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i AUNTS . 
 
THREE YEARS' WANDERINGS 
 
 A CONNECTICUT YANKEE, 
 
 South America, Africa, Australia, and California, 
 
 WITH 
 
 DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SEVERAL COUNTRIES, MANNERS, CUSTOMS 
 
 AND CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE, INCLUDING 
 
 MINERS, NATIVES, ETC. 
 
 ALSO, A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF 
 
 A VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 ATTENDED WITH UNUSUAL SUFFERING, HARDSHIP, PRIVATION, DISAPPOINTMENT, 
 
 AND DANGERS ARISING FROM FEARFUL STORMS; THREATENED WRECKS 
 
 ON ROCKY COASTS, AND AMID REEFS J BY FIRE, 
 
 DECEPTION, MUTINY, ETC. 
 
 ALSO, VARIOUS INCIDENTS OF LIFE ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 By C. M. WELLES. 
 
 Illustrated with Beautiful Steel Plate Engravings. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 AMERICAN SUBSCRIPTION PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1859. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by 
 
 LUCIUS STEBBINS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 
 
 ELECTROTYPE!) AT THE 
 BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 
 
N 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Loye of adventure, ambitious schemes, romantic 
 enterprises, and visionary projects of some sort, seem 
 preeminently the characteristics of men of the nine- 
 teenth century — especially of young men. 
 
 Gold has become the absorbing object, and thou- 
 sands have sacrificed all that was dearest and best — 
 made shipwreck of all that was purest and holiest 
 — in their attempts to realize these golden dreams. 
 Although, in a majority of instances, the sequel has 
 proved the fallacy of these ambitious hopes and 
 designs, they still are slow to believe the testimony 
 of those who have tried them, and many are still 
 rushing to remotest shores for anticipated gain. 
 
 The present volume is but one of the " beacon 
 lights" on this broad highway, thronged by the 
 over-confident and ; if it persuade any "of these of 
 
 (3) 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 the superiority of well-directed energy and ambition, 
 if it serve to awaken in any more just conceptions 
 of the true and worthy ends of life, if it create 
 more enlarged and liberal views of the claims of the 
 world upon individual men, the efforts of the 
 writer will not have been in vain ; these chapters of 
 living, actual experience, of stern reality, will not 
 have been wrought out to no purpose — for whoso 
 is instrumental in adding a new link to the chain of 
 improvement, does something in the great and good 
 work of encircling the world with beauty and glad- 
 ness ; and that this effort may do some small service 
 in this direction is the humble hope of the author. 
 
 C. M. Welles. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Adventurous Aspirations of Early Youth. — Desire to see the 
 World. — Visit to New York. — Ship for Australia in the 
 ^ Bark Peytona. — Deception in procuring a Ticket. — Dis- 
 order among. Officers and Crew. — Impressions of Life on 
 Shipboard • • 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Seasickness. — Mistaken Ideas of a Voyage. — Alarming Indi- 
 cations of the Ship filling with "Water. — The Green Moun- 
 tain Boy. — Attempt to throw the Captain overboard. — 
 Beauty and Majesty of the Ocean. — French Celebration. . 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HI Forebodings. — Treachery of the Captain. — A Sabbath- 
 Day Picture. — Cornish Miners. — Code of Laws. — Gov- 
 ernment of the Ship. — Disturbance, and its Causes. — 
 Discipline, &c 44 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Personification of Neptune. — Discovery of a Barrel of Apples. 
 — Efforts to obtain Water from a distant Ship. — Joy on 
 seeing Land. — Appearance of the Natives on the South 
 American Coast. — Manner of Life. — " Catamarans." . 66 
 
 1* (5) 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Landing at Bahia. — Beauty of the Tropical Scenery. — Yisit 
 of the Custom-House Officer. — Trouble by Reason of an 
 undue List of Passengers. — Description of the City. — The 
 Climate, Soil, and Buildings of the Place. — Visit into the 
 Country. — English Chapel. — Market Places. ... 85 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Romance of a Walk in the Tropical Region. — Indications of 
 former Splendor. — Effort in proceeding on the Voyage. — 
 Difficulties in leaving Port. — General History of Brazil. — 
 Death from Delirium Tremens. — Narrow Escape from Fire. 109 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Burial at Sea. — A Lunar Bow. — Table Mountain. — Terrific 
 Storm. — Landing at Cape Town. — Rambles about the City. 
 — Imprisonment of the Captain. — Visit to Seyola, the 
 Kaffir Chief. — Prayer Meeting on Ship 134 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Byron's Sea Enthusiasm. — Make the Harbor of Port Louis. — 
 Visit the Isle of France. — Delightful Scenery. — Grave of 
 Harriet NeweU. — A Malabar Funeral. — Embark in the 
 Brig Nautilus. — Revolting Fare. — Land at Melbourne. • 160 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Stay at Canvas-town. — Journey to Ballerat. — Purchase of a 
 Claim. — Location of Tent. — Housekeeping. — Experience 
 in the Mines — Disappointment of the Wardy-allock Expe- 
 dition. — Return to Ballerat 179 
 
CONTENTS. T 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Various Adventures in and about Ballerat. — A Magpie. — 
 Visit to Creswick Creek. — Power of Blindness over Con- 
 victs. — The Old Woman. — Walking Leaves. — Take the 
 Sacusa for Callao. — Description of Australia. . . ,200 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Monotony of Sea Life. — Change of Time by the Omission of 
 a Day. — Landing at South America. — Disappointed Hopes 
 with Reference to Gold. — False Reports purposely circu- 
 lated. — Stay at Lima. — Earthquake of 1746. — Roman 
 Festival 223 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Pleasure of " Variety." — Proximity of Joy and Sorrow. — 
 The Yellow Fever. — Voyage to Panama. — Arrival at San 
 Francisco. — Scenes at the Post Office. — Situation of the 
 City. — Impressions of Different Men. . . . .251 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Life at Sacramento City. — French Creek. — Captain Pike. — 
 " Sly Diggings." — Mud and Diamond Springs. — School 
 Houses. — Mammoth Trees. — Snakes. — Mountain Scenery. 
 — Influence of Curiosity. ....... 273 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Mormon Refugees. — Visit to Gold Canon. — Varied and rough 
 Experience among the Mountains. — Return alone to Sacra- 
 mento. — Night in the Cave of the Hermit. — Solitude. — 
 Its Effects. — Lonely Camping in the Woods. — Digging at 
 French Creek 296 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Residence at San Francisco. — " Pop-Corn Institution." — Life 
 on Steamer Cortes. — Pearl Islands. — Interview with Fa- 
 ther Guernsey. — Missionary Tour. — School Teaching. — 
 Camp Meeting. — Their Influence in New Settlements. .319 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Voyage Home. — Attempt at Suicide. — Natural Features of 
 California. — Its beautiful Climate, fertile Soil, and delightful 
 Scenery. — Reflections upon Men and Manners. — Superi- 
 ority of American Character and Genius 343 
 
THREE YEARS' WANDERINGS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ADVENTUROUS ASPIRATIONS OF EARLY YOUTH. — VISIT 
 TO NEW YORK. — SHIP FOR AUSTRALIA IN THE BARK 
 PEYTONA. — IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 Was there ever a boy who did not expect to 
 travel and see the world for himself? The 
 early and prominent characteristic of enthusi- 
 astic boyhood is a love of novelty and ad- 
 venture ; and when this is fed by the glowing 
 descriptions and stirring details of interested 
 travelers, wonder and curiosity cannot be re- 
 strained, and the desire to see and know becomes 
 an almost irresistible impulse. Ignorant of 
 the " enchantment " that " distance " sometimes 
 " lends to view/' other lands and climes seem 
 like the " Elysian fields " of classic fame. The 
 broad ocean, with its rolling tides and sweeping 
 billows, bearing on its crested bosom proud 
 
 (9) 
 
10 YOUTHFUL ASPIRATIONS. 
 
 ships, with their snowy sails ; the great beauty 
 of natural scenery in certain localities ; odorous 
 gales from island shores ; golden treasures im- 
 bedded in the richly freighted earth, — all come 
 home like so many notes of bewitching melody, 
 kindling the fervor of youthful imagination, 
 to make the world appear a perfect El Dorado 
 of hope. 
 
 Wiser people may descant upon tame reali- 
 ties that dissipate the charm of actual expe- 
 rience, and on the folly of aimlessly pursuing 
 the phantom ; but the reply is usually like that 
 of the aspiring youth to his father, offering 
 like counsel under different circumstances — "I 
 would see the folly for myself" 
 
 Such, emphatically, were my own feelings. 
 A desire to see the world had haunted me for 
 many years, by night and by day, and was 
 continually prompting me to the formation of 
 some plan by which my fond anticipations 
 might be realized. 
 
 Eeceding months and years, however, seem 
 destined to bear nothing to me but the un- 
 satisfactory experience of deferred hope ; for, 
 in truth, I was no favorite of Fortune, and the 
 
VISIT TO NEW YORK. 11 
 
 a unconquerable bar of Poverty " ever mocked 
 my progress, though it in no wise tended to 
 diminish the ardor of my adventurous spirit. 
 In the month of December, 1852, while out of 
 business, I visited New York, still on the alert 
 for every indication that betokened the dawn- 
 ing of that era, the attractive features of which, 
 I confidently hoped, would fill the records of 
 my future history with well-acquired glory for 
 myself, beside imparting somewhat of pleasure 
 and benefit to others. 
 
 Little did I think, upon my first landing in 
 the city, the first link was already formed in 
 the chain of circumstances that was conspiring 
 to bring about the long-desired result. 
 
