CHAPTER VIII. KING GEORGE'S SOUND--GALLE (CEYLON)--ADEN.
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CHAPTER VIII.
KING GEORGE'S SOUND--GALLE (CEYLON)--ADEN.
SUNDAY, JUNE 2ND. --We entered, the outer harbour of King George's Sound soon after midnight, and sent up blue lights for a pilot, who came on board; but as the entrance to the inner bay is very narrow, we had to lay-to till daylight. Going on deck early in the morning, I found we were in a rather pretty bay, with a small town of apparently not more than thirty or forty houses, rocky hills all round, and very curiously-placed large masses of rock lying about in various parts. Some of these are balanced one upon another, the top one being a large rounded piece. It seems wonderful that the convulsion, or whatever it might have been, that threw them there, should also have left them so strangely balanced, and not have caused them to roll off. There are two of these similarly placed, and of similar forms; one couple nearly at the foot of a hill, the other at the top of the same; and near to this, also on the top of the same hill, a pile of large fragments so placed, that there is an open space left through the middle. It looked, without the glasses, like a house with a window, and one piece at the end like the chimney. People say it has all been done by volcanic action; but it seems evident these huge stones must have been for ages under water, by their smooth, rounded forms.
In some places there are small woods on the hillsides, with masses of rock lying thickly in among the trees, and showing between and among them. A sandy
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beach runs round the bay, on which it is said peculiarly pretty shells are to be found. The sand in one part is i washed up almost to the top of the hill, apparently filling up a ravine.
I was in hopes of getting on shore for morning service, and. was ready and waiting for any opportunity that might offer, but it was not to be; a beautiful double rainbow gave warning of bad weather, and soon the wind, got up, and the sea became so rough, that no one could attempt to land. This was very tantalizing, as I could see the pretty little church on shore, with its tower; but no boat came off to us, and there was no help for it. We are anchored out in the middle of the bay, at a good, distance from the jetty, at which, they say, there is scarcely three feet of water.
I am told, there is a Roman Catholic and a Wesleyan chapel, but, owing to the very small population, there are no means of supporting a priest or minister among them permanently. It is only a coaling station and a convict depot (there are from sixty to eighty of these last). The only vessels in the bay besides ourselves are a large collier, a large hulk, and several smaller ones, all loaded and piled up high with bags of coal, ready for the steamers that come in for them. Large stores of coal are also lying on the beach, mostly brought out from England, they say, for this express purpose.
The "Northam" steamer is expected hourly, to take us and the mails on our way to Ceylon. She will be rather late, for she must take nearly twenty-four hours to coal after she comes in, and the first or second of the month are the days the mail ought to start from this. We intend to live and sleep on board the "City of Adelaide" while we remain here, as the accommodation on shore is said to be very bad.
Monday, 3rd. --The "Northam" came into the bay at daylight this morning, anchored at once alongside the coal hulk, and, with two coal-barges on the other side of her, began immediately coaling vigorously right and left, and they are still hard at work.
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I went with our lady passenger and her husband on shore this morning, and was much pleased with our walk through the natural shrubberies, where many of the plants and shrubs are different from any that are to be met with elsewhere. The constant succession and variety of sweet scents from them was very refreshing. I am told that, in the spring, the wild flowers are a splendid sight--one mass and sheet of them all through the woods, of every possible colour and shape--but that these are generally scentless. There is a very pretty kind of weeping wattle in great abundance, bearing a silver-grey flower. Bouquets of beautiful flowers quite new to me, and some of them very curious, were brought on board this morning from the gardens on shore. The soil is mostly a white sand. Very few kinds of vegetables, and no wheat, can be grown here. The inhabitants have to import nearly everything they use. There are no shops worthy of the name, but two or three general stores for common necessaries. It seems to be a very simple, unsophisticated sort of place, and the gangs of convicts (some in chains) look much out of character with the rest. I saw here, also, the first Australian natives I have met with; more wretched-looking creatures I never beheld. Both men and women are clothed only with kangaroo skins (the hairy side inwards), unshaped, just as taken off the animal, and often in tatters: the men wear them about half way down to the knee; the women have them to the knee, or sometimes a little below. They have the thinnest legs conceivable, just like walking-sticks, and small feet and hands; skins dark copper colour; hair rusty brown, and very dirty-looking. One hideous old woman had her bald head smeared with white, and her face with some reddish-brown stuff. The women are most inveterate and persevering beggars, and kept following us all the way we walked, clamouring for money. We distributed some pennies, but this by no means satisfied them; they wanted white money, they said. The adults are extremely ugly, but the children are not so. They carry their babies
