Second voyage.—Visits Lisbon.—Island of Madeira; festival and games there.—Anecdotes of his skill as an accountant.—Doubles Cape of Good Hope.—Albatrosses.—Arrival at Manilla.—Extracts from Journal.—Curious boat.—Earthquake.—Voyage home.
Second voyage.—Visits Lisbon.—Island of Madeira; festival and games there.—Anecdotes of his skill as an accountant.—Doubles Cape of Good Hope.—Albatrosses.—Arrival at Manilla.—Extracts from Journal.—Curious boat.—Earthquake.—Voyage home.
AT SEA AGAIN.
SECOND VOYAGE.
After remaining at home about two months, he again sailed in the same ship, and with Captain Prince. On the 26th of the following March, they prepared to sail from Salem harbor; but, being prevented by contrary winds from getting out of the bay, the anchor was dropped during the night, and on the following morning, under fair but strong breezes, Mr. Bowditch was again on his way across the wide Atlantic. His course was towards Lisbon, situated at the mouth ofthe River Tagus, in Portugal. The first part of the voyage was unpleasant, because cloudy and stormy weather prevailed most of the time; but during the latter part, under pleasant and mild breezes from the south, the ship rode gayly onwards, and, on the morning of April 24, the vessel was within sight of Lisbon, with its beautiful and romantic country behind it. Lisbon is the chief city of Portugal, and presents a very superb appearance when viewed from a vessel which is entering the harbor. It is the principal commercial place in the kingdom. Its inhabitants are among the richest. In consequence of its being the place of residence of the kings of Portugal, many magnificent country-seats, or villas, are seen on all the vine-covered hills of the adjacent country.
The stay at this city was short, and the opportunities for visiting the interesting places in it very limited. Mr. Bowditch seems not to have been particularly pleased with its appearance. At the time he was there, probably, much less attention was paid to the cleanlinessof the streets than there is now. But he spent the 28th and 29th of April in walking about the city, and says in his Journal, that he “found nothing remarkable.”
LISBON, INCIDENT.
It was at Lisbon that Mr. Bowditch discovered the advantage of having learned tospeakFrench, to which I alluded at the close of the second chapter. Though a Portuguese port, the custom-house officers understood French; and no one on board but he could speak any other language than the English. The consequence was, that he acted as interpreter, which was, of course, a great help to the captain. This incident made a deep impression upon his mind; and in after-life, when a person in conversation expressed a doubt about the importance of any kind of knowledge, because for the time it seemed useless, he would reply, “O, study everything, and your learning will, some time or other, be of service. I once said that I would not learn tospeakFrench, because I thought that I should never leave my native town; yet, within a few years afterwards, I was in a foreign port, and I becamesole interpreter of the ship’s crew, in consequence of my power to speak this language.”
MADEIRA.
GAMES.
On the 30th, having taken on board a quantity of wine, they again were ready for sea; but, owing to bad weather, they did not sail until the 6th of May, when the ship dropped down the river. On the 6th it was on its way to the Island of Madeira, which is a small island, situated about three hundred and sixty miles from the northern part of Africa. At eleven o’clock, May 15, the island was discovered; and, under full sail, the ship swept along the shore until nine in the evening, when they hailed a pilot, who came on board, from the town of Funchal. Mr. Pintard, the American consul of the place, greeted them very cordially. The ship spent six days there, taking in more wine,—for which the country is famous,—and sailed from it on Thursday morning, May 26, 1796. During this residence at Mr. Pintard’s, Mr. Bowditch saw some feats of horsemanship, about which you may like to hear. They are thus describedin his Journal: “A ring being suspended by a small wire, about ten feet from the ground, at the entrance of the gate of the public garden, a horseman attempted to strike it, and carry it off, while upon full gallop. If he gained the prize, he was attended by the master of ceremonies, mounted on a small colt fantastically adorned with ribbons, &c., with a most deformed mask, who generally gave him a reward fully proportioned to the merit of the action; perhaps a whistle, a small flower, or some little image. During the next day, no business was done by the inhabitants; but the whole of it was devoted to amusements similar to those of the preceding. Again there were masquerades, and some of the richest men in the place joined with the crowd, masked like the people. Others were very richly dressed, like Turks, East Indians, &c. One of them wore a head-dress worth, it was said, forty or fifty thousand dollars.” From this description, slight as it is, we may see the difference in the customs between these inhabitants of Madeira and the Americans.
ANECDOTE.
Captain Prince relates the following anecdotes, which occurred during their residence at Madeira. I shall use Captain Prince’s words.