 Repairing to the docks one day, my mind, 
 as usual, filled with visionary schemes, and in 
 my heart half envying those already upon 
 the surging waves, who were so much nearer 
 the goal of their ambition than I, my atten- 
 tion was arrested by a handbill with the most 
 inviting caption: " Yacht Excursion to Aus- 
 tralia." 
 
 The Peytona, it appeared, a clipper bark 
 of the first class, six hundred tuns burden, 
 
12 ALLURING ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 would leave the port, on the approaching first 
 of January, for Port Philip and Melbourne. 
 
 The fair representations were seized with 
 avidity, and I longed to enter at once a career 
 of such prospective brilliancy. 
 
 Flattering inducements were held out to 
 those who were desirous of making the voy- 
 age, as the notice will show. 
 
 " She will be fitted up in a style as elegant as 
 unique, and fresh provisions will be furnished for 
 nearly half the voyage. It is confidently expected 
 she will land her passengers at Melbourne on the 
 sixtieth day from New York, including stoppages. 
 No such opportunity as this has ever been offered 
 to gentlemen desirous of visiting that enchanting 
 region. It is not fair to compare this ship with the 
 ordinary class of vessels hitherto fitted out, and now 
 advertised for Australia, as the Peytona is above 
 competition from any quarter. She will take an 
 experienced surgeon; and all the attention of a 
 first-class hotel will be granted in the most liberal 
 manner. 
 
 Proprietor, Captain A. Pelletier, 
 
 98 Wall Street." 
 
ENTHUSIASTIC ANTICIPATIONS. 13 
 
 A rare opportunity indeed ! was my mental 
 soliloquy. Who knows but the favorable time 
 has come for me ? I desire to go ; and this, 
 perhaps, may be the key that will throw wide 
 the hitherto barred gates of the world for my 
 entrance. I will enter " a first class hotel/' too. 
 Cleopatra's barge would sink into insignifi- 
 cance beside our floating palace, and all her 
 et eeteras be as nothing in comparison with the 
 luxurious surroundings that would be ours in 
 the two months' journeying to the " enchanted 
 regions." A second thought, however, served 
 to weaken the foundation on which my airy 
 castle had been so suddenly reared; for the 
 sober conviction forced itself upon my mind, 
 that a penniless, friendless youth, like myself 
 was in no promising condition for such an 
 enterprise. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, I was firm in my de- 
 termination to go, if possible, and if difficulties 
 would obstruct the open path, they should but 
 incite to greater action, and perchance they 
 might vanish, in the beginning, before the 
 energy of a resolute will. 
 
 I at once conceived the importance of pre- 
 2 
 
14 RETURN HOME. 
 
 liminary measures, and to this end repaired to 
 the office of the proprietor, where I had an 
 interview, the result of which was, the promise 
 of a fx^ee passage to Australia, provided I could 
 insure six passengers for the Peytona, beside 
 myself. 
 
 Now, I verily thought, the a cloud " was 
 pierced, and its "silver lining" fully displayed, 
 so bright and strong were my expectations of 
 promised pleasure. Stories of the rich profu- 
 sion of shining ore in the land whither w T e 
 were bound, were already in circulation, and I 
 doubted not it would be an easy matter to en- 
 list the requisite number for the accomplish- 
 ment of my purpose ; being aware that men 
 in general consider no prospect more alluring 
 than the easy acquisition of golden dust. 
 
 My mind, of course, naturally reverted to 
 my Connecticut associates as the surest source 
 from whence I could draw the little company ; 
 and, intent upon the feasibility of the project, 
 I hastened home, and with earnestness becom- 
 ing a good cause, endeavored to infuse into 
 the spirit of others some measure of that 
 enthusiasm which animated my own. 
 
COMPANIONS FOUND. 15 
 
 I found my coveted reward in a sufficient 
 number of pledges to enable me to look for- 
 ward with confidence to the fulfilment of my 
 hopes. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to recount the 
 incidents ; the feelings that influenced, and 
 the motives that actuated, our little band in 
 the speedy adoption of the plan. Nor is it 
 essential that I specify the reason which in- 
 duced me to apply nearly all my own scanty 
 funds for the purchase of a ticket for my 
 young fellow-townsman and friend, — John 
 Harman, — one whom I regarded as even 
 more unfortunate than myself. 
 
 Beside us were Harry Yates, Jim Darrow, 
 Buckley, Smith, and Brown ; seven " poor but 
 virtuous" men, ill-used by fortune, and little 
 careful whither fate should lead them. 
 
 For myself, the world opened before me a 
 broad and inviting field of action, and my feet 
 were burning to tread the farther shore of the 
 vast ocean. 
 
 It took but a short space of time to com- 
 plete our arrangements ; and these at an 
 end, we bade adieu to the familiar scenes of 
 
1G DELAY OF SAILING. 
 
 Hartford, and if we felt an emotion of regret at 
 the last look of her receding spires, they were 
 mostly stilled by the powerful voice of Hope, 
 which beckoned us away. On the 25th of 
 January of the new year, we all met on board 
 the Peytona, lying at the dock, foot of Wall 
 Street ; it having lingered thus far beyond its 
 appointed day of sailing. 
 
 We selected our berths ; placed our names 
 respectively on each • arranged our chests in 
 front as seats, and were ready, as we bravely 
 thought, for any and all events. 
 
 Still day succeeded day, without any signs 
 of departure, until the 29th, when orders were 
 issued for passengers to pay their fare and 
 secure tickets. I collected my friends in the 
 office of the captain, introduced them as such, 
 and saw them produce the requisite material 
 for the purchase of a passport through. 
 
 I felt somewhat sensitive in seeming to have 
 paid my passage, by securing theirs, and conse- 
 quently remained silent till they left, when I 
 asked the captain for my ticket, and was sur- 
 prised to meet with a peremptory refusal. To 
 this I remonstrated, but to no purpose. I 
 
SCANTY KESOURCES. 17 
 
 could do nothing. I saw his advantage, and 
 concluded there was no alternative for me but 
 to give the contents of my slender purse into 
 the hands of the miserable deceiver. I did so, 
 and from the meager pittance remaining, I 
 bought three cheap shirts, and a scanty steam- 
 boat blanket for my friend John, and the same 
 for myself. This done, my earthly possessions 
 consisted of a few clothes, a watch, and two 
 dollars and a half in gold, wherewith to make 
 the voyage to Australia. 
 
 Memory recalled the instance of a traveler 
 who equipped himself satisfactorily for a voy- 
 age around the world with only a tin cup. 
 Though I professed to believe, more or less 
 strongly, in the doctrine that " man wants but 
 little here below," I must confess to a decided 
 reluctance in narrowing down the circle of my 
 desires to actual necessities in my own case ; 
 much less to bring myself to the meritorious 
 standard of my illustrious precedent. 
 
 Disappointment indeed lingered upon the 
 very threshold of my course ; but the decree 
 had gone forth, and I chose not to revoke it. 
 
 The impression was unavoidable that some- 
 2* 
 
18 DEPARTURE OF THE SHIP. 
 
 thing was wrong. The rumor was in circula- 
 tion that some of the New York passengers 
 had placed an injunction upon the vessel, and 
 at this juncture of affairs, had money been 
 plenty, or even employment in the city, my 
 delegation from the Nutmeg State might have 
 been strongly tempted to abandon the voyage. 
 We wandered about, meeting daily to consider 
 matters ; sometimes on board the Peytona, 
 sometimes on the Battery, and again at Pelle- 
 tier's office. A constant watch was maintained, 
 as something in the conduct of the captain in- 
 timated there might be an object to accom- 
 plish in sliding off without us. 
 
 On the 9th of February, however, we had 
 the satisfaction of seeing the vessel start from 
 her quiet moorings ; and as this day marks the 
 beginning of the records of this eventful period 
 of my history, I shall transcribe incidents as 
 they were penned at the time in the order of 
 their dates. 
 
 We are now at sea; and such a prospect! 
 no better than a floating bedlam, notwithstand- 
 ing all the fair promises of order and comfort. 
 This afternoon a steam tug made fast to us, 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE CAPTAIN. 19 
 
 and Pelletier, appearing among the men ; or- 
 dered some of them to weigh anchor, no one, 
 apparently, being appointed for the purpose. 
 At the same time a proclamation was issued 
 that the passage tickets were to be taken, and 
 all those not determined to go must return. 
 
 The official command of the ship, it seems, 
 is to be assumed by Jackson, whom Pelletier 
 has introduced to the ship's company as cap- 
 tain — a tall, broad-shouldered, hard-featured, 
 red-faced, grizzly-haired, brandy-looking old 
 fellow, without a single redeeming quality in 
 his unprepossessing exterior. 
 
 All assembled on deck to gaze at the pleas- 
 ant scenery about the Bay, being somewhat 
 elastic in spirits, in spite of depressing influ- 
 ences, and prepared to appreciate the motion 
 of the bark after so long a time of inexplica^ 
 ble detention. The city and the shipping 
 have been saluted with innumerable disor- 
 derly cheers, for the idea of doing things 
 * decently and in order," in this Babel-like 
 confusion, is out of the question. 
 
 We have a strong reinforcement of passen- 
 gers from the steamer while passing down the 
 
20 DEFICIENCY IN THE SHIP'S COMPANY. 
 
 Bay, making comfort a word of still more 
 doubtful meaning than before. 
 
 The tug has cast off, and a few men, with 
 their hearts failing them at the eleventh hour, 
 have returned with her. 
 