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under their left arm, the head, shoulders, and arms showing in front, and the rest of the body hidden under the mother's kangaroo skin. They are thoroughly idle, but some of the younger ones are occasionally trained as servants. The natives further east are not, I believe, nearly such wretched-looking beings as these; but nowhere would they bear any comparison with the Maories of New Zealand, either in appearance or intellect. The town is called Albany. The climate is very pleasant; they never know what a hot wind is, never see snow, and scarcely ever have even a touch of frost. The geraniums now, in midwinter, are growing, and flowering, and scrambling wildly about like weeds. We are here nearly at the most south-west point of Australia; when we leave the Sound, we have to turn round the headland, and go up the west coast. The extreme western point is Cape Leuwin, about 180 miles up, which is the last we have to do with Australia. From that point we sail direct for Ceylon, a distance of 3330 miles from King George's Sound. The "Northam" encountered, like ourselves, tremendously rough weather in coming here. We transferred ourselves on board her this afternoon, and the arrangements appear to be very comfortable; an immense general saloon, and a ladies' saloon besides--which is not used for sleeping in unless the ship is very full--with sofas all round, and a bath-room opening out of it. The greatest luxury is, that I have a sleeping-cabin to myself, meant to hold three; but there is no other lady on board save the one before-mentioned, with husband and baby, and they, of course, have a cabin to themselves. There are fourteen gentlemen passengers, and many officers of the ship. Everything seems to be done in first-rate style, and so much assiduous attention and waiting upon, that it is almost overwhelming after the bluffness, inattention, and difficulty in getting anything done that you want, on board the colonial steamers generally. This ship is 1400 tons burthen, and burns, they say, from forty-eight to fifty tons of coal per day.
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Tuesday, 4th. --Coaling went on all night, and long before daylight various other noises, the notes of preparation for departure, drove sleep away.
At about half-past six o'clock a cannon was fired on deck, and going up soon after daylight, I learnt that the captain had resolved to sail immediately, as the weather was so fine and calm, and he feared it might change if we delayed. The gun had been fired to summon any of the passengers who might be on shore, and the captain himself was gone on shore for the mail, which the day before had been announced as not to be closed before ten o'clock; by half-past eight, however, we began to get under weigh, and by nine were fairly off.
The day has been truly beautiful, such as we are used to term "a real New Zealand day," and more pleasant certainly than any I had before experienced since I left that land. We have been getting on at the rate of from ten to eleven knots an hour all day, and to-morrow morning expect to lose sight of land, and to be steaming away north-west to the tropics, when, though it will be the rainy season there, we shall be comparatively safe from the bad weather latitudes. All the land we have passed to-day has been rocks or small barren islands, all bearing evidence of having been under water in years gone by. I am told there is a small and very good shell-fish found here, which has never been seen elsewhere; I could not learn that any name had been given to it. We are in a noble and handsome ship, the saloon above sixty feet long, and ornamented with green and gold on a light wood like maple. The deck is all "flush" and very wide, strong, and business-like looking, with very high, solid bulwarks, and plenty of comfortable seats about it; the ship, they say, is 330 feet long.
We have been most fortunate in this part of our voyage; they say that so fine a passage round the Leuwin point is very unusual, particularly at this time of year, when steamers are sometimes tempest-tossed for four or five days on this coast before they can get
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clear of it; we, however, passed it in the night, and. there was no sign of land remaining on Wednesday morning. I was thinking to-day, as I walked up and down the deck, how immensely strong this vessel seemed to be in every part, and how awful is the fact that even such ships as these can be crushed up to splinters, and lost as in a, moment, or even when all is calm and apparently most secure; how, by some unforeseen catastrophe, they may sink, and be no more seen or heard of, and that sometimes almost before those on board are aware of their danger. So weak is the mightiest strength of man, so futile his grandest works, when unsupported and unaided by a merciful Providence.
