A Voyage round the World
by William Henry Giles Kingston · English · Gutenberg #23074 · 779,937 chars · public domain (US)
The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Voyage round the World
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world 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 included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: A Voyage round the World
Author: William Henry Giles Kingston
Release date: October 17, 2007 [eBook #23074]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23074
Credits: Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD ***
Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
A Voyage round the World, A book for boys, by W.H.G. Kingston.
________________________________________________________________________
Here is a sort of compendium of all the excitements that befall
Kingston's young heroes. Swimming episodes of various kinds, serpents,
unfriendly savages, and unexpected coincidences, have all been put
together here, to make a well-written book, that you will find quite
amusing and interesting. Recommended.
Makes a good audiobook, too.
________________________________________________________________________
A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, A BOOK FOR BOYS, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.
CHAPTER ONE.
MY HOME, AND HOW I LEFT IT.
The day arrived. A post-chaise stood in front of the old grey
manor-house. I have it all before me. The pointed gables--the
high-pitched, dark weather; stained roof--the numberless latticed
windows--the moat, now dry, which had once served to keep out a body of
Cromwell's horse--the tall elms, which had nestled many a generation of
rooks--the clump of beech trees, and the venerable wide-spreading oak--
the broad gravelled court on one side, and the velvety lawn on the
other, sloping away down to the fine, large, deep fish-pond, whose
waters, on which I had obtained my first nautical experiences, as seen
through the green foliage, were sparkling brighter than ever under the
deep blue of the summer sky.
At the hall door were assembled all those I loved on earth--and dearly,
too, I loved them. My mother, as good and kind a mother as ever nursed
a somewhat numerous and noisy progeny; my sisters, dear, sweet, good
girls; and half-a-dozen brothers, honest, generous, capital fellows; our
father, too--such a father!--we always agreed that no one could come up
to him. Other fellows might have very good fathers, but they were not
equal to him! He could be just like one of us at cricket, or out
fishing, or shooting, and yet he was always right, and there was not a
finer-looking gentleman in the county, and that every one said. We were
all at home for the Midsummer holidays--that is to say, we boys; our
mother was not a person to let her girls go to school. Who could say
that we were not met for the last time in our lives?
I was the third of the boys. Two of our sisters were older than any of
us. I loved them, and they all loved me. Not that we ever talked about
that; I knew it and felt it, and yet I was going to leave them by my own
express wish.
I was not what is called a studious boy. I was fond of reading, and I
read all the books of voyages and travels I could lay hands on, and
before long began to wish to go and see with my own eyes what I had read
about. My brothers were fond of shooting and fishing and rowing, and so
was I; but I thought shooting tigers and lions and elephants, and
fishing for whales, and sailing over the salt ocean, would be much
grander work than killing partridges, catching perch, or rowing about
our pond in a punt. I do not know that my imaginings and wishes, ardent
as they grew, would ever have produced any definite form of action, had
not an old schoolfellow of our father's, called Captain Frankland, about
a year before the day I speak of, come to our house. As soon as I knew
he was coming I was very eager to see him, for I heard our father tell
our mother that there was scarcely a part of the world he had not
visited, and that he was looked upon as a first-rate navigator, and a
most scientific seaman. He had been in the navy during the war-time,
but peace came before he was made a lieutenant; and believing that he
should not there find sufficient employment for his energies, he had
quitted it and entered the merchant-service. While in command of a
whaler, he had been far towards the north pole. He had traversed the
Antarctic seas, and had often visited India and China, and the islands
of the Pacific. Still, as money-making or idleness had never been his
aim, and his strength was unabated, he kept at sea when many men would
have sought for rest on shore. Such was the account my father gave of
him.
How eagerly I waited for his coming! He had chosen the holidays on
purpose that he might see our father's young tribe, he wrote him word.
He was the very sort of person I longed to talk to; still it was with no
little awe that I thought of actually breakfasting, and dining, and
speaking day after day with one who had seen so much of the world, and
met with so many adventures. At last he arrived. I was not
disappointed in his appearance. He was a tall, thin, spare man, all
bone and muscle. His hair was almost white, and his features, which
were not a little weather-beaten, had, I thought, a most pleasant
expression. While, however, my brothers ran eagerly forward to meet
him, I hung back, watching him at a distance, like a bashful child. Had
he been one of England's greatest heroes, I could not have looked at him
with greater respect. "And that is the man," I thought, "who has sailed
over thousands and thousands of miles of water, and has seen Indians
dressed in feathers and shells, and negroes running wild in their native
woods, and Hottentots, and Esquimaux, and Chinese, and I do not know
what other strange people!" I saw my father look round for me, so at
last I went forward in time to be presented in my turn with the rest of
my brothers. Very soon the feeling of awe wore off, and I became the
most constant of his attendants wherever he wished to go. With the
greatest eagerness I used to listen to the accounts he gave our father
of his various adventures in the distant countries he had visited. My
brothers listened also; but while they would at length betake themselves
to other occupations, I remained his ever-attentive auditor. The
interest I exhibited in what he was saying attracted his attention, and
much pleased him, so that when I ventured to ask him questions, he both
answered them willingly and encouraged me to ask more. Thus we before
long became very great friends.
"Should you like to go to sea, Harry?" said he to me one day, when he
had begun to talk of taking his departure.
"With you, sir, indeed I should; there's nothing in the world I should
like so much," I answered. The tone of my voice and the expression of
my countenance showed him how much I was in earnest.
"Very well, my boy. You are rather young just yet to rough it at sea,
and you will be the better for another year's schooling; but when I come
back from my next voyage, if you are in the same mind, and your father
is willing to let you go, I will take you to sea with me. I'll talk to
him about it if I have an opportunity."
"Thank you, sir--thank you!" I exclaimed, almost choking with the
vehemence of my feelings; "it is what I have been longing for above all
things. Do, pray, tell my father, or he may suppose it is only a
passing fancy of mine, and may wish me to go into some other profession.
Still, he'll let me go with you--I know he will."
Captain Frankland smiled at my eagerness, but he said not a word to
dissuade me from my wish. Perhaps he remembered his own feelings at my
age. Grown-up people are apt to forget how they thought and felt when
they were boys, which is the reason so few men win the confidence of the
young and manage them properly. The captain, on the contrary, seemed to
understand me thoroughly, and thus gained a complete influence over me.
"I'll be ready to go when you come back," I added.
"Don't be too sure of yourself, Harry," he answered. "I've seen many
people completely change their opinions in a year's time, and I shall
not be absent less than that. If you remain constant to your wish,
remember my promise; but if your fancy changes, you are free to follow
it as far as I am concerned."
I thanked Captain Frankland over and over again for his kindness, and
certainly did not think that there was a possibility of my changing my
inclinations. So he went away, much to my regret, and I fancied that he
had not mentioned our conversation to my father. We all returned to
school, except our eldest brother, who went to college. I no longer
enjoyed school as I once did--I was looked upon as having become very
idle. My mind, however, was not idle, I know, for I was continually
thinking over the idea which had got possession of it. By allowing my
thoughts to rest on that idea, and that alone, the desire increased till
I persuaded myself that the only life I could possibly lead with
satisfaction was that of a life at sea. All this time the curious thing
was, that of the sea itself I practically knew nothing. Born and bred
in an inland county, my eyes had actually never rested on the wide
ocean. Still, I had formed a notion of what it was like; and I fancied
that a sailor was always wandering about from one wild country to
another, and going through a rapid succession of wonderful adventures.
I forgot all about those long voyages when ships are weeks and weeks
together out of sight of land, and the many weary and often anxious
hours which a seaman has to pass away; nor did I consider that he has
frequently the same voyage to make over and over again, the same lands
to visit, and the same people to see. However, though I looked with no
little pleasure on the idea of becoming a sailor, I had still greater
satisfaction in the anticipation of visiting strange and far-distant
lands, in meeting with adventures, and in becoming acquainted with the
various tribes of the human race.
With the absorbing passion which now possessed me ruling every thought,
I could no longer properly fix my attention on my Latin and Greek books
and usual school-lessons; and as for nonsense, and even sense verses, I
abandoned all attempts at making them. I am ashamed to say that I
allowed others to do the work which passed as mine; and even though I
managed to present the required written exercises, I was constantly in
richly-deserved disgrace for the neglect of those tasks which no one
else could perform for me. I was decidedly wrong; I ought to have had
the right feeling and manliness to perform to the best of my power those
lessons which it was the master's duty to set me, and then I might with
a clear conscience have indulged freely in my own peculiar tastes. As
it was, when the Christmas holidays arrived, I was sent home with a
letter from the master containing severe complaints of my inattention
and negligence of my duties, while my brothers were complimented on the
progress they had made in their studies. The master told me he should
write, but our father received us all in the same affectionate way; and
as he said nothing on the matter, I hoped that he was not going to take
notice of it.
The first joyous days of getting home had passed over, and New-Year's
Day come and gone, before he broached the subject. From his love and
kind heart, he would not before mar my boyish happiness. He then,
summoning me into his study, spoke seriously to me about my past
conduct. I frankly owned my fault, and confessed to him the true cause
of my idleness. From his answer I found, to my very great satisfaction,
that Captain Frankland had already talked to him about my wish to go to
sea, and had expressed his readiness to take me.
"I cannot, however, allow you, my dear Harry, to leave school under the
present circumstances," said my father. "You must learn to obey your
superiors, and to command yourself, before you will be fit to go into
the world. Whatever course of life you pursue, you will have many
things to do which you will dislike, or in which you may from
inclination take no interest; but this will afford you but a poor excuse
for not doing your duty. What do you think the captain of a ship would
say to an officer who had not obeyed his orders, should the latter
remark to him, `Really, sir, I felt so little interest in the matter, or
I disliked it so very much, that I could not bring myself to perform the
work?' Yet this is what you have been doing, my boy. I will say no
more on the subject. You will go back to school at the end of the
holidays; and if I find that, from a sense of duty, you are attending,
to the best of your power, to the studies your master may select for
you, I will take your wishes into my very earnest consideration, and see
how I can best carry them out for your advantage."
I felt how just, and kind, and considerate my father was, and I resolved
to the utmost to follow his advice. I shall never forget those
Christmas holidays. They were very, very happy ones. Our eldest
brother Jack, who was at college, was a very clever fellow, and put us
up to all sorts of fun. In doors and out of doors there was nothing he
did not think of. He never bullied, and wasn't a bit spoiled. He was
going to study at the bar, that he might better look after the family
property. James, the next, was the quiet one; he was preparing for the
Church. Then came our third sister, Mary. Julia and Isabella were
older than any of us. Mary was my favourite. There was nothing she
wouldn't do for me--or, for that matter, for any of us. She did not
like baiting our hooks when we were fishing, but still she did it when
we asked her; and I do really believe that the worms didn't feel half
the pain they otherwise would when handled by her fingers. She'd go out
with us rat-catching and badger-hunting, and yet, to see her in the
drawing-room, there wasn't a sweeter, softer, more feminine girl in the
county. When we were at school, she wrote us twice as many letters as
anybody else, and told us how the pony and the dogs were getting on; and
how old Martin had found a wasp's nest, which he was keeping for us to
blow up--and all that sort of thing. Willie and Georgie were at school
with me, and Herbert was going the next half, and after him were two
more girls, so that Mary had no companions of her own age, and that made
her, I suppose, stick so much more to us than the older ones did, who
were now young ladies--old enough to go to balls, and to talk when any
gentlemen called.
I cannot stop to describe our amusements. I went to school with a more
hopeful, manly spirit than I ever did before, and to the astonishment of
Dr Summers, set to with a will at everything he gave me to do, and
before long was nearly up at the head of my class. I wished to please
my father, and to follow his advice, that I am sure of; but I confess
that I was powerfully influenced by another motive. From what he had
said, I saw that this was the surest way of obtaining the accomplishment
of my wishes.
Hoops and driving had gone out, and cricket and marbles were in, and the
days were getting long and warm, when I received a letter from Mary,
saying that Captain Frankland had come home, and had written to our
father, but she did not know what had passed between them. I always
told Mary all I thought and wished; and though she cried very much at
the thoughts of my going away, yet she promised to help me as best she
could. How she was to help, I did not exactly know. I tried to console
her by promising to bring her back parrots without end from Africa, and
shawls from India, and fans and carved ivory bones from China, and
poisoned arrows, and darts, and tomahawks, and all sorts of dreadful
weapons, from America and the islands of the Pacific. Indeed, had I
fulfilled my promises to the letter, I could pretty well have loaded a
ship with my intended gifts. My father said nothing, and we all went
home together at the usual time. At the end of this half, a very
complimentary letter had preceded me.
"I am glad to hear that Dr Summers is pleased with you, my dear boy,"
said my father, and I thought his countenance wore a graver expression
than usual. "Tell me, are your wishes the same as when you last left
home?"
I replied that I was as anxious as ever to go to sea.
"I will not, then, thwart your inclination, Harry," he answered. "Your
mother and I would rather you had selected a profession which would have
kept you nearer to us. But you have chosen a fine line of life, and may
Heaven protect you in your career! I should have been glad, for some
reasons, to have had the power of sending you into the Royal Navy; but I
have no interest to get you in, and still less any to advance you in it.
The merchant-service should not be looked on as less noble and less
creditable a profession. It is one of the chief means by which
England's greatness and prosperity is maintained. In it your progress
and success will depend almost entirely on your own exertions. You must
also so conduct yourself that you may sustain to the utmost the credit
of the service, and, I doubt not, you will have no cause to regret
entering it. I might have wished to keep you longer at home, but I am
unwilling to miss the opportunity of sending you to sea under charge of
a commander of the high character and attainments possessed by Captain
Frankland. He, in the kindest way, tells me that he is ready to take
you; and he also informs me that a relative of mine is one of the
officers appointed to his ship, Silas Brand by name. You have heard as
speak of my good Cousin Martha, Mrs Brand; Silas is her only son. He
was a steady, good lad when I last heard of him before he went to sea,
and I daresay that you will find him a firm friend. At all events, I am
sure, from Captain Frankland's remarks, that he will prove a profitable
one. He tells me also that his proposed voyage will be one of very
great interest; that the owners of the ship have a variety of objects in
view; so that he expects to visit a number of interesting places during
the voyage, which is, in fact, to be completely round the world."
"Round the World!" I exclaimed. "How delightful! And am I actually
going to sail all round the world in my first voyage? Well, I did not
expect anything so good as that. Isn't it a first-rate chance, papa?"
"It may be very long before you return, my boy," replied my father. "I
trust, however, that you will proportionately profit by the voyage.
Captain Frankland says, that he hopes to make you something of a seaman
before you return. You will, I trust, make the best use of his
instructions."
I promised that I would, and sincerely intended to keep my promise. So
it was finally settled that I was to go to sea, and few lads were ever
sent afloat under better auspices than I enjoyed. I cannot fully
describe the agitating sensations which passed through my bosom when I
began to reflect on the approaching consummation of my wishes. While my
heart beat with anticipated pleasure at the strange sights I was to
behold, I could not but contemplate with sorrow the thoughts of leaving
so many dear ones behind. Not that I for a moment hesitated what I
would do, but the sharp edge of the enjoyment I might have felt was
entirely blunted. Still, I went about talking with a keen relish of all
I was to see, and what I was to do, while the preparations for my outfit
were in progress; and I not a little excited the envy of my younger
brothers, and of some of the boys near us, when they heard that I was
starting on a voyage round the world.
At last the chest was packed, and lashed on behind the post-chaise. A
few minutes more, and the old home which knew me would know me no more
for many a long day. Can I describe that parting? Still, all bore up
heroically. I did my best not to give way, but there was a hot, choking
sensation in my throat, as if a Thug from India had got his fatal noose
tight round my jugular vein; and a pulling away at the heart, as if the
fangs of a stout double tooth were firmly clenched in it, and a
strong-fisted dentist was hauling it out. My father and Jack were going
with me to see me on board. I believe Jack envied me, and wished that
he was going too, instead of having to pore over dusty parchments. My
mother folded me in her arms, and kept me there. That was the worst.
Still, I could not bear to break away.
"Come, Harry," said my father, "we shall miss the train." He took me
gently by the shoulder, and guided me into the carriage. I took a last
kiss from Mary's dear lips as I passed her. "I shall be back to-morrow
evening, I hope," said he, following me.
"I say, Harry, don't forget the bows and arrows you are to bring me from
the Tonga Islands!" sung out Willie.
"Or the hunting-panther from South America!" cried Georgie.
"Or the parrots from Africa!" exclaimed Mary through her tears.
"Or the love-birds from India!" said Julia.
"Or my ivory fan from China, young sailor boy!" said Isabella.
"Don't forget the journal you are to keep, or the subjects I asked you
to note for me!" exclaimed the studious James.
Thus, amid various shouts and exclamations of a similar character, the
moment Jack mounted on the box we drove off towards the nearest station
on the railway which was to convey us to Liverpool. My father said
nothing for some time, and I felt that I could not utter a word without
allowing my feelings to get the better of me. However, by the time we
reached the station, I had much recovered my spirits; and when once we
were in the railway, Jack had so much to talk about, and cut so many
jokes, that I became very happy, as he did not leave me a moment to
think about the dear home I had left. I have often since thought, when
I have seen people grumbling at home, or finding fault or quarrelling
with their brothers and sisters or parents, let them go away and get
knocked and kicked about the world, and they will have good reason to
value their own quiet home as they ought.
I thought Liverpool a very fine city, with its large public buildings,
and its broad streets, and its churches, and its Sailors' Home, which I
visited, where sailors have a large smoking-hall, and dining-rooms, and
a lecture-room, and a chapel, and where some hundreds may each have a
little separate cabin to himself. I wish every port in the world, much
frequented by shipping, had a place of a similar character. Most of
all, I was struck with the docks, crowded with ships of great size, and,
indeed, craft of every description and nation; as also with its wide
quays and wharfs, and floating landing-stages, and steamers dashing in
and out, and running up and down the river in such a hurry, that they
looked as if they were conscious that they had to struggle for their
existence among the struggling human multitude of the place. We
inquired for the _Triton_.
"There she is, with the blue Peter flying at the fore! She sails
to-night, don't she, Tom?" said a waterman whom we addressed. "Do you
want a boat, gintlemen?"
My father said, "Yes;" and agreed with the man as to his fare.
We stepped into his boat, and away we pulled towards my future home--the
good ship _Triton_. I had never seen a ship before, it must be
remembered. I had looked at pictures of them, so I was acquainted with
their shape; but I had formed no adequate idea of the size of a large
ship; and as the boat lay alongside of the _Triton_, and I looked up and
saw one of the officers standing at the gangway to receive us, it
appeared something like scaling the walls of a castle to climb up to the
deck. What should I have thought had the _Triton_ been a hundred and
twenty gun-ship, instead of a merchantman of 500 tons, for such was her
size! However, I then thought her a magnificent ship; she was indeed a
very fine one for her size. Side ropes being rigged, we soon gained her
deck. The captain was still on shore, but my father at once made out
Silas Brand. He was a shortish, rather thick-set, fair man, with a
roundish face and a somewhat florid complexion. He had light hair, with
largish whiskers, and he shaved his chin in harbour. I had to look at
him frequently, and to talk to him more than once, before I discovered
that his countenance showed much firmness and decision, and that his
smile betokened more than a good-natured, easy disposition. My father
had a good deal of talk with him, while Jack and I went round to see the
ship. In the course of our peregrinations, we entered what I found was
the captain's cabin. A lad of about my own age was sitting at a table,
with a book and slate before him. He turned round when the door opened,
and eyed me narrowly before he got up from his chair. Then, apparently
recollecting himself, he advanced towards us.
"Are you the new youngster who is to sail with us?" said he, putting out
his hand. "My name is Gerard Frankland, though it is seldom people take
the trouble of calling me more than Jerry. My father told me to expect
you. I'm to look after you, and see you don't get into mischief, I
suppose. I'll be very strict with you, mind that!"
Amused with his free and easy way, I told him that he was not mistaken
as to my identity.
"That's all right then," he answered. "This gentleman is your brother.
Take a seat, sir, and make yourself at home. You'll have something?
