CHAPTER XII.
After leaving the Abrolhas’, we had a strong westerly breeze, which required us to carry sail pretty stiffly, to avoid the shore; in the course of which process we sighted the Wollaby group and Wizzard’s Peak on the main.
Our intention was to cruise here for four or six weeks; but having, after the lapse of eight or nine days, seen sperm whales which were going eyes out to the westward, (we lowered for them, but did not get within miles of them,) on the morning of September 1st, we spoke the Europa, sold to her captain another boat, and, with strong southeast trades, took up our line of departure for the westward. Our ship’s bottom, from long exposure, was very foul, and we tried to make amends for her dullness by packing her spars full of canvass: main royal, topmast, lower and topgallant studding sails, all assisting us on our westerly course; and, although we were not bound directly home, we were all well aware that space now crossed brought us thitherward, and would not need to be retraced by us. Hence we entered into the spirit of the passage with more alacrity than usual. There was, besides, this other consideration, that we were bound to a port within the precincts of civilization; which is always a matter of gratification to sailors, after either a short or long cruise.
At the last farewell visit from the Europa’s crew, we were commissioned to deliver many a message, both verbal and written, to near and dear friends of theirs in the States; and they, poor fellows, doomed as they are, for a year or eighteen months more, cruising off New Holland’s coast, could not avoid announcing their wishes to be aboard with us. They, however, bade us “God speed;” and we bade adieu to New Holland and them both at the same time, hoping to meet the latter again in the land of Washington, amid pleasanter scenes and under happier auspices than can be found within the confines of an Indian Ocean whaler’s timbers.
After bidding adieu to the Europa, we occupied ourselves in sending aloft studding sails on the fore and main, from the topgallant yards to the deck; the main royal was bent, a mizzen staysail manufactured and bent, and under a cloud of canvass, impelled by the gentle trade-wind, we kept her west-north-west, fully anticipating making Mauritius within a fortnight; but, like most of our bright anticipations, this was doomed to be dashed—the trade-winds, most unusually at this season of the year, persisting in being light, so that it was not until the 21st that we saw the Isle of France. Previous to this, on the 19th, we sighted and passed close by the Island of Rodrique. This small island is seldom visited by whalers for supplies, as there is no accredited American agent resident on it. It however is made famous amongst the whaling fleet, from the fact of a captain of a New Bedford vessel having selected a lady of the island, of French parentage, as his lady love, marrying, and taking her with him to the United States, to the dismayof the fair sex in his native neighborhood, who had set their caps for him. This fact is so well known and widely spread, that I never, whilst in the Indian Ocean, heard the name of the island mentioned, without being compelled, from politeness, to listen to a repetition of the love passage.
The following day, at five o’clock in the afternoon, we sighted a school of sperm whales, consisting of cows and calves. After several hours chasing, we were obliged to relinquish the pursuit as futile.
On the afternoon of the 23d we stood close in to the land composing the Isle of France; it is rugged and mountainous, covered by immense fields of nature’s own green, which we judged to be the different plantations of coffee and sugar-cane, for which the island is celebrated. At night we beat to windward, having to direct us the beacons of two light-houses, which designate the entrance to the harbor. Next morning we stood into the roadstead, which is easy of access, but only presents a secure anchorage at certain seasons of the year, being entirely unprotected from the winds. At 10¹⁄₂ A. M. on the 23d we let go our anchor, amid some twenty vessels, most of which fly either the French or English flag—these two nations carrying on the principal trade to and from the port. These vessels were of the most ancient models, not a clipper to be seen amongst them; all betrayed too plainly that Yankee ingenuity had nothing to do with their construction, but that their models, rig, and lumbering appearance were all owing to some clumsy English shipwright, or French bungler in the same line.
The town, or rather that part of it which can beseen from the roadstead, presents anything but a creditable appearance; only the outskirts can be seen, built on the base of the far-famed and world-renowned Peter Boite mountain, which rears its cone-shaped summit aloft in the regions of upper air. Midway up the ascent is a signal station, which informs those initiated into the mysteries of the system of signals, of the appearance in the offing of inward bound vessels; and when these are near enough, by the arrangement of Captain Marryatt’s signals, consisting of four small flags, or rather three flags and a whip, they ascertain the name of the vessel, whence from, her cargo, and to whom consigned.
The entrance to the harbor, which, by the way, appears from the roadstead tolerably full of shipping, is guarded by two elevated fortifications and a mole; so that, from the number of fortifications, I should judge that the harbor was pretty secure in case of assault.
It is very easy to remark the difference between the English and American method of transacting harbor business. If we had anchored near an American city, within the jurisdiction of the quarantine physician, our anchor would have scarcely left the cat-head, ere he would have boarded us and been satisfied as to our general healthiness; but here, from half-past 10 until 3 o’clock, we were left in a blessed state of uncertainty as to whether we should communicate with the shore or remain stationary; when the dilatory physician boarded us, and, after marshalling the crew aft and satisfying himself as to our general sanitary condition, gave us a red flag to flyat our fore royal truck, which was our certificate of health, and guaranteed to us permission to transact business with the city. Those vessels that are condemned by the port physician as unfit to enter into communication with the inhabitants of the island, are removed to the quarantine ground, about a mile below our anchorage, where, at present, some dozen vessels lie, guarded by the police boat, that prevents any interchange of goods that may lead to the introduction of infection into the port.
The port officer, who accompanied the physician, left with us a small book containing the harbor laws and regulations, for the government of vessels of all nations which anchor within its precincts. These laws are printed both in French and English, and purport to emanate from Sir John Higginson, lieutenant-governor; they are comprised mostly of stringent quarantine restrictions, which led me to suppose that at some earlier period they had suffered severely by the importation of dreadful contagious diseases, which I can easily imagine would find abundant food amid the miscellaneous population, assisted as it naturally would be by the extreme heat of the climate.
Beside these, there are a series of signals for the preservation of vessels in the roadstead during the months which are most liable to typhoons or hurricanes. This period extends from the 1st of December to the 1st of April; at the first signal the captains of all vessels lying in the roadstead are compelled by law to resort to their respective ships; other signals are for the increase of ground-tackle, shifting ofanchorage, and, finally, getting under weigh, when a longer stay in the roadstead would prove dangerous.
At 8 o’clock in the evening we heard the report of the evening gun which enjoins all keepers of public houses, and other places of business, to close their doors; a heavy penalty being imposed upon any person transacting business of whatever kind after gun fire. At 5 o’clock A. M. the morning gun is fired, when all are at liberty to open their doors, and resume their respective avocations.