We have a very large ship's company; besides about ten or twelve officers (all in uniform), there are above a dozen stewards and waiters, white and coloured; a French man-cook, a black ditto, and half-a-dozen culinary helpers; the numerous crew are partly Europeans, partly Lascars, Malays, and Chinamen. The captain in command of the ship is a quiet, gentlemanlike man, and there is another captain, the Admiralty agent, on board, who is a lieutenant in the navy, and always comes and goes with the ship. There is a great abundance (and, indeed, waste) of eatables and drinkables. A long bill of fare, consisting of from twenty-five to thirty dishes, is drawn up in due form daily, and many of the company will just taste one thing after another, sending it away and changing their plates about a dozen times. Of wines, spirits, etc., there is an unlimited supply (without extra charge), and the stewards come round continually, filling and refilling glasses and tumblers, whether you want it or no, and when you leave them unfinished, they coolly turn the wine glass over into the tumbler, spoiling the contents of both, and throwing the whole away. The gentlemen generally drink tumblers of claret at breakfast and tea, and at all hours of the day they call for and have whatever they choose. All have, however, to disperse at
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ten at night, and by half-past ten every light in every cabin must be extinguished. One of the greatest luxuries is the abundant supply of good, fresh distilled water in the cabins, with an unlimited number of clean towels; also soft mattresses, fine sheets, and any number of good, soft pillows. The cabins are all carpeted, and altogether very comfortable but for one great defect, which is, that the portholes are placed so low that they can scarcely ever be safely opened even in calm weather; at the present time every wave sweeps right up over them, and there are, therefore, no means of letting in any really fresh air; you can only open the door or the jalousies, and admit the air from the saloon. We have had but little more fine weather since the two first days; it is the rainy season, and we have frequent drizzle and squalls. When the sun does shine forth, however, the heat is great, and the sleeping cabins, as we approach the tropics, are insufferably hot; even in the ladies' saloon the thermometer stands at from 77 deg. to 80 deg., and in my little sleeping cabin it is sometimes ten degrees higher. Yet we are still south of the line, and consequently still in winter! The wind has been generally against us, though in these latitudes it ought to be just the other way, and in our favour; we have also what the captain calls "a nasty confused sea," showing that there has lately been some very hard blowing here, which we have fortunately just missed; the waves frequently dash over even our high bulwarks. After entering the trade winds I was surprised to find still such rough weather; my former experiences being of smooth waters, and ships as steady nearly as houses; the captain tells me, however, that this is the weather that usually prevails in the tropics; certainly it is rough enough now, with little seas flowing over the deck continually. Up come the Lascars between the deluges, with their brooms and swabs, sweeping and drying it up as well as they can, only to be deluged again and again. It is amusing to see the upsets on deck among the gentlemen (who, by the way, always
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carry off the best seats and place them for themselves on the shadiest side, under the awning, and loll at full length upon the benches). After they have selected their easy-chairs, and stretched themselves out with legs upon another in full luxury, it is irresistibly laughable to see them toppled over helplessly backwards, sprawling, chairs and. all, and a wave at the same time giving them a bath; while others just settled comfortably to a game at backgammon, with the board on a stool between them, will suddenly slide off across the deck, the stool at the same time capsizing, and all the pieces rolling about. Somehow they never seem to get hurt by these accidents.
As we approached the line, three large punkahs were rigged up in the saloon, extending the whole length, and the Indian punkawallahs constantly working them. The sea continues as rough as ever. Sitting one evening in the saloon, the waves every now and then thundering upon the deck over head, one sea, more tremendous than the rest, came over, and we heard it rushing backwards and forwards on deck, a little stormy sea in itself. Almost before we had time to look at one another, it came pouring down upon us, over tables, lights, seats, punkahs, and people. All started from their seats, but, before we could get clear, down came another torrent, and away we flew into every nook that could afford us shelter (as if we were just beginning to play at puss in the corner), where we had to wait until the series of cascades, that came with every returning roll of the ship, had ceased, before we could, retreat to our cabins; the poor stewards had plenty to do in taking table covers off and carpets up, and mopping up the sea. In this rough weather few places escape altogether, the water insinuates itself in various undiscoverable ways into the sleeping cabins, and runs in streams across the floors.
We had an entertainment on the evening we passed the line, a very harmless one, however (probably all on board have passed the line before, except the one lady,
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who was born in Australia); the stewards and a select few of the sailors dressed up, sang, danced, etc., very amusingly, and all went off very well. I saw a particularly good waterspout during this voyage; besides the main body of water, which looked like a huge cascade, there was near it a quite narrow and very black fall, looking really like a very large spout of water. It was the most distinct specimen I had ever seen.
Upon one occasion only was I able to have my porthole open for a short time, the relief and enjoyment afforded by it were unspeakable; it was short lived, however. At eleven o'clock that night the boatswain's whistle piped all hands to the sails, and immediately after came a loud knocking at the cabin doors, with a general order to close all portholes; the meaning of all being that a "smart squall" was coming on. The sunset on that same evening had been grand and wonderful, portentous, no doubt, of the storm that was brewing. It was a sight worth describing, yet I felt that it was almost wrong to attempt doing so, since words could only tend to weaken the impression it left upon my mind. I made an inefficient memorandum of it, however, in my journal, to the following effect: The sun itself was behind a dark cloud, but along the horizon, close upon the sea, appeared a row of masses of glowing, fire-like, gigantic, red-hot coals; these soon increased in number upward, like a huge furnace burning within bars, and confined, as it were, on both sides by the appearance of rocky precipices, formed of black clouds fringed with fire. The different grand forms the supernatural furnace took looked truly awful, at last appearing like the entrance to a fiery tunnel, while one of the black clouds overhanging it took the appearance of the three witches in Macbeth, or any other fiendlike forms, with their arms stretched out menacingly over the fiery gulf. It looked altogether like what one could imagine the entrance to the infernal regions to be. No one seemed to take much notice of it; the gentlemen were
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as usual at full stretch upon the benches, smoking and joking with each other, and Mrs. ----, who was occupied with her baby, seemed to think there could be little else worth attending to, and only laughed vacantly at the one or two observations I made to her, endeavouring to draw her notice to this wonderfully grand sight. We have been a little over fourteen days performing this part of the voyage, and. have had two Sundays on board, the captain reading the morning and evening service very nicely; he has a good clear voice and devotional manner There was a good muster of the English part of the crew upon these occasions, all dressed in their best, nice clean white suits, with broad blue turned-down collars and trimmings. No sermon was read, nor any singing attempted, though some of the stewards have excellent voices, and sing in parts extremely well for their own amusement.