When my father is on shore, I reign here supreme, though on deck, to be
sure, I can't boast much of my authority. Steward, bring glasses, and
biscuits, and anything else! You're not going with us, sir? I wish you
were. We'll have rare fun before we come back, I'll warrant."
"No," answered Jack, laughing, and highly diverted with Master Jerry's
volubility and perfect self-possession. "I should much like to take the
trip though. However, my brother Harry will, I hope, on your return,
give us a full account of all you see and do."
"He'll have plenty to tell then of what we do, and not a little of what
we see," answered Jerry, with a sort of a half wink at me, which was as
much as to say, "We'll be up to all sorts of things." He added aloud,
"My father is not the man to let the grass grow under the ship's bottom;
but here come the glasses! What will you have--hot or cold?"
"Thank you," said Jack; "our father is here, and we must not stop. We
came to see Harry on board, and have soon to return on shore." While he
was speaking, our father appeared at the door, accompanied by Silas
Brand.
Gerard's whole manner changed the moment he saw them. He got up to
receive my father with perfect politeness; and, instead of exhibiting
the forward, flippant manner with which he had treated us, he turned at
once into a steady-looking, somewhat demure boy. My father, after
addressing a few kind words to him, and telling him that he was his
father's oldest friend, signed to me that he wished to speak to me
alone. He took me into Silas Brand's cabin, and kneeling down, offered
up a few prayers, full of deep, deep love, for my preservation from all
earthly dangers, and for my acceptance as a forgiven sinner at the day
of judgment.
"Look straight on beyond this transient world in all you think, or try,
or do. Remember, delightful as this existence may appear, and
undoubtedly is to those who know how to employ it properly, it is but a
passage which leads to eternity. May Heaven guide you, my boy!" He
took me in his arms, and then I knew how his fond, tender heart felt the
parting. He burst into tears: he was not long in recovering himself.
Captain Frankland came on board. Last farewells were said. My dear
father and Jack went down the ship's side. The pilot remarked that the
tide would suit. The anchor was hove up. A steamer took us in tow;
then, after pulling ahead of us for a couple of hours or more, she cast
off. All sail was set, and free of the Mersey's mouth, away we glided
on our voyage Round the World.
CHAPTER TWO.
THE VOYAGE COMMENCED.
The _Triton_ was a well-found, well-officered, and well-manned ship.
Still, on first getting to sea, there appeared to be a considerable
amount of disorder, and the crew were incessantly employed in stowing
away the last stores which had come on board, and in getting everything
into its right place. This gave me a feeling that I was not in my right
place, for no one had a moment to attend to me, and to tell me what to
do; and had it not been for Gerard, I should have felt not a little
miserable. He was as active as any one, and seemed to be thoroughly up
to his duty. He did, however, find time to speak to me.
"I'll tell you what to do, Harry," said he; "just keep out of the way,
and look on. You'll learn more in that manner just now than in any
other. You'll have plenty of time to get up your seamanship by-and-by."
I followed his advice to great advantage. The first manoeuvre I saw
performed on board was when, having got clear of all the shoals and
dangers at the mouth of the Mersey, we shortened sail to allow the pilot
to enter his boat, and the last person we were to see for many a day
connected with home took his departure. He shook hands with the captain
and mates, and wished us a good voyage and speedy return. I watched the
boat as it proceeded towards the pilot-cutter with a curious feeling of
interest. I was aroused by Gerard, who asked me why I was so
sentimental. He saw nothing in a pilot-boat leaving the ship. The last
I saw of our native land were the lofty cliffs of Wales. I came on deck
early in the morning; and, as I looked out aft, they appeared receding
fast on the larboard-quarter, across the bright blue sea. Turning
round, my somewhat bewildered glance next wandered upwards, and there I
beheld, with unrestrained admiration, the wide spread of white canvas
which hung extended on the yards, high, high up in the blue sky, like a
vast mass of snowy cloud. It looked to me as if there was enough sail
to fly away with the whole ship and her cargo; for, the breeze being
light and fair, we had all our courses, and topsails, and
topgallant-sails, and royals set with studding-sails also on either
side, almost sweeping the sparkling waters which danced off from the
_Triton's_ sharp bows as she clove her stately yet rapid way through the
ocean. Captain Frankland was anxious to take every advantage of the
favourable wind, that we might get a good distance from the land, and
thus not run the chance of being driven back again, and be compelled, as
is often the case with outward-bound ships, to take shelter in that
magnificent harbour--Milford Haven, or in the still more lovely one of
Queenstown, on the Irish coast. Away we flew, every day going faster
and faster as the breeze freshened.
"Not a brace, nor a tack, nor a sheet did we slack" on board of the
gallant _Triton_ for a whole week; and then it fell calm, and we lay
washing our sides up to the scuppers in the pure waters of the Atlantic.
During this time everything was got to rights, and I began to find my
way about every part of the ship, and to learn the names of the spars,
and ropes, and sails. Gerard very soon dared me to go aloft; of course
I was nothing loath.
"Follow me, then, youngster!" said he; and with a wicked look, up he
went the main rigging. I ascended readily enough, intending to go
through the lubbers' hole, as the opening in the top is called through
which the lower shrouds lead. This way is quite allowable for a
landsman; but Jerry, having no fear of my breaking my neck before his
eyes, led the way by the futtock-shroud; and, as he quickly stood up in
the top, I saw his face grinning over me while I hung with my back over
the ocean, very doubtful whether I could climb round so as to get hold
of the topmast-shrouds.
"Don't let your feet go till you have got a firm grip of this rope
here," said he, touching the shroud. I clutched hold of it: then up I
slipped my other hand, and, drawing up my knees, soon had them on the
combing of the top, and found myself standing alongside my companion. I
should have liked to have stopped to take breath and look about me; but,
before I could utter a word, he was off again, up the topmast-rigging,
with the agility of a monkey, and laughingly sung out to me to join him
on the cross-trees. I thought he would surely rest there, but away he
was again, nor did he stop till he had got hold of the main-truck; and,
as he clung on with his chin over it, he took off his cap and waved it
round his head. My blood was warmed with the exercise and the
excitement, and I was close after him. The moment he was down I took
his place, and did the same thing; but I had to be quick in following
him, not to miss the way he was leading. Down he slid by the
main-topmast-stay, and in an instant more he was climbing the
fore-topmast rigging. He waited for me, however, and waved me on. I
did not remark that two seamen, the oldest hands on board, were at the
same time deliberately mounting the fore-shrouds. Just as I reached the
fore-topmast cross-trees, they were up to me.
"You han't paid your footing up here, young master," said one, old Ben
Yool by name. He spoke in a gruff voice, as if he had not a soft
particle in his whole composition.
"You know what that means, master?" added the other, Charlie Cockle, as
he was called, imitating him.
"I don't know what you want, but I know that you are two to one, which
isn't fair, at all events; and, do you see, I am not accustomed to give
in to threats," said I, and endeavoured to climb away from them, not
knowing exactly where I was going.
The midge caught in a web might as well attempt to escape from a hungry
spider. They caught me in a moment; and, without further ceremony,
stretching out my arms and legs, lashed them to the topmast-rigging,
making what is called a spread eagle of me. It was very humiliating,
though my position was thus exalted, and very unromantic; and the rogue
Jerry aggravated my feelings by pretending to pity me, though I guessed
even then that he had arranged the plan beforehand with Yool and Cockle
thus to entrap me. The seamen had descended towards the deck, leaving
me bound in this ignominious manner. Jerry came and placed himself in
the rigging opposite to me.
"It must be very unpleasant!" quoth he. "I wonder what they would say
if I was to let you loose?"
"I wish you would," I answered. "It's a great shame, and I don't like
it."
"But I dare not," he replied, putting on a pretended serious face,
though he could not hide the twinkle of his laughing eyes; "they are
such precious fierce fellows. But don't you think that you might buy
yourself off? I'll see if I can arrange the matter with them."
I saw that there would be no use contending against my tormentor, and I
was more hurt than I choose to acknowledge; so I wisely agreed to pay
any moderate sum to be released. The arrangement was soon made; and
Yool and Cockle, having unlashed my limbs, begged my pardon, and
complimented me on the daring and agility I had displayed on this my
first climb aloft.
This adventure, as I took the treatment I received good humouredly, made
me capital friends with all the seamen, and I found that there were not
kinder-hearted or better men on board than Yool and Cockle. I observed
that Jerry took the opportunity when his father was below to play off
the tricks imagined by his fertile brain, though he was sometimes
discovered and reprimanded; but he put on so penitent an expression, and
had such comical excuses to offer, that Captain Frankland saw that it
would be worse than useless to punish him. Indeed, punishment would
scarcely have corrected such faults as he had. Gerard, from being
small, and having delicate features, though they were full of rich
humour, looked younger than I did; but he was in reality older, and had
much more experience of the world. His constitution was considered
delicate, which was the reason his father took him to sea at first; but
now he liked the life so much, he told me, that he had resolved to
follow it as a profession. We both of us slept in a cabin which we had
to ourselves, near the captain's. Gerard was learning navigation; and
Captain Frankland told me that I must study hard to catch him up, so
that we might work together. He superintended our studies; but Silas
Brand was our chief master, and somehow or other, in his quiet way, he
managed to impart a considerable amount of information in a pleasant and
rapid manner. It appeared to me that he always said the right thing at
the right time, so as to impress it on the memory. Our first officer,
John Renshaw, was a very worthy man, but totally unlike my Cousin Silas.
He was tall and thin, and had a long weather-beaten, rather
melancholy-looking face. Not that he was melancholy; the form of his
features made him look so. It is better, however, to look melancholy
than to have facetious features, which always appear to be on a broad
grin. A strong contrast to both of them was found in our third officer,
Samuel Melgrove. He was a man with strongly-marked, rather coarse
features, with red hair and complexion. One might have expected to hear
only the roughest tones come out of such a mouth as he possessed; but,
instead, he spoke in a soft, somewhat mincing manner, and prided himself
on his gentlemanly style and volubility. He could, however, speak loud
and rough enough in case of necessity. If called on suddenly to shorten
sail, no one could make himself better heard. The mates on board a
merchantman have the same sort of duty as the lieutenants of a
man-of-war, with the addition of having to attend to the stowing of the
cargo and stores. We had also a surgeon, who was a good naturalist and
a very scientific man--Mr David McRitchie. He evidently at first
looked with very grave suspicion on Gerard and me, as if we were only
waiting our opportunity to play him some trick; and when he left his
cabin he always locked the door, lest we should get in and do some
mischief; but such an idea was, I must say, very far from my thoughts,
and even Gerard respected him too much to wish to annoy him. How to
convince him of this seemed a difficulty. Gerard undertook to assure
him.
"Mr McRitchie," said he one day abruptly to him, "I daresay that you
think me a young jackanapes, whose only thought is how he can do most
harm in the world. Now, sir, you are mistaken; all I want is that you
will impart some of your knowledge to Harry and me; but, understand,
whether you do that or not, Harry and I will make it a point of honour
not to do you any injury by word, look, or deed."
"Oh, I never--Well, well, you are good boys, and I perfectly trust you,"
stuttered out the doctor, completely taken by surprise. "I shall be
glad, too, to give you all the information in my power; and I hope, in
the course of the voyage, we may have many interesting subjects to see
and talk about." I was sure that Mr McRitchie would faithfully keep
his word.
We had three other somewhat important personages on board who were
characters in their way--Richard Fleming the boatswain, James Pincott
the carpenter, and Thomas Veal the captain's steward. They each had
their peculiarities; but I will not stop now to describe them. We had
twenty men forward, all picked hands; for, with the long voyage we
contemplated, and the service we were on, it was necessary to be
strongly manned. I must not omit a description of the _Triton_ herself.
She had a raised poop, beneath which were situated the chief cabins,
and a forecastle, under which the crew lived in two compartments, one on
either side of it. There was also a caboose, or galley, with a great
cooking-range, and, indeed, every convenience the men could desire. We
carried eight guns--9-pounders--for we were going into seas where it
would be necessary to be well-armed, and constantly on our guard against
treachery; and we were also amply supplied with boats, which, I may
remark, were always kept in good order, and ready for instant use. I
was surprised one day during a calm, before we had been long at sea, to
hear the order given to lower boats when there was no ship in sight, and
apparently no reason for it. So were those of the crew who had not
before sailed with Captain Frankland. They, however, flew to obey the
order, and, in a short time, three boats were manned and in the water.
They were then hoisted in again, and stowed.
"Very well," said the captain, holding his watch in his hand. "Smartly
done, my lads; but another time, I think, we may do it still quicker."
Some of the men, of course, grumbled, as I have found out that some
people will grumble when any new system is introduced, the object of
which they do not understand. The loudest grumbler at anything new
introduced on board was old Fleming the boatswain. He called himself a
Conservative, or, rather, a Tory, and strongly opposed all change.
"None of your newfangled notions for me," he used to observe; "I like
things as they were. Do you think our fathers would have all along been
satisfied with them if they hadn't been good? I look upon it as
disrespectful to their memory to wish to have them changed, as if we
thought ourselves so much wiser and better than they were."
Gerard and I were fond of going forward to the forecastle, where, in
fine weather, in an evening, he always took his seat with his pipe in
his mouth.
"By the same rule it was wrong to introduce the compass or the
steam-engine; former generations had done very well without them; yet
how should we, on a dark night, have managed to steer across the ocean
as we do, or how could people manage to get about the world as rapidly
as they find necessary for their business or pleasure?"
Gerard thought that this remark would be a poser for the boatswain; but
old Fleming was not so easily defeated.
"As to the matter of the compass, do you see, that's what I call an
exception to the general rule," he answered, with a serious look. "But
as for the railways and steam-engines, and all those sort of things
afloat or ashore, to my mind the world would be altogether much better
without them. It's necessary for sailors to go about, that's granted;
but the rest of the world would be very much better staying at home and
minding their own business. What I preach I practise; and when I leaves
home I says to my missus, says I, `Now mind, Molly, don't you be going
gadding about till I comes back to look after you;' and she'd no more
think of going outside the street-door, except when she goes to church
or a-marketing, than she'd try to fly, and that would be no easy matter
for her, seeing that she weighs thirteen stone at least."
Such is a specimen of old Fleming's style of conversation. Gerard and I
used to be much amused while listening to him, though we did not fail to
make the most of his remarks while repeating them to the mates. James
Pincott the carpenter, on the contrary, was a great reformer. No
invention was too new to suit his taste. Whenever he heard of any
discovery, he could not be contented till he saw it introduced. We
often tried to get the two together, and very soon managed to throw an
apple of discord between them. Pincott occupied much of his thoughts
about a flying-machine, which no failure had taught him to believe could
not be made to work.
"I'll tell you what, mate, there's just this difference between you and
me in this matter," I heard Fleming remark; "you says a flying-machine
can be made; so do I. You may make fifty flying-machines, or a hundred,
or five hundred for that matter, all different, and with all sorts of
wheels, and cogs, and what not, which nobody can understand; but when
they are made, what I have to ask you, mate, is, will they fly? It's
there you and I differ."
Having thus delivered himself, Fleming drew himself up with a triumphant
look at his adversary. Now, Pincott was a very quiet man with all his
eccentricities, so he merely answered--
"It will be enough for me if one can be made to fly. That's all I argue
for."
"It never has been done yet, and, to my mind, never will," answered
Fleming, sturdily; "though I have heard of a man who made his son put on
a pair of wings which he had fabricated, and shoved him off the top of a
high wall, and when the lad, as was to be expected, reached the ground,
he broke his leg."
This was a story told of Pincott, who, however, on all occasions stoutly
denied that he was the culprit. Another story against Pincott was, that
when first iron vessels were introduced, he declared that it was
impossible they could swim. "No, no," it was said he said, "birds can
fly, so I don't see why men shouldn't; but iron always has sunk, and, to
my mind, it always will sink." Fleming, who told the story, used to
wind up with the remark, "But then you see, mate, there's no rule
without an exception." As these disputes never led to any disagreeable
consequences, they served to beguile away many a weary hour at sea. But
I have said enough to describe the character of our inferior officers.
They were both thoroughly good seamen and steady men.
We had hitherto had little else than sunshine and light winds, so that
my introduction to a sea life was most favourable. Gloriously rose the
sun over the blue sparkling waters, when, on coming on deck, I found the
ship steering south-west, and standing in for the Bay of Funchal in the
lofty island of Madeira. On one side of us were the Desertas--rocks
which Gerard told me gravely were so-called because they had once
belonged to the mainland, and were now making the best of their way off
to Africa; but the doctor differed with him, and observed that they
obtained their name from being desert or barren rocks, especially
compared with the fertile island near which they are placed. Lovely as
is the interior of our dear old country, few parts of its shores are
attractive; and as this was the first land we had made after leaving
home, it seemed doubly beautiful. It appeared, as it rose before us,
like one vast mountain extending from east to west, with a bay in the
centre, and covered in the richest profusion with beautiful trees of
many different sorts, among which, I afterwards found, are the cedar,
chestnut, orange, lemon, fig, citron, the vine, the olive, the mulberry,
banana, and pomegranate, while generous nature sprinkles with no lavish
hand the myrtle, the geranium, the rose, and the violet in every open
space. The geranium especially grows in vast quantities; its scent is
most powerful, and the honey which we got in the island was strongly
flavoured with it. But I forgot; we are not on shore yet. How bright,
and beautiful, and rich, and fertile, and romantic everything looked!
What charming white-washed cottages! What lovely villas, surrounded by
gardens filled with flowers of every hue! What a pretty town stretching
away round the shores of the bay! How clean, and neat, and comfortable
all the dwellings! and how grand the churches and public buildings.
Gerard and I agreed that we should like to come back there some day
after we had done our wanderings, and take up our abode for the rest of
our days.
"Stay till you have been on shore and seen the inside as well as the
outside of things," observed Cousin Silas, who had overheard us. We
thought he was in what we used to call one of his grumpy humours, and
did not heed him. We sailed on, and dropped our anchor opposite to the
city of Funchal. A health-boat came off, but as no one was sick on
board, the people in her did not trouble us much. When she went away,
we were surrounded with other boats pulled by swarthy, muscular, little
men with gay caps and sashes, and white shirt sleeves, who bawled, and
hallooed, and jabbered, in the vain hope of making us comprehend what
they said. We shouted and hallooed in return, as if each party were
deaf; and it was not till after a considerable expenditure of breath,
that we discovered that we did not understand a word of each other's
language; so at last we took to making signs, by which means we got on
much better. There was no great difficulty in this, as they had an
abundance of fruit to sell, which we were equally anxious to buy.
The captain had, I found, touched here chiefly to get a supply of fruit,
vegetables, fresh meat, and water, as he knew that the health of a crew
is maintained without difficulty when there is an abundance of these
necessaries. He had also another reason for coming here. It was to
obtain information, which the Portuguese authorities were able to
supply, regarding certain places he proposed visiting. As, however, the
whole plan of our proceedings was to be kept secret, I will not touch on
that subject. Gerard and I were all anxiety to go on shore, so the
captain gave us leave to accompany Mr Brand, with strict charges to him
to keep us out of mischief. "Not an easy job!" muttered Silas,
preparing to accompany us into a boat. For the first time in my life I
stood on foreign soil, and very soon I was undeceived as to the
cleanliness, and comfort, and beauty of the habitations; and many a
house which looked so very picturesque at a distance was found, on a
nearer inspection, to be a very dirty domicile. Still the views from
them were beautiful. Nature has done everything; it is graceless man
who is in fault that all is not in accordance with it. At the corner of
one of the streets we saw a number of horses, and mules, and donkeys,
standing together with their attendant drivers--_arrieros_.
