi rend='italic'>militant</hi> in times of war. Lord Nelson, the most heroic seaman the world ever saw, it is +pleasant to remember, was equally the idol of his colleagues, of his subordinate officers, +<hi rend='italic'>and of his men</hi> for these very reasons. After he had explained to his captains his proposed +plan of attack, just prior to the commencement of the battle of Trafalgar, he took +the men of the <name type="ship">Victory</name> into his confidence. He walked over all the decks, speaking kindly +to the different classes of seamen, and encouraging them, with his usual affability, praising +the manner in which they had barricaded certain parts of the ship. <q>All was perfect, +death-like silence, till just before the action began. Three cheers were given his lordship +as he ascended the quarter-deck ladder. He had been particular in recommending cool, +steady firing, in preference to a hurrying fire, without aim or precision; and the event +justified his lordship’s advice, as the masts of his opponents came tumbling down on their +decks and over their sides.</q><note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>The Naval Chronicle</hi>, vol. xiii. (1806).</note> After the fatal bullet had done its work, and Nelson was +conveyed below, the surgeon came and probed the wound. The ball was extracted; but +the dying hero told the medical man how sure he was that his wound was fatal, and +begged, when he had dressed it, that he would attend to the other poor fellows, equal +sufferers with himself. A boatswain’s mate on board the <name type="ship">Brilliant</name> frigate, shortly +afterwards, when first acquainted of the death of Nelson, paid a tribute of affection and +honest feeling, which shows how clearly he had gained the hearts of all. The boatswain’s +mate, then doing duty as boatswain, was ordered to pipe all hands to quarters; he did not +respond, and the lieutenant on duty went to inquire the cause. The man had been celebrated +for his promptness, as well as bravery, but he was found utterly unnerved, and sobbing +like a child. <q>I can’t do it,</q> said he—<q>poor dear fellow, that I have been in many a +hard day with!—and to lose him now! I wouldn’t have cared so much for my old +father, mother, brothers, or sisters; but to think of parting with poor Nelson!</q> and he +broke down utterly. The officer, honouring his feelings, let him go below. Who does +not remember how, when the body of Nelson lay in state at Greenwich, a deputation of +the <name type="ship">Victory’s</name> crew paid their last loving respects, tearful and silent, and could scarcely be +removed from the scene? or how, when the two Union-Jacks and St. George’s ensign were +being lowered into the grave at St. Paul’s—the colours shattered as was the body of the +dead hero—the brave fellows who had borne them each tore off a part of the largest flag, +to remind them ever after of England’s greatest victory and England’s greatest loss? +Many an otherwise noble and brave officer has utterly failed in endearing himself to his +men; and there can be no doubt of the value of being thoroughly <hi rend='italic'>en rapport</hi> with them—the +more as it in no way need relax discipline. It is an implied compliment to a crew +from their commander, to be taken, at the proper time, into his confidence. The following +anecdote will show how much an action was decided by this, and with how little loss of life. +</p> + +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Bellona</name>, of 74 guns and 558 men, with a most valuable freight on merchants’ +account, and commanded by the celebrated Captain R. Faulkner, and the <name type="ship">Brilliant</name>, a 36-gun +frigate, Captain Loggie, sailed from the Tagus in August, 1761. When off Vigo, three +sail were discovered approaching the land, and the strangers continued their approach, till +they found out the character of the English vessels, and then crowded on all sail, in flight. +Upon this, the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> and <name type="ship">Brilliant</name> pursued, coming up with them next morning, to find +that they would have to engage one ship of 74 guns, the <name type="ship">Courageux</name>, with 700 men, and +two frigates of 36 guns each, the <name type="ship">Malicieuse</name> and <name type="ship">Ermine</name>. After exchanging a few +broadsides, the French vessels shot ahead; when Captain Loggie, seeing that he could not +expect to take either of the smaller vessels, determined to manœuvre, and lead them such +a wild-goose chase, that the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> should have to engage the <name type="ship">Courageux</name> alone. During +the whole engagement, he withstood the united attacks of both the frigates, each of them +with equal force to his own, and at last obliged them to sheer off, greatly damaged. +Meanwhile, the <name type="ship">Courageux</name> and <name type="ship">Bellona</name> had approached each other very fast. The +<name type="ship">Courageux</name>, when within musket-shot, fired her first broadside, and there was much +impatience on the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> to return it; but they were restrained by Faulkner, who called +out to them to hold hard, and not to fire till they saw the whites of the Frenchmen’s +eyes, adding, <q>Take my word for it, they will never stand the singeing of their whiskers!</q> +His speech to the sailors just before the action is a model of sailor-like advice. +<q>Gentlemen, I have been bred a seaman from my youth, and, consequently, am no orator; +but I promise to carry you all near enough, and then you may speak for yourselves. +Nevertheless, I think it necessary to acquaint you with the plan I propose to pursue, in +taking this ship, that you may be the better prepared.... I propose to lead you +close on the enemy’s larboard quarter, when we will discharge <hi rend='italic'>two</hi> broadsides, and then back +astern, and range upon the other quarter, and so tell your guns as you pass. I recommend +you at all times to point chiefly at the quarters, with your guns slanting fore and aft; this +is the principal part of a ship. If you kill the officers, break the rudder, and snap the +braces, she is yours, of course; but, for this reason, I desire you may only fire one round +of shot and grape above, and two rounds, shot only, below. Take care and send them home +with exactness. This is a rich ship; they will render you, in return, their weight in +gold.</q> This programme was very nearly carried out; almost every shot took effect. The +French still kept up a very brisk fire, and in a moment the <name type="ship">Bellona’s</name> shrouds and rigging +were almost all cut to pieces, and in nine minutes her mizen-mast fell over the stern. +Undaunted, Faulkner managed to wear his ship round; the officers and men flew to their +respective opposite guns, and carried on, from the larboard side, a fire even more terrible +than they had hitherto kept up from the starboard guns. <q>It was impossible for mortal +beings to withstand a battery so incessantly repeated, and so fatally directed, and, in about +twenty minutes from the first shot, the French colours were hauled down, and orders were +immediately given in the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> to cease firing, the enemy having struck. The men had +left their quarters, and all the officers were on the quarter-deck, congratulating one another +on their victory, when, unexpectedly, a round of shot came from the lower tier of the +<name type="ship">Courageux</name>. It is impossible to describe the rage that animated the <name type="ship">Bellona’s</name> crew on this +occasion. Without waiting for orders, they flew again to their guns, and in a moment +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/>poured in what they familiarly termed two <q>comfortable broadsides</q> upon the enemy, who +now called out loudly for quarter, and firing at length ceased on both sides.</q> The +<name type="ship">Courageux</name> was a mere wreck, having nothing but her foremast and bowsprit standing, +several of her ports knocked into one, and her deck rent in a hundred places. She lost +240 killed, and 110 wounded men were put ashore at Lisbon. On board the <name type="ship">Bellona</name> +only <hi rend='italic'>six</hi> men were killed outright, and about twenty-eight wounded; the loss of her +mizen was her only serious disaster. +</p><anchor id="figfighbeth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN THE <q>COURAGEUX</q> AND THE <q>BELLONA.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_265.png" rend="w80"><head>FIGHT BETWEEN THE <q>COURAGEUX</q> AND THE <q>BELLONA.</q></head> + <figDesc>FIGHT BETWEEN THE <q>COURAGEUX</q> AND THE <q>BELLONA</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +One more possibility in the officer’s existence, although now nearly obsolete. The +ceremonies formerly attendant on <q>crossing the line</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, passing over the equator—so +often described, have, of late years, been more honoured in the breach than in the +observance. On merchant vessels they had become a nuisance, as the sailors often made +them an opportunity for levying black mail on timid and nervous passengers. In the +Royal Navy, they afforded the one chance for <q>getting even</q> with unpopular officers; +and very roughly was it sometimes accomplished. They are for this reason introduced in +this chapter, as the officers had a direct interest in them. With trifling exceptions, the +programme was as follows. The men stripped to the waist, wearing only <q>duck</q> +unmentionables, prepared, immediately after breakfast, for the saturnalia of the day—a day +when the ship was <hi rend='italic'>en carnival</hi>, and discipline relaxed. Early in the day, a man at the +masthead, peering through a telescope, would announce a boat on the weather-bow, and +soon after, a voice from the jibboom was heard hailing the ship, announcing that Neptune +wished to come on board. The ship was accordingly hove-to, when a sailor, in fashionable +coat, knee-breeches, and powdered hair, came aft, and announced to the commander that he +was <hi rend='italic'>gentleman’s gentleman</hi> to the god of the sea, who desired an interview. This accorded, +the procession of Neptune from the forecastle at once commenced. The triumphal car was +a gun-carriage, drawn by half-a-dozen half-naked and grotesquely-painted sailors, their +heads covered by wigs of sea-weed. Neptune was always masked, as were many of his +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/>satellites, in order that the officers should not know who enacted the leading <hi rend='italic'>rôles</hi>. The +god wore a crown, and held out a trident, on which a dolphin, supposed to have been +impaled that morning, was stuck. He had a flowing wig and beard of oakum, and was, +in all points, <q>made-up</q> for Neptune himself. His suite included a secretary of state, +his head stuck all over with long quills; a surgeon, with lancet, pill-box, and medicines; +his barber, with a razor cut from an iron hoop, and with an assistant, who carried a tub +for a shaving-box. Mrs. Neptune was represented by the ugliest man on board, who, +with sea-weed hair and a huge night-cap, carried a baby—one of the boys of the ship—in +long clothes; the latter played with a marline-spike, given it to assist in cutting its +teeth. The nurse followed, with a bucketful of <hi rend='italic'>burgoo</hi> (thick oatmeal porridge or pudding), +and fed the baby incessantly with the cook’s iron ladle. Sea-nymphs, selected from the +clumsiest and fattest of the crew, helped to swell the retinue. As soon as the procession +halted before the captain, behind whom the steward waited, carrying a tray with a bottle +of wine and glasses, Neptune and Amphitrite paid submission to the former, as representative +of Great Britain, and the god presented him the dolphin. After the interview, +in which Neptune not unfrequently poked fun and thrust home-truths at the officers, the +captain offered the god and goddess a bumper of wine, and then the rougher part of the +ceremony commenced. Neptune would address his court somewhat as follows: <q>Hark +ye, my Tritons, you’re here to shave and duck and bleed all as needs it; but you’ve got +to be gentle, or we’ll get no more fees. The first of ye as disobeys me, I’ll tie to a ten-ton +gun, and sink him ten thousand fathoms below, where he shall drink nothing but +salt-water and feed on seaweed for the next hundred years.</q> The cow-pen was usually +employed for the ducking-bath; it was lined with double canvas, and boarded up, so as +to hold several butts of water. Marryat, in the first naval novel he wrote, says: <q>Many +of the officers purchased exemption from shaving and physic by a bottle of rum; but none +could escape the sprinkling of salt water, which fell about in great profusion; even the +captain received his share.... It was easy to perceive, on this occasion, who were +favourites with the ship’s company, by the degree of severity with which they were +treated. The tyro was seated on the side of the cow-pen: he was asked the place of his +nativity, and the moment he opened his mouth the shaving-brush of the barber—which was +a very large paint-brush—was crammed in, with all the filthy lather, with which they +covered his face and chin; this was roughly scraped off with the great razor. The doctor +felt his pulse, and prescribed a pill, which was forced into his cheek; and the smelling-bottle, +the cork of which was armed with sharp points of pins, was so forcibly applied to +his nose as to bring blood. After this, he was thrown backward into the bath, and allowed +to scramble out the best way he could.</q> The first-lieutenant, the reader may remember, +dodged out of the way for some time, but at last was surrounded, and plied so effectually +with buckets of salt water, that he fled down a hatchway. The buckets were pitched +after him, <q>and he fell, like the Roman virgin, covered with the shields of the soldiers.</q> +Very unpopular men or officers were made to swallow half a pint of salt water. Those +good old times! +</p> + +<p> +Pleasant is it to read of life on board a modern first-class man-of-war. Where +there are, perhaps, thirty officers in the ward-room, it would be hard indeed if one cannot +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/>find a kindred spirit, while on such a vessel the band will discourse sweet music while +you dine, and soothe you over the walnuts and wine, after the toils of the day, with +selections from the best operas, waltzes, and quadrilles. Then comes the coffee, and the +post-prandial cigar in the smoking-room. At sea, luncheon is dispensed with, and the +regular hour is half-past two; but in port both lunch and dinner are provided, and the +officers on leave ashore can return to either. Say that you have extended your ramble in +the country, you will have established an appetite by half-past five, the hour when the +officers’ boat puts off from shore, wharf, or pier. Perhaps the most pleasant evening is the +guests’ night, one of which is arranged for every week, when the officer can, by notifying +the mess caterer, invite a friend or two. The mess caterer is the officer selected to superintend +the victualling department, as the wine caterer does the liquid refreshments. It +is by no means an enviable position, for it is the Englishman’s conceded right to growl, +and sailors are equal to the occasion. Dr. Stables remarks on the unfairness of this +under-the-table stabbing, when most probably the caterer is doing his best to please. +But on a well-regulated ship, where the officers are harmonious, and either not extravagant +or with private means, the dinner-hour is the most agreeable time in the day. After +the cloth has been removed, and the president, with a due preliminary tap on the table +to attract attention, has given the only toast of the evening—<q>The Queen</q>—the bandmaster, +who has been peering in at the door for some minutes, starts the National Anthem +at the right time, and the rest of the evening is devoted to pleasant intercourse, or +visits ashore to the places of amusement or houses of hospitable residents. +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving, for the nonce, the Royal Navy, its officers and men, a few facts may +be permitted, particularly interesting at the present time. The navy, as now constituted, +has for its main backbone fifty-four ironclads. There are of all classes of vessels no +less than 462, but more than a fourth of these are merely hulks, doing harbour service, +&c., while quite a proportion of the remainder—varying according to the exigencies of +the times—are out of commission. There are seventy-eight steam gun-boats and five +fine Indian troop-ships. These numbers are drawn from the official Navy List of latest +date. +</p> + +<p> +It is said that since the ironclad movement commenced, not less than £300,000,000 +has been disbursed (in about twenty years) by the different countries of the world. Even +Japan, Peru, Venezuela, Chili, the Argentine Confederation, possess many of this class of +vessel, of more or less power. The British fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral +Hornby, in the Mediterranean, &c., though numerically not counting twenty per cent. +of the fleets in the days of Nelson and Collingwood, when <q>a hundred sail of the line</q> +frequently assembled, has cost infinitely more. A cool half million is not an exceptional +cost for an ironclad, while one of the latest of our turret-ships, the <name type="ship">Inflexible</name>, has cost +the nation three-quarters of a million sterling at the least. She is to carry four eighty-ton +guns. A recent correspondent of a daily journal states that next to Great Britain, +<q>the ironclad fleet of the Sultan ranks foremost among the navies of the world.</q> Be +that as it may, there can be little doubt that if Russia had succeeded in acquiring it, it +would, with her own fleet, have constituted a very powerful rival. +</p> + +<p> +The progressive augmentation in the size of naval vessels has been rapid in Great +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/>Britain. When Henry VIII. constructed his <name type="ship">Henry Grace de Dieu</name>, of 1,000 tons,<note place="foot">Her tonnage being no doubt calculated by what is known as O. M. (old measurement), and which was used up to +a late date in England, her actual capacity must have been considerably greater.</note> it +was, indeed, a great giant among pigmies, for a vessel of two or three hundred tons was +then considered large. At the death of Elizabeth she left forty-two ships, of 17,000 tons +in all, and 8,346 men; fifteen of her vessels being 600 tons and upwards. From this +period the tonnages of the navy steadily increased. The first really scientific architect, +Mr. Phineas Pett, remodelled the navy to good purpose in the reigns of James I. and +Charles I. Previous to this time the vessels with their lofty poops and forecastles had +greatly resembled Chinese junks. He launched the <name type="ship">Sovereign of the Seas</name>, a vessel 232 +feet in length, and of a number of tons exactly corresponding to the date, 1637, when +she left the slips. Cromwell found a navy of fourteen two-deckers, and left one of 150 +vessels, of which one-third were line-of-battle ships. He was the first to lay naval +estimates before Parliament, and obtained £400,000 per annum for the service. James II. +left 108 ships of the line, and sixty-five other vessels of 102,000 tons, with 42,000 men. +William III. brought it to 272 ships, of 159,020 tons. George II. left, in 1760, 412 +ships, of 321,104 tons. Twenty-two years later the navy had reached 617 vessels, and +in 1813 we had the enormous number of 1,000 vessels, of which 256 were of the line, +measuring 900,000 tons, carrying 146,000 seamen and marines, and costing £18,000,000 +per annum to maintain. But since the peace of 1815, the number of vessels has greatly +diminished, while an entirely new era of naval construction has been inaugurated. In +the seventeenth century a vessel of 1,500 tons was considered of enormous size. At the +end of the eighteenth, 2,500 was the outside limit, whilst there are now many vessels of +4,000 tons, and the navy possesses frigates of 6,000 and upwards. Several of our +enormous ironclads have a tonnage of over 11,000 tons, while the <name type="ship">Great Eastern</name>—of +course a <hi rend='italic'>very</hi> exceptional case—has a tonnage of 22,500. +</p><anchor id="figgreahaan"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE <q>GREAT HARRY</q> AND <q>GREAT EASTERN</q> IN CONTRAST.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_269.png" rend="w80"><head>THE <q>GREAT HARRY</q> AND <q>GREAT EASTERN</q> IN CONTRAST.</head> + <figDesc>THE <q>GREAT HARRY</q> AND <q>GREAT EASTERN</q> IN CONTRAST</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Whilst we have efficient military volunteers enough to form a grand army, our +naval volunteers do not number more than the contingents for a couple of large vessels. +There are scarcely more than a thousand of the latter, and only three stations. London, +Liverpool, and Brighton divide the honour between them of possessing corps. The writer +believes that he will be doing a service to many young men—who in their turn may do +good service for their country—in briefly detailing the conditions and expenses of joining. +In a very short period of time the members have become wonderfully efficient, and the sailor-like +appearance of the men is well illustrated by the fact, that at a recent reception at the +Mansion House a number of them were taken for men-of-war’s men, and so described in +several daily journals. Their prowess is illustrated by the prizes distributed by Lady +Ashley, at the inspection of the 1st London Corps, in the West India Docks, on February +9th last. Badges were won by the gunner making the best practice with the heavy gun +at sea, and by the marksman making the greatest number of points with the rifle. The +<q>Lord Ashley challenge prize,</q> for the best gun’s crew at sea, was won by fourteen men +of No. 2 battery, who fired forty-two rounds at 1,300 yards in thirty-seven minutes, +scoring 411 points out of a possible 504 points. The official report says:—<q>that further +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/>comment on the men or their instructor is superfluous.</q> The list included rifle, battery, +and boating prizes. +</p> + +<p> +The Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers are raised under an Act passed in 1873, and +are directly subject to the authority of the Admiralty. They may be assembled for +actual employment, their duties then consisting of coast or harbour service. They are not +required to go aloft, or to attend to the engine fires, but in regard to berthing and messing +must conform to the arrangements usual with seamen. The force is formed into brigades, +each brigade consisting of four or more batteries, of from sixty to eighty men. Each +brigade has a lieutenant-commander, and each battery a sub-lieutenant, chief petty officer, +first and second-class petty officers, buglers, &c., while the staff includes a lieutenant-instructor, +first-class petty officer instructor, surgeon, bugle-major, and armourer. Those +desiring to join a corps should communicate with the Secretary of the Admiralty. The +annual subscription to the 1st London Corps is one guinea, while each member has to +provide himself with two white frocks, one blue serge frock, one pair of blue trousers, one +blue cloth cap, &c., black handkerchief, flannel, knife, lanyard, and monkey-jacket, costing +in the neighbourhood of six pounds. When on a cruise, in gunboat, the volunteer +requires in addition serge trousers and jumpers, flannel shirt, towels, and brush and comb, +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/>canvas bags, &c. The officers’ uniforms are the same as those of the Royal Navy, with the +exception of silver, for the most part, taking the place of gold. It is more expensive to +join the naval than the military volunteers, and the class composing the corps are generally +well-to-do young men, a large number of them employed in shipping offices, and mercantile +pursuits connected with the sea. +</p> + +<p> +The drills consist of practice with great guns, rifle, pistol, and cutlass exercises. +<q>Efficient</q> volunteers are entitled to a badge, while men returned five times as efficient +may wear one star, and those returned ten times two stars, above said badge. Every +volunteer must attend at least two drills a month, until he has obtained the standard of +an <q>efficient.</q> When on actual service, the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers will receive +the same pay, allowances, and victuals as those of relative rank in the navy, and when +embarked on any of Her Majesty’s ships for more than forty-eight hours, in practice, +will either be victualled or receive a money compensation. The cruises in gun-boats, &c., +usually last ten days, and the vessel visits many of the Channel ports, &c., more especially +off points where gun practice is practicable. A volunteer wounded, either on drill or in +actual service, is entitled to the same compensation as any seaman in the navy would be +under similar circumstances, and if killed his widow (if any) to the same gratuities out +of the Greenwich Hospital Funds as would a Royal Navy seaman’s widow. Members who +are able to take advantage of the cruise in gun-boats must have attended drill regularly +for three months previously. It must be remembered that each man costs the Government +from £8 to £10 for the first year, in the expenses incurred in great gun and other practice; +and it is therefore made a point of honour to those joining that they will devote sufficient +time to their drills to make themselves thoroughly efficient. +</p> + +<p> +The London Naval Artillery Volunteers have a fine vessel, the <name type="ship">President</name>, now in the +West India Docks, on which to exercise, while to accustom them to living on board ship, +the old <name type="ship">Rainbow</name>, off Temple Pier, is open to them, under certain conditions, as a place +of residence. A number avail themselves of this: sleep on board in hammocks, and +contribute their quota of the mess expenses. The writer is the last to decry other +manly exercises, such as cricket, foot-ball, racing, or pedestrianism, but naval volunteering +has the advantage of not merely comprising a series of manly exercises, but in being directly +practical and specially health-giving. +</p> + +<p> +And to prevent the need of impressment, the Government did well in establishing the +Royal Naval Reserve. The latest estimates provided £140,000 for the year; the number, +which at present is about 20,000 men, is not to exceed 30,000. The service is divided +into two classes: the first class consisting of seamen of the merchant service, and the +second, fishermen on the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. Both divisions are practical +sailors, and the value of their services in a time of war would be inestimable. They are +required to drill twenty-eight days in each year, for which they receive about £6 per +annum, and sundry allowances for travelling, &c. The former class can be drilled at our +stations abroad, so that a merchant seaman is not necessarily tied to England, or to +mere coasting trade. +</p> + +</div><div> +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XIV. The Reverse of the Picture--Mutiny"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XIV. The Reverse of the Picture--Mutiny"/><anchor id="chap14"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIV.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Reverse of the Picture—Mutiny.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +Bligh’s Bread-fruit Expedition—Voyage of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Bounty</name>—Otaheite—The Happy Islanders—First Appearance of a Mutinous +Spirit—The Cutter Stolen and Recovered—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Bounty</name> sails with 1,000 Trees—The Mutiny—Bligh Overpowered and +Bound—Abandoned with Eighteen Others—Their Resources—Attacked by Natives—A Boat Voyage of 3,618 miles—Violent +Gales—Miserable Condition of the Boat’s Crew—Bread by the Ounce—Rum by the Tea-spoonful—Noddies +and Boobies—<q>Who shall have this?</q>—Off the Barrier Reef—A Haven of Rest—Oyster and Palm-top Stews—Another +Thousand Miles of Ocean—Arrival at Coupang—Hospitality of the Residents—Ghastly Looks of the Party—Death +of Five of the Number—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Pandora</name> Dispatched to Catch the Mutineers—Fourteen in Irons—<name type="ship" rend="italic">Pandora’s</name> +Box—The Wreck—Great Loss of Life—Sentences of the Court Martial—The Last of the Mutineers—Pitcairn Island—A +Model Settlement—Another Example: The greatest Mutiny of History—40,000 Disaffected Men at one point—Causes—Legitimate +Action of the Men at First—Apathy of Government—Serious Organisation—The Spithead Fleet +Ordered to Sea—Refusal of the Crews—Concessions Made, and the First Mutiny Quelled—Second Outbreak—Lord +Howe’s Tact—The Great Mutiny of the Nore—Richard Parker—A Vile Character but Man of Talent—Wins the Men +to his Side—Officers Flogged and Ducked—Gallant Duncan’s Address—Accessions to the Mutineers—Parker +practically Lord High Admiral—His Extravagant Behaviour—Alarm in London—The Movement Dies out by +Degrees—Parker’s Cause Lost—His Execution—Mutinies at Other Stations—Prompt Action of Lords St. Vincent +and Macartney. +</p></argument> + +<p> +The Royal Navy has ever been the glory of our country, but there are spots even on the +bright sun. The service has been presented hitherto almost entirely under its best aspects. +Example after example of heroic bravery, unmurmuring endurance, and splendid discipline, +have been cited. Nor can we err in painting it <hi rend='italic'>couleur de rose</hi>, for its gallant exploits +have won it undying fame. But in the service at one time—thank God those times are +hardly possible now—mutiny and desertion on a large scale were eventualities to be +considered and dreaded; they were at least remote possibilities. In a few instances they +became terrible facts. In the merchant service we still hear of painful examples: every +reader will remember the case of the <hi rend='italic'>Lennie</hi> mutineers, who murdered the captain and +mates in the Bay of Biscay, with the object of selling the ship in Greece, and were +defeated by the brave steward, who steered for the coast of France, and was eventually +successful in communicating with the French authorities. The example about to be +related is a matter of historical fact, from which the naval service in particular may still +draw most important lessons. +</p> + +<p> +In the year 1787, being seventeen years after Captain Cook’s memorable first voyage, +a number of merchants and planters resident in London memorialised his Majesty +George III., that the introduction of the bread-fruit tree from the southern Pacific Islands +would be of great benefit to the West Indies, and the king complied with their request. +A small vessel, the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>, was prepared, the arrangements for disposing the plants being +made by Sir Joseph Banks, long the distinguished President of the Royal Society, and +one of the most eminent men of science of the day. Banks had been with Cook among +these very islands; indeed, it is stated that in his zeal for acquiring knowledge, he had +undergone the process of tattooing himself. The ship was put under the command of +Lieutenant Bligh, with officers and crew numbering in all forty-four souls, to whom were +added a practical botanist and assistant. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Bounty</name> sailed from Spithead on December 23rd, 1787 and soon encountered very +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/>severe weather, which obliged them to refit at Teneriffe. Terrible gales were experienced +near Cape Horn, <q>storms of wind, with hail and sleet, which made it necessary to keep a +constant fire night and day, and one of the watch always attended to dry the people’s wet +clothes. This stormy weather continued for nine days; the ship required pumping every +hour; the decks became so leaky that the commander was obliged to allot the great +cabin to those who had wet berths to hang their hammocks in.</q><note place="foot"><q>The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. <name type="ship">Bounty</name>: Its Causes and Consequences.</q></note> It was at last determined, +after vainly struggling for thirty days to make headway, to bear away for the Cape of +Good Hope. The helm was accordingly put a-weather, to the great joy and satisfaction +of all on <anchor id="corr236"/><corr sic="broad">board</corr>. +</p><anchor id="figcrewofhm"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE CREW OF H.M.S. <q>BOUNTY</q> LANDING AT OTAHEITE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_272.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE CREW OF H.M.S. <q>BOUNTY</q> LANDING AT OTAHEITE.</head> + <figDesc>THE CREW OF H.M.S. <q>BOUNTY</q> LANDING AT OTAHEITE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +They arrived at the Cape late in May, and stopped there for thirty-eight days, refitting, +replenishing provisions, and refreshing the worn-out crew. On October 26th they anchored +in Matavai Bay, Otaheite, and the natives immediately came out to the ship in great +numbers. Tinah, the chief of the district, on hearing of the arrival of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>, sent +a small pig and a young plantain tree, as a token of friendship, and the ship was liberally +supplied with provisions. Handsome presents were made to Tinah, and he was told that +they had been sent to him, on account of the kindness of the people to Captain Cook +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/>during his visit. <q>Will you not, Tinah,</q> said Bligh, <q>send something to King George +in return?</q> <q>Yes,</q> he replied, <q>I will send him anything I have,</q> and then enumerated +the different articles in his power, among which he mentioned the bread-fruit. This was +exactly what Bligh wished, and he was told that the bread-fruit trees were what King +George would greatly like, and the chief promised that a large number should be placed +on board. +</p> + +<p> +The importance of the bread-fruit to these people cannot be over-stated. That old +navigator, Dampier, had well described it a hundred years before. <q>The bread-fruit, +as we call it, grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple-trees; it hath a +spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like +apples; it is as big as a penny loaf when wheat is at five shillings the bushel; it is of +a round shape, and hath a thick, tough rind; when the fruit is ripe, it is yellow and +soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They +gather it, when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an oven, +which scorcheth the rind and makes it black, but they scrape off the outside black crust, +and there remains a tender, thin crust; and the inside is soft, tender, and white.</q> The +fruit lasts in season eight months. During Lord Anson’s two months’ stay at Tinian, +no ship’s bread was consumed, the officers and men all preferring the bread-fruit. Byron +speaks of these South Sea Islands, where labour is the merest play work, the earth affording +nearly spontaneously all that the natives need, as +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The happy shores without a law,</q></l> +<l>* * * * * * *</l> +<l>Where all partake the earth without dispute,</l> +<l>And bread itself is gathered as a fruit;</l> +<l>Where none contest the fields, the woods, the streams,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The gold-less age, where gold disturbs no dreams.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The Otaheitans of those days were a most harmless, amiable, and unsophisticated people. +One day the gudgeon of the cutter’s rudder was missing, and was believed to have been +stolen. <q>I thought,</q> says Bligh, <q>it would have a good effect to punish the boat-keeper +in their presence, and accordingly I ordered him a dozen lashes. All who attended the +punishment interceded very earnestly to get it mitigated; the women showed great +sympathy.</q> The intercourse between the crew and natives was very pleasant. The +Otaheitans showed the most perfect ease of manner, with <q>a candour and sincerity about +them that is quite refreshing.</q> When they offered refreshments, for instance, if they +were not accepted, they did not press them; they had not the least idea of that ceremonious +kind of refusal which expects a second invitation. <q>Having one day,</q> says Bligh, +<q>exposed myself too much in the sun, I was taken ill, on which all the powerful people, +both men and women, collected round me, offering their assistance.</q> On an occasion +when the <name type="ship">Bounty</name> had nearly gone ashore in a tremendous gale of wind, and on another +when she did go aground, after all was right again, these kind-hearted people came in +crowds to congratulate the captain on her escape; many of them shed tears while the +danger seemed imminent. In the evenings, the whole beach was like a parade, crowded +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/>with several hundred men, women, and children, all good-humoured, and affectionate to +one another; their sports and games were continued till near dark, when they peaceably +returned to their homes. They were particularly cleanly, bathing every morning, and +often twice a day. +</p> + +<p> +It is sad to turn from this pleasant picture to find the spirit of desertion and mutiny +appearing among the crew. There can be no doubt that the allurements of the island, +its charming climate and abundant productions, the friendliness of the natives, and ease +of living, were the main causes. Bligh made one fatal mistake in his long stay of over +five months, during which the crew had all opportunities of leave ashore. Every man +of them had his <hi rend='italic'>tayo</hi>, or friend. From the moment he set his foot ashore he found himself +in the midst of ease and indolence, all living in a state of luxury, without submitting to +anything approaching real labour. Such enticements were too much for a common sailor, +for must he not contrast the islander’s happy lot with his own hardships on board? +</p> + +<p> +One morning the small cutter was missing, with three of the crew. They had taken +with them eight stands of arms and ammunition. The master was dispatched with one +of the chiefs in their pursuit, but before they had got any great distance, they met the +boat with five of the natives, who were bringing her back to the ship. <q>For this service +they were handsomely rewarded. The chiefs promised to use every possible means to +detect and bring back the deserters, which, in a few days, some of the islanders had so +far accomplished as to seize and bind them, but let them loose again on a promise that +they would return to their ship, which they did not exactly fulfil, but gave themselves +up soon after, on a search being made for them.