“I was one day walking with an American shipmaster at Madeira, who, in the course of conversation, asked me who that young man (alluding to Mr. Bowditch) was. I replied, that he was clerk of the ship under my command, and remarked that he was a great calculator. ‘Well,’ said the gentleman, ‘I can set him a sum that he can’t do.’ I answered that I did not believe it. The gentleman then proposed a wager of a dinner to all the American masters in port, that he could set him such a sum. The wager was accepted by me, and we repaired to the hotel, where we found Mr. B. alone. The gentleman was introduced, and the question stated to Mr. Bowditch, with the interrogatory, Can you do it? The reply was, Yes. The great sum which had puzzled the brains of the gentleman and all his friends at home, for a whole winter, was done in a few minutes. I remember the question.It was this: To dig a ditch around an acre of land, how deep and how wide must that ditch be, to raise the acre of land one foot?
KNOWLEDGE OF NAVIGATION.
“One day, Mr. Bowditch and myself received a visit from a Mr. Murray, a Scotchman, who was at that port, having under his charge a valuable cargo of English goods, and who made many inquiries concerning the Americans. He asked particularly what passage we had made against the north-east monsoon, and remarked that it was very surprising that the Americans should come so far, and undertake such difficult voyages, with so little knowledge as they possessed of the science of navigation. In reply to his remark, I told him that I had on board twelve men, all of whom were as well acquainted with working lunar observations for all the practical purposes of navigation, as Sir Isaac Newton would be, should he come on earth. Mr. M. asked how my crew came by that knowledge. I told him, in the same manner that other men came by theirs. He thought it so wonderful, that (as he afterwardstold me) he went down to the landing-place, on Sunday, to see myknowingcrew come on shore. During all this conversation, Mr. Bowditch remained silent, sitting with his slate pencil in his mouth, and as modest as a maid. Mr. Kean, a broker, who was also present, observed to Murray, ‘Sir, if you knew what I know concerning that ship, you would not talk quite so fast.’ ‘And what do you know?’ asked Murray. ‘I know,’ replied Kean, ‘that there is more knowledge of navigation on board that American ship (the Astræa) than there has been in all the ships that ever came into Manilla Bay.’”
TEACHES THE SAILORS.
Mr. Bowditch, during this and the previous voyage, had been in the habit of teaching navigation to the sailors; so that it is probable that, considering the number of persons then on board who really understood practical navigation, Mr. Kean was not so extravagant in his remark as at first sight he seems to be.
LUNAR RAINBOW.
May 26, as we have already said, he sailed for India. On July 1, the Island of Trinidad was within sight. They did not stop there,but keeping on their course steadily, two days afterwards crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, in the Southern Hemisphere. On the 17th, during the night, it having rained during the day, the young sailor observed, what we rarely see in this part of the world and on land, but which is not uncommon at sea, a beautiful lunar rainbow. It is caused in the same manner as those rainbows which are seen after a summer shower in the daytime, when the sun is just coming out brightly, and the clouds, which cause the bow to be formed, are passing away afar off in the opposite part of the heavens. But the difference between the solar and lunar rainbows is very great. The solar is grander and has more brilliant coloring, while the lunar bow has a more delicate outline and lighter tints.
August 1, the Journal says, “All the latter part of these twenty-four hours, fine breezes and pleasant, smooth sea. Ever since crossing the Cape [of Good Hope], we have seen a great number of albatrosses, but no fish.” These birds are the largest of marinebirds. They at times fly and swim (for they are web-footed) to a great distance from land, living upon the fish and other things which may fall in their way. It is said that, as they come gently rising over the waves of the sea, they present a very pleasing sight to the sailor who has been for many months upon the ocean, separated from living things.
PHOSPHORESCENT LIGHT.
For some weeks afterwards, the ship met with severe weather, until September 7, when, according to previous expectation, they saw the land of the Island of Java. The day before their arrival at that place, a curious phenomenon was observed, the account of which I will copy from the Journal. “At seven P. M., the water, as for the two nights past, became of a perfect milk color, through the whole extent of the horizon. We drew a bucket of it in order to determine whether there was anything in it to account for the curious phenomenon. When seen by candlelight, nothing could be observed; but, when carried into a dark place, it appeared full of small, bright, cylindric substances, of the nature of a jelly,about the size of a small wire, and a quarter of an inch long. Some large jellies floated on the water at the same time, and looked like long pieces of wood. The sky all this time was perfectly clear; not a cloud to be seen. About three A. M. the water began to take its usual color. Next morning we examined the water which had appeared so shining in the night; but nothing could be discovered in it, although it was viewed in a very dark place. In the forenoon the sea appeared somewhat colored, of a greenish hue; but some of it, being taken up and carried from the light, appeared colorless.”