"Wouldn't you like a ride, Mr Brand?" exclaimed Gerard, looking towards
them. He had not to look twice before the whole _posse commitatus_ of
men and boys rushed forward, and seizing us _vi et armis_, carried us
off in triumph towards their sorry-looking beasts. Which party would
have us seemed a question. Who ever heard of sailors who didn't want to
ride? Ride we must; but as there were thirty or more beasts, and only
three of us, it was difficult to say which of them should have the
honour of carrying us. The _arrieros_ got one of Cousin Silas's legs
put on the back of a horse, and another on that of a mule, while a
little wicked donkey began kicking and plunging directly under him. At
last he sprang on to the back of the horse, and Gerard and I found
ourselves somehow or other on the saddles of two mules, when their
respective owners, catching hold of their long tails, and giving them a
prong with their iron-pointed sticks, away we started from out of the
crowd, who all hallooed and shouted after us, till we had shot some way
up one of the steep rocky heights over which the bridle-paths of the
island lead. "Arra burra--arra, arra, arra!" sung out the crowd.
"Arra, arra, arra!" repeated our _arrieros_, goading the unfortunate
animals with their sticks--"Arra, sish, sish!" It is hopeless to
imitate the sounds emitted by our drivers. Up we shot like pellets from
popguns, through the narrow rock-strewn gorges which are called roads.
Up, up, up the animals scrambled. They seemed to enjoy the fun, or,
perhaps, wiser than men, they felt a pleasure in performing their daily
duty. We, too, enjoyed the magnificent views we got over vineyards, and
fields, and orange-groves, and olive-plantations, with often deep
precipices below us, and the blue sparkling sea in the distance. We
passed several buildings, once convents and nunneries; but when the
constitutional government was established in Portugal, the monks were
turned out of their habitations to gain an honest livelihood as best
they could, though the nuns were in some instances allowed to remain in
their abodes, on condition of their admitting no fresh novices. Thus,
by this time the greater number of professed nuns are old women. They
employ themselves in fabricating artificial flowers of shells and
feathers, baskets and ornaments of various sorts, as well as in making
dried fruits and sweetmeats. As Cousin Silas observed, it might have
appeared hard to turn the poor monks adrift in the world; but as ill
weeds grow apace, it was necessary to eradicate them, lest a fresh crop
should spring up where they had for so long taken root.
We dined with an English merchant, an old friend of Captain Frankland's,
who treated us most sumptuously. He told us of a curious disease which
had lately attacked the vines, and which he feared would ultimately
destroy them. The grapes growing on the diseased vines, instead of
ripening, wither up and rot. He said that he had urged the inhabitants
of the island not to depend solely on their vines, but to endeavour to
produce other articles for which their soil and climate was especially
suited. Among other things he introduced the mulberry-tree, by the
cultivation of which large numbers of the silk-worm might be bred, and
silk in great quantities exported. Under the present system, when the
vines fail, as the people do not grow sufficient corn in the island for
their support, they are at once reduced to a state of famine. But I
must not prolong my description of Madeira. It is a very lovely island,
and has a very delicious climate, and produces all sorts of nice fruits;
and though the inhabitants have rather a fancy for being dirty, the
English residents set them a better example, and have introduced
comforts and conveniences which make the country a very pleasant abode.
The island is about thirty-seven miles in length by eleven in breadth,
and contains perhaps 60,000 inhabitants.
Again sail was made on the ship, and away we glided over the smooth
ocean with a north-easterly breeze, passing within two miles of the
island of Palma, one of the Canaries, or Fortunate Islands, which belong
to Spain. The appearance, as we eyed it from the ship, was most
attractive; but Silas, who had been on shore there, told us that through
the misgovernment of the upper classes, and the slothfulness of the
lower, the land does not produce nearly what it might be made to do,
while the people remain in a poor and backward condition. Before sunset
the same day we saw the island of Ferro, the most western of the group.
Before the discovery of America, this was looked on as the extreme
western limits of the habitable world, and till very lately some
navigators calculated their first meridian from thence. There are
thirteen islands in the group, which produce corn, silk, tobacco, sugar,
and the wine which was so long known under their name. We caught about
here the regular north-east trade-wind; away we went before it as
steadily and majestically as a swan glides over his native lake. I hope
every reader of my adventures will look at the map, and see whereabouts
the places I mention are situated, or they will find some difficulty in
clearly comprehending my descriptions.
We had, I thought, been a long time at sea without meeting with anything
very amusing.
"I say, Jerry, when are we to fall in with all the wonderful adventures
you told me of?" I asked one day, as we were walking the deck together.
"You would meet with plenty of wonders if you would but keep your eyes
open to see them," observed Cousin Silas, who overheard my observation.
The reply, however, did not quite satisfy me; nothing like a gale or bad
weather had occurred, and I began to suspect that we had already had a
sample of the sort of life we were always to undergo at sea.
"Hillo!" exclaimed Jerry soon after this, "what has come over the air, I
wonder? Why, we have got into a regular red fog. What has caused it,
Mr Brand; can you tell me?"
"No, indeed, I cannot," answered Silas. "I've met with it more than
once. It is a very curious phenomenon."
"They do say it comes off from the coast of Africa," remarked Ben Yool,
who was at the wheel, and from his age privileged to speak on such a
matter. "It's full of red sand, and I've seen it covering the decks in
some parts as if a man had been scraping a red holystone over them."
We were still discussing the subject, when Captain Frankland came on
deck. He listened for some time to what we were saying.
"I am glad to hear you discuss the subject, my lads," he remarked in a
kind voice. "Though you are wrong in your conjectures, if you will
attend, I will try and explain what I know about the matter. It is a
very important one, for by means of this dust--for dust it is--which
fills the air, philosophers have been able to determine in part the
difficult problem of the track of the winds in their circuits. How is
this? you will say. Dust coming from one place surely cannot be
distinguishable from dust coming from another. To the ignorant man it
is not, but to the man of science it is. There are certain minute
animal productions called infusoria and organisms peculiar to each
portion of the globe. The expression is, the habitat of such infusoria
is such or such a place. These infusoria can only be distinguished by a
most powerful microscope. Professor Ehrenberg, who has devoted his
attention to the subject, has examined specimens of the dust which is
now falling on our decks. He found it composed of dry infusoria, the
forms of which are found not on an African desert, but in the south-east
trade-wind regions of South America."
"South America, father!" exclaimed Jerry, pointing with his hand to the
south-west. "How can those clouds of red dust come all the way out here
in the teeth of the north-east trade-wind?"
"What becomes of the north-east trade-wind when it reaches the end of
its journey, and where is that end think you, my boy?" asked Captain
Frankland. Jerry looked puzzled, and I had not a notion to give forth
on the subject. "I will try and explain the matter; but when you can
obtain a work, written by Lieutenant Maury, of the American navy, you
will comprehend the subject much better," said Captain Frankland.
"There are three calm regions or belts surrounding the globe--one under
the equator, and one in each hemisphere, under the tropics of Cancer and
Capricorn, which you have heard spoken of as the horse latitudes.
Between these two belts blow the north-east and south-east trade-winds,
meeting at the equatorial belt. Now, when they get there, instead of
causing a whirlwind, the excessive heat causes the particles of which
they are composed to expand and rise, gradually producing a calm. After
rising a certain height, they again commence moving round the globe.
Which course they took it was difficult to say, till we find these
clouds of red dust carried along in an upper region of the atmosphere
from south-west to north-east; for not only are they found here, but up
the Mediterranean and across Switzerland. They are raised into the
atmosphere probably by whirlwinds which occur during the vernal equinox,
which is the dry season, from the valley of the lower Orinoco. Thus,
had a label been attached to each particle of which the wind is
composed, to show whence it came, the problem could not have been more
perfectly solved."
While the captain was speaking, Mr McRitchie came on deck, and
collected in sheets of paper a quantity of the red dust. "It will be
prized by some of my scientific friends at home," he observed; "and even
the unscientific may value a substance which has travelled half round
the globe high up in the atmosphere."
"There is another substance, doctor, which travels farther, and is of
much greater use to man; and yet how little he troubles his head to
consider where it comes from," remarked the captain.
"What do you mean, sir?" asked the doctor, a little puzzled I thought.
"Water," answered Captain Frankland. "Remember those dense fogs, like
wet blankets, which so continually rise in those calm regions to the
south of us; they are caused by vapours rising from the sea, and leaving
its salt behind. This vapour must go somewhere, and it certainly does
not fall in any place near the region where it is drawn up. See the
beautiful provision of Nature to supply with fertilising moisture the
many districts of the earth! This damp vapour, of which we shall
by-and-by have a specimen, rises into the upper regions of the air, and
is there wafted steadily on till it reaches the northern portion of the
globe. It is raised by the powerful rays of the sun during the southern
summer, and with it a considerable amount of heat is carried off which
remains latent. When it reaches the far colder atmosphere of the north,
it is formed into clouds, and condensed, and then precipitated in rain.
In the southern hemisphere there is, as you know, a larger proportion of
sea than in that of the north; and thus it serves as a reservoir to
supply those spots which would otherwise be arid deserts, with an
abundant supply of the chief necessary of life. The whole of nature is
full of similar beautiful arrangements for making the globe a convenient
habitation for man, clearly to be perceived if men would but open their
eyes to behold them."
CHAPTER THREE.
THE WONDERS OF THE OCEAN.
We were about a day's sail or so from the Cape de Verd Islands, when one
day, as I was looking out, I saw on the starboard-bow what I was certain
was a shoal of great extent covered with sea-weed. "Land on the
starboard-bow!" I sung out, thinking there could be no mistake about
the matter. I heard a loud laugh at my shoulder. Old Ben Yool stood
there.
"Well, if that is not land, I do not know what is!" I replied. But
still Ben only laughed at me. I was arguing the point, when the
captain, who was on deck, called me aft. I found him with a chart,
which he was showing to Gerard.
"You are not the first person, Harry, who has taken that collection of
sea-weed for land," he observed. "That is the Sargasso Sea. When the
companions of Columbus sighted it, they thought that it marked the
extreme limits of the navigable ocean. We are at the southern edge of
it. Look at this chart; it extends in a triangular form between the
groups of the Azores, Canaries, and Cape de Verds. It is caused by the
Gulf Stream, which, circling round the Atlantic, sends off towards the
centre all the sea-weed and drift-wood collected in its course. Throw
some chips into that tub; now, set the water in motion with your hand.
The current you have created sends off all the chips into the centre of
the tub. You need never forget how this Sargasso Sea becomes covered
with weed. But you will wish to know something about this wonderful
Gulf Stream, which not only produces the effect I have described, but
exerts a very powerful influence, on the climate of many countries, and
on the navigation of the Atlantic, besides causing many other important
results. It is, indeed, one of the most wonderful of all the phenomena
of the ocean. Consider it as a mighty river of warm water flowing for
three thousand miles with scarcely diminished volume, never dying, never
overflowing, over a bottom and between banks of cold water. So little
affinity have its waters with the common water of the ocean, and so
different is their colour, that a distinct line can often be traced
where they pass along. See where it takes its rise in the Gulf of
Mexico, whence it is called the Gulf Stream. Now, mark its course, and
note its effects. Remember, that not only is it warm itself, but it
warms the air which passes over it. It likewise contains much more salt
than the common sea-water. The salt gives it its peculiar deep
indigo-like colour. It runs at the rate of between three and five miles
an hour. It is roof-shaped--that is, higher in the centre than on
either side. This is proved by placing a boat on either side of the
centre, when it drifts off towards the edge nearest to which it is cast
loose. Another peculiarity exists in connection with it. Water
radiates heat far more slowly than does the earth. If, therefore, the
Gulf Stream swept along the ground, it would speedily lose its heat. To
prevent this, it is made to pass over a cushion of cold water, into
which its heat does not readily pass. When, however, its waters wash
any shores, they impart some of their heat to them, increasing the
warmth of the climate, adding fertility to the soil, and making it a
more agreeable abode for man. Now, look at the chart, and observe where
the mighty current leaves its reputed source in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mark it sweeping round the coast of Florida, and glancing off to the
eastward near Cape Hatteras, in the United States, allowing a belt of
cold water to wash the shores of that country during the winter months
of the year. Watch it passing near the coast of Nova Scotia, and in the
summer, not far from that of Newfoundland, where it has undoubtedly
caused the formation of the well-known fishing-banks. This is the way
they have been produced. When the summer sun releases the innumerable
mighty icebergs which have been formed on the shores of the polar
regions, they float away to the south, carried by a current which sets
towards Newfoundland. They bear away with them vast quantities of rock,
and stones, and sand. Meeting the hot water of the Gulf Stream, they
quickly melt and deposit their burdens at the bottom, always about the
same spot which you see marked as the Grand Bank. Now the stream,
taking an easterly course, reaches the 40th degree of north latitude,
when it begins to spread itself over the colder water of the ocean,
washing the shores of Ireland; some going up towards Spitzbergen,
surrounding the Shetland Isles, and other isles in the north; more
rushing up the British Channel; and another quantity flowing into the
Bay of Biscay, and away again towards the south--adding warmth to the
whole of the indented shores of Europe, and at the same time supplying
the deficiency of salt to the waters flowing out of the Baltic and the
Polar basin."
"Thank you, father," exclaimed Gerard; "I now understand why, when last
year we made the voyage to New York, we kept away so far to the
northward. It was to avoid the Gulf Stream, which would have been
setting against us. But I say, father, I want to know why the water
takes it into its head to flow in that way. I suppose there is some
cause for it?"
"Our beneficent Maker undoubtedly formed it for the benefit of his
creatures," returned the captain; "but, as I have often told you, he
brings about his purposes by the laws or causes which he himself has
established. There may be several causes in operation to form this
ocean-stream, though up to this moment learned men have been unable to
decide what they are. Now one theory is advanced, now another. The
shape of the Gulf Stream may have something to do with it. It appears
that it is higher than the rest of the surface, for it is more bulky.
Water will always seek its level. It has thus a tendency to flow
towards the colder and lower water of the poles, feeling at the same
time the effect of the diurnal motion of the globe; while the water of
the poles, to supply its place, flows towards the equator, subject to
the same disturbing cause. Thus the water of the globe is set in
motion. These being hot, tropical waters, remain on the surface, and a
portion of them is forced into the Gulf of Mexico. Here, though they
lose somewhat of their saltness from the fresh waters of the Mississippi
and Orinoco, they gain more heat from these hot streams, and are still
much Salter than the rest of the ocean. Perhaps the impetus may be
given them by the pressure of the currents from the poles. The diurnal
motion of the globe will account for the drift-wood and sea-weed being
cast off on the east or left bank of the stream. There is another cause
for this. From the stream being roof-shaped, any drift which its left
portion took up would have to go up hill to get to the northward.
Therefore, though trees and other produce of the West Indies are found
on the shores of Europe, none are ever picked up on those of America.
And this brings me to the point from which I set out--the cause of the
Sargasso Sea, the centre, it may be called, of this wondrous and almost
inexplicable Gulf Stream."
"But, father, still you have not told us why the Gulf Stream flows in
the direction it does," said Gerard, who generally stuck to the point in
an argument on which he wanted information.
"Men possessed of far more scientific knowledge than I can boast of,
have been puzzled to reply to that question," returned the captain.
"The trade-winds, the diurnal motion of the earth, the expansion of
water by heat, may all combine to force it along and direct its course;
and yet there may be some still more potent cause at work unperceived by
us, perhaps undiscoverable. One thing we know, that it was the will of
the Almighty that so it should flow, for a great and beneficent object;
and that, to effect it, he has employed some potent and sufficient
agent, which, when he thinks fit, he will allow to be revealed to us by
the light of that science which he has given as one of his best gifts to
man. There are, as you perceive on the charts, other currents in the
vast ocean, all set in movement for the sake of benefiting the
inhabitants of the globe. While the warm Gulf Stream runs up to
Spitzbergen, the Hudson's Bay and Arctic currents bring cold water and
icebergs towards the south; and a current from the North Atlantic
carries its cooling waters round the arid shores of western Africa.
There is the great equatorial current from east to west round the world,
and numerous other currents in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the
influence of which we shall feel during our voyage; and by knowing where
to search for them, and where to avoid them, we can generally make them
serviceable to our object. What I would especially point out to you, my
lads, is the beautiful adaptation of all the works of the Creator to the
great object of the whole. The air and water are kept in motion for the
benefit of man and all living beings. Order everywhere reigns supreme.
Science shows us that storms are regulated by exact laws, and it is only
through our ignorance and blindness that we cannot tell whence they
come, and whither they go. What an admirable system of compensation
exists throughout the universe! Heat, lost by radiation, is quickly
restored; water, lifted up by evaporation, has its place supplied by
colder currents; mighty rivers discharge their waters in vast quantities
into the ocean, and from the far-off regions of the tropics the winds
come loaded with dense vapours, which, precipitated at their sources
with ample and regular measure, supply all their demands. I might
produce numberless examples. As an instance, the whole volume of the
waters of the Mississippi, rushing out at its mouth, find their way back
again in an ever-constant circle to its sources among the far-off lakes
of North America. The Gulf Stream fertilises the earth for the benefit
of man, and it likewise carries food to regions frequented by the mighty
whales. Frequently large shoals of sea-nettles, on which the black
whale feeds, have been met with, borne onward towards its haunts in the
north. The whale itself, it is believed, could not exist in the warm
waters of the stream. Fish, also, are not generally found in it; and
those which inhabit it are of a very inferior flavour. Instead,
therefore, of wandering about the ocean, where they could not be
procured by man, they are driven to the shallow waters near the coast,
where they can easily be caught. It is a curious fact, that the warmer
the water, the brighter are the colours of the fish which inhabit it;
though, as food, they are generally of much less value. While the Gulf
Stream largely benefits the globe, it is at the same time the proximate
cause of shipwreck and disaster, from the storms which it creates, in
consequence of the irregularity of its temperature, and that of the
neighbouring regions, both in air and water. Perhaps nowhere is a more
terrific sea found than when a heavy gale meets the Gulf Stream, when
running at its maximum rate. Many a ship has gone down beneath its
waters. However, I might go on all day telling you curious things about
this same Gulf Stream. One thing more I will mention: people often
complain of the dampness of England. The same cause which so favourably
tempers the cold of our country, creates the dampness complained of. It
is not that our soil is more humid, that marshes exist, or that the
country is not well drained; but it is that the westerly and
north-westerly breezes which prevail, come loaded with the warm vapours
ascending from the tropic heated waters of the Gulf Stream."
"Thank you, father, for all you have told us," said Gerard; "I think I
have learned a great deal I did not know before."
I was certain that I had, and directly afterwards put down, as well as I
could remember, all Captain Frankland had said. The next day we sighted
Saint Vincent, one of the ten islands which form the Cape de Verd group,
so-called from being off the Cape de Verds, on the coast of Africa. The
islands belong to the Portuguese. They produce all sorts of tropical
fruits and vegetables, so that ships often touch here to be supplied
with them. A large number of the inhabitants are black, or of a very
dark hue. Instead of standing directly for the Brazils, Captain
Frankland shaped a course almost across the Atlantic for the coast of
South America. He did this, he explained to Gerard and me, to get the
wind, which generally blows off that coast when the north-east trade
failed us; and to avoid the equatorial calms, in which, away from the
land, vessels are often baffled for days together. I found, after I had
been some time at sea, "That the longest way round is often the shortest
way there," as the saying is. In tropical latitudes, winds from
different quarters blow with great regularity in different places at
certain seasons of the year. The great object of a master is, to find
where the wind is blowing which will be fair for him. The two most
regular winds are the north-east and south-east trade-winds which blow
from either side of the equator, and meet in a wide belt of calms found
under it. There are currents in the air as well as in the ocean; and
Silas told me that he has more than once passed ships at sea right
before the wind--steering north, for instance, while his ship, with an
equally fair breeze, has been standing to the south. Formerly, ships
used to be steered as far south as they could get before the
trade-winds; and then often found themselves baffled for days, if not
weeks together, in the calm latitudes off the coast of Africa, when, if
they had stood boldly across the ocean, as we were now doing, they would
never have wanted a wind move or less fair. Thus it will be seen that
in navigation there are currents in the sea and currents in the air to
be considered, and that it requires a great deal of forethought, and
knowledge, and experience, to take a ship in safety and with speed round
the world. We were bowling along in grand style before the north-east
trade-wind, when Gerard stopped his father in his morning walk on deck.
"I say, father, can you tell Harry and me all about this trade-wind,
which we have got hold of it seems?" said he with a grave look, as if he
wished to become very learned.