 Captain Jackson, duly installed in authority, 
 stepped forward on the deck, singing out at 
 random, " Forward, there ! H'ist away that 
 jib ! " " Loose that fore-topsail, will ye ? " 
 
 As no one responded to the call, it caused a 
 look of astonishment, a moment's hesitation, 
 and then in a voice that reminded me of a 
 tornado, came the exclamation, " Where the — 
 is my crew ? " 
 
 A ridiculous query ! it seemed at the mo- 
 ment, though, as it proved, not altogether un- 
 seasonable; for, upon inquiry, we find the 
 officers, beside the captain, to be Payson, the 
 first mate, a stalwart down-easter, and Grant, 
 the second mate. Of course we are minus a 
 foremast hand. A momentary lull in the hub- 
 bub and turmoil of multitudinous voices and 
 movements followed the outbreak, but was 
 suddenly disturbed by the loud ejaculation, 
 * I'm one," from a hard-looking young fellow, 
 
A CREW SELECTED. 21 
 
 who seemed almost the personification of reck- 
 lessness. "Come, boys/' he added, looking, 
 apparently, to some of his comrades, and in a 
 few moments a crew was enrolled from the list 
 of passengers, to whom usual wages were prom- 
 ised. They immediately turned to, the orders 
 were repeated, and in a little time sail was 
 made upon the bark, and she was laying her 
 course. 
 
 Confusion is not confined to the ship's crew. 
 Unexpected perplexity arises also from other 
 sources. As for us Connecticut men, however, 
 we are snugly ensconced in our recess, dimly 
 lighted with a * bull's eye " in the deck, and to 
 be sure well-strown with trunks and chests. 
 
 Our number is diminished by one, he having 
 received a letter from his wife almost at the 
 last moment, full of pathetic appeal, which in- 
 fluenced him to relinquish his golden hopes, 
 and return, no doubt thinking, with the poet, 
 "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like 
 home." 
 
 Into his place, and one other bunk of our 
 compartment, w r e have admitted a very respec- 
 table Englishman and lady — Mr. and Mrs. 
 
22 A GERMAN NOBLE. 
 
 Hope ; rather close packing for delicate, fem- 
 inine natures, but under the circumstances she 
 may consider it good fortune. 
 
 The Peytona has accommodations for only 
 one hundred and fifty passengers, and we 
 have, at least, two hundred; making fifty, 
 who, in the nature of things, can have little 
 opportunity to enjoy the benefit of " tired 
 nature's sweet restorer/' provided Morpheus 
 should deign to visit such scenes of confusion 
 at all. Of course Pelletier, in his grasping 
 meanness, has sold the places twice over. 
 
 Among the last arrivals are some fine-appear- 
 ing French people, who have reposed a mis- 
 placed confidence in their smart compatriot of 
 Wall Street We have also a German lord, — 
 no less than the high-born u Prince Paul, of 
 Wirtemberg," — the well-known naturalist, — 
 a portly and pompous personage, with a truly 
 aristocratic gait, apparently not less than sev- 
 enty years of age. The house on the quarter 
 deck, it seems, he had engaged exclusively for 
 himself, suite, and baggage, and had paid for 
 the same in advance. 
 
 His effects were sent on board, and they 
 
STATE-PRISON FARE. 23 
 
 were thrown on deck by an indifferent person, 
 where they remain hopelessly scattered, with 
 a vast quantity in like predicament. 
 
 As for his prepaid quarters, he finds en- 
 camped therein a crew of regardless and 
 unterrified New Yorkers, who laugh him, his 
 princeship, his pre-payments, and his peremp- 
 tory commands, to scorn. One little berth 
 only, in the cabin, is allowed him ; and as for 
 his suite, nobody knows where they are. 
 
 We have had supper, — state-prison fare, — 
 at least I can think of no hotel, (to quote our 
 advertising promises,) except the public house 
 at Sing-Sing, where " every attention " certainly 
 means no more than it does here ; a few pieces 
 of boiled- beef, served in tin pans, baker's 
 bread, a tub of butter, and a barrel of apples. 
 The grateful smell of the beef, while cooking, 
 was rather cheering to our olfactories, and we 
 made ready, though soon convinced that con- 
 ventional readiness was entirely superfluous. 
 
 No table invited us to a quiet meal. Half a 
 dozen men secured a beef pan, each for him- 
 self proceeding to operations with his jack- 
 knife. 
 
24 PLEASANTRY. 
 
 I made sure of my allowance by taking a 
 slice from a loaf, seasoning it at the butter 
 tub, pocketing an apple, seizing a modicum 
 of beef, and retired to a corner. 
 
 "All the attention of a first-class hotel, 
 boys ! " shouted Yates, as I was escaping 
 from the crowd. A loud laugh showed the 
 appreciation of the hit at the false pledges of 
 the owner. 
 
 It is quite late as I write, and the vessel is 
 not still yet. The bunks are full, and the 
 remainder of the unhappy passengers are laid 
 out on the table, or promiscuously strewed 
 about among the baggage. 
 
 We are a miserably cheated company; so 
 much is evident already. I believe we present 
 a more perfect spectacle of dire discomfort 
 and confusion than was ever before witnessed, 
 especially in such narrow limits. Some excep- 
 tions, however, in a group of men; English 
 factory operatives, apparently, who seem de- 
 termined to bring harmony into confusion, if 
 they can not educe it from it. 
 
 They have traveled before, and have cun- 
 ningly selected the besMighted part of the 
 
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES. 25 
 
 "saloon/' as we call the steerage, and there, 
 seated together, they have remained during all 
 the unutterable disturbance — the swearing, 
 quarreling, searching for sleeping places and 
 baggage, lamentations and reproaches ; imper- 
 turbably scraping and blowing upon two fid- 
 dles, a clarionet, accordeon, and trombone, as 
 peaceably as if they were on Parnassus, in- 
 stead of a place well-nigh resembling Pande- 
 monium. Their music possesses but few 
 charms, except for their own enraptured 
 selves, however. 
 
 No better opportunity, I imagine, to test 
 character, in all its points, than life on ship- 
 board. Every variety of disposition is here 
 fully manifest^ every conceivable phase of 
 human nature openly developed ; and whoever 
 comes out of the scathing ordeal, * possessing 
 the soul" in patience and integrity, may be 
 set down as perfect heroes and heroines, fully 
 prepared to act well their part in the great 
 drama of life, whatever it may be, or wher- 
 ever. 
 
 3 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SEASICKNESS. — MISTAKEN IDEAS OF A VOYAGE. — 
 ALARMING INDICATIONS OF THE SHIP FILLING. DIS- 
 ORDER AND MISMANAGEMENT AMONG THE CREW. — 
 THE FRENCH CELEBRATION. 
 
 10th. — Great abundance of haggard faces 
 this morning, indicating unrefreshing sleep, 
 imperfect ablutions, and, if I mistake not, sin- 
 cere and early repentance of this most unprom- 
 ising adventure. A majority of the ship's com- 
 pany, including even Payson, the mate, have 
 been seasick. I am constitutionally free from 
 this tendency, consequently have had an oppor- 
 tunity to show forth practical sympathy in 
 efforts to promote the comfort of the poor crea- 
 tures lying about on deck in almost deadly 
 misery, groaning most pitifully, and refunding 
 their provisions. 
 
 The sea is rough, and the day has been 
 showery ; but the close air of the steerage is 
 unendurable, and they must needs take the 
 
 (26) 
 
HOMESICKNESS. 27 
 
 pelting of the rain, and the a chilly nor'-wester/' 
 with the slender and only consolation that 
 recovery will make better. 
 
 Many and sorrowful are the wishes I have 
 heard expressed from one and another, that 
 they had not left home and home comforts, 
 good situations, good business, kind friends, to 
 suffer so much, merely for the chance of gain, 
 by toiling for gold in a foreign land. My 
 attempts to console them are seconded by one 
 of the passengers, a tough old sea captain, who 
 is constantly repeating the animating words, 
 " Cheer up, my lads ; never let your hearts fail 
 you!" 
 
 There is, after all, considerable practical 
 sense in the story of a father who had a son 
 strongly desirous of a seafaring life, and his 
 ingenious method of cooling his aspirations. 
 He gave him a powerful emetic, shut him up 
 in a box, intrusted it to a man, with instruc- 
 tions to jolt him about the streets for an hour 
 or two. It is unnecessary to state the subject 
 was never broached again. 
 
 People contemplating a sea voyage usually 
 think so much more of the dangers to be en- 
 
28 WANT OF FORETHOUGHT. 
 
 countered than of daily privations and disa- 
 greeables, that they neglect to provide many 
 little articles indispensable to comfort and con- 
 venience on a long voyage. 
 
 This is eminently the case with our com- 
 pany. Very few are provided with more than 
 an outfit for a short land journey. 
 
 They seemed to forget they could not prac- 
 tice shopping every morning, or perhaps ima- 
 gined the ship would afford an inexhaustible 
 supply. 
 
 To travel commodiously and pleasantly at 
 sea requires more philosophy than to live on 
 land ; more apparatus and foresight than jour- 
 neying on Terra Firma. 
 
 One or two speculative fellows, with an eye 
 intent upon their own interest, having some 
 understanding of the matter, have laid in gen- 
 erous supplies of certain miscellaneous com- 
 modities, such as soda-water, crackers, choc- 
 olate, confectionery, cigars, woolen hose, &c, 
 which they readily dispose of at treble their 
 cost, 
 
 11th. — Yates, who has been to California, 
 
 
SMOUGING. 29 
 
 has suggested a division of the steerage com- 
 pany into three messes. The necessity of such 
 an organization is too evident to allow objec- 
 tion, and they are at once enrolled, numbered 
 accordingly, and to each a carver is voted, for 
 the purpose of serving out the food in an equa- 
 ble manner — a most welcome change. 
 