On the 25th we thoroughly washed our ship, sending ashore several times during the day. When the first boat came off with provisions, comprising meat and vegetables, a boy, who constituted one of the crew, was exploding with suppressed laughter, which occasionally would escape him notwithstanding his utmost efforts. On being questioned as to the cause of his mirth, he proceeded in a very naive and humorous vein to describe his trip to the market for meat. After selecting what was wanted for the ship’s consumption, a Lascar backed it, which was all very well; but no sooner had he started, than another of the same race jumped up from his squatting posture, and, by a series of thumps and rib ticklings, forced the one who acted as pack-horse into quite a nimble pace for an indolent Asiatic. The thumps and rib ticklings, which seemed a grave matter of business between the contracting parties, excited the fancy of our Yankee boy, who had never seen or heard of such a man-persuading operation; hence his violent merriment.
The meat which we procured is known by two sobriquets, being called indifferently, “buffalo” and“cape beef.” The animals are procured either from the Cape Colony, or the Island of Madagascar. I saw a number of them yoked together, performing the heavy draughting to and from the plantations and warehouses. With the exception of the hump, I could perceive no difference in form between them and our own cattle. This hump is situated on the spine directly over the fore shoulders; in shape it resembles a mound, being conical as it approaches its summit, and in a full grown animal attains a height of from eight to twelve inches. The flesh of the hump is said to be esteemed a great dainty, and I have no doubt of it from the fact that whilst lying here not a particle of that portion of the animal came aboard our ship, it commanding a higher price than the other portions, and, therefore, was too expensive provender for sailors.
I have heard this meat reviled over and over again, as being tough and anything but nutritious; but I disagree with its detractors, as I found it sweet, tender and palatable, although it is very far from being fat.
Besides fresh meat we were enabled to obtain sweet potatoes—the murphies not being raised here—and so we were fain to put up with their yellow prototypes; they were much the same esculent as we formerly procured in the Island of Lombock. Carrots, and the various garden vegetables, too, were procurable, and the most original turnips that it ever fell to my lot to behold. In form they resembled a pine-apple, and were of a deep purple color. Attracted by their savory look, I essayed to peel one with my pocket knife, but found such a proceedingnot to be accomplished with ordinary tools; with the assistance of a sharp hatchet, I managed to remove the jacket, and was rewarded for my pains by a mouthful of the hardest chewing commodity that ever was put between my masticators; it reminded me of the occasion, when a boy, I attempted to crack a hickory nut between my teeth.
On Monday morning we arose with the intention of doing a great deal of work—thinking to get off all our water in the course of the day. In pursuance of this resolution two boats were manned, and we went ashore with a raft of casks in tow, passing up the inner harbor. (But as we were to go ashore in a few hours on liberty, and would then have more leisure for inspection, we omit further description until then.) There were several hundred ships lying here, independent of the coasting-craft, and therefore on arriving at the watering-place, which consisted of an aqueduct with a single nozzle, we found it surrounded by seamen of every nation, hose in hand, patiently waiting their turns, while being scorched by the burning rays of a tropical sun. Finding that in all probability the greater part of the day would be consumed ere we should have an opportunity to fill our casks, the starboard-watch returned to the ship, in order to make preparations to go ashore on liberty; which being soon completed, a boat was manned, and away we went for a day’s enjoyment after eight months of sea-life.
On our way in we passed a series of parti-colored buoys, placed so as clearly to define the entrance to the harbor. About two miles from the landing there is a curious contrivance of wicker-work, with abell in it, familiarly known as the Bell Buoy; and a little further in, the Powder Boat, into which all vessels entering the harbor are compelled to deposit their powder. The entrance to the harbor is moderately wide, but still no vessels enter without the aid of the steam tow-boat, which they may however dispense with on leaving. Every vessel in the harbor is compelled to anchor with two stream and two bower anchors.
And now we were amongst the shipping: for the most part, great, lumbering, unsightly sugar-boxes. There, the aristocratic title, the Earl of Derby, proclaimed the Briton; the Napoleon was undoubtedly Monsieur’s craft; the Esperanza, the Don’s; and Peter of Hamburg, Mynheer’s. But amid them all rose the lofty tapering spars of the brigantine Penney, of New York; and, on a nearer approach, we could examine the beautiful lines of her symmetrical hull, giving evidence of the handicraft of a Baltimore shipbuilder—and such was her class: a Baltimore clipper of the handsomest model. To-day she flew our glorious ensign (the stars and stripes) for the last time; having been sold to the British government, to be used as a revenue-cruiser. Her purchasers, a few days before her delivery to them, having assiduously substituted, for the Eagle on her stern, the British Lion, desired to fly that ensign at her mizzen peak; but the crew in charge of her (two full-blooded Americans) would not allow them to do so whilst they remained on board, and persisted in flying the star-spangled banner until the last day, when they left the vessel just before it was hauled down.
Near the brigantine lay a three-masted schooner,also a creditable specimen of American naval architecture, and which was likewise sold during our stay in the port. Several other Americans came in: one, the Spitfire, of Boston, last from Calcutta—in distress, leaking badly—a noble clipper-ship, of two thousand tons; and the barque Agnes, of and from New York, whence she had been seventy-six days on her passage—also a handsome clipper. Besides these, several clippers came in under the French flag, which, on inquiry, we were informed had also been built in the United States of America. It was a matter of congratulation to us, so far from home, to know and feel our national superiority in the construction of that noblest of structures, viz., a clipper-ship, and at the same time to feel the proud consciousness that all the world admitted it.
Just above the harbor there is a dry dock, on which quite a number of vessels were hauled up for repairs.
Our boat now glided up to the steps of the landing, which we mounted, and once more trod upon terra firma. From the different languages that fell on our ears we were at a loss to tell what countrymen we were among. First, from the number of turbans and white robes, with the faultlessly regular oriental features, we were induced to think that we had landed amid an Arabian population; then, the vast number of gaudy caps, surmounting shaven crowns, caused us to change our opinion, and imagine the greater portion of the mass before us derived from farther down the Malabar coast; but, again, we saw the barbaric ornaments, dusky features, and scanty clothing of the Madagascar native, followedby the various Hindoo tribes, representatives of the other East India colonies belonging to Great Britain; and next the Chinese, the Malay, the Creole (a production of the amalgamation of some one of these races with the European); then, lastly, there were the French and English, intermingled with people from every civilized country of the globe: and hence it may well be imagined, from these incongruous features of the populace, that the commingling of all their different languages must produce a most Babel-like confusion. Then the donkeys, too, which at all times of day are about the docks in great numbers, added their harmonious voices to the confused din. At the moment of landing, I was struck with the sparsity of the white population. It was only at rare intervals, as I penetrated into the city, that an European face could be seen; and I have walked for hours in utter ignorance of my whereabouts; for, although I frequently inquired of whomsoever I met, I was unable to find one who could speak English enough to direct me.
After a short walk through the macadamized streets, feeling that I was utterly out of my element, (all sailors, who have been a long cruise at sea, are poor walkers,) and inquiring for some time as to the direction of Paul and Virginia’s grave, (the hero and heroine of the beautiful French novel, which designates this island as Cypress,) we succeeded in finding an English chaise-driver, who soon had us stowed away in his vehicle, and bowling along over a good road into the country. Our ride extended for seven miles, through a populous and fertile country: the inhabitants being of the same class as in the city.