"Which has got hold of us rather, I should say, by the way it is
carrying us along," answered the captain, smiling. No one knew Jerry so
well as he did, though he often pretended not to understand at what he
was driving. "You ask a question to which it is rather difficult to
reply in a brief way. Take a piece of paper; draw a circle on it; now,
draw three parallel belts across it--one in the centre, and one on each
side of the centre. Write on the centre belt, `Equatorial Calms;' on
the upper, `Calms of Cancer;' on the lower, `Calms of Capricorn.' The
circle represents the globe; the ends of a line drawn at right angles to
the belts where it reaches the circle, mark the poles. The globe moves
from west to east. Now, suppose a mass of air sent off from the north
pole towards the equator in a straight line, it not partaking of the
diurnal motion of the earth would appear as if it came from the
north-east. Another mass starting from the equator towards the pole in
consequence of the impetus given it, would be going faster towards the
east than the earth, and would, consequently, appear as if it came from
the south-west. This actually takes place, but in the upper regions of
the air. The same exchange takes place between the south pole and the
equator. Now, let us see what becomes of these masses. That which
started from the north pole meets in the air at about the parallel of 30
degrees; the mass which started from the equator meeting with equal
force, they balance each other, and produce a calm and an accumulation
of atmosphere pressing downward, and ejecting from below two
surface-currents--one towards the equator, which are the north-east
trade-winds; the other towards the pole, called the south-west
passage-winds. This moving mass of air, which constitutes the
north-east trade-wind, meets near the equator with another mass which
has been moving on as the south-east trade--meeting with equal force,
they form a calm; and then, warmed by the heat of the sun, they ascend,
one-half streaming off high up towards the south-east--that is, counter
to the surface-current--till it reaches the southern calm belt; another
mass coming from the south-west, where it descends, and rushes as a
north-west surface-wind towards the south pole. We have traced the mass
which started from the north pole. Reaching the southern regions, it is
whirled round till, at the pole itself, a perfect calm is produced, when
it ascends and starts off as an upper current towards the equator; but
meeting another current near the tropic of Capricorn, then descends,
one-half flowing out at the surface, as I have before described, as the
south-east trade, the other towards the south pole. This is the most
beautiful and regular system of atmospheric circulation kept up around
our globe. It has not been ascertained exactly why the masses I have
spoken of take certain directions, but we know the directions they do
take. The red dust we found off the Cape de Verds assists us in certain
degrees. We know some of the agents--the diurnal motion of the earth,
and the sun's heating rays. There are certain counteracting or
disturbing causes from which the surface-winds deviate from the courses
I have described. Some lands are covered with forests, others with
marshes, others with sand. All these may be disturbing causes--so are
lofty mountains. From these causes, and the more powerful effect of the
sun's rays in one place than in another, hurricanes and typhoons occur,
and the monsoons are made to blow--the harmattan on the west coast of
Africa; the simoon, with its deadly breath, in Arabia; the oppressive
sirocco in the Mediterranean. What I have said will explain that
beautiful passage in Ecclesiastes, 1st chapter, 6th verse, which shows
the exactness of the sacred writers whenever they do introduce
scientific subjects: `The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about
unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth
again according to his circuits.' Who gave Solomon this information? I
doubt if any of his sages possessed that scientific knowledge which has
only been attained by philosophers of late years. Perhaps I may still
more clearly explain to you the cause of the circulation of the
atmosphere. I told you that there were two agents at work--diurnal
motion, and the heat of the sun; but to these may be added the cold of
the poles, which contracts the air. Suppose the globe at rest, and
covered with one uniform stagnant mass of atmosphere; suddenly heat,
cold, and the diurnal motion commence their operations. The air about
the equator would expand, that about the poles contract. Thus two
systems of winds would commence to blow--one above, from the equator
towards the poles; and as thus a vacuum would be left below, a current
would come from the poles to supply its place. The diurnal motion
prevents these currents running in straight lines. That coming from the
poles will appear to have easting in them, and those going towards the
poles westing. Not only, however, is the level of the atmosphere
changed by the heating rays of the sun, but its specific gravity. Thus
the heated current moves more easily and rapidly than the colder; and
the latter, consequently, turns back a portion of what was going towards
the poles, and adjusts the equilibrium of the atmosphere. I have
already shown you the great importance of the circulation of the air in
the economy of nature; and how, among the many offices of the
atmosphere, it distributes moisture over the surface of the earth,
making the barren places fruitful, and tempering the climates of
different latitudes, fitting them as the abode of civilised man. But I
will not pursue the subject further just now. You must do that for
yourselves. Try and remember what I have said, and think about it
whenever you have an opportunity." Jerry and I thanked the captain for
what he had told us, and I, as before, at once dotted it down as well as
I could in my note-book.
Crossing the Atlantic, we sighted a glittering white rock rising fifty
feet out of the water. It was, I found, the Island of Saint Paul's. It
had a curious appearance, standing thus alone in the ocean 500 miles
from the coast of America, and 350 from the Island of Fernando Noronha--
the snowy pinnacle of a submarine mountain. We hove-to close to it, and
a boat being lowered, Mr McRitchie, Mr Brand, Jerry, and I, went on
shore. The whole rock is not three-quarters of a mile in circumference.
Its white colour, we found, was produced by a thin coating of a
substance formed by the washing off of the birds' dung, collected there
in a succession of ages. The rock was covered with birds--my old
friends, the booby and the noddy, I had so often read about. They
stared at us with a stupid look as we pulled up, not at all able to make
us out, and in no way disposed to make way for us. Gerard and I were
for knocking as many as we could on the head; but Cousin Silas would not
allow us, observing that we did not want them for food, and that they
had a far better right to the rock than we had. The booby, Mr
McRitchie told us, is a species of gannet, and the noddy a species of
tern. The first lays her eggs on the bare rock, but the latter
constructs a nest with sea-weed. While the doctor was eagerly hunting
about for specimens of natural history, we were amused by watching the
proceedings of some of the few inhabitants of the rock. By the side of
several of the noddies' nests we saw a dead flying-fish, evidently
deposited there by the male bird. Whenever we succeeded in driving away
any one of the females, instantly a big crab, which seemed to have been
watching his opportunity from the crevices of the rocks, would rush out,
and with greedy claws carry off the prey. One fellow, still more
hungry, ran away with one of the young birds. Another was going to make
a similar attempt.
"I ought to stop that fellow, at all events!" said Jerry, giving Master
Crab a stunning blow. We tied his claws, and presented him as a trophy
to the doctor.
"A fine specimen of _Graspus_" cried our scientific friend, stowing him
away in his wallet.
"A capital name!" said Jerry. "He seemed ready enough to grasp anything
he could lay his claws on."
The doctor said he could find neither a plant nor a lichen on the
island, and only a few insects and spiders, besides the boobies and
noddies. I ought to have mentioned that we did not fail to meet with
the moist and oppressive weather found under the belt of calms under the
equator. Frequently I felt as if I could scarcely breathe, and nearly
everybody was in low spirits and ready to grumble. Jerry and I vowed
that the air was abominable. Cousin Silas stopped us.
"Remember, lads," said he, "what the captain was telling you. If it
were not for them mists, how could the rivers of the north be supplied
with their waters, and the fields of our own land be made fertile?
Thank God rather that you are thus enabled to see more of the wonders of
creation."
I never forgot this remark of Cousin Silas. A delightful writer, now
well-known, describing the subject, calls it "The Circle of Blessing."
[Mrs Alfred Gatty, in her "Parables from Nature."]
Making sail, we soon lost sight of that white-topped rock. Soon
afterward Gerard rushed down one morning at daybreak into our berth,
and, rousing me up, told me I was wanted on deck. Half asleep, I jumped
up, and slipping my legs into my trousers--for no other garment was
required in that latitude--ran with him where he led me forward. I had
scarcely got my eyes open when I found myself seized by two shaggy
monsters; and hearing the sound of a conch shell, I looked up, and saw
before me, as if he had just come over the bows of the ship, a
strange-looking personage, with a glittering crown on his head, a huge
red nose, long streaming hair, and white whiskers as big as two mops.
In his hand he held a trident, and over his shoulders was worn a mantle
covered with strange devices.
"Trite!--where's Trite? Come along, Trite!" he exclaimed, in a gruff
voice--which sounded not altogether unlike that of old Ben Yool's--as he
looked over the bows; and presently he handed up a lady of very ample
dimensions, who certainly, except for a petticoat and a necklace of
shells, I should not have suspected to have belonged to the fair sex.
"Oh, there you are, my lovie! We must be sharp about our work, for we
have so many ships to board that we haven't a moment to lose. Now, if
there are any young shavers who hasn't crossed the middle of my kingdom
before, let them be brought up here in quarter less than no time, or
I'll do--I'll do--I'll do what you shall see."
This was said in a terrifically gruff voice. Before I had time to look
about me, the two monsters had dragged me forward before his marine
majesty and his spouse; and one producing a huge cold tar brush, and the
other a piece of rusty hoop, I found my face paid over with some most
odorous lather. I cried out to Jerry, who I thought, as a friend, ought
to help me; but he pretended to be in a dreadful fright, and when the
monsters ran after him he managed to shove so violently against me that
he sent me head first into a large tub of water which stood at the feet
of Neptune. I was, however, immediately hauled out by the shaggy
Tritons, and after a fresh application of lather, my face was scraped
over with the piece of hoop.
"Douse him--douse the baby again!" shouted Neptune; and from the mode I
was treated, I thought that I should have been nearly drowned, had not
Mrs Neptune, or rather Amphitrite, interfered in a voice which was
intended to be very affectionate, but which sounded as if the poor lady
had a very sore throat, and begged that I might be allowed to return to
my cradle to sleep out the remainder of my watch.
"Oh, good mother, your sex are always gentle and kind," I answered,
determining to jump with the humour of the thing, and to show that I had
not lost my temper, although the ceremony I had gone through was far
from pleasant. "Now, if you'll just leave one of your squires here
aboard, and he'll come aft by-and-by, I'll try if I can fish out a
five-shilling piece from the bottom of my chest, to buy you and your
good man some baccy and rum, to cheer you when you get back to your own
fireside."
"Well spoken, like a true son of the Ocean!" exclaimed Neptune, patting
me on the back. "For that same notion you are free from henceforth and
for ever of my watery realms; seeing also as how you have been lathered
and shaved and crossed the line. So here are three cheers for Mr Harry
Hopeton; and may he live to sail round the world, and to command as fine
a ship as this here craft--and finer, too!"
The crew, at Neptune's beck, on this gave three hearty cheers; and while
the Tritons were chasing down some lads and two or three men, who had
never before crossed the line, I made my escape towards a tub of clean
water, and thence to my cabin, where I very soon removed all traces of
the discipline I had gone through. By the time the captain appeared the
whole ceremony was at an end, and the men were employed in washing down
decks, as if nothing had occurred. It was the third mate's watch; and I
found afterwards that Jerry, who was the chief instigator, had obtained
his leave to have the ceremony take place. The captain, I daresay, also
knew all about it, but said nothing on the subject. Once upon a time
the crew of every ship crossing the line considered it their right to be
allowed full licence to indulge in all sorts of wild pranks; but the
custom got so much abused that many captains have put a stop to it
altogether, while others only allow it among well-tried and trusty
crews. I was not sorry to have had the tricks played on me, because it
contributed to gain me the good will of the people; and I now felt that,
having crossed the line, I had a right to consider myself something of a
sailor.
CHAPTER FOUR.
A TRIP UP THE AMAZON.
Two days after crossing the line we sighted the island of Fernando
Noronha, which, with several outlying islets, is a very picturesque
spot. It belongs to the empire of the Brazils, and is used as a penal
settlement. As Captain Frankland wished to touch at every place not out
of his way, we dropped anchor in Citadel Bay, opposite a fort on which
the Brazilian colours were flying. A boat was lowered, and though some
heavy rollers were setting into the bay, we managed to get on shore on
the top of one of them without getting wet--that is to say, the captain,
Gerard, and I. It was really a pretty sight. We pulled on steadily,
with the head of the boat directed on shore; then a high, heaving,
glassy wave came gliding in, and the boat was on its summit; now the men
pulled away with all their might, and on we flew till the boat's keel
touched the beach. Quickly the waters receded. The instant they did so
we all jumped out, and hauling the boat up before another roller came
in, she was high and dry out of harm's way. A guard of blacks received
us; and hearing that the town was only about a mile and a half distant,
we set off to walk there. We passed through a pretty valley, and some
woods of tropical shrubs, with the blue sea visible beneath their broad,
fan-like leaves, and by many huts and cottages, inhabited mostly by
blacks, who seemed very much astonished at our appearance. At last we
reached the town, which has an open space in the centre, and a church
and the governor's house at one end, and a strong fort above it. Here
nearly all the soldiers and free men are blacks, while the whites are
mostly slaves, made so by their crimes. It must be rather a
satisfactory state of things to the feelings of the blacks. The
governor of this place--of a hundred houses or so--received us very
civilly, and gave the captain all the information he required; and,
besides that, a good supply of vegetables, which the island produces in
abundance.
On leaving Fernando Noronha we steered for Pernambuco--perhaps, next to
Rio, the port of the greatest importance in the Brazils. On going into
the harbour with a strong breeze blowing, the pilot from gross
carelessness gave the _Triton_ so hard a blow against a rook that an
ugly hole was knocked in her bottom. It seemed for a moment that the
masts would have gone by the board; but the ship, bounding off the rock,
glided on as if nothing had happened. It was a great trial for the
temper of Captain Frankland; but he uttered scarcely a word of reproof
to the pilot, and as to an oath, I never heard an expression even
approaching one pass from his lips all the time I was with him. The
crew were all at their stations, and none stirred from them till the
captain ordered the carpenter to sound the well. He quickly reported
that there were three feet of water in the well, and that it was rushing
in at a great rate. All hands on board not absolutely required to
shorten sail were ordered to man the pumps, and the _Triton_ was carried
in as close to the town as possible, so that she might immediately be
put on shore should there be danger of her sinking. On a further
examination of the damage the ship had received, it was found that it
would be absolutely necessary to land part of her cargo and to put her
on shore before it could be repaired. It was late in the day before
this was determined on, so that nothing could be done that afternoon.
All night long the sound of the pumps going continuously kept me awake
till towards morning, when I still heard them in my sleep. A gang of
negroes had been brought off to work them in relays, so that the crew
were saved the fatigue which they would otherwise have undergone. I was
very glad the next morning when I found the ship hauled close in-shore
to a place where, if she did sink, she could not go far, or drown those
on board. Captain Frankland found that it would take a considerable
time to get the damage repaired, as it was even of a more serious nature
than at first supposed. He bore the annoyance with his usual calm
temper. I have often thought what a valuable possession is a calm
temper, and how worthy of being cultivated.
The ship was consigned to an English firm--Messrs. Gleg and Robarts--who
rendered us every assistance in their power. Mr Robarts was on the
point of starting in a fast-sailing schooner on a trip along the coast
to the northward and west, as far as the mouth of the mighty river
Amazon. He invited Gerard and me, with Mr McRitchie, to accompany
him--not the last excursion of the sort we were destined to make. As he
undertook to be back before the ship could be ready for sea, the
captain, glad that we should see as much of the country as possible,
allowed us to go. I was amused at hearing the doctor charge the crew
not to fall sick, or tumble down and break their arms or legs, till his
return, at the risk of his high displeasure. The schooner--the
_Andorinha_--was built and manned by Portuguese, or rather Brazilians
and blacks. She was a very pretty little vessel, and a first-rate
sea-boat; indeed, the Portuguese models of vessels often used to put to
shame the crafts of the same class built in England. However, of late
years we have made a great stride in that respect. I speak of the
Portuguese, because the Brazils, it must be remembered, was colonised
from Portugal, and the greater part of the white inhabitants--if they
can be called white by courtesy--are of that nation originally. I am
sorry to say that I lost my notes made on this trip, so that I am unable
to describe it with the minuteness of the rest of my narrative.
Mr Robarts was a very merry, kind person, and we spent a very pleasant
life on board the little _Andorinha_. We put into several of the large
rivers, as the object of Mr Robarts was to collect some of the wildest
productions of the country from the natives inhabiting their banks.
When, we entered the Amazon, I could scarcely believe that we were in a
river, so wide and grand is the stream. The colour of the water,
however, showed us that it was really a river we were in. We had gone
up for some considerable distance, a strong breeze enabling us to battle
with the current, when at length we came to an anchor near the shore.
About a hundred and fifty miles up is the Brazilian town of Para--a
complete sea-port, though not equal in size to Pernambuco. We, however,
having a favourable breeze, went much further up the main stream, and
then turned into one of the numerous rivers which fall into it. Here
Mr Robarts expected to remain some little time to trade with the
natives. I had been below, when, on returning on deck, I heard Gerard
laughing heartily, and pointing to a boat which was proceeding up the
stream. In the fore-part was a thatched shed, on either side of which
sat four natives paddling. In the after-part was another shed of bamboo
and grass, under which sat the passengers. On the top of all was the
helmsman--a naked savage, lying his full length, and steering with his
feet, under a sun which would quickly have cooked a beef-steak exposed
to it. Mr Robarts told us that the boat or canoe was called an
egaritea, and that it was the canoe usually employed for the conveyance
of travellers on the Amazon. Again we laughed at the helmsman, who
seemed perfectly unconcerned, as, holding on to the bamboo roof with one
hand, he rested his black head on the other, just high enough to let him
look about in every direction. Mr Robarts could not leave the
schooner; but as Mr McRitchie and we were very anxious to see as much
of the interior of this wonderful country as possible, we arranged to go
up in an egaritea as far as time would allow. Mr Robarts allowed us to
take a half-caste native, who had served on board a British ship and
spoke a little English, as our interpreter. He was called Pedro, but he
had a much longer Indian name, which I do not remember. Away we
started, in high glee, with blankets, a supply of provisions, and a few
cooking utensils, with plates, cups, knives, and forks. We could not
help laughing whenever we thought of our araies, or chief boatman, lying
at his length above us, steering with his feet. This mode of travelling
we found very comfortable--almost too luxurious for our tastes--and
tolerably expeditious. I should say that we all had our guns, and that
McRitchie had, besides, his sketch-book, and boxes and cases for
collecting subjects of natural history. The difficulty in this region
was to know what to select. The water abounded with all sorts of
strange fish, and turtles and alligators innumerable. I must say, when
I first saw one of these hideous monsters, I felt an awe creeping over
me, though the natives did not seem to care a bit about them. We had
got to the end of our voyage in the egaritea, and arranged to hire a
light open canoe, with two men as rowers, in which we could proceed up
some of the smaller rivers. Nothing could surpass the luxuriance of the
foliage, which not only lined their banks, but extended a long way
inland, strange birds of all sizes, from the diminutive humming-bird to
others of immense bulk, of the most gorgeous plumage, flew about among
the trees; while, as we paddled along, we heard the most curious
chatterings, and now and then, if we remained quiet for a few minutes,
we could see hundreds of little black and brown and yellow faces, with
bright eyes peering at us from among the boughs. The slightest movement
or noise made by us would send them scampering off along the branches,
or rather swinging themselves by hands and tails from bough to bough, or
from creeper to creeper, that being their favourite mode of locomotion.
They were clean, nice, respectable-looking little fellows, quite unlike
monkeys cooped up in menageries, or even in the Zoological Gardens, and
seemed to lead very happy and joyous lives. Gerard declared that if he
was not a human being really, the next best state of existence he should
desire would be that of a monkey on the banks of the Amazon. We were
not aware at the time of certain facts, which afterwards came to our
knowledge, which might detract somewhat from the desirability of the
existence; among others, that the natives shoot and eat the poor little
fellows with as little compunction as we should young pigs or fowls.
We were paddling along, admiring the wonderful foliage--one forest
seeming, as it were, to rise up out of the top of another, the lowest
being higher and thicker than any forest in northern regions--when
suddenly a huge black monster was seen swimming rapidly towards us.
"An alligator!" exclaimed McRitchie. "He'll make mince-meat of us in a
moment. My gun--quick, quick!"
