CHAPTER X.
We now directed our ship’s head to the westward, and fell in with the barques Cherokee and Pamelia. The former had sailed from home some two years previous; but, mutiny breaking out amongst her crew, she was run into Mauritius, and all the foremast hands discharged. The captain shipped a new crew, and was scarce a whit more fortunate in his selection; as a number of rough alleys, hearing of his reputation as a harsh man, determined to ship with him, in order, as they said, to work him up. At the time they shipped they were informed that they were engaged, not as sailors, but as whalemen. Soon after they got outside, an order was passed from the quarter-deck to make spun yarn, which they refused to do, repeating the terms of their engagement. The captain was forced to succumb, and, consequently, captain and crew were at variance during the remainder of their stay together. A boat’s crew from her came aboard our vessel. They were powerful, manly fellows—every one a thorough seaman, competent to perform his duty anywhere. Some months after we gammoned her she touched at Vasse, and set several of the ringleaders ashore.
Aboard the Pamelia we foundMr.Edwards, our former second officer, acting in the same capacity there. Her mate having left at Vasse, and gonehome in the Dolphin, her former second mate took his berth, andMr.Edwards the one left vacant by his promotion. Her crew seemed to us like old friends, and were greeted as such. They had been cruising on this coast ever since our departure, had been very successful, and anticipated a speedy return home. Their third mate had been taken very ill aboard the ship, and they had but a short time previously touched at Vasse for the purpose of leaving him, supposing that he could receive better attention ashore. Soon after they spoke the ship Canton, and were informed of his death. How the report originated I know not; for, in the following January, when we touched at that port, he was alive and well, and had been amusing himself kangaroo hunting.
The Pamelia brought us letters that had been received by mail at Vasse. As I was one of the fortunate ones, I was much gratified at receiving good news from home, and had my mind set at rest regarding the welfare of all my friends for another year.
On the 3d of November we lowered away for blackfish, of which the waist-boat captured one. A breeze springing up, the boats set their sails. The starboard-boat, by the carelessness of her manager, was capsized whilst merrily gliding along in pursuit of the fish, and her occupants, of whom I was one, got a ducking. When the boat went over, I was caught by the backstay that secured the mast, and had some difficulty in disentangling myself under water. The waist boat ran down, picked us up, and put us aboard the ship, where the whole affair was made a subject of laughter: this viewalways being taken of an accident to a boat where no person is seriously injured.
On Sunday, November the 8th, we sighted sperm whales, and though the weather was foggy and disagreeable, the boats were lowered; but, after being down all the forenoon, we returned at 1 o’clock, and ate dinner. At half past one we dropped boats again, when the waist-boat fastened to an immense whale, which ran very rapidly; but he soon began to spout thick blood, and we counted him as ours. On the appearance of blood, the bow-boat cut her line, and came aboard. The captain, observing that the whale continued on in his course, lowered away, and lanced him also; but still he would not turn up, although incessantly discharging blood from his spout-holes and the various lance-wounds in his body. Night approached, and still the whale kept going ahead. The rain was descending in torrents, whilst not the slightest vestige of a breeze rippled the surface of the water; so the boats, together with their locomotive attachment, were gradually widening their distance from the ship. Directly after nightfall, the captain returned with his boat, leaving directions for the others to keep up good lights in their boat-lanterns; so that we might very easily know their whereabouts. On arriving aboard, the bow-boat was dispatched with refreshments and a couple of bottles of New England rum, to revive those who had been sitting in their boats drenched to the skin; and, surely, if there ever was a moment when men needed an alcoholic stimulus to enable them to withstand exposure, it was on this occasion. Just after the bow-boat left, we lost sight of the light of the boat-lanternin the distance, and did not recover it again until midnight, when we discovered the boats coming toward us, with the dead body of the whale, as we believed, in tow; but were chagrined to find that they had cut from him, which, unavoidable as it was, was far from being pleasant, after the trouble and pains-taking he had caused us. They stated, that they were out of sight of the ship’s light; that the whale showed no more signs of exhaustion than at sunset; and, as the weather looked very threatening, there appeared to be no other recourse left them but to return: so, after a consultation, in which all hands were included, the line, not however without many regrets, was severed, and the monster allowed to go on his way, and die alone—his surviving more than a few hours being out of the question.