On arriving at our destination, we were sadly disappointed; as we had formed the idea, that we should see a stately mausoleum erected over the remains of two such renowned characters. A dilapidated sandstone monument, enclosed by an iron railing, was, however, the only memorial by which to distinguish their last resting-place. On this monument there had once been a tablet, which either the ruthless hand of time, or the eagerness and avidity of curiosity-hunters, had rendered illegible. The latter class of persons, we were assured, had carried the greater part of it away piecemeal, notwithstanding the notice, printed in French and English, which forbids trespass.
Inquiring from our chaperon for the other “lions” of the port, we were shown the Peter Boite Mountain, and were assured that a view from its lofty summit was well worth the trouble of ascending; but, unaccustomed as we were to the seething heat of the sun ashore, we were not at all anxious to attempt such a task.
Close by the tomb there are beautiful botanical gardens, a visit to which disclosed to us the beauties of tropical vegetation. Here the pine-apple, bananas, clove, nutmeg, allspice, coffee, and other plants, bloomed in luxurious profusion. There were, too, many of the products of the temperate climes: presenting to an American’s eyes the aspect of a great hot-house. The walks and drives through these splendidly arranged grounds are of the most beautiful description.
Having satiated our appetites for seeing and tasting, we retraced our way to the city; and I sat downin the coziest corner I could find, to make some observations on the general aspect of the city, and character of the inhabitants.
The part of the city adjoining the wharves is laid out with little attention to regularity—the streets describing most tortuous courses. At the outskirts the avenues are at right angles, and that part of the city presents a better appearance. All the streets are macadamized; but few of them are named, or rather they have no names at the corners to direct the stranger. I remember seeing but a single signboard, and that was in French, having on it Rue de Rivoli. On the other avenues the signboards only displayed the number and the first and last letters of the name.
The tenements and business-places are generally two stories in height, and built of stone, bricks, or wood. On the wharves are iron-framed warehouses, built in the most substantial manner, so as to withstand the violence of the typhoon. They are not enclosed, but resemble our market-sheds. The market-house, situated in the centre of the town, is built in the same manner, and divided into four departments, one of which is the meat-market, where I saw nothing but beef and fish exposed for sale; the latter not of the description admitted to our tables, as on the shambles of one victualler I saw two monstrous sharks, from twelve to sixteen feet in length, which he was cutting up, and selling to the dusky portion of the inhabitants. Another department is devoted to the coffee venders, where any person can get a cup of excellent hot coffee for a penny; and to judge from the number of their customers, these petty merchantsare driving a lucrative business. The third department is occupied by the sellers of vegetables, birds, &c. The fourth, known as the bazaar, is apportioned into stalls, each under the supervision of a brown clerk, who uses his utmost endeavors to attract customers. These stalls are furnished with fancy articles, perfumery, cutlery, hosiery, cambrics, and a variety of Eastern articles quite unknown on our shores. Each of the merchants is adorned by a streak of India ink, running from the center of the scalp-lock to the bridge of the nose, which is said to be a mark of distinguished caste—the wearers of it being known as Parsees. They display considerable acumen in conducting business, and offer inducements to purchasers scarcely inferior to those presented by salesmen in our clothing establishments on Market street. One miserable practice prevails, which is general amongst all classes of merchants throughout the city; that is, the abominable custom of asking three prices for an article, with the expectation of being beat down to a reasonable one: doctors, lawyers, merchants (wholesale and retail), druggists, and other dealers, all persisting in it. I had occasion to go to a first-class drug-store to purchase some articles for the ship’s medicine-chest. Here I confidently expected to see a rational method of doing business; but, to my utter surprise, I was asked twenty-one dollars for a package that I could purchase at home for five. After considerable chaffering, I succeeded in obtaining it for twelve dollars. Under this phase of bargaining, it was a matter of time to make the most trifling purchase; and, whenever at a loss for occupation, it was customary withus to resort to the bazaar, and inquire for an article which they, from their inadequate knowledge of English, could not comprehend, and then watch their anxiety in displaying every article they had for sale, in hopes of hitting upon the right one. No sooner had you been given up in despair by the occupant of one stall than you were seized on by his neighbor; and if, attracted by the quaintness of any particular article, you should make a purchase, however small, your former attendant would show his chagrin in a garrulous and amusing manner.
One day whilst thus perambulating in Yankee fashion, with our hands deep in our pockets, as a protection from the wonderful sleight-of-hand possessed by this people, one of these merchants, attracted by a whalebone stick our steward carried, offered a pound sterling for it. The steward agreed to take it, but then the native would not purchase, without a bill and receipt. Being penman and amanuensis for all hands, I was desired to make out the necessary document. After writing it, I was requested by the steward to sign his name; but it was no go. The native, albeit he could not read a single word of English, knew that this was not the proper mode of doing business, and obliged the steward to sign his name himself; when, after calling an English policeman, and submitting it to his inspection, he was satisfied of its validity, and paid down the dust.
The Governor’s House has no pretensions to beauty. It looks like an old-fashioned farmer’s homestead, and no one would think it had a claim to aristocracy, were it not for the presence of the red-coatedsentry, who continually paces in front of it. The only building which I saw that presented any real pretension to beauty was a mosque, built in the Egyptian style, with mimic towers. Strangers were not admitted within it on the days when I was ashore; so I had to be satisfied with a glance, that revealed to me the handsome decorations of a very small part of it, and a massive chandelier, pendant from the dome which formed the roof.
The Hospital is a large, commodious, well-ventilated building, surrounded by verandas, healthily situated, and close by the water’s side. It comprises three separate departments. One building is devoted to the military, and is known as the Military Hospital. A second building is known as the Civil Hospital, where the citizens are admitted at a charge of a shilling, and seamen of other nations at two shillings, per diem. The ground-floor of this building is set apart for the use of the black Asiatic population—French, English, and American negroes being admitted to the same apartment as the whites. At the time we were there the dysentery was so prevalent amongst the Asiatics, that it was found necessary to extend their apartments, and for this purpose a part of the upper portion of the building was devoted to their use.
Having sent two of our men to this hospital for treatment for stricture of the urethra, I visited it, and found it clean, orderly, and well conducted. The resident and visiting physicians are all Englishmen, and, from their mode of operation, I should judge them to be scientific and skilful surgeons. The Malabars are attended to by creole physicians, whohave received thorough medical educations; two-thirds of the patients were under treatment for dysentery, which, from the symptoms and treatment, I am certain is nothing more nor less than Asiatic cholera; the remaining varieties are mostly venereal affections, which, in this hot climate, assume their most violent and disgusting forms.