</q> A few days after this it was found +that the cable by which the ship rode had been cut, close to the water’s edge, so that it +held by only a strand. Bligh considered this the act of one of his own people, who +wished the ship to go ashore, so that they might remain at Otaheite. It may, however, +have chafed in the natural course of affairs. +</p><anchor id="figmutiseca"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE MUTINEERS SEIZING CAPTAIN BLIGH.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_273.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE MUTINEERS SEIZING CAPTAIN BLIGH.</head> + <figDesc>THE MUTINEERS SEIZING CAPTAIN BLIGH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +And now the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>, having taken on board over a thousand of the bread-fruit plants, +besides other shrubs and fruits, set sail, falling in soon after with many canoes, whose +owners and passengers sold them hogs, fowls, and yams, in quantities. Some of the +sailing canoes would carry ninety persons. Bligh was congratulating himself on his ship +being in good condition, his plants in perfect order, and all his men and officers in good +health. On leaving deck on the evening of April 27th he had given directions as to the +course and watches. Just before sunrise on the 28th, while he was yet asleep, Mr. +Christian, officer of the watch, with three of the men, came into his cabin, and seizing +him, tied his hands behind his back, threatening him with instant death if he spoke or +made the least noise. <q>I called, however,</q> says Bligh, <q>as loud as I could, in hopes +of assistance; but they had already secured the officers who were not of their party, by +placing sentinels at their doors. There were three men at my cabin-door besides the four +within; Christian had only a cutlass in his hand, the others had muskets and bayonets. +I was hauled out of bed, and forced on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the +tightness with which they had tied my hands.</q> The master and master’s mate, the +gunner, and the gardener, were confined below, and the forecastle hatch was guarded by +sentinels. The boatswain was ordered to hoist the launch out, with a threat that he had +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/>better do it instantly, and two of the midshipmen and others were ordered into it. +Bligh was simply told, <q>Hold your tongue, sir, or you are dead this instant!</q> when he +remonstrated. <q>I continued,</q> says he, <q>my endeavours to turn the tide of affairs, +when Christian changed the cutlass which he had in his hand for a bayonet that was +brought to him, and holding me with a strong grip by the cord that tied my hands, +he threatened, with many oaths, to kill me immediately, if I would not be quiet; the +villains round me had their pieces cocked and bayonets fixed.</q> The boatswain and +seamen who were to be turned adrift with Bligh were allowed to collect twine, canvas, +lines, sails, cordage, and an eight-and-twenty gallon cask of water; the clerk secured +one hundred and fifty pounds of bread, with a small quantity of rum and wine, also a +quadrant and compass, but he was forbidden to touch the maps, observations, or any of +the surveys or drawings. He did, however, secure the journals and captain’s commission. +The mutineers having forced those of the seamen whom they meant to get rid of into +the boat, Christian directed a dram to be served to each of his own crew. Isaac Martin, +one of the guard over Bligh, had an inclination to serve him, and fed him with some +fruit, his lips being quite parched. This kindness was observed, and Martin was ordered +away. The same man, with three others, desired to go with the captain, but this was +refused. They begged him to remember that they had no hand in the transaction. <q>I asked +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/>for arms,</q> says Bligh, <q rend="post: none">but they laughed at me, and said I was well acquainted with +the people among whom I was going, and therefore did not want them; four cutlasses, +however, were thrown into the boat after we were veered astern.</q> +</p><anchor id="figbligcaad"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: BLIGH CAST ADRIFT.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_276.png" rend="w80"><head>BLIGH CAST ADRIFT.</head> + <figDesc>BLIGH CAST ADRIFT</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q>The officers and men being in the boat, they only waited for me, of which the +master-at-arms informed Christian, who then said, <q>Come, Captain Bligh, your officers +and men are now in the boat, and you must go with them; if you attempt to make the +least resistance, you will instantly be put to death;</q> and without further ceremony, with +a tribe of armed ruffians about me, I was forced over the side, when they untied my +hands.</q> A few pieces of pork were thrown to them, and after undergoing a great deal +of ridicule, and having been kept for some time to make sport for these unfeeling wretches, +they were at length cast adrift in the open sea. Bligh heard shouts of <q>Huzza for +Otaheite!</q> among the mutineers for some considerable time after they had parted from +the vessel. +</p> + +<p> +In the boat, well weighted down to the water’s edge, were nineteen persons, including +the commander, master, acting-surgeon, botanist, gunner, boatswain, carpenter, and two +midshipmen. On the ship were twenty-five persons, mostly able seamen, but three +midshipmen were among the number, two of whom had no choice in the matter, being +detained against their will. +</p> + +<p> +Lieutenant Bligh, although a good seaman, was a tyrannical man, and had made +himself especially odious on board by reason of his severity, and especially in regard to +the issuing of provisions. He had had many disputes with Christian in particular, when +his language was of the coarsest order. Still, the desire to remain among the Otaheitans, +or, at all events, among these enticing islands, seems to have been the main cause of +the mutiny. +</p> + +<p> +It was shown afterwards that Christian had only the night before determined to make +his escape on a kind of small raft; that he had informed four of his companions, and that +they had supplied him with part of a roast pig, some nails, beads, and other trading +articles, and that he abandoned the idea because, when he came on deck to his watch +at four a.m., he found an opportunity which he had not expected. He saw Mr. Hayward, +the mate of his watch, fall asleep, and the other midshipmen did not put in an appearance +at all. He suddenly conceived the idea of the plot, which he disclosed to seven of the +men, three of whom had <q>tasted the cat,</q> and were unfavourable to Bligh. They went +to the armourer, and secured the keys of his chest, under the pretence of wanting a +musket to fire at a shark, then alongside. Christian then proceeded to secure Lieutenant +Bligh, the master, gunner, and botanist. He stated that he had been much annoyed at +the frequent abusive and insulting language of his commanding officer. Waking out of +a short half-hour’s disturbed sleep, to take the command of the deck—finding the +mates of the watch asleep—the opportunity tempting, and the ship completely in his +power, with a momentary impulse he darted down the fore-hatchway, got possession of +the arm-chest, and made the hazardous experiment of arming such of the men as he +deemed he could trust. It is said that he intended to send away his captain in a small, +wretched boat, worm-eaten and decayed, but the remonstrances of a few of the better-hearted +induced him to substitute the cutter. +</p> + +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> + +<p> +And now to follow the fortunes of Lieutenant Bligh and his companions. Their first +consideration was to examine their resources. There were sixteen pieces of pork, weighing +two pounds each, the bread and water as before mentioned, six quarts of rum, and six +bottles of wine. Being near the island of Tofoa, they resolved to seek a supply of bread-fruit +and water, so as to preserve their other stock, and they did obtain a small quantity +of the former, but little water. The natives seeing their defenceless condition meditated +their destruction, and speedily crowded the beach, knocking stones together, the preparatory +signal for an attack. With some difficulty the seamen succeeded in getting their things +together, and got all the men, except John Norton, one of the quartermasters, into the +boat, the surf running high. The poor man was literally stoned to death within their +sight. They pushed out to sea in all haste, and were followed by volleys of big stones, +some of the canoes pursuing them. Their only expedient left to gain time was to throw +overboard some of their clothing, which, fortunately, induced the natives to stop and pick +them up. Night coming on, the canoes returned to the shore. +</p> + +<p> +The nearest place where they could expect relief was Timor, a distance of full 1,200 +leagues, and the men agreed to be put on an allowance, which on calculation was found +not to exceed <hi rend='italic'>one ounce</hi> of bread per diem, and a gill of water. Recommending them, +therefore, in the most solemn manner, not to depart from their promises, <q>we bore away,</q> +says Bligh, <q>across a sea where the navigation is but little known, in a small boat, +twenty-three feet long from stem to stern, deeply laden with eighteen men.... It +was about eight at night on the 2nd of May when we bore away under a reefed lug-foresail; +and having divided the people into watches, and got the boat into a little order, +we returned thanks to God for our miraculous preservation, and in full confidence of His +gracious support, I found my mind more at ease than it had been for some time past.</q> +Next morning the sun rose fiery and red, a sure indication of a gale, and by eight o’clock +it blew a violent storm, the waves running so high that their sail was <hi rend='italic'>becalmed</hi> when +between the seas. They lightened the boat by throwing overboard all superfluous +articles, and removing the tools, put the bread, on which their very existence depended, +in the chest. Miserably wet and cold as were all, Bligh administered a <hi rend='italic'>tea-spoonful</hi> of +rum to each at dinner time. The sea still rose, and the fatigue of baling became very +great. Next morning at daylight the men’s limbs were benumbed, and another spoonful +of spirit was administered. Whatever might be said of Bligh’s previous conduct, there +is no doubt that at this juncture he exerted himself wonderfully and very judiciously to +save the lives of all. Their dinner this day consisted of five small cocoa-nuts. On the +night of the 4th the gale abated, and they examined the bread, much of which was found +to be damaged and rotten, but it was still preserved for use. On the 6th they hooked +a fish, <q>but,</q> says the commander, <q>we were miserably disappointed by its being lost +in trying to get it into the boat.</q> They were terribly cramped for want of room on board, +although Bligh did for the best by putting them watch and watch, so that half of them +at a time could lie at the bottom of the boat. On the 7th they passed close to some +rocky isles, from which two large sailing canoes came out and pursued hotly, but gave +over the chase in the afternoon. This day heavy rain fell, when everybody set to work +to catch some, with such success that they not merely quenched their thirst, but increased +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/>their stock to thirty-five gallons. As a corresponding disadvantage they got wet through. +On the 8th the allowance issued was an ounce and a half of pork, a tea-spoonful of rum, +half a pint of cocoa-nut milk, and an ounce of bread. Bligh constructed a pair of scales +of two cocoa-nut shells, using pistol-balls for weights. The next nine days brought bad +weather, and much rain, the sea breaking over the boat so much that two men were kept +constantly baling, and it was necessary to keep the boat before the waves to prevent +her filling. When day broke it showed a miserable set of beings, full of wants, aches, +and pains, and nothing to relieve them. They found some comfort by wringing their +clothes in sea-water, by which means they found a certain limited amount of warmth. +But though all were shivering with cold and wet, the commander was obliged to tell +them that the rum ration—one tea-spoonful—must for the present be discontinued, as it +was running low. +</p> + +<p> +<q>During the whole of the afternoon of the 21st,</q> says Bligh, <q>we were so covered +with rain and salt water that we could scarcely see. We suffered extreme cold, and every +one dreaded the approach of night. Sleep, though we longed for it, afforded no comfort; +for my own part, I almost lived without it. * * * The misery we suffered this night +exceeded the preceding. The sea flew over us with great force, and kept us baling with +horror and anxiety. At dawn of day I found every one in a most distressed condition, +and I began to fear that another such night would put an end to the lives of several, +who seemed no longer able to support their sufferings. I served an allowance of two +tea-spoonfuls of rum; after drinking which, and having wrung our clothes, and taken +our breakfast of bread and water, we became a little refreshed.</q> On the 24th, for the +first time in fifteen days, they experienced the warmth of the sun, and dried their now +threadbare garments. +</p> + +<p> +On the 25th, at mid-day, some noddies flew so near the boat that one was caught +by hand. This bird, about the size of a small pigeon, was divided into eighteen portions, +and allotted by the method known as <hi rend='italic'><q>Who shall have this?</q></hi> in which one person, who +turns his back to the caterer, is asked the question, as each piece is indicated. This +system gives every one the chance of securing the best share. Bligh used to speak of +the amusement it gave the poor half-starved people when the beak and claws fell to his +lot. That and the following day two boobies, which are about as large as ducks, were also +caught. The sun came out so powerfully that several of the people were seized with +faintness. But the capture of two more boobies revived their spirits, and as from the +birds, and other signs, Mr. Bligh had no doubt they were near land, the feelings of all +became more animated. On the morning of the 28th the <q>barrier reef</q> of what was then +known as the eastern coast of New Holland, now Australia, appeared, with the surf and +breakers outside, and smooth water within. The difficulty was to find a passage; but at +last a fine opening was discovered, and through this the boat passed rapidly with a strong +stream, and came immediately into smooth water. Their past hardships seemed all at +once forgotten. The coast appeared, and in the evening they landed on the sandy point +of an island, where they soon found that the rocks were covered with oysters, and that +plenty of fresh water was attainable. By help of a small sun-glass a fire was made, +and soon a stew of oysters, pork, and bread was concocted, which gladdened their hearts, +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/>each receiving a full pint. The 29th of May being the anniversary of the restoration +of Charles II., the spot was not inappropriately named Restoration Island. +</p> + +<p> +Bligh soon noted the alteration for the better in the looks of his men, which proved +the value of oysters, stewed, as they sometimes were, with fresh green palm-tops. Strange +to say, that the mutinous spirit, which had been satisfactorily absent before, broke out +in one or two of the men, and Bligh had, in one instance, to seize a cutlass and order +the man to defend himself. The threatened outbreak ended quietly. +</p> + +<p> +But although the worst of their voyage was over, their troubles in other ways were +serious. While among the islands off the coast of Australia several of them were seriously +affected with weakness, dizziness, and violent pains in their bowels. Infinitesimal quantities +of wine were administered, to their great benefit. A party was sent out on one of the islands +to catch birds, and they returned with a dozen noddies; these and a few clams were all +they obtained. On the 3rd of June they left Cape York, and once more launched their +little boat on the open ocean. On the 5th a booby was caught by the hand, the blood +of which was divided among three of the men who were weakest, and the bird kept for +next day’s dinner. The following day the sea ran high, and kept breaking over the boat. +Mr. Ledward, the surgeon, and Lebogue, an old hardy sailor, appeared to be breaking +up fast, and no other assistance could be given them than a tea-spoonful or two of wine. +On the morning of the 10th there was a visible alteration for the worse in many of the +people. Their countenances were ghastly and hollow, their limbs swollen, and all extremely +debilitated; some seeming to have lost their reason. But next day Bligh was able to +announce that they had passed the meridian of Timor, and the following morning land +was sighted with expressions of universal joy and satisfaction. Forty-one days had they +been on the ocean in their miserable boat, and by the log they had run 3,618 nautical +miles. On the 14th they arrived at Coupang Bay, where they were received with all +kinds of hospitality. The party on landing presented the appearance of spectres: their +bodies skin and bones, and covered with sores; their clothing in rags. But the strain had +been too much for several of them. The botanist died at Coupang, three of the men at +Batavia, and one on the passage home. The doctor was left behind and not afterwards +heard of. Bligh arrived in England on March 14th, and received much sympathy. He +was immediately promoted, and afterwards successfully carried the bread-fruit tree to the +West Indies. Meantime the Government naturally proposed to bring the mutineers to +trial, whatever it might cost. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Pandora</name>, a frigate of twenty-four guns, and one hundred and sixty men, was +selected for the service, and was placed under the command of Captain Edward Edwards, +with orders to proceed to Otaheite, and if necessary the other islands. The voyage was +destined to end in shipwreck and disaster, but the captain succeeded in securing a part +of the mutineers, of whom ten were brought to England, and four drowned on the +wreck. +</p> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Pandora</name> reached Matavia Bay on the 23rd of March, 1791. The armourer and +two of the midshipmen, Mr. Heywood and Mr. Stewart, came off immediately, and showed +their willingness to afford information. Four others soon after appeared, and from them +the captain learned that the rest of the <name type="ship">Bounty’s</name> people had built a schooner, and sailed +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/>the day before for another part of the island. They were pursued, and the schooner +secured, but the mutineers had fled to the mountains. A day or two elapsed, when they +ventured down, and when within hearing were ordered to lay down their arms, which +they did, and were put in irons. Captain Edwards put them into a round-house, built +on the after part of the quarter-deck, in order to isolate them from the crew. According +to the statement of one of the prisoners, the midshipmen were kept ironed by the legs, +separate from the men, in a kind of round-house, aptly termed <q>Pandora’s Box,</q> which +was entered by a scuttle in the roof, about eighteen inches square. <q>The prisoners’ wives +visited the ship daily, and brought their children, who were permitted to be carried to +their unhappy fathers. To see the poor captives in irons,</q> says the only narrative +published of the <name type="ship">Pandora’s</name> visit, <q>weeping over their tender offspring, was too moving +a scene for any feeling heart. Their wives brought them ample supplies of every delicacy +that the country afforded while we lay there, and behaved with the greatest fidelity and +affection to them.</q><note place="foot"><q>Voyage Round the World,</q> by G. Hamilton.</note> Stewart, the midshipman, had espoused the daughter of an old chief, +and they had lived together in the greatest harmony; a beautiful little girl had been +the fruit of the union. When Stewart was confined in irons, Peggy, for so her husband +had named her, flew with her infant in a canoe to the arms of her husband. The interview +was so painful that Stewart begged she might not be admitted on board again. Forbidden +to see him, she sank into the greatest dejection, and seemed to have lost all relish for +food and existence; she pined away and died two months afterwards.<note place="foot"><q>A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific</q></note> +</p><anchor id="figmap_ofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_281.png" rend="w100"><head>MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC.</head> + <figDesc>MAP OF THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +All the mutineers that were left on the island having been secured, the ship proceeded +to other islands in search of those who had gone away in the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>. It must be +mentioned, however, that two of the men had perished by violent deaths. They had +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/>made friends with a chief, and one of them, Churchill, was his <hi rend='italic'>tayo</hi>, or sworn friend. +The chief died suddenly without issue, and Churchill, according to the custom of the +country, succeeded to his property and dignity. The other, Thomson, murdered Churchill, +probably to acquire his possessions, and was in his turn stoned to death by the natives. +Captain Edwards learned that after Bligh had been set adrift, Christian had thrown +overboard the greater part of the bread-fruit plants, and divided the property of those +they had abandoned. They at first went to an island named Toobouai, where they +intended to form a settlement, but the opposition of the natives, and their own quarrels, +determined them to revisit Otaheite. There the leading natives were very curious to +know what had become of Bligh and the rest, and the mutineers invented a story to the +effect that they had unexpectedly fallen in with Captain Cook at an island he had just +discovered, and that Lieutenant Bligh was stopping with him, and had appointed Mr. +Christian commander of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>; and, further, he was now come for additional +supplies for them. This story imposed upon the simple-minded natives, and in the +course of a very few days the <name type="ship">Bounty</name> received on board thirty-eight goats, 312 hogs, eight +dozen fowls, a bull and a cow, and large quantities of fruit. They also took with them a +number of natives, male and female, intending to form a settlement at Toobouai. Skirmishes +with the natives, generally brought on by their own violent conduct or robberies, and +eternal bickerings among themselves, delayed the progress of their fort, and it was +subsequently abandoned, sixteen of the men electing to stop at Otaheite, and the remaining +nine leaving finally in the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>, Christian having been heard frequently to say that +his object was to find some uninhabited island, in which there was no harbour, that he +would run the ship ashore, and make use of her materials to form a settlement. This +was all that Captain Edwards could learn, and after a fruitless search of three months he +abandoned further inquiry, and proceeded on his homeward voyage. +</p> + +<p> +Off the east coast of New Holland, the <name type="ship">Pandora</name> ran on a reef, and was speedily a +wreck. In an hour and a half after she struck, there were eight and a half feet of water +in her hold, and in spite of continuous pumping and baling, it became evident that she +was a doomed vessel. With all the efforts made to save the crew, thirty-one of the ship’s +company and four mutineers were lost with the vessel. Very little notice, indeed, seems +to have been taken of the latter by the captain, who was afterwards accused of considerable +inhumanity. <q>Before the final catastrophe,</q> says the surgeon of the vessel, <q>three of +the <name type="ship">Bounty’s</name> people, Coleman, Norman, and M’Intosh, were now let out of irons, and +sent to work at the pumps. The others offered their assistance, and begged to be allowed +a chance of saving their lives; instead of which, two additional sentinels were placed +over them, with orders to shoot any who should attempt to get rid of their fetters. +Seeing no prospect of escape, they betook themselves to prayer, and prepared to meet +their fate, every one expecting that the ship would soon go to pieces, her rudder and part +of the stern-post being already beaten away.</q> When the ship was actually sinking, it is +stated that no notice was taken of the prisoners, although Captain Edwards was entreated +by young Heywood, the midshipman, to have mercy on them, when he passed over their +prison to make his own escape, the ship then lying on her broadside with the larboard +bow completely under water. Fortunately, the master-at-arms, either by accident, or +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/>probably design, when slipping from the roof of <q>Pandora’s Box</q> into the sea, let the +keys unlocking the hand-cuffs and irons fall through the scuttle, and thus enabled them +to commence their own liberation, in which they were assisted by one brave seaman, +William Moulter, who said he would set them free or go to the bottom with them. He +wrenched away, with great difficulty, the bars of the prison. Immediately after the ship +went down, leaving nothing visible but the top-mast cross-trees. +</p> + +<p> +More than half an hour elapsed before the survivors were all picked up by the +boats. Amongst the drowned were Mr. Stewart, the midshipman, and three others of the +<name type="ship">Bounty’s</name> people, the whole of whom perished with the manacles on their hands. Thirty-one +of the ship’s company were lost. The four boat-loads which escaped had scarcely +any provisions on board, the allowance being two wine-glasses of water to each man, +and a very small quantity of bread, calculated for sixteen days. Their voyage of 1,000 +miles on the open ocean, and the sufferings endured, were similar to those experienced +by Bligh’s party, but not so severe. After staying at Coupang for about three weeks, +they left on a Dutch East Indiaman, which conveyed them to Samarang, and subsequently +Batavia, whence they proceeded to Europe. +</p> + +<p> +After an exhaustive court-martial had been held on the ten prisoners brought home by +Captain Edwards, three of the seamen were condemned and executed; Mr. Heywood, +the midshipman, the boatswain’s-mate, and the steward were sentenced to death, but +afterwards pardoned; four others were tried and acquitted. It will be remembered that +four others were drowned at the wreck. +</p> + +<p> +Twenty years had rolled away, and the mutiny of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name> was almost forgotten, +when Captain Folger, of the American ship <name type="ship">Topaz</name>, reported to Sir Sydney Smith, at +Valparaiso, that he had discovered the last of the survivors on Pitcairn Island. This fact +was transmitted to the Admiralty, and received on May 14th, 1809, but the troublous +times prevented any immediate investigation. In 1814, H.M.S. <name type="ship">Briton</name>, commanded by +Sir Thomas Staines, and the <name type="ship">Tagus</name>, Captain Pipon, were cruising in the Pacific, when +they fell in with the little known island of Pitcairn. He discovered not merely that it +was inhabited, but afterwards, to his great astonishment, that every individual on the +island spoke very good English. The little village was composed of neat huts, embowered +in luxuriant plantations. <q rend="post: none">Presently they observed a few natives coming down a steep +descent with their canoes on their shoulders, and in a few minutes perceived one of these +little vessels dashing through a heavy surf, and paddling off towards the ships; but their +astonishment was extreme when, on coming alongside, they were hailed in the English +language with <q>Won’t you heave us a rope now?</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The first young man that sprang with extraordinary alacrity up the side and stood +before them on the deck, said, in reply to the question, <q>Who are you?</q> that his name +was Thursday October Christian, son of the late Fletcher Christian, by an Otaheitan +mother; that he was the first born on the island, and that he was so called because he was +brought into the world on a Thursday in October. Singularly strange as all this was to +Sir Thomas Staines and Captain Pipon, this youth soon satisfied them that he was none +other than the person he represented himself to be, and that he was fully acquainted with +the whole history of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name>; and, in short, the island before them was the retreat +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/>of the mutineers of that ship. Young Christian was, at this time, about twenty-four +years of age, a fine tall youth, full six feet high, with dark, almost black hair, and a +countenance open and extremely interesting. As he wore no clothes, except a piece of +cloth round his loins, and a straw hat, ornamented with black cock’s feathers, his fine +figure, and well-shaped muscular limbs, were displayed to great advantage, and attracted +general admiration. * * * He told them that he was married to a woman much +older than himself, one of those that had accompanied his father from Otaheite. His +companion was a fine, handsome youth of seventeen or eighteen years of age, of the name +of George Young, the son of Young, the midshipman.</q> In the cabin, when invited to +refreshments, one of them astonished the captains by asking the blessing with much +appearance of devotion, <q>For what we are going to receive, the Lord make us truly +thankful.</q> The only surviving Englishman of the crew was John Adams, and when the +captains landed through the surf, with no worse result than a good wetting, the old man +came down to meet them. Both he and his aged wife were at first considerably alarmed +at seeing the king’s uniform, but was reassured when he was told that they had no +intention of disturbing him. Adams said that he had no great share in the mutiny, that +he was sick at the time, and was afterwards compelled to take a musket. He even +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/>expressed his willingness to go to England, but this was strongly opposed by his +daughter. <q>All the women burst into tears, and the young men stood motionless and +absorbed in grief; but on their being assured that he should on no account be +molested, it is impossible,</q> says Pipon, <q>to describe the universal joy that these poor +people manifested.</q> +</p><anchor id="fighms_brat"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: H.M.S. <q>BRITON,</q> AT PITCAIRN ISLAND.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_284.png" rend="w80"><head>H.M.S. <q>BRITON,</q> AT PITCAIRN ISLAND.</head> + <figDesc>H.M.S. <q>BRITON,</q> AT PITCAIRN ISLAND</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +When Christian had arrived at the island, he found no good anchorage, so he ran the +<name type="ship">Bounty</name> into a small creek against the cliff, in order to get out of her such articles as +might be of use. Having stripped her, he set fire to the hull, so that afterwards she +should not be seen by passing vessels, and his retreat discovered. It is pretty clear that +the misguided young man was never happy after the rash and mutinous step he had +taken, and he became sullen, morose, and tyrannical to his companions. He was at length +shot by an Otaheitan, and in a short time only two of the mutineers were left alive. +</p><anchor id="figpitcisla"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: PITCAIRN ISLAND.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_285.jpg" rend="w80"><head>PITCAIRN ISLAND.</head> + <figDesc>PITCAIRN ISLAND</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The colony at this time comprised forty-six persons, mostly grown-up young people, +all of prepossessing appearance. John Adams had made up for any share he may have +had in the revolt, by instructing them in religious and moral principles. The girls were +modest and bashful, with bright eyes, beautifully white teeth, and every indication of +health. They carried baskets of fruit over such roads and down such precipices as were +scarcely passable by any creatures except goats, and over which we could scarcely scramble +with the help of our hands. When Captain Beechey, in his well-known voyage of discovery +on the <name type="ship">Blossom</name>, called there in 1825, he found Adams, then in his sixty-fifth year, dressed +in a sailor’s shirt and trousers, and with all a sailor’s manners, doffing his hat and smoothing +down his bald forehead whenever he was addressed by the officers of the <name type="ship">Blossom</name>. Many +circumstances connected with the subsequent history of the happy little colony cannot +be detailed here. Suffice it to say that it still thrives, and is one of the most model +settlements of the whole world, although descended from a stock so bad. Of the nine +who landed on Pitcairn’s Island only two died a natural death. Of the original officers +and crew of the <name type="ship">Bounty</name> more than half perished in various untimely ways, the whole burden +of guilt resting on Christian and his fellow-conspirators. +</p> + +<p> +The mutiny just described sinks into insignificance before that which is about to be +recounted, the greatest mutiny of English history—that of the Nore. At that one point +no less than 40,000 men were concerned, while the disaffection spread to many other +stations, some of them far abroad. There can be little doubt that prior to 1797, the year +of the event, our sailors had laboured under many grievances, while the navy was full of +<q>pressed</q> men, a portion of whom were sure to retain a thorough dislike to the service, +although so many fought and died bravely for their country. Some of the grievances +which the navy suffered were probably the result of careless and negligent legislation, rather +than of deliberate injustice, but they were none the less galling on that account. The pay +of the sailor had remained unchanged from the reign of Charles II., although the prices of +the necessaries and common luxuries of life had greatly risen. His pension had also +remained at a stationary rate; that of the soldier had been augmented. On the score of +provisions he was worse off than an ordinary pauper. He was in the hands of the purser, +whose usual title at that time indicates his unpopularity: he was termed <q>Nipcheese.