Part 1 (1/2)
Narrative of a Voyage to India; of a s.h.i.+pwreck on board the Lady Castlereagh; and a Description of New South Wales.
by W. B. Cramp.
SECTION I.
THE AUTHOR'S DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND--DESCRIPTION OF THE CEREMONY ON CROSSING THE EQUINOCTIAL LINE, AND HIS ARRIVAL AT MADRAS.
On the 8th or 9th of January, 1815, we proceeded, in the Princess Charlotte, Indiaman, to North-fleet Hope, and received on board our cargo. On February 28th, we sailed to Gravesend, in company with the Company's s.h.i.+ps Ceres, Lady Melville, Rose, and Medcalfe, and arrived at the Downs on the 3d of March. Our dispatches not being expected for some time, we moored s.h.i.+p. Our time pa.s.sed on very pleasantly till the 27th inst., when the weather became rather boisterous, and accompanied by a heavy swell. On the evening of the 28th, as the Hon. Company's s.h.i.+p Tarva, from Bengal, was rounding the Foreland, she struck on the Goodwin Sands, and was forced to cut away her masts to lighten her, and get her clear off. The Ceres drifted almost on board us; we slipped our cables, and with difficulty escaped the Goodwin Sands.
On the 1st of April the pursers joined their respective s.h.i.+ps, and on the 3d we made sail with a fair breeze, and soon cleared the English channel. Nothing was now heard but confusion; the pilot having just left the s.h.i.+p, the hoa.r.s.e voice of the captain resounded through a speaking trumpet, while the seamen were busy in making sail. We had a fine steady breeze till we made the Bay of Biscay, when we had a strong gale for three days.
After the hurry and bustle of the gale was over, we had a fine steady breeze; I then began to feel an inward pleasure, and to rejoice in the predilection I had imbibed from my earliest years.
We arrived on the equinoctial about eight o'clock in the evening of the 19th of April, when one of the oldest seamen is deputed Neptune; when he went into the head and hailed the s.h.i.+p in the usual form, s.h.i.+p, hoa! s.h.i.+p, hoa! what s.h.i.+p is that? The chief officer replied, The Hon. Company's s.h.i.+p Princess Charlotte of Wales, and that he would be glad of his company on the morrow. Gladly would I have dispensed with it. On his quitting the vessel, as is supposed, a pitch cask was thrown overboard on fire, which had the appearance of a boat till lost to view.
The next morning, about nine A. M., Neptune hailed the s.h.i.+p again, when he was invited on board (from the head). On the fore-part of the gang-way and after-part of the long-boat, a boom was placed across, and a tarpauling was hung in form of a curtain, so that when they were in readiness they took it down, and the procession moved on towards the cuddy, twelve of the officers walking in the front, two by two with staves (broomsticks); next followed Neptune's car, (a grating with a chair covered with sheep skins) with Neptune, and his wife and child, (a recruit's child, as we had 250 on board, of his majesty's 46th regiment) Neptune bearing in his hand the granes with forks uppermost, and the representation of a dolphin on the middle p.r.o.ng, and Neptune's footman riding behind (barber) his carriage, dragged by the constables. The captain and officers came out to meet him, and presented him with a gla.s.s of gin, which was on this occasion termed wine. After the captain's health was drank, he desired them to proceed to business, and to make as much haste as possible; they then proceeded to the starboard gang-way, and Neptune placed himself upon his throne (on the boom, close to the long-boat and wash-deck tub) the slush tub being filled with b.a.l.l.s, and lather made of slush, and the barber standing ready to begin his work with a razor made of a long piece of iron hoop well notched; the engine was brought on the quarter deck, and began to play, to force those below that had not crossed the line. I had not been long below before an officer from Neptune came to me, and demanded me, in his name to appear before him at the starboard gang-way, whose summons must not be disobeyed. On my arrival at the gang-way, the usual questions were asked me, whether I had been that way before? Without waiting for an answer they placed me on the wash-deck tub, and the barber rubbed me with the back of his razor and then let me go, upon my previously having given an order upon my bottle.
I had hardly got upon the p.o.o.p, when one of the men was brought upon deck who was neither beloved by the men nor officers; they then placed him upon the tub, and asked him several questions, and while he was in the act of answering them, they thrust some black b.a.l.l.s into his mouth, and then rubbed his face and neck over with lather, and sc.r.a.ped it in an unmerciful manner till the blood run in several places; they next pushed him into the tub of water and kept him under for the s.p.a.ce of a minute, which tended to smart and inflame the wounds. It was at least a fortnight before he could wash himself perfectly clean; but now several more shared the same fate. The sun was setting fast before the amus.e.m.e.nts of the day were finished. The clouds presented the most beautiful appearance, and the rippling of the sea, together with the flying fish, scudding along the surface of the water, afforded the mariner a great field of thought. At so grand a display of the great and wonderful works of G.o.d, what mortal can be unmoved, or deny the existence of a BEING which nature herself proclaims!
The evening was very fine and beautifully star-light, and the moon shone with resplendent brightness. After the company had withdrawn to their evening refreshments, I amused myself with walking on the solitary p.o.o.p. The sea appeared to be an immense plain, and presented a watery mirror to the skies. The infinite height above the firmament stretched its azure expanse, bespangled with unnumbered stars, and adorned with the moon '_walking in brightness_;' while the transparent surface both received and returned her silver image. Here, instead of being covered with sackcloth,[A] she shone with resplendent l.u.s.tre; or rather with a l.u.s.tre multiplied in proportion to the number of beholders.
