Volume II Part 44 (1/2)
DEPARTURE FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA
We left Swan River on the evening of the 6th of May, 1843, running out with aseemed auspicious The water was smooth, and the sails, as they slept in the breeze, echoed back the sounds of the well-known song, We are ho with an earnestness that could not be h tones of the crew under my command, the existence of the same emotions that swelled in h content to pass the greater portion of their lives upon the world of waters, can never entirely suppress that yearning for home, which, perhaps, after all, is one of the finest traits in hued, I was not sorry to see such strong evidences of its existence
Ere the last vestige of day had passed, the coast of Australia had faded froh not frohts of the land to which ere returning crowded on our minds, they could not as yet entirely obliterate the recollection of that ere quitting The Swan River colony--its history, its state, its prospects--naturally occupied e had come over it even since our visit! Frorown into a populous colony, in which all the passions, the rivalries, the loves and the hates of the mother country were in some sort represented And yet there relish hospitality, which rendered our first stay so pleasant, and which al our last The alteration that had taken place was rather to be referred to the increasing number of settlers, which rendered inevitable the formation of circles more or less exclusive, and which, with the forms of European society, prohts wandered, from time to time, over the whole of this extraordinary continent, whichfor the first time in November 1837, at the point froe contrasts to the rest of the world which it affords were enurowing outside--its trees, which shed their bark instead of their leaves--its strange anier population--its mushroom cities--and, finally, the fact that the approach to hus, but by the barking of trees!
(Footnote The trees in the vicinity of houses are generally barked to obtain a covering for the roofs)
Westerly winds carried us into the South-East trade by the 13th, in latitude 22 degrees 30 minutes South four hundred miles from the North-west Cape, when our course was directed for the Mauritius We found the trade very squally, and on one or two occasions ed to screw as much as eleven knots out of the old craft
RODRIGUE ISLAND
A little after noon on the 27thRodrigue Island sooner than we expected, in consequence of our finding it placed seven miles to the ard of its true position, even with reference to theto southward, rees 59 rees 31 3/4 East of Greenwich, latitude 19 degrees 42 minutes South I was rather surprised to find this error in the position of Rodrigue, as it is quite a finger-post for shi+ps on their voyage from India to Great Britain It trends east and west for seventeen miles, and is in width about six For a volcanic island its features are not very rehest part is a peak or excrescence, 1700 feet high, rising towards the eastern end out of a rather level ridge
On the h land of the Mauritius was seen breaking through theround the north end of the island, in the evening we reached Port Louis, where we found a French ht in the crew of a vessel foundered at sea Their escape had been one of the most remarkable on record The shi+p was fro the south-eastern point of Africa with a strong north-ind, when she sprang a leak, which increased so fast, that the creere ultied to abandon her and take to the boats The sea was so great that they were compelled to run before the wind, with the prospect only of prolonging their lives for a brief space, no land lying in that direction
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE
Providentially, the side a French frigate; but the boats were so low in the water that for some tith, by waving a lady's shawl in the air, they attracted the attention of the Frenchmen, and were taken on board, and treated with an attentive kindness, which entitled their preservers to the thanks of all ould wish to be so received under such circuret that the nah I re said, that he had himself been saved on a previous occasion by a Liverpool shi+p in the China Sea
Not long before the arrival of the Beagle in Port Louis, a fleet of crippled vessels, the victi their way into the harbour, souns of distress, or giving other signs of their helpless condition The monotony of colonial life was suddenly disturbed, by no raph told off a succession of lame ducks, as they were jocularly called, such as seldom or ever had been witnessed, even at that place It required but a visit to the bell buoy, to see at a glance the destructive effects of the storm on the unfortunate shi+ps
EFFECTS OF HURRICANE AT MAURITIUS
On the tranquil surface of the harbour lay a group of shattered vessels, presenting the appearance of floating wrecks In al on deck had been swept away; some, that were towed in, had lost all their masts, others more or less of their spars; one had her poop and all its cabins swept away; many had four or five feet water in the hold, and the clank of the pumps was still kept up by the weary crew
Such was the description given me of the circumstances under which the crowd of vessels that lay at anchor in Port Louis had arrived I had anticipated that I should here be enabled to make some important additions to the notices of hurricanes that have occasionally appeared in this work; and certainly ample opportunity now presented itself But I found that this interesting subject was in more able hands, those, naiment, whose valuable observations have been laid before the public, in a work called, An Inquiry into the Nature and Course of Storms; a volume that embraces many important considerations for seamen, to whom, indeed, and to the shi+p-owner, Mr Thoations, has proved himself a true friend
It is curious that military men should have been the first to study the causes of hurricanes, and to tell sailors how to avoid their effects; but that such is the case, the works of Colonel Reid and of my friend Mr
Tho the acquaintance of the latter gentlerand sources of rotatory stored with opposite kinds of electricity and blowing in opposite directions--appeared to account satisfactorily for the occurrence of hurricanes in the Pacific, where there are no continents or chains of uide their courses
As soisland, the Mauritius, and as, moreover, space forbids, I do not here make use of the mass of infor its history and resources, and the subject of Coolie labour; but on some future occasion Imy stay at Port Louis I received much hospitality, particularly from the family of Colonel Staveley, Commander of the Forces, which I take this opportunity of acknowledging
We sailed fro day passed about 20 e cone ely different from those of the Mauritius; the outline is not softened by luxuriant vegetation, but is sudden and steep and massive
MADAGASCAR
Southerly and westerly winds brought us in sight of Madagascar on the 16th, and on the sa, aided by a southerly current of 2 knots an hour, ere just able to weather its South-East extrereat island that were presented to our view approached the Alpine, and frolimpse of the small hills near the shore, it appeared to be a fertile country This portion of the globe is one of great interest to the world at large, especially e know that, if considered as a naval or military station, it is scarcely equalled by any in the Indian Ocean; besides having a soil of the best description, and abounding also in mineral wealth, with ti wild in its valleys On the afternoon of the 27th ithin seven or eight reat Fish River, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, having apparently got within the eddy of the westerly current, which sweeps round that part of the coast at the distance of thirty miles with a velocity of from two to five oa Bay Within thirty ale from the southward of twenty-four hours duration; and on theof the 1st of July arrived at Simon's Bay, in company with Her Majesty's shi+p Belleisle, which sailed two days before us from the Mauritius Nearly six years had elapsed since our last visit, and little improvement had taken place in colonial affairs
(Footnote The little difficulty that strangers found in recognizing this anchorage at night, is now overco placed near the Ro snon the sides of the hills over Sih land over another bay, just to the northward, are sufficient guides of theain on our way ho at St Helena and Ascension, we crossed the equator on the forenoon of the 15th, in longitude 19 degrees 45 s with 2000 fatho deep-sea soundings, there are some sceptical persons who, in consequence of the bottoreat depths reported to have been found, are inclined to doubt that soundings were actually obtained on those occasions
(Footnote This place is fa-fish, of which soth: and not a little so, for those monsters of the finny tribe called sharks In the Admiralty book of directions, the fact is related of an artillery- found fully accoutred in the stomach of one taken there)
ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND
On the 24th a continuation of westerly winds brought us in sight of St