</q> +The provisions served were of the worst quality; fourteen instead of sixteen ounces went +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/>to the navy pound. The purser of those days was taken from an inferior class of men, and +often obtained his position by influence, rather than merit. He generally retired on a +competency after a life of deliberate dishonesty towards the defenders of his country, who, +had they received everything to which they were entitled, would not have been too well +treated, and, as it was, were cheated and robbed, without scruple and without limit. The +reader will recall the many naval novels, in which poor Jack’s daily allowance of grog was +curtailed by the purveyor’s thumb being put in the pannikin: this was the least of the +evils he suffered. In those war times the discipline of the service was specially rigid and +severe, and most of this was doubtless necessary. Men were not readily obtained in sufficient +numbers; consequently, when in harbour, leave ashore was very constantly refused, for fear +of desertions. These and a variety of other grievances, real or fancied, nearly upset the +equilibrium of our entire navy. It is not too much to say that not merely England’s +naval supremacy was for a time in the greatest jeopardy through the disaffection of the men, +but that our national existence, almost—and most certainly our existence as a first-class power—was +alarmingly threatened, the cause being nothing more nor less than a very general +spirit of mutiny. To do the sailors justice, they sought at first to obtain fair play by all +legitimate means in their power. It must be noted, also, that a large number of our best +officers knew that there was very general discontent. Furthermore, it was well known on +shore that numerous secret societies opposed to monarchy, and incited by the example of the +French Revolution, had been established. Here, again, the Government had made a fatal +mistake. Members of these societies had been convicted in numbers, and sent to sea as a +punishment. These men almost naturally became ringleaders and partakers in the mutiny, +which would, however, have occurred sooner or later, under any circumstances. In the case +of the mutiny at Spithead, about to be recounted, the sailors exhibited an organisation and +an amount of information which might have been expected from <q>sea-lawyers</q> rather +than ordinary Jack Tars; while in the more serious rebellion of the Nore, the co-operation +of other agents was established beyond doubt. +</p> + +<p> +The first step taken by the men was perfectly legitimate, and had it been met in a +proper spirit by the authorities, this history need never have been penned. At the end of +February, 1797, the crews of four line-of-battle ships at Spithead addressed separate petitions +to Lord Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, asking his kind interposition with +the Admiralty, to obtain from them a relief of their grievances, so that they might at +length be put on a similar footing to the army and militia, in respect both of their pay and +of the provision they might be enabled to make for their wives and families. Lord Howe, +being then in bad health, communicated the subject of their petitions to Lord Bridport and +Sir Peter Parker, the port admiral, who, with a want of foresight and disregard of their +country’s interest which cannot be excused, returned answer that <q>the petitions were the +work of some evil-disposed person or persons,</q> and took no trouble to investigate the +allegations contained in them. Lord Howe, therefore, did nothing; and the seamen, +finding their applications for redress not only disregarded, but treated with contempt, +determined to compel the authorities to give them that relief which they had before +submissively asked. +</p> + +<p> +In about six weeks they organised their plans with such secrecy that it was not till +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/>everything was arranged on a working basis that the first admiral, Lord Bridport, gained any +knowledge of the conspiracy going on around him. He communicated his suspicions to the +Lords of the Admiralty; and they, thinking a little active service would prove the best cure +for what they simply regarded as a momentary agitation, sent down orders for the Channel +Fleet to put to sea. The orders arrived at Portsmouth on April 15th, and in obedience to +them Lord Bridport signalled to the fleet to make the necessary preparations. As might almost +have been expected, it was the signal, likewise, for the outbreak of the mutiny. Not a +sailor bestirred himself; not a rope was bent; but, as if by common consent, the crews of +every vessel in the squadron manned the yards and rigging, and gave three cheers. They +then proceeded to take the command of each ship from the officers, and appointed delegates +from each vessel to conduct negotiations with the authorities of the Admiralty. No violence +nor force was used. The first-lieutenant of the <name type="ship">London</name>, ordered by Admiral Colpoys, one of +the best-hated officers of the service, shot one of the mutineers, but his death was not +avenged. They again forwarded their petition to the Admiralty, and its closing sentences +showed their temperance, and argued strongly in favour of their cause. They desired <q>to +convince the nation at large that they knew where to cease to ask, as well as where to +begin; and that they asked nothing but what was moderate, and might be granted without +detriment to the nation or injury to the service.</q> The Admiralty authorities, seeing that +with the great power in their hands they had acted peaceably, only abstaining from work, +yielded all the concessions asked; and a full pardon was granted in the king’s name to the +fleet in general, and to the ringleaders in particular. In a word, the mutiny ended for the +time being. +</p><anchor id="figmutiatpo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE MUTINY AT PORTSMOUTH.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_289.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE MUTINY AT PORTSMOUTH.</head> + <figDesc>THE MUTINY AT PORTSMOUTH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It was resumed on May 7th. As Parliament had delayed in passing the appropriations +for the increase of pay and pensions, the crews rose <hi rend='italic'>en masse</hi> and disarmed all their officers, +although still abstaining from actual violence. Lord Howe, always a popular officer with +the men, and their especial idol after his great victory of June 1st, 1794, was sent down by +the Cabinet with full power to ratify all the concessions which had been made, and to do +his best to convince the men that the Government had no desire of evading them. He +completely mollified the men, and even succeeded in exacting an expression of regret and +contrition for their outbreak. He assured them that their every grievance should be +considered, and a free pardon, as before, given to all concerned. The men again returned to +duty. The fleet at Plymouth, which had followed that of Portsmouth into the mutiny, did +the same; and thus, in a month from the first outbreak, as far as these two great fleets were +concerned, all disaffection, dissatisfaction, and discontent had passed away, through the tact +and judicious behaviour of Lord Howe. There can be no doubt that the tyranny of many of +the officers had a vast deal to do with the outbreak. In the list of officers whom the men +considered obnoxious, and that Lord Howe agreed should be removed, there were over one +hundred in one fleet of sixteen ships. +</p> + +<p> +Strange to say, the very same week in which the men of the Portsmouth fleet returned +to their duty, acknowledging all their grievances to be removed, the fleet at the Nore +arose in a violent state of mutiny, displaying very different attributes to those shown by +the former. Forty thousand men, who had fought many a battle for king and country, +and in steadfast reliance upon whose bravery the people rested every night in tranquillity, +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/>confident in their patriotism and loyalty, became irritated by ungrateful neglect on the +one part, and by seditious advisers on the other, and turned the guns which they had so +often fired in defence of the English flag against their own countrymen and their own homes. +</p> + +<p> +Richard Parker, the chief ringleader at the Nore, was a thoroughly bad man in +every respect, and one utterly unworthy the title of a British sailor, of which, indeed, he +had been more than once formally deprived. He was the son of an Exeter tradesman in +a fair way of business, had received a good education, and was possessed of decided +abilities. He was a remarkably bold and resolute man, or he would never have acquired +the hold he had for a time over so many brave sailors. He was unmistakably +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The leader of the band he had undone,</q></l> +<l>Who, born for better things, had madly set</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">His life upon a <hi rend='italic'>cast</hi>,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +and until overtaken by justice, he ruled with absolute sway. +</p> + +<p> +Parker had, eleven years previously, entered the navy as a midshipman on board +the <name type="ship">Culloden</name>, from which vessel he had been discharged for gross misconduct. A little +later, he obtained, however, a similar appointment on the <name type="ship">Leander</name> frigate, and was again +dismissed. We next find him passing through several ships in rotation, from which he +was invariably dismissed, no captain allowing him to remain when his true character +disclosed itself. It did not usually take long. At length he became mate of the <name type="ship">Resistance</name>, +on which vessel, shortly after joining, he was brought to a court-martial and <q>broke</q>—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, +his commission taken away—and declared incapable of serving again as an officer. +After serving a short time as a common sailor on board the <name type="ship">Hebe</name>, he was either invalided +or discharged, for we find him residing in Scotland; and as he could no more keep out +of trouble ashore than he could afloat, he was soon in Edinburgh gaol for debt. But +men were wanted for the navy, and he was eventually sent up to the fleet as one of the +quota of men required from Perth district. He received the parochial bounty of £30 +allowed to each man. He joined the <name type="ship">Sandwich</name>, the flag-ship of Admiral Buckner, +Commander-in-Chief at the Nore. The best authorities believe him to have been employed +as an emissary of the revolutionists, as, although he had only just been discharged from +gaol, he had abundance of money. His good address and general abilities, combined with +the liberality and conviviality he displayed, speedily obtained him an influence among +his messmates, which he used to the worst purpose. He had scarcely joined the fleet +when, aided by disaffected parties ashore, he began his machinations, and speedily seduced +the majority of the seamen from their duty. In some respects the men followed the +example of those at Portsmouth, selecting delegates and forwarding petitions, but in +other respects their conduct was disgracefully different. When mastery of the officers +had been effected, Parker became, in effect, Lord High Admiral, and committed any +number of excesses, even firing on those ships which had not followed the movement. +Officers were flogged, and on board the flag-ship, the vessel on which Parker remained, +many were half-drowned, as the following account, derived from an unimpeachable source,<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>The Annual Register</hi>, 1789. The account above presented is derived from that source, and from the +standard works of Yonge and James.</note> +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/>will show. Their hammocks were fastened to their backs, with an 18-pounder bar-shot +as a weight; their hands were tied together, likewise their feet. They were then made fast +to a tackle suspended from a yard-arm, and hauled up almost to the block; at the word +of command they were dropped suddenly in the sea, where they were allowed to remain a +minute. They were again hoisted up, and the process repeated, until about every sign of +life had fled. The unfortunate victims were then hoisted up by the heels; this was +considerately done to get rid of the water from their stomachs. They were then put +to bed in their wet hammocks. +</p><anchor id="figadmiduad"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ADMIRAL DUNCAN ADDRESSING HIS CREW.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_293.jpg" rend="w80"><head>ADMIRAL DUNCAN ADDRESSING HIS CREW.</head> + <figDesc>ADMIRAL DUNCAN ADDRESSING HIS CREW</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On June 6th the mutinous fleet was joined by the <name type="ship">Agamemnon</name>, <name type="ship">Leopard</name>, <name type="ship">Ardent</name>, +and <name type="ship">Iris</name> men-of-war, and the <name type="ship">Ranger</name> sloop, which vessels basely deserted from a squadron +under Admiral Duncan, sent to blockade the Texel. Shortly after, a number of vessels +of the line arrived at the mouth of the Thames, and still further augmented the ranks of +the mutineers. By this means eleven vessels were added to the list. Duncan, gallant old +salt as he was, when he found himself deserted by the greater part of his fleet, called his +own ship’s crew (the <name type="ship">Venerable</name>, 74) together, and addressed them in the following speech:— +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">My lads,—I once more call you together with a sorrowful heart, from what I have +lately seen of the dissatisfaction of the fleets: I call it dissatisfaction, for the crews have no +grievances. To be deserted by my fleet, in the face of an enemy, is a disgrace which, I +believe, never before happened to a British admiral, nor could I have supposed it possible. +My greatest comfort under God is, that I have been supported by the officers, seamen, and +marines of this ship; for which, with a heart overflowing with gratitude, I request you +to accept my sincere thanks. I flatter myself much good may result from your example, +by bringing these deluded people to a sense of their duty, which they owe, not only to +their king and country, but to themselves.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">The British Navy has ever been the support of that liberty which has been handed +down to us by our ancestors, and which I think we shall maintain to the latest posterity; +and that can only be done by unanimity and obedience. This ship’s company, and others +who have distinguished themselves by their loyalty and good order, deserve to be, and +doubtless will be, the favourites of a grateful country. They will also have, from their +inward feelings, a comfort which will be lasting, and not like the bloating and false +confidence of those who have swerved from their duty.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">It has often been my pride with you to look into the Texel, and see a foe which +dreaded coming out to meet us; my pride is now humbled indeed! my feelings are not +easily expressed! Our cup has overflowed and made us wanton. The all-wise Providence +has given us this check as a warning, and I hope we shall improve by it. On Him then +let us trust, where our only security may be found. I find there are many good men +amongst us; for my own part, I have had full confidence of all in this ship, and once +more beg to express my approbation of your conduct.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">May God, who has thus far conducted you, continue so to do; and may the British +Navy, the glory and support of our country, be restored to its wonted splendour, and be +not only the bulwark of Britain, but the terror of the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend="post: none">But this can only be effected by a strict adherence to our duty and obedience; and +let us pray that the Almighty God may keep us in the right way of thinking.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> + +<p> +<q>God bless you all!</q> +</p> + +<p> +At an address so unassuming and patriotic, the whole ship’s crew were dissolved +in tears, and one and all declared, with every expression of warmth they could use, their +determination to stay by the admiral in life or death. Their example was followed by +all the other ships left in the squadron, and the brave and excellent old admiral, notwithstanding +the defection of so many of his ships, repaired to his station, off the coast of +Holland, to watch the movements of the Dutch fleet. Here he employed a device to +hide the sparseness of his fleet by employing one of his frigates, comparatively close in +shore, to make signals constantly to himself and to the other vessels in the offing, +many of them imaginary, and give the enemy the impression that a large squadron was +outside. He had resolved, however, not to refuse battle, if the Dutch fleet should have +the courage to come out and offer it. +</p> + +<p> +But to return to the mutineers. The accession of the new vessels so elated Parker +that he gave way to the wildest fits of extravagance. He talked of taking the whole +fleet to sea, and selling it to our enemies. He tried to stop the navigation of the Thames, +declaring that he would force his way up to London, and bombard the city if the Government +did not accede to his terms. The alarm at these proceedings became general in the +metropolis, and the funds fell lower than ever known before or since in the financial +history of our country. An order was given to take up the buoys marking the channel +of the Thames, while the forts were heavily armed and garrisoned, so that should Parker +attempt his vainglorious threat, the fleet might be destroyed. The Government now +acted with more promptness and decision than they had previously displayed. Lord +Spencer, Lord Arden, and Admiral Young hastened to Sheerness, and held a board, at +which Parker and the other delegates attended, but the conduct of the mutineers was so +audacious that these Lords of the Admiralty returned to town without the slightest success. +The principal article of conflict on the part of the seamen’s delegates was the unequal +distribution of prize-money, for the omission of which matter in the recent demands, they +greatly upbraided their fellow-seamen at Portsmouth. Bills were immediately passed in +Parliament inflicting the heaviest penalties on those who aided or encouraged the +mutineers in any way, or even held intercourse with them, which speedily had the effect +of damping their ardour, and by the end of the first week in June the fire which Parker +had fanned into a serious conflagration, began to die out. The fleets at Portsmouth and +Plymouth disowned all fellowship with them, and the example of one or two ships, such +as the <name type="ship">Clyde</name>, which from the first had resisted Parker’s influence, commenced to be of +effect. The ringleader himself, seeing that his influence was waning, and knowing the +perilous position in which he had placed himself, tried to re-open negotiations with the +Admiralty, but his demands were too ridiculous to be considered; whereupon he hung +Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas in effigy at the yard-arm of the <name type="ship">Sandwich</name>. It is a curious fact, +showing that the crews were simply egged on by the ringleaders, and that there was +plenty of loyalty at bottom, that on June 4th, the king’s birthday, the whole fleet +insisted on firing a royal salute, displaying the colours as usual, and hauling down the +red flag during the ceremony. Mr. Parker, however, insisted that it should fly on the +flag-ship. +</p> + +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> + +<p> +On June 10th two of the ships, the <name type="ship">Leopard</name> and <name type="ship">Repulse</name>, hauled down the flag of +mutiny, and sailed into the Thames; their example was soon followed by others. Parker +and his cause were lost. +</p> + +<p> +On the evening of June 14th this miserable affair was at an end. The crew of the +<name type="ship">Sandwich</name>, Parker’s own ship, brought that vessel under the guns of the fort at Sheerness, +and handed him as a prisoner to the authorities. Sixteen days afterwards he was hanged. +His wife presented a petition to the queen in favour of her wretched husband, and is +stated to have offered a thousand guineas if his life could be spared. But he, of all men +who were ever hanged, deserved his fate, for he had placed the very kingdom itself in +peril. Other executions took place, but very few, considering the heinousness of the +crime committed. Still, the Government knew that the men had been in the larger +proportion of cases more sinned against than sinning; and when later, Duncan’s victory +over the Dutch fleet provided an occasion, an amnesty was published, and many who had +been confined in prison, some of them under sentence of death, were released. <hi rend='italic'>En passant</hi>, +it may be remarked that three marines were shot at Plymouth on July 6th of the same +year, for endeavouring to excite a mutiny in the corps, while another was sentenced to +receive a <hi rend='italic'>thousand</hi> lashes. +</p> + +<p> +The mutinous spirit evinced at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and the Nore spread, even to +foreign stations. Had it not been for Duncan’s manly and sensible appeal to his crew, +where there were some disaffected spirits, our naval supremacy might have been seriously +compromised as regards the Dutch. On board the Mediterranean Fleet, then lying off +the coast of Portugal, the mutineers had for a time their own way. The admiral +commanding, Lord St. Vincent, was, however, hardly the man to be daunted by any +number of evil-disposed fellows. He had only just before added to his laurels by another +victory over the enemies of his country. The ringleaders on board the flagship <name type="ship">St. George</name> +were immediately seized, brought to trial, and hanged the next day, although it was +Sunday, a most unusual time for an execution. Still further to increase the force of the +example, he departed from the usual custom of drawing men from different ships to assist +at the execution, and ordered that none but the crew of the <name type="ship">St. George</name> itself should +touch a rope. The brave old admiral, by his energy and promptitude, soon quieted every +symptom of disaffection. +</p><anchor id="figlordstvi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: LORD ST. VINCENT.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_297.png" rend="w80"><head>LORD ST. VINCENT.</head> + <figDesc>LORD ST. VINCENT</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The last of the mutinies broke out at the Cape of Good Hope, on October 9th of the +same year, when a band of mutineers seized the flagship of Admiral Pringle, and appointed +delegates in the same way as their shipmates at home, showing plainly how extended +was the discontent in the service, and how complete was the organisation of the insurgents. +Lord Macartney, who commanded at the Cape, was, however, master of the occasion. Of +the admiral the less said the better, as he showed the white feather, and was completely +non-plussed. Macartney manned the batteries with all the troops available, and ordered +red-hot shot to be prepared. He then informed the fleet that if the red flag was not at +once withdrawn, and a white one hoisted, he would open fire and blow up every ship +the crew of which held out. The admiral at the same time informed the delegates that +all the concessions they required had already been granted to the fleets at home, and of +course to them. In a quarter of an hour the red flag was hauled down, and a free pardon +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/>extended to the bulk of the offenders. The ringleaders were, however, hanged, and a few +others flogged. The mutinous spirit never re-asserted itself. +</p> + +<p> +Since that time, thank God! no British fleet has mutinied; and as at the present day +the sailors of the Royal Navy are better fed, paid, and cared for than they ever were +before, there is no fear of any recurrence of disaffection. One need only look at the +Jack Tar of the service, and compare him with the appearance of almost any sailor of any +merchant marine, to be convinced that his grievances to-day are of the lightest order. +The wrongs experienced by sailors in a part of the merchant service have been recently +remedied in part; but it is satisfactory to be able to add that there is every probability of +their condition being greatly improved in the future. On this point, however, we shall have +more to say in a later chapter. +</p> + +</div><div> +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +<index index="toc" level1="XV. The History of Ships and Shipping Interests"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XV. The History of Ships and Shipping Interests"/><anchor id="chap15"/> +<head>CHAPTER XV.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>The History of Ships and Shipping Interests.</hi></head> + +<argument><p> +The First Attempts to Float—Hollowed Logs and Rafts—The Ark and its Dimensions—Skin Floats and Basket-boats—Maritime +Commerce of Antiquity—Phœnician Enterprise—Did they Round the Cape?—The Ships of Tyre—Carthage—Hanno’s +Voyage to the West Coast of Africa—Egyptian Galleys—The Great Ships of the Ptolemies—Hiero’s +Floating Palace—The Romans—Their Repugnance to Seafaring Pursuits—Sea Battles with the Carthaginians—Cicero’s +Opinions on Commerce—Constantinople and its Commerce—Venice—Britain—The First Invasion under +Julius Cæsar—Benefits Accruing—The Danish Pirates—The London of the Period—The Father of the British Navy—Alfred +and his Victories—Canute’s Fleet—The Norman Invasion—The Crusades—Richard Cœur de Lion’s Fleet—The +Cinque Ports and their Privileges—Foundation of a Maritime Code—Letters of Marque—Opening of the Coal +Trade—Chaucer’s Description of the Sailors of his Time—A Glorious Period—The Victories at Harfleur—Henry V.’s +Fleet of 1,500 Vessels—The Channel Marauders—The King-Maker Pirate—Sir Andrew Wood’s Victory—Action with +Scotch Pirates—The <name type="ship" rend="italic">Great Michael</name> and the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Great Harry</name>—Queen Elizabeth’s Astuteness—The Nation never so well +Provided—<q>The Most Fortunate and Invincible Armada</q>—Its Size and Strength—Elizabeth’s Appeal to the Country—A +Noble Response—Effingham’s Appointment—The Armada’s First Disaster—Refitted, and Resails from Corunna—Chased +in the Rear—A Series of <hi rend='italic'>Contretemps</hi>—English Volunteer Ships in Numbers—The Fire-ships at Calais—The +Final Action—Flight of the Armada—Fate of Shipwrecked Spanish in Ireland—Total Loss to Spain—Rejoicings +and Thanksgivings in England. +</p></argument> + +<p> +It will not now be out of place to take a rapid survey of the progress of naval architecture, +from log and coracle to wooden walls and ironclads, noting rapidly the progressive steps +which led to the present epoch. +</p> + +<p> +It is only from the Scriptures, and from fragmentary allusions in the writings of +profane historians and poets, that we can derive any knowledge of the vessels employed by +the ancients. Doubtless our first parents noticed branches of trees or fragments of wood +floating upon the surface of that <q>river</q> which <q>went out of Eden to water the garden;</q> +and from this to the use of logs singly, or combined in rafts, or hollowed into canoes, +would be an easy transition. The first boat was probably a mere toy model; and, likely +enough, great was the surprise when it was discovered that its sides, though thin, would +support a considerable weight in the water. The first specimen of naval architecture of +which we have any description is unquestionably the ark, built by Noah. If the cubit +be taken as eighteen inches, she was 450 feet long, 75 in breadth, and 45 in depth, +whilst her tonnage, according to the present system of admeasurement, would be about +15,000 tons. It is more than probable that this huge vessel was, after all, little more +than a raft, or barge, with a stupenduous house reared over it, for it was constructed +merely for the purpose of floating, and needed no means of propulsion. She may have +been, comparatively speaking, slightly built in her lofty upper works, her carrying capacity +being thereby largely increased. Soon after the Flood, if not, indeed, before it, other +means of flotation must have suggested themselves, such as the inflated skins of animals; +these may be seen on the ancient monuments of Assyria, discovered by Layard, where +there are many representations of people crossing rivers by this means. Next came wicker-work +baskets of rushes or reeds, smeared with mud or pitch, similar to the ark in which +Moses was found. Mr. Layard found such boats in use on the Tigris; they were constructed +of twisted reeds made water-tight by bitumen, and were often large enough for four or five +persons. Pliny says, in his time, <q><hi rend='italic'>Even now</hi> in British waters, vessels of vine-twigs sewn +round with leather are used.</q> The words in italics might be used were Pliny writing to-day. +Basket-work coracles, covered with leather or prepared flannel, are still found in a few parts +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/>of Wales, where they are used for fording streams, or for fishing. Wooden canoes or boats, +whether hollowed from one log or constructed of many parts, came next. The paintings +and sculptures of Upper and Lower Egypt show regularly formed boats, made of sawn planks +of timber, carrying a number of rowers, and having sails. The Egyptians were averse to +seafaring pursuits, having extensive overland commerce with their neighbours. +</p> + +<p> +The Phœnicians were, past all cavil, the most distinguished navigators of the ancient +world, their capital, Tyre, being for centuries the centre of commerce, the <q>mart of nations.</q> +Strange to say, this country, whose inhabitants were the rulers of the sea in those times, was +a mere strip of land, whose average breadth never exceeded twelve miles, while its length was +only 225 miles from Aradus in the north to Joppa in the south. Forced by the unproductiveness +of the territory, and blessed with one or two excellent harbours, and an abundant +supply of wood from the mountains of Lebanon, the Phœnicians soon possessed a numerous +fleet, which not only monopolised the trade of the Mediterranean, but navigated Solomon’s +fleets to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, establishing colonies wherever they went. +Herodotus states that a Phœnician fleet, which was fitted out by Necho, King of Egypt, even +circumnavigated Africa, and gives details which seem to place it within the category of the +very greatest voyages. Starting from the Red Sea, they are stated to have passed Ophir, +generally supposed to mean part of the east coast of Africa, to have rounded the continent, +and, entering the Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules, our old friends the Rocks of +Gibraltar and Ceuta, to have reached Egypt in the third year of their voyage. Solomon, too, +dispatched a fleet of ships from the Red Sea to fetch gold from Ophir. Diodorus gives at +great length an account of the fleet said to be built by this people for the great Queen +Semiramis, with which she invaded India. Semiramis was long believed by many to be a +mythical personage; but Sir Henry Rawlinson’s interpretations of the Assyrian inscriptions +have placed the existence of this queen beyond all doubt. In the Assyrian hall of the British +Museum are two statues of the god Nebo, each of which bears a cuneiform inscription saying +that they were made for Queen Semiramis by a sculptor of Nineveh. The commerce of +Phœnicia must have been at its height when Nebuchadnezzar made his attack on Tyre. +Ezekiel gives a description of her power about the year <hi rend='small'>B.C.</hi> 588, when ruin was hovering +around her. <q>Tyre,</q> says the prophet, <q>was a merchant of the people for many isles.</q> +He states that her ship-boards were made of fir-trees of Senir; her masts of cedars from +Lebanon; her oars of the oaks of Bashan; and the benches of her galleys of ivory, brought +out of the isles of Chittim. +</p> + +<p> +To the Tyrians also is due the colonisation of other countries, which, following the +example of the mother-country, soon rivalled her in wealth and enterprise. The +principal of these was Carthage, which in its turn founded colonies of her own, one +of the first of which was Gades (Cadiz). From that port Hanno made his celebrated +voyage to the west coast of Africa, starting with sixty ships or galleys, of fifty oars +each. He is said to have founded six trading-posts or colonies. About the same +time Hamilco went on a voyage of discovery to the north-western shores of Europe, +where, according to a poem of Festus Avienus,<note place="foot">The curious in such matters will find this poem translated by Heeren in his work entitled <q>Asiatic +Nations.</q></note> he formed settlements in Britain and +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/>Ireland, and found tin and lead, and people who used boats of skin or leather. Aristotle +tells us that the Carthaginians were the first to increase the size of their galleys from +three to four banks of oars. +</p> + +<p> +Under the dynasty of the Ptolemies the maritime commerce of Egypt rapidly +improved. The first of these kings caused the erection of the celebrated Pharos or +lighthouse at Alexandria, in the upper storey of which were windows looking seaward, +and inside which fires were lighted by night to guide mariners to the harbour. Upon +its front was inscribed, <q>King Ptolemy to God the Saviour, for the benefit of +sailors.</q> His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, attempted to cut a canal a hundred +cubits in width between Arsinoe, on the Red Sea, not far from Suez, to the eastern +branch of the Nile. Enormous vessels were constructed at this time and during the +succeeding reigns. Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, is said to have owned five hundred +galleys and two thousand smaller vessels. Lucian speaks of a vessel that he saw in +Egypt that was one hundred and twenty cubits long. Another, constructed by +Ptolemy Philopator, is described by Calixenus, an Alexandrian historian, as two hundred +and eighty cubits, say 420 feet, in length. She is said to have had four rudders, +two heads, and two sterns, and to have been manned by 4,000 sailors (meaning +principally oarsmen) and 3,000 fighting-men. Calixenus also describes another built +during the dynasty of the Ptolemies, called the <name type="ship">Thalamegus</name>, or <q>carrier of the bed-chamber.</q> +This leviathan was 300 feet in length, and fitted up with every conceivable +kind of luxury and magnificence—with colonnades, marble staircases, and gardens; from +all which it is easy to infer that she was not intended for sea-going purposes, but +was probably an immense barge, forming a kind of summer palace, moored on the +Nile. Plutarch in speaking of her says that she was a mere matter of curiosity, for +she differed very little from an immovable building, and was calculated mainly for show, +as she could not be put in motion without great difficulty and danger. +</p> + +<p> +But the most prodigious vessel on the records of the ancients was built by order of +Hiero, the second Tyrant of Syracuse, under the superintendence of Archimedes, about 230 +years before Christ, the description of which would fill a small volume. Athenæus has +left a description of this vast floating fabric. There was, he states, as much timber +employed in her as would have served for the construction of fifty galleys. It had all +the varieties of apartments and conveniences necessary to a palace—such as banqueting-rooms, +baths, a library, a temple of Venus, gardens, fish-ponds, mills, and a spacious +gymnasium. The inlaying of the floors of the middle apartment represented in various +colours the stories of Homer’s <q>Iliad;</q> there were everywhere the most beautiful paintings, +and every embellishment and ornament that art could furnish were bestowed on the +ceilings, windows, and every part. The inside of the temple was inlaid with cypress-wood, +the statues were of ivory, and the floor was studded with precious stones. This vessel +had twenty benches of oars, and was encompassed by an iron rampart or battery; it +had also eight towers with walls and bulwarks, which were furnished with machines of +war, one of which was capable of throwing a stone of 300 pounds weight, or a dart of +twelve cubits long, to the distance of half a mile. To launch her, Archimedes invented +a screw of great power. She had four wooden and eight iron anchors; her mainmast, +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/>composed of a single tree, was procured after much trouble from distant inland mountains. +Hiero finding that he had no harbours in Sicily capable of containing her, and learning +that there was famine in Egypt, sent her loaded with corn to Alexandria. She bore an +inscription of which the following is part:—<q>Hiero, the son of Hierocles, the Dorian, +who wields the sceptre of Sicily, sends this vessel bearing in her the fruits of the earth. +Do thou, O Neptune, preserve in safety this ship over the blue waves.</q> +</p><anchor id="figfleeofro"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: FLEET OF ROMAN GALLEYS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_301.jpg" rend="w80"><head>FLEET OF ROMAN GALLEYS.</head> + <figDesc>FLEET OF ROMAN GALLEYS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Among the Grecian states Corinth stood high in naval matters. Her people were +expert ship-builders, and claimed the invention of the trireme, or galley with three tiers +of oars. Athens, with its three ports, also carried on for a long period a large trade +with Egypt, Palestine, and the countries bordering the Black Sea. The Romans had +little inclination at first for seamanship, but were forced into it by their rivals of +Carthage. It was as late as <hi rend='small'>B.C.</hi> 261 before they determined to build a war-fleet, and +had not a Carthaginian galley, grounded on the coast of Italy, been seized by them, they +would not have understood the proper construction of one. Previously they had nothing +much above large boats rudely built of planks. The noble Romans affected to despise +commerce at this period, and trusted to the Greek and other traders to supply their wants. +Quintus Claudius introduced a law, which passed, that no senator or father of one should +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/>own a vessel of a greater capacity than just sufficient to carry the produce of their own +lands to market. Hear the enlightened Cicero on the subject of commerce. He observes +that, <q><hi rend='italic'>Trade is mean if it has only a small profit for its object</hi>; but it is otherwise +if it has large dealings, bringing many sorts of merchandise from foreign parts, and +distributing them to the public without deceit; and if after a reasonable profit such +merchants are contented with the riches they have acquired, and purchasing land with +them retire into the country, and apply themselves to agriculture, I cannot perceive +wherein is the dishonour of that function.</q> Mariners were not esteemed by the Romans +until after the great battle of Actium, which threw the monopoly of the lucrative Indian +trade into their hands. Claudius, <hi rend='small'>A.D.