The bow-boat, after leaving the ship’s side, pulled in the direction where the boat-lights had last appeared; but it was not until after they had cut from the fish, that they found the other boats, whose men, from their fatiguing duty and benumbed members, were not just then particularly delighted at the idea of pulling ten or twelve miles back without refreshment: they therefore hailed the arrival of the bow-boat with acclamation. They hove up; and, after having satisfied their appetites, the bottle was passed around, and each indulged in a hearty swig: then, with renewed vigor, they bent to their oars, and regained the vessel.
This unfortunate result would not have occurred had we had the least breeze, to keep anywhere in the neighborhood of the boats; nor, had there been land anywhere within a reasonable distance, themate, who in no wise lacks energy, would not have cut; but, under the circumstances, he acted with discrimination in withdrawing the boats whilst there was a chance of their doing so with safety. No doubt, had he remained attached to the whale, it would have been as difficult for us to find our boats the succeeding day as it was to find the carcass of the fish, which, despite our utmost endeavors—thoroughly going over the ground—we never afterwards saw.
How it was that this whale sustained life so long, whilst the vital current was swiftly escaping from his system, it is difficult to account for. He was lanced in the same place as other whales we had taken, and which expired in the course of several hours. It was done, too, by men who were no novices, either in handling the lance, or in combating the whale. Not a few shook their heads, mysteriously; and one, in a spirit of confidence, broadly stated to me, that the creature was not a whale, but Lucifer himself, who had assumed this form to puzzle mankind; and hence he accounted for the tenacity of life displayed. This opinion, of course, I could not subscribe to; but I found it futile to attempt to satisfy my superstitious shipmate that all might be produced by natural causes. My opinion being, that the whale was of such a prodigious size, (every man who was in the boats stating him to have been the largest of the cachelot species they had ever seen,) and his vitals were covered with so thick a coat of blubber, that the lances were of insufficient length to deal a mortal wound. This view of the matter, after many arguments,proandcon, was finallyadopted, as being the most probable of any advanced.
After remaining on this ground a sufficient length of time to assure ourselves of the improbability of picking up the wounded whale, we proceeded to the northward, hoping to be more successful off the capes Chatham and Leuwin. Our passage up was unmarked with incident, except the capture of a large shark, and the picking up of a dead grampus of the variety known as the bottle-nose. The shark’s capture is worthy of mention merely for the method we adopted to kill him. He was struck and hauled in, and beat over the head with a heavy handspike. The forge being up, and a good fire burning in it, a bar of iron was heated, and run directly through his heart, with but little apparent effect; for he still continued to lash his flukes, and set his jaws upon a piece of pine board, to which he held fast. His head was then cut off, and his skin removed; yet every member of his body still retained the power of motion.
The grampus is a most beautiful fish—the handsomest in form of the many inhabitants of the deep that it has been my fortune to see. On account of their shyness, there is great difficulty in approaching these fish when alive, and consequently very few are taken: even in the whaling career, seldom does a seaman have an opportunity of examining one on deck. The one in our possession was about twenty-five feet long, and as much around the bilge. His skin was smooth, of a shining black color. His head gradually sloped, until it ended in a long pointed jaw, resembling that of the porpoise, but which, unlike that of most other fish in these waters, was notfurnished with teeth. No mark, accounting for his death, was found upon the body: doubtless, he died from some disease peculiar to the species. The blubber was several inches thick, which on being tried out yielded three barrels of colorless, inodorous oil.
We remained off Cape Leuwin but a short time. Seeing a large lone sperm whale, we lowered away for him, in company with the boats of the barque Pamelia; but we did not succeed in capturing him. We then, accompanied by said barque, again steered for our old ground to the southward.
On Sunday, December 6th, just as we had arrived in our latitude for cruising, we sighted a large lone sperm whale, at 9¹⁄₂ o’clock in the morning; and by ten—the hour when well-behaved folks in civilized countries are wending their way to church—we were deep in the encounter. He occasioned us but little trouble: the first mate fastening to, and killing him before the other boats could reach the scene of action, though all pulled with a will. At the moment of darting the harpoon, the whale struck the boat with his head, knocking a small hole through her bows, and pitching the boatsteerer, who was standing up, over the prow of his boat upon the top of the whale’s elevated huge head; but the imperilled man, with a nimble spring, quickly regained his legitimate position in the boat, where he very probably felt much more comfortable than mounted on such a Pegasus. This was a noble fish, and yielded us over one hundred barrels of sperm oil, valued, at the time we left home, at about sixty dollars a barrel; making, in the aggregate, the snug sum of six thousand dollars. A very creditable day’s work: but, then, it has to bedivided into so many shares, that those who undergo the peril and discomforts of making the capture come in for the smallest portion of the gain. The shipowners, sitting at ease in New Bedford, grasp thousands, whilst Jack and his coadjutors can reckon their proportion without very largely intruding on the scores. Thus it is throughout the world: he who does least, is paid best. Intellect overbalances mere physical exertion; and thus it ever will, and ever should do in the promotion of great enterprises.