 "Smouging," a contemptible name for con- 
 temptible stealing, has been the order of the 
 day. 
 
 Yates apprised us in season of the universal 
 imposition practiced upon ocean passengers by 
 giving them tolerably good fare at first, and 
 wretched afterwards. Judging, from our first 
 day's experience, we could not presume upon 
 imperial luxuries to come, and considering the 
 necessities of the case, the facts stated in Har- 
 ry's exposition, additional matters well known 
 to us, such as the mysterious disappearance of 
 the half-emptied butter tub at the very first 
 meal, and like things, we deliberately agreed 
 to " smouge." 
 
 '•'Good!" said Harry; "there's a barrel of 
 first-rate bread now, and we shall have misera- 
 ble stuff before two days are over. Let's fill 
 3* 
 
30 SABBATH ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 our bags with that!" No sooner said than 
 done. Half a bushel was secured in a dirty 
 clothes bag, pillow-cases served for the rest, 
 and the spoils were hung at the head of our 
 bunks. 
 
 An arrangement entered into from sheer 
 necessity, with an eye to the future, not ours 
 only, but our companions in misery. 
 
 12th. — No appropriate sights or sounds 
 usher in the peaceful hours of the sacred Sab- 
 bath. No service, neither place, preacher, nor 
 congregation; and, indeed, almost any thing 
 might be nurtured to worship as easily as this 
 sick, unhappy, and restless crowd. 
 
 General low spirits have predisposed the 
 passengers to fright. A few angry-looking 
 clouds this morning gave rise to all sorts of 
 prophecies of coming storms, and many doleful 
 stories of shipwreck and peril. 
 
 A squall struck us suddenly, and threw us 
 nearly on our beam-ends, and for a moment we 
 thought to realize them. The alarm was in- 
 stantaneous and great, for the ignorant major- 
 ity thought their last hour had surely come. 
 

 FEARFUL APPREHENSIONS. 31 
 
 Some one, more experienced, cried out jeer- 
 ingly, a Put a handspike in the lee scuppers 
 and right her/' which only served to increase 
 the discomfiture of those untutored in nautical 
 expressions and affairs. 
 
 Suddenly the cry arose, that the ship was 
 filling, and must inevitably sink. The captain 
 himself seemed to believe it, and uttered vari- 
 ous exclamations of fright, which alarmed all, 
 especially the women. An examination was 
 immediately held, which showed five feet of 
 water in the hold, beside several inches on the 
 cabin floor, surging about, wetting every thing 
 and every body. 
 
 Nobody knew from whence it came, the ship 
 having been considered uncommonly stanch 
 and tight; but the discovery was at length 
 made, that the ventilators which opened under 
 the bulwarks, just above the deck, had been 
 open since leaving port, and the heavy sea, 
 beating against the sides of the ship, had forced 
 the water through them. The ventilators are 
 now closed, and strong bands of passengers are 
 relieving each other at the pumps. All our 
 " smouged " biscuit are ruined. They must go 
 
32 A HEAVY GALE. 
 
 overboard to-morrow. Some truth in the prov- 
 erb, u Stolen gear never prospers." 
 
 14th. — Sunday night the pumps were in 
 operation the whole time, freeing the ship by 
 morning, with no more harm done than the 
 thorough drenching of baggage and stores, 
 many of which seem to have been resolved 
 into their original elements. 
 
 Yesterday the wind increased to a gale, the 
 sea rose until it constantly swept us fore and 
 aft, and poured a steady stream down our mis- 
 erable hatchway. The water rose inch by inch 
 about our feet in the cabin, which caused an- 
 other fright, as many were not sure but it 
 rushed in at some leak. Coverings were taken 
 from the bunks and injected into the wide 
 space between the hatchway, and the ill-fitted 
 "umbrella," or outer cover; but one after an- 
 other they washed through and were carried 
 out to sea, till every one in the saloon was 
 gone. During the excitement, the captain ap- 
 peared, lantern in hand, pretending to search 
 for the source of the water in the cabin. 
 
 He insisted upon all believing it came from 
 
THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOY. 33 
 
 tlie hold. His superior wisdom and obstinacy, 
 however, are mainly attributable to the influ- 
 ence of the intoxicating draught, which unfits 
 him to navigate even himself correctly, much 
 less a bark like this, freighted with human 
 souls. 
 
 During the continuance of the gale, Fowler, 
 a Green Mountain Boy, — a profane, careless 
 fellow, — was exceedingly terrified by the unac- 
 customed sights and sounds of the storm, and 
 threw himself upon his knees, crying vehe- 
 mently for mercy, and that he might be re- 
 stored safely to his native land. 
 
 The sailors, indignant at his unseasonable 
 devotions, and still more at his being in their 
 way, roughly pushed him aside ; but the poor 
 fellow withdrew into another place, to continue 
 his supplications unmolested. 
 
 How instinctively the heart of man knows 
 the true and only source of help! — knows, yet 
 wilfully neglects it. 
 
 The over-crowded vessel had not afforded 
 room for all the baggage, nor all the heavy 
 freight ; consequently a large number of trunks 
 and packages had been lashed to the quarter- 
 
34 the captain's obstinacy. 
 
 deck. This began to break loose, and Payson, 
 the mate, ordered them to be thrown over- 
 board. 
 
 Some of the passengers reluctantly com- 
 menced the work of destruction ; but the cap- 
 tain soon countermanding the order of his first 
 officer, they desisted. 
 
 Our bark was in violent motion, and freight, 
 casks, baggage, and every thing else were pre- 
 cipitated from side to side with fearful rapidity, 
 to the imminent peril of every life and limb on 
 deck. 
 
 Absolutely it must go, order or no order, or 
 the ship could not be w r orked ; and again they 
 resorted to the necessary expedient, only to 
 meet with a second rebuff from the captain, 
 who stood with u quarter-axe " in hand, threat- 
 ening to cut down the^ man who persisted in 
 such a course. 
 
 At this, half a dozen seamen sprang at him, 
 and had he not been too much intoxicated, a 
 serious affray might have followed. As it was, 
 it proved but a brief struggle before he was 
 disarmed, overpowered, and secured. The men 
 in their rage threw him over the sides of the 
 
HARMLESS PISTOLS. 35 
 
 ship, and were on the point of giving him a 
 cold bath, when some one, expostulating, caused 
 him to be drawn in, when they thrust him into 
 his state room, and turned the lock. 
 
 Soon after, while pacing up and down, and 
 looking at his window, I was horrified to see 
 his infuriated visage directly before me, and 
 his pistol aimed at my head, "Click!" went 
 the lock, and for an instant I thought myself a 
 dead man. Fortunately the weapon missed 
 fire; I speedily sought safer quarters, at the 
 same time shouting to one of the crew, "Jim, 
 he's got his pistols ; he's got his pistols, and has 
 .just fired at me." "Never mind," rejoined he, 
 coolly, " we drew the charges before we let him 
 have them." 
 
 In a few hours he was liberated, and came 
 out determined upon revenging such treat- 
 ment ; but the passengers assuring him all 
 would be right in the morning, he retired, and 
 this morning at daybreak appeared, apparently 
 calm. 
 
 There has been no little excitement and dis- 
 satisfaction among passengers from the very 
 moment of departure. It has become a fact 
 
36 BAD MANAGEMENT. 
 
 well known among us, that two captains, suc- 
 cessively engaged by Pelletier to command 
 the Peytona, discovered upon inspecting the 
 ship's papers, so much evidence of informality, 
 and such an illegally large number of passen- 
 gers, that they refused to command her. 
 
 Our provisions are scanty, and barbarously 
 ill-served, beside being crowded almost beyond 
 endurance. The ship's management has been 
 so utterly loose and reckless, that even we, 
 inexperienced landsmen, can not fail to see it. 
 
 A thrill of horror ran through us all, in addi- 
 tion to the tumultuous yet indefinable appre- 
 hensions that stirred every bosom upon the 
 discovery that the ship and all it contains was 
 in the charge of a miserable inebriate. 
 
 Suspicions are growing upon the mind of 
 Buckley and Smith, the eldest of our special 
 group, as well as myself, that there is a danger- 
 ous gang of men on board, from whom some- 
 thing is to be feared. 
 
 Among these are « Big George," the first who 
 volunteered as seaman, those who responded so 
 promptly to his invitation, and several others, 
 including Maginnis, the carver of the second 
 
THE STOWAWAYS. 37 
 
 mess. The latter, we are confident, from every 
 indication, has already had experience of the 
 " Convict's Home." 
 
 All these are included in the "Stowaways" 
 — those who hid themselves on board till 
 tickets were collected, and the vessel under 
 way. 
 
 Having thus secured free passages, they 
 emerged from the coal-hole, or peak, an insuf- 
 ferable little den under the forecastle, and 
 other secret places, mingling boldly and un- 
 questioned with the rest of the passengers. It 
 is said they came from Brooklyn, and have 
 contrived this means of seeing the world at the 
 expense of the ship, ready for the performance 
 of any thing, however treacherous or cruel, 
 which they may consider for their profit or 
 pleasure. Payson, the mate, is evidently 
 leagued with them. 
 
 Circumstances are not wanting to show that 
 the attack upon the captain was designed for 
 the mate's promotion ; that his thorough-going 
 partisans, having their own way, would have 
 dropped him into the sea, in order that their 
 chief might assume the command. What plans 
 4 
 
38 DELINQUENCY. 
 
 he and they may have, further than this, Ave 
 can only conjecture. 
 