</hi> 41, deepened the Tiber, and built the port +of Ostia; and about fifty years later Trajan constructed the ports of Civita Vecchia +and Ancona, where commerce flourished. The Roman fleets were often a source of +trouble to them. Carausius, who was really a Dutch soldier of fortune, about the year +280, seized upon the fleet he commanded, and crossed from Gessoriacum (Boulogne) +to Britain, where he proclaimed himself emperor. He held the reins of government +for seven years, and was at length murdered by his lieutenant. He was really the first +to create a British manned fleet. In the reign of Diocletian, the Veneti, on the coast of +Gaul, threw off the Roman yoke, and claimed tribute from all who appeared in their +seas. The same emperor founded Constantinople, erected later, under Constantine, into +the seat of government. This city seemed to be destined by nature as a great commercial +centre; caravans placed it in direct communication with the East, and it was really the +entrepôt of the world till its capture by the Venetians, in 1204. That independent +republic had been then in a flourishing condition for over two hundred years, and for +more than as many after, its people were the greatest traders of the world. It was at +Venice in 1202 that some of the leading pilgrims assembled to negotiate for a fleet to +be used in the fourth crusade. The crusaders agreed to pay the Venetians before sailing +eighty-four thousand marks of silver, and to share with them all the booty taken by land +or sea. The republic undertook to supply flat-bottomed vessels enough to convey four +thousand five hundred knights, and twenty thousand soldiers, provisions for nine months, +and a fleet of galleys. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Surrounded by the silver streak,</q> our hardy forefathers often crossed to Ireland and +France, prior to the first invasion of Britain by Julius Cæsar, <hi rend='small'>B.C.</hi> 55, when he sailed +from Boulogne with eighty vessels and 8,000 men, and with eighteen transports to carry +800 horses for the cavalry. In the second invasion he employed a fleet of 600 boats and +twenty-five war-galleys, having with him five legions of infantry and 2,000 cavalry, a +formidable army for the poor islanders to contend against. But their intercourse with +the Romans speedily brought about commercial relations of importance. The pearl fisheries +were then most profitable, while the <q>native</q> oyster was greatly esteemed by the Roman +epicures, of whom Juvenal speaks in his fourth satire. He says they +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Could at one bite the oyster’s taste decide,</q></l> +<l>And say if at Circean rocks, or in</l> +<l>The Lucrine Lake, or on the coast of Richborough,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">In Britain they were bred.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> + +<p> +British oysters were exported to Rome, as American oysters are now-a-days to England. +Martial also mentions another trade in one of his epigrams, that of basket-making— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Work of barbaric art, a basket, I</q></l> +<l>From painted Britain came; but the Roman city</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Now calls the painted Briton’s art their own.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The smaller description of boats, other than galleys, employed by the Romans for +transporting their troops and supplies, were the <hi rend='italic'>kiulæ</hi>, called by the Saxons <hi rend='italic'>ceol</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>ciol</hi>, +which name has come down to us in the form of <hi rend='italic'>keel</hi>, and is still applied to a description +of barge used in the north of England. Thus +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>Weel may the keel row,</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +says the song, and on the <q>coaly Tyne,</q> a small barge carrying twenty-one tons four +hundredweight is said to carry a <q>keel</q> of coals. The Romans must also have possessed +large transport vessels, for within seventy or eighty years after they had gained a secure +footing in this country, they received a reinforcement of 5,000 men in seventeen ships, +or about 300 men, besides stores, to each vessel. +</p> + +<p> +Bede places the final departure of the Romans from Britain in <hi rend='small'>A.D.</hi> 409, or just +before the siege of Rome by Attila. Our ancestors were now rather worse off than +before, for they were left a prey to the Vikings—those bold, hardy, unscrupulous +Scandinavian seamen of the north, who began to make piratical visits for the sake of +plunder to the coasts of Scotland and England. They found their way to the Mediterranean, +and were known and feared in every port from Iceland to Constantinople. Their galleys +were propelled mainly by means of oars, but they had also small square sails to get +help from a stern wind, and as they often sailed straight across the stormy northern +seas, it is probable that they had made considerable progress in the rigging and +handling of their ships. A plank-built boat was discovered a few years since in Denmark, +which the antiquaries assign to the fifth century. It is a row-boat, measuring seventy-seven +feet from stem to stern, and proportionately broad in the middle. The construction +shows that there was an abundance of material and skilled labour. It is alike at bow +and stern, and the thirty rowlocks are reversible, so as to permit the boat to be +navigated with either end forward. The vessel is built of heavy planks overlapping each +other from the gunwale to the keel, and cut thick at the point of juncture, so that they +may be mortised into the cross-beams and gunwale, instead of being merely nailed. +Very similar boats, light, swift, and strong, are still used in the Shetlands and +Norway. +</p> + +<p> +Little is known of the state of England from the departure of the Romans to the +eighth century. The doubtful and traditionary landing of Hengist and Horsa with 1,500 +men, <q>in three long ships,</q> is hardly worth discussing here. The Venerable Bede, who +wrote about <hi rend='small'>A.D.</hi> 750, speaks of London as <q>the mart of many nations, resorting to it +by sea and land;</q> and he continues that <q>King Ethelbert built the church of St. Paul +in the city of London, where he and his successors should have their episcopal see.</q> +But the history of this period generally is in a hopeless fog. Still we know that London +was now a thriving port. Cæsar, in his <q>Commentaries</q> distinctly states that his reason +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/>for attempting the conquest of England was on account of the vast supplies which his +Gaulish enemies received from us, in the way of trade. The exports were principally +cattle, hides, corn, dogs, and <hi rend='italic'>slaves</hi>, the latter an important item. Strabo observes that +<q>our internal parts at that time were on a level with the African slave coasts.</q> <q>Britons +never shall be slaves</q> could not therefore have been said in those days. London, long +prior to the invasion of England by the Romans, was an existing city, and vessels paid +dues at Billingsgate long before the establishment of any custom-house. Pennant tells +us, in his famous work on London, <q>As early as 979, all the reign of Ethelred, a small +vessel was to pay <hi rend='italic'>ad Bilynggesgate</hi> one halfpenny as a toll; a greater, bearing sails, one +penny; a keel or hulk (<hi rend='italic'>ceol vel hulcus</hi>), fourpence; a ship laden with wood, one piece +for toll; and a boat with fish, one halfpenny; or a larger, one penny. We had even +now trade with France for its wines, for mention is made of ships from Rouen, who +came here and landed them, and freed them from toll—<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi>, paid their duties. What +they amounted to I cannot learn.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Danes, having once a foot-hold, were never thoroughly expelled till the Norman +conquest, and as a maritime race excelled all the nations of the north of Europe. They +had two principal classes of vessels, the <hi rend='italic'>Drakers</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Holkers</hi>, the former named from carrying +a dragon on the bows, and bearing the Danish flag of the raven. The holker was at first +a small boat, hollowed out of the trunk of a tree, but the word <q>hulk,</q> evidently derived +from it, was used afterwards for vessels of larger dimensions. They had also another +vessel called a <hi rend='italic'>Snekkar</hi> (serpent), strangely so named, for it was rather a short, stumpy +kind of boat, not unlike the Dutch galliots of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. +Their piratical expeditions soon increased, and Wales and the island of Anglesey were +frequently pillaged by them, while in Ireland they possessed the ports of Dublin, +Waterford, and Cork, a Danish king reigning in the two first cities. But a king was +to arise who would change all this—Alfred the Great and Good, the <q>Father of the British +Navy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On the accession of Alfred the Great to the throne, he found England so over-run by +the Danes, that he had, as every school-boy knows, to conceal himself with a few faithful +followers in the forests. In his retirement he busied himself in devising schemes for +ridding his country of the pirate marauders; and without much deliberation he saw that he +must first have a maritime force of his own, and meet the enemies of England on the sea, +which they considered their own especial element. He set himself busily to study the +models of the Danish ships, and, aided by his hardy followers, stirred up a spirit of +maritime ambition, which had not existed to any great extent before. At the end of +four years of unremitting labour in the prosecution of his schemes, he possessed the nucleus +of a fleet in six galleys, which were double the length of any possessed by his adversaries, +and which carried sixty oars, and possessed ample space for the fighting men on board. +With this fleet he put to sea, taking the command in person, and routed a marauding +expedition of the Danes, then about to make a descent on the coast. The force was larger +than his own; but he succeeded in capturing one and in driving off the rest. In the +course of the next year or two he captured or sunk eighteen of the enemy’s galleys, and +they found at last that they could not have it all their own way on the sea. About this +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/>time the cares of government occupied necessarily much of his time: his astute policy +was to win over a number of the more friendly Danes to his cause, by giving them grants +of land, and obliging them in return to assist in driving off aggressors. He was nearly +the first native of England who made any efforts to extend the study of geography. +According to the Saxon chronicler, Florence of Worcester, <hi rend='small'>A.D.</hi> 897, he consulted Ohther, +a learned Norwegian, and other authorities, from whom he obtained much information +respecting the northern seas. Ohther had not only coasted along the shores of Norway, +but had rounded the North Cape—it was a feat in those days, gentle reader, but now +Cook’s tourists do it—and had reached the bay in which Archangel is situated. The +ancient geographer gave Alfred vivid descriptions of the gigantic whales, and of the +innumerable seals he had observed, not forgetting the terrible mäelstrom, the dangers +of which he did not under-rate, and which it was generally believed in those days was +caused by a horribly vicious old sea-dragon, who sucked the vessels under. He compared +the natives to the Scythians of old, and was rather severe on them, as they brewed no +ale, the poor drinking honey-mead in its stead, and the rich a liquor distilled from goats’ +milk. Alfred not merely sent vessels to the north on voyages of discovery, but opened +communication with the Mediterranean, his galleys penetrating to the extreme east of +the Levant, whereby he was enabled to carry on a direct trade with India. William of +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/>Malmesbury mentions the silks, shawls, incense, spices, and aromatic gums which Alfred +received from the Malabar coast in return for presents sent to the Nestorian Christians. +Alfred constantly and steadily encouraged the science of navigation, and certainly earned +the right of the proud title he has borne since of <q>Father of the British Navy.</q> +</p><anchor id="figapprofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: APPROACH OF THE DANISH FLEET.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_305.png" rend="w80"><head>APPROACH OF THE DANISH FLEET.</head> + <figDesc>APPROACH OF THE DANISH FLEET</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Time passes and we come to Canute. On his accession to the throne as the son of +a Danish conqueror, he practically put an end to the incursions and attacks of the +northern pirates. The influence of his name was so great that he found it unnecessary +to maintain more than forty ships at sea, and the number was subsequently reduced. +So far from entertaining any fear of revolt from the English, or of any raid on his +shores, he made frequent voyages to the Continent as well as to the north. He once +proceeded as far as Rome, where he met the Emperor Conrad. II., from whom he +obtained for all his subjects, whether merchants or pilgrims, complete exemption from the +heavy tolls usually exacted on their former visits to that city. Canute was a cosmopolitan. +By his conquest of Norway, not merely did he represent the English whom he had +subjugated, and who had become attached to him, but the Danes, their constant and +inveterate foes and rivals. He thus united under one sovereignty the principal maritime +nations of the north. +</p> + +<p> +And still the writer exerts the privilege conceded to all who wield the pen, of +passing quickly over the pages of history. <q>The stories,</q> says a writer<note place="foot">(The late) W. S. Lindsay, M.P., &c., <q>The History of Merchant Shipping.</q></note> who made +maritime subjects a peculiar study, <q>as to the number of vessels under the order of the +Conqueror on his memorable expedition are very conflicting. Some writers have asserted +that the total number amounted to no less than 3,000, of which six or seven hundred +were of a superior order, the remainder consisting of boats temporarily built, and of the +most fragile description. Others place the whole fleet at not more than 800 vessels of all +sizes, and this number is more likely to be nearest the truth. There are now no means +of ascertaining their size, but their form may be conjectured from the representation of +these vessels on the rolls of the famous Bayeux tapestry. It is said that when William +meditated his descent on England he ordered <q>large ships</q> to be constructed for that +purpose at his seaports, collecting, wherever these could be found, smaller vessels or boats, +to accompany them. But even the largest must have been of little value, as the whole +fleet were by his orders burned and destroyed, as soon as he landed with his army, so as +to cut off all retreat, and to save the expense of their maintenance.</q> This would indicate +that the sailors had to fight ashore, and may possibly have been intended to spur on his +army to victory. Freeman states, in his <q>History of the Norman Conquest,</q> that he finds +the largest number of ships in the Conqueror’s expedition, as compiled from the most +reliable authorities, was 3,000, but some accounts put it as low as 693. Most of the ships +were presents from the prelates or great barons. William FitzOsborn gave 60, the Count +de Mortaine, 120; the Bishop of Bayeux, 100; and the finest of all, that in which +William himself embarked, was presented to him by his own duchess, Matilda, and named +the <name type="ship">Mora</name>. Norman writers of the time state that the vessels were not much to boast of, +as they were all collected between the beginning of January and the end of August, 1066. +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/>Lindsay, who thoroughly investigated the subject, says that <q>The Norman merchant +vessels or transports were in length about three times their breadth, and were sometimes +propelled by oars, but generally by sails; their galleys appear to have been of two +sorts—the larger, occasionally called galleons, carrying in some instances sixty men, +well armed with iron armour, besides their oars. The smaller galleys, which are not +specially described, doubtless resembled ships’ launches in size, but of a form enabling +them to be propelled at a considerable rate of speed.</q> Boats covered with leather +were even employed on the perilous Channel voyage. +</p><anchor id="figshipofwi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SHIPS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. (<hi rend='italic'>From the Bayeux Tapestry.</hi>)]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_308.png" rend="w80"><head>SHIPS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. (<hi rend='italic'>From the Bayeux Tapestry.</hi>)</head> + <figDesc>SHIPS OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The Conqueror soon added to the security of the country by the establishment of +the Cinque Ports, which, as their title denotes, were at first five, but were afterwards +increased in number so as to include the following seaports:—Dover, Sandwich, Hythe, +and Romsey, in Kent; and Rye, Winchelsea, Hastings, and Seaford, in Sussex. On +their first establishment they were to provide fifty-two ships, with twenty-four men on +each, for fifteen days each year, in case of emergency. In return they had many +privileges, a part of which are enjoyed by them to-day. Their freemen were styled +barons; each of the ports returned two members of Parliament. An officer was +appointed over them, who was <q>Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports,</q> and also Constable +of Dover Castle. +</p> + +<p> +<q>For more than a hundred years after the Conquest,</q> says the writer just +quoted, <q>England’s ships had rarely ventured beyond the Bay of Biscay on the one +hand, and the entrance to the Baltic on the other; and there is no special record of +long voyages by English ships until the time of the Crusades; which, whatever they +might have done for the cause of the Cross, undoubtedly gave the first impetus to +the shipping of the country. The number of rich and powerful princes and nobles +who embarked their fortunes in these extraordinary expeditions offered the chance of +lucrative employment to any nation which could supply the requisite amount of tonnage, +and English shipowners very naturally made great exertions to reap a share of the +gains.</q> One of the first English noblemen who fitted out an expedition to the Holy +Land was the Earl of Essex; and twelve years afterwards, Richard Cœur de Lion, on +ascending the throne, made vast levies on the people for the same object, joining +Philip II. and other princes for the purpose of raising the Cross above the Crescent. +Towards the close of 1189 two fleets had been collected, one at Dover, to convey +Richard and his followers (among whom were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the +Bishop of Salisbury, and the Lord Chief Justice of England) across the Channel, and +a second and still larger fleet at Dartmouth, composed of numbers of vessels from +Aquitaine, Brittany, Normandy, and Poitou, for the conveyance of the great bulk of +the Crusaders, to join Richard at Marseilles, whither he had gone overland with the +French king and his other allies. The Dartmouth fleet, under the command of Richard +de Camville and Robert de Sabloil, set sail about the end of April, 1190. It had a +disastrous voyage, but at length reached Lisbon, where the Crusaders behaved so badly, +and committed so many outrages, that 700 were locked up. After some delay, they +sailed up the Mediterranean, reaching Marseilles, where they had to stop some time +to repair their unseaworthy ships, and then followed the king to the Straits of +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/>Messina, where the fleets combined. It was not till seven months later that the fleet +got under weigh for the Holy Land. It numbered 100 ships of larger kind, and +fourteen smaller vessels called <q>busses.</q> Each of the former carried, besides her crew +of fifteen sailors, forty soldiers, forty horses, and provisions for a twelvemonth. Vinisauf, +who makes the fleet much larger, mentions that it proceeded in the following order:—three +large ships formed the van; the second line consisted of thirteen vessels, the +lines expanding to the seventh, which consisted of sixty vessels, and immediately +preceded the king and his ships. On their way they fell in with a very large ship +belonging to the Saracens, manned by 1,500 men, and after a desperate engagement +took her. Richard ordered that all but 200 of those not killed in the action should +be thrown overboard, and thus 1,300 infidels were sacrificed at one blow. Off Etna, +Sicily, they experienced a terrific gale, and the crew got <q>sea-sick and frightened;</q> +and off the island of Cyprus they were assailed by another storm, in which three +ships were lost, and the Vice-Chancellor of England was drowned, his body being +washed ashore with the Great Seal of England hanging round his neck. Richard did +not return to England till after the capture of Acre, and the truce with Saladin; he +landed at Sandwich, as nearly as may be, four years from the date of his start. As +this is neither a history of England, nor of the Crusades, excepting only as either are +connected with the sea, we must pass on to a subject of some importance, which was +the direct result of experience gained at this period. +</p><anchor id="figcrusansa"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: CRUSADERS AND SARACENS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_309.jpg" rend="w80"><head>CRUSADERS AND SARACENS.</head> + <figDesc>CRUSADERS AND SARACENS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The foundation of a maritime code, by an ordinance of Richard Cœur de Lion, a +most important step in the history of merchant shipping, was due to the knowledge +acquired by English pilgrims, traders, and seamen at the time of the Crusades. The +first code was founded on a similar set of rules then existing in France, known as the +<hi rend='italic'>Rôles d’Oleron</hi>, and some of the articles show how loose had been the conditions of the +sailor’s life previously. The first article gave a master power to pledge the tackle of a +ship, if in want of provisions for the crew, but forbad the sale of the hull without the +owner’s permission. The captain’s position, as lord paramount on board, was defined; no +one, not even part-owners or super-cargoes, must interfere; he was expected to understand +thoroughly the art of navigation. The second article declared that if a vessel was held +in port through failure of wind or stress of weather, the ship’s company should be guided +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/>as to the best course to adopt by the opinion of the majority. Two succeeding articles +related to wrecks and salvage. The fifth article provided that no sailor in port should +leave the vessel without the master’s consent; if he did so, and any harm resulted to the +ship or cargo, he should be punished with a year’s imprisonment, on bread and water. +He might also be flogged. If he deserted altogether and was retaken, he might be +branded on the face with a red-hot iron, although allowance was made for such as ran +away from their ships through ill-usage. Sailors could also be compensated for unjust +discharge without cause. Succeeding clauses refer to the moral conduct of the sailor, +forbidding drunkenness, fighting, &c. Article 12 provided that if any mariner should +give the lie to another at a table where there was wine and bread, he should be fined +four <hi rend='italic'>deniers</hi>; and the master himself offending in the same way should be liable to a +double fine. If any sailor should impudently contradict the mate, he might be fined +eight <hi rend='italic'>deniers</hi>; and if the master struck him with his fist or open hand he was required +to bear the stroke, but if struck more than once he was entitled to defend himself. If +the sailor committed the first assault he was to be fined 100 <hi rend='italic'>sous</hi>, or else his hand was +to be chopped off. The master was required by another rule not to give his crew cause +for mutiny, nor call them names, nor wrong them, nor <q>keep anything from them that +is theirs, but to use them well, and pay them honestly what is their due.</q> Another +clause provided that the sailor might always have the option of going on shares or wages, +and the master was to put the matter fairly before them. The 17th clause related to +food. The hardy sailors of Brittany were to have only one meal a day from the kitchen, +while the lucky ones of Normandy were to have two. When the ship arrived at a +wine country the master was bound to provide the crew with wine. Sailors were elsewhere +forbidden to take <q>royal</q> fish, such as the sturgeon, salmon, turbot, and sea-barbel, +or to take on their own account fish which yield oil. These are a part only of the clauses; +many others referring to matters connected with rigging, masts, anchorages, pilotage, and +other technical points. In bad pilotage the navigator who brought mishap on the ship +was liable to lose his head. The general tenor of the first code is excellent, and the rules +were laid down with an evident spirit of fairness alike to the owner and sailor. +</p> + +<p> +The subject of <q>Letters of Marque</q> might occupy an entire volume, and will recur +again in these pages; They were in reality nothing more than privileges granted for +purposes of retaliation-legalised piracy. They were first issued by Edward I., and the +very first related to an outrage committed by Portuguese on an English subject. A +merchant of Bayonne, at the time a port belonging to England, in Gascony, had shipped +a cargo of fruit from Malaga, which, on its voyage along the coast of Portugal, was +seized and carried into Lisbon by an armed cruiser belonging to that country, then at +peace with England. The King of Portugal, who had received one-tenth part of the +cargo, declined to restore the ship or lading, whereupon the owner and his heirs received a +licence, to remain in force five years, to seize the property of the Portuguese, and especially +that of the inhabitants of Lisbon, to the extent of the loss sustained, the expenses of recovery +being allowed. How far the merchant of Bayonne recouped himself, history sayeth not. +</p> + +<p> +A little later a most important mercantile trade came into existence—that in coal. +From archæological remains and discoveries it is certain that the Romans excavated coal +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/>during their reign on this island; but it was not till the reign of Edward III. that the +first opening of the great Newcastle coal-fields took place, although as early as 1253 +there was a lane at the back of Newgate called <q>Sea-coal Lane.</q> As in many other +instances, even in our own days, the value of the discovery seems to have been more +appreciated by foreigners than by the people of this country, and for a considerable time +after it had been found, the combustion of coal was considered to be so unhealthy that a royal +edict forbad its use in the city of London, while the queen resided there, in case it might +prove <q>pernicious to her health.</q> At the same time, while England laid her veto on the +use of that very article which has since made her, or helped to make her, the most +famous commercial nation of the world, France sent her ships laden with corn to +Newcastle, carrying back coal in return, her merchants being the first to supply this +new great article of commerce to foreign countries. In the reign of Henry V. the trade +had become of such importance that a special Act was passed providing for the admeasurement +of ships and barges employed in the coal trade. +</p> + +<p> +King John stoutly claimed for England the sovereignty of the sea—he was not +always so firm and decided—and decreed that all foreign ships, the masters of which +should refuse to strike their colours to the British flag, should be seized and deemed +good and lawful prizes. This monarch is stated to have fitted out no less than 500 +ships, under the Earl of Salisbury, in the year 1213, against a fleet of ships three +times that number, organised by Philip of France, for the invasion of England. After +a stubborn battle, the English were successful, taking 300 sail, and driving more than +100 ashore, Philip being under the necessity of destroying the remainder to prevent +them falling into the hands of their enemies. Some notion may be gained of the +kinds of ships of which these fleets were composed, by the account that is narrated of +an action fought in the following reign with the French, who, with eighty <q>stout ships,</q> +threatened the coast of Kent. This fleet being discovered by Hubert de Burgh, governor +of Dover Castle, he put to sea with half the number of English vessels, and having got +to the windward of the enemy, and run down many of the smaller ships, he closed with +the rest, and threw on board them a quantity of quick-lime—a novel expedient in warfare—which +so blinded the crews that their vessels were either captured or sunk. The dominion +of the sea was bravely maintained by our Edwards and Henrys in many glorious sea-fights. +The temper of the times is strongly exemplified by the following circumstance. +In the reign of Edward I. an English sailor was killed in a Norman port, in consequence +of which war was declared by England against France, and the two nations agreed to +decide the dispute on a certain day, with the whole of their respective naval forces. The +spot of battle was to be the middle of the Channel, marked out by anchoring there an +empty ship. This strange duel of nations actually took place, for the two fleets met on +April 14th, 1293, when the English obtained the victory, and carried off in triumph 250 +vessels from the enemy. In an action off the harbour of Sluys with the French fleet, +Edward III. is said to have slain 30,000 of the enemy, and to have taken 200 large ships, +<q>in one of which only, there were 400 dead bodies.</q> The same monarch, at the siege of +Calais, is stated to have blockaded that port with 730 sail, having on board 14,956 +mariners. The size of the vessels employed must have been rapidly enlarging. +</p> +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/><anchor id="figduelbefr"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: DUEL BETWEEN FRENCH AND ENGLISH SHIPS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_312.png" rend="w80"><head>DUEL BETWEEN FRENCH AND ENGLISH SHIPS.</head> + <figDesc>DUEL BETWEEN FRENCH AND ENGLISH SHIPS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Chaucer gives us a graphic description of the British sailor of the fourteenth century +in his Prologue to the <q>Canterbury Tales,</q> It runs as follows:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">A schipman was ther, wonyng fer by Weste:</q></l> +<l>For ought I woot, he was of Dertemouthe,</l> +<l>He rood upon a rouncy, as he couthe,</l> +<l>In a goun of faldying to the kne.</l> +<l>A dagger hangyng on a laas hadde he</l> +<l>Aboute his nekke under his arm adoun.</l> +<l>The hoote somer had maad his hew al broun;</l> +<l>And certainly he was a good felawe.</l> +<l>Ful many a draught of wyn had he drawe</l> +<l>From Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapman sleep.</l> +<l>Of nyce conscience took he no keep.</l> +<l>If that he foughte, and hadde the heigher hand,</l> +<l>By water he sent hem hoom to every land.</l> +<l>But of his craft to rikne wel the tydes,</l> +<l>His stremes and his dangers him bisides,</l> +<l>His herbergh and his mane his lode menage,</l> +<l>Ther was non such from Hulle to Cartage.</l> +<l>Hardy he was, and wys to undertake;</l> +<l>With many a tempest hadde his berd ben schake.</l> +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/><l>He knew well alle the havens, as thei were,</l> +<l>From Scotland to the Cape of Fynestere,</l> +<l>And every cryk in Bretayne and in Spayne,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">His barge y-cleped was the <name type="ship">Magdelayne</name>.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +In the reign of Henry V., the most glorious period up to that time of the +British Navy, the French lost nearly all their navy to us at various times; among +other victories, Henry Page, Admiral of the Cinque Ports, captured 120 merchantmen +forming the Rochelle fleet, and all richly laden. Towards the close of this reign, about +the year 1416, England formally claimed the dominion of the sea, and a Parliamentary +document recorded the fact. <q>It was never absolute,</q> says Sir Walter Raleigh, <q>until +the time of Henry VIII.</q> That great voyager and statesman adds that, <q>Whoever +commands the sea, commands the trade of the world; whosoever commands the trade, +commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A curious poem is included in the first volume of Hakluyt’s famous collection of +voyages, bearing reference to the navy of Henry. It is entitled, <q>The English Policie, +exhorting all England to keep the Sea,</q> &c. It was written apparently about the year +1435. It is a long poem, and the following is an extract merely:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">And if I should conclude all by the King,</q></l> +<l>Henrie the Fift, what was his purposing,</l> +<l>Whan at Hampton he made the great <hi rend='italic'>dromons</hi>,</l> +<l>Which passed other great ships of the Commons;</l> +<l>The <name type="ship">Trinitie</name>, the <name type="ship">Grace de Dieu</name>, the <name type="ship">Holy Ghost</name>,</l> +<l>And other moe, which as nowe be lost.</l> +<l>What hope ye was the king’s great intente</l> +<l>Of thoo shippes, and what in mind be meant:</l> +<l>It is not ellis, but that <hi rend='italic'>he cast to bee</hi></l> +<l>Lord round about environ of the see.</l> +<l>And if he had to this time lived here,</l> +<l>He had been Prince named withouten pere:</l> +<l>His great ships should have been put in preefes,</l> +<l>Unto the ende that he ment of in chiefes.</l> +<l>For doubt it not but that he would have bee</l> +<l>Lord and Master about the rand see:</l> +<l>And kept it sure, to stoppe our ennemies hence,</l> +<l>And wonne us good, and wisely brought it thence,</l> +<l>That our passage should be without danger,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">And his license on see to move and sterre.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +When the king had determined, in 1415, to land an army in France, he hired ships +from Holland, Zeeland, and Friesland, his own naval means not being sufficient for the +transport; among his other preparations, <q>requisite for so high an enterprise,</q> boats +covered with leather, for the passage of rivers, are mentioned. His fleet consisted of +1,000 sail, and it left Southampton on Sunday, the 11th of August, of the above-mentioned +year. When the ships had passed the Isle of Wight, <q>swans were seen swimming in +the midst of the fleet, which was hailed as a happy auspice.</q> Henry anchored on the +following Tuesday at the mouth of the Seine, about three miles from Harfleur. A council +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/>of the captains was summoned, and an order issued that no one, under pain of death, +should land before the king, but that all should be in readiness to go ashore the next +morning. This was done, and the bulk of the army, stated to have comprised 24,000 +archers, and 6,000 men of arms, was landed in small vessels, boats, and skiffs, taking +up a position on the hill nearest to Harfleur. The moment Henry landed he fell on his +knees and implored the Divine aid and protection to lead him on to victory, then conferring +knighthood on many of his followers. At the entrance of the port a chain had been +stretched between two large, well-armed towers, while it was farther protected by stakes +and trunks of trees to prevent the vessels from approaching. During the siege, which +lasted thirty-six days, the fleet blockaded the port, and at its conclusion Henry, flushed +with a victory, which is said to have cost the English only 1,600 and the enemy 10,000 +lives, determined to march his army through France to Calais. It was on this march +that he won the glorious battle of Agincourt. On the 16th of November he embarked +for Dover, reaching that port the same day. Here a magnificent ovation awaited him. +The burgesses rushed into the sea and bore him ashore on their shoulders; the whole +population was intoxicated with delight. One chronicler states that +the passage across had been extremely boisterous, and that the +French noblemen suffered so much from sea-sickness that they +considered the trip worse than the very battles themselves in +which they had been taken prisoners! When Henry arrived near +London, a great concourse of people met him at Blackheath, and +he, <q>as one remembering from whom all victories are sent,</q> would +not allow his helmet to be carried before him, whereon the people +might have seen the blows and dents that he had received; <q>neither +would he suffer any ditties to be made and sung by minstrels +of his glorious victory, for that he would have the praise and +thanks altogether given to God.</q> +</p><anchor id="figreveofth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: REVERSE OF THE SEAL OF +SANDWICH.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_314.png" rend="w40"><head>REVERSE OF THE SEAL OF +SANDWICH.</head><figDesc>REVERSE OF THE SEAL OF SANDWICH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Next year the French attempted to retake Harfleur. Henry sent a fleet of 400 sail +to the rescue, under his brother John, Duke of Bedford, the upshot being that almost +the whole French fleet, to the number of 500 ships, hulks, carracks, and small vessels +were taken or sunk. The English vessels remained becalmed in the roadstead for three +weeks afterwards. Southey, who has collated all the best authorities in his admirable +naval work,<note place="foot"><q>The British Admirals: with an Introductory View of the Naval History of England.