On the 14th we again met whales, which were not seen until within the ship’s length of us. Our boats were lowered away in haste. A moment afterwards, those of the Pamelia, who was not more than a mile distant from us, were also in the water. Our bow-boat fastened ten minutes after striking the water, and in an incredibly short time the whale was dead, and ours. The remaining boats continued in pursuit of the school, and got near enough to enable the boatsteerers to dart, though at long distances, and without producing any other effect than a pricking of the prey, at which they raised up their huge bodies, and with their flukes thrashed the sea all around them into a boisterous foam. Finding it useless to continue the pursuit, the boats came aboard, and the ship’s head was put in the direction of the whales. We then proceeded to cut in. The Pamelia, meantime, ran down to us; when, with a disinterestedness uncommon to rival whalemen, our captain informed hers of the direction in which the whales had gone. Not being encumbered, as we were, with a whale in tow, she soon passed us. An hour afterwards we saw her lower away and capture a whale, which, asours done for us, yielded in the neighborhood of one hundred barrels of oil: the whales of this ground all averaging about the same quantity. They are larger, in general, than I have seen them in lower latitudes, besides being always in better condition than when found in a warmer climate, and their blubber on the application of heat almost wholly dissolving into oil.
On the 19th we again saw the same school. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon the waist-boat fastened, was stoven by the whale’s flukes, and her crew obliged to swim for their lives, when they were picked up by the starboard-boat, and carried to the ship. The other boat then went on to the whale, and her boatsteerer darted at him half-a-dozen times in succession, but without effect. Night approaching, we were compelled to desist. Early the next morning we saw a large whale alone—lowered, and the waist-boat fastened. She continued attached for some time, when, her line being nearly run out, the larboard boat’s was bent on to it. By mistake, a line that had been exposed to the weather, had been put into the waist-boat, in lieu of her line that was carried off the day before. The mate, finding that his own line was fast running out, attached a drug to it—hoping that by its resistance in the water the whale would be to some extent forced to moderate his soundings. The old line, unable to endure the strain caused by the drug, parted; and away the whale went to windward eyes out, with a speed that, to the chagrin of all, defied pursuit. So, here was the third whale, this season, lost by the one boat. Oil reviewing this journal, it will be seen in the precedingpages, that a singular fatality has attended all the operations of this boat since we left home. When under the management ofMr.Edwards, (our former second officer, and as good a whaleman as ever stepped into the head of a whaleboat,) she was capsized. Under her present manager, she had her line taken by a whale, off Cape Chatham, where she was also capsized. In the Bight, the whale was only saved by the timely arrival of the bow-boat with its line. The large whale that went off spouting blood, was fastened to from her; the whale of yesterday, that capsized her; and that of to-day, that parted her line—go to make up a catalogue of misfortunes that the annals of whaling-voyages can scarcely equal. And all her disasters—capsizing, losing her whale, losing her line, and being stoven—arose, not from incapacity on the part of her officers, but from a combination of unforeseen circumstances, which it would have been in vain for the most experienced whaleman to guard against.
On the last day of December we experienced the initiation of a gale, which lasted, in incessant violence, until the 6th of January, ’58, but doing no injury to us, further than shipping a heavy sea that cleared away our gangway, and deluged our decks, fore and aft, without so much as saying, “By your leave.” We kept on one tack, heading constantly to the north and westward.