And now that I have recrossed the boundary line, and bid adieu to the Southern Hemisphere, I feel that I have indeed turned my back upon the dear adopted home of so many years. I can no longer see our bright and familiar Southern Cross, which never forsakes those skies, and I seem to feel more lonely even than I did before--more entirely parted from all the kind and much-loved friends whom I, perhaps, may never see again.
On Tuesday, the 18th, we reached Ceylon, and I attached myself to Mrs. --and her husband, that we might go to the same hotel, and make our excursions together.
The canoes that crowded round the ship immediately on our arrival were of very peculiar make, long, and so extremely narrow, that none but very thin persons could fit themselves in between the two straight-up sides; they are kept upright in the water by a long piece of wood at one side, attached to two long curved arms stretching out to a distance from the canoe. Nothing could sink it so long as these remain uninjured, but should they break, the canoe probably must turn over
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at once; the oars, or paddles, are shaped something like spades at the end of long handles. They have a more comfortable kind of boat also, in one of which we came on shore, with gay scarlet cushions and awnings. We drove first to the hotel, and, before "tiffin," walked out into the town, visiting some of the best shops and making several purchases. Tiffin is an elaborate affair, consisting of fish, flesh, and fowl (the fish, however, being crabs only, and curried prawns), and all kinds of tropical fruits, such as pine-apples, very large shaddocks, oranges, mangos, bananas, and some others, the names of which I could not learn. After tiffin we drove to the Warkwalla, a lovely drive of about three miles, to a beautiful spot on a hill, overlooking a plain, woods, hills, etc.
This is an excursion that all visitors make if they have time, and certainly I should have been sorry to miss it. On our way we stopped at a road leading up a hill, on which stands a Buddhist temple, to which we walked; this was rather fatiguing, but worth the exertion. Several natives came out of the huts and cottages on the ascent and accompanied us, one of whom obtained the keys of the temple from the priests, who live in a house near it, and who were standing about in picturesque attitudes, clad in long yellow robes down to their feet, and tastefully draped about their bodies, leaving one arm bare. The temple contains only a huge gilded and painted figure of Buddha, sitting cross-legged, Hindoo fashion, and several smaller ones in glass cases, one being a very graceful reclining figure in a white, semi-transparent composition, something like alabaster. There were also small, round, parti-coloured tables, and various mysterious-looking things, something like conjuring apparatus. No one is allowed to enter the temple during service, except the officiating priest; the worshippers all prostrate themselves on the steps and ground in front of the building. On one side of the entrance, outside, is a coloured metal tree, with places on its branches for lights, like our Christmas-
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164 TWELVE YEARS IN CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND.
trees, also some tables, on which lie flowers for offerings to the god, for all the various images, however unlike, have but the one name of Buddha. The Cingalese are all Buddhists. Near the temple stands a large domed mausoleum of white stone (or looking like it); this is said to contain some of the bones, papers, and books of Buddha himself.
At Warkwalla we found most of our fellow-passengers assembled and beset with numbers of natives, all pressing for the purchase of their jewellery and curiosities. These people beset you at every step, and run after you begging, or offering all kinds of things for sale; they are most pertinacious, and almost indefatigable in following your carriage full speed for long distances. They are principally the boys and youths who beg, throwing beautiful bouquets of wild flowers into the carriage, and following in hopes of payment. The men persecute you equally with their wares, birds, etc. They ask three or four times as much as they will take, and are great cheats and thieves; they offer you beautiful little birds, apparently quite tame, perched on their fingers, but I was told that the poor little things are merely stupified by something they give them to cause the appearance of tameness for a time, and that those who are induced to buy them find after a few hours that they either become excessively wild, or die. Among the many things they press you to buy are sticks of scented woods, cut from the cinnamon and sandal-wood trees, also the nutmegs in their natural state, with the mace beautifully wrapped round them beneath, the outer case, curious seeds, lace, etc. All the rings, chains, and trinkets, they swear vehemently to be of the purest gold and. precious stones; much of it, however, is believed to be made at Birmingham. Their boxes, baskets, carved ebony, tortoise-shell, and lace, are good, and safe purchases to make after due bargaining.