</q></note> says:—<q>The bodies which had been thrown overboard in the action, or +sunk in the enemies’ ships, rose and floated about them in great numbers; and the +English may have deemed it a relief from the contemplation of that ghastly sight, to be +kept upon the alert by some galleys, which taking advantage of the calm, ventured as +near them as they dare by day and night, and endeavoured to burn the ships with +wildfire.</q> He adds that the first mention of wildfire he had found is by Hardyng, one of +the earliest of our poets, in the following passage referring to this event:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">With oars many about us did they wind,</q></l> +<l>With wildfire oft assayled us day and night,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">To brenne our ships in that they could or might.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> + +<p> +Next year we read of Henry preparing to again attack France. The enemy had +increased their naval force by hiring a number of Genoese and other Italian vessels. The +king sent a preliminary force against them under his kinsman, the Earl of Huntingdon, +who, near the mouth of the Seine, succeeded in sinking three and capturing three of the +great Genoese carracks, taking the Admiral Jacques, the Bastard of Bourbon, <q>and as much +money as would have been half a year’s pay for the whole fleet.</q> These prizes were +brought to Southampton, <q>from whence the king shortly set forth with a fleet of 1,500 +ships, the sails of his own vessel being of purple silk, richly embroidered with gold.</q> The +remainder of Henry’s brief reign—for he died the same year—is but the history of a +series of successes over his enemies. +</p> + +<p> +It must never be forgotten that the navies of our early history were not permanently +organised, but drawn from all sources. A noble, a city or port, voluntarily or +otherwise, contributed according to the exigencies of the occasion. As we shall see, it +is to Henry VIII. that we owe the establishment of a Royal Navy as a permanent +institution. In 1546 King Henry’s vessels are classified according to their <q>quality,</q> +thus: <q>ships,</q> <q>galleases,</q> <q>pynaces,</q> <q>roe-barges.</q> A list bearing date in 1612 +exhibits the classes as follows:—<q>Shipps royal,</q> measuring downwards from 1,200 to 800 +tons; <q>middling shipps,</q> from 800 to 600 tons; <q>small shipps,</q> 350 tons; and pinnaces, +from 200 to 80 tons. According to the old definition, a ship was defined to be a <q>large +hollow building, made to pass over the seas with sails,</q> without reference to size or quality. +Before the days of the <name type="ship">Great Harry</name>, few, if any, English ships had more than one mast or +one sail; that ship had three masts, and the <name type="ship">Henri Grace de Dieu</name>, which supplanted her, +four. The galleas was probably a long, low, and sharp-built vessel, propelled by oars as well +as by sails; the latter probably not fixed to the mast or any standing yard, but hoisted +from the deck when required to be used, as in the lugger or felucca of modern days. +The pinnace was a smaller description of galleas, while the row-barge is sufficiently +explained by its title. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the period following the reign of Henry V. has much to do with +shipping interests of all kinds. The constant wars and turbulent times gave great +opportunity for piracy in the Channel and on the high seas. Thus we read of +Hannequin Leeuw, an outlaw from Ghent, who had so prospered in piratical enterprises +that he got together a squadron of eight or ten vessels, well armed and stored. He not +only infested the coast of Flanders, and Holland, and the English Channel, but scoured the +coasts of Spain as far as Gibraltar, making impartial war on any or all nations, and styling +himself the <q>Friend of God, and the enemy of all mankind.</q> This pirate escaped the +vengeance of man, but at length was punished by the elements: the greater part of +his people perished in a storm, and Hannequin Leeuw disappeared from the scene. Shortly +afterwards we find the Hollanders and Zeelanders uniting their forces against the Easterling +pirates, then infesting the seas, and taking twenty of their ships. <q>This action,</q> says +Southey, <q>was more important in its consequences than in itself; it made the two provinces +sensible, for the first time, of their maritime strength, and gave a new impulse to that +spirit of maritime adventure which they had recently begun to manifest.</q> Previously a +voyage to Spain had been regarded as so perilous, that <q>whoever undertook it settled his +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/>worldly and his spiritual affairs as if preparing for death, before he set forth,</q> while now +they opened up a brisk trade with that country and Portugal. Till now they had been +compelled to bear the insults and injuries of the Easterlings without combined attempt +at defence; now they retaliated, captured one of their admirals on the coast of Norway, +and hoisted a besom at the mast-head in token that they had swept the seas clean from +their pirate enemies. +</p> + +<p> +And now, in turn, some of them became pirates themselves, more particularly Hendrick +van Borselen, Lord of Veere, who assembled all the outlaws he could gather, and committed +such depredations, that he was enabled to add greatly to his possessions in Walcheren, by +the purchase of confiscated estates. He received others as grants from his own duke, who +feared him, and thought it prudent at any cost to retain, at least in nominal obedience, +one who might render himself so obnoxious an enemy. <q>This did not prevent the +admiral—for he held that rank under the duke—from infesting the coast of Flanders, +carrying off cattle from Cadsant, and selling them publicly in Zeeland. His excuse was +that the terrible character of his men compelled him to act as he did; and the duke +admitted the exculpation, being fain to overlook outrages which he could neither prevent +nor punish.</q> A statute of the reign of Henry VI. sets forth the robberies committed +upon the poor merchants of this realm, not merely on the sea, but even in the rivers and +ports of Britain, and how not merely they lost their goods, but their persons also were +taken and imprisoned. Nor was this all, for <q>the king’s poor subjects dwelling nigh the +sea-coasts were taken out of their own houses, with their chattels and children, and +carried by the enemies where it pleased them.</q> In consequence, the Commons begged +that an armament might be provided and maintained on the sea, which was conceded, and +for a time piracy on English subjects was partially quashed. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, we had pirates of our own. Warwick, the king-maker, was unscrupulous +in all points, and cared nothing for the lawfulness of the captures which he could make +on the high seas. For example, when he left England for the purpose of securing Calais +(then belonging to England) and the fleet for the House of York, he having fourteen +well-appointed vessels, fell in with a fleet of Spaniards and Genoese. <q>There was a very +sore and long continued battle fought betwixt them,</q> lasting almost two days. The +English lost a hundred men; one account speaks of the Spanish and Genoese loss at +1,000 men killed, and another of six-and-twenty vessels sunk or put to flight. It is certain +that three of the largest vessels were taken into Calais, laden with wine, oil, iron, wax, cloth +of gold, and other riches, in all amounting in value to no less than £10,000. The earl was +a favourite with the sailors, probably for the license he gave them; when the Duke of +Somerset was appointed by the king’s party to the command of Calais, from which he was +effectually shut out by Warwick, they carried off some of his ships and deserted with +them to the latter. Not long after, when reinforcements were lying at Sandwich waiting +to cross the Channel to Somerset’s aid, March and Warwick borrowed £18,000 from +merchants, and dispatched John Dynham on a piratical expedition. He landed at Sandwich, +surprised the town, took Lord Rivers and his son in their beds, robbed houses, took +the principal ships of the king’s navy, and carried them off, well furnished as they were +with ordnance and artillery. For a time Warwick carried all before him, but not a few +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/>of his actions were most unmitigated specimens of piracy, on nations little concerned with +the Houses of York and Lancaster, their quarrels or wars. +</p> + +<p> +But as this is not intended to be even a sketch of the history of England, let us pass +to the commencement of the reign of Henry VII., when the <q>great minishment and decay +of the navy, and the idleness of the mariners,</q> were represented to his first Parliament, and +led to certain enactments in regard to the use of foreign bottoms. The wines of Southern +France were forbidden to be imported hither in any but English, Irish, or Welsh ships, +manned by English, Irish, or Welsh sailors. This Act was repeated in the fourth year of +Henry’s reign, and made to include other articles, while it was then forbidden to freight +an alien ship from or to England with <q>any manner of merchandise,</q> if sufficient freight +were to be had in English vessels, on pain of forfeiture, one-half to the king, the other +to the seizers. <q>Henry,</q> says Lord Bacon, <q>being a king that loved wealth, and treasure, +he could not endure to have trade sick, nor any obstruction to continue in the gate-vein +which disperseth that blood.</q> How well he loved riches is proved by the fact that when +a speedy and not altogether creditable peace was established between England and France, +and the indemnity had been paid by the latter, the money went into the king’s private +coffers; those who had impoverished themselves in his service, or had contributed to the +general outfit by the forced + <q><anchor id="corr277"/><corr sic="(closing quote missing)">benevolence,</corr></q> were left out in the cold. From Calais Henry +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/>wrote letters to the Lord Mayor and aldermen (<q>which was a courtesy,</q> says Lord Bacon, +<q>that he sometimes used), half bragging what great sums he had obtained for the peace, +as knowing well that it was ever good news in London that the king’s coffers were full; +better news it would have been if their benevolence had been but a loan.</q> +</p><anchor id="figsir_anwo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SIR ANDREW WOOD’S VICTORY.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_317.png" rend="w80"><head>SIR ANDREW WOOD’S VICTORY.</head> + <figDesc>SIR ANDREW WOOD’S VICTORY</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Scotch historians tell us that Sir Andrew Wood, of Largo, Scotland, had with his two +vessels, the <name type="ship">Flower</name> and <name type="ship">Yellow Carvel</name>, captured five chosen vessels of the royal navy, which +had infested the Firth of Forth, and had taken many prizes from the Scotch previously, +during this reign. Henry VII. was greatly mortified by this defeat, and offered to put +any means at the disposal of the officer who would undertake this service, and great +rewards if Wood were brought to him alive or dead. All hesitated, such was the renown +of Wood, and his strength in men and artillery, and maritime and military skill. At +length, Sir Stephen Bull, a man of distinguished prowess, offered himself, and three ships +were placed under his command, with which he sailed for the Forth, and anchored behind +the Isle of May, waiting Wood’s return from a foreign voyage. Some fishermen were +captured and detained, in order that they should point out Sir Andrew’s ships when they +arrived. <q>It was early in the morning when the action began; the Scots, by their +skilful manœuvring, obtained the weather-gage, and the battle continued in sight of innumerable +spectators who thronged the coast, till darkness suspended it. It was renewed +at day-break; the ships grappled; and both parties were so intent upon the struggle, that +the tide carried them into the mouth of the Tay, into such shoal water that the English, +seeing no means of extricating themselves, surrendered. Sir Andrew brought his prizes to +Dundee; the wounded were carefully attended there; and James, with royal magnanimity +is said to have sent both prisoners and ships to Henry, praising the courage which they +had displayed, and saying that the contest was for honour, not for booty.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Few naval incidents occurred under the reign of Henry VII., but it belongs, nevertheless, +to the most important age of maritime discovery. Henry had really assented to the +propositions of Columbus after Portugal had refused them; had not the latter’s brother, +Bartholomew, been captured by pirates on his way to England, and detained as a slave at +the oar, the Spaniards would not have had the honour of discovering the New World. +This, and the grand discoveries of Cabot (directly encouraged by Henry), who reached +Newfoundland and Florida; the various expeditions down the African coast instituted by +Dom John; the discovery of the Cape and new route to India by Diaz and Vasco de +Gama; the discovery of the Pacific by Balboa, and Cape Horn and the Straits by +Magellan, will be detailed in another section of this work. They belong to this and +immediately succeeding reigns, and mark the grandest epoch in the history of geographical +discovery. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The use of fire-arms,</q> says Southey, <q>without which the conquests of the Spaniards +in the New World must have been impossible, changed the character of naval war sooner +than it did the system of naval tactics, though they were employed earlier by land than +by sea.</q> It is doubtful when cannon was first employed at sea; one authority<note place="foot">Charnock: <q>History of Marine Architecture.</q></note> says +that it was by the Venetians against the Genoese, before 1330. Their use necessitated +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/>very material alterations in the structure of war-ships. The first port-holes are believed +to have been contrived by a ship-builder at Brest, named Descharges, and their introduction +took place in 1499. They were <q>circular holes, cut through the sides of the vessel, and +so small as scarcely to admit of the guns being traversed in the smallest degree, or fired +otherwise than straightforward.</q> Hitherto there had been no distinctions between the vessels +used in commerce and in the king’s service; the former being constantly employed for the +latter; but now we find the addition of another tier, and a general enlargement of the +war-vessels. Still, when any emergency required, merchant vessels, not merely English, +but Genoese, Venetian, and from the Hanse Towns, were constantly hired for warfare. So +during peace the king’s ships were sometimes employed in trade, or freighted to merchants. +Henry was very desirous of increasing and maintaining commercial relations with other +countries. In the commission to one of his ambassadors, he says, <q>The earth being the +common mother of all mankind, what can be more pleasant or more humane than to +communicate a portion of all her productions to all her children by commerce?</q> Many +special commercial treaties were made by him, and one concluded with the Archduke +Philip after a dispute with him, which had put a stop to the trade with the Low Countries, +was called the great commercial treaty (<hi rend='italic'>intercursus magnus</hi>). <q>It was framed with the +greatest care to render the intercourse between the two countries permanent, and profitable +to both.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The first incident in the naval history of the next reign, that of Henry VIII., grew +out of an event which had occurred long before. A Portuguese squadron had, in the +year 1476, seized a Scottish ship, laden with a rich cargo, and commanded by John +Barton. Letters of marque were granted him, which he had not, apparently, used to any +great advantage, for they were renewed to his three sons thirty years afterwards. The +Bartons were not content with repaying themselves for their loss, but found the Portuguese +captures so profitable that they became confirmed pirates, <q>and when they felt their own +strength, they seem, with little scruple, to have considered ships of any nation as their +fair prize.</q> Complaints were lodged before Henry, but were almost ignored, <q>till the +Earl of Surrey, then Treasurer and Marshal of England, declared at the council board, +that while he had an estate that could furnish out a ship, or a son that was capable of +commanding one, the narrow seas should not be so infested.</q> Two ships, commanded by +his two sons, Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard, were made ready, with the king’s +knowledge and consent. The two brothers put to sea, but were separated by stress of +weather; the same happened to the two pirate ships—the <name type="ship">Lion</name>, under Sir Andrew +Barton’s own command, and the <name type="ship">Jenny Perwin</name>, or <name type="ship">Bark of Scotland</name>. The strength of one +of them is thus described in an old ballad, by a merchant, one of Sir Andrew’s victims, +who is supposed to relate his tale to Sir Thomas Howard:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">He is brass within, and steel without,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>With beams on his top-castle strong;</l> +<l>And thirty pieces of ordnance</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>He carries on each side along;</l> +<l>And he hath a pinnace dearly dight,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>St. Andrew’s Cross it is his guide;</l> +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/><l>His pinnace beareth nine score men,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And fifteen cannons on each side.</l> +<l>* * * * *</l> +<l>Were ye twenty ships, and he but one,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>I swear by Kirk, and bower and hall,</l> +<l>He would overcome them every one</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">If once his beams they do down fall.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +But it was not so to be. Sir Thomas Howard, as he lay in the Downs, descried the +former making for Scotland, and immediately gave chase, <q>and there was a sore battle. +The Englishmen were fierce, and the Scots defended themselves manfully, and ever +Andrew blew his whistle to encourage his men. Yet, for all that, Lord Howard and his +men, by clean force, entered the main deck. There the English entered on all sides, and +the Scots fought sore on the hatches; but, in conclusion, Andrew was taken, being so +sore wounded that he died there, and then the remnant of the Scots were taken, with +their ship.</q> Meantime Sir Edward Howard had encountered the other piratical ship, +and though the Scots defended themselves like <q>hardy and well-stomached men,</q> succeeded +in boarding it. The prizes were taken to Blackwall, and the prisoners, 150 in number, +being all left alive, <q>so bloody had the action been,</q> were tried at Whitehall, before the +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/>Bishop of Winchester and a council. The bishop reminded them that <q>though there +was peace between England and Scotland, they, contrary to that, as thieves and pirates, +had robbed the king’s subjects within his streams, wherefore they had deserved to die by +the law, and to be hanged at the low-water mark. Then, said the Scots, <q>We acknowledge +our offence, and ask mercy, and not the law,</q> and a priest, who was also a prisoner, +said, <q>My lord, we appeal from the king’s justice to his mercy.</q> Then the bishop asked +if he were authorised by them to say thus, and they all cried, <q>Yea, yea!</q> <q>Well, then,</q> +said the bishop, <q>you shall find the king’s mercy above his justice; for, where you were +dead by the law, yet by his mercy he will revive you. You shall depart out of this realm +within twenty days, on pain of death if ye be found after the twentieth day; and pray for +the king.</q></q> James subsequently required restitution from Henry, who answered <q>with +brotherly salutation</q> that <q>it became not a prince to charge his confederate with breach +of peace for doing justice upon a pirate and thief.</q> But there is no doubt that it was +regarded as a national affair in Scotland, and helped to precipitate the war which speedily +ensued. +</p><anchor id="figdefeofsi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE DEFEAT OF SIR ANDREW BARTON.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_321.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE DEFEAT OF SIR ANDREW BARTON.</head> + <figDesc>THE DEFEAT OF SIR ANDREW BARTON</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Some of the edicts of the period seem strange enough to modern ears. The Scotch +Parliament had passed an Act forbidding any ship freighted with staple goods to put to +sea during the three winter months, under a penalty of five pounds. In 1493, a generation +after the Act was passed, another provided that <hi rend='italic'>all</hi> burghs and towns should provide +ships and busses, the least to be of twenty tons, fitted according to the means of the said +places, provided with mariners, nets, and all necessary gear for taking <q>great fish and +small.</q> The officers in every burgh were to make all the <q>stark idle men</q> within their +bounds go on board these vessels, and serve them there for their wages, or, in case of +refusal, banish them from their burgh. This was done with the idea of training a maritime +force, but seems to have produced little effect. James IV. built a ship, however, which +was, according to Scottish writers, larger and more powerfully armed than any then +built in England or France. She was called the <name type="ship">Great Michael</name>, and <q>was of so great +stature that she wasted all the oak forests of Fife, Falkland only excepted.</q> Southey +reminds us that the Scots, like the Irish of the time, were constantly in feud with each +other, and consequently destroyed their forests, to prevent the danger of ambuscades, and +also to cut off the means of escape. Timber for this ship was brought from Norway, +and though all the shipwrights in Scotland and many others from foreign countries were +busily employed upon her, she took a year and a day to complete. The vessel is described +as twelve score feet in length, and thirty-six in breadth of beam, within the walls, which +were ten feet each thick, so that no cannon-ball could go through them. She had +300 mariners on board, six score gunners, and 1,000 men-of-war, including officers, +<q>captains, skippers, and quarter-masters.</q> Sir Andrew Wood and Robert Barton were +two of the chief officers. <q>This great ship cumbered Scotland to get her to sea. From +the time that she was afloat, and her masts and sails complete, with anchors offering +thereto, she was counted to the king to be thirty thousand pounds expense, by her artillery, +which was very costly.</q> The <name type="ship">Great Michael</name> never did enough to have a single exploit +recorded, nor was she unfortunate enough to meet a tragic ending. +</p> + +<p> +In 1511 war was declared against France, and Henry caused many new ships to be +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/>made, repairing and rigging the old. After an action on the coast of Brittany, where +both claimed the advantage, and where two of the largest vessels—the <name type="ship">Cordelier</name>, with 900 +Frenchmen, and the <name type="ship">Regent</name>, with 700 Englishmen, were burned—nearly all on board +perishing, Henry advised <q>a great ship to be made, such as was never before seen in +<anchor id="corr282"/><corr sic="(quote missing)">England,</corr></q> and which was named the <name type="ship">Henri Grace de Dieu</name>, or popularly the <name type="ship">Great Harry</name>.<note place="foot">It has been clearly shown that a large vessel which had been built by Henry VII. bore the same name. +The above was a successor, probably built after the first had become unfit for service.</note> +There are many ancient representations of this vessel, which is said to have cost £11,000, +and to have taken 400 men four whole days to work from Erith, where she was built, to +Barking Creek. <q>The masts,</q> says a well-known authority, <q>were five in number,</q> +but he goes on clearly to show that the fifth was simply the bowsprit; they were in one +piece, as had been the usual mode in all previous times, although soon to be altered by +the introduction of several joints or top-masts, which could be lowered in time of need. +The rigging was simple to the last degree, but there was a considerable amount of +ornamentation on the hull, and small flags were disposed almost at random on different +parts of the deck and gunwale, and one at the head of each mast. The standard of +England was hoisted on the principal mast; enormous pendants, or streamers, were added, +though ornaments which must have been often inconvenient. The <name type="ship">Great Harry</name> was of +1,000 tons, and in—so far as the writer can discover—the only skirmish she was concerned +in the Channel, for it could not be dignified by the name of an engagement, carried 700 +men. She was burned at Woolwich, at the opening of Mary’s reign, through the carelessness +of the sailors. +</p><anchor id="figold_dedo"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: OLD DEPTFORD DOCKYARD.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_320.png" rend="w80"><head>OLD DEPTFORD DOCKYARD.</head> + <figDesc>OLD DEPTFORD DOCKYARD</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +In the reign of Henry VIII. a navy office was first formed, and regular arsenals were +established at Portsmouth, Woolwich, and Deptford. The change in maritime warfare +consequent on the use of gunpowder rendered ships of a new construction necessary, and +more was done for the improvement of the navy in this reign than in any former one. +Italian shipwrights, then the most expert, were engaged, and at the conclusion of Henry’s +reign the Royal Navy consisted of seventy-one vessels, thirty of which were ships of +respectable burden, aggregating 10,550 tons. Five years later, it had dwindled to less +than one-half. Six years after Henry’s death, England lost Calais, a fort and town which +had cost Edward III., in the height of his power, an obstinate siege of eleven months. +But on Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, the star of England was once more in the +ascendant. +</p> + +<p> +Elizabeth commenced her reign by providing in all points for war, that she <q>might +the more quietly enjoy peace.</q> Arms and weapons were imported from Germany, at +considerable cost, but in such quantities that the land had never before been so amply +stored with <q>all kinds of convenient armour and weapons.</q> And she, also, was the first +to cause the manufacture of gunpowder in England, that she <q>might not both pray and +pay for it too to her neighbours.</q> She allowed the free exportation of herrings and all +other sea-fish in English bottoms, and a partial exemption from impressment was granted +to all fishermen; while to encourage their work, Wednesday and Saturday were made +<q>fish-days;</q> this, it was stated, <q>was meant politicly, not for any superstition to be +maintained in the choice of meats.</q> The navy became her great care, so much that +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/><q>foreigners named her the restorer of the glory of shipping, and the Queen of the North +Sea.</q> She raised the pay of sailors. <q>The wealthier inhabitants of the sea-coast,</q> says +Camden, <q>in imitation of their princess, built ships of war, striving who should exceed, +insomuch that the Queen’s Navy, joined with her subjects’ shipping, was, in short time, +so puissant that it was able to bring forth 20,000 fighting men for sea service.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The greatest and most glorious event of her reign was, without cavil, the defeat of +the Spanish Armada, at one time deemed and called <q>The Invincible.</q> With the political +complications which preceded the invasion, we have nought to do: it was largely a +religious war, inasmuch as Popish machinations were at the bottom of all. When the +contest became inevitable, the Spanish Government threw off dissimulation, and showed +<q>a disdainful disregard of secrecy as to its intentions, or rather a proud manifestation of +them, which,</q> says Southey, <q>if they had been successful, might have been called +magnanimous.</q> Philip had determined on putting forth his might, and accounts which +were ostentatiously published in advance termed it <q>The most fortunate and invincible +Armada.</q> The fleet consisted of 130 ships and twenty caravels, having on board nearly +20,000 soldiers, 8,450 marines, 2,088 galley-slaves, with 2,630 great pieces of brass +artillery. The names of all the saints appeared in the nomenclature of the ships, <q>while,</q> +says Southey, <q>holier appellations, which ought never to be thus applied, were strangely +associated with the Great Griffin and the Sea Dog, the Cat and the White Falcon.</q> Every +noble house in Spain was represented, and there were 180 friars and Jesuits, with Cardinal +Allen at their head, a prelate who had not long before published at Antwerp a gross libel +on Elizabeth, calling her <q>heretic, rebel, and usurper, an incestuous bastard, the bane of +Christendom, and firebrand of all mischief.</q> These priests were to bring England back +to the true Church the moment they landed. The galleons being above sixty in number +were, <q>exceeding great, fair, and strong, and built high above the water, like castles, +easy to be fought withal, but not so easy to board as the English and the Netherland ships; +their upper decks were musket-proof, and beneath they were four or five feet thick, so +that no bullet could pass them. Their masts were bound about with oakum, or pieces +of fazeled ropes, and armed against all shot. The galleases were goodly great vessels, +furnished with chambers, chapels, towers, pulpits, and such-like; they rowed like galleys, +with exceeding great oars, each having 300 slaves, and were able to do much harm with +their great ordnance.</q> Most severe discipline was to be preserved; blasphemy and oaths +were to be punished rigidly; gaming, as provocative of these, and quarrelling, were forbidden; +no one might wear a dagger; religious exercises, including the use of a special litany, +in which all archangels, angels, and saints, were invoked to assist with their prayers +against the English heretics and enemies of the faith, were enjoined. <q>No man,</q> says +Southey, <q>ever set forth upon a bad cause with better will, nor under a stronger delusion +of perverted faith.</q> The gunners were instructed to have half butts filled with water +and vinegar, wet clothes, old sails, &c., ready to extinguish fire, and what seems strange +now-a-days, in addition to the regular artillery, every ship was to carry two boats’-loads +of large stones, to throw on the enemy’s decks, forecastles, &c., during an encounter. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime Elizabeth and her ministers were fully aware of the danger, and the +appeals made to the Lords, and through the lord-lieutenants of counties were answered +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/>nobly. The first to present himself before the queen was a Roman Catholic peer, the +Viscount Montague, who brought 200 horsemen led by his own sons, and professed the +resolution that <q>though he was very sickly, and in age, to live and die in defence of +the queen and of his country, against all invaders, whether it were Pope, king, or potentate +whatsoever.</q> The city of London, when 5,000 men and fifteen ships were required, +prayed the queen to accept twice the number. <q>In a very short time all her whole +realm, and every corner, were furnished with armed men, on horseback and on foot; and +those continually trained, exercised, and put into bands in warlike manner, as in no age +ever was before in this realm. There was no sparing of money to provide horse, armour, +weapons, powder, and all necessaries.</q> Thousands volunteered their services personally +without wages; others money for armour and weapons, and wages for soldiers. The +country was never in better condition for defence. +</p> + +<p> +Some urged the queen to place no reliance on maritime defence, but to receive the +enemy only on shore. Elizabeth thought otherwise, and determined that the enemy should +reap no more advantage on the sea than on land. She gave the command of the whole +fleet to Charles Lord Howard of Effingham; Drake being vice-admiral, and Hawkins +and Frobisher—all grand names in naval history—being in the western division. Lord +Henry Seymour was to lie off the coast of Flanders with forty ships, Dutch and English, +and prevent the Prince of Parma from forming a junction with the Armada. The whole +number of ships collected for the defence of the country was 191, and the number of +seamen 17,472. There was one ship in the fleet (the <name type="ship">Triumph</name>) of 1,100 tons, one of 1,000, +one of 900, and two of 800 tons each, but the larger part of the vessels were very small, +and the aggregate tonnage amounted to only about half that of the Armada. For the land +defence over 100,000 men were called out, regimented, and armed, but only half of them +were trained. This was exclusive of the Border and Yorkshire forces. +</p> + +<p> +The Armada left the Tagus in the latter end of May, 1588, for Corunna, there to +embark the remainder of the forces and stores. On the 30th of the same month, the +Lord Admiral and Sir Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth. A serious storm was +encountered, which dismasted some and dispersed others of the enemy’s fleet, and occasioned +the loss of four Portuguese galleys. One David Gwynne, a Welshman, who had been a +galley-slave for eleven years, took the opportunity this storm afforded, and regained his +liberty. He made himself master of one galley, captured a second, and was joined by a third, +in which the wretched slaves were encouraged to rise by his example, and successfully +carried the three into a French port. After this disastrous commencement, the Armada +put back to Corunna, and was pursued thither by Effingham; but as he approached the +coast of Spain, the wind changed, and as he was afraid the enemy might effect the +passage to the Channel unperceived, he returned to its entrance, whence the ships +were withdrawn, some to the coast of Ireland, and the larger part to Plymouth, where the +men were allowed to come ashore, and the officers made merry with revels, dancing, and +bowling. The enemy was so long in making an appearance, that even Elizabeth was +persuaded the invasion would not occur that year; and with this idea, Secretary Walsingham +wrote to the admiral to send back four of his largest ships. <q>Happily for England, +and most honourably for himself, the Lord Effingham, though he had relaxed his vigilance, +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/>saw how perilous it was to act as if all were safe. He humbly entreated that nothing +might be lightly credited in so weighty a matter, and that he might retain these ships, +though it should be at his own cost. This was no empty show of disinterested zeal; for if +the services of those ships had not been called for, there can be little doubt, that in the +rigid parsimony of Elizabeth’s government, he would have been called upon to pay the +costs.</q> +</p><anchor id="figfirsshag"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE FIRST SHOT AGAINST THE ARMADA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_327.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE FIRST SHOT AGAINST THE ARMADA.</head> + <figDesc>THE FIRST SHOT AGAINST THE ARMADA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The Armada, now completely refitted, sailed from Corunna on July 12th, and when off +the Lizard were sighted by a pirate, one Thomas Fleming, who hastened to Plymouth with +the news, and not merely obtained pardon for his offences, but was awarded a pension for +life. At that time the wind <q>blew stiffly into the harbour,</q> but all hands were got on +board, and the ships were warped out, the Lord Admiral encouraging the men, and hauling +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/>at the ropes himself. By the following day thirty of the smaller vessels were out, and next +day the Armada was descried <q>with lofty turrets like castles, in front like a half-moon; +the wings thereof speading out about the length of seven miles, sailing very slowly though +with full sails; the wind,</q> says Camden, <q>being as it were weary with wafting them, +and the ocean groaning under their weight.</q> The Spaniards gave up the idea of attacking +Plymouth, and the English let them pass, that they might chase them in the rear. Next +day the Lord Admiral sent the <name type="ship">Defiance</name> pinnace forward, and opened the attack by discharging +her ordnance, and later his own ship, the <name type="ship">Ark Royal</name>, <q>thundered thick and +furiously</q> into the Spanish vice-admiral’s ship, and soon after, Drake, Hawkins, and +Frobisher, gave the Admiral Recalde a very thorough peppering. That officer’s ship was +rendered nearly unserviceable, and he was obliged to crowd on sail to catch up with the +others, who showed little disposition for fighting. After a smart action in which he had +injured the enemy much, and suffered little hurt himself, Effingham gave over, because +forty of his ships had not yet come up from Plymouth. During the night the Spaniards +lost one of their ships, which was set on fire, it was believed, by a Flemish gunner, whose +wife and self had been ill-treated by the officer of the troops on board. The fire was +quenched, after all her upper works had been consumed; but when the Spaniards left the +hulk, they abandoned fifty of their countrymen, <q>miserably hurt.