 It has become a matter of consultation with 
 the passengers, whether they shall not insist 
 upon making some port immediately, some 
 suggesting Bermuda, and others a return to 
 New York ; for the prospect of performing a 
 voyage of twelve thousand miles in safety, 
 under the control of a tipsy commander, seems 
 dubious. But there are many who prefer to 
 go forward, and a change of destination could 
 hardly be effected, having no leader or concert 
 of action. 
 
 17th. — Yesterday the mate convoked the 
 two cooks and stewards from the cabin and 
 steerage, and recapitulated to them the numer- 
 ous complaints against them for filth, negli- 
 gence, and disorder, ending with abundance 
 of threats that they should be elevated to a 
 position altogether different from any they 
 desired, unless they reformed in these particu- 
 lars. 
 
 To-day the doctor, — not the ship's surgeon, 
 but the cook, to whom the sailors had given 
 
DECEIVING THE BUTCHER. 39 
 
 the title of M. D., not having the fear of this 
 admonition before his eyes, became intoxicated, 
 and set the galley on fire. 
 
 With some there is much unpleasant feeling 
 toward the supercargo, who has induced the 
 captain to break the promise, made the morn- 
 ing after his imprisonment, not to drink any 
 more, and there are those among the passen- 
 gers who even threaten to throw them both 
 overboard. So much endurance is hardly to 
 be understood. Some captains would have 
 placed men in irons for such conduct. Surely 
 we are an undisciplined crowd. 
 
 Some of the Brooklyn gang have been play- 
 ing a game upon our butcher, too. This offi- 
 cial, a green Dutchman, who has but few qual- 
 ifications for his present berth, had a pig to 
 kill. 
 
 Sailors have but little reason to expect any 
 thing more than salt beef and hard bread 
 under any circumstances ; and knowing if they 
 could spoil his work, it would be their fun, and 
 not their loss, they volunteered to take Hans 
 under their tuition, which they did, instructing 
 him to skin the pig, taking from it an enormous 
 
40 FINE WEATHER. 
 
 thickness of good meat, and leaving nothing 
 but a mutilated skeleton. 
 
 There is no vise complaining to the captain. 
 One only meets with an indifferent reply, be 
 the matter what it will, unless it be something 
 that affects his fancied, personal dignity. 
 
 19th. — We have had three days of pleasant 
 weather; have improved it in clearing the 
 cabin, which was becoming extremely forbid- 
 ding to any lover of neatness. 
 
 Clear skies and balmy air have indeed 
 proved humanizing in their influence. Many 
 of the passengers are earlier and more thorough 
 in their ablutions, less inclined to discord, and 
 the evenings are enlivened with music and 
 conversation. There is something beautiful 
 and majestic in the appearance of the broad 
 ocean, sparkling in the clear light of the moon ; 
 something terrific and grand in its tempest- 
 tossed billows, stirred to fury by an angry storm. 
 
 No divine service to-day. Alas ! the captain 
 docs not allow it, 
 
 22d. — Monday morning the steward became 
 
A DISTURBANCE. 41 
 
 so much intoxicated we had no breakfast until 
 ten o'clock. An indignation meeting was held 
 by the passengers, which resulted in the dis- 
 missal of the delinquent official, and the elec- 
 tion of Anson Carrington, an intelligent young 
 fellow, to fill his place. More disturbance 
 again to-day. Hearing a tumult above, I went 
 on deck, where I found undue excitement be- 
 tween some of the French passengers and the 
 chief mate, with one or two seamen. The sail- 
 ors stood with knives drawn, and the impulsive 
 Gauls were armed with bayonets obtained 
 from a rack in the cabin. 
 
 The captain saw fit to interfere at this time, 
 and with pistol in hand, succeeded in parting 
 the combatants without bloodshed. 
 
 24th. — This day marks the anniversary of 
 the exile of Louis Philippe, and the birth of 
 the French Republic of 1848. 
 
 The Frenchmen have had a grand jubilee 
 over it, commencing with a national salute at 
 sunrise, from our two quarter-deck carronades, 
 and followed by loud cheers at the elevation 
 of the French flag, in no wise intimidated 
 4* 
 
42 A FESTIVAL. 
 
 by the thoughts of its being contrary to law. 
 In close conjunction to this, the "stars and 
 stripes " of our own America were floating in the 
 breeze, all unconscious of the incongruous por- 
 tion of mankind it was waving over. A band, 
 organized from the available material on board, 
 played "Hail Columbia," and the "Marseilles 
 Hymn." 
 
 To this succeeded a formal entertainment 
 for the whole ship's company, the delicacies of 
 which consisted of raisins, dried beef and her- 
 rings, almonds and soda crackers. This was 
 enlivened by enthusiastic speeches, songs, and 
 toasts, not altogether inappropriate for the 
 commemoration of a French revolution, and 
 concluded by no less enthusiastic fighting. 
 
 The mate, contrary to custom, as well as 
 the steward, were intoxicated. The transition 
 from angry words to blows was quick and 
 sudden. The captain was strongly solicited to 
 interpose, but, being in no condition himself 
 for sober reflection, his only answer, prefaced 
 with an oath, was, * Let them fight it out." 
 
 The matter, of necessity, was taken in hand 
 by others, and the feeling subdued for a time ; 
 
A SHIP SPOKEN. 43 
 
 but the mate soon flew into a rage, seized 
 whatever weapons were at hand, and hurled 
 them at whoever came in his way. He was 
 taken and closely confined, where a few hours 
 served to quell the violence of his passions, 
 and excite in him deep regret for his disgrace- 
 ful display, after having so long been an advo- 
 cate of peace, temperance, and good order. 
 
 We must have presented a somewhat curious 
 aspect to passing vessels. At 10 o'clock, A. M., 
 while in the midst of some patriotic demon- 
 stration, with flags flying, gunpowder burning, 
 people shouting, we spoke ship Herculean, 
 from New York to San Francisco. The cap- 
 tain hailed us, asked the usual questions, and 
 was somewhat curious to know who we were, 
 and what we could be doing. The ships kept 
 close company for some hours ; when, a mod- 
 erate breeze springing up, we left them with 
 nine hearty cheers. 
 
 If this be patriotism, country ! thou mightst 
 well blush for thy sons. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ILL FOREBODINGS. — TREACHERY OF THE CAPTAIN. — 
 A SABBATH-DAY PICTURE. — SHIP GOVERNMENT. — 
 DISTURBANCES. — DISCIPLINE, ETC. 
 
 " The tiling in the world I am most afraid of 
 is Fear/' said Montaigne, " and with good rea- 
 son — that passion alone, in the trouble of it, 
 exceeding all other accidents." Some appreci- 
 ation of this sentiment was mine, as I sat down 
 to record the events of the 27th. 
 
 Vague and growing apprehensions of some 
 indefinable ill seem to agitate the minds of 
 the passengers, not only as regards the ulti- 
 mate success of the voyage, but our immediate 
 safety. 
 
 Since the assault of last week it is evident 
 that, either from jealousy or some other cause, 
 an almost deadly hatred exists between the 
 captain and mate. Additional evils are feared 
 from such an alienation of feeling among the 
 principal officers of the ship. Many are de- 
 
 (44) 
 
UNFRIENDLINESS OF THE SUPERCARGO. 45 
 
 sirous of making the Cape Verde Islands, now 
 about a thousand miles distant, that they may 
 escape as soon as possible from this scene of 
 drunkenness and confusion. 
 
 The supercargo, who has seemed of late^ to 
 have considerable control of matters, and to 
 be the only person worth applying to for 
 redress, now appears to the passengers to be 
 far from friendly. 
 
 He has had charge of the stores, and for 
 some unknown reason has made way with or 
 secreted the best of them, leaving for us noth- 
 ing but hard bread and u salt junk," otherwise 
 called a old horse," both being the cheap, ordi- 
 nary fare of common sailors ; and this, evident- 
 ly, what remained of some previous voyage. 
 However strong the desire may be for an 
 early port, the captain will doubtless be de- 
 terred by the probability of being detained in 
 any port we might enter, for irregular papers, 
 on account of the number of passengers so far 
 exceeding the legal proportions. 
 
 Yesterday, to the utter astonishment of all, 
 we were placed upon short allowance of water, 
 only three pints " per diem " being measured 
 
46 AN INVESTIGATION. 
 
 out to each person, for all purposes of cooking 
 and for drinking. 
 
 This course, when only eighteen days out, 
 excited great surprise, and instituted active 
 inquiry. A mass-meeting was convened upon 
 the quarter deck, and Carrington, our lately 
 elected steward, placed in the chair. A com- 
 mittee of investigation was appointed — Smith 
 and Buckley, and one or two from the first 
 cabin. They proceeded at once to the exer- 
 cise of their functions ; searched the hold as 
 far as possible, and returned in a half hour to 
 report a scarcity of water, for even for one 
 week, at the three-pint rate. It was hereupon 
 resolved to petition the captain to put into the 
 nearest port ; all considerations of inconven- 
 ience yielding to the imminent necessity. The 
 document was drawn up, signed, and duly pre- 
 sented to the captain by a deputation chosen 
 for that purpose ; but being stupefied with the 
 " fiery element," he coolly received it, and laid 
 it aside, with no answer whatever. 
 
 * Hope," to us, is where it was in the poet's 
 vision — "aloft!' 
 
OBSTINACY OF THE CAPTAIN. 47 
 
 March 1st. The vessel was headed for the 
 much-wished-for port, a day or two after the 
 petition ; at least, so we were told by the com- 
 mander j the reality of the thing we have no 
 means of knowing. He refuses to acquaint us 
 with our true position, working out all his ob- 
 servations alone, and turning a deaf ear to all 
 inquiries made as to course or distance. 
 