The men are mostly naked down to the waist, from whence they have either a cloth twisted scantily round
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them, or a thin shawl, or muslin, tucked tightly round the waist, and coming down in the form of a scanty petticoat. They are, generally speaking, a handsome and intelligent looking race, of a rich copper colour; very thin and bony, but apparently strong, active, and sinewy. The women have, besides the tight shawl-petticoat, a short jacket or spencer, and their heads generally covered with handkerchiefs. Some of the men wear similar head-dresses, others have the head uncovered. The Cingalese men wear their hair long, generally turned up in a knot behind, and a long semi-circular tortoise-shell comb (such as is often used by European girls) to keep it turned back from the forehead.
This fashion of wearing the hair causes the young men to look so much like women that it is often difficult to tell which sex they belong to, though an observer might remark that the women seldom wear the comb, and that the men almost always do. I heard a story of an English lady, who went to a bath here, and was attended assiduously throughout the operation by a native, whom she never doubted from the appearance to be a woman, but whom she afterwards, to her horror, accidentally discovered to be a man. Some of the men also wear a scarf (generally of some bright colour) over one shoulder, and tied under the other arm, or sometimes the end is thrown gracefully over the other shoulder, something in the style of the Scotch tartan. These look extremely picturesque, and when many are together, in every variety of gay colour intermingled with white, and aided by the beautiful scenery around them, it would be difficult to imagine a more effective picture. There is another race here, of a different religion, called Tammins; these keep the hair cropt close to the head. All are very upright, well made, and generally broad-chested. The foliage everywhere is most luxuriant, and beautifully green; the trees, plants, shrubs, and wild flowers, surpass description. The latter were all new to me, in great variety
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and beauty, and some of them extremely sweet. There are whole forests of cocoa-nut and banana-trees.
I was much disappointed at not being able to see the cinnamon and nutmeg gardens; not that there is much to see in them, I believe, as these trees may be seen growing everywhere here, and we passed through a cinnamon plantation on our drive to Warkwalla, but the roads to them are pretty. However, I had to give them up, having spent a good portion of the morning in making purchases, and immediately after tiffin I had to go off in a boat, and on board the steamer that was to take me on to Aden and the Red Sea. I now parted from Mrs. ---- and her husband, who were the only acquaintances I had made (they being bound for India), but I was pleased to find on board our new vessel several of the gentlemen who had been passengers in the "Northam;" for though we had scarcely spoken before, there was now a mutual recognition, as of old acquaintances, amid the many new faces which surrounded us, and we seemed naturally to group together. This steamer (though she does not look much larger than the "Northam") is said to be nearly 2000 tons actual tonnage. The saloon is very handsome, and ornamented with gracefully-designed paintings on the panels; one long table extends from end to end, and we sit down above 100 to dinner, with four punkahs working over us. The arrangements are not so comfortable as on board the ship we have left; the ladies' saloon being very small, and I have to share my cabin with another lady. We have now 1970 miles to go to Aden.
On rising the first morning after we left Ceylon, I found one of my eyes quite closed up from the poisonous effect of mosquito bites, inflicted during the night I stayed there; I having been unable, notwithstanding every precaution and endeavour, to expel them from inside the net. I had now to call in the doctor, who prescribed remedies, but it was some days before I could use the eye.
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Nothing could be more wretchedly uncomfortable or unhealthy than the overwhelming heat of our small cabin with its two inmates. It is strange that ships intended for hot climates should be so unsuitably constructed, and with so little regard to ventilation in the sleeping cabins. The jalousies are very ill-contrived, admitting the hot air from the saloon, or none at all, and the porthole can never be opened if the sea is at all rough, as it is at present. On the second night we had our mattresses taken upon deck, as did also nearly all the other passengers, the ladies being ranged on one side and the gentlemen on the other. Inconvenient as this was, one could at least breathe, and I afterwards found these nights on deck to be the pleasantest part of the twenty-four hours; indeed, I really think some of us would not have lived through the voyage but for this arrangement, or had we not shunned our cabins as much as possible at all times; for no words can describe the exhaustion and faint sensation that was produced by even five or ten minutes in these close steaming ovens.
We have two clergymen on board, both going home from India. One of them reads a portion of the Morning Prayers every morning in the saloon, and service twice on Sundays, with an extemporary sermon; the other is, to all appearance, almost in the last stage of consumption. One of the gentlemen passengers from India died of consumption on the morning of our first Sunday (all the Indian passengers look dreadfully ill). The funeral took place on the evening of the same day; very solemn and peaceful it seemed; the engines were stopped for the time, and every possible reverence shown upon the occasion. We had evening service afterwards.