On the 10th we sighted Baldhead but a short distance off. We stood in for it; and in the evening the captain lowered away, and proceeded, through Frenchman’s Bay and the Sound, to the town of Albany: the ship standing off and on, with the cablebent on to the larboard anchor, so us to be ready to let go in case of emergency. In the bay we found at anchor the barque Margaret, of Liverpool, from Adelaide for Mauritius. She had sprung her mizzenmast in the recent severe westerly gale, and, the wind being directly in her teeth, she put in here for shelter. On getting into the sound they found that the Prince of Wales had sailed for Callao, and therefore her crew were at liberty. Most of the hangers-on that had composed part of the population, when we last were here, had departed in the American ship Kensington. This ship had as passengers three hundred Chinamen, who intended landing at some port in these colonies; but, on account of a legislative enactment forbidding the ingress of these people into the country, she had already met with great difficulty in getting rid of them.
A day or two before our arrival, the natives came into the town, with portions of cotton canvass, and numbers of spermaceti candles. They reported that fragments of casks and barrels were strewed around the beach in every direction. The fact of her carrying cotton canvass augurs that the wreck must have been an American vessel, as those of other nations carry hemp almost exclusively. These evidences of shipwreck were found on a part of the coast contiguous to the White Top Rocks, which is justly accounted a most dangerous locality, and has in more than one instance been the theater of similar disasters.
And now I shall touch on another subject, which reflects but little credit on the parties concerned, either as Americans, or as honest men. It is simplythis:—At the sound our captain found a letter from the consular agent at Freemantle, directed to the captain of any American whaler who might first touch at the port. The purport of the missive formed a caution to the barque Pamelia’s master not to enter any port in the Australian colonies, as her smuggling tobacco on her last visit to Vasse had been divulged, and vessel and cargo thereby forfeited to the crown. The other party concerned, to whom the tobacco had been delivered, and placed aboard the brig Champion, had had his brig seized, and was heavily mulcted beside, for his part in the nefarious transaction. He is a man well to do, and at the time of the smuggling was fulfilling heavy contracts with the English government; supplying them with timber for the construction of the railroad from Adelaide to Melbourne.
This is no unusual method of turning a penny, amongst those who visit this coast; and I have seen more than one instance of it. In some cases, the authorities wink at the fraud committed against the government; and, as the party who is fortunate enough to escape conviction trebles or quadruples the amount of his outlay, the temptation is strong to engage in the illicit traffic.
Beside this budget of shipping news, it was said by the inhabitants of Albany, that gold in considerable quantities had been discovered by shepherds, about one hundred and fifty miles distant in the interior, and that a party was preparing to visit this El Dorado.
At 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the 11th the boat returned; and, bracing forward, we stood to the westward, in hopes of seeing the Pamelia before shewent into port; for we knew that it was the intention of her captain to touch at Vasse about the middle of the present month. On our passage we fell in with the barque Eagle, of New Bedford. She was employed in cutting a whale she had taken the day previous, and, as the weather was anything but good, she was having a dirty time. We afterwards learned that she had lost the greater part of the head in the operation. After a short time spent in company with her, and learning that the Pamelia had been seen a few days before, we resumed our course, and the day succeeding spoke her, and communicated the intelligence we had received at Albany. It was timely, too, as they were now bound in, and twenty-four hours’ delay might have been productive of serious consequences. On the 18th, her captain, knowing full well that to enter a port in the vicinity would be madness, made himself dependent upon the various ships on the ground to contribute a quota in the supply of water, &c., to enable him to take a short cruise, and reach the Mauritius. In pursuance of this idea, on the same day a raft of casks, in tow of one of the Pamelia’s boats, was brought alongside of our vessel, and made fast; then, according to orders, they were hoisted in. Our crew had an inkling of the affair, but said nothing, until they were ordered by the first officer to fill these casks, belonging to another ship, with the water from our own casks, which it had caused us so much labor and trouble to procure, and which would have to be replaced from one of the wells on the coast, under a burning sun, and through scorching sand. Under these circumstances, a flat refusal was accorded tothe order; because we did not deem that our engagement obliged us to supply another ship with water, unless she was in absolute distress. All hands aboard, except the first and second officers, united in this view of the case. The mate expostulated, but found it useless. A messenger or spokesman was then dispatched to the captain, who acted with moderation; and the whole matter was amicably adjusted by the captain of the Pamelia complying with our terms; which were, that we should be paid for the trouble we would have in replacing the water. As soon as this was understood, all hands turned to. The casks were filled, rafted, and towed aboard the Pamelia in double-quick time; and our boat returned with money and several boxes of soap as a compensation.