[Footnote A: I must be excused for the ideal extravagance of ”clothing” this nocturnal luminary in ”SACKCLOTH,” on adverting to that unlimited flight of poetic imagination, which speaks of ”_Heaven peeping through the blanket of the deep_.” _Vide Shakspeare's Macbeth._]
Such I think is the effect of exemplary behaviour in persons of exalted rank; their course as it is n.o.bly distinguished, so it will be happily influential; others will catch the diffusive rays, and be ambitious to resemble a pattern so commanding. Their amiable qualities will not terminate in themselves, but we shall see them reflected in their families.
My readers, I trust, will not wonder at my meditations on these sublunary objects, when they consider that they are the seaman's guide, and from them the greatest sources of nautical information are derived.
In the midst of these pleasing reveries, I was aroused by the s.h.i.+p being taken a-back, the watch being completely intoxicated, and it was only with difficulty that they could do their duty. Nothing material happened till our arrival at the Cape, when we experienced a severe gale for three days. The sea being heavy, she pitched her portals under water. We were running at the rate of ten knots per hour, under bare poles; and we soon after made the trade winds.
On the 23d of June we arrived in Madras roads; from the deck the view of the land has a magnificent appearance; the different offices have, to the beholder, the appearance of stone, and they are formed along the beach in a beautiful manner; they are built with piazzas and verandahs, and they extend about one mile along a sandy beach, while the natives parading along the sh.o.r.e, and the surf spraying upon the beach, gave the scene a very picturesque appearance. The surf beats here with so much violence that it is impossible for any s.h.i.+p's boats to land without being dashed to pieces.
On our making land we espied a small craft, called a kattamaran, making towards us; it was manned with two of the natives naked, except a handkerchief round their waist, and a straw round cap (turban) made with a part.i.tion in it to keep letters dry. This bark is made of three long hulls of trees, about ten or twelve feet in length, tied together with a rope so as to make in the centre a little hollow; they sit upon their knees in the centre, and have a long flat piece of wood, about five feet in length and five inches in width, which they hold in the centre, and keep continually in motion, first on one side and then on the other, and in that manner they force the kattamaran swiftly through the water.
It is very remarkable that these poor creatures risk themselves through the surf for a mere trifle, to carry letters for the different commanders to their respective vessels, at a time when the surf is at a dreadful height. When these poor fellows lay themselves flat on the kattamaran, and then trust themselves to the mercy of the surf, they are often driven back with great force, and they as often venture again, till they effect their purpose. They generally get their living by fis.h.i.+ng, which is done by hook and line, and they offer them alongside the different s.h.i.+ps for sale.
For two days the surf being so violent no boats could come off; but early on the third morning there were several came off with debashees (merchants) on board. They brought such things as might be wanted by the s.h.i.+p's company and officers. Their boats are made to carry pa.s.sengers and cargo. There is not a vestige of a nail to be seen in them, their seams, instead of being nailed, are sewed together with coir rope; and they are generally manned with six or eight men.
SECTION II.
THE AUTHOR'S DEPARTURE FROM MADRAS AND ARRIVAL AT BENGAL--DEPARTURE THEREFROM--HIS VESSEL RUNS ASh.o.r.e ON THE PULICAT SHOALS, AND GETS SAFE AFLOAT AGAIN, AFTER BEATING SIX HOURS AND FORTY MINUTES--HIS SAFE ARRIVAL AT MADRAS, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVERS--ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY--THE s.h.i.+P BEING DOCKED, THE AUTHOR IS SENT TO BUTCHER'S ISLAND WITH THE s.h.i.+P'S COMPANY--A DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA--HIS JOINING THE s.h.i.+P AFTER HER LEAVING THE DOCK--HIS WORDS WITH HIS COMMANDER, AND BEING TURNED BEFORE THE MAST IN CONSEQUENCE--HIS DEPARTURE FROM BOMBAY, AND AFTER A SHORT PERIOD HE IS REPLACED IN HIS FORMER SITUATION--AND ARRIVES AT MADRAS.
We sailed from Madras, August 23d, and arrived at Bengal on the 30th.
The scenery on the entrance up the river was indeed sublime, and inspired us with a sensation of grat.i.tude to the Giver of all good. I went up to Calcutta with a craft of cargo; but having been sent down immediately, I could form no idea of the place.
On the 20th December we sailed from Bengal bound to Madras, in company with the Honourable Company's s.h.i.+p Marquis of Wellington. We kept a-head of her on the morning of the 25th, till she was almost mast down, and expected to bring-to about twelve o'clock in the Madras roads; but our expectations were greatly damped by the following circ.u.mstances:--At 8 A. M. the s.h.i.+p struck on the Pulicat rocks with such great violence, as to knock almost every man off his legs; the lead was immediately called, which, to the disgrace of some one, was not on deck; in the course of two minutes she struck again with as much violence as before; sail was immediately taken in, and after sounding, we found we drew about three and a half feet water. We then made signal of distress, by hoisting the ensign union downwards, and firing a gun. The Marquis of Wellington by this time hove in sight; all was confusion and consternation, the s.h.i.+p having beat several times with great violence. The Wellington hove to, and sent their cutter with four men and a second mate to our a.s.sistance, and then made sail and pa.s.sed us, without rendering us any other a.s.sistance.