This is but a slow vessel; we seldom accomplish more than nine knots an hour, and often do not exceed seven. She is said to have been much damaged by running on shore in the river Hoogley, at Calcutta, where she remarried so long in a dangerous position, that but for her extra strength and great thickness, she must have
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gone to pieces. As it was, she was so much strained and damaged, that notwithstanding extensive subsequent repairs they dare not put on full speed.
The engines are said to make only twenty-seven and half revolutions in a minute. Those of the "Northam" made from forty-eight to fifty, and the "City of Adelaide," I should suppose, more still. Thus we have all the inconvenience of a steamer, with little of the advantage of one, the sole recommendation being in most cases speed. Here we have not even that, and we might as well have had the luxury of a sailing ship, where the accommodation is generally much better, from there being no engines, boilers, etc., to occupy the space.
There was a general muster and exercise of the crew on Sunday morning before Divine service, when they went through all the movements that would be adopted in case of the ship being on fire. There are not more than two or three white men among them, but every shade of copper, brown, and black. There are a great many Chinamen, very odd-looking, but neatly dressed, all in white trousers and jackets, with round hats, and their hair-tails put up out of sight under them. The Lascars are very picturesque, in white loose trousers and tunics, with crimson sashes, and white and crimson turbans, or some with white skull caps, piped with crimson, and narrow gold or silver bands round them. Their tunics are ornamented in front with crimson trimmings and the name of the ship. Some wear crimson vests over their tunics. Many of them are fine, handsome-looking men. Lascar seems to be the general name for all races of sailors on board ship who are not Europeans. They are exceedingly noisy at their work, and are quite of the "much cry and little wool" species. Twenty or thirty of them come swarming upon a rope that has to be pulled like so many bees; but they seldom seem to put out any strength, or make any attempt to pull all together. Four or five English sailors could do the same work far better in a quarter of
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the time. It quite fidgets one to see them go about anything, and the jabber and clatter at the same time is deafening. There are, I am told, above eighty of them in this crew, Malays and all kinds included. The quartermasters and superior officers are all Europeans, about twenty of them, in all making up above 100. These Lascars do not understand working in watches, as English crews do, but turn out all together. Their pay is not above a fourth part of a white sailor's. There are said to be thirty stewards and waiters; the attendance, however, is not nearly as good as on board the "Northam," neither are things generally done in nearly so liberal a manner. There are little shabbinesses practised that add to one's daily amount of discomfort, and though all kinds of wines, etc., are, as usual, included in the passage-money (which is the same whether you require such things or not), yet in this ship they make you pay extra for such things as soda-water, lemonade, etc., which are indispensables, and must be had pretty abundantly in such terrific heat. In our last ship there was an unlimited supply of all such refreshing beverages gratis.
We had a curious appearance upon the deck one night, in the form of a large lump of phosphoric light, which turned out to be a flying-fish that had fallen there under the awning. All who touched it with hands, feet, etc., had the same luminous appearance communicated to the part that came in contact with it, and wherever the deck was wetted by the fish, the same effect remained for a considerable time, which would seem to prove that the phosphoric light on the sea at night is caused by disturbed fish, or some slightly glutinous discharge from them, though neither they nor it are perceptible by daylight. I have often thought this must be so, because of the different forms and depths in which the lights occur--sometimes like mere sparks on the surface, sometimes in large masses some distance below; and as it is only seen where the ship makes a commotion, and not where the natural
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waves are tossing, it would seem to be caused by the excitement and fright the poor fish are in, as in the instance of the unfortunate specimen just mentioned. However, no one around me seemed to take any interest in the matter, beyond amusing themselves for the time with the poor creature, and so after attempting one or two observations on the subject, I kept my reflections to myself, as I generally find, myself constrained, to do among uncongenial companions.
On the seventh night of our voyage it came on to blow almost a gale, and. it was with much difficulty that I managed to keep my cloak tucked round me, and prevented myself from being tossed off the top of the skylight which formed my bedstead. A lady who laid near me was the next day taken ill with fever, attributed to the chill from exposure to the damp and spray. The circumstance of my having a waterproof cloak probably saved me from a like misfortune. The gale increased in violence during that day and following night, so that I could not venture to sleep on deck again, and some of the gentlemen who attempted to do so were soaked through, and much knocked about and bruised. One gentleman told me that he was thrown right off the skylight, where he was lying, cleared the bench beside it without touching, and was deposited flat on his back on the deck beyond.