I was handing him his gun when one of our native boatmen, laughing at
our fright, made signs that there was no danger, and seizing a piece of
drift-wood floating by, adroitly threw it across its mouth. The vast
jaw of the monster came crashing down on it. There they stuck, and the
native assured us, through Pedro, that he was now quite harmless.
McRitchie took a steady aim at the creature's eye, while a native stood
ready with a coil of ropes to throw over it directly it was killed, or
it would have sunk, I fancy, out of sight in an instant. McRitchie's
bullet took immediate effect, and we soon had the creature hauled up on
the nearest bank, where our medico had the opportunity of anatomically
examining him at his leisure. While he was thus employed, Gerard and I
agreed that it would be a good opportunity to prepare dinner, assisted
by Pedro. The natives preferred sleeping in their canoe. While we were
engaged over our fish, I on a sudden looked up, and saw a huge animal of
the tiger species stealing catlike towards the doctor, attracted
probably by the carcass of the alligator. The creature seemed at that
moment about to make its fatal spring. I had my gun providentially by
my side. I shrieked out to the doctor to be on his guard, and at the
same moment raised my weapon to my shoulder to fire. He had the large
knife with which he had been cutting up the alligator in his hand.
Resting on my knee, I fired, and though I did not flatter myself that I
was a good shot, happily hit the animal on the head. He fell backwards,
stunned but not dead; and the doctor, rushing forward with his knife,
deprived the creature of existence, thanking me in the same breath for
the service I had rendered him.
"Come, we are meeting with adventures now, I do think, indeed!"
exclaimed Jerry, as we sat round our repast, after the enthusiastic
doctor had cut up the tiger. "Hurrah! it's great fun."
Soon after embarking to proceed on our voyage, we looked into a curious
little nook under the trees, where, in the centre of the stream, lay a
canoe with two people, a man and his wife, in it. They were not
over-encumbered with garments, but the man had some curious feather
ornaments on his arms. At first they seemed inclined to paddle away,
but a shout from one of our canoemen brought them alongside, and from
the affectionate greeting which was exchanged between the parties we
found that they were relations, or at all events great friends. Pedro
informed us that they invited us to their dwelling. We were delighted
to accept the invitation, as we particularly wished to see the way of
life of the aborigines. We paddled on some little distance, when our
new friends, leading the way pushed in among the tall reeds till we
found ourselves close to some long poles with a platform on the top and
a ladder leading to it. We followed them up the ladder, when we found
ourselves in a sort of hut, thickly thatched over with palm-leaves.
Looking out, we saw several similar habitations. It seemed something
like living up in trees. We concluded that the object the natives had
in view in placing their habitations in such positions was to avoid the
floods, as also snakes and crawling creatures, and the noxious air which
floats close to the surface. All the natives' houses are not built in
this way, for when we went further inland we met with several standing
only a short distance from the ground--on some more elevated spot. The
natives are not very pleasant companions, as they anoint their bodies
all over with oil, which gives anything but a notion that they indulge
in cleanliness. Jerry, however, observed that it was probably nothing
when people got accustomed to it, and that as oil was a clean thing,
they might be more cleanly than people who wear dirty clothes and never
wash. Even these people do wash their children; and we were highly
amused in the morning on seeing a mother giving her little black-headed
papoose a bath. The bath was a big tub made out of the hollowed
seed-lobe of a species of palm. The fat little creature splashed about
and seemed to enjoy the bath amazingly. After this we agreed that the
natives had a good reason for anointing their bodies with oil, and that
they were not naturally a dirty people. With Pedro, who carried the
doctor's cases, and one of the natives as a guide, we made from thence a
long excursion inland. We were all together when Pedro stopped us.
"There is something curious up in the trees," he observed. We peered
through the branches, and a little way off saw two men--negroes they
seemed--seated at some distance from each other on the boughs of
different trees, perfectly motionless. Each of them had a tube at his
mouth about twelve feet long, and very slender. The mouthpiece was
thick--a short cylinder apparently--as the doctor told us, a receptacle
for wind. The weapon or instrument, he said, was a sarbacan. Numerous
beautiful birds were flying about in the neighbourhood, some of them the
most diminutive humming-birds. Soon as we looked down fell one, then
another and another. They were shot with little darts of hard wood
pointed at one end, and twisted round with wadding at the other to
prevent the wind escaping. Jerry said that at school he had often made
similar weapons on a small scale, and had killed insects with them.
After the sportsmen had shot off all their arrows they came down from
their perches to collect their game. We found that they were employed
by some naturalists at Para, and that the birds were wanted either for
stuffing or for the sake of their feathers. We saw several snakes as we
continued our walk, and I must own that I felt very uncomfortable when
they appeared hanging from the boughs of the trees or crawling along
among the thick grass. Many of them were perfectly harmless, but
others, we were told, were fearfully venomous. Once we very narrowly
escaped a rattlesnake which appeared close to us, but Providence has
ordered it that most of these creatures should be more afraid of man
than man need be of them, and they make off rapidly at his approach.
If, however, they are trodden on, or are disturbed waiting for their
prey, they become savage, and revenge themselves on the intruders. In
most instances, the only chance of saving the life of a person bitten is
at once to suck the wound.
At length it was time for us to go back to the egaritea, that we might
return to the schooner. We found, on rejoining the passenger canoe,
that she would not be ready to start till the next morning. We were
doubting what to do with ourselves in the meantime, when Pedro informed
us that he had heard of some amusing sport to take place that night, and
that he could obtain leave for us to join in it if we wished. A party
of natives were going a little way down the river to a sandbank on which
turtles wore accustomed, at this season of the year, to come on shore in
order to deposit their eggs. The natives hide themselves near the spot,
and as soon as the unsuspecting turtles have performed the operation,
they rush out and turn as many as they can catch on their backs. There
they lie helpless till they are dispatched by the hungry aborigines. We
started in our own canoe, in company with twenty or thirty others, late
in the evening. On reaching the neighbourhood of the sandbank all the
canoes put to shore, and were drawn up on the beach. The natives, one
acting as a leader, whom we followed close after, proceeded along in
single file till a number of bushes and trees close to the bank was
reached. Behind these the party were soon concealed. It was a great
trial of patience waiting for the turtle. I thought at last that they
would not appear, and regretted having lost our night's rest for
nothing. At last, however, a low whistle from our leader aroused the
attention of the whole party, and a number of black objects were seen
moving over the white sands, till the bank seemed literally covered with
them. They remained for some time scraping holes in the sand, and, as I
supposed, depositing their eggs in them; then, at a sign from our
copper-coloured leader, out rushed all the savages, and getting between
the water and the turtle began turning them over with wonderful
rapidity. Jerry and I tried our hands at the sport, but while we turned
one turtle a native would turn a dozen, and would rush into the water
after those that had escaped, and frequently bring them back. At length
all the turtle had escaped or been killed, or had rather been turned on
their backs, where they lay utterly unable to move. The natives now
selected five or six, and carrying them to an open place inland where
the squaws had already lighted a fire, hero they cut the flesh out of
the shell and immediately began cooking it in a variety of ways, and as
soon as it was cooked tossing it down their throats. They all ate till
they were gorged, and then went fast asleep round their fires, forgetful
of tigers or rattlesnakes or other wild creatures. I should think a
tiger must occasionally carry some of them off when they are in that
state, unless the wild beasts prefer the turtles, which I rather fancy
they do. We selected four turtle, and filled a basket with a quantity
of the round soft eggs, and then paddled back to our egaritea.
Soon after it was daylight we started on our passage down the river,
which, as we had a strong current in our favour, was very quickly
performed. The _Andorinha_ was just ready to sail, and as we had a fair
breeze, we did not stop at Para, but proceeded at once to sea.
I have narrated the chief incidents of our expedition. By-the-by, the
doctor took a capital sketch of one of the tree habitations, literally
perched among the branches. He had to climb a tree to take it, an easy
matter in those parts, considering the immense number of tendrils to
assist a person in the operation. A big monkey was sitting on a
neighbouring bough, and did not observe us, as we were hid by the thick
foliage. I have introduced the sketch at the end of the chapter.
We had a favourable voyage back to Pernambuco, where we found the
repairs of the _Triton_ just completed. Captain Frankland was of course
very anxious not to lose a day after this was done, so as soon as the
cargo could be restowed we bade farewell to Mr Robarts and our other
kind friends, and with a light wind stood out of the harbour. Our
destination was Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Brazils. I shall not
forget the magnificent sight which met my eyes, as one bright afternoon
we glided through a narrow entrance into its superb harbour. We
appeared to be sailing up a large lake, extending as far inland as the
eye could reach, and surrounded with lofty mountains of many different
and picturesque shapes. On either side were walls of granite, rising
sheer out of the water to a height of nearly 2000 feet, while behind
them rose the vast Sugar-loaf Mountain, and a number of other lofty and
barren peaks towering up clear and defined against the blue sky. Like
mighty giants they surround the harbour, the ground at their bases
sloping towards the water, and sprinkled with pretty villages, and
quintas, and orange-groves, and covered with the most luxuriant
vegetation. A picturesque fort guards the entrance to the bay. Passing
it, after sailing about four miles, we dropped our anchor among a crowd
of vessels carrying the ensigns of nearly all the civilised nations of
the world, before the city of Rio, which, built on a flat extending two
miles from the hills, appeared on our left hand. As our stay was to be
short, the captain allowed Gerard and me to accompany the doctor on
shore at once. He himself went with us, and introduced us to a
merchant, who kindly undertook to show us about the place.
"There, go and see all you can, and give me an account of what you have
seen when you return on board," were his parting words.
Rio, with its superb harbour, as seen from the heights above it, is a
picturesque city, as I think the drawing I brought home and now give
will prove. It is built upon piles--that is, the lower part--and as the
drainage is bad, it is at times very unhealthy. On landing, we found
ourselves on a large open space with a palace before us, and a fountain
in front of it. Before the palace stood two negro soldiers as a guard.
The army, our friend told us, is composed chiefly of negroes, who make
very good soldiers; and the navy is manned by them. Acting with
Englishmen, many of whom are in the Brazilian navy, they are as bravo
and trustworthy as any men to be found. Off the square branched a
number of narrow streets. As the climate is so hot, all the streets are
made narrow, that they may be kept as much as possible in shade. The
houses are mostly of good size, and the walls are very thick; they thus
keep out the heat of the sun. The churches are also substantially
built, and decorated in a very florid style--the interiors being tawdry
in the extreme, calculated only to please the uncultivated taste of the
negroes and of the lower order of whites. Railways have been formed in
the Brazils, and one runs to Petropolis, a summer resort of the
principal inhabitants. Omnibuses, too, have made their appearance. The
streets are paved with fine blocks of stone, and the city is lighted
with gas; indeed, as our friend observed, "under the liberal government
of the present constitutional emperor the country has made great
material progress. When her literally unbounded resources are
developed, the Brazils cannot fail, unless her constitution is
overthrown, of becoming a wealthy and happy nation. At present, her
wretched parody of the pure religion of Christians, and her lazy,
profligate, and ignorant priests, tend more than anything else to retard
her progress. Vile as they are, they have been unable to prevent the
free circulation of the Scriptures and the toleration of Protestant
opinions."
We were struck by the immense number of negroes who crowd the streets.
Those born in Africa are known by the distinguishing marks of their
tribes on their foreheads. Many of them are free. A negro in Rio may
demand his valuation from a magistrate, and when he can make up the
fixed sum he can purchase his freedom. Slaves are generally treated
kindly by their masters, and as their price is high, on account of the
impediments thrown in the way of the slave trade, their health is
carefully looked after. The porters are all slaves. They pay their
owners so much a day, and keep the rest of what they gain for
themselves. They carry everything on their heads. We sometimes met a
dozen grunting or singing in time, as they stooped under some huge
machine borne aloft above them. They lie about the streets with their
baskets, ready for anybody's call. We thought the Brazilians a very
quiet and most polite people. They were continually bowing to each
other, and there was none of that bustling roughness so often seen in
England. We met the emperor on horseback in plain clothes, though his
attendants were in handsome uniforms. He was a fine intelligent-looking
young man, and is much liked. The Brazilian government is liberal.
Both Houses of Parliament are elected by the people; and if there is a
majority of three-fourths in favour of a measure in the Lower House, the
measure is virtually carried, whatever the vote of the Upper. If the
Senate, or Upper House, do not agree, the two meet in convention; and as
the number of the Senate is small compared to that of the Lower House,
it can thus always be outvoted. The vote of the emperor can suspend a
law for a year; but if, at the end of that time, it be again passed by
the Legislature, it takes effect. In reality, the government is a
republic, the emperor being the executive, though deprived of
legislative power.
We passed in our walk a house out of which a funeral procession was
coming. It was that of a young lad of our own age, we were told. That
and the neighbouring houses were hung with blue cloth. The hearse and
liveries of the servants, and the trappings of the horses, were of the
same colour. His hands were crossed before him with a cup in them. The
decorations at the funerals of young children are red, those only of
grown-up people are black. If boys are named after any of the saints,
they are dressed in appropriate costumes. If after Saint John, a pen is
placed in one hand and a book in the other. If after Saint Francis or
Saint Anthony, he has a monk's gown and cowl. Sometimes a boy is called
after the archangel Michael, and then he wears a gilt pasteboard helmet,
a tunic with a belt round the waist, tight red boots, and his hand
resting on a sword. Poor little girls, with rouge and false locks, are
made to represent Madonnas and female saints. Jerry and I agreed that
we should not like to be rigged out in that guise after we were dead.
Rio is supplied with water by an aqueduct which comes from far up among
the mountains, its chief source being a romantic and forest-surrounded
spot, called the "Mother of Waters." The actual channel which conveys
sufficient water to supply so large a city as Rio is only nine inches
wide and nine and a half deep. The precious fluid, however, comes
rushing down with great rapidity, and thus quickly fills all the
reservoirs below. It is conveyed from its mountain-source sometimes
across valleys on high massive arches, sometimes in the interior of a
thick wall-like structure, and sometimes underground. The channel has
for its whole length an arch above it of sufficient height and width to
enable a man to walk upright along it. Altogether, we agreed that Rio
if it were not for the slaves and the monks, and the want of drains,
would be a very civilised city. Never did sight-seers get over the
ground faster than we did, or make better use of their eyes. I ought to
have mentioned that steamers ply in various directions in the harbour of
Rio. Our friend proposed a trip up the country, which would last during
the few days we had to spare. We started in one of the smallest of the
steamers, and went up the River Macacu. One thing struck us--a boat
laden with slaves, which had been landed on the opposite shore, and were
being smuggled into the city. We went on shore at the small town of
Porto Sampaio, and thence on mule back about fifteen miles, to the
country-house of a Brazilian gentleman, our friend's friend. We four
had a room to ourselves--a large, roughly built apartment. Scarcely
were we all in bed, and the light out, when, just as I had dropped
asleep, down came something on my nose. I started up, and there
appeared to be a tremendous clattering and pattering about the room.
"I say, Harry, what are you heaving at me?" sung out Jerry, springing up
also.
"Rather, what are you throwing at me?" I retorted.
"Hillo! what's the matter?" cried the doctor; "I felt something soft
slip through my fingers--animals of some sort--what can they be?"
"Only rats!" said our friend, awoke by our exclamations. "I know they
are somewhat numerous in this house."
We all sat up, and began shouting and striking right and left; but the
rats did not mind us a bit. At last the doctor lighted a lucifer match,
and away scampered at least a hundred rats into the holes from whence
they had come out. We thought that we were to have rest, but as soon as
darkness and silence were restored, out they all came again, and made as
much hubbub as before. Jerry and I kept knocking about us to little
purpose, till we both fell back asleep; and all night long I dreamed
that I was fighting with a host of black men on the coast of Africa.
When the morning broke, they scampered away like so many evil spirits,
leaving their marks, however, behind them. They had committed no little
mischief also. They had gnawed through our friend's shoes and the
doctor's leather cigar-case; they had carried off Jerry's leather
braces--the remains of which were found near one of the holes--and the
front strap of my cap. We all had suffered, but, as Jerry remarked, as
they had left us our noses and toes it did not much signify. They
infest the country in all directions, we were told.
The estate we were on produced chiefly sugar. The milk by which the
canes are crushed consisted of three vertical wooden rollers worked by
mules. The most interesting subject connected with our trip was the
cultivation and preparation of the mandioca. The chief produce is
called farinha: the slaves are fed almost entirely on it. A field of
mandioca, when ripe, looks something like a nursery of young plants.
Each plant grows by itself, with a few palmated leaves only at the top.
The stem is about an inch in diameter at the base, and six or seven feet
long. A bud appears at nearly every inch of the otherwise smooth stem.
These plants give forth tubers of irregular shape, in substance like a
parsnip, about six inches long and four thick. The tubers, after being
scraped and rinsed, are ground, or rather grated against a wheel with a
brass grater as a tire. One slave turns the wheel, and another presses
the root against it. The pulp is then put into bags and pressed. The
matter, which resembles cheese-cake in consistence, is then rubbed
through a wire sieve and thrown into shallow copper pans moderately
heated. After being stirred up, it quickly dries, and the produce is
not unlike oatmeal. The juice pressed out is very poisonous by itself.
It is, however, collected in pans, when a beautifully white substance is
precipitated to the bottom. This substance is tapioca, so largely used
in puddings at home. To plant a field of mandioca, the stems of the old
plants are cut into bits about four inches long, and stuck in the
ground. They quickly take root, and, sending forth shoots from the
buds, are in two years fit again to dig up. The mandioca is called
cassava in some countries. The press used by the Indians is a simple
and most ingenious contrivance. It is made by the Indians wherever the
plant is grown. It is a basket made of fine split cane loosely plaited;
in shape, a tube five feet long and five inches in diameter at the
mouth, and narrowing somewhat at the bottom. A strong loop is left at
each end. To use it, first it is wetted, and then a man holding the
mouth presses the other end against the ground till it is half its
former height. A long smooth stick is now inserted down the middle, and
the pulp is packed tightly round it till the basket is full. It is then
hung to a beam or branch of a tree by a loop at the mouth, while a heavy
weight is attached to one at the bottom, till the basket has assumed its
original tube-like form and length, and the whole of the liquid has been
pressed out of the mass of mandioca.
One of the most curious features in a Brazilian forest is the vegetable
cordage, or _sipos_, which hang down from every branch, like slack ropes
from the rigging of a ship. Jerry and I several times could not resist
having a good swing on them, while the doctor was hunting about for his
specimens. Their roots are in the ground. They climb up a tree, then
hang over a branch and descend, and often twist upward again by their
own stem, to descend more than once again to the ground. We were shown
the nests of some diminutive bees. The nests are not so large as a
turkey's egg, while the bodies of the bees are but little thicker than
the bodies of mosquitoes. The comb is of a dark brown colour, and the
construction of the nest is somewhat like that of ants. The only
entrance is a small hole, at the mouth of which they construct a tube
turning upwards. This is regularly closed up at night, so that no damp
can enter, and it is never opened till the sun has been some time up.
The bees have no stings, but they are very brave, and will drive away
the ordinary bee from their hives. A sketch which the doctor took, and
finished up afterwards on board, will afford a better idea of the
vegetation of a Brazilian forest than any verbal account I can give.
I might go on indeed for hours describing all the wonders we saw during
our short trip. Our last excursion was to the Corcovado Mountains,
whence we looked down on the blue waters of the superb harbour of Rio,
surrounded by sandy beaches and numerous snow-white buildings, peeping
from amid the delicate green foliage which covers the bases of the
neighbouring mountains, and creeps up almost to their summits; while the
mountains are on every side broken into craggy and castellated peaks of
every varied shape; the whole forming a not easily forgotten panorama.
Once more we were on board and under weigh. The bay, as we sailed out,
was full of vessels; but the flag of Old England was not, as I should
have supposed, among the most numerous. With a fair wind we passed out
of the harbour, and stood along the coast to the southward.
CHAPTER FIVE.
ADVENTURES IN THE FALKLANDS.