</q> This night was +remarkable for a series of disasters and <hi rend='italic'>contretemps</hi>. A galleon, under the command of +one Valdez, ran foul of another ship, broke her foremast, and was left behind. Effingham, +supposing that the men had been taken out, without tarrying to take possession of the +prize, passed on with two other vessels, that he might not lose sight of the enemy. <q>He +thought that he was following Drake’s ship, which ought to have carried the lanthorn that +night; it proved to be a Spanish light, and in the morning he found himself in the midst +of the enemy’s fleet;</q> but he managed to get away unobserved, or at all events unpursued. +Drake, meantime, was mistakably following in the dark and stormy night a phantom +enemy, in the shape of five Easterling vessels. Meantime, the English fleet not seeing +the expected light on Drake’s ship, lay-to during the night. Drake, next morning, +had the good fortune to fall in with Valdez, who, after a brief parley, surrendered, and +the prize was sent into Plymouth. Drake and his men divided 55,000 golden ducats +among them, as part of the spoil on board. The hulk of the galleon was taken to +Weymouth, and although burned almost to the water’s edge, the gunpowder in the hold +remained intact and had not taken fire. The next day there was considerable manœuvring +and skirmishing, but with no very memorable loss on either side. A great Venetian ship and +some smaller ones were taken from the enemy, while on our side Captain Cook died with +honour in the midst of the Spanish ships, in a little vessel of his own. Both sides were +wary; Effingham did not think good to grapple with them, because they had an army in +the fleet, while he had none; our army awaited their landing. The Spaniards meant as +much as possible to avoid fighting, and hold on till they could effect a junction with the +Prince of Parma. Next morning there was little wind, and only the four great galleases +were engaged, these having the advantage on account of their oars, while the English were +becalmed; the latter, however, did considerable execution with chain-shot, cutting asunder +their tacklings and cordage. But they were now constrained to send ashore for gunpowder, +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/>with which they were either badly supplied, or had expended too freely. Off the Isle of +Wight, the English battered the Spanish admiral with their great ordnance, and shot away +his mainmast; but other ships came to his assistance, beat them off, and set upon the +English admiral, who only escaped by favour of a breeze which sprung up at the right +moment. Camden relates how the English shot away the lantern from one of the +Spanish ships, and the beak-head from a second, and that Frobisher escaped by the +skin of his teeth from a situation of great danger. Still this was little more than +skirmishing. <q>The Spaniards say that from that time they gave over what they call the +pursuit of their enemy; and they dispatched a fresh messenger to the Prince of Parma, +urging him to effect his junction with them as soon as possible, and withal to send +them some great shot, for they had expended theirs with more prodigality than effect.</q> +On the other hand the English determined to wait till they could attack the enemy in +the Straits of Dover, where they expected to be joined by the squadrons under Lord +Seymour and Sir William Winter. Meantime Effingham’s forces were being considerably +increased by volunteers; <q>For the gentlemen of England hired ships from all parts at +their own charge, and with one accord came flocking thither as to a set field.</q> Among the +volunteers were Sir Walter Raleigh, the Earls of Oxford, Northumberland, and Cumberland. +On the evening of the 27th the Spaniards came to anchor off Calais, and the English +ships, now 140 in number, <q>all of them ships fit for fight, good sailors, nimble and tight +for tacking about which way they would, anchored within cannon-shot.</q> A squadron of +about thirty ships belonging to the States, acting in conjunction with the Admiral of +Zeeland and his squadron, effectually blockaded Dunkirk, and the poor Prince of +Parma, with his pressed men constantly deserting, his flat-bottomed boats leaky, and his +provisions not ready, could do nothing. +</p> + +<p> +The Spanish ships were almost invulnerable to the shot and ordnance of the day, +and <q>their height was such that our bravest seamen were against any attempt at +boarding them.</q> These facts were well understood by Elizabeth’s ministers, and the Lord +Admiral was instructed to convert eight of his worst vessels into fire-ships. The orders +arrived so <hi rend='italic'>à propos</hi> of the occasion, and were so swiftly executed, that within thirty hours +after the enemy had cast anchor off Calais, the ships were unloaded and dismantled, filled +with combustibles and all their ordnance charged, and their sides being smeared with +pitch, rosin, and wildfire, were sent, in the dead of the night, with wind and tide, +against the Spanish fleet. When the Spaniards saw the whole sea glittering and shining +with the reflection of the flames, the guns exploding as the fire reached them, and a heavy +canopy of dense smoke overhead obscuring the heavens, they remembered those terrible +fire-ships which had been used so effectively in the Scheldt, and the cry resounded through +the fleet, <q>The fire of Antwerp!</q> Some of the Spanish captains let their hawsers slip, +some cut their cables, and in terror and confusion put to sea; <q>happiest they who could +first be gone, though few or none could tell which course to take.</q> In the midst of all +this fearful excitement one of the largest of the galleases, commanded by D. Hugo de +Moncada, ran foul of another ship, lost her rudder, floated about at the mercy of the tide, +and at length ran upon Calais sands. Here she was assailed by the English small craft, +who battered her with their guns, but dared not attempt boarding till the admiral sent +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/>a hundred men in his boats, under Sir Amias Preston. The Spaniards fought bravely, +but at length Moncada was shot through the head, and the galleas was carried by boarding. +Most of the Spanish soldiers, 400 in number, jumped overboard and were drowned; the +300 galley-slaves were freed from their fetters. The vessel had 50,000 ducats on board, +<q>a booty,</q> says Speed, <q>well fitting the English soldiers’ affections.</q> The English +were about to set the galleas on fire, but the governor of Calais prevented this by firing +upon the captors, and the ship became his prize. +</p><anchor id="figfireatth"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE FIRE-SHIPS ATTACKING THE ARMADA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_330.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE FIRE-SHIPS ATTACKING THE ARMADA.</head> + <figDesc>THE FIRE-SHIPS ATTACKING THE ARMADA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The Duke of Medina Sidonia, admiral of the Spanish Armada, had ordered the whole +fleet to weigh anchor and stand out to sea when he perceived the approaching fire-ships; +his vessels were to return to their former stations when the danger should be over. When +he fired a signal for the others to follow his example, few of them heard it, <q>because +they were scattered all about, and driven by fear, some of them in the wide sea, and +driven among the shoals of Flanders.</q> When they had once more congregated, they +ranged themselves in order off Gravelines, where the final action was fought. Drake and +Fenner were the first to assail them, followed by many brave captains, and lastly the +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/>admiral came up with Lord Thomas Howard and Lord Sheffield. There were scarcely +two or three and twenty among their ships which matched ninety of the Spanish vessels +in size, but the smaller vessels were more easily handled and manœuvred. <q>Wherefore,</q> +says Hakluyt, <q>using their prerogative of nimble steerage, whereby they could turn and +wield themselves with the wind which way they listed, they came oftentimes very near +upon the Spaniards, and charged them so sore, that now and then they were but a pike’s +length asunder; and so continually giving them one broadside after another, they +discharged all their shot, both great and small, upon them, spending a whole day, from +morning till night, in that violent kind of conflict.</q> During this action many of the +Spanish vessels were pierced through and through between wind and water; one was +sunk, and it was learnt that one of her officers, having proposed to strike, was put to +death by another; the brother of the slain man instantly avenged his death, and then +the ship went down. Others are believed to have sunk, and many were terribly shattered. +One, which leaked so fast that fifty men were employed at the pumps, tried to run +aground on the Flemish coast, where her captain had to strike to a Dutch commander. +Our ships at last desisted from the contest, from sheer want of ammunition; and the +Armada made an effort to reach the Straits. Here a great engagement was expected, +but the fighting was over, and that which the hand of man barely commenced the +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/>hand of God completed. The Spaniards <q>were now experimentally convinced that the +English excelled them in naval strength. Several of their largest ships had been lost, +others were greatly damaged; there was no port to which they could repair; and to +force their way through the victorious English fleet, then in sight, and amounting to 140 +sail, was plainly and confessedly impossible.</q> They resolved upon returning to Spain by +a northern route, and <q>having gotten more sea room for their huge-bodied bulks, spread +their mainsails, and made away as fast as wind and water would give them leave.</q> Effingham, +leaving Seymour to blockade the Prince of Parma’s force, followed what our chroniclers +now termed the Vincible Armada, and pursued them to Scotland, where they did not +attempt to land, but made for Norway, <q>where the English,</q> says Drake, <q>thought it best +to leave them to those boisterous and uncouth northern seas.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Meantime, it was still expected ashore that the Prince of Parma might effect a +landing, and it was at this time that Elizabeth, who declared her intention to be present +wherever the battle might be fought, rode through the soldiers’ ranks at Tilbury, and +made her now historical speech. <q>Incredible it is,</q> says Camden, <q>how much she +encouraged the hearts of her captains and soldiers by her presence and her words.</q> When +a false report was brought that the prince had landed, the news was immediately published +throughout the camp, <q>and assuredly,</q> says Southey, <q>if the enemy had set foot upon +our shores they would have sped no better than they had done at sea, such was the spirit +of the nation.</q> Some time elapsed before the fate of the Armada was known. It was +affirmed on the Continent that the greater part of the English fleet had been taken, and +a large proportion sunk, the poor remainder having been driven into the Thames <q>all +rent and torn.</q> It was believed at Rome that Elizabeth was taken and England conquered! +Meantime, the wretched Armada was being blown hither and thither by contending +winds. The mules and horses had to be thrown overboard lest the water should fail. +When they had reached a northern latitude, some 200 miles from the Scottish isles, the +duke ordered them each to take the best course they could for Spain, and he himself with +some five-and-twenty of his best provided ships reached it in safety. The others made +for Cape Clear, hoping to water there, but a terrible storm arose, in which it is believed +more than thirty of the vessels perished off the coast of Ireland. About 200 of the poor +Spaniards were driven from their hiding-places and beheaded, through the inhumanity of +Sir William Fitzwilliam. <q>Terrified at this, the other Spaniards, sick and starved as +they were, committed themselves to the sea in their shattered vessels, and very many of +them were swallowed up by the waves.</q> Two of their ships were wrecked on the coasts +of Norway. Some few got into the English seas; two were taken by cruisers off Rochelle. +About 700 men were cast ashore in Scotland, were humanely treated, and subsequently +sent, by request of the Prince of Parma, to the Netherlands. Of the whole Armada only +fifty-three vessels returned to Spain; eighty-one were lost. The enormous number of +14,000 men, of whom only 2,000 were prisoners, were missing. By far the larger +proportion were lost by shipwreck. +</p><anchor id="figqueeelon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH ON HER WAY TO ST. PAUL’S.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_333.png" rend="w80"><head>QUEEN ELIZABETH ON HER WAY TO ST. PAUL’S.</head> + <figDesc>QUEEN ELIZABETH ON HER WAY TO ST. PAUL’S</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q>Philip’s behaviour,</q> says Southey, <q>when the whole of this great calamity was known, +should always be recorded to his honour. He received it as a dispensation of Providence, +and gave, and commanded to be given, throughout Spain, thanks to God and the saints +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/>that it was no greater.</q> In England, a solemn thanksgiving was celebrated at St. Paul’s, +where the Spanish ensigns which had been taken were displayed, and the same flags were +shown on London Bridge the following day, it being Southwark Fair. Many of the arms +and instruments of torture taken are still to be seen in the Tower. Another great +thanksgiving-day was celebrated on the anniversary of the queen’s accession, and one +of great solemnity, two days later, throughout the realm. On the Sunday following, the +queen went <q>as in public, but Christian triumph,</q> to St. Paul’s, in a chariot <q>made in +the form of a throne with four pillars,</q> and drawn by four white horses; alighting from +which at the west door, she knelt and <q>audibly praised God, acknowledging Him her only +Defender, who had thus delivered the land from the rage of the enemy.</q> Her Privy +Council, the nobility, the French ambassador, the judges, and the heralds, accompanied +her. The streets were hung with blue cloth and flags, <q>the several companies, in their +liveries, being drawn up both sides of the way, with their banners in becoming and gallant +order.</q> Thus ended this most serious attempt at the invasion of England. +</p> +</div><div> + <index index="toc" level1="XVI. The History of Ships and Shipping Interests (continued)"/> + <index index="pdf" level1="XVI. The History of Ships and Shipping Interests (continued)"/><anchor id="chap16"/> +<head>CHAPTER XVI.</head> + +<head type="sub"><hi rend='smallcaps'>The History of Ships and Shipping Interests</hi> (<hi rend='italic'>continued</hi>).</head> + +<argument><p> +Noble Adventurers—The Earl of Cumberland as a Pirate—Rich Prizes—Action with the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Madre de Dios</name>—Capture of the Great +Carrack—A Cargo worth £150,000—Burning of the <name type="ship" rend="italic">Cinco Chagas</name>—But Fifteen saved out of Eleven Hundred Souls—The +<name type="ship" rend="italic">Scourge of Malice</name>—Establishment of the Slave Trade—Sir John Hawkins’ Ventures—High-handed Proceedings—The +Spaniards forced to Purchase—A Fleet of Slavers—Hawkins sanctioned by <q>Good Queen Bess</q>—Joins in a Negro War—A +Disastrous Voyage—Sir Francis Drake—His First Loss—The Treasure at Nombre de Dios—Drake’s First Sight of +the Pacific—Tons of Silver Captured—John Oxenham’s Voyage—The First Englishman on the Pacific—His Disasters +and Death—Drake’s Voyage Round the World—Blood-letting at the Equator—Arrival at Port Julian—Trouble with the +Natives—Execution of a Mutineer—Passage of the Straits of Magellan—Vessels separated in a Gale—Loss of the +<name type="ship" rend="italic">Marigold</name>—Tragic Fate of Eight Men—Drake Driven to Cape Horn—Proceedings at Valparaiso—Prizes taken—Capture +of the great Treasure Ship—Drake’s Resolve to change his Course Home—Vessel refitted at Nicaragua—Stay in the +Bay of San Francisco—The Natives worship the English—Grand Reception at Ternate—Drake’s Ship nearly wrecked—Return +to England—Honours accorded Drake—His Character and Influence—Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s Disasters and +Death—Raleigh’s Virginia Settlements. +</p></argument> + +<p> +The spirit of adventure, fostered by the grand discoveries which were constantly being +made, the rich returns derived from trading expeditions, and from the pillage of our +enemies, was at its zenith in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Nor was it confined to mere +soldiers of fortune, for we find distinguished noblemen of ample fortunes taking to the +seas as though their daily bread depended thereupon. Among these naval adventurers +<q>there was no one,</q> says Southey, <q>who took to the seas so much in the spirit of a +northern sea king as the Earl of Cumberland.</q> He had borne his part in the defeat of +the Armada, while still a young man, and the queen was so well satisfied with him, that +she gave him a commission to go the same year to the Spanish coast as general, lending +him the <name type="ship">Golden Lion</name>, one of the ships royal, he victualling and furnishing it at his own +expense. After some fighting he took a prize, but soon after had to cut away his +mainmast in a storm, and return to England. <q>His spirit remaining, nevertheless, higher +than the winds, and more resolutely by storms compact and united in itself,</q> we find him +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/>shortly afterwards again on the high seas with the <name type="ship">Victory</name>, one of the queen’s ships, and +three smaller vessels. The earl was not very scrupulous as regards prize-taking, and +captured two French ships, which belonged to the party of the League. A little later he +fell in with eleven ships from Hamburg and the Baltic, and fired on them till the captains +came on board and showed their passports; these were respected, but not so the property +of a Lisbon Jew, which they confessed to have on their ships, and which was valued +at £4,500. Off the Azores, he hoisted Spanish colours, and succeeded in robbing some +Spanish vessels. The homeward-bound Portuguese fleet from the East Indies narrowly +escaped him; when near Tercera some English prisoners stole out in a small boat, having +no other yard for their mainsail than two pipe-staves, and informed him that the +Portuguese ships had left the island a week before. This induced him to return to Fayal, +and the terror inspired by the English name in those days is indicated by the fact that the +town of about 500 houses was found to be completely empty; the inhabitants had +abandoned it. He set a guard over the churches and monasteries, and then calmly waited +till a ransom of 2,000 ducats was brought him. He helped himself to fifty-eight pieces +of iron ordnance, and the Governor of Graciosa, to keep on good terms with the earl, sent +him sixty butts of wine. While there a Weymouth privateer came in with a Spanish prize +worth £16,000. Next we find the earl at St. Mary’s, where he captured a Brazilian sugar +ship. In bringing out their prize they were detained on the harbour bar, exposed to the +enemy. Eighty of Cumberland’s men were killed, and he himself was wounded; <q>his +head also was broken with stones, so that the blood covered his face,</q> and both his face +and legs were burnt with fire-balls. The prize, however, was secured and forwarded to +England. +</p> + +<p> +Cumberland himself held on his course to Spain, and soon fell in with a ship of 400 +tons, from Mexico, laden with hides, cochineal, sugar, and silver, <q>and the captain had with +him a venture to the amount of 25,000 ducats,</q> which was taken. They now resolved to +return home, but <q>sea fortunes are variable, having two inconstant parents, air and water,</q> +and as one of the adventurers<note place="foot">Sir William Monson: Churchill’s <q>Collection of Voyages.</q></note> concisely put it, <q>these summer services and ships of +sugar proved not so sweet and pleasant as the winter was afterwards sharp and painful.</q> +Lister, the earl’s captain, was sent in the Mexican prize for England, and was wrecked off +Cornwall, everything being lost in her, and all the crew, save five or six men. On the +earl’s ship, contrary winds and gales delayed them so greatly that their water failed; they +were reduced to three spoonfuls of vinegar apiece at each meal; this state of affairs lasting +fourteen days, except what water they could collect from rain and hail-storms. <q>Yet was +that rain so intermingled with the spray of the foaming sea, in that extreme storm, that +it could not be healthful: yea, some in their extremity of thirst drank themselves to death +with their cans of salt water in their hands.</q> Some ten or twelve perished on each of +as many consecutive nights, and the storm was at one time so violent that the ship was +almost torn to pieces; <q>his lordship’s cabin, the dining-room, and the half deck became all +one,</q> and he was obliged to seek a lodging in the hold. The earl, however, constantly +encouraged the men, and the small stock of provisions was distributed with the greatest +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/>equality; so at last they reached a haven on the west coast of Ireland, where their +sufferings ended. On this voyage they had taken thirteen prizes. The Mexican prize +which had been wrecked would have added £100,000 to the profits of the venture, but +even with this great deduction, the earl had been doubly repaid for his outlay. +</p><anchor id="figearlofcu"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE EARL OF CUMBERLAND AND THE <q>MADRE DE DIOS.</q>]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_337.png" rend="w80"><head>THE EARL OF CUMBERLAND AND THE <q>MADRE DE DIOS.</q></head> + <figDesc>THE EARL OF CUMBERLAND AND THE <q>MADRE DE DIOS</q></figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The earl’s third expedition was a failure, but the fourth resulted in the capture of the +<name type="ship">Madre de Dios</name>, one of the largest carracks belonging to the Portuguese crown. In this, +however, some of Raleigh’s and Hawkins’ ships had a share. Captain Thomson, who +came up with her first, <q>again and again delivered his peals as fast as he could fire +and fall astern to load again, thus hindering her way, though somewhat to his own cost, +till the others could come <anchor id="corr293"/><corr sic="up">up.</corr></q> Several others worried the carrack, until the earl’s ships +came up about eleven at night. Captain Norton had no intention of boarding the enemy +till daylight, if there had not been a cry from one of the ships royal, then in danger, +<q>An you be men, save the queen’s ship!</q> Upon this the carrack was boarded on both +sides. A desperate struggle ensued, and it took an hour and a half before the attacking +parties succeeded in getting possession of the high forecastle, <q>so brave a booty making +the men fight like dragons.</q> The ship won, the boarders turned to pillage, and while +searching about with candles, managed to set fire to a cabin containing some hundreds of +cartridges, very nearly blowing up the ship. The hotness of the action was evidenced by +the number of dead and dying who strewed the carrack’s decks, <q>especially,</q> says the +chronicler, <q>about the helm; for the greatness of the steerage requiring the labour of +twelve or fourteen men at once, and some of our ships beating her in at the stern with +their ordnance, oftentimes with one shot slew four or five labouring on either side of the +helm; whose room being still furnished with fresh supplies, and our artillery still playing +upon them with continual volleys, it could not be but that much blood should be shed in +that place.</q> For the times, the prisoners were treated with great humanity, and surgeons +were sent on board to dress their wounds. The captain, Don Fernando de Mendoza, was +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/><q>a gentleman of noble birth, well stricken in years, well spoken, of comely personage, of +good stature, but of hard fortune. Twice he had been taken prisoner by the Moors and +ransomed by the king; and he had been wrecked on the coast of Sofala, in a carrack +which he commanded, and having escaped the sea danger, fell into the hands of infidels +ashore, who kept him under long and grievous servitude.</q> The prisoners were allowed to +carry off their own valuables, put on board one of Cumberland’s ships, and sent to their +own country. Unfortunately for them, they again fell in with other English cruisers, who +robbed them without mercy, taking from them 900 diamonds and other valuable things. +About 800 negroes on board were landed on the island of Corvo. Her cargo consisted +of jewels, spices, drugs, silks, calicoes, carpets, canopies, ivory, porcelain, and innumerable +curiosities; it was estimated to amount to £150,000 in value, and there was considerable +haggling over its division, and no little embezzlement; the queen had a large share of it, +and Cumberland netted £36,000. The carrack created great astonishment at Dartmouth +by her dimensions, which for those days were enormous. She was of about 1,600 tons +burden, and 165 feet long; she was of <q>seven several stories, one main orlop, three close +decks, one forecastle (of great height) and a spar deck of two floors apiece.</q> Her mainmast +was 125 feet in height, and her main-yard 105 feet long. <q>Being so huge and +unwieldly a ship,</q> says Purchas, <q>she was never removed from Dartmouth, but there laid +up her bones.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In 1594 the earl set forth on his eighth voyage, with three ships, a caravel, and a +pinnace, furnished at his own expense, with the help of some adventurers. Early in the +voyage they descried a great Indian ship, whose burden they estimated at 2,000 tons. +Her name was the <name type="ship">Cinco Chagas</name> (the Five Wounds), and her fate was as tragical as her +name. She had on board a number of persons who had been shipwrecked in three vessels, +which, like herself, had been returning from the Indies. When she left Mozambique for +Europe, she had on board 1,400 persons, an enormous number for those days; on the +voyage she had encountered terrible gales, and after putting in at Loanda for water and +supplies, and shipping many slaves, a fatal pestilence known by the name of the <q>mal de +Loanda,</q> carried off about half the crew. The captain wished to avoid the Azores, but a +mutiny had arisen among the soldiers on board, and he was forced to stand by them, and +by this means came into contact with the Earl of Cumberland’s squadron off Fayal. The +Portuguese had pledged themselves to the ship at all hazards, and to perish with her in the +sea, or in the flames, rather than yield so rich a prize to the heretics. Cumberland’s ships, +after harassing the carrack on all sides, ranged up against her; twice was she boarded, +and twice were the assailants driven out. A third time the privateers boarded her, one of +them bearing a white flag; he was the first of the party killed, and when a second hoisted +another flag at the poop it was immediately thrown overboard. The English suffered considerably, +more especially among the officers. Cumberland’s vice-admiral, Antony, was killed; +Downton, the rear-admiral, crippled for life; and Cave, who commanded the earl’s ship, +mortally wounded. The privateers seem, in the heat of action, almost to have forgotten +the valuable cargo on board, and to have aimed only at destroying her. <q>After many +bickerings,</q> says the chronicler, <q>fireworks flew about interchangeably; at last the vice-admiral, +with a culverin shot at hand, fired the carrack in her stern, and the rear-admiral +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/>her forecastle, * * * * then flying and maintaining their fires so well with their +small shot that many which came to quench them were slain.</q> The fire made rapid +headway, and P. Frey Antonio, a Franciscan, was seen with a crucifix in his hand, +encouraging the poor sailors to commit themselves to the waves and to God’s mercy, +rather than perish in the flames. A large number threw themselves overboard, clinging to +such things as were cast into the sea. It is said that the English boats, with one +honourable exception, made no efforts to save any of them; it is even stated that they +butchered many in the water. According to the English account there were more than +1,100 on board the carrack, when she left Loanda, of whom only fifteen were saved! +Two ladies of high rank, mother and daughter—the latter of whom was going home to +Spain to take possession of some entailed property—when they saw there was no help to +be expected from the privateers, fastened themselves together with a cord, and committed +themselves to the waves; their bodies were afterwards cast ashore on Fayal, still united, +though in the bonds of death. +</p> + +<p> +The earl afterwards built the <name type="ship">Scourge of Malice</name>, a ship of 800 tons, and the largest +yet constructed by an English subject, and in 1597 obtained letters patent authorising +him to levy sea and land forces. Without royal assistance, he gathered eighteen sail. +This expedition, although it worried and impoverished the Spaniards, was not particularly +profitable to the earl. He took Puerto Rico, and then abandoned it, and did not, as he +expected, intercept either the outward-bound East Indiamen, who, indeed, were too frightened +to venture out of the Tagus that year, or the homeward-bound Mexican fleet. This was +Cumberland’s last expedition, and no other subject ever undertook so many at his own cost. +</p> + +<p> +The Elizabethan age was otherwise so glorious that it is painful to have to record +the establishment of the slave-trade—a serious blot on the reign—one which no Englishman +of to-day would defend, but which was then looked upon as perfectly legitimate. John +Hawkins (afterwards Sir John) was born at Plymouth, and his father had long been +a well-esteemed sea-captain, the first Englishman, it is believed, who ever traded to the +Brazils. The young man had gained much renown by trips to Spain, Portugal, and +the Canaries, and having <q>grown in love and favour</q> with the Canarians, by good and +upright dealing, began to think of more extended enterprises. Learning that <q>negroes +were very good merchandise in Hispaniola, and that store of them might easily be had +upon the coast of Guinea,</q> he communicated with several London ship-owners, who +liked his schemes, and provided him in large part with the necessary outfit. Three small +vessels were provided—the <name type="ship">Solomon</name>, of 120 tons, the <name type="ship">Swallow</name>, of 100, and the <name type="ship">Jonas</name>, of +forty. Hawkins left England in October, 1562, and proceeding to Sierra Leone, <q>got +into his possession, partly by the sword and partly by other means, to the number of 300 +negroes at the least, besides other merchandise which that country yieldeth.</q> At the +port of Isabella, Puerto de Plata, and Monte Christo, he made sale of the slaves to the +Spaniards, trusting them <q>no farther than by his own strength he was able to master +them.</q> He received in exchange, pearls, ginger, sugar, and hides enough, not merely to +freight his own vessels, but two other hulks, and thus <q>with prosperous success, and +much gain to himself and the aforesaid adventurers, he came home, and arrived in +September, 1563.</q> +</p><anchor id="figsir_joha"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SIR JOHN HAWKINS.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_344.png" rend="w80"><head>SIR JOHN HAWKINS.</head> + <figDesc>SIR JOHN HAWKINS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +<p> +The second expedition was on a larger scale, and included a queen’s ship of 700 tons. +Hawkins arriving off the Rio Grande, could not enter it for want of a pilot, but he +proceeded to Sambula, one of the islands near its mouth, where he <q>went every day on +shore to take the inhabitants, with burning and spoiling their towns,</q> and got a number +of slaves. Flushed with easy success, Hawkins was persuaded by some Portuguese to +attack a negro town called Bymeba, where he was informed there was much gold. Forty +of his men were landed, and they dispersing, to secure what booty they could for +themselves, became an easy prey to the negroes, who killed seven, including one of the +captains, and wounded twenty-seven. After a visit to Sierra Leone, which he left quickly +on account of the illness and death of some of his men, he proceeded to the West Indies, +where he carried matters with a high hand at the small Spanish settlements, at which +very generally the poor inhabitants had been forbidden to trade with him by the viceroy, +then stationed at St. Domingo. To this he replied at Borburata, that he was in need of +refreshment and money also, <q>without which he could not depart. Their princes were +in amity one with another; the English had free traffic in Spain and Flanders; and he +knew no reason why they should not have the like in the King of Spain’s dominions. +Upon this the Spaniards said they would send to their governor, who was three-score +leagues off; ten days must elapse before his determination could arrive; meantime he +might bring his ships into the harbour, and they would supply him with any victuals he +might require.</q> The ships sailed in and were supplied, but Hawkins, <q>advising himself +that to remain there ten days idle, spending victuals and men’s wages, and perhaps, in +the end, receive no good answer from the governor, it were mere folly,</q> requested licence +to sell certain lean and sick negroes, for whom he had little or no food, but who would +recover with proper treatment ashore. This request, he said, he was forced to make, as +he had not otherwise wherewith to pay for necessaries supplied to him. He received a +licence to sell thirty slaves, but now few showed a disposition to buy, and where they +did, came to haggle and cheapen. Hawkins made a feint to go, when the Spaniards +bought some of his poorer negroes, <q>but when the purchasers paid the duty and required +the customary receipt, the officer refused to give it, and instead of carrying the money +to the king’s account, distributed it to the poor <q>for the love of God.</q></q> The purchasers +feared that they might have to pay the duty a second time, and the trade was suspended +till the governor arrived, on the fourteenth day. To him Hawkins told a long-winded +story, concluding by saying that, <q>it would be taken well at the governor’s hand if he +granted a licence in this case, seeing that there was a great amity between their princes, +and that the thing pertained to our queen’s highness.</q> The petition was taken under +consideration in council, and at last granted. The licence of thirty ducats demanded for +each slave sold did not, however, meet Hawkins’ views, and he therefore landed 100 men +well armed, and marched toward the town. The poor townspeople sent out messengers +to know his demands, and he requested that the duty should be 7½ per cent., and mildly +threatened that if they would not accede to this <q>he would displease them.</q> Everything +was conceded, and Hawkins obtained the prices he wanted. Fancy a modern merchant +standing with an armed guard, pistol in hand, over his customers, insisting that he would +sell what he liked and at his own price! +</p> + +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> + +<p> +But all this is nothing to what happened at Rio de la Hacha. There he spoke of +his quiet traffic (!) at Borburata, and requested permission to trade there in the same +manner. He was told that the viceroy had forbidden it, whereupon he threatened them +that he must either have the licence or they <q>stand to their own defence.</q> The licence +was granted, but they offered half the prices which he had obtained at Borburata, +whereupon he told them, insultingly, that <q>seeing they had sent him this to his supper, +he would in the morning bring them as good a breakfast.</q><note place="foot">Hakluyt.</note> Accordingly, early next +day he fired off a culverin, and prepared to land with 100 men, <q>having light ordnance +in his great boat, and in the other boats double bases in their noses.</q> The townsmen +marched out in battle array, but when the guns were fired fell flat on their faces, and +soon dispersed. Still, about thirty horsemen made a show of resistance, their white leather +targets in one hand and their javelins in the other, but as soon as Hawkins marched +towards them they sent a flag of truce, and the treasurer, <q>in a cautious interview with +this ugly merchant,</q> granted all he asked, and the trade proceeded. They parted with +a show of friendship, and saluted each other with their guns, the townspeople <q>glad to +be sped of such traders.</q> +</p><anchor id="figon__thco"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: ON THE COAST OF CORNWALL.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_341.png" rend="w80"><head>ON THE COAST OF CORNWALL.</head> + <figDesc>ON THE COAST OF CORNWALL</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On the return voyage, contrary winds prevailed, <q>till victuals scanted, so that +they were in despair of ever reaching home, had not God provided for them better than +their deserving.</q> They arrived at Padstow, in Cornwall, <q>with the loss,</q> says the +narrative printed in Hakluyt’s collection, <q>of twenty persons in all the voyage, and with +great profit to the venturers, as also to the whole realm, in bringing home both gold, +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/>silver, pearls, and other jewels in great store. His name, therefore, be praised for +evermore. Amen!