 It is true, an occasional notice of latitude and 
 longitude is posted on the bulletin, side of the 
 quarter-deck house ; but such is our confidence 
 in the veracity of our captain, many of us 
 think he would as soon make false entries as 
 correct ones. We begin to be panic-stricken 
 lest we die of thirst. 
 
 Our ears have been greeted by the informa- 
 tion to-day, that we are past the latitude from 
 which we could have made the islands, and con- 
 sequently must resume our southward course. 
 
 A more thorough search below, however, 
 has resulted in the discovery of three hundred 
 gallons more of water — a circumstance that 
 allays the fears of some, but only appears a 
 temporary quiet to others, considering the 
 length of the voyage. 
 
48 AN ALARM. SABBATH. 
 
 After a new and solemn trial, we have a ver- 
 dict to discharge the baker from his situation 
 for fear of sinking the ship with his heavy 
 bread. 
 
 5th, Sunday. Yesterday we had another 
 cry that the ship was sinking — a state of 
 things ascertained to have been brought about 
 by the carelessness of the officers, who had 
 neglected the occasional pumping, usually 
 necessary at sea. A broil occurred between 
 the captain, mate, and supercargo; but we 
 have come to consider fighting one of the 
 common occurrences of the day. We have 
 excitement daily ; more on the Sabbath, often, 
 than at any other time ; making the day one 
 of unrest, rather than rest. A reflective spirit, 
 for once, seems hovering over all, and what is 
 more, there seems a yielding to the spell. It 
 is afternoon, and we are sailing quietly, about 
 five degrees north of the line, before a gentle 
 breeze. A group of men stand leaning over 
 the rail, gazing at the eddies under the stern ; 
 finding in the quiet of their own thoughts, for 
 the time, a solitude as perfect as though in 
 
UNSUITABLE EMPLOYMENT. 49 
 
 the midst of a desert. As for myself, I have 
 secured a private apartment, by means of a 
 borrowed blanket, and a coil of hawser lashed 
 to the top of the quarter-deck house, and ex- 
 tended to the rigging by rope-yarns, &c. 
 Agreeably to the "systematic disorder" of our 
 condition there is no store room for the sail- 
 makers, and our spare sails and cordage are all 
 lashed upon this narrow roof. The largest coil 
 on the after-starboard corner I have appro- 
 priated to my own use, and by a tacitly recog- 
 nized law, this has become my sleeping place on 
 pleasant nights, and my snug retreat by day. 
 
 Here I can sit and write at my ease, and at 
 the same time take observations of those about 
 me, if I wish. 
 
 Smith and Buckley are playing the agreea- 
 ble to the ladies, Mrs. Hope and Egan, who 
 are enthroned upon a couple of water casks, 
 forward of the cook's department. A quiet 
 company in the maintop excite strong sus- 
 picions that they are engaged in the unseason- 
 able diversion of card playing. Forward, the 
 watch are mending clothes, relating tales of no 
 serious character, or asleep in the shade. 
 5 
 
50 HOME, SWEET HOME. 
 
 The movements of some dozen or fifteen 
 persons, who have constituted a sort of " ra- 
 dius vector " around the mainmast, are some- 
 what amusing. The heat is such, we often sit 
 all day in some shady place, fearing, if left, it 
 would be lost. 
 
 To the shades of the mainmast, accordingly, 
 this little band of patient creatures resorted 
 after dinner; and as the sunshine gradually 
 shifted from over the swelling mainsail, falling 
 upon them, one and another would change 
 their position, bringing about a slow motion, 
 reminding one of the hour hand of a clock. 
 
 But, list ! strains of music. Ah, it is * Home, 
 sweet Home." How it sends a thrill through 
 my heart, and moisture to my eyes ! and there 
 is no difficulty in discovering that others are 
 affected in like manner. 
 
 We have been twenty-four days out; and 
 in that time have become a little common- 
 wealth by ourselves, with such marked indi- 
 viduality as to attract the attention of others. 
 
 The party of which I am a member are all, 
 with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Hope, from 
 the "land of steady habits," and no disgrace, 
 
AN EXCLUSIVE FRATERNITY. 51 
 
 I would fain believe, to our native state, though 
 the praise must be understood as comparative, 
 for the various thefts which we have executed, 
 and are still executing, severally or together, 
 although not less justifiable, perhaps, than the 
 appropriation of the Indian corn repositories of 
 the starving Pilgrims of Plymouth, two hun- 
 dred years ago, yet would scarcely redound to 
 our honor if performed while living at ease in 
 good old Puritan Hartford, among the descend- 
 ants of the Hookers and the Ellsworths. 
 
 We pass, however, as a very respectable and 
 intelligent circle, and are counted such desira- 
 ble associates, that we are continually solicited 
 to receive one and another into our little 
 brotherhood, but decline doing so, thinking it 
 more prudent to maintain a polite yet firm 
 exclusiveness. 
 
 One group attracting some attention is the 
 music-loving Englishmen, already alluded to, 
 whose astonishing choice of a time for instru- 
 mental performance was during the very first 
 evening of sailing, when scarcely a semblance 
 of organization was visible, and a note of har- 
 mony seemed impossible. 
 
52 ENGLISHMEN. PRINCE PAUL. 
 
 They have stuck together with a true John 
 Bull-ish spirit,, sneering at every thing, and 
 constantly telling how much better things are 
 managed on board *■ Henglish ships." They cre- 
 ate some amusement by their ultra- Yankee opin- 
 ions, and half vulgar slangs and solecisms, yet 
 form no undesirable feature of our social even- 
 ings with their music, vocal and instrumental. 
 
 In the first cabin are quite a number of 
 French passengers, some of whom seem persons 
 of respectability and fortune, who appear, by a 
 peculiar sort of interest in the voyage, to be in 
 some way connected with Pelletier, the miser- 
 able owner, or the more dangerous captain. 
 
 The house on the quarter deck is still occu- 
 pied by the New Yorkers, whose treatment of 
 the old prince, Paul of Wirtemberg, has al- 
 ready been noticed. This gentleman seems to 
 have lost many of his treasures at the time so 
 much was consigned to the deep. Also, Mr. and 
 Mrs. James, English people, have lost trunks 
 containing goods estimated by themselves at 
 twenty thousand dollars, which they were trans- 
 porting to Australia for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing themselves in business. 
 
 
NEW YOEKERS. CORNISHMEN. 53 
 
 The prince's suite, whether it was large or 
 small, suddenly disappeared when he came on 
 board, taking advantage, doubtless, of the dou- 
 ble-refined, high-pressure style of republican 
 independence which is the fashion among us. 
 
 He seems to have plenty of the exhilarating 
 beverage, and by dispensing this liberally, he 
 maintains a fair understanding with those he 
 chooses to make his friends; but his unpleasant 
 disposition and filthy personal habits make him 
 an object of repulsion to very many. 
 
 These New Yorkers we imagine to be clerks 
 and foremen — scheming fellows, but unsuc- 
 cessful in money matters, and are therefore 
 repairing to the golden regions to acquire the 
 fortune their own land denies them. 
 
 Among the rest are a dozen Cornish miners, 
 athletic men, who, with their mining tools and 
 other accoutrements, constitute a mess by them- 
 selves, occupying the whole of the midship 
 house. 
 
 They are extremely quiet, admit no one into 
 their fellowship, show such a united front, and 
 so much physical force, that nobody cares to 
 annoy them. 
 
 5* 
 
54 tiie captain's independence. 
 
 Such are the component parts of our little 
 nation. I speak of republican government ; but 
 it sometimes seems an anomalous compound of 
 the despotic and the patriarchal, or more, per- 
 haps, like the times when " there was no king 
 in Israel/' and every man did that which was 
 right in his own eyes. 
 
 There is some discipline among the sailors, 
 such as it is. The captain, when not too much 
 intoxicated, stands boastingly on his own dig- 
 nity, seemingly regarding the passengers as a 
 herd of inferior beings. He vouchsafes no in- 
 formation as to place or prospect, except in 
 extreme cases, ever replying that he is master, 
 and if he knows where the ship is, and where 
 she is going, * it's enough." All matters relat- 
 ing to those on board he leaves to their own 
 unassisted management, with the exception of 
 serving out food and water, which he and the 
 supercargo seem to arrange together. 
 
 We have therefore gradually arrived at a 
 sort of unwritten code or common law, which 
 the common sense of the whole body upholds, 
 and which is promptly sustained whenever ne- 
 cessary by individual might, mass meetings, &c. 
 
A NOVEL CODE. 55 
 
 Theft of things necessary and convenient is 
 allowable, as in Sparta, so that our Bill of 
 Rights, or fundamental laws, might be compen- 
 diously stated thus : — 
 
 1. Every man for himself. 
 
 2. Steal whatever you wish, if you can find it. 
 
 3. Act decently, unless it is out of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 As an example of administrative proceed- 
 ings under the code, I cite the following in- 
 stance : — 
 
 Two Italians, who occupied the same bunk 
 in the forward part of the steerage, were ob- 
 served never to undress. To say nothing of 
 the influence on the olfactory organs, we knew 
 such doings, persevered in, to be provocative 
 of infectious disorders, and remonstrated with 
 them quite strongly, but to no purpose. 
 
 Accordingly, some half dozen combined early 
 one morning, and dragged them, in spite of 
 their resistance, to the top-gallant forecastle, 
 the appointed place for ablutions, where they 
 were regaled w r ith several buckets of clean sea- 
 water, rather unceremoniously administered. 
 With this encouragement they speedily in- 
 
56 PORTER " SMOUGED." 
 
 dulged in a little wash, and a change of linen, 
 such as they had. 
 