There are a number of Americans here; some resident ashore, and others from the American vessels in the harbor; those from the vessels being discharged sick on the consul’s hands, who provides for them at the hospital until recovered; he then finds them ships and sends them to the United States.
Neither of the men who were sent from our ship to the hospital recovered so as to be able to go out with us. One of them, a New Yorker, the former steward of the Europa, anticipates remaining on the island some time; the other, John Cunningham, of New Bedford, one of our original crew, is left in charge of the consul, to be sent home as soon as the state of his health will permit. Our captain was very desirous to take this young man home with him for the sake of his widowed mother; but as the invalid objected to going before he was perfectly recovered, and the doctor’s authority was paramount to the captain’s, we were forced to leave him in a foreign land, in a foreign hospital, amongst strangers, to look out for himself, with the assistance of the consul: a fearful responsibility for a boy of eighteen, unacquainted with the world.
There is also another institution for the reception and relief of destitute seamen, known as the Sailor’s Home: its accommodations are said to be excellent.At this house were part of the crew of the whaleship Nauticon, of Nantucket, which ship was lost a few months previous at, or near, the Seychelle Islands. All seamen’s boarding-houses in Port Louis are bound by law to afford a seaman two weeks’ board, at the expiration of which time they can expel him from the house, if they feel so inclined; but it generally happens that they ship before the fortnight expires, and pay their board with part of the advance money they receive from their new employers. The usual charge for board is a guinea a week.
Connected with the Home is a floating bethel, moored close by the landing stair.
Another feature of the city is the park. Some of our boys from the rural districts having visited it, and found several fountains on its grounds, gave so animated a description of its beauties as made me eager to visit it. I went, saw, and was neither overwhelmed by astonishment nor pleasure; the walks were well enough, so were the fountains, but the trees appeared uncared for; and the grass, what little there was, was parched by the heat of the sun to a straw color. This park was about two hundred feet in width, and several hundred yards in length. The peculiar attraction of this place is that it is the resort of the children of the European residents, and from their presence one argues the existence of white women in the neighborhood; but where they seclude themselves I cannot perceive, for if the very small number of white ladies whom I saw in Mauritius were the maternal relatives of all the children I saw in the park, verily the climate of Port Louis must conduce greatly to the fecundity of our race.
Occasionally, in the park, may be seen a Miss who has discarded pantalettes, and, when seen, her rosy cheeks and white transparent skin contrast so favorably with the universal yellow and brown hues of the East Indian dames, that one could almost and without any great expansion of the imagination, think her an angel from the ethereal regions sent to illuminate the dusky scene.
A few miles from the landing is a cemetery, which I visited. The road to it embraces a beautiful walk or drive through a long shaded avenue formed by rows of cypress trees; the cemetery is laid out in the form of a square, and is well filled with monuments, the styles and workmanship of which would do no discredit to Laurel Hill or Greenwood. Most of them bore inscriptions in French, several were devoted to the last remains of English naval commanders who had died whilst on this station. Over the remains of one of these, a comparatively young man, was erected the base of a column, a few feet above which the column was fractured, signifying that the deceased was cut down by the fell destroyer in the spring tide of life, and ere he had arrived at the goal to which his talents would have conducted him.
One beautiful tribute to the memory of the departed prevails—on each tomb is a vase containing flowers, which, from their fragrance and freshness, were apparently renewed by no niggard hand. This beautiful custom reminded me of the oft-repeated wish of the old man in the best of Dickens’ Christmas Stories, “Lord, keep my memory green.” On my way back from the cemetery, I came in contact with a crowdof Malabars, whom an old woman was haranguing from a rostrum consisting of a large stone, in the most approved manner of stump speaking. She was in a state of semi-intoxication, yet her auditory yielded her implicit attention. Not understanding a single word that she uttered, and being unable to obtain an explanation of the scene, I was on the point of withdrawing, when her change of manner, from a state of ecstacy to that of frantic despair, led me to approach the house to which she was continually pointing during her oratorical effort. In the house I saw a rude pine coffin, around which the relatives and friends were collected, all half-drunk and pugilistically inclined, arguing some point with much vehemence. Disgusted with the affair I withdrew, thinking I had witnessed as serio-comic a scene as the wake of Teddy the Tiler.
In my walk up to the residence of the American consul, I saw the barracks of the soldiery, and heard the performance of their excellent brass band. The consul’s residence is about a mile and a half from the landing. It, with the other buildings in its neighborhood, are built in cottage style, and present the best appearance of any in the port. The consul is a New Yorker named Fairfield.
The few white inhabitants engaged in business are mostly in the wholesale branches of trade; the other positions which the whites fill are the police bodies, and the plying of boats to and from the wharves and shipping. This police body is the richest farce, in regard to the preservation of law and order, that ever was endorsed by the city fathers of any municipalityunder the sun. The force consists of two bodies—the Government and municipal police—the former body, or at least that part of it on duty in Port Louis, contains three hundred men, two-thirds of them being whites; this proportion is made up entirely of seamen, French, English, American, and German—the Government, eager to have a white police force, accepts all who offer to enlist for a term of from one to three years, providing they possess a certified discharge from the vessels in which they have last served.
It may be better imagined than described how a body of men, composed of such reckless material, would conduct themselves; they create more disturbance by far than those under their surveillance; and it is not unusual for them, at the close of the month, to be mulcted in the greater part of their wages—retained by the authorities as fines for disorderly conduct.
They receive four pounds sterling per month, and live in barracks resembling those of the soldiery; those who are married are allowed to live where they please. Their uniform is duck trowsers, a jacket of blue cloth reaching to the hips, and closing tightly with brass buttons, each displaying the crown, and a blue cap, the top of which is of white glazed oil skin—this cap is also surmounted with a crown; in the hand, day and night, is carried a baton, beautifully ornamented with Chinese characters.
We were much surprised to find in the police force a number of Americans who had deserted from whalers, and whom we had seen before in the eastern ports of the Indian Ocean; amongst these wereseveral of the Elisha Dunbar’s crew. One of them, a Bostonian, had been promoted to be sergeant, and was living with a great, greasy, disgusting-looking squaw, as black as the ace of spades, thereby carrying out the doctrine of amalgamation to its fullest extent.
None of the members of either of these bodies are allowed to go beyond the precincts of the city without a pass—the authorities being extremely fearful of desertion; and with reason, too, as, although these men are induced to enter by the prospect of easy times, (and they are easy, indeed, duty only being required of them for four hours out of the twenty-four, after which time they are at liberty to dress and act as citizens, only they are not permitted to engage in any other business,) yet their very inactivity disgusts them with their billets. Men, like sailors, who have been accustomed to a stirring, active life, ever on the alert to anticipate the storm king’s movements, cannot at once divest themselves of their sea-going habits; hence their uneasiness and determination to desert. When we left Mauritius, two of them, who had been part of the force for several months, were snugly stowed away aboard our ship, preferring life in a whaler’s forecastle, to ease and comfort ashore.