The reason, I believe, why sailors in a well-regulated ship are
generally so happy, is, that they are never allowed to have an idle
moment. Mr Renshaw was always finding something for the people to do;
and when that work was finished, there was something else of equal
importance to be done. The picture our deck presented on one day will
serve for that seen on most days in fine weather: on one side the
spun-yarn winches were going, manufacturing spun-yarn out of old junk--a
never-ending source of employment; Mr Pincott and his mates were busily
at work building a boat on the other; the sail-maker and his gang were
repairing some of the sails, and making light ones for the gentle
breezes of the Pacific; while Fleming and his crew were laying up rope,
and the rest of the watch were knotting yarns, making sinnet, wad-bags,
wads, chafing gear of all descriptions, such as worming, parcelling,
roundings, spun-yarn, rope-yarn, marline, seizing, stuffs, and service
of all kinds; the names of which things alone are, I suspect, sufficient
to puzzle a landsman, so I will say no more about them. Aft were
Captain Frankland, with one of the mates and Gerard and I, taking
observations of the sun,--an employment in which, as I began to
understand it, I felt great interest. It struck me that, as far as I
saw, Captain Frankland took very little concern about the ship. He
seldom spoke a word to any of the crew, and only occasionally on points
of duty while on deck, to the mates. I soon found, however, that no man
could more effectually exert himself, when his exertions were required.
Hitherto there had been nothing to call forth his energies. With light
winds and calm seas, he had better employment in his cabin. That very
day a change came over the even tenor of our lives; scarcely were our
sextants stowed away, when, as the captain was walking the deck, I saw
him frequently turn his glance to the westward. There, over the land,
in a moment it seemed, arose a bank of clouds, which every instant grew
denser and denser, and came rushing toward us across the sky.
"All hands shorten sail!" shouted Captain Frankland, stopping suddenly
in his walk. Quick as the word, the work in which everybody was engaged
was stowed away, and up jumped the crew, all life and activity. Away
they flew aloft--royals were sent down, top-gallant-sails were furled,
and the yards were braced so as to take the wind on the starboard-tack.
We had had the wind from the north-east, but it now fell almost a dead
calm, and the lower sails began to flap idly against the masts; and
under our topsails we waited the coming of the squall. It did not long
delay; on it came in its majestic fury. On one side of us the whole sky
was covered with a dense mass of threatening clouds, while the sea below
appeared torn up into sheets of hissing foam; on the other, the sky was
blue, and the water smooth as a polished mirror. There was not a breath
of air where the ship lay. Then down on us came the fierce squall with
its utmost fury--rain, hail, and wind united--over heeled the stout ship
as if she had been a mere cockleshell, till her gunwale was buried in
the water. I thought she would never rise again, but I kept my eye on
Captain Frankland, who seemed as cool and collected as if nothing
unusual was happening. With speaking-trumpet in hand, and holding on by
the weather-rail, he ordered the mizen-topsail to be furled. The lee
maintopsail braces were then slackened, to shiver the maintopsail; and
the wind being taken out of it, the whole pressure was thrown on the
headsail; the helm was then put a-starboard, and her bow paying off,
righting herself, away flew the ship rapidly before the gale on an even
keel. The foaming seas, rising every moment higher and higher, coursed
each other up under our stern, as if angry at our escaping their power.
Dark clouds were above us; dark hissing seas on every side; the thunder
roared, the lightning flashed brightly: so terrific did the scene appear
to me, that I thought at times that we must be hurrying to destruction.
I concealed my feelings, for Gerard took the matter very coolly, and he
was not likely to spare me if I expressed any unwarrantable alarm.
After we had run on before the gale for some time, it began to moderate.
We had all the time been going out of our course; so, to avoid losing
more ground, the captain gave the order to heave the ship to. I had
never before seen this operation performed. The fore-topsail was first
furled, and the maintopsail, which was closely reefed, and the
fore-topmast staysail were the only sails set. "Brace up the main
yard!" was the next order given. "Now, down with the helm!" cried the
captain, watching a favourable opportunity when a heavy sea had passed
us. The ship felt the influence of the wind, and came up with her head
to the westward; and then she rode, rising easily to the tops of the
seas, and gliding slowly down into the valleys--their wild, foaming,
hissing crests rushing furiously by her, but not a drop of water coming
on board. I had never pictured to myself a scene so awfully grand as
that which I now beheld in perfect security. On one side the waters
rose in a wall high above the deck, and looked as if about to overwhelm
us; while the next instant we were looking down into a vale of waters of
depth so great, that it seemed, if we slipped into it, we should never
again struggle upwards. When summoned to dinner, I went below with the
expectation that I should be unable to have a mouthful; instead of
which, there appeared to be very little more motion than usual, so
easily rode the ship; and I could scarcely persuade myself that I had
but just left a scene of such wild confusion on deck. The gale did not
last more than twelve hours, and the ship was then once more put on her
proper course for the Falkland Islands.
"Land ho! land ho!" was shouted one forenoon from aloft, with the usual
prolonged cry. The Falkland Islands were in sight, and the land seen as
we drew nearer, I found, was that about Cape Bougainville. We stood on,
and next we made out the rugged hills above Berkley Sound, and then got
close to the dark brown cliffs of Macbride's Head, with hundreds of
seals lying on the sands and rocks below them. We could hear the roar
of the beasts as they looked up at us, indignant, I thought, at being
disturbed by our approach; but Mr Brand told me that, fierce as they
looked, they are a very harmless race, and easily captured. On the
downs above were numerous cattle feeding, which gave us the idea that we
were approaching some civilised part of the world. Passing Berkley
Sound with a stiff breeze, which rushed out of it, we stood on for Mount
Low, and then beat up Port William, which has a line of sand hills on
one side of it, and Stanley Harbour at the end. Although the day was
fine, the appearance of the country was not very attractive; for there
are no trees--rocks, and sand hills, and tussac grass, and barren
heights, being the chief features. We dropped anchor opposite Stanley,
the capital of the settlement. Above a line of piers and quays appeared
a double row of neat white cottages, inhabited by the pensioners who
were sent out to assist in founding the colony. Round and about them
are other houses and cottages, extending along the shores of the bay,
and sprinkled on the sides of a gentle slope. They are generally of
light tints, which contrast well with the dark background of the hill
beyond, and give the place a pretty appearance. Further up is the
church, not a very ecclesiastical-looking building; and beyond again,
the cemetery, which has a neat chapel attached to it. The Government
House is a long, low cottage edifice, which looks well from the harbour;
and on the east of the town are some extensive stores, belonging to the
Falkland Island Company, with their small fleet of vessels in front of
it. On the west of the town is the Government Dock-yard, with
block-house, workshops, guard-house, and stores, all neatly railed in.
The surrounding country consisting of slight elevations, either rocky or
covered with tussac grass, is not attractive. I could not help looking
at the place with great interest, as the first infant British settlement
I had seen; and I thought less of what it then was than of what it might
become, under good management. The last idea was suggested to me, I
must own, by Mr Brand.
The chief promenade in Stanley is called Ross Road, running right and
left of the principal street for about two miles. On one side of it are
built a number of houses facing the water, and among them are two or
more hotels, of some pretensions. Behind this road are some smaller
streets, inhabited by labouring people, Spanish Gauchos, and others.
There are, perhaps, rather more than a hundred houses in the town, and
between 400 and 500 inhabitants, including boatmen, stray sailors,
Gauchos, and other wanderers. Several of the houses have gardens which
produce a fair supply of vegetables, and beef is to be had in abundance;
but as the colony produces very little else in the way of food, the
inhabitants are somewhat hard up in that respect. The islands
alternately belonged to England and Spain, till, in 1774, they were
finally evacuated by the latter power, though it is only of late years
that they have been systematically colonised by England. The first
governor, Lieutenant Moody, arrived there in 1842, when the site of the
intended town was changed from Port Louis to Port Stanley. As a proof
of the value of the islands, Mr Lafosse, a British merchant at Monte
Video, paid 60,000 pounds to have the right over all cattle of every
description to be found on the East Falklands, for six years and a half.
From what I heard, the climate is very healthy. It is at times windy,
but in summer it is as mild and dry as the south of England. In winter
the cold is never severe, and only at intervals of several years does
snow fall to any depth, so as to risk the destruction of cattle. The
most remarkable production is the tussac, a gigantic species of grass,
which grows to the height of ten feet, and is capable of sheltering and
concealing herds of cattle and horses. The core of this grass is of so
nutritious a nature, that people have been known to live for months on
it, and to retain their health. From this cause the animals on the
islands grow to a great size, and their flesh is of a particularly fine
flavour. The great object for which the settlement was founded, was to
afford a place where ships might repair, and to supply those going round
Cape Horn, or returning home that way, with fresh provisions. It is
also under contemplation to make it a penal settlement, for which it is
in many respects particularly adapted, if sufficient employment for the
convicts can be found.
Gerard and I were very anxious to get on shore to enjoy some of the
sport we had heard so much about. "Wouldn't it be fine to kill a fat
bull, who would make nothing of tossing one twelve feet up in the air if
he could but catch a fellow on the tip of his horns?" said he, rubbing
his hands.
I agreed with him; but we had little hopes of having our wishes
gratified, when a gentleman from the shore offered to give us a trip
round in one of the Company's schooners to the West Falklands, where she
was going to procure cattle. As the ship was to remain here some days
to have one or two slight defects made good, and to take in a supply of
beef, fresh and salt, Captain Frankland allowed us to accept the offer,
Mr Brand going to look after us. Away dashed the little schooner, the
_Sword-Fish_, having a fine fresh breeze, with as merry a party on board
as ever put to sea. There was our friend Mr Nathaniel Burkett, and his
friend Mr Jonathan Kilby, both keen sportsmen, and up to all sorts of
fun; and Gerard and I, and the master of the vessel, Tom Cribb by name,
who, though not a good shot, seeing that he had but one eye, and that
had a terrific squint, knew every inch of the coast, and exactly where
we were likely to find sport; and then there was Cousin Silas, who was a
first-rate shot, though he did not throw away his words by talking about
the matter. Pleasant as our trip promised to be, many a gale has to be
encountered off those wild islands, and dangers not a few. We, however,
instead of standing out to sea and going round all, took a course,
well-known to our skipper, among the numerous isles and islets grouped
round the larger Falkland. Their names I cannot pretend to remember.
At last we dropped anchor in a snug cove where we were to remain for the
night. We, the sportsmen, were to have a boat left us, and we were to
land, while the schooner ran on to a station some way further. We had
one dog with us, Old Surley by name, belonging to Mr Kilby--as brave an
animal as ever flew at a bull's neck, for he feared neither bull nor
beast of any sort. With our guns, plenty of ammunition, and a stock of
provisions, we pulled up a creek where we could leave the boat in
safety, and landed. We first climbed a rock on the shore, whence we
could look about us and take a survey of the island. It was of
considerable size. We saw that we should have no difficulty in
penetrating across it, through the high tussac grass which almost
entirely covered the ground. We first advanced together. We soon came
to some curious green mounds, covered with a velvety moss, about two
feet high and nine in circumference. I happened to sit down on one to
tie my shoe, and it made a most comfortable seat.
"Do you know what that is?" said Mr Burkett, giving it a blow with the
butt end of his gun, which broke the moss to pieces as if it had been a
huge toadstool. The mossy coat was an inch and a half in thickness, and
the whole interior appeared filled with wide-spreading miniature
fir-trees. Every stalk, of which there were a great number, was edged
with diminutive leaves like those of the fir; and the tops were
sprinkled with little pieces of resin, brown outside and white within,
some not larger than a pin's-head, and others half the size of a
filbert. We afterwards came to some mounds where the plants had pushed
through the green moss, and their leaves having slightly expanded, they
looked like miniature myrtles. Instead of going directly inland, we
made our way along the shore among the penguin grass. This grows to the
height of ten feet, on the top of clumps of decayed vegetable matter,
forming large hillocks, which made the shore look as if it had been
covered with a coppice of underwood. We took our way through it, often
being hid from each other by the high grass, and had not gone far when a
loud roar saluted our ears. Jerry and I were together, but we had lost
sight of the rest of the party. I instinctively drew back, and he
looked very much as if he would have run away, had he known where to run
to. He says he felt very brave though.
"What's that?" I exclaimed.
"A lion!" replied Jerry, looking uncomfortable.
"A wild boar," said I; "there are no lions here."
"A big bull, perhaps," cried my companion. "I hope his horns are not
sharp!"
Our guns were loaded only with small shot, so that we could hope to make
but little impression on the body of a wild animal. The roar was
repeated, and there was a loud rustling among the penguin grass on a
mound near us. The grass moved rapidly. We looked towards it.
Presently the huge head of a ferocious-looking animal appeared glaring
at us from among the grass. We shouted lustily for help to our friends.
"Let's run, it is a lion--I told you so," cried Jerry; "no time to lose,
if we don't wish to be eaten up!" Suiting the action to the word, Jerry
turned round, and, in attempting to escape, tumbled over some of the
tangled stalks, and lay sprawling on the ground, while I endeavoured to
lift him up. The huge monster all the time came roaring towards us,
Jerry and I shouting out,--"Help, help, help! a lion, a lion!" In
another moment I expected to feel his claws on my shoulder.
"A sea-lion, my lads!" cried Mr Jonathan Kilby, who at that moment
appeared close to us from among the high grass. "Jump up and attack
him."
The beast having no legs, and being able only to make progress with his
fins, had not advanced so far as we expected. Our friend, having in the
meantime drawn the small shot from his gun, and put a ball instead,
fired at the head of the beast. The ball entered and stopped his
further progress, and there he lay, helplessly floundering about, and
roaring more lustily than ever. This gave Jerry and me time to recover
ourselves, and to put bullets into our guns, with which we soon put an
end to the sufferings of the poor beast. He was, we found, a species of
seal, about eight feet long, of a yellowish-brown colour, and with a
large mane, covering his neck and shoulders. He looked as if he would
prove an ugly customer in the water; but as he had only flappers for
front legs, with very small nails on them, and only a tail instead of
hind-legs, a person on shore could very easily keep out of his way, and
Jerry and I felt rather foolish at the fright he had put us into. We
had achieved our victory before Mr Brand and Mr Burkett found their
way up to us. As he lay not far from the boat, we settled to take his
skin on our return. Going on, we reached a lake of some size, from
which vast numbers of teal got up. Jerry and I shot several, which made
us very proud; and the rest of the party tagged thirty or more between
them, so that they were pretty well loaded. Before long, we again
managed to get separated from the rest, but we had grown so satisfied
with our prowess that we were indifferent to consequences. We felt that
we were not likely to starve even if we lost our way. I was just going
to fire at a teal, when Jerry pulled my arm, and pointing to an opening
in the distance among the clumps of grass, I saw the head of a huge bull
not fifty yards from us, and, as it seemed, fast asleep. Now was the
time to show what we could do, so we withdrew our small shot and loaded
with ball. Like North American Indians on a war-trail, we crawled
stealthily towards him. We halted, and resting our guns on a bank,
fired together.
"I am certain I hit him," cried Jerry.
"So am I," I added--though I was surprised that the beast did not move.
"We've killed him!" cried Jerry, as on we rushed, expecting to find a
rich prize. He was lying down when we hit him, we saw that. We kept
him in sight for some way, then we found our further progress somewhat
impeded by the bogginess of the ground. At last we were brought to a
stand-still about ten paces from our victim. Jerry gave a blank look at
me, and I looked at him, and burst out laughing. The poor beast was not
alive, certainly, but we were innocent of his death. He had evidently
got into the bog in wet weather, and in vain struggling to free himself,
had died of starvation. His head was stretched out, as if hopelessly
longing for the rich food he saw growing not thirty yards from him,
which yet he could not reach. All around the morass were the hoof-marks
of his comrades, as if they had been watching him in his dying
struggles, scampering round and round, perhaps with terror, or perhaps
thinking how they might help him.
"At all events," exclaimed Jerry, "we may say we hit a huge bull and
left him as dead as mutton; and there's no great harm if the rest go
back to look for him. We can easily point them out the place by the
side of the lake."
A little further on we reached a smaller lake which was swarming with
birds--geese, ducks, divers, and other wild-fowl. Among them were
several swans, beautifully white, with black necks, which kept swimming
gracefully about like the great lords of the feathered population among
whom they moved. Jerry and I were very hungry, so we sat ourselves down
to take a nibble at our biscuit and cheese, not wishing to disturb them
till our friends should come up to help us to slaughter them. We had
sat a little while, and opened our wallet, when, what was our surprise
to see the birds swimming together, and landing in numbers below our
feet! Slowly some advanced, as if to reconnoitre us, and then others
came on, till some hundreds were within thirty yards of us, evidently
wondering what strange animals we could be. Then they began to talk to
each other in a most strange discordant cackle, their voices growing
louder and louder, as if they were disputing on the subject, and could
not settle it to their satisfaction. We lay back and watched them,
highly diverted. Nearer and nearer they approached, talking away
furiously all the time in tones of wonder and surprise, more than in
those of anger.
"I know what they are saying," whispered Jerry. "Well, these are two
strange beings! How could they have come here? They are not seals,
that's certain, for they have legs; but they don't look as if they could
swim with those long, thin projections instead of flappers; and
assuredly they can't fly, for they have no wings. How can they feed
themselves, for they have no bills? and see what great ugly round things
they've got for heads. Evidently they cannot dive or live under water.
They are not fish, then, nor birds; for if those are feathers growing on
their backs, they are very rugged and dirty. Well, we pity them; for
they are strange beasts, that's a fact." This quaint notion of Jerry's
tickled my fancy so much that I burst into a loud fit of laughter, which
somewhat startled our flock of visitors; while Jerry, sitting up, hove a
stick he had carried all day made fast to his side in among them. The
missile did not, however, make them turn tail; but, instead, they
clustered thickly round it, and, as if it had been some impertinent
intruder, began pecking at it furiously. As we could not carry the
birds away, with a praiseworthy self-denial we abstained from firing.
When, however, we jumped suddenly up and clapped our hands, away they
scuttled at a great rate, chattering and quacking louder than ever. We
hoped, however, to reward ourselves for our present self-denial, by
returning with all the party to have a shot at them in the evening.
After this we walked on for a mile, and had begun to wonder what had
become of our companions, and to be a little anxious at having missed
them, when we were startled at hearing a loud roar not three hundred
yards from us. It was very different from that of the sea-lion, and we
too soon recognised it as the voice of an angry bull. Again the bull
bellowed, and this time several other bulls lent their voices to the
terror-inspiring chorus. We ran to the top of the highest mound near
us, and thence we made out five or six bulls, with their tails up in the
air, rushing towards us, following one whose voice we first heard. The
spot on which we stood afforded us no protection, for the beasts would
have rushed up it in a moment, but a couple of hundred yards on was a
rock with steep sides, just rising above the grass; and our only chance
of safety was to climb it before the horns of the first bull had reached
our backs. Had he come directly on, as fast as his legs could carry
him, this we should have had no chance of doing; but instead of that, he
every now and then stuck his sharp ugly-looking horns into the grass,
and tossed it above his head, as if to show how he intended to treat us
when he caught us. We rushed on with our eyes fixed on the rock, not
venturing to look behind, and expecting every moment to feel his horns
at our backs. We kept a tight hold of our guns, but unfortunately
dropped our wallets and the game we had shot. On we ran and on came the
bull; the rock was a dozen yards before us, and he was not much further
off in our rear. We sprang on; Jerry tripped over a lump of decayed
grass, but he picked himself up, and, crying to me not to stop, followed
me. The face of the rock was too perpendicular directly in front to
allow me to get up it, but a little to the right it was more broken. I
sprang towards the place, and scrambled up. Jerry reached the foot of
the rock; the bull was making for the right side, where he had seen me
climb up. In another moment he would have pinned Jerry to the rock, or
tossed him up to me.