</q> They did not consider that they had been engaged in a most +iniquitous traffic, nor was it, indeed, the opinion of the times. <q>Hawkins,</q> says +Southey, <q>then, is not individually to be condemned, if he looked upon dealing in negroes +to be as lawful as any other trade, and thought that force or artifice might be employed +for taking them with as little compunction as in hunting, fishing, or fowling.</q> He had +a coat of arms and crest bestowed upon him and his posterity. Among other devices it +bore <q>a demi-Moor, in his proper colour, bound and captive, with annulets on his +arms,</q> &c. +</p> + +<p> +On his next expedition for slaving purposes he had six vessels. Herrera<note place="foot"><q>Historia General.</q></note> says that +two Portuguese had offered to conduct this fleet to a place where they might load their +vessels with gold and other riches, and that the queen had been so taken with the idea +that she had supplied Hawkins with two ships, he and his brother fitting out four others +and a pinnace. The force on board amounted to 1,500 soldiers and sailors, who were to +receive a third of the profits. When the expedition was ready, the Portuguese deserted +from Plymouth, and went to France, but as the cost of the outfit had been incurred, it +was thought proper to proceed. Hawkins obtained, after a great deal of trouble, less +than 150 slaves between the Rio Grande and Sierra Leone. At this juncture a negro +king, just going to war with a neighbouring tribe, sent to the commander asking his aid, +promising him all the prisoners who should be taken. This was a tempting bait, and +120 men were sent to assist the coloured warrior. They assaulted a town containing +8,000 inhabitants, strongly paled and well defended, and the English losing six men, +and having a fourth of their number wounded, sent for more help; <q>whereupon,</q> says +Hawkins, <q>considering that the good success of this enterprise might highly further the +commodity of our voyage, I went myself; and with the help of the king of our side, +assaulted the town both by land and sea, and very hardly, with fire (their houses being +covered with dry palm-leaves), obtained the town, and put the inhabitants to flight, where +we took 250 persons, men, women, and children. And by our friend, the king of our side, +there were taken 600 prisoners, whereof we hoped to have had our choice; but the negro +(in which nation is seldom or never found truth) meant nothing less, for that night he +removed his camp and prisoners, so that we were fain to content us with those few that +we had gotten ourselves.</q> They had obtained between 400 and 500, a part of which +were speedily sold as soon as he reached the West Indies. At Rio de la Hacha, <q>from +whence came all the pearls,</q> the treasurer would by no means allow them to trade, or +even to water the ships, and had fortified the town with additional bulwarks, well manned +by harquebusiers. Hawkins again enforced trade, by landing 200 men, who stormed their +fortifications, at which the Spaniards fled. <q>Thus having the town,</q> says Hawkins, +<q>with some circumstance, as partly by the Spaniards’ desire of negroes, and partly by +friendship of the treasurer, we obtained a secret trade, whereupon the Spaniards resorted +to us by night, and bought of us to the number of 200 negroes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This voyage ended most disastrously. Passing by the west end of Cuba, they +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/>encountered a terrific storm, which lasted four days, and they had to cut down all the +<q>higher buildings</q> of the <name type="ship">Jesus</name>, their largest ship; her rudder, too, was nearly disabled, +and she leaked badly. They made for the coast of Florida, but could find no suitable +haven. <q>Thus, being in great despair, and taken with a new storm, which continued +other three days,</q> Hawkins made for St. Juan de Ulloa, a port of the city of Mexico. +They took on their way three ships, having on board 100 passengers, and soon reached +the harbour. The Spaniards mistook them for a fleet from Spain, which was expected +about that time, and the chief officers came aboard to receive the despatches. <q>Being +deceived of their expectation,</q> they were somewhat alarmed, but finding that Hawkins +wanted nothing but provisions, <q>were recomforted.</q> <q>I found in the same port,</q> says +Hawkins, <q>twelve ships, which had in them, by report, £200,000 in gold and silver; <hi rend='italic'>all +of which being in my possession</hi>, with the king’s island, as also the passengers before in +my way thitherward stayed, I set at liberty, without the taking from them the weight +of a groat.</q> This savours rather of impudent presumption, for he was certainly not in +good condition to fight at that period. Next day the Spanish fleet arrived outside, when +Hawkins again rode the high horse, by giving notice to the general that he would not +suffer them to enter the port until conditions had been made for their safe-being, and for +the maintenance of peace. The fleet had on board a new viceroy, who answered amicably, +and desired him to propose his conditions. Hawkins required not merely victuals and trade, +and hostages to be given on both sides, but that the island should be in his possession +during his stay, with such ordnance as was planted there, and that no Spaniard might +land on the island with any kind of weapon. These terms the viceroy <q>somewhat disliked</q> +at first, nor is it very surprising that he did; but at length he pretended to consent, and +the Spanish ships entered the port. In a few days it became evident that treachery was +intended, as men and weapons in quantities were being transferred from and to the +Spanish ships, and new ordnance landed on the island. Hawkins sent to inquire what +was meant, and was answered with fair words; still unsatisfied, he sent the master of the +<name type="ship">Jesus</name>, who spoke Spanish, to the viceroy, and <q>required to be satisfied if any such thing +were or not.</q> The viceroy, now seeing that the treason must be discovered, retained the +master, blew his trumpet, and it became evident that a general attack was intended. A +number of the English crews ashore were immediately massacred. They attempted to +board the <name type="ship">Minion</name> and <name type="ship">Jesus</name>, but were kept out, with great loss on both sides. <q>Now,</q> +says Hawkins, <q>when the <name type="ship">Jesus</name> and the <name type="ship">Minion</name> were gotten about two ships’ lengths from +the Spanish fleet, the fight began so hot on all sides, that, within one hour, the admiral +of the Spaniards was supposed to be sunk, their vice-admiral burnt, and one other of their +principal ships supposed to be sunk. The Spaniards used their shore artillery to such +effect that it cut all the masts and yards of the <name type="ship">Jesus</name>, and sunk Hawkins’ smaller ships, +the <name type="ship">Judith</name> only excepted.</q> It had been determined, as there was little hope to get the +<name type="ship">Jesus</name> away, that she should be placed as a target or defence for the <name type="ship">Minion</name> till night, +when they would remove such of the stores and valuables as was possible, and then abandon +her. <q>As we were thus determining,</q> says Hawkins, <q>and had placed the <name type="ship">Minion</name> from +the shot of the land, suddenly the Spaniards fired two great ships which were coming +directly with us; and having no means to avoid the fire, it bred among the men a +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/>marvellous fear, so that some said, <q>Let us depart with the <name type="ship">Minion</name>;</q> others said, <q>Let +us see whether the wind will carry the fire from us.</q> But, to be short, the <name type="ship">Minion’s</name> +men, which had always their sails in readiness, thought to make sure work, and so, without +either consent of the captain or master, cut their sail.</q> Hawkins was <q>very hardly</q> +received on board, and many of the men of the <name type="ship">Jesus</name> were left to their fate and the mercy +of the Spaniards, <q>which,</q> he says, <q>I doubt was very little.</q> Only the <name type="ship">Minion</name> and +the <name type="ship">Judith</name> escaped, and the latter deserted that same night. Beaten about in unknown +seas for the next fourteen days, hunger at last enforced them to seek the land; <q>for +hides were thought very good meat; rats, cats, mice, and dogs, none escaped that might +be gotten; parrots and monkeys, that were had in great price, were thought then very +profitable if they served the turn of one dinner.</q> So starved and worn out were they, +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/>that about a hundred of his people desired to be left on the coast of Tabasco, and Hawkins +determined to water there, and then, <q>with his little remain of victuals,</q> to attempt the +voyage home. During this time, while on shore with fifty of his men, a gale arose, +which prevented them regaining the ship; indeed, they expected to see it wrecked before +their eyes. At last the storm abated, and they sailed for England, the men dying off +daily from sheer exhaustion, the pitiful remainder being scarcely able to work the ship. +They at last reached the coast of Galicia, where they obtained fresh meat, and putting +into Vigo, were assisted by some English ships lying there. Hawkins concludes his +narrative as follows:—<q>If all the miseries and troublesome affairs of this sorrowful voyage +should be perfectly and thoroughly written, there should need a painful man with his pen, +and as great a time as he had that wrote the lives and deaths of the martyrs.</q> +</p><anchor id="fighawkatst"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: HAWKINS AT ST. JUAN DE ULLOA.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_345.jpg" rend="w100"><head>HAWKINS AT ST. JUAN DE ULLOA.</head> + <figDesc>HAWKINS AT ST. JUAN DE ULLOA</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +The <name type="ship">Judith</name>, which made one of Hawkins’s last fleet, was commanded by Francis +Drake, a name that was destined to become one of the most famous of the day, and very +terrible to the Spaniards. In this last venture he lost all that he had accumulated by +earlier voyages, <q>but a divine, belonging to the fleet, comforted him with the assurance, +that having been so treacherously used by the Spaniards, he might lawfully recover in +value of the King of Spain, and repair his losses upon him wherever he could.</q> This +comfortable doctrine consoled him. <q>The case,</q> says Fuller, <q>was clear in sea divinity.</q> +Two or three minor voyages he made to gain knowledge of the field of operation, and in +the West Indies made some little money <q>by playing the seaman and the pirate.</q> On +May 24th, 1572, he sailed from Plymouth, in the <name type="ship">Pascha</name>, of seventy tons, his brother +accompanying him in the <name type="ship">Swan</name>, of only twenty-five tons; they had three pinnaces on +board, taken to pieces and stowed away. The force with which he was to revenge himself +on the Spanish monarch, numbered seventy-three men and boys, all told. In the Indies +he was joined by Captain Rowse, of an Isle of Wight bark, with thirty-eight men on +board. Let us see how they sped. +</p> + +<p> +It was known that there was great treasure at Nombre de Dios, and thither the little +squadron shaped its course. The town was unwalled, and they entered without difficulty, +but the Spaniards received them in the market-place with a volley of shot. Drake returned +the greeting with a flight of arrows, <q>the best ancient English + <anchor id="corr302"/><corr sic="(quote missing)">complement,</corr></q> but in the +attack received a wound in his leg, which he dissembled, <q>knowing that if the general’s +heart stoop, the men’s will fall.</q> He arrived at the treasury-house, which was full of +silver bars, and while in the act of ordering his men to break it open, fainted from the loss of +blood, and his men, binding up the wound, forcibly took him to his pinnace. It was time, +for the Spaniards had discovered their weakness, and could have overcome them. Rather +disappointed here, Drake made for Carthagena, and took several vessels on his way. He +learned from some escaped negro slaves, settled on the isthmus of Darien, that the treasure +was brought from Panama to Nombre de Dios upon mules, a party of which he might +intercept. Drake’s leg having healed, he was led to an eminence on that isthmus, where, +from a great tree, both the Pacific and Atlantic might be seen. Steps had been cut in +the trunk of this huge tree, and at the top <q>a convenient arbour had been made, wherein +twelve men might sit.</q> Drake saw from its summit that great Southern Ocean (the +Pacific Ocean) of which he had heard something already, and <q>being inflamed with +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/>ambition of glory and hopes of wealth, was so vehemently transported with desire to +navigate that sea, that falling down there upon his knees, he implored the divine assistance, +that he might at some time or other sail thither, and make a perfect discovery of the +same.</q><note place="foot">Camden. Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific, had expressed the same feelings in almost the same locality.</note> Drake was the first Englishman to gaze on its waters. +</p><anchor id="figdrakfivi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: DRAKE’S FIRST VIEW OF THE PACIFIC]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_331.jpg" rend="w100"><head>DRAKE’S FIRST VIEW OF THE PACIFIC</head> + <figDesc>DRAKE’S FIRST VIEW OF THE PACIFIC</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On the isthmus, Drake encountered an armed party of Spaniards, but put them to +flight, and destroyed merchandise to the value of 200,000 ducats. Soon after he heard +<q>the sweet music of the mules coming with a great noise of bells,</q> and when the trains +came up, he found they had no one but the muleteers to protect them. It was easy work +to take as much silver as they would, but more difficult to transport it to the coast. +They, in consequence, buried several <hi rend='italic'>tons</hi>, but one of his men, who fell into the hands of +the Spaniards, was compelled by torture to reveal the place, and when Drake’s people +returned for a second load it was nearly all gone. When they returned to the coast +where the pinnaces should have met them, they were not to be seen, but in place, seven +Spanish pinnaces which had been searching the coast. Drake escaped their notice, and +constructing a raft of the trees which the river brought down, mounted a biscuit sack for +sail, and steered it with an oar made from a sapling, out to sea, where they were constantly +up to their waists in water. At last they caught sight of their own pinnaces, ran the +raft ashore, and travelled by land round to the point off which they were laying. They +then embarked their comrades with the treasure, and rejoined the ship. One of their negro +allies took a great fancy to Drake’s sword, and when it was presented to him, desired the +commander to accept four wedges of gold. <q>Drake accepted them as courteously as they +were proffered, but threw them into the common stock, saying, it was just that they who +bore part of the charge in setting him to sea, should enjoy their full proportion of the +advantage at his return.</q> Drake made the passage home to the Scilly Isles in the +wonderfully short period of twenty-three days. Arriving at Plymouth on a Sunday, the +news was carried into the church during sermon time, and <q>there remained few or no people +with the preacher,</q> for Drake was already a great man and a hero in the eyes of all +Devon. +</p> + +<p> +John Oxenham, who had served with Drake in the varied capacities of soldier, sailor, +and cook, was very much in the latter’s confidence. Drake had particularly spoken of his +desire to explore the Pacific, and Oxenham in reply, had protested that <q>he would follow +him by God’s grace.</q> The latter, who <q>had gotten among the seamen the name of captain +for his valour, and had privily scraped together good store of money,</q> becoming +impatient, determined to attempt the enterprise his late master had projected. He reached +the isthmus to find that the mule trains conveying the silver were now protected by a +convoy of soldiers, and he determined on a bold and novel adventure. <q>He drew his +ship aground in a retired and woody creek, covered it up with boughs, buried his provisions +and his great guns, and taking with him two small pieces of ordnance, went with all his +men and six Maroon guides about twelve leagues into the interior, to a river which +discharges itself into the South Sea. There he cut wood and built a pinnace, <q>which was +five-and-forty feet by the keel;</q></q> embarked in it, and secured for himself the honour of +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/>having been the first Englishman to sail over the waters of the blue Pacific. In +this pinnace he went to the Pearl Islands, and lay in wait for vessels. He was +successful in capturing a small bark, bringing gold from Quito, and scarcely a week later, +another with silver from Lima. He also obtained a few pearls on the islands. +</p><anchor id="figoxenemon"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: OXENHAM EMBARKING ON THE PACIFIC.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_348.png" rend="w80"><head>OXENHAM EMBARKING ON THE PACIFIC.</head> + <figDesc>OXENHAM EMBARKING ON THE PACIFIC</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +So far, fortune had followed Oxenham, and to his own want of caution is due the +fact that this prosperous state of affairs was soon reversed. He had dismissed his prizes +when near the mouth of the river, and had allowed them to perceive where he was entering. +The alarm was soon given; first, indeed, by some negroes who hastened to Panama. +Juan de Ortega was immediately dispatched with 100 men, besides negro rowers, in four +barks. After entering the river, a four days’ search rewarded him by the discovery of the +pinnace with six Englishmen on board, who leaped ashore and ran for dear life; one only +was killed at this juncture. Ortega discovered in the woods the hut in which Oxenham +had concealed the treasure, and removed it to his barks. Meantime, Oxenham, whose men +had been disputing over the division of spoils, had been to a distance for the purpose of +inducing some of the Maroon negroes to act as carriers, and returning with them, met the +men who had escaped from the pinnace, and those who were fleeing from the hut. <q>The +loss of their booty at once completed their reconcilement; he promised larger shares if they +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/>should succeed in re-capturing it; and marched resolutely in quest of the Spaniards, relying +upon the Maroons as well as upon his own people.</q> But Ortega and his men were +experienced in bush-fighting, and they succeeded in killing eleven Englishmen, and five +negroes, and took seven of Oxenham’s party prisoners. He, with the remnant of his party, +went back to search for his hidden ship; it had been removed by the Spaniards. And +now the latter sent 150 men to hunt the Englishmen out, while those whom they failed +to take were delivered up by the natives. Oxenham and two of his officers were taken +to Lima and executed; the remainder suffered death at Panama. +</p> + +<p> +The greatest semi-commercial and piratical voyage of this epoch is undoubtedly that +of Drake, who reached the South Seas<note place="foot">Whenever the South Seas are mentioned in these early records, they must he understood to mean the South +Pacific, and, indeed, sometimes portions of the North Pacific. The title still clings to the Polynesian Islands.</note> <hi rend='italic'>viâ</hi> the Straits of Magellan—the third recorded +attempt, and the first made by an Englishman—and was the first English subject to circumnavigate +the globe. Elizabeth gave it her secret sanction, and when Drake was introduced +to her court by Sir Christopher Hatton, presented him a sword, with this remarkable speech: +<q>We do account that he which striketh at thee, Drake, striketh at us!</q> The expedition, +fitted at his own cost, and that of various adventurers, comprised five vessels; the largest, his +own ship, the <name type="ship">Pelican</name>, being only 100 tons. His whole force consisted of <q>164 men, gentlemen, +and sailors; and was furnished with such plentiful provision of all things necessary +as so long and dangerous a voyage seemed to require.</q> The frames of four pinnaces were +taken, to be put together as occasion might require. <q>Neither did he omit, it is said, to +make provision for ornament and delight; carrying to this purpose with him expert musicians, +rich furniture (all the vessels for his table, yea, many belonging to the cook-room, being of +pure silver) with divers shows of all sorts of curious workmanship, whereby the civility and +magnificence of his native country might, among all nations whither he should come, be the +more admired.</q><note place="foot">Burney’s <q>Voyages.</q></note> Few of his companions knew at the outset the destination of his voyage; +it was given out that they were bound merely for Alexandria. +</p> + +<p> +The expedition sailed on November 15th, 1577, from Plymouth, and immediately +encountered a storm so severe that the vessels came near shipwreck, and were obliged +to put back and refit. When they had again started under fairer auspices, Drake gave his +people some little information as to his proposed voyage, and appointed an island off the +coast of Barbary as a rendezvous in case of separation at sea, and subsequently Cape Blanco, +where he mustered his men ashore and put them through drills and warlike exercises. +Already, early in January, he had taken some minor Spanish prizes, and a little later, off the +island of Santiago, chased a Portuguese ship, bound for Brazil, <q>with many passengers, +and among other commodities, good store of wine.</q> Drake captured and set the people +on one of his smaller pinnaces, giving them their clothes, some provisions, and one butt of +wine, letting them all go except their pilot. The provisions and wine on board the prize +proved invaluable to the expedition. From the Cape de Verde Islands they were nine +weeks out of sight of land, and before they reached the coast of Brazil, when near the +equator, <q>Drake, being very careful of his men’s health, let every one of them blood with +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/>his own hands.</q> On nearing the Brazilian coast, the inhabitants <q>made great fires for a +sacrifice to the devils, about which they use conjurations (making heaps of sand and other +ceremonies), that when any ships shall go about to stay upon their coast, not only sands +may be gathered together in shoals in every place, but also that storms and tempests may +arise, to the casting away of ships and men.</q> Near the Plata they slaughtered large +numbers of seals, thinking them <q>good and acceptable meat both as food for the present, +and as a supply of provisions for the future.</q> Further south, they found stages constructed +on the rocks by the natives for drying the flesh of ostriches; their thighs were as large +as <q>reasonable legs of mutton.</q> At a spot which Drake named Seal Bay, they +remained over a fortnight. Here they <q>made new provisions of seals, whereof they slew +to the number of from 200 to 300 in the space of an hour.</q> Some little traffic ensued +with the natives, all of whom were highly painted, some of them having the whole of +one side, from crown to heel, painted black, and the other white. <q>They fed on seals +and other flesh, which they ate nearly raw, casting pieces of four or six pounds’ weight +into the fire, till it was a little scorched, and then tearing it in pieces with their teeth like +lions.</q> At the sound of Drake’s band of trumpeters they showed great delight, dancing +on the beach with the sailors. They were described as of large stature. <q>One of these +giants,</q> said the chaplain of the expedition, <q>standing with our men when they were +taking their morning draughts, showed himself so familiar that he also would do as they +did; and taking a glass in his hand (being strong canary wine), it came no sooner to his +lips, than it took him by the nose, and so suddenly entered his head, that he was so drunk, +or at least so overcome, that he fell right down, not able to stand; yet he held the +glass fast in his hand, without spilling any of the wine; and when he came to himself, +he tried again, and tasting, by degrees got to the bottom. From which time he took +such a liking to the wine, that having learnt the name, he would every morning come +down from the mountains with a mighty cry of <q>Wine! wine! wine!</q> continuing the +same until he arrived at the tent.</q><note place="foot">Narrative of Chaplain Fletcher, quoted by Burney.</note> +</p> + +<p> +After some trouble caused by the separation of the vessels, the whole fleet arrived +safely at the <q>good harborough called by Magellan Port Julian,</q> where nearly the first +sight they met was a gibbet, on which the Portuguese navigator had executed several +mutinous members of his company, some of the bones of whom yet remained. Drake +himself was to have trouble here. At the outset the natives appeared friendly, and a +trial of skill in shooting arrows resulted in an English gunner exceeding their efforts, +at which they appeared pleased by the skill shown. A little while after another Indian +came, <q>but of a sourer sort,</q> and one Winter, prepared for another display of archery, +unfortunately broke the bow-string when he drew it to its full length. This disabused +the natives, to some extent, of the superior skill of the English, and an attack was +made, apparently incited by the Indian just mentioned. Poor Winter received two wounds, +and the gunner coming to the rescue with his gun missed fire, and was immediately shot +<q>through the breast and out at back, so that he fell down stark dead.</q> Drake assembled +his men, ordering them to cover themselves with their targets, and march on the assailants, +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/>instructing them to break the arrows shot at them, noting that the savages had but a +small store. <q>At the same time he took the piece which had so unhappily missed fire, +aimed at the Indian who had killed the gunner, and who was the man who had begun the +fray, and shot him in the belly. An arrow wound, however severe, the savage would have +borne without betraying any indication of pain; but his cries, upon being thus wounded, +were so loud and hideous, that his companions were terrified and fled, though many were +then hastening to their assistance. Drake did not pursue them, but hastened to convey +Winter to the ship for speedy help; no help, however, availed, and he died on the second +day. The gunner’s body, which had been left on shore, was sent for the next day; +the savages, meantime, had stripped it, as if for the sake of curiously inspecting it; the +clothes they had laid under the head, and stuck an English arrow in the right eye for +mockery. Both bodies were buried in a little island in the harbour.</q><note place="foot">Various authorities cited by Southey.</note> No farther attempt +was made to injure the English, who remained two months in the harbour, but friendly +relations were not established. A more serious event was to follow. +</p> + +<p> +One Master Doughtie was suspected and accused of something worse than ordinary +mutiny or insubordination. It is affirmed in a history of the voyage published under +the name of Drake’s nephew, that Doughtie had embarked on the expedition for the +distinct purpose of overthrowing it for his own aggrandisement, to accomplish which he +intended to raise a mutiny, and murder the admiral and his most attached followers. +Further, it is stated, that Drake was informed of this before he left Plymouth; but that +he would not credit <q>that a person whom he so dearly loved would conceive such evil +purposes against him.</q> Doughtie had been put in possession of the Portuguese prize, +but had been removed on a charge of peculation, and it is likely that <q>resentment, whether +for the wrongful charge, or the rightful removal, might be rankling in him;</q> at all events, +his later conduct, and mutinous words, left no alternative to Drake but to examine him +before a properly constituted court, and he seems to have most reluctantly gone even to +this length.<note place="foot">The various slanders thrown on Drake’s name in connection with this occurrence seem to have had no +foundation in fact. Some of his enemies averred that he sailed from England with instructions from the Earl of +Leicester to get rid of Doughtie at the first opportunity, because the latter had reported that Essex had been +poisoned by the former’s means. But Drake appears to have been really attached to him.</note> He was <q>found guilty by twelve men after the English manner, and +suffered accordingly.</q> <q>The most indifferent persons in the fleet,</q> says Southey, <q>were +of opinion that he had acted seditiously, and that Drake cut him off because of his emulous +designs. The question is, how far those designs extended? He could not aspire to the +credit of the voyage without devising how to obtain for himself some more conspicuous +station in it than that of a gentleman volunteer; if he regarded Drake as a rival, he must +have hoped to supplant, or at least to vie with him; and in no other way could he have +vied with him but by making off with one of the ships, and trying his own fortune</q> +(which was afterwards actually accomplished by others). Doughtie was condemned to death. +<q>And he,</q> says a writer, quoted by Hakluyt, <q>seeing no remedy but patience for himself, +desired before his death to receive the communion; which he did at the hands of Master +Fletcher, our minister, and our general himself accompanied him in that holy action; +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/>which being done, and the place of execution made ready, he, having embraced our general, +and taken his leave of all the company, with prayer for the queen’s majesty and our +realm, in quiet sort laid his head to the block, where he ended his life.</q> One account says +that after partaking of the communion, Drake and Doughtie dined at the same table +together, <q>as cheerfully, in sobriety, as ever in their lives they had done; and taking +their leave by drinking to each other, as if some short journey only had been in hand.</q> +A provost marshal had made all things ready, and after drinking this funereal stirrup-cup, +Doughtie went to the block. Drake subsequently addressed the whole company, exhorting +them to unity and subordination, asking them to prepare reverently for a special celebration +of the holy communion on the following Sunday. +</p> + +<p> +And now, having broken up the Portuguese prize on account of its unseaworthiness, +and rechristened his own ship, the <name type="ship">Pelican</name>, into the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name>, Drake entered the +Straits now named after Magellan, though that navigator termed them the Patagonian +Straits, because he had found the natives wearing clumsy shoes or sandals: <hi rend='italic'>patagon</hi> +signifying in Portuguese a large, ill-shaped foot. The land surrounding the straits is high +and mountainous, and the water generally deep close to the cliffs. <q>We found the strait,</q> +says the first narrator, <q>to have many turnings, and as it were, shuttings up, as if there +were no passage at all.</q> Drake passed through the tortuous strait in seventeen days. +Clift, one of the historians of the expedition, whose narrative is preserved in Hakluyt’s +collection of <q>Voyages,</q> says of the penguins there, three thousand of which were killed +in less than a day, <q>We victualled ourselves with a kind of fowl which is plentiful on +that isle (St. George’s in the Straits), and whose flesh is not unlike a fat goose here +in England. They have no wings, but short pinions, which serve their turn in swimming; +their colour is somewhat black, mixed with white spots under their belly, and about their +necks. They wall so upright that, afar off, a man would take them to be little children. +If a man approach anything near them, they run into holes in the ground (which be +not very deep) whereof the island is full, so that to take them we had staves with +hooks fast to the end, wherewith some of our men pulled them out, and others being +ready with cudgels did knock them on the head, for they bite so cruelly with their crooked +bills, that none of us were able to handle them alive.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Drake’s vessels, separated by a gale, were driven hither and thither. One of them, +the <name type="ship">Marigold</name>, must have foundered, as she was never again heard of. The two remaining +ships sought shelter in a dangerous rocky bay, from which the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name> was driven +to sea, her cable having parted. The other vessel, under Captain Winter’s command, +regained the straits, and <q>anchoring there in an open bay, made great fires on the +shore, that if Drake should put into the strait also, he might discover them.</q> Winter +proceeded later up the straits, and anchored in a sound, which he named the Port of +Health, because his men, who had been <q>very sick with long watching, wet, cold, and +evil diet,</q> soon recovered on the nourishing shell-fish found there. He, after waiting +some time, and despairing of regaining Drake’s company, gave over the voyage, and +set sail for England, <q>where he arrived with the reproach of having abandoned his +commander.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Drake was now reduced to his own vessel, the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name>, which was obliged +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/>to seek shelter on the coast of Terra del Fuego. The winds again forced him from his +anchorage, and his shallop, with eight men on board, and provisions for only one day, +was separated from him. The fate of these poor fellows was tragical. They regained +the straits, where they caught and salted a quantity of penguins, and then coasted up +South America to the Plata. Six of them landed, and while searching for food in the +forests, encountered a party of Indians, who wounded all of them with their arrows, and +secured four, pursuing the others to the boat. These latter reached the two men in +charge, but before they could put off, all were wounded by the natives. They, however, +succeeded in reaching an island some distance from the mainland, where two of them +died from the injuries received, and the boat was wrecked and beaten to pieces on the +rocks. The remaining two stopped on the island eight weeks, living on shell-fish and a +fruit resembling an orange, but could find no water. They at length ventured to the +mainland on a large plank some ten feet in length, which they propelled with paddles; +the passage occupied three days. <q>On coming to land,</q> says Carter, the only survivor, +<q>we found a rivulet of sweet water; when William Pitcher, my only comfort and +companion (although I endeavoured to dissuade him) overdrank himself, and to my +unspeakable grief, died within half an hour.</q> Carter himself fell into the hands of some +Indians, who took pity on him, and conducted him to a Portuguese settlement. Nine years +elapsed before he was able to regain his own country. +</p><anchor id=" figsir_f_dr"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: SIR F. DRAKE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_353.png" rend="w60"><head>SIR F. DRAKE.</head> + <figDesc>SIR F. DRAKE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Meantime Drake was driven so far to the southward, that at length he <q>fell in with +the uttermost part of the land towards the South Pole,</q> or in other words, reached Cape +Horn. The storm had lasted with little intermission for over seven weeks. <q>Drake went +ashore, and, sailor-like, leaning over a promontory, as far as he safely could, came back +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/>and told his people how that he had been farther south than any man living.</q> At last +the wind was favourable, and he coasted northward, along the American shore, till he +reached the island of Mocha, where the Indians appeared at first to be friendly, and brought +off potatoes, roots, and two fat sheep, for which they received recompense. But on landing +for the purpose of watering the ship, the natives shot at them, wounding every one of +twelve men, and Drake himself under the right eye. In this case no attempt was made +at retaliation. The Indians doubtless took them for Spaniards. Drake, continuing his +voyage, fell in with an Indian fishing from a canoe, who was made to understand +their want of provisions, and was sent ashore with presents. This brought off a +number of natives with supplies of poultry, hogs, and fruits, while Felipe, one of them +who spoke Spanish, informed Drake that they had passed the port of Valparaiso—then +an insignificant settlement of less than a dozen Spanish families—where a large +ship was lying at anchor. Felipe piloted them thither, and they soon discovered the ship, +with a meagre crew of eight Spaniards and four negroes on board. So little was an enemy +expected, that as Drake’s vessel approached, it was saluted with beat of drum, and a jar +of Chili wine made ready for an hospitable reception. But Drake and his men wanted +something more than bumpers of wine, and soon boarded the vessel, one of the men +striking down the first Spaniard he met, and exclaiming, <q><hi rend='italic'>Abaxo perro!