The boatmen comprise two distinct classes: the white and the native. The whites are generally seamen, and in this avocation I saw manual labor performed by them only. The principal and most business-like of these aquatic carriers was a man who had fled the city of New Bedford for no less a crime than manslaughter, and thereby escaped punishment bythe laws of his country; but being now doomed to perpetual exile from home and kindred, he could feelingly say, “Verily, the way of the transgressor is hard!”
And now that we have pretty thoroughly analyzed the city and its suburbs, it is quite time that we should speak of the tawny inhabitants of Port Louis. Having mentioned the whites, we will first glance at those who most nearly resemble them in color and form: the Arabs—a fine-looking, large and symmetrically built race of men, who wear the turban, a white robe, and sandals, of the same form as did their ancestors in time immemorial. They are a very intelligent-looking people, with perfectly regular features, grave in deportment, respected, and reputed wealthy. Most of them are merchants.
The next class we will notice is, the Chinese. These, without being in great numbers, wield considerable influence. Their strict attention to business, and speedy method of amassing money, by sobriety and regularity in living, soon render them independent through their own exertions. They are mostly engaged in the grocery and dry-goods businesses. They adhere to their native costume, sporting their pigtails, wide trowsers, conical hats, and satin slippers, alongside the turban and sandals of the Arab.
Next comes the Malay, with his dusky features. They are few in number, and partake in some degree of the peculiarities of both the former nations. Like the Arabs, they are strict Mahometans, turning their faces towards Mecca whilst at their devotions. Thesepeople are employed both in humble avocations and in the higher walks of life.
Next, we notice the people known as Malabars. Under this patronymic, not only the natives of the Malabar coast, but those from the shores of the Bay of Bengal, are known; and consequently, coming from so extended a line of country, there is a vast difference in their appearance: those from one part of the country being small in person, with scarcely any muscular strength; whilst those from the Ghaut mountains are a tall, muscular race, capable, for Asiatics, of great bodily exertion. All are subdued, and appeared to me as the most abject of any servile people. They are, emphatically, “hewers of wood and drawers of water.” Few of them are employed in trade, except as segar makers and sellers. All the manual labor peculiar to shipping is performed by them—caulking, loading, and discharging; and the way they work is a source of pain to an enterprising spirit. For instance, four or six of them will arrange themselves around a bag of guano, or other package of merchandise, and at a signal from their overseer (who wields a bamboo, with which he very often administers hearty thwacks on the heads of his employees; and, as they are closely shaven, their crowns possess no protection from the blows), commence a monotonous melody, which they continue for several minutes, before touching the bag; then, as many seizing it as can get hold, they swing it on the cart or scales arranged for its reception: during which operation they consume more time in handling one bag than one-third their number ofour men would do in disposing of a dozen bags on the wharves at home.
Besides this, they are the barbers, coopers, and stone-cutters of the port. I saw boys, of ten years and upwards, and possessing the most effeminate bodies, with mallet and chisel, working away at the last-named business like good fellows.
In coopering they pursue a novel mode of operation: one getting on top of the cask and holding the driver on the hoops, whilst the other uses the hammer. This is done, of course, after the head has been adjusted; previously to which the helper stands in the center, and arranges the staves.
Barberizing, from the universal practice of shaving the head, seems to be a thriving trade. The person undergoing the operation squats cross-legged, whilst the barber works around him, removing his hair in a very short time. I think this a most excellent custom in this hot climate, so conducive to the fostering and increase of vermin.
From this class servants are selected, who perform all the various functions of waiters, footmen, runners, &c. There are few women and children imported, in comparison with the number of adult males: possibly, owing to the greater usefulness of the latter. Their costume varies—some wearing the turban; but generally a plush cap is worn, ornamented with gilded or silvered braid, arranged in fanciful forms. All wear the breech-cloth—the upper and lower portions of the body remaining bare. They live any and every where—the ground-floors of the dwellings throughout the city being crowded with them; and ten or a dozen will occupy oneapartment, with scarcely moving or breathing room—sleeping on the bosom of mother earth, and covered only with their breech-cloth, which is of the lightest texture. They receive very trifling wages; but as they live principally upon rice and curry, which cost scarcely anything, they are able in the course of their apprenticeship to save what is, to them, a considerable sum of money.
These people are anything but temperate as regards the consumption of ardent spirits; but I never saw one of them display the slightest approach to intoxication. Their favorite beverage is the fiery arrack, (distilled from rice,) which they buy for a trifle, and consume in large quantities.
And now we come to the most influential, wealthy, and thrifty people in the port. I refer to the Creoles, the issue of a union of some one of the white races with the East Indian. They are mostly French, and nine-tenths of the mercantile business is conducted by them. Their distinguishing traits are—industry, neatness, and exact business qualifications. They are also enterprising, and possess all the politeness and suavity of Monsieur himself. It is not at all unusual, on going into their business-places, to be waited upon by a bevy of saffron-colored clerks, whilst at one side sits the maternal relative, dressed in the handsomest manner, but with a skin as black as ebony. The Creoles treat these relatives, notwithstanding the difference of color, with a degree of filial affection pleasing to witness.
These Creoles, on account of their wealth, and character as substantial men and good citizens, are much respected, even more so than the white residents,and are freely admitted to all the privileges and immunities possessed by the latter.
In speaking of the Malabars, I omitted to describe a funeral procession in which they were the participants. The corpse was borne in a coffin, on a hurdle, supported on the shoulders of six men. Preceding the coffin was a musician with a horn in the shape of the letter S, from which the operator produced more noise than music; next came two drummers with their instruments, and then two tambourine players—all uniting in making as much din as possible. Those in the procession not engaged in discoursing the melody, were dancing and shouting. This manner of testifying grief seemed rather odd, and diametrically opposite to all my preconceived notions of these people, as I had judged them to be incapable of any joyous demonstration; but it seems they can act a farce, although they choose a rather sombre occasion to indulge it. I have not, however, done with the funeral, not having as yet mentioned its most peculiar feature. Over the coffin was erected a bower of twigs and green plants, intended to represent, as nearly as possible, a temple. I followed the procession to the cemetery, which is an unenclosed piece of ground, situated just outside the European cemetery, and unmarked by a single headstone. Just previous to arriving at the cemetery, the policemen, who accompany all such funerals, obliged them to desist from their merry-making. At the grave, which was not more than four feet in depth, the bower was opened, and a young chicken taken from it, which a near relative placed in his bosom very carefully. This form, I suppose, has something to dowith the doctrine of the transmigration of souls—these foolish people imagining that the spirit of the deceased is obliged, after death, to take refuge in the body of some animal; and the chicken is carried thus, so that the spirit of the defunct may easily find a tenement. All this seems to us supremely ridiculous; but, on the other hand, these people are just as much amused at our forms of worship as we are at the unreasonableness of theirs—education and the early instillation of traditionary or other precepts, making a believer of any race in the doctrine of their forefathers.