It may seem, to a disinterested reader, that our thus refusing to supply the wants of a countryman, in this far off sea, was niggardly in the extreme. But the master of the Pamelia was unpopular over the whole ocean, and our men were affected with the general opinion respecting him. They alleged that he had came aboard our ship some months before, and remonstrated with our captain against the quantity of provisions he allowed to his crew; stating, at the same time, that he (meaning himself) did not give his men all they wanted: which assertion one would indeed find no difficulty to believe on hearing his crew talk, who represented their fare to be extremely meagre.
This was the nearest approach to insubordination that had thus far occurred amongst us; and which, if our captain and officers had been bullying, threateningmen, might have been lashed into a mutiny, that in the eyes of justice they would have been held responsible for: because it was certainly due to every man aboard, that the captain should have stated his intention of furnishing another ship with water, and his reasons for so doing—appealing at the same time to what would be the sense of our own necessities, if placed in such a situation; and then not a man aboard would have raised a dissenting voice, or spoken of remuneration. It is, however, a mistake too often committed by shipowners, shipmasters, and ship’s officers, to think that the sailor has neither part nor parcel in the concerns of the ship or voyage, and that the disposal of his time is altogether at the pleasure of his superiors; and thus they conduct themselves toward him, treating him with no more deference than they would accord to a dog aboard the ship; and in this way are sown the first seeds of mutiny, which spring up, bear fruit that come to maturity, and destroy the original causes of their production.
On the 19th we gammoned with a barque belonging to Fairhaven. This circumstance is only worthy of notice from its being the first opportunity we had, since leaving home, of seeing that peculiar creature known amongst seafaring men as the spread eagle; which consists in a human being lashed to the rigging by his wrists, when, as the case may be, he is punished with the lash, made to stand for an immoderate length of time on one leg, or his arms seized at such a height that he can but just rest on the tips of his toes. In the present case the culprit was forced to stand on one leg, shifting at periodicaltimes; and was thus punished for thirty-six hours. He was quite a lad, and his offence was said to be the participating in a fracas in the forecastle. Whether just or unjust, the application of this harsh and cruel punishment recoiled upon the captain, as a few weeks afterward, when several of her crew deserted from her in Bunbury, he could not replace them: notice of this circumstance having got ashore—whether from our crew or hers, I cannot say; but it was all-sufficient to deter any of the men ashore from engaging with her captain, as they answered his proposals to them for that purpose with scorn and insult.
On the 22d we saw sperm whales going off to windward at a tangent. We lowered, but found it useless. Two days afterward we squared away for Bunbury. In the afternoon we doubled Cape Naturaliste at a slashing pace, knocking twelve knots an hour out of the old ship. That night we came to, with our head-yards aback; and the following morning cast anchor off the town. Our first job, after anchoring, was to heave our maintopmast up, and substitute a new fid for the old one. This was but little trouble. On extracting the old fid, we were at a loss to account for the mast having so long remained upright, with such a miserable support: the weight of the topmast having crushed the stout oak fid almost completely through—but a few inches of solid wood remaining to sustain it.
Almost as soon as the boat could convey them to us, fresh beef and vegetables were brought aboard; proving that, when inclined to purchase it, meat was no article of scarcity in this market.
After adjusting our topmast, we went ashoreto fill our casks with fresh water. A well had been constructed since we were here a year ago; the captains of the different whaleships touching at the port having subscribed to a fund for its erection. It was larger and much more convenient than those at Vasse; and, as the distance to the beach was not so great as at that place, we had little fault to find with it, and soon conveyed on board over three hundred barrels of water.
On the 28th the brig Lochinvar arrived from Freemantle, in ballast, for the purpose of loading lumber, and conveying passengers to Adelaide. The lumber consisted altogether of the native mahogany, and was intended for sleepers to the railway there. The passengers were charged ten pounds sterling per head for their passage—a distance of fifteen hundred miles. Rather a contrast to our own cheap steam-conveyances, where comfort to the traveller can be procured at so moderate a rate.
On boarding the Lochinvar we found a former foremast hand, belonging to the Pamelia, acting as her second mate. Her crew consisted of several hands on wages of six pounds sterling per month; the balance was composed of sailors and landsmen, the former of whom were on mere nominal pay—their compensation being but one shilling per month—while the latter were obliged to pay down seven pounds, and agree to assist in loading the brig. These men were actuated in thus shipping, at such a trifling rate, by a desire to get away from this section of the country: they viewing Adelaide and its vicinity as a land of promise.