"Help me! help me, Harry!" he sung out, with good reason dreadfully
alarmed. I had just time to throw myself down at full length, and, by
loaning over the rock, to seize his hand, before the bull, seeing him,
with a terrific bellow made a full butt at him. With a strength I did
not think myself capable of exerting, I hauled him up to me, the bull's
horns actually passing between his feet! In his hurry, however, he
dropped his gun at the foot of the rock, and the bull vented his rage
and disappointment by giving it several butts as it lay on the ground;
and I was in great hopes that he would strike the lock and make it go
off--it would have astonished him not a little. Jerry almost fainted
with the fright the brute had given him, but he very speedily recovered,
and then we looked round to see what sort of a place we were on. We
found that it was, fortunately, inaccessible on all sides; so we
returned with much greater composure to watch the proceedings of our
bovine enemies. The other bulls had now come up, with their tails in
the air, bellowing at the top of their voices, and tearing the ground up
on all sides, and throwing the grass over their heads. They appeared
for some reason to be fearfully enraged against us. There were seven
bulls altogether. Placed in the convenient position we were, we agreed
that we could easily shoot them, and thus raise the siege; but on
examining the contents of our pockets, we found that we had only got
five bullets between us. Now, supposing every bullet to have had in
this case its billet, and to have mortally wounded an animal, that would
have left two unprovided for; and even with two we had no desire to
contend on the level ground. Still we determined to do what we could;
so I loaded and took a steady aim at the beast which had led on the
attack. The bullet struck him on the head; but his skull was thick, and
though it wounded him severely, it did not enter his brain. The pain
made him tear up the ground more furiously, and bellow louder than
before. Jerry said he would try the next time; so I loaded, and he took
the gun. I thought he was going to make a good shot, but he was
nervous, and the bullet only struck the beast's shoulder, nor did it
increase the sweetness of his temper. We had thus only three bullets,
and all our enemies as vicious as ever. The most important thing we
agreed to be done was to get rid of the leader; so I took the gun again,
and carefully loading, waited till he made a tilt right up to the face
of the rock, really looking as if he had been going to try and leap up
at us. I tried to be perfectly cool, and fired. The bullet struck him,
I was certain of that, but it did not kill him, so I supposed that it
had glanced off over his head.
"I won't miss again," I cried, loading as rapidly as I could. "One of
our last two bullets must do the deed."
Our enemy, on receiving his last wound, turned off and made a rapid
circuit round the rock, to discover, we concluded, if there was any
place by which he could get up at us. Finding none, he returned. As
soon as he appeared, I took a steady aim, resting the barrel on a lump
of rock--I fired. Roaring with fury, he bounded along towards the rock.
I thought he would almost have reached us. Suddenly he stopped--down
went his head, and over he rolled close under the rock, and there he lay
stone dead! We both of us simultaneously raised a loud shout of
victory; but, as Jerry remarked, we began to crow rather too soon, for
the other six bulls, no way daunted at the fall of their leader,
continued raging round about us as furiously as ever. We had only one
bullet left, and with that we could scarcely hope even to settle one of
them. We sat ourselves down watching our enemies, hoping that they
would grow tired of waiting for us and go away; but they seemed by no
means disposed to move. Never did a beleaguering army watch more
pertinaciously round a hard pressed garrison than did our formidable
enemies watch to toss us in the air. In vain we stood up and looked
around on every side for our friends, as far as our somewhat limited
range of vision extended. There was not a sign of them. They, too,
would have become not a little anxious about us, except Cousin Silas
thought we were still with Mr Kilby, and the latter gentleman supposed
we had joined our other friends. If so, unless they met they would
probably not come to look for us. As we had taken but a light luncheon,
we began to feel very hungry, and to cast longing glances at our
satchels and the teal, which lay at some distance from the rock, but
which we dared not attempt to got. Not ten feet below where we sat was
the bull. Jerry looked over the rock--
"I should so like to have a juicy beef-steak out of you, old fellow!"
said he, addressing the dead animal. "I say, Harry, don't you think we
could manage to get it? The other brutes will certainly grow hungry
before long; and, as they don't want to eat us, while they are picking
up their dinners I shall have plenty of time to get down and cut out a
few slices. I have my knife, and I sharpened it only yesterday."
I had mine also; and, as I highly approved of his suggestion, we
resolved to wait a favourable opportunity for our exploit. Raw meat was
not, however, to our taste; so we agreed to try and light a fire and
cook our steaks. There was plenty of dry moss and grass on the rock, so
we set to work and collected all that we could find, so that we soon had
a famous heap of it, sufficient almost to roast the whole animal. As we
expected, the bulls, after looking at us for some time, feeling the
calls of hunger, began to lower their tails, and putting their heads to
the ground, commenced to munch the tender grass.
"Now, if these beasts had been lions and tigers, the more hungry they
grew the more anxious they would have been to get at us. It's lucky all
animals are not carnivorous."
Having delivered himself of this sagacious remark, Jerry said he was
ready to turn butcher. We waited, however, till the bulls had got a
little further off, and then he descended on the carcass of our victim,
while I bent over the rock, as before, to help him up should they appear
inclined to tilt at him. Enough steaks were cut to dine half-a-dozen
men; and then, as the bulls did not observe him, grown brave from
impunity, he went on further and picked up his gun. This he handed up
to me, and it was not much the worse for the butting it had got. The
bulls were still feeding quietly, apparently having forgot all about us.
"I say, Harry, I think some biscuits, and rum and water, would not be
bad things with our steaks, not to speak of the teal," said he, looking
up at me. "What do you advise? May I venture to run for the satchels
and some of the game?"
I agreed with him that it would be very desirable to have them, and
offered to accompany him.
"No, no," he answered, with a knowledge of generalship for which I had
not given him credit; "do you load the gun, and stand by to cover me if
I am pursued; you will be ready also to help me up the rock as before.
If I were to take your place with the gun up there, the chances are that
I should shoot you instead of the bull, and that would not do. I'll go,
never fear." Jerry, as will be seen, was a creature of impulse. He was
as brave as any one when he had time for reflection, and saw the
necessity for coolness. As soon as I had loaded the gun and got ready,
keeping his eyes on the bulls, he cautiously advanced towards our
satchels. If a bull lifted his head, he stopped, and crouched down to
the ground. Then he advanced again on all-fours; and so by slow degrees
he worked himself up to the spot at which he aimed. He seized the
things, and began to return as slowly as before. It would have been
well if he had continued his caution, but when he had got about half way
on his return, he took it into his head to run, laughing loudly at the
success of his exploit. His figure moving alone, and his voice, roused
the bulls. Up went their tails, and a terrific bellow made his laughter
cease in a moment. I shouted to him to run faster. On he scampered,
shouting loudly, "Fire, Harry, if you see one of them going to butt!" I
was all ready, and he bravely held fast our property. The bull nearest
to him, wildly whisking his tail and bellowing louder than ever, was
close to him. I was in doubt whether or not to fire, lest I should
still more infuriate the animal should I wound without killing him. In
another moment I saw that there was no alternative. His horns were
close to Jerry's back, and in an instant he would have had him high up
in the air. I shouted to Jerry to jump on one side. He followed my
advice with wonderful coolness. I fired. My bullet hit the bull in the
right eye. Down went his head, tearing into the ground. He rushed on
almost close up to the rock, bellowing furiously, ploughing up the earth
with his horns; and then, as if he had been making a voluntary
summerset, he rolled right over, and was dead. It was indeed a triumph.
I had no time to think about it then. On rushed Jerry, for the other
bulls were coming up fast. Throwing aside my gun, I helped Jerry up the
rock with the things he had so courageously recovered at the moment the
other beasts were up to him.
"Bravo, Harry!" he sung out; "you've saved my life and shot the bull;
you are a capital fellow!"
I proposed that we would not compliment each other till we had lighted
our fire and cooked our steaks. As we had now some teal, we added a
couple to our repast. We had some lucifers, so we soon made a glorious
fire. Having plucked our teal, we poked them under the ashes, while, in
true sportsman fashion, we toasted the steaks at the end of our ramrod.
Having also pepper and salt, we had every reason to be satisfied with
our repast.
"I say, I wish those other fellows were here," said Jerry. "It would be
great fun if they would come, thinking we were stuck in a bog, or spiked
on the horns of bulls, and find us so jollily eating away up here.
Here's to your health, Harry. May you always make as good shots as you
did just now, when you saved me from the butt of that beast's head!
Hillo! have a bit of your brother?" cried he, holding a piece of the
steak at the end of his ramrod down towards one of the bulls, which came
snuffing up towards us.
Thus we went on laughing and joking, perfectly contented, and thinking
only of the present moment. We forgot that our fuel would soon be
expended; that the position we occupied would be a very unpleasant one
on which to pass a cold and perhaps rainy night; and that our friends
would become really alarmed should we not make our appearance at the
boat. These considerations did not begin to weigh with us till we had
finished our dinner. When, however, we had time for reflection, we were
not quite so well contented with ourselves.
"This is very good fun," I remarked, "but I should like to know how we
are to get away unless these beasts of bulls choose to raise the siege."
"They'll not do that in a hurry," answered Jerry. "We must wait till
night-time, when they can't see us, and then make a run for it."
"But how are we to find our way to the boat in the dark?" I asked. "I
scarcely know whereabouts she lies."
"To the westward, then, I think," said he. "If the sky is clear we may
steer by the stars, and we shall manage to find our way."
I cannot say that I felt as hopeful as my friend professed to do, still
there appeared to be no other means of escaping the bulls, and getting
back to the boat. Should we wait till the morning the brutes would
probably espy us, and run a tilt at us as before. We had provisions to
last us for many days, but we had no liquid, with the exception of a
little rum and water, which, although we had carefully husbanded it, was
very low in the flask. A breeze had sprung up from the east, and it was
already rather cold on the top of the rock; so, making up our fire, we
sat down by it. We were amused at the way in which the bulls
occasionally came and had a look at us; as much as, Jerry said, to ask,
"Well, when are you coming down to let us give you a toss? We don't
intend to go away till we've tried it on. We are at home here, you
know, so we are in no hurry." Provoked, as he declared, at their
impudence, he at last seized a bundle of burning grass which, he had
twisted into a torch, and when a bull came near he hove it at his head.
The flaming mass caught on his horns, and certainly had the effect of
making him turn tail, and rush bellowing off from the rock; but it had
another effect, and a most disastrous one, on which we had not
calculated. Galloping on, the animal very soon freed himself from his
burning head-dress by sending it into the middle of a large clump of
tussac grass.
"Hurrah! the brute has made a famous bonfire!" exclaimed Jerry, clapping
his hands as he saw the bright flames burst out from the easily ignited
grass.
"Larger than we may bargain for," I remarked, as in another instant,
fanned by the wind, the fire began to run along the ground, and a
neighbouring clump broke forth into a furious blaze.
"Well, that is a bonfire!" cried Jerry, still not comprehending the
extent of the mischief he had commenced; but it was not long before he
also saw with me what was going to occur. On went the fire, running
along the ground as if it had been strewed with gunpowder--then for an
instant playing round some tall clump, out of which directly afterwards
forked flames darted forth, and quickly reduced it to ashes, while thick
volumes of smoke curled upwards to the sky. No sooner did the bulls
scent the smoke than up went their tails, and with loud bellows they
dashed off through the grass, trampling it down in their fright.
"Now is our time!" I exclaimed; "the siege is raised; let us make the
best of our way to the boat."
Following the impulse of the moment, we seized our guns and the birds we
had shot, and leaping off the rock, began to run in an opposite
direction to that which the bulls had taken.
"Hurrah! the bulls are off. There they go like mad things, with their
tails up in the air!" exclaimed Jerry, as we ran on.
"I did it finely--didn't I? That bonfire was a capital idea. We've
killed two, and the rest won't be in such a hurry to butt at people in
future."
On we scampered, but we had not gone twenty paces before I seized
Jerry's arm and came to a stand-still, looking with dismay at the scene
before us. The flames, blown by the wind, had caught the neighbouring
clumps of tall grass. Dry as tinder, they were blazing up furiously.
Our further progress was completely barred by the fierce flames which
were rapidly extending on every side, and even then running along the
ground towards us. We had already passed over a quantity of dry grass
which, in another moment, might be on fire, and then all hope of escape
would be lost.
"Back, back!" I exclaimed--"to the rock, to the rock! It is our only
place of safety."
With frantic speed we rushed back, the fierce flames, like hissing
serpents, close on our heels. Hotter and hotter became the air--more
dense and suffocating the smoke. Blinded and confused by it, we could
scarcely find our way. A trip over the tangled grass-stalks we knew
would be fatal. The flames were already scorching our backs. On either
side we saw them leaping upwards round the tall tufts of dry herbage.
We shrieked with pain and terror. The rock was reached, but to scale
its steep sides seemed beyond our power. With a strength I did not
believe myself to possess, I seized Jerry and hoisted him up. Grasping
the clumps of grass and rugged lumps of rock, he scrambled to the top,
and then leaning over, lent me his hand, and dragged me after him.
Horror of what might be my fate enabled me to do what I otherwise could
not have accomplished. At the same moment that I reached the top of the
rock, the whole surrounding surface of the ground below became a sea of
raging fire--leaping, tossing, hissing, roaring, the flames blown here
and there by the wind; it was like the ocean in a storm. The devouring
element came circling round us, the bright flames darting up like the
tongues of huge serpents, eager to make us their prey. Bewildered by
the scorching heat and black circles of smoke, we were nearly falling
back into the fiery sea. I felt that I could not much longer retain my
senses. I seized Jerry's arm, and dragging him back, we retreated
towards the centre of the rock. Even there the heat was so intense, and
the smoke so suffocating, that it was with difficulty we could breathe.
"This is dreadful!" he exclaimed faintly. "Harry, I cannot stand it--I
am going to die." Saying this, he sunk gasping to the ground. At the
same time I felt an agonising sensation in my chest, and fully believing
that the same fate as his was about to overtake me also, I dropped down
senseless by his side.
CHAPTER SIX.
OUR BOAT ADVENTURE AMONG THE FALKLANDS.
A current of cool air was passing over the face of the rock, I conclude,
for, to my no small satisfaction, I discovered that I was alive, and
could very speedily sit up. The spectacle which met my sight, however,
was terrific in the extreme. Far as the eye could reach, the whole
country was in a blaze, the flames crackling and hissing as they
fiercely attacked clump after clump of the tall tussac grass, while the
ground over which they had passed was charred and blackened, the
globular masses of the bog balsam glowing with fervent heat. The flames
also still burned brightly close round us, and I saw no means by which
we could escape from our position. As soon as I had collected my
thoughts, I remembered my companion. I found a few drops of spirits and
water in our flask. I poured them down his throat. He looked up.
"What! am I still alive?" he muttered faintly. "Oh, the bulls and the
fire! what's going to happen next?"
"That is more than I can tell you exactly," I answered; "but I suppose,
in time, the fire will burn itself out, and then we may get away from
this. Let us watch it meantime. It is worth looking at."
In a short time, after a few sighs, Jerry lifted up his head from the
ground, and sat up. The sight at which we gazed was especially grand
when a fresh puff of wind sent the flames rolling along, and throwing up
forked flashes, as they found new fuel to feed on. All the beasts it
had encountered had, of course, fled, terror inspired, before it; but
numberless young birds must have been destroyed, and we saw hundreds of
their parents hovering over the spot where their nests had been, in the
vain effort to save their offspring. Some we saw fall into the flames,
either from having their wings singed from approaching too near, or by
being suffocated with the smoke. When we saw the effects of the fire,
we were doubly thankful that we had not attempted to make our way across
the island. Once surrounded by that fiery furnace, we must have been,
to a certainty, burned to death. Suddenly a dreadful thought occurred
to me.
"Jerry," I exclaimed, "where can our friends be all this time? Is it
possible that they can have been among the grass, and that the fire may
have caught them up? Good Cousin Silas, and Mr Burkett, and jolly Mr
Kilby. Poor fellows! we may be much better off than they are."
"Oh, don't talk about it," said Jerry, shuddering; "it is too dreadful.
I hope--I hope they will have got into a place of safety. Poor fellows!
and it was all my doing. Do you know, Harry, I think we ought to pray
for them. They may be requiring aid which no mortal man can give them."
"Yes, indeed," said I; "we ought--let us." And together we knelt down
on the hard rock, surrounded by the roaring flames, the thick black
smoke curling around us, and sometimes almost suffocating us; and most
earnestly did we offer up our prayers for the safety of our friends and
for our own; and most thankful did we feel that we had been preserved
from the dangers into which we had been thrown. I pity the person who
is ashamed to acknowledge that he prays for protection both for himself
and those he cares for. How should we go through the world without the
protection of an all-merciful God? Often and often I have had proof of
how utterly unable we are to take care of ourselves. Among the many
blessings and advantages I have enjoyed is that of having had parents
who taught me to pray, and not to be ashamed of praying. At school,
when some poor, weak, foolish boys were afraid to kneel down by their
bedsides to say their prayers, my brothers and I always persevered in
the practice; and very soon we put to shame those who tried to interrupt
us--and not only we ourselves, but other boys who did the same, were
from that time never interfered with. Sure I am that our prayers were
heard, and that the blessings we prayed for in earnestness and
simplicity were given us. When we rose from our knees we found our
courage much increased. The occasion had made us serious, and reminded
us of our duties. I wish that it had been always so, that it were still
always so; but even now as I write, I feel how much day after day I have
left undone of what I ought to have done. Is it not so with all of us?
Then what necessity is there for prayer for strength from above to
enable us to do our duty. I say again, don't be ashamed. Pray always;
and if it is for your good, what you ask with faith God will most
assuredly give you. He has said it, and his promises never fail.
Night was now approaching, but we could yet see no prospect of our
escaping from our present position. The darkness, as it came on, served
to brighten the effect of the fire; and as we gazed round on every side,
as far as the eye could reach, we could see only the bright glare of the
conflagration as it went on widening its circle round us. Now and then,
as it reached spots more thickly covered with clumps of tussac grass, we
could see the flames rushing upwards in pyramids of fire; but in other
places a dense fierce glow could alone be perceived as the fiery wave
receded from us. The sight we beheld was certainly a very grand one,
and not easily to be forgotten; but our position was far from pleasant,
and we would thankfully have found ourselves on board the schooner, or
even in the boat under shelter of a sail. Our clothes were scorched,
and so were our hands and feet; we were getting very hungry, and no fuel
remained to enable us to cook our provisions, while now that the fire
was removed from us the sharp wind made us feel very cold. When we
considered the small area of the rock which had been at one time like an
island amid the fiery ocean, we had more reason than ever to be thankful
that we had escaped destruction. On further examination of the locality
we discovered that the proximate cause of our escape was owing to the
position of the rock near a piece of water, the extent of which we
perceived when the fire in our neighbourhood had burned itself out. A
narrow belt of grass only intervened between the rock and the water, the
rest of the ground being a marsh covered with moist rushes, which did
not burn. As the wind had for the greater part of the time blown over
the pond, we were thus saved from suffocation. Had the rock been
thickly surrounded by high grass, I think that we must have been burned
to death; for, blown by the wind, the flames would have reached the very
centre of the rock where we lay; and had we not been roasted, we should
have been suffocated by the smoke. We crouched down on the rock, and
sat for some time without speaking, watching the progress of the flames.
The ground around us was still glowing with the remains of the fire.
How long we had sat silent I do not know, when Jerry exclaimed, with
animation--
"I say, Harry, why shouldn't we have a steak off our old friend the
bull? He must be pretty well done through by this time."
"We will try him at all events," said I; and descending the rock, we
very soon had some fine slices of beef out of him. Finding that the
ground was sufficiently cooled to allow our walking on it without
burning our shoes, we advanced with our steaks stuck at the end of our
ramrods to a glowing heap of bog balsam. Kicking it up with our feet,
it soon sent forth a heat amply sufficient to cook our already
half-roasted steaks. When they were done, collecting our guns, and
bags, and game, we sat down on the lee side of the rock, and speedily
silenced the cravings of hunger. We should have been glad of something
to drink, but we were not yet sufficiently thirsty to induce us to get
water from the pond. We felt very tired after all the exercise we had
taken, and the excitement we had gone through during the day; but we
were afraid to go to sleep lest the bulls should wander back, or
something else happen we knew not what; besides, the anxiety about our
friends kept us awake. At last, however, as we sat shoulder to shoulder
under the rock, sleep stole imperceptibly on us, and I do not think that
I ever enjoyed a sounder slumber than I did that night. When we awoke
we rubbed our eyes, not knowing where we were. It was broad daylight.