And now the question arises, how these Malabar and Madagascar natives came here in such numbers. Fortunately, it is very easily solved. Their presence is the natural fruit of the French and English apprentice system—a mode of procedure as much blacker and more disgraceful to the nation engaged in it, than the slavery of our Southern States, inherited from these same nations, as the pirate’s bloody pursuit is to that of the legitimate merchantman. I will merely state the manner in which these people arepurchased. An English, or French vessel, runs into some out of the way port in Madagascar, lets go her anchor, invites the king aboard, makes him presents of articles trifling in value to us, but in the eyes of the savage of intrinsic worth. After flattering his vanity and cupidity they broach their object in visiting the coast. The king, nothing loath, invites the supercargo ashore, and shows him the flesh and blood he has for sale. The merchant in human slavery carries ashore old condemned muskets, kegs of powder, jack-knives, hoop iron, trinkets,beads, and calico (these being the articles most sought after by them). He then selects the most fitting objects for his purposes, and, after considerable chaffering on both sides, the purchases are taken aboard ship to be conveyed to a foreign country, ostensibly for a term of years, but really for as long as their owners choose to detain them. At the same time the purchasers do not know whether they are prisoners of war or the king’s own flesh and blood; neither do they care, their object being to gain money by making merchandize of a free people. The governor of Mauritius receiving so much per head, as a perquisite, for each one that is imported into the colony, holds out every inducement for their introduction into the island; and I should judge, from the crowded state of the ships that arrived with them as cargoes, that the trade was most thriving. In fact, at the time we lay here, this was the only freight procurable, shipmasters complaining that they could not find employment for their vessels; some of them having laid here for months without being able to engage a freight. I should think that at least two thousand of these pseudo apprentices arrived whilst we were here; they embraced for the most part the natives of the Malabar coast, and of the Island of Madagascar. I omitted, in my description of the latter, to remark upon their fondness for ornament; scarce one of them can be seen, male or female, young or old, whose arms or ankles are not covered with silver wristlets and anklets; those whose finances will not admit of their wearing: the precious metals for ornamental purposes, use those made of clay, neatly ornamented and gilded. Manyof the women wear jewels, which, by some contraction of the skin of the forehead are so arranged as to always remain there. They are worn in its center, directly over the bridge of the noise; they are diamond- or lozenge-shaped, and, for the most part, of an emerald green.
One day, whilst strolling up an avenue contiguous to the wharf, I was attracted by a crowd assembled around a walled enclosure; taking the privilege of my nation (curiosity), I elbowed my way through the mixed assemblage, and saw (“tell it not in Askalon, publish it not in Gath,”) two English auctioneers, in a country under England’s control, and governed by England’s laws, mounted on their rostrums, selling what they call in the British Isles, their fellow-men, co-equal in all respects to themselves. To say that I was surprised would convey but a faint idea of my feelings—I was really astounded. After recovering somewhat from my astonishment, I was so thoroughly convinced of the ridiculousness of England’s so often vaunted philanthropy, that, had I been in a proper place, I could have indulged in a hearty burst of laughter. As it was, I could not, without an effort, control my risibilities. This feeling soon gave way to that of indignation at the recreant sons and daughters of our own soil, who disgrace our country, after having been nursed and rocked in the cradle of liberty—as soon as they are out of their swaddling clothes, turning upon and stinging their nurse, and for the sake of political or monetary personal aggrandizement, publishing wishy-washy novels containing such perverted descriptions of our Southern slavery system, as to induce foreigners to think ourboast of liberty and a free government is but a farce. Such persons do not merit being dignified by the notice of honest men, which they court; and, whether it be in the form of a favorable mention or a criticism, is all one to them, so long as it gives them publicity. As they cater for the morbid literary appetites of the sycophantic courtiers of the Old World, who are only too eager to pick holes in our beautiful and, to them, unattainable system of government, a notice, to these horror fabricators, answers all the purposes of an advertisement; so I shall bid them farewell, only exhorting Americans to cry shame on such scorpions.
To return to the slave-mart. As I before said, there were two rostrums erected, on each of which an auctioneer was busily employed crying the merits of the merchandise, and eagerly soliciting a bid; both were crying the same article—the second repeating, word for word, all that his superior said in regard to the price and quality of the article put up.
The slaves were gathered and arranged in groups close by the rostrums. Neither sex had any other covering than the breech-cloth, so as to display the muscular system to the utmost advantage. The purchasers, who for the most part are French planters, walk in amongst them, examine their muscles, teeth, and joints, make them leap to show their activity, and in every way that their experience suggests satisfy themselves with respect to the availability of the slave. Their almost nude condition displays to advantage their erect and symmetrical forms, and in the women particularly, those points for which the females of the East are so justly celebrated.
The only saving clause in the whole transaction was, that, in case any of the slaves had a family, the purchaser was compelled to buy them all together, or not at all.
Instead of having the gloomy faces and downcast mien that one would naturally expect to see in rational beings under such somber auspices, these people, with the thoughtlessness, or recklessness, of their race, were laughing and joking apparently with heartfelt glee. The younger portion engaged meanwhile in little love-passages; and I was struck by the coquettish archness with which the young women naively avoided the too pressing advances of their admirers, by gracefully shaking their beautifully-formed heads, adorned with the glossiest of ebon hair, and at the same time accompanying it with the most roguish expression from their deep black eyes, while merrily laughing and displaying their pearly teeth. At such times, and on such occasions, the beholder, albeit he may belong to a superior race, is apt to forget his prejudices, and think that the poor slave before him is susceptible of truly loving, and of being loved, as well as the fair representatives of his own race.
After purchasing as many as he wants, the planter arranges his slaves in Indian file, proceeds to the warehouses where he purchases his supplies, and each member of the file poises some article or other on his or her head; and thus they march to the plantation, where they are to remain until the expiration of their servitude—never coming to the town, unless accompanying their owner.
These people are very expert in carrying burdenson their heads, and in this way we may account for their erect carriage. At any minute in the day women and children may be seen carrying earthen jars containing molasses or oil, threading the crowded thoroughfares, and bringing their loads safe to their destination—a feat not to be accomplished by those unaccustomed to the practice.
On the principle that sparing the rod spoils the child, (for these people are viewed only as children,) their owners are not at all reserved in the use of this instrument of chastisement; and along with the gangs at labor may the overseer be seen applying it without remorse. As the blow generally falls on the skull, I can see little reason for a preference of this to the method of punishment by lashes on the back in vogue in our Southern States. This, however, is not their only way of punishment. I saw several instances of gross personal abuse. In one case I saw the slave thrown down, and dragged by the waistband over the sharp points of the macadamized street, with nothing to protect his buttocks from laceration except several thicknesses of calico. The poor fellow, apparently aware of its uselessness, made no complaint. This occurred, not in an obscure place—not in the purlieus of the town, but in a public street, where people were constantly passing, and who, if any feeling at all were expressed by them, only laughed at the ludicrousness of the scene. A police-officer stood looking on apathetically, as though the whole affair were a matter of course.