Soon after the Lochinvar came to anchor a derrickwas rigged, a cart conveyed ashore, and they at once proceeded to get off timber—engaging all the unemployed ones in the place (and they were not a few) to assist in the operation. Their plan was, to take one of their boats, which was broad in the beam, and furnished with lockers, containing air-tight cylinders; then they would lash around it, and over it, as much mahogany as she would be buoyant under; and as this wood is extremely heavy, and sinks like a stone, their load was not a large one. Then they would pull off to the brig, where it was soon hove in by the aid of the derricks. One stick escaped from its lashing when alongside the brig, and a boy, who belonged ashore, dove down, and attached a rope to it in four and a half fathoms of water, which is equal to twenty-seven feet; hence this was somewhat of an exploit.
One day when the workmen employed on the beach had lashed the timber to the boat, and had pushed her off—several of them wading a short distance to give her an impetus—two of the men were observed struggling, as if to keep themselves afloat. Both disappeared; but one rose again in an instant, and grasped the boat. The other was not seen for some minutes. On searching, his lifeless body was discovered. He was a good swimmer, and a few strokes would have saved his life; but he had been drinking to excess a short time before the accident, and to this was attributed his inability to help himself. His body was conveyed to the jail, cast into a rude mahogany box, and buried within a few hours afterwards: the climate here forbidding the keeping of a corpse more than twenty-four hours.
Two days’ liberty was allowed to each watch, and as, after we left the year previous, two whale-ships, on the recommendation of our captain, had visited the port, our advent created no surprise. Ships and sailors had become familiar sights, and the inhabitants were not as ready to spend their money, or listen to our yarns, as they were on our former visit. In the town things had changed but little—no improvements, no marriages, and no deaths during our absence. Therefore, as there was little either to interest or divert us, a number of our crew who, during the previous visit were enjoying themselves with rational pleasures, in the absence of former novelties, flocked to the groggeries and passed their time there. Apart from the general jokes and antics of seamen, one circumstance only, worthy of note, occurred; that was the mulcting of one of the publicans for allowing two of our men to play cards in his house; their laws prohibiting card playing even for amusement.
On the 1st of February the barque Iowa came in and gave liberty, so that there was quite a number of us ashore for several days; but after that we became tired of listlessly walking through the sand, and preferred remaining aboard the ship.
On the 5th our men proceeded some ten miles up the river to the village of Australind. On our way up we passed several grazing farms stocked with noble cattle. Along the river thousands of birds were to be seen, amongst which our pilot pointed out, as peculiarly worthy of notice, the black and white swan. Arriving at Australind we found ourselves in a beautifulcountry, excellently cultivated, appearing as an oasis in the sandy district that surrounded it. We had received, or understood that we had received (and certainly such was the gist of the message conveyed to us), an invitation from the proprietor of a handsome garden in the vicinity to visit him, and help him to eat some of his abundant fruit, partake of dinner with him, and generally enjoy ourselves at his expense; he wishing no other return than the pleasure of playing the host to an assemblage of Neptune’s sons. This, even to our unsophisticated ears, sounded almost too disinterested for the inhabitants of Australia. Nevertheless, having little else to do, we determined to face the music, providing ourselves with plenty of biscuit in case of disappointment. We landed and went up to milord’s house, which proved to be a neat and substantial brick edifice, and, with the assurance of invited guests who had come ten miles to please their host, we approached the door. We found that the individual who was so liberal in his promises was absent, and in his stead his home was garrisoned by a party of women, the young and pretty of whom were kept in the background by the high shoulders and higher cap of an old dame, whom I afterwards understood was a genuine specimen of the English titled lady; but I doubt it—as I have always understood that the matrons of England were distinguished for their hospitality, and this lady certainly possessed no such quality; as, with a vinegar aspect, she informed us of the absence of her spouse, looking at us meanwhile as if she thought us a party of marauders come to storm her vineyard. She indulged in remarks which,without misconstruing, easily made known to us her desire for us to begone; but we were of too turgid a composition to comply with her wishes. We had come for a day’s pleasure, and we were bound to have it whether my lady was desirous or not; and we did have it too, for the butler, and several others, finding that we were in no hurry to decamp, to relieve the old lady from the infliction of looking on such barbarians as we, made a virtue of necessity and asked us down into the vineyard. Here the gardener, as if to make amends for the churlishness of the others, took considerable pains to show us over the grounds, and gave us full permission to regale ourselves with as much fruit as we could eat. We took him at his word, and soon were deep in the discussion of splendid grapes, water