We rose to our feet, and after stretching our cramped limbs, we climbed
to the top of the rock to look about us. The fire still raged over part
of the island, which was enveloped in thick wreaths of black smoke; but
to the west we caught sight of the blue sea, sparkling brightly in the
sunshine, the intervening space being free from flames, though
presenting a surface of black ashes, not a blade of grass apparently
having escaped the conflagration. We thought, too, that we recognised a
point round which the schooner had come just before dropping us in the
boat. This encouraged us to hope that we might not be very far-distant
from the place where we had landed. Without waiting, therefore, for
breakfast, we determined at once to set off.
"Let us take some beef, though," exclaimed Jerry; "it will prove that by
our own prowess we have killed a bull at all events."
The slices of beef were speedily cut, therefore, and strung on over our
shoulders, and, like two young Robinson Crusoes, we set off in the hopes
of soon relieving our anxiety about our friends. Nothing could be more
melancholy than the appearance of the country through which we passed--
cinders and blackness on every side. Every now and then we nearly
tumbled into a glowing heap of bog balsam. It was sad, too, to see the
number of nests, some with eggs in them, and others with young birds
completely roasted; indeed, we passed many old birds burned to cinders.
At last we struck the shore; but the face of nature had been so
completely altered by the fire, that we were uncertain whether it was to
the north or south of the creek at which we had landed. At last we
agreed that we were to the south of the spot we wished to reach, so we
stood along the beach to the north. We had not got far before we saw, a
little way inland, where the grass had been, two black masses. We
grasped each other's arms. Were they the figures of men? Trembling
with fear we hurried towards them. Though burned to cinders, still we
had no difficulty in recognising them as two seals. The poor things,
stupified and astonished by the fire, had probably had no time to waddle
into the water before it had overtaken them. Perhaps seals, like fish,
are attracted by fire, and the foolish animals had thought it a fine
sight to behold. We had taken no breakfast, and were beginning to feel
the want of food, but, at the same time, we were so thirsty that we did
not feel as if we could eat. There was plenty of salt water; but that
was not tempting, and would only have increased our suffering. Jerry
sat himself down on the beach and said he could go no further; but I
urged him to continue on, in the hopes that we might come soon upon a
stream of water. I remember even then being struck by the immense
quantities of kelp which fringed the shore. The long leaves and roots,
where left by the tide, looked like pieces of thick brown leather; and
we agreed that cups and bowls, and all sorts of things, might be made
out of it. Kelp is a species of sea-weed of gigantic size, and its
sturdy stems have been known to reach the surface from a depth of nearly
three hundred feet; some of the wide-spreading weeds looking like tanned
hides extended on the surface. Its roots cling with a powerful gripe to
the rocks, on which alone it grows. Some of the stems are sufficiently
strong to moor a boat with. I had a knife, the handle of which was made
by simply sticking the hilt of the blade into a piece of the root while
it was wet;--when the kelp dried the blade was firmly fixed in it. We
had not gone far when a rippling sound saluted our ears; and running on,
we found a bright, sparkling stream gurgling out of the bank. We put
our mouths down to the spot where it gushed out, and oh, how we enjoyed
the cool pure draught! Nothing could then have been more gratifying to
our taste. We found this gave a remarkably keen edge to our appetites;
so we sat down by the stream and produced a piece of the steak we had
cooked the previous evening, and the remains of our biscuit. While
discussing them, Jerry exclaimed that he saw something galloping along
the shore.
"Is it a bull?" I asked, thinking that we might have to decamp, and
looking out for a place of safety.
"It comes on very fast," he answered. I jumped up, for I was sitting a
little below him, and looked in the direction he pointed.
"It's old Surley! it's old Surley!" I shouted. "Our friends cannot be
far-off."
On came the old dog, and was very soon jumping up and licking our hands
and faces, and wagging his tail, till it looked as if he would wag it
off. He seemed in no way displeased at receiving a piece of beef; and
as soon as he had got it he began to trot off with it in his mouth in
the direction from which he had come. After going a few yards, however,
he stopped and turned half round, and wagged his tail, as much as to
say, "Come along with me; I trotted all the way on purpose to fetch
you."
We took up our guns to show that we were about to follow; and on this he
began to jump, and frisk about, and bark, to exhibit his satisfaction,
and then he stopped and went on a little, and then stopped again to see
that we were following. In great hopes that he was leading us to our
friends, we went on as fast as we could walk. Our path led us under
some cliffs which were literally crowded with penguins and young
albatrosses, or mollimauks. There was a regular encampment or rookery
of them, extending for five or six hundred yards in length, and from one
to two dozen in breadth. The nests of the albatrosses were nearly a
foot high, and of a cup-like form. Feathers were just beginning to
spread on the backs and wings of the young birds, and to take the place
of the down with which they had originally been covered. Old Surley
passed by without taking any notice of them. When we approached the
spot they set up a loud gabbling, and spouted out an oily substance at
us. The penguins were much more dignified, and looked at us with silent
contempt. The surface of the sea near at hand was covered with the
parent birds, and the air was alive with them as they flew backward and
forward to carry food to their young; but as, following old Surley's
example, we did not attempt to molest their broods, they took no notice
of us. The penguins were the most numerous, and appeared to be the
original inhabitants of the spot. They were arranged with great
regularity, those having just broken the shell being together, as were
those with their feathers appearing, and also those expecting soon to
fly. Never had I seen so many birds together. However, we were too
anxious about our friends to stop, so we hurried on after old Surley.
From the steady way in which he proceeded, we felt sure that he was
leading us in the right direction. Nor were we deceived. Before long
we recognised the creek where we landed, and soon we reached the boat
drawn up on the shore. We rushed towards her to discover if our friends
had lately been there. We examined her thoroughly; but after all we
could not decide the point. Thus we remained as anxious as ever.
While, however, we were engaged in this manner, we had not watched old
Surley, and when we looked up he was gone. Just before we got into the
boat, Jerry's cap had tumbled off, and when he wanted to put it on
again, though we hunted about in every direction, it was nowhere to be
found. At first we thought of continuing our search for our friends,
but we soon agreed that it would be wiser to stay where we were; that if
they had escaped they would certainly return to the boat, and that if we
went in search of them, the so doing would only delay our meeting.
Being somewhat tired, therefore, we got into the boat, and drawing the
sail over the after-part, we lay down in the stern-sheets and were soon
fast asleep. We were both awoke by old Surley's bark, and jumping up,
we saw Mr Brand with his other two companions running along the beach.
We jumped out of the boat and hurried to meet them. Mr Brand had
Jerry's cap in his hand, which old Surley had carried with him to show
that he had found us. We speedily narrated our adventures to each
other. They had been dreadfully alarmed on our account. It turned out
as we had supposed--Mr Kilby had reached the sea-shore by himself,
thinking that we were with the other party, while they supposed we were
with him. However, they had not been very anxious about us till they
saw the conflagration burst out, and guessed that we were by some means
the cause of it. They were on their way to look for us, but the flames,
like some mighty torrent, rushed towards them. They had with frantic
haste to dart through the clumps of tussac and penguin grass to reach
the beach. They hurried to the boat, and had barely time to leap into
her, and shove off, before the flames, fanned by the wind, came
crackling and hissing up after them, and would very probably have set
her on fire. Cousin Silas was almost in despair about us, and Mr Kilby
told me that he said he should never forgive himself if we came to harm.
They were much interested with the account we gave them of our
adventures; and as it was time for dinner, we agreed to cook and eat the
trophies we had brought with us--the beef-steaks--before putting to sea.
We were amused at finding that we had committed an illegal act in
killing the bulls; but, as it was in self-defence, it was agreed that
the act was justifiable.
It had been arranged that we were to rejoin the schooner on the evening
of this day, at a point of land running out from an island a little to
the west of where we now were, unless the weather should prove bad; in
which case she was to come in for us. The weather, however, was very
fine, so making sail we stood across the channel. The station to which
she had gone was three or four miles further to the south. The water
was very clear, and as we passed through the kelp we looked down in some
places where it grew less thickly, and could see its vast stems and
branches, with their huge leaves, springing up from the depth of many
fathoms, like a forest of submarine oaks or Spanish chestnuts. We were
amused with the flight of some of the ducks we put up. Mr Burkett
called them loggerheads, racers, or steamers. Their wings will not lift
them from the water, but whirling them round and round, they went
scuttling and waddling away over the surface at a rapid rate, generally
two and two--the loving husband and his wife--leaving a deep furrow in
the water behind them. We burst into fits of laughter at the ridiculous
manner in which they moved. They are fat and fishy, and not at all fit
for food. I never expected to have seen more birds together than we had
passed at the rookery under the cliffs in the morning; but we sailed by
an island, of which birds of all descriptions had taken entire
possession. There were various species of ducks, and geese, and snipe,
and teal, and shags, and grebes, and penguins, and albatrosses, and
sea-rooks, and oyster-catchers, and gulls with pink breasts, and many
others, of whose names I have no note. As we believed that we had
plenty of time, we landed near some cliffs to have a nearer look at
them. So tame were they that we could knock down as many as we liked
with our sticks; but it was murderous work, and as we did not want them
to eat--indeed many were not fit for eating--we soon desisted from it.
Near where we landed the cliffs ran out into the sea, forming natural
docks, and in one of these cliffs we discovered a large cavern, which
seemed to run a great way under the ground. By climbing along the
ledges of the rocks, somewhat slippery with sea-weed, at no little risk
of a ducking, we got to the mouth of the cavern. The sides were
composed of ledges rising one above another, and every available spot,
as far as the eye could penetrate, was occupied by shags and divers, and
other sea-fowls. There were thousands--there might have been millions
of them, if the cavern ran back as far as we supposed it did. They in
no way seemed alarmed at our intrusion, but allowed us to kick them
over, without attempting to escape. However, at last, old Surley found
his ways after us, and his appearance created the wildest hurly-burly
and confusion. Such clapping of wings, and hurrying to and fro, and
quacking, and shrieking, and whirling here and there, was never seen
among a feathered community. They must have been very glad when we took
our departure.
We had got into high spirits with our walk, and had begun to forget all
about the bulls and the fire, when, as Jerry and I were in advance
scrambling along the shore, we saw basking, a little way inland, among
some tussac grass, a huge animal. "Why, there is an elephant!" I
exclaimed, starting back "or a live mammoth, or something of that sort.
I don't like his look, I own."
However, screwing up our courage, we advanced cautiously toward the
monster, as he seemed no way disposed to move at our approach. Then we
halted and examined him more narrowly. He was alive, for we saw his eye
complacently looking at us, as Diogenes might have looked out of his tub
at the passing crowd. He was fully twenty feet long, with a huge
unwieldy body and a big head. The most curious thing about his head was
a huge nose, or trunk rather, which hung down nearly half a foot below
the upper jaw. His skin was covered with short hair of a light dun
colour, and he had a tail and fins like a seal. While we were still in
doubt what he could be, Mr Kilby overtook us, and laughingly seizing
our hands ran up behind the monster.
"Are you for a ride?" he exclaimed; and before Jerry suspected what was
going to happen he found himself seated on the monster's tail! "There
you go, on the back of a sea-elephant," exclaimed Mr Kilby, giving the
beast a poke with his stick. "Hold on tight, and he can't hurt you."
Jerry did hold on, not knowing whether to laugh or shriek out with fear.
Away crawled, or whalloped rather, the elephant towards the water, Mr
Kilby and I keeping alongside, ready to catch Jerry should he fall off.
I soon saw there was no real danger, except the monster should roll
round, when his weight would kill any one under him. Jerry also
instantly entered into the joke of the thing, and was delighted with the
idea of being able to boast that he had ridden on a sea-elephant.
"I shall be carried off into the depths of the ocean, and you, Mr
Kilby, will have to be answerable to my disconsolate father," he sang
out, half laughing and half crying. "Good-bye, Harry; a pleasant voyage
to you round the world. May you not be spirited away by a sea-monster
like this. Oh! oh! help me off, though!--he'll have me into the sea to
a certainty, and then he'll turn round and gobble me up--he will. I
know he will."
As the beast approached the beach, lest the joke might be carried too
far, we lent him a hand to dismount, while his steed crawled on as
sedately as before into the water, and, as he swam off, turned round his
head, as much as to say, "Hillo, master, are you not coming too? Just
try it, and see how you like a swim with me." Mr Kilby told us that
this animal had probably been sick, and had remained behind while his
companions had taken to the sea, which they always do on the approach of
summer. In autumn they come on shore, and live in large herds in marshy
places by the sides of rivers, eating grass like cattle. The females,
which are without the snout, suckle their young, of which they have
generally two at a time. As they are very slow in their movements, to
afford themselves time to escape they have sentinels posted while they
are feeding, whose duty is to give notice of approaching danger. They
are very good tempered and inoffensive, though the mothers will attack
those who molest their young. Mr Kilby told us of a man who had his
leg bitten off by a female, while he was attempting to carry away her
cub. We now once more took to the boat. We had not been long under
weigh before I saw Mr Burkett looking up anxiously at the sky.
"I don't quite like the look of the weather," he remarked. He had been
a sailor, and had long been cruising about the islands. He was
therefore our pilot on the present occasion. "Brand, can you make out
the schooner anywhere?" Cousin Silas replied that he could nowhere see
her. "Then something has delayed her at the station," observed Burkett.
"As the tide is making in that direction, and the wind is fair, we'll
run down there instead of crossing the channel to the point proposed."
This plan was agreed to, though it might have been wiser had we kept to
our original purpose. For some time we made fine weather of it, but
getting into another channel, we found the wind first scant, and then
directly against us. We had consequently no choice but to attempt to
beat up to the station. This delayed us much beyond the time we
expected to get there. We of course kept a bright look-out for the
schooner, lest she should pass us; but evening was closing in apace, and
still we had a long way to go. However, Mr Burkett said he knew
exactly where we were, and that we should be able before long to make
out a light in one of the cottages, which would guide us to the station.
So we kept a press of sail on the boat, and looked out for the light.
The boat stood well up to her canvas, but after passing high cliffs, and
opening a channel from the sea, a sudden squall took her, and before we
had time to cast off the sheet, she was over on her beam ends. Cousin
Silas whipped out his knife and tried to cut the main-sheet, while I let
go the head-sheets, and Burkett jammed down the helm; but it was too
late--over went the boat. Our ballast, happily, consisting of
water-casks, she did not sink, though she turned bottom upwards. It was
a moment of intense horror and dismay. I felt myself under the boat,
entangled in the rigging! I had no time for thought. I felt that death
had come, far away from home and friends. The next moment I was dragged
out and placed on the keel--Cousin Silas was my preserver. Where was
poor Jerry, though? Again Silas dived, and brought him to the surface,
handing him up near me. Mr Kilby and Mr Burkett were clinging on to
the gunwale, and now they all climbed up; and there we sat, our lives
for the moment preserved, but with very grave apprehensions as to what
should become of us. Old Surley, when the boat capsized, kept swimming
round her; and when we climbed up on her bottom, be followed our
example, sitting as grave as a judge, thinking it was all right. Had we
been near inhabited shores, or in a channel frequented by vessels, we
might have had some hope of being rescued; but the schooner was the only
vessel we could expect to pass that way, and the chances of her seeing
us appeared very remote. Happily the wind fell, and there was not much
sea, or we should have been washed off our insecure hold. The current
was running very strong, and Burkett was of opinion that it would drift
us down towards the station; but it was a question whether we could
reach the place before the tide turned, and whether we should get near
enough to it to make our cries heard. These discussions occupied us for
some time, and perhaps assisted to divert our minds from the very awful
position in which we were placed. Jerry and I were sitting near each
other astride on the keel at the after-part of the boat. Cousin Silas
had climbed up over the bows, while Burkett and Kilby hung on, lying
their full length amidships.
"I say, Brand, don't you think we could manage to right the boat?" said
Burkett. "If we could do it we might paddle on shore somewhere, and we
should, at all events, have no fear of starving."
"We'll try what can be done," answered Cousin Silas, slipping off into
the water, and we following his example. "All ready now--heave away."
We hove in vain. The sail, and something else heavy, which had got foul
of the rigging, prevented us righting her.
"We must give it up, I fear," cried Burkett at last. "The oars went
adrift, I fear; and as we have no hats among us, we should have nothing
to bail her out with."
As it happened, we all wore light sea-caps, which would have helped us
very little in getting rid of the water. With sad hearts we had to
abandon the attempt, and again to climb up into our places, considerably
exhausted with the efforts we had made. Night was now coming on
rapidly, and the darkness which grew round us much increased the horrors
of opposition.
"One thing I have to tell you," said Burkett,--"there is always a light
kept burning at the station. If we sight it, we shall know whereabouts
we are, and be able to calculate our chances of reaching the shore."
This, however, I thought very poor consolation. The light could be of
no use to us unless the tide took us near enough to it to allow of our
voices being heard on shore. Fortunately we could still distinguish the
dim outline of the coast as we drifted by, or we should not have known
in what direction to look out for the expected light. Cousin Silas said
very little--he was anxiously looking out for the beacon, to us of such
vital importance. How dreadful, indeed, was our situation! I dared not
think--I dared not hope to escape--still I dared not turn my eye to the
future. I waited with a sort of apathetic indifference to the result.
No light appeared; the current was evidently setting us through the
centre of the passage out to sea, in the direction of that
storm-surrounded promontory, Cape Horn. We must abandon even the remote
prospect of being drifted on shore on one of the southern portions of
the Falklands. For some time there was a complete silence among us. It
was broken by Cousin Silas.
"My friends," said he, in a calm, grave tone, but without a sign of
agitation, "has it occurred to you that we may soon be called upon to
die? Are you prepared for death? Are you ready to stand in the
presence of the Judge of all the earth?"
No one answered him. What were their thoughts I do not know. Mine were
very terrible. I thought how hard it was for those young as Jerry and I
were, to be summoned to leave the beautiful world which we expected to
enjoy so much. I forgot that numbers young as ourselves had been called
away.
"It is a fact we should all of us attempt to realise," continued Silas.
"We must be judged. Have we gone to the Fountain which washes away all
sins, to be cleansed from our iniquities? Do you trust on Christ, and
Christ alone, as our Saviour, who will acknowledge us as his disciples--
who will present us purified from our sins for acceptance by the Father?
My dear friends, I put before you these great truths, because our
happiness or our misery for that eternity which we are now approaching
depends on them. On what do you trust? Oh, be able to give a
satisfactory answer before it is too late." I will not give the
conversation which followed. It was very brief. The result was, that
each of us turned ourselves to prayer, and prayed as we had never prayed
before. Had we even been more disposed to levity than we were, we could
not but have felt the earnestness of the appeal made to us--the
importance of the subject--the awful truths uttered by our companion.
Darker grew the night--the sea-birds screamed above us--the distant
cliffs grew dimmer, their outline less distinct--the rushing tide earned
us rapidly onwards--the cold wind pierced through our wet clothes, and
sent the spray dashing over us. Shivering, benumbed, hungry and faint,
I felt as if I could no longer retain my hold. Death--death, I thought,
was truly approaching. Still, notwithstanding all Cousin Silas had
said, I did not so much picture the future; I did not even dread it as I
mourned for what I was leaving--the distant home I loved so well, and
all those who so dearly loved me. I thought of the anxiety the
uncertainty of my fate would occasion, the grief when they learned the
truth; and bitter tears burst from my eyes, not for myself, but for them
I loved. I mention the state of my mind and feelings on this awful
occasion for a very important object. It agrees with my own experience,
and all I have heard from others placed in similar situations;--a person
who has been living unprepared for death, for eternity, cannot on a
sudden change the whole current of his thoughts, and fix them on the
awful state into which he is hurrying. If he has not before found peace
with God, there is little hope that he will seek it then. Oh no! the
time to do that is while we have health and strength, and hope to have a
long life before us to be consecrated to him. He has an eternity
prepared for us--are we to give him alone the dregs of our short span of
life? He gave us everything--are we to return him only a few hurried
prayers and ejaculations of sorrow? We cry out for mercy--on what do we
ground our expectations of receiving it? Remember that God is a just
God--what, in justice, do we deserve? Oh! re
Showing first 200,000 characters. Full text: gutenberg.org/ebooks/23074