Impelled with a desire to know what Englishmen thought of the apprentice-system, I put the question to every intelligent one that I could get at. In ninecases out of ten my auditor would waive the question by starting some other subject of conversation; but by the employment of a little finesse I generally managed to corner him, when, upon argument and hearing explanations of our system, he would confess that there was but a shade of difference between the two. One candid specimen of the John Bull character, whom I accidentally formed an acquaintance with, (and one, too, who had made the tour of our Southern States from Delaware to Texas—a man of strong mind and superior intelligence, and from the knowledge he possessed of the subject, also a man of observation,) stated that our slaves were better housed than the apprentices under the control of magnanimous and philanthropic Britain! Verily, England should look at home; and, if she can, apologize, and legislate for her factory-system, which heretofore has been the set-off advanced by Americans to her abuse of our slavery-system. Here is the same system, with such a close affinity to ours, that she cannot apologize for or mitigate it, without rendering us justice, and thereby exposing her previous hypocrisy and selfishness.
Strange—strange, very strange—it is, that the philanthropists of the United Kingdom have never taken cognizance of these facts. What a splendid theater Mauritius presents for the Address drawn up by the Ladies of Great Britain and sent to the Ladies of the United States, (which, however, to the honor of our countrywomen be it said, was contemptuously rejected,) and signed by I do not remember how many thousands of the mothers, daughters, and wives of Merry England and her dependencies; which ladies,in a body, had the most disinterested wish for the amelioration of the condition of the black races held in thraldom by their white cotempories, (or, to use the words of Lucy Stone, they had “a fellow-feeling in their bosoms for the oppressed of all nations,” though whether the “fellow” ever found these martyrs I do not know). Here, I repeat, is an excellent field for their Address; though, as to whether it will meet with the same contumelious reception as it did in the “land of the free,” or meet with a reception adequate to its fitness for the city of Port Louis, a trial only can determine. Perhaps the editor of the Thunderer could bring the feasibility of such a proceeding to the notice of those fair reformers through the columns of his widely-circulated journal.
In writing the above description of the apprentice-system, I have not only embodied my own, but the collective convictions of the whole crew of the vessel; and, as two-thirds of them were from Massachusetts, their opinions, if not my own, are worthy of belief: beside, there was no Southerner aboard, to convert us to Southern opinions—not one of us having been reared to the southward of Mason and Dixon’s line; so that no personal interest or feeling sways our description of this evil. Hence I think that our observations are entitled to the regard of those who laud the freedom, philanthropy, and disinterestedness of the government of the British Islands at the expense of our own; and if I can enable but one of them to see and confess the error of his or her ways, I shall consider my labor well repaid. And here I now leave this subject.
I cannot imagine why whalers visit this port inpreference to others where they could be much better supplied. To be sure the American consul is resident, and through him they can draw money to the extent of their necessities; but, on the other hand, provisions are excessively dear, and so are all other supplies needful for shipping. Two articles are cheap—liquors and segars; the latter being made from tobacco grown on the island. Instead of being filled, as with us, and enclosed in a wrapper, the natives make them entirely of wrappers. They are very mild, and can be purchased for a song; everybody smokes them and the consumption must be immense. The plug tobacco is of American manufacture, and, from the duty imposed upon it by the government, commands a high price.
Notwithstanding the cheapness of liquors, there is but very little intoxication to be seen amongst the community, although all seem to indulge, more or less, in its use. The favorite drinks are the lighter wines, such as the claret and Vermouth; these are pleasant, but are detrimental to a healthy condition of the bowels, and, therefore, excessive indulgence in them in this climate is purchased at a dear rate.
There is no scarcity of money, most of the exchanges being made in the metallic currency of Great Britain, and as our Scrimshawing, or to use a less outlandish term, our different manufactures from the bone and ivory procured from the whale, were to these people great curiosities, they commanded good prices. It was not unusual to get from twenty to thirty shillings for a bone cane; and jagged knives, used by the pastry cook for filagreeing the edges of his pies and tarts, were eagerly bought up at a poundthe pair. Consequently, all our boys who possessed numbers of these articles were well supplied with the rhino. The reason these articles are so eagerly sought for in this port, is that no whalers are fitted out or belong here; neither is there any market for the sale of whale oil—the inhabitants universally burning the oil expressed from the cocoa-nut; and as the cocoa tree is indigenous to the island, and grows in great profusion, it is readily obtainable at a low rate. The captain of the Nauticon, who lost his ship among the Seychelle Islands, is here, and has been importuned over and over again by the merchants of the port, to return to the United States, build and fit a vessel with all necessary accouterments, and bring her here to sail as a colonial whaler belonging to Port Louis. The future must decide as to whether he coincides with them so far as to act out their wishes; but it is easily seen that such a proceeding must necessarily be remunerative, as no sooner has a whaler left the port than she is on the very best sperm whaling-ground in the Indian Ocean, and the prevalence of the trade-winds and general good weather for nine months of the year, render it an eligible cruising ground.
There is an excessive jealousy existing between the French and English residents—the French considering themselves as the rightful owners of the soil, lords to the manor born; whilst the English plume themselves upon the conquest of the island, and consider possession nine points of the law. Little intercourse, apart from their business relations, exists between the two nations, and the same feeling prevails, not only among the residents, but amongthe sailors of ships belonging to the two countries. Sunday night, generally, is the occasion of broils between them, and these, the police informed me, were the most serious disturbances they had to contend with.
The German sailors were the merriest of any nation whom I saw on liberty—gathering in little knots, and singing the songs of their fatherland with the utmost good-fellowship, and not without melody. They were very exclusive in their associations, and mixed with none but their own circle of shipmates.
The markets of Mauritius were filled with fruit of the various kinds to be found in tropical climates—the pine-apple, cocoa-nut, banana, oranges, lemons, and limes, all being found here in abundance. The favorite condiment of the blacks is the sugar-cane, which they suck in pieces as long as themselves; and two youngsters may be seen, each supporting and sucking away at either end of a piece of green sugar-cane a fathom in length.
This city differs very much from Hobartown in two of its striking features. In the latter city, at every corner is to be seen a mendicant; in Port Louis I did not see a single person soliciting charity. The other feature that I refer to is the absence of all itinerant hawkers, except the cake venders, who are the only class of petty tradesmen who make a depot of the streets for the sale of their goods; whilst in the capital of Van Diemen’s Land, as I have remarked elsewhere in my notice on it, at every step one is beset by these pertinacious leeches, anxious to make a sale.