Nearly the whole rank and file of easy-chairs (and nearly every individual has one of their own) came to grief that day, being knocked about most ludicrously, and hopelessly smashed; and there were some really serious falls that occurred to persons in endeavouring to move along the deck. I very prudently put myself under the strong protection of one of the quartermasters whenever I had to move, and had myself deposited on a fixed bench when seated. The sight was awfully grand, but by no means pleasant, the waves coming fairly over our bulwarks, which were above five feet high, and a pond of water flowing backwards and forwards over the deck with every roll of the ship, while the whole atmos-
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phere was one thick cloud of spray. One towering wave broke over the top of a high windsail in the roof of the captain's cabin (which was on deck), and. which, acting as a funnel, brought down upon him a grand unpremeditated shower-bath, swamping him in his berth, and deluging all his possessions. It is odd how irresistibly droll these misfortunes always seemed, even when the poor invalid clergyman, in whom every one feels an interest, was the victim. There he was in his place at dinner, when his chair flew back from the table, and toppled backward with him against the wall; he with his legs up in the air perfectly helpless, bombarded by his plate, knife, fork, glass, leg of fowl, etc., all falling on and around him, while a large decanter of water, and another of wine, were rapidly advancing to the attack, when they were timely intercepted. The stewards who picked him and the pieces up, and reinstated him with new fittings and provisions, were in convulsions of suppressed laughter; and as he was unhurt, and the catastrophe did not even bring on one of his terrible fits of coughing, our consciences did not reproach us much for our uncontrolable merriment. Upon that same occasion I had two glasses of port wine, belonging to my neighbours on either side, capsized at the same time over my dress. It does not signify much what one wears upon these voyages, and I must confess to having reserved some of my oldest and least valuable dresses for the occasion; but not so the Indian lady-passengers, who dress very handsomely in delicate and costly muslins, or rich and apparently quite new silks of the latest fashions. I was lucky in having finished my breakfast one morning and left my seat, when, just as I had reached the door of my cabin, a tremendous sea overtopped the skylights, and came down (notwithstanding the awning) in one mass over the table and the unhappy lingerers who had not yet left it. Every dish, plate, tumbler, etc., was instantaneously filled up with salt water, and every one drenched to the skin. The gentleman next to whom I had been sitting rushed away, with
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the water literally flowing out of the pockets of his jacket and the legs of his trousers. One universal shriek and laugh combined arose, mingled with every kind of comic yell. Of course we were at once doomed to closed skylights
On the third morning of this weather I asked the first officer whether it was usual in these parts at this season; to which he replied, "Yes, it is the south-west monsoon; we shall get out of it by about noon to-day, and are very lucky not to have had it two days earlier, and consequently longer;" and he proved to be right; the wind calmed down that day; but the effects remained still on the waters, which were nearly as rough as ever. Sleeping on deck can no longer be attempted, for there is much fever now on board, attributed, in a great measure, to that practice. My cabin companion, therefore, now turns out and sleeps on the saloon table. I cannot quite make up my mind to try that, as it has always hitherto been covered with gentlemen and married couples, and the saloon floor thickly paved with sleeping stewards; but I do not know that I may not be driven to scramble for a place among them yet, for the suffering in the cabin is something fearful, leaving one with scarcely the strength of a mouse. Even the bath does not refresh one; the water is never cool, and the exertion of the thing seems only to exhaust one the more.
On the tenth day we passed the island of Socotra, but at a considerable distance on our left. I could not see it--very few were able to make it out; and those who ventured to look for it had their curiosity washed out of them by the waves that broke over their heads. It looked only like misty mountain-shaped clouds to those who could see anything of it. It is quite a barren island.
On the 1st of August, after a thirteen days' voyage, we reached Aden, where we were to coal, which operation was expected to be completed in about five hours, and this would give us time to land. The great heat, however, seemed to alarm many, and there was a general
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inclination to remain safe under the shade of our awning, and not go on shore at all. I was much averse to this proposal, and told some of the gentlemen whom I knew best that if any of them went, they must let me know, and I should go too. It ended by, I think, most of the gentlemen going; but no lady, except myself. The boats had no awnings, excepting one belonging to our ship, in which the captain and two officers went off alone, never offering a seat to any one. The heat was certainly something dreadful. We were rowed by several villanous-looking black Abyssinians. They are great cheats, and terrible was the clamour with which they pursued us up to the hotel, because some of the party refused to pay them more than their due fare.