and musk-melons, mulberries, bananas, and peaches. There were acres of grape vines—the proprietor cultivating them for the manufacture of wines. They were splendid specimens; and as they were a novel dish to us, we were not the most moderate consumers of them, as the skins that strewed our paths testified. The mulberries were larger, but much tarter than ours at home. The bananas were not of so good a flavor or such a size as those we had seen at Balli. The gardener informed me that the banana plant bore the whole year round. The fruit is preceded by a splendid flower resembling the dahlia in color, but treble its size. Besides these fruits the usual garden vegetables were growing, amongst which I noticed the tomato, and, strange to say, the taste of its raw fruit was pleasanter and more refreshing than that of the more valued kinds I had been eating. Deemingthis a freak of my palate, I mentioned it to my companions as singular: several of them said that such was precisely the case with them, and they preferred it to the other fruit. After several hours spent in rambling, we returned to the house for the purpose of procuring a draught of water, which was drawn from a well by means of a hydraulic pump, and which, by the way, was the only spot where I procured a good, cool drink of water in New Holland. We were again attacked by the old lady, who, to some extent, apologizing for her brusqueness in the morning, very plainly intimated that, for a suitable return, she could supply us with a repast. Like most sailors, having receptacles capable of and requiring more substantial food than fruit after our exercise, we closed with her very liberal offer, and were soon seated at a table furnished with excellent edibles, bread and butter, milk, jam, and other articles, making together a first rate supper. On our taking leave we gave to each of the underlings who had been attentive to us some tobacco. They informed us that their master had been unavoidably called away from home on business, and stated that had he been present we should have passed a very pleasant day. Giving the gentleman the benefit of this assertion, we took leave of his estate, embarked in our boat, and directed her head towards Bunbury. We reached the ship at nightfall and were pretty well wearied with our jaunt. Those of our shipmates who had remained aboard, had prophesied in the morning the miscarriage of our proposed pleasure; but as we kept our own counsel, they were none the wiser of our experience of old English hospitality, and they expressedsome chagrin that they had not formed part of our expedition.
On the following day and night a collation was spread aboard the Iowa, and to it flocked all the wit and beauty of the neighborhood. After they had satisfied their appetites they resorted to our ship. Music was in demand, and the quarter-deck was made a stage on which New Holland’s damsels and Yankee whaling officers were vieing in displaying their individual grace and activity as disciples of Terpsichore. The ladies looked very well, and talked equally so, with the exception of a remark one let slip; but then some allowance must be made, as she did not know that any one was listening. Indeed, I hardly know whether I am justified in betraying the failings of the fair sex. However, I was never celebrated either for wisdom or prudence, and I shall not in this case exercise a virtue to which I have no claim; so here it is, and if any attach blame to the lady for it, I can only answer him or her with the motto of the knights of the garter, “Honi soit qui mal y pense,” or “Evil be to him who evil thinks.” But here is a long dissertation without the conversation, which if any lady reads, I know that her patience will be exhausted, so I needs must proceed with my disclosure. Two ladies who had just sat down to rest themselves after the dance, engaged in conversation, and, in the course of it, one stated that she felt sea-sick. “I feel a little qualmish, too,” returned the other, “and I have heard that brandy was good for it. I wish that I had brought a bottle in my pocket. Indeed, I intended to, but forgot it.” Remark is needless, and superfluous.The refreshments at this entertainment were coffee and cake; unlike that at Vasse, where spirituous liquors flowed as freely down male and female throats, as whiskey down an Irishman’s gullet at a wake.
On the Thursday following was the anniversary of their annual races, at which prizes are offered by the government to the victor. These prizes are given for the purpose of inducing the settlers to pay attention to the improvement of their stock. To avoid the confusion and irregularity which generally prevailed among the inhabitants on these occasions, and in which our men would be too apt readily to join, we hastened our departure; and, accordingly, on Tuesday, after having had our vessel searched by the government officials, we got under weigh, and stood down the bay towards Vasse. Soon after the Iowa followed our example; and, with a head wind, which forced both of us to beat, we pursued the same direction. We soon weathered our companion, and left her far in the distance. The following morning, at 11 o’clock, we let go our anchor off the town of Vasse, where we found three barques and two ships: all whalers—all carrying the star-spangled banner—all belonging to New Bedford, and all, except one, clippers. Every year the number of old-fashioned ships is decreasing, and wedge-shaped craft taking their place: the whaling-service (a branch of commerce the last to countenance innovation) fast yielding to the march of improvement, and adopting the modern model—a long head, a clean run, and a round stern.