But in another point there is a perfect resemblancebetween both cities—that is the presence of a regiment of British infantry; a provision that Great Britain never neglects in any of her colonies, governing her subjects by appealing to their fears of the bayonet, wielded by a hireling and remorseless soldiery. This regiment is about leaving its station here for the seat of war in India. I conversed freely with several of its members, and although they displayed no symptoms of fear at the prospect of being engaged with an enemy, still there was a total lack of enthusiasm or patriotism. From the atrocities so glaringly held before the public by the English journals, as committed by the Sikhs on British residents in India, I had expected to find an eagerness on the part of the gentlemen with the red coats, to avenge their countrymen and countrywomen so barbarously maltreated; but so wags the world, one half caring not or feeling not for the miseries or misfortunes of the other half.
How I shall change the subject from a consideration of the biped portion of the population to an analysis of the condition and quality of the quadrupeds. On account of the trouble and expense attending the procreation of the horse, he is here quite a dignified animal, and is only used by the aristocratic portion of the population for the lightest draughting. His high price, too, ensures his careful treatment; and all who can afford to keep a carriage, whose business requires its use all day, change the animal and put a fresh one in the traces at noon. The reason why the horse commands so high a price here is, that the Government interdicts the introduction of mares into the island; whether the climate isprejudicial to the breed of the animal, or Great Britain, in her forethought, vetoes their importation, for the purpose of securing a market for the surplus stock of her Australian colonies, is a point which, in the absence of any authority, I am unable to decide.
The vehicles are of English construction, and are moderately light; the rattan body, which is so conducive to ventilation and comfort in warm weather, being in general use. Their harness, too, is of European manufacture—made light, to conform with the oppressiveness of the climate.
And now that we have pretty thoroughly reviewed the town and its purlieus, we will return to our proper element, and give an account of what transpired in the harbor during our stay. First we will notice the whaling barque, Belle of Warren, which came in to post letters; of the boat’s crew who went ashore for this purpose, one did not return, having taken leg bail for security. I saw him ashore several times afterward, and he was wandering about without a discharge and without a home, looking destitute and woebegone. The Belle remained but a few days; meantime the whaleship Martha made her appearance, for the purpose of landing her third mate, who goes to the hospital to be treated for a pulmonary affection. The Martha reports that the portion of the whaling fleet which went to the northward humpbacking, were as unsuccessful as ourselves; seeing nothing, and, consequently, doing nothing. This goes to strengthen our theory of the absence of whale feed on the coast during the preceding season. The Martha made as short a stay as the Belle—both vessels having, like us, seen sperm whales near theIsland of Rodrique, and both intending to return there. Hence their haste to leave port.
The next whaler that made her appearance was the barque Columbus, of New Bedford: she, like the Martha, had accomplished nothing humpbacking, but on her passage from New Holland to this port, had captured three hundred and fifty barrels of sperm oil, in the vicinity of the Island of Rodrique. Like us, the Columbus came in for provisions, and to give her crew liberty. Her crew comprised, for the most part, men who had been shipped in Hobartown; and they had scarcely set foot ashore when they were squabbling.
Soon after the Columbus’s arrival, the barque Mechanic, of Newport, came in. She was seventeen days from Angiers, and, although there was no sickness on board, was compelled, by a law of the port, to go into quarantine until the expiration of twenty-one days from the time of her leaving Angiers, that being the time set by the law. After performing the quarantine she was hauled into the inner harbor to undergo repairs.
And now, for the time being, we have done with American whalers, and come to one sailing under the flag of England—the brig Elizabeth and Jane, of Hobartown. She was fitted out as a tender for some larger vessel, and sent to Desolation for the capture of whales, sea-elephants, and seals, indiscriminately; she had a Yankee mate, and was intended by the Hobartown merchants to be the pioneer of a fleet to compete with the Yankees in the procuring of oil, which trade has, for many years, been a prolific source of wealth to those engaged in it; the bleak shores of Kerguleusland being a favorite resort for those creatures so eagerly sought for by the whaleman. Scarcely had the brig arrived at the scene of her anticipated operations before she commenced leaking so badly, that the crew were kept continually pumping, day and night; necessitating her being carried into port, and either being thoroughly repaired or condemned as unseaworthy. On bringing her into Mauritius, the captain preferred a complaint to the authorities against his men, charging them with mutiny and threatening his life. Before the authorities had time to act upon his information, about one half of the crew took one of the boats, went ashore, and got drunk. A fight followed as a matter of course, and in this condition they were easily captured by the police. Those who were left aboard were brought ashore in irons; but they did not seem to mind the manacles, all of them being convicts, who, no doubt, had been accustomed to such bracelets before. After landing, they were conveyed to the jail, where their companions were already lodged. The following morning they were brought before the magistrate, who, after hearing both sides of the case, dismissed the charge as unfounded and frivolous, at the same time adding some wholesome advice to the master of the vessel for the future government of those under his command. A few days after the brig was condemned as unseaworthy.
We will now return to our own vessel and crew. As I stated in the former part of my journal, we shipped Irishmen in Hobartown, and Englishmen in Vasse. During the time they have been aboard we have been thoroughly convinced of their utter uselessness—theirindolence preventing their acquiring sufficient insight into a seaman’s duties to render them a useful part of the ship’s company; and our captain was anxious to get rid of them. On the first liberty-day, two, whom we shipped at Vasse, overstaid their liberty, and were informed by the captain that he would not receive them aboard again. On the same day, one, whom we shipped in Hobartown, was discharged for inability to do duty. W. B. Wood, whom we brought from New Bedford, was also discharged sick. Joseph A. Lewis and John Cunningham, discharged sick, and sent to the hospital. Wood and Cunningham were both of our original crew; the remaining one, whom we shipped at Vasse, deserted. A seaman, shipped in Hobartown, was discharged with the consent of the contracting parties; one, shipped in Vasse, in January, 1857, and who, during the time he has been aboard, has been acting as fourth mate, was discharged with his own consent; and one, whom we got in Hobartown, is in jail—so that we are ten less in number than when we dropped anchor on the day of our entering the harbor. In their places we have shipped five men, all of whom are Americans, and have been whaling before. I said that we had shipped five, but two of the five came aboard without any agreement with the captain. These two were policemen, who had become disgusted with wearing her majesty’s button, and on their hinting their wish to get afloat again, our boys readily offered to assist them. Besides these, we shipped a lad of fifteen as steerage-boy.
Although we had thus replaced the ten with but five men, we found, as soon as we got into bluewater, that we had a much more effective crew than we had had at any time during the preceding sixteen months. The ten discharged and deserted comprised all the useless material in the ship—the foreign portion of them, in fact, being worse than useless; for, together with their incapacity, they had a propensity to growl, and made both themselves and those with whom they were associated uncomfortable. Their thievishness, too, had still adhered to them, notwithstanding their penal servitude. One of them, we discovered after leaving port, had on his dismissal carried away with him a considerable portion of the cooper’s tools. This was Leonard, professedly a cooper by trade.