The gentleman who politely took me under his special care upon this occasion (one of the Northamites, as we call ourselves) had unfortunately omitted to take his umbrella, and having only a straw hat, altogether unsuited to the fierce rays of the sun, he became quite ill by the time we reached the hotel, said he had a sunstroke, and was nearly falling down. After a time, however, by the aid of brandy and lemonade, he revived; but the rest of the party, who had come in another boat, had gone off, before we could find them, to the great Tanks, the curiosities of Aden. Another gentleman who was with us offered to take me there if I wished it; but he himself having seen them before, I should have considered that the whole expense, of not less than ten rupees (a rupee is two shillings), must justly have fallen on me; besides which, tiffen was then ready, and he evidently wished to stay and partake of it. We did so, therefore, and it was afterwards too late. So I missed the Tanks, and had to console myself by gaining all the information I could respecting them. They are so ancient that no one knows anything about their origin, and, therefore, the general opinion is that the Phoenicians performed this great work. They are excavated out of the solid rock at different heights, one above another, and varying in size and shape according to the form of
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the rock, on the sides of which they are made, being hewn in terraces, for the convenience of going down into them as the water decreases. In the rainy season they fill and overflow one into the other, and finally into deep wells below. The water is brought into the town in skins piled up on camels' backs. It seldom rains here oftener than once in three or four years, and the provision of water will last that time and longer. It has not now rained for seventeen months, and there is still water in them sufficient for three or four years to come. Of course when it does rain it pours down in earnest, and some of the tanks are built up with walls of strong masonry above the natural level of the rock, to enable them to hold more. This part of the work has been done in modern times, and costs immense sums of money to keep in repair.
The heat of the drive to the Tanks, and in the town around them, which consists of the cantonments and tents of the military (we had seen these from the sea), was described by those who went as being almost unbearable, and they had, moreover, a considerable distance to walk, where the cars cannot approach; the whole distance from the town of Aden is about four miles. There are a few bazaars round the port, the Arab merchants in which are stately, dignified-looking beings, who do not seem to care whether you deal with them or not; they ask very high prices for their goods, and scorn to take anything off, quietly putting them back in their glass cases if you say they are too dear. All kinds of Indian and Chinese curiosities are to be had here.
In the hotels and outside we were beset by numerous troublesome vendors of various things, ostrich feathers, carved woods, coral, baskets, skins, etc., for all of which they ask ten or twelve times as much as they finally take.
I here saw the first working camels I had met with, performing their labours with most patient looks, but some of them sending forth unearthly sepulchral grunts. There were plenty of pretty and sprightly-looking
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donkeys, waiting saddled for hire, and decorated generally with high ostrich feathers on their heads. The hotel is a large, open building, consisting of three spacious divisions, the centre one filled with long tables, the end to the left with innumerable small bedsteads, placed close together without mattresses or furniture of any kind, and that to the right being a bazaar. An Arab, whose business it is to conduct customers to this hotel, wears a brass badge bearing the words, "Prince of Wales Hotel," and remains in attendance for the purpose of casting out, which he does most unceremoniously and roughly, any of the dealers who become too troublesome. I was much amused with the whole proceedings, and bought a quantity of ostrich feathers, etc., etc. Strange to say, not one woman was to be seen anywhere; the men, who are clothed, looked picturesque, and some of them handsome, but the generality of them wear the costume of Adam before the fall, and nothing whatever on their heads, some not even hair, and bear the scorching heat beating down straight upon their skulls quite unconcernedly; it is truly wonderful how anything human, however thick, can stand it. The ground on which we trod quite scorched our feet. I believe my umbrella was the means of saving my companion's life; he had to go to the post-office, and I went too; it was a long walk to take under such circumstances, and I lent him my umbrella to hold over us both, by which arrangement I lost much of the benefit of it, for the poor man was dreadfully alarmed, very naturally, about his own brain. I began, consequently, to feel much afraid for my own skull, and two or three times desperately seized the stick of the umbrella and drew it more towards me; however, there was a brisk breeze blowing, which helped to save us both. We took a car to get back to the boating place, and reached the ship a little before the cannon was fired for departure.
We found the steamer surrounded with boats filled with things for sale, and the deck thronged with Arabs pressing their wares upon the passengers. There were
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some beautiful leopard skins, one of which I could not help bidding for; the man asked sixty rupees for it, and fifty for a smaller one; but, fortunately for me, a gentleman bid £1 a piece for the large ones, and 5s. each for the smaller ones, and carried them all off. There were some very fine skins of the long-tailed monkey with very long hair; they would have made handsome muffs, and the man having at the last moment come down in his demands as low as 7s. for the two, another lady and myself had consented to take them, when the steamer got under way, leaving the skins in the boat, and our money in our purses. There were also around the ship numbers of swimmers and divers; they swim just as naturally as fishes, the gentlemen were throwing coins overboard into the sea among them, when down they all darted in an instant, disappearing beneath the waters and then up again, the successful finder taking the coin from his mouth, and holding it up in triumph, then putting it into his mouth again, ready to dive for another; they seem to be able to hold any number of coins that they can get in their mouths, which, of course, are their only pockets. The appearance of Aden from the sea is all high-peaked, sharp, barren rocks, and no trees. We took on board an Arab pilot, and by five o'clock were fairly off again for the Red Sea.