 With the liberty of the second article, one 
 might witness our " smouging " a whole cask 
 of porter, twelve dozen bottles, from the deck, 
 first taking the superfluous precaution in our 
 scrupulousness to ascertain that no one knew 
 its owner. 
 
 We arranged the bottles snugly under the 
 mattresses in our bunks, and drink the black 
 tonic at our leisure. Mr. and Mrs. Hope share 
 with us, of course, though it has proved a 
 decided misfortune to the latter. Upon her 
 feather bed, the pride and delight of her heart, 
 one or two bottles have been unfortunately 
 broken, saturating it in such a manner as to 
 insure its complete ruin. Notwithstanding the 
 joint opposition of its owners, it has been 
 thrown overboard. The old lady has more 
 than once been found in tears, well nigh proved 
 to rise from this dreadful loss, while we, unfeel- 
 ing creatures, are cruel enough to laugh at her 
 calamity. 
 
 March 8th. — Lat. 5° north. Cool and light 
 
REFLECTIONS. 57 
 
 winds. Captain proposes to steer for South 
 America. Official jealousy and rum, however, 
 are causes of almost daily trouble between the 
 captain and his officers, preventing united ac- 
 tion in any thing. Bloodshed was only stayed 
 to-day by the interference of passengers. 
 
 9th. — Very hot and calm. Sea smooth and 
 glassy. Nothing breaks the absolute motion- 
 less glitter of its surface, except a broad and 
 gentle swell, silently and steadily approaching 
 us from the north, scarcely disturbing our tran- 
 quillity, as it passes beneath and by us, in its 
 course toward the south. 
 
 From my retreat in the hawser, I gaze upon 
 the wide expanse, and a solemn awe steals over 
 my mind, as I think of the glory, majesty, and 
 power of Him "who holds the waters in the 
 hollow of his hands," gives them their appointed 
 bounds, controls the winds and the storm, and 
 sends forth, at his will, his messengers of fury, 
 or mandate of " Peace." 
 
 I shall take advantage of the quiet in pen- 
 ning the history of a day's experience on board. 
 
n 
 
 58 FIRST MESS. 
 
 We rise when we choose. All who could find 
 a place have slept on deck since coming into 
 warm latitudes, so that there is even less cere- 
 mony than usual, most making nothing but a 
 " dog's toilet/' giving a jump and a shake, and 
 it is done. As for myself and friends, we make 
 it a point to take a thorough bath before break- 
 fast, which we accomplish by successively throw- 
 ing water upon each other. This we find to 
 contribute much to our health and spirits, be- 
 side keeping us in gaining order, despite our 
 hard fare and bad lodging. 
 
 Almost the first sound that greets our ears 
 in early morn is from the " Doctor," who thrusts 
 his frouzy head from his room, shouting, * First 
 mess." 
 
 The steerage steward repeats the words, and 
 soon a hundred different voices reecho the wel- 
 come call, at which multitudes seize their pails, 
 basins, plates, tubs, or whatever utensil they 
 have, and rush for the place of attraction, 
 knowing the proverb to be in full force, " First 
 come, first served." 
 
 The hungry men arrange themselves in a 
 line, not unlike those at the " General Deliv- 
 
SECOND MESS. 59 
 
 ery " of a Post Office, while the carver delivers 
 to each his allotted portion. 
 
 While the earlier ones are served, the rest 
 have time to jump up, secure their dishes, take 
 their places behind, and in ten or fifteen min- 
 utes the mess is served, and a shout of, " Second 
 mess," summons another group. All scatter 
 about the vessel to eat, some in the rigging, 
 some on the rail, and others on the water casks. 
 Harman, Yates, and myself usually meet on 
 the roof of the quarter-deck house, where, with 
 conversation alternately jovial and serious, we 
 dispatch our coarse viands, which are scarcely 
 sufficient to meet the demands of our generous 
 sea-appetites. The first cabin and officers are 
 served with some pretense of form, while the 
 sailors have last and least of all brought before 
 them in a wooden tub. Tubs are also used for 
 the Cornishmen, and the New Yorkers, who do 
 their own dividing, but have little relish for 
 their coarse style of food. 
 
 Indeed, all of us have many times quoted the 
 fallacious promise of the advertisement. This 
 morning, as Yates and myself each drew from 
 one pocket his piece of hard beef, and from the 
 
GO AFTER-BREAKFAST EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 other the still harder cracker, while sitting on 
 the hawser, Yates held his up, one in each 
 hand, saying, archly, "All the attention of a 
 first-class hotel." 
 
 The New Yorkers seem unable to take 
 things merrily, seldom making a joke of their 
 condition, or, at least, only a sour one. They 
 often hail the advent of their meal, especially 
 if the wooden tub contains a good, hearty 
 soup, with, " Here comes the swill." 
 
 Breakfast over, we have the time till dinner 
 to mend and wash clothes, which latter process 
 is accomplished by soaking them thoroughly 
 and towing them overboard all day ; in telling 
 stories ; reciting prose and poetry ; reading to 
 each other ; playing at cards or chess ; lounging 
 about and sleeping, or doing nothing what- 
 ever. These occupations are varied by scan- 
 dal, news, and other occurrences, corresponding 
 to the excitement of newspaper paragraphs in 
 land communities. Indeed, most of our scenes 
 are as warlike as Othello's fortunes. 
 
 It is rumored that the steward's wife has 
 been flirting quite unjustifiably with the mate ; 
 another version has it with the supercargo — 
 
A QUARREL. 61 
 
 a circumstance which accounts for the constant 
 quarreling between these domestic and nauti- 
 cal officials. 
 
 At one time a disturbance was noticed in 
 the small, open space before the companion 
 way, soon ascertained to be John Newman, 
 one of our English steerage musicians, a brag- 
 ging, gaseous son of Bull, scolding at Har- 
 man. A ring of pleased spectators gathered 
 as quickly as to a " dog fight," and in like man- 
 ner encouraged the disputers. From words 
 they were on the point of coming to blows, 
 when the burly face of the old captain was 
 seen on deck, aiming at the company at the 
 same time, a "nine-cornered oath," and two 
 six-barreled pistols. Fear of the reckless com* 
 mander quelled the tumult, and the crowd, 
 noise, and quarrel disappeared together. 
 
 We talk of the prospect for a port, and won- 
 der if we are steering for Eio, Pernambuco, 
 Cape Town, or, as some suggest, for a Destruc- 
 tion" Nobody knows, but unless we get a 
 supply of water, the latter seems the most 
 probable, 
 
 6 
 
62 DINNER FARE. 
 
 We have now only a quart for the day, each 
 of us, which is served out at breakfast. 
 
 Like quantities of wine, a dollar in money, 
 and various other offers are made for a quart 
 of the precious fluid. It is said the captain 
 sold to a passenger, who represented himself 
 as suffering, a quart of wine for one dollar and 
 a half. The ship's company are unanimous in 
 condemning such petty, unfeeling greediness. 
 
 a First mess," again sounds through the ship, 
 signifying the arrival of the dinner hour, and 
 the rush consequent upon this announcement. 
 With dishes in hand, we, perhaps, secure a 
 combination of beans, potatoes, rice, soup, or 
 duff, — a terrific caricature of flour pudding, — 
 in exchange for, or in addition to, our usual 
 beef and bread. These delicacies, on account 
 of narrow cooking accommodations, are fur- 
 nished only to one mess at once ; and those 
 who dislike their meal are thus able to effect a 
 barter with some one in another mess. 
 
 Maginnis, the fellow whom we believe a 
 graduate of the Sing-Sing institution, was, 
 somehow, chosen carver of the second-steerage 
 mess, and is guilty of inexcusable partiality ; 
 
AFTERNOON DIVERSIONS. 63 
 
 selecting the best and largest cuts of meat, 
 coupled with slices of duff of equal thickness 
 from the large end of the pudding, which is 
 boiled in a huge bag, of sugar-loaf form, for 
 his particular friends. 
 
 This, of course, is the origin of a quarrel, 
 characterized by striking, swearing, and tum- 
 bling about the deck. They are separated at 
 last, with bruised and bloody faces, take a salt- 
 water wash, and return to their dishes, only to 
 meet the triumphant shout of the idle gazers, 
 as they find them empty; some sly fellow 
 having stolen their allowance, while they were 
 too busy fighting to care for them. 
 
 * Good enough for them," resounds from all 
 sides of the ship, as the poor fellows make 
 their exit with empty plates. 
 
 The hours of the afternoon are spent in a 
 manner similar to those of earlier day, with 
 the exception of more sleep. We have work, 
 study, conversation, quarrel, and fighting. Sup- 
 per is served at sunset, after which comes 
 the best part of the day, made lively by con- 
 certs of vocal and instrumental music, pub- 
 lic recitations and speeches, entertainments 
 
04 CHARACTER OF THE MATE. 
 
 of jokes, narratives, strange delineations of 
 strange events, and sometimes a hornpipe. 
 
 As it grows dark, one and another select a 
 "soft place" on the deck, spars, or roof, and 
 prepare to sleep. The song and laugh grad- 
 ually die away, and by eleven o'clock the ship 
 is still, and nearly all her motley company 
 asleep. A few sit watching the ocean and the 
 sky all the long hours of the night, meditating 
 upon the land and the fortunes they have left 
 behind, or anticipating those in the future. 
 
 Payson, the chief mate, has been involved 
 in some disturbance. He is a man of smooth 
 demeanor and plausible speech, but, I verily 
 believe, a thorough and merciless scoundrel. 
 He is a very good friend of mine, however, 
 notwithstanding this indulgence of expression. 
 Being one of those who never go to sea with- 
 out experiencing seasickness, I was able to 
 administer materially to his comfort during 
 our first rough days out, and he seems, at least, 
 to have the merit of being grateful for favors 
 received. 
 