</hi></q> (Down, dog!) +Another of the crew leaped overboard and swam ashore to give an alarm to the town; the +rest were soon secured under hatches. The inhabitants of the town fled incontinently, but +the spoils secured there were small. The chapel was rifled of its altar-cloth, silver +chalice, and other articles, which were handed over to Drake’s chaplain; quantities of +wine and other provisions were secured. The crew of the prize, with the exception of the +Greek pilot, were set ashore, and Drake left with his new acquisition, which when examined +at sea was found to contain one thousand seven hundred and seventy jars of wine, sixty +thousand pieces of gold, some pearls, and other articles of value. The Indian who had +guided them to this piece of good fortune, was liberally rewarded. +</p> + +<p> +At a place called Tarapaca, whither they had gone to water the ship, they found a +Spaniard lying asleep, and keeping very bad guard over thirteen bars of silver, worth +four thousand ducats. Drake determined to take care of it for him. At a short distance +off, they encountered another, who, with an Indian, was driving eight llamas, each carrying +a hundredweight of silver. It is needless to say that the llamas were conveyed on board, +<hi rend='italic'>plus</hi> the silver. At Arica two ships were found at anchor, one of which yielded forty +bars of silver, and the other a considerable quantity of wine. But these were as trifles +to that which followed. +</p> + +<p> +Drake had pursued a leisurely course, but in spite of this fact, no intelligence of +the pirate’s approach had reached Lima. The term <q>pirate</q> is used advisedly, for whatever +the gain to geographical science afforded by his voyages, their chief aim was spoil, and +it mattered nothing whether England was at war with the victims of his prowess or +not. A few leagues off Callao harbour (the port of Lima), Drake boarded a +Portuguese vessel: the owner agreed to pilot him into Callao, provided his cargo was left +him. They arrived at nightfall, <q>sailing in between all the ships that lay there, seventeen +in number,</q> most of which had their sails ashore, for the Spaniards had had, as yet, no +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/>enemies in those waters. They rifled the ships of their valuables, and these included a +large quantity of silk and linen, and one chest of silver reales. But they heard that which +made their ears tingle, and inflamed their desires for gain; the <name type="ship">Cacafuego</name>, a great treasure +ship, had sailed only a few days before for a neighbouring port. Drake immediately +cut the cables of the ships at Lima, and let them drive, that they might not pursue him. +<q>While he was thus employed, a vessel from Panama, laden with Spanish goods, entered +the harbour, and anchored close by the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name>. A boat came from the shore to +search it; but because it was night, they deferred the search till the morning, and only +sent a man on board. The boat then came alongside Drake’s vessel, and asked what ship it +was. A Spanish prisoner answered, as he was ordered, that it was Miguel Angel’s, from +Chili. Satisfied with this, the officer in the boat sent a man to board it; but he, when +on the point of entering, perceived one of the large guns, and retreated in the boat with +all celerity, because no vessels that frequented that port, and navigated those seas, carried +great shot.</q> The crew of the Panama ship took alarm when they observed the rapid +flight of the man, and put to sea. The <name type="ship">Hinde</name> followed her, and the Spanish crew abandoned +their ship, and escaped ashore in their boat. The alarm had now been given in Lima, and +the viceroy dispatched two vessels in pursuit, each having two hundred men on board, +but no artillery. The Spanish commander, however, showed no desire to tackle Drake, +and he escaped, taking shortly afterwards three tolerable prizes, one of which yielded +forty bars of silver, eighty pounds’ weight of gold, and a golden crucifix, <q>set with goodly +great emeralds.</q> One of the men having secreted two plates of gold from this prize, and +denied the theft, was immediately hanged. +</p> + +<p> +But it was the <name type="ship">Cacafuego</name> that Drake wanted, and after crossing the line he promised +to give his own chain of gold to the first man who should descry her. On St. David’s +Day, the coveted prize was discovered from the top, by a namesake of the commander, one +John Drake. All sail was set, but an easy capture was before them; for the Spanish +captain, not dreaming of enemies in those latitudes, slackened sail, in order to find out +what ship she was. When they had approached near enough, Drake hailed them to strike, +which being refused, <q>with a great piece he shot her mast overboard, and having wounded +the master with an arrow, the ship yielded.</q> Having taken possession, the vessels sailed +in company far out to sea, when they stopped and lay by. She proved a prize indeed: +gold and silver in coin and bars, jewels and precious stones amounting to three hundred +and sixty thousand pieces of gold were taken from her. The silver alone amounted to a +value in our money of £212,000. It is stated that Drake called for the register of the +treasure on board, and wrote a receipt for the amount! The ship was dismissed, and Drake +gave the captain a letter of safe conduct, in case she should fall in with his consorts. +This, as we know, was impossible. +</p> + +<p> +Drake’s plain course now was to make his way home, and he wisely argued that it would +be unsafe to attempt the voyage by the route he had come, as the Spaniards would surely +attack him in full force, the whole coast of Chili and Peru being aroused to action. He +conceived the bold notion of rounding North America: in other words, he proposed to +make that passage which has been the great dream of Arctic explorers, and which has only, +as we shall hereafter see, been once made (and that in a very partial sense) by Franklin and +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/>M’Clure. His company agreed to his views: firstly to refit, water, and provision the ship +in some convenient bay; <q>thenceforward,</q> says one of them, <q>to hasten on our intended +journey for the discovery of the said passage, through which we might with joy return to +our longed homes.</q> They sailed for Nicaragua, near the mainland of which they found +a small island with a suitable bay, where they obtained wood, water, and fish. A small +prize was taken while there, having on board a cargo of sarsaparilla, which they disdained, +and butter and honey, which they appropriated. Drake now sailed northward, and most +undoubtedly reached the grand bay of San Francisco. Californian authorities concede this. +The <q>Drake’s Bay</q> of the charts is an open roadstead, and does not answer the descriptions +given of the great navigator’s visit. He had peaceful interviews with the natives, and +took possession, in the fashion of those days, of the country, setting up a monument +of the queen’s <q>right and title to the same, namely, a plate nailed upon a fair great post, +whereupon was engraven her Majesty’s name, the day and year of our arrival there, ... +together with her highness’s picture and arms in a piece of <hi rend='italic'>sixpence</hi> (!) of current English +money under the plate, where under also was written the name of our general.</q> History +does not tell us the fate of that sixpence, but the title, New Albion, bestowed on the +country by Drake, remained on the maps half way into this century, or just before the +discovery of gold in California. The natives regarded the English with superstitious awe, +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/>and could not be prevented from offering them sacrifices, <q>with lamentable weeping, +scratching, and tearing the flesh from their faces with their nails, whereof issued abundance +of <anchor id="corr313"/><corr sic="(quote missing)">blood.</corr></q> <q>But we used,</q> says the narrator quoted by Hakluyt, <q>signs to them of +disliking this, and stayed their hands from force, and directed them upwards to +the living God, whom only they ought to worship.</q> After remaining there five weeks, +Drake took his departure, and the natives watched the ships sadly as they sailed, and kept +fires burning on the hill-tops as long as they continued in sight. <q>Good store of seals +and birds</q> were taken from the Farralone Islands. Many an egg has the writer eaten, +laid by the descendants of those very birds: they are supplied in quantities to the San +Francisco markets. Drake’s attempt at the northern passage was now abandoned. +</p><anchor id="figdrakarat"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: DRAKE’S ARRIVAL AT TERNATE.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_356.png" rend="w80"><head>DRAKE’S ARRIVAL AT TERNATE.</head> + <figDesc>DRAKE’S ARRIVAL AT TERNATE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Sixty-eight days was Drake’s ship—containing one of the most valuable freights +ever held in one bottom—in the open sea, during which time no land was sighted; at +the end of this period the Pelew, Philippine, and Molucca Islands were successively +reached. At Ternate, Drake sent a velvet cloak as a present to the king, requesting +provisions, and that he might be allowed to trade for spices. The king was amiable and +well disposed; he sent before him <q>four great and large canoes, in every one whereof +were certain of his greatest states that were about him, attired in white lawn of cloth of +Calicut, having over their heads, from the one end of the canoe to the other, a covering +of thin perfumed mats, borne up with a frame made of reeds for the same use, under which +every one did sit in his order, according to his dignity, to keep him from the heat of the +sun. * * * The rest were soldiers which stood in comely order, round about on both +sides; without whom sat the rowers in certain galleries, which being three on a side all +along the canoes, did lie off from the side thereof three or four yards, one being orderly +builded lower than another, in every of which galleries were fourscore rowers. These +canoes were furnished with warlike munitions, every man, for the most part, having his +sword and target, with his dagger, besides other weapons, as lances, calivers, darts, +bows and arrows; also every canoe had a small cast-base (or cannon) mounted at the +least one full yard upon a stock set upright.</q> These canoes or galleys were rowed about +the ship, those on board doing homage as they passed. The king soon arrived in +state, and was received <q>with a salute of great guns, with trumpets sounding, and +such politic display of state and strength as Drake knew it was advisable to exhibit.</q> +Many presents were made to the king, who in return sent off provisions of rice, fowls, +fruits, sugar-cane, and <q>imperfect and liquid sugar</q> (presumably molasses). Next day +there was a grand reception ashore; the king, covered with gold and jewels, under a rich +canopy embossed with gold, professing great friendship. The fact was that his own father +had been assassinated by the Portuguese, and he himself had besieged and taken their +Fort St. Paul’s, and compelled them to leave it. He was, doubtless, anxious for some +alliance which might strengthen his hands against the Portuguese. Drake, however, +had no commission, nor desire at that time to engage his country to any such treaty; his +principal object now was to get home safely with his treasure. He, however, successfully +traded for a quantity of cloves and provisions. +</p> + +<p> +Off Celebes, the <name type="ship">Hinde</name> became entangled among the shoals, and while running under +full sail, suddenly struck on a rock, where she stuck fast. Boats were got out to see whether +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/>an anchor might not be employed to draw the ship off, but the water all round was very +deep, no bottom being found. Three tons of cloves, eight guns, and certain stores were +thrown overboard, but to no purpose. Fuller says quaintly, that they <q>threw overboard +as much wealth as would break the heart of a miser to think on’t; with much sugar, +and packs of spices, making a caudle of the sea round about. Then they betook themselves +to their prayers, the best lever at such a dead lift indeed, and it pleased God that the +wind, formerly their mortal enemy, became their friend.</q><note place="foot">Fuller’s <q>Holy State.</q></note> To the joy of all, the <name type="ship">Hinde</name> +glided off the rocks, and almost uninjured. On the way home they visited Barateva, +Java, the Cape, and Sierra Leone, being singularly fortunate in avoiding the Portuguese +and Spanish ships. The <name type="ship">Hinde</name> arrived safely at Plymouth on September 26th, 1580, +having been nearly three years on her eventful voyage. Drake was received with great +honour, and was knighted by the queen. She gave orders that his little ship should be +laid up at Deptford, and there carefully preserved as a monument of the most remarkable +voyage yet made. Elizabeth honoured Drake by banqueting on board, and his fame +spread everywhere through the kingdom. The boys of Westminster School set up some +Latin verses on the mainmast, of which Southey gives the following free translation— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">On Hercules’ Pillars, Drake, thou may’st <hi rend='italic'>plus ultra</hi> write full well,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">And say, I will in greatness that great Hercules excel.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +And again— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Sir Drake, whom well the world’s end knows, which thou didst compass round,</q></l> +<l>And whom both poles of heaven once saw which north and south do bound,</l> +<l>The stars above will make thee known if men here silent were;</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The sun himself cannot forget his fellow-traveller.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Drake’s series of victories over the Spaniards, and the repulse which occurred just before +his death are details of history which would fill a volume. He received a sailor’s funeral +at Puerto Bello, his body being committed to the deep in a leaden coffin, with the +solemn service of the English Church, rendered more impressive by volleys of musketry, +and the booming of guns from all the fleet. A poet of the day says— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The waves became his winding sheet, the waters were his tomb;</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">But for his fame the ocean sea was not sufficient room.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +No single name in naval history has ever attained the celebrity acquired by Drake. +The Spaniards, who called him a dragon, believed that he had dealings with the devil; +<q>that notion,</q> says Southey, <q>prevented them from feeling any mortification at his +successes, * * * and it enhanced their exultation over the failure of his last expedition, +which they considered as the triumph of their religion over heresy and magic.</q> The +common people in England itself, more especially in the western counties, believed any +quantity of fables concerning him, some of them verging on childishness. He had only +to cast a chip in the water when it would become a fine vessel. <q>It was not by his skill +as an engineer, and the munificent expenditure of the wealth which he had so daringly +obtained, that Drake supplied Plymouth with fresh water; but by mounting his horse, +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/>riding about Dartmoor till he came to a spring sufficiently copious for his design, then +wheeling round, pronouncing some magical words, and galloping back into the town, with +the stream in full flow, and forming its own channel at the horse’s heels.</q> One of the +popular stories regarding him is briefly as follows. When Sir Francis left on one of his +long voyages, he told his wife that should he not return within a certain number of years +she might conclude that he was dead, and might, if she so chose, wed again. One +version places the time at seven, and another at ten years. During these long years the +excellent lady remained true to her lord, but at the end of the term accepted an offer. +<q>One of Drake’s ministering spirits, whose charge it was to convey to him any intelligence +in which he was nearly concerned, brought him the tidings. Immediately he loaded +one of his great guns, and fired it right through the globe on one side, and up on the +other, with so true an aim that it made its way into the church, between the two parties +most concerned, just as the marriage service was beginning. <q>It comes from Drake!</q> +cried the wife to the now unbrided bridegroom; <q>he is alive! and there must be neither +troth nor ring between thee and me.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +Drake is described as of low stature, but well set, and of an admirable presence. His chest +was broad, his hair nut-brown, his beard handsome and full, his head <q>remarkably round,</q> +his eyes large and clear, his countenance fresh, cheerful and engaging. <q>It has been said +of him that he was a willing hearer of every man’s opinion, but commonly a follower of +his own,</q> which, as a rule, was really sure to be judicious. He had a quick temper, and +once offended, was <q>hard to be reconciled,</q> but his friendships were firm; he was ambitious +to the last degree, and <q>the vanity which usually accompanies that sin laid him open +to flattery.</q> He was affable with his men, who idolised him as the grand commander +and skilful seaman that he most undoubtedly was. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the rich prizes so often taken, a competent authority says: <q>The expeditions +undertaken in Elizabeth’s reign against the Spaniards are said to have produced no +advantage to England in any degree commensurate with the cost of money and expense +of life with which they were performed.</q> But we must never forget the wonderful +development of the navy which resulted; the splendid training acquired by our sailors, +and the grand gains to geographical science. +</p> + +<p> +The opening of colonisation and trade with America—so far as England is concerned—is +due to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and his step-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. From their +comparatively insignificant attempts at settling parts of that vast northern continent +what grand results have accrued! The acorn has become a mighty, wide-spreading oak, +sheltering the representatives of every nationality. +</p> + +<p> +When Sir Humphrey Gilbert proposed to Queen Elizabeth the settlement of a colony +in the New World, she immediately assented, and granted him letters patent as comprehensive +and wide-spreading as ever issued by papal sanction. She accorded free liberty +to him, his heirs and assigns for ever, to discover and take possession of any heathen +and savage lands not being actually possessed by any Christian prince or people; such +countries, and all towns, castles or villages, to be holden by them of the crown, payment +of a fifth of all the gold and silver ore discovered being required by the latter. The +privileges seemed so great that <q>very many gentlemen of good estimation drew unto Sir +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/>Humphrey to associate with him in so commendable an enterprise.</q> But divisions and +feuds arose, and Gilbert went to sea only to become involved in a <q>dangerous sea-fight, +in which many of his company were slain, and his ships were battered and disabled.</q> He +was compelled to put back <q>with the loss of a tall ship.</q> The records of this encounter +are meagre, but the disaster retarded for the time his attempt at colonisation, besides +impairing his estate. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Humphrey’s patent was only for six years, unless he succeeded in his project, +and in 1583 he found means to equip a second expedition, to which Raleigh contributed +a bark of 200 tons, named after him, the little fleet numbering in all five vessels. The +queen had always favoured Gilbert, and before he departed on this voyage, sent him a +golden anchor with a large pearl on it, by the hands of Raleigh. In the letter accompanying +it, Raleigh wrote, <q>Brother, I have sent you a token from her Majesty—an anchor +guided by a lady, as you see. And, further, her highness willed me to send you word, +that she wished you as great a good hap and safety to your ship, as if she herself were +there in person, desiring you to have care of yourself as of that which she tendereth; +and, therefore, for her sake you must provide for it accordingly. Further she commandeth +that you leave your picture with me.</q> Elizabeth’s direct interest in the rapidly increasing +maritime and commercial interests of the day was very apparent in all her actions. +</p> + +<p> +<name type="ship">Bark Raleigh</name> was the largest vessel of the expedition, two of the others being of +forty, and one of twenty tons only. The number of those who embarked was about 260, +and the list included carpenters, shipwrights, masons, and smiths; also <q>mineral men +and refiners.</q> It is admitted that among them there were many <q>who had been taken +as pirates in the narrow seas, instead of being hanged according to their deserts.</q> <q>For +solace of our people,</q> says one of the captains under Gilbert, <q>and allurement of the +savages, we were provided of music in good variety, not omitting the least toys, as +morris-dancers, hobby-horse, and May-like conceits to delight the savage people, whom we +intended to win by all fair means possible.</q> The period of starting being somewhat late +in the season, it was determined to sail first for Newfoundland instead of Cape Florida, as +at the former Gilbert knew that he could obtain abundant supplies from the numerous +ships employed in the abundant cod-fisheries. The voyage was to commence in disaster. +They sailed on June 11th, and two days later the men of the <name type="ship">Bark Raleigh</name> hailed their +companions with the information that their captain and many on board were grievously +sick. She left them that night and put back to Plymouth, where, it is stated, she arrived +with a number of the crew prostrated by a contagious disease. Some mystery attaches +to this defection; <q>the others proceeded on their way, not a little grieved with the loss +of the most puissant ship in their fleet.</q> <anchor id="corr317"/><corr sic='"Two'>Two</corr> of the fleet parted company in a fog; one +of them was found in the Bay of Conception, her men in new apparel and particularly well +provided, the secret being that they had boarded an unfortunate Newfoundland ship on the +way, and had pretty well rifled it, not even stopping at torture where the wretched sailors +had objected to be stripped of their possessions. The other vessel was found lying off the +harbour of St. John’s, where at first the English merchants objected to Gilbert’s entry, till +he assured them that he came with a commission from her Majesty, and had no ill-intent. +On the way in, his vessel struck on a rock, whereupon the other captains sent to the rescue, +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/>saved the ship, and fired a salute in his honour. His first act was to tax all the ships for +his own supply; the Portuguese, in particular, contributed liberally, so that the crews were +<q>presented, above their allowances, with wines, marmalades, most fine rusk or biscuit, +sweet oil, and sundry delicacies.</q> Then the merchants and masters were assembled to +hear his commission read, and possession of the harbour and country for 200 leagues every +way was taken in the name of the queen. A wooden pillar was erected on the spot, and +the arms of England, engraved on lead, were affixed. The lands lying by the water side +were granted to certain of the adventurers and merchants, they covenanting to pay rent +and service to Gilbert, his heirs and assigns for ever. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the before-mentioned pirates of the expedition gave Sir Humphrey a considerable +amount of trouble while at St. John’s, some deserting, and others plotting to +steal away the shipping by night. A number of them stole a ship laden with fish, setting +the crew on shore. When ready to sail, he found that there were not sufficient hands +for all his vessels, and the <name type="ship">Swallow</name> was left for the purpose of transporting home a number +of the sick. He selected for himself the smallest of his fleet, the <name type="ship">Squirrel</name>, described as a +<q>frigate</q> of ten tons, as most suitable for exploring the coasts. But that which made +him of good heart was a sample of silver ore which one of his miners had discovered; +<q>he doubted not to borrow £10,000 of the queen, for his next voyage, upon the credit of +this mine.</q> +</p> + +<p> +For eight days they followed the coast towards Cape Breton, at the end of which time +the wind rose, bringing thick fog and rain, so that they could not see a cable’s length +before them. They were driven among shoals and breakers, and their largest ship was +wrecked in a moment. <q>They in the other vessel,</q> says Hayes,<note place="foot">Narrative of Captain Hayes (owner of the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name>) printed in Hakluyt’s <q>Collection.</q></note> <q>saw her strike, and +her stern presently beaten to pieces; whereupon the frigate in which was the general, +and the <name type="ship">Golden Hinde</name> cast about, even for our lives, into the wind’s eye, because that way +carried us to the seaward. Making out from this danger, we sounded one while seven +fathoms, then five, then four, and less; again deeper, immediately four fathom, then but +three, the sea going mightily and high. At last we recovered (God be thanked!) in some +despair to sea room enough. All that day, and part of the night, we beat up and down +as near unto the wreck as was possible, but all in vain. This was a heavy and grievous +event to lose our chief ship, freighted with great provision; but worse was the loss of our +men, to the number of almost a hundred souls; amongst whom was drowned a learned +man, an Hungarian, born in the city of Buda, called thereof Budæus, who out of piety +and zeal to good attempts, adventured in this action, minding to record in the Latin +tongue, the gests and things worthy of remembrance happening in this discovery to the +honour of our nation. Here, also, perished our Saxon refiner, and discoverer of inestimable +riches. Maurice Brown, the captain, when advised to shift for his life in the pinnace, +refused to quit the ship, lest it should be thought to have been lost through his default. +With this mind he mounted upon the highest deck, where he attended imminent death +and unavoidable,—how long, I leave it to God, who withdraweth not his comfort from +his servants at such a time.</q> Of the company only ten were saved in a small pinnace +which was piloted to Newfoundland. +</p> + +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> + +<p> +Meantime, on board the remaining vessels, there was much suffering, and Sir +Humphrey was obliged to yield to the general desire, and sail for England, having <q>compassion +upon his poor men, in whom he saw no lack of good will, but of means fit to perform +the action they came for.</q> He promised his subordinate officers to set them forth <q>royally +the next spring,</q> if God should spare them. But it was not so to be. +</p><anchor id="figdeatofsi"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="ill">[Illustration: THE DEATH OF SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illo_361.jpg" rend="w80"><head>THE DEATH OF SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.</head> + <figDesc>THE DEATH OF SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Sir Humphrey Gilbert was entreated, when one day he had come on board the <name type="ship">Hinde</name>, +to remain there, instead of risking himself <q>in the frigate, which was overcharged with +nettage, and small artillery,</q> to which he answered, <q>I will not forsake my little +company going homewards, with whom I have passed so many storms and perils.</q> A +short time afterwards, while experiencing <q>foul weather and terrible seas, breaking short and +high, pyramidwise, men which all their life had occupied the sea never saw it more outrageous,</q> +the frigate was nearly engulfed, but recovered. Gilbert, sitting abaft with +a book in his hand, cried out to the crew of the <name type="ship">Hinde</name> in the following noble words, so +often since recorded in poetry and prose: <q>Courage, my lads! We are as near to heaven by +sea as by land!</q> That same night the lights of the little vessel were suddenly missed, +and Gilbert and his gallant men were engulfed in the depths for ever. Of such men we +may appropriately say with the poet Campbell— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The deck it was their field of fame,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">And Ocean was their grave.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The <name type="ship">Hinde</name> reached Falmouth in safety, though sadly shattered and torn. +</p> + +<p> +But the spirit of enterprise then prevailing was not to be easily quashed, and only +a few months after the failure of poor Gilbert’s enterprise, we find Sir Walter Raleigh +in the field. He obtained letters of patent similar to those before mentioned, and was +aided by several persons of wealth, particularly Sir Richard Greenville and Mr. William +Saunderson. Two barks, under Captains Amadas and Barlow, were sent to a part of +the American continent north of the Gulf of Florida, and after skirting the coast for one +hundred and twenty miles, a suitable haven was found, the land round which was immediately +taken for the queen with the usual formalities. After sundry minor explorations they +returned to England, where they gave a glowing account of the country. It was +<q>so full of grapes that the very beating and surge of the sea overflowed them.</q> The +vegetation was so rich and abundant that one of the captains thought that <q>in all the +world the like abundance is not to be found,</q> while the woods were full of deer and smaller +game. The cedars were <q>the highest and reddest in the world,</q> while among smaller +trees was that bearing <q>the rind of black cinnamon.</q> The inhabitants were kind and +gentle, and void of treason, <q>handsome and goodly people in their behaviour, as mannerly +and civil as any of Europe.</q> It is true that <q>they had a mortal malice against a certain +neighbouring nation; that their wars were very cruel and bloody, and that by reason +thereof, and of civil dissensions which had happened of late years amongst them, the +people were marvellously wasted, and in some places the country left desolate.</q> These +little discrepancies were passed over, and Elizabeth was so well pleased with the accounts +brought home, that she named the country Virginia; not merely because it was discovered in +the reign of a virgin queen, but <q>because it did still seem to retain the virgin purity and plenty +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/>of the first creation, and the people their primitive innocence.</q> These happy natives were +described as living after the manner of the golden age; as free from toil, spending their time +in fishing, fowling, and hunting, and gathering the fruits of the earth, which ripened without +their care. They had no boundaries to their lands, nor individual property in cattle, but +shared and shared alike. All this, which was rather too good to be absolutely true, seems +to have been implicitly believed. The letters of patent, however, granted to poor Sir +Humphrey Gilbert, and subsequently to Sir Walter Raleigh, mark a most important epoch in +the world’s history, for from those small starting-points date the English efforts at colonising +America—the great New World of the past, the present, and the future. Where then a +few naked savages lurked and lazed, fished and hunted, forty millions of English-speaking +people now dwell, whose interests on and about the sea, rising in importance every day, are +scarcely excelled by those of any nation on the globe, except our own. Some points in +connection with this colonisation, bearing as they do on the history of the sea and maritime +affairs, will be treated in the succeeding volume. +</p> + +<p> +The reader, who while living <q>at home in ease,</q> has voyaged in spirit with the writer +over so much of the globe’s watery surface, visiting its most distant shores, will not be +one of those who under-rate +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q>The dangers of the seas.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Nor will current events allow us to forget them. <q>The many voices</q> of ocean—as Michelet +puts it—its murmur and its menace, its thunder and its roar, its wail, its sigh, rise from +the watery graves of six hundred brave men, who but a few weeks ago formed the bulk of +two crews, the one of a noble English frigate, the other a splendid German ironclad, both +lost within sight of our own shores. Early in this volume wooden walls were compared +with armoured vessels, and we are painfully reminded by the loss of both the <name type="ship">Eurydice</name> +and <name type="ship">Grosser Kurfüst</name> how unsettled is the question in its practical bearings. Its discussion +must also be resumed as a part of the history of ships and shipping in the ensuing volume. +Till then, kind reader, adieu! +</p> + +<p rend="center; margin-top: 3; small"> +END OF VOLUME I. +</p> + +<p rend="center; margin-top: 3"> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., Belle Sauvage Works, London, E.C.</hi> +</p> + </div></body> + <back> + <div> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then/> + <else> + <div id="footnotes" rend="page-break-before: right"> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + </else> + </pgIf> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before:right; x-class: boxed"> + <index index="pdf" level1="Transcriber's Note"/><index index="toc" level1="Transcriber’s Note"/> + <head>Transcriber’s Note</head> + + <pgIf output="txt"><then><p>The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs + and are near the text they illustrate.</p></then> + <else><p>The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and + are near the text they illustrate, thus the page number of the illustration might + not match the page number in the List of Illustrations.</p> + + <p>Pages which contain only an image have been left out in the pagination on the margin.</p></else></pgIf> + + <p>Several illustrations which were missing from the List of Illustrations have been + added to it. + They can be identified by the missing page numbers in the list. + </p> + + <p>The following changes have been made to the text:</p> + <list> + <item><ref target="corr010">page 10</ref>, period and quote mark added after <q>came</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr013">page 13</ref>, <q>be</q> added before <q>interesting</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr042">page 42</ref>, <q>Shakspeare</q> changed to <q>Shakespeare</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr044">page 44</ref>, quote mark added before <q>manned</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr050">page 50</ref>, quote mark added after <q>immediately.</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr059">page 59</ref>, quote mark removed after <q>steam.</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr060">page 60</ref>, period changed to comma after <q>survivors</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr063">page 63</ref>, quote mark added after <q>water;</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr101">page 101</ref>, <q>It</q> changed to <q>Its</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr117">page 117</ref>, comma changed to colon after <q>Drawbacks</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr119">page 119</ref>, period added after <q>O</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr123">page 123</ref>, <q>It</q> changed to <q>Its</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr129">page 129</ref>, <q>Portugese</q> changed to <q>Portuguese</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr136">page 136</ref>, <q>via</q> changed to <q>viâ</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr146">page 146</ref>, quote mark removed after <q>elsewhere.</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr147">page 147</ref>, <q>interspered</q> changed to <q>interspersed</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr155">page 155</ref>, comma changed to closing parenthesis after <q>Australia</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr159">page 159</ref>, comma changed to period after <q>creeks</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr175">page 175</ref>, colon added after <q>Bermuda</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr181">page 181</ref>, <q>sweatmeats</q> changed to <q>sweetmeats</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr189">page 189</ref>, comma added after <q>too</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr219">page 219</ref>, period added after <q>tons</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr236">page 236</ref>, <q>broad</q> changed to <q>board</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr277">page 277</ref>, quote mark added after <q>benevolence,</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr282">page 282</ref>, quote mark added after <q>England,</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr293">page 293</ref>, period added after <q>up</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr302">page 302</ref>, quote mark added after <q>complement,</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr313">page 313</ref>, quote mark added after <q>blood.</q></item> +<item><ref target="corr317">page 317</ref>, quote mark removed before <q>Two</q></item> + </list> + + <p>Differences between the table of contents and the chapter summaries have + not been corrected. Neither have variations in hyphenation been normalized.</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter"/> + </div> + </back> + </text> +</TEI.2>
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