The next day liberty was allowed; and, as therewas a report of a prize-fight to come off during the day, almost everybody that had liberty went ashore. There were seven ships in the harbor, (the Iowa having arrived the preceding evening), and therefore the number going ashore formed quite an army—no less than one hundred and thirty. The prize-fight, however, took place at so early an hour, and at such a distance from the town, that our countrymen were prevented from witnessing it. But the day passed off pleasantly, and with moderation, as far as regarded the imbibition of spirits: no one of the whole motley assemblage, comprising natives of almost every clime, having gone beyond the proper bounds.
During the next week I saw one of the participators in the brutal contest above alluded to. He presented appearances of severe punishment. On stating my surprise that he was at large, when the fact of the fight was so well known to the authorities, I was informed that the law had no power over the combatant, unless he were caught in the act.
Amongst the celebrities in this village are the post-master and school-mistress. The former is as deaf as a post, and it is only by raising the voice to a high pitch that the least intelligence can be communicated to him. My patience was well-nigh exhausted in an attempt to inform him of the miscarriage of several of my letters from home; but he either could not, or would not, be made to understand my complaint, and consequently I received no satisfaction.
The school-mistress, from her position, was ofcourse a wonder of learning and profundity. Being desirous of a conversation with her, (the more so, because, apart from her implied erudition, she was a pleasant-looking and blooming damsel,) an officer of one of the ships scraped an acquaintance with her. She was in nowise loath to enter into conversation, and in a few minutes both were deep in argument. During the colloquy, the mate had occasion to mention Samson’s feat of destroying the harvest of the Philistines by attaching firebrands to the tails of foxes. This, to his surprise, was received as something novel; and the fair questioner expressed a desire to know who Samson was: wishing to be informed whether the scene of his exploits was the United States, and whether he was a native of our country. I need not say that D—— was taken all aback. At first he thought that the lady was making game of him; but the look of childish wonder and simplicity that she wore on her countenance forbade such a conclusion. He was so surprised at her ignorance of Holy Writ, that he did not endeavor to enlighten her, but allowed her fancy to roam free over the subject, and, as soon as he could with credit, took his departure: fully convinced that, whatever were the acquirements of the preceptors of youth, who teach the young idea how to shoot, and wield the scholastic birch in New Holland, they at least had not advanced so far as to make the Bible one of their school-books.
I noticed this strange unacquaintance with Holy Writ in more than one individual in the colony. I have no doubt they can manage to live without it—asfar as their idea of life comprehends “living”; but how they can manage to die happily without it, I cannot conceive.
Another fact I must notice; that is, the great number of males and females living together in couples as man and wife, but whose union has not been sanctioned by a performance of the sacred marriage rite. The men who come out here usually bring their wives along, if they are voluntary emigrants; and if convicts their helpmates occasionally follow them—preferring to share the exile of their husbands rather than spend a lone life in their native home. In the latter case they are allowed to consort together, provided the prisoner by a course of good conduct has merited and received a “ticket of relief.” Not unusually when any of these females are removed by death, they are replaced by mistresses, who assume all the privileges of the departed, as well as the maternal government of the children, if there should be any; in which latter relation they in most cases act prudently: for children are here an element of wealth as soon as they arrive at an age at which they are qualified to help themselves—there being plenty for them to do, if only these nominal mothers and their husbands are disposed to teach them to labor.
This state of affairs does not appear to be looked upon by the inhabitants as criminal, neither is it made a matter of scandal—both parties being allowed to enter society without reserve. These are harsh assertions, I am aware; but, ere they were written, their asperity was well digested, both by myself and scores of others, who, not from hearsay, but from observationand unrestricted intercourse among these people, are confident they do not do them injustice. The climate is blamed by them for their predisposition to sensuality; and the law is anything but lenient to the offender in such cases: the violator of a female, when brought before a court of justice, being always punished by death.