ISLAND OF JAVA.
ARRIVAL AT MANILLA.
The next morning the high lands of the Island of Java came in sight on the horizon, at the distance of about twenty miles towards the east. The Journal kept during his passage through the Straits of Sunda is interesting, because the greatest care was necessary to keep the ship off from the shoals which abound there. The current runs at times very swiftly, the strait being between the large islands of Sumatra and Java, and on the 9th, the force of thiscurrent, and strong headwinds, compelled the captain to cast anchor two or three times. Finally, on the 17th, the ship was fairly out of the Straits of Sunda and Straits of Banca, having been ten days, during sultry weather, toiling, with much danger, amid coral reefs and shoals. The remainder of the voyage along by the coast of Borneo to the city of Manilla, the capital of the chief of the Philippine Islands, was more speedy. At six in the morning of Sunday, October 2, 1796, the Island of Luzon was in sight towards the east, about eighteen miles off. That same evening they cast anchor in Manilla Bay, it being a little more than six months since the sailor had left his home in Salem.
COSTUMES OF THE PEOPLE.
The following are some extracts from his Journal while in the city. Under date of October 4, he says, “No coffee can be procured here; the Spaniards, not being very fond of it, cultivate the cocoa instead. The common drink of the natives is sweetmeats and water, which beverage, they say, is wholesome and agreeable. Large quantities of waxare produced here; but it is very dear, owing to the great consumption of it in the churches, of which there are a great number in Manilla and its environs. There are a few bishops in the island, and one archbishop, whose power is very great. The priests are very powerful, every native wearing the image of the Virgin Mary, a cross, or some such thing. No books are allowed to be imported contrary to their religion. The commandant who makes the visit examines every vessel.... The inhabitants of the city and suburbs are very numerous, amounting to nearly three hundred thousand. In the Philippines there are about two or three millions. A great number are Chinese; and in general they are a well-made people. Their common dress is a shirt, and trousers, or jackets and trousers. The women have great numbers of handkerchiefs about them, so as to be entirely covered. The natives are well used by the Spaniards, the King of Spain, in all his public papers, calling them his children.” From these extracts you may judge of Mr. Bowditch’s modeof studying a people when residing with strangers. He afterwards speaks of their games, &c.
SINGULAR BOAT.
The following description of a boat appears on record of October 5: “At twelve, set sail for Cavite in one of the passage-boats, which is very inconvenient for passengers; being nearly three hours before arriving at Cavite, during which time I was basking in the sun. Their boats and manner of sailing are very curious. Having generally light winds, they make their mat sails very large, and the boats, made of the bodies of trees, are very long and narrow; so that there would be great danger of upsetting, if it were not for “out-riggers,” which they have on each side, consisting of two bamboos about eight or ten feet long, whose ends are joined to another long bamboo, running lengthwise of the boat. The lee one, on a flaw of wind, sinks a little in the water, and, being buoyant, keeps the boats from upsetting; and on the weather [that is, towards the wind] ones the persons in the boat are continually going out and in, according to theforce of the breeze. In a fresh breeze there will be six or eight men at the end of the bamboo, there being ropes leading from the top of the mast to different parts of the bamboo, to support them as they go. By this means they keep the boat always upright, and make it sail very fast, in a good breeze going five or six knots.” After this, a good account is given of the mode of counting used by the Malays.
EARTHQUAKE.
“November 5. About two P. M. there came on, without any preceding noise, a very violent shock of an earthquake. It commenced towards the north, and ran very nearly in a southerly direction. It continued nearly two minutes; everything appeared in motion. When it happened, the captain and myself were sitting reading, and we immediately ran out of the house. All the natives were down on their knees, in the middle of the streets, praying and crossing themselves. It was the most violent earthquake known for a number of years. It threw down a large house about half a league from the city, untiled one oftheir churches, and did considerable damage to the houses about the city and its suburbs. Nothing of it was felt on board the shipping.”
HOME AGAIN.
On Monday, December 12, having sold their wines and laden their vessel with sugar, indigo, pepper, and hides, the party set sail from Manilla, heartily tired with the vices and superstitions of the place. Retracing their course through the Straits of Sunda, with much difficulty they regained the Indian Ocean, and then, setting full sail, they once more looked towards home.
In coming round the Cape of Good Hope, the wind was very favorable. During their passage, several ships were met with, all of whom told them of home, and of the beginning of troubles between America and France, and England. Finally, at six A. M., they saw Cape Ann towards the north-west, and at two P. M., May 22, 1797, the vessel was riding at anchor in Salem harbor, having been about half round the world, and nearly fourteen months from Salem.
From 1797 to 1800—age, 24-7.