 Signs of rain are manifest. All hands busy 
 in preparing to catch every drop ; hoping 
 
SUPPLY OF WATER. 65 
 
 against hope, lest the refreshing draught be 
 denied. 
 
 10th. — At two o'clock this morning a heavy 
 squall struck us, and the deck was instantly 
 crowded with people, half dressed, eager to 
 catch the refreshing beverage in every thing 
 that would receive it. In an hour or two we 
 were the happy possessors of two hundred 
 gallons of water — a week's short allowance. 
 
 During the day spoke a Spanish brig, bound 
 for Brazil. Only eight casks of water on 
 board, and, of course, none to spare. Crossed 
 the line in the night. Prince Paul seems very 
 ill ; is not expected to live. 
 6* 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PERSONIFICATION OF NEPTUNE. — EFFORTS TO OBTAIN 
 WATER. — JOY ON SEEING LAND. — APPEARANCE OF 
 THE NATIVES. — CATAMARANS, ETC. 
 
 11th. — Calm and hot. Towards evening old 
 Neptune came on board, over the bows, after 
 the coarse old fashion, having pretended to 
 hail the ship from afar. This was done by 
 English Charley, one of the crew, personifying 
 his majesty, by fantastically disguising himself 
 with oakum, and various singular devices. 
 This done, he and his train of sea gods forth- 
 with proceeded to administer to the passen- 
 gers the appropriate rites of naturalization as 
 new subjects of his watery realm. 
 
 I was sitting on the quarter deck, talking 
 with the ladies, when these divinities made 
 their appearance. It was the mate's watch, 
 and a good opportunity, as they thought, to 
 carry out their amusement. 
 
 The captain, or, indeed, any decent officer, 
 
 (66) 
 
CEREMONY OF SHAVING. 67 
 
 would have put an end to it at once ; for it is, 
 in fact, but an obsolete relic of nautical rude- 
 ness, never practiced except on whaling ves- 
 sels, those disorderly houses of the ocean, or 
 on ships as lawless and ungoverned as our 
 own. Payson, from his station on the quarter 
 deck, kept close watch, permitting them to 
 seize only those who were specially obnoxious, 
 or those to whom he was personally unfriendly 
 or indifferent. 
 
 That none might escape, however, they 
 sprinkled a plentiful shower of salt water over 
 every body on deck, and between decks. The 
 unhappy victims of the special operation were 
 subject to a more fearful ordeal, being placed 
 over a tub of water, held firmly down, while a 
 barber-ous operator rubbed tar on their cheeks 
 with a stick, and scraped them with another. 
 
 This tonsure accomplished, the ceremony 
 was concluded by upsetting a bucket of sea 
 water on their heads, and setting them at 
 liberty. Some obstinate recusants saved them- 
 selves by drawing knives or pistols. 
 
 One somewhat contumacious fellow was 
 shaved three times over ; at the last escaping 
 
G8 PRACTICAL JOKE. 
 
 to flee toward the cabin, crying u murder/' at 
 the top of his voice. As he was descending 
 the stairs, a bucket of salt water was thrown 
 upon his head, mostly received, however, into 
 the face of the captain, who happened to open 
 the door of his room at that moment, for the 
 purpose of ascertaining the cause of the tu- 
 mult. Of course his anger w T as aroused, and 
 returning for his pistols, he threatened to fire 
 into the crowd, but finally contented himself 
 with ordering off old Neptune, who immedi- 
 ately obeyed, and thus ended the affair. 
 
 The business of practical joking is quite 
 briskly followed up in this ship. One which we 
 infer to be a favorite, from its frequency, is to 
 tie a stout ropeyarn to the feet of some poor 
 fellow asleep on deck, while the other end is 
 carried into the rigging above, continually ele- 
 vating, slowly and cautiously, till the shoulders 
 only touch the deck. Sleep being impossible 
 in such a situation, and the circumstances 
 tending to kindle the fires of passion, there are 
 usually various contortions, and a burst of pro- 
 fanity at once terrible and amusing. Some 
 lithe, active ones contrive to free themselves ; 
 
A PRIZE. 69 
 
 but almost all have to strive in utter helpless- 
 ness until they are exhausted, and some tardy 
 but professedly indignant and sympathizing 
 friend comes to the rescue. 
 
 Another delicate operation is to tickle the 
 faces of sleepers with a feather suspended from 
 a string, while the unconscious object furnishes 
 the amusement, by his unsuccessful attempts 
 to brush away the supposed creeping thing. 
 It speaks but poorly for our company, when 
 delight in the misery of others is so manifest. 
 
 A more amusing spectacle, I venture to say, 
 was never looked upon than we presented a 
 short time since. A barrel of apples were 
 shipped at New York, but were left in the 
 damp air of the hold, where they had been 
 constantly decaying, till the whole was re- 
 solved into jelly, as it were, with only here 
 and there a fragment remaining sound. This 
 barrel was brought on deck, and its contents 
 poured into a heap, for the benefit of all whom 
 it might concern. Some twenty men, famish- 
 ing for any thing of a kindred nature to fruit, 
 instantly threw themselves headlong upon the 
 prize, seeking, with astonishing eagerness, their 
 
70 SABBATH. 
 
 portion of the inviting pile. I must confess 
 myself as frantic as any body, but instead of 
 trying to dive down through the living mass, 
 I thrust myself under their legs, feeling my 
 way along, and disregarding all manner of 
 knocks and blows. 
 
 By this cunning operation in the substra- 
 tum I quietly selected one apple, and then 
 another, thrusting each within my shirt bosom, 
 until I had gathered more than a dozen, and 
 was obliged, from sheer exhaustion, to make 
 my way out, perfectly covered from forehead 
 to chin, and from chin to lowest extremities, 
 with rotten apple, yet more than repaid, as I 
 thought, for all the trouble and filth, were they 
 ten times as much. 
 
 The apples, half crushed and decayed as 
 they were, were as welcome u as apples of gold 
 in pictures of silver ; " and strange as it may 
 seem, were unspeakably delicious to the taste. 
 
 13th. — Yesterday, the Sabbath, was com- 
 menced by the mate prostrating one of the 
 sailors, and leaving him bleeding and senseless 
 upon the deck. How far such a spirit from 
 
LIBERALITY OF A PASSENGER. 71 
 
 the design of the seventh day ! — a day richer 
 in sacred association than any other that ever 
 dawned upon the human race. 
 
 In the morning, with a perfect calm, a party 
 of eight, consisting of passengers and sailors, 
 started in the small boat for a ship four miles 
 distant, with the hope of obtaining some water. 
 
 They returned with the report that three 
 hundred gallons might be had, also some wine, 
 at very low rates, but insisted upon stipulating 
 that they alone should return for it, thus indi- 
 cating some speculative scheme in our necessi- 
 ties. 
 
 Upon this, M. Saintpris, one of the French 
 passengers, offered to purchase two or three 
 casks upon his own responsibility, and distrib- 
 ute it among those on board at cost. Speedy 
 assent being given to this, he joined the boat's 
 crew in their return. 
 
 Marked indications of a storm appearing late 
 in the afternoon, and the boat not having 
 returned, fears began to be entertained for 
 their safety, which caused the chief mate to 
 man the other boat, and go to their assistance. 
 
 Little benefit, however, as it proved. It was 
 
72 LOSS OF WINE. 
 
 long before either boat returned, and then, 
 amid great darkness, with the wind blowing 
 fearfully, and the crew in both boats stupefied 
 with strong drink. Two whole casks of wine 
 were lost, and only through much difficulty 
 and exertion the third was saved, and the men 
 rescued from their perilous situation. The 
 wine was sold to-day by Saintpris, according to 
 his promise, at one dollar a gallon, being the 
 original cost to him. 
 
 The passengers are threatening to make 
 trouble for the captain whenever we get into 
 port, in revenge for his misdemeanors. Prince 
 Paul, however, who has recovered from his 
 sickness, and engaged in his wonted manner, 
 has influenced the leaders to desist in such a 
 movement, by promising a cask of wine — a 
 powerful inducement to them. 
 
 We have had another most welcome shower 
 of rain — a matter of great rejoicing, as one 
 would conclude, to see the women and chil- 
 dren with cups, teapots, pans, pails, tubs, and 
 indeed every imaginable receptacle, eager to 
 catch the descending drops. A quart of water 
 is a small allowance, in this latitude, for one 
 
SHIP SPOKEN. 73 
 
 day, and our supply at this rate is fearfully 
 short. 
 
 16th. — We have made another acquisition, 
 acting under the second article of our unwrit- 
 ten code, viz., a case of codfish and a ham. Wc 
 unobtrusively drew them from the lower hold, 
 which is opened twice a week for the purpose 
 of getting stores, and placed them in a dark 
 corner of our sanctum, whither none are per- 
 mitted to enter, save our own favored group. 
 Here we have enjoyed many a delicate morsel 
 of codfish and ham, both of which we have 
 eaten raw. 
 
 Have spoken ship Duncan Hoyle, from 
 Greenock to Australia. How welcome the 
 sound of these human voices on this wide 
 waste of waters ! So much jarring and wran- 
 gling, however, within our own limits, an ina- 
 bility to articulate sounds would sometimes 
 seem almost a mercy. 
 
 The captain has threatened to kill any one 
 who shall intimate an intention of taking pro- 
 ceedings against him in port for his ill doing. 
 
 It is a matter worthy of record, we have had 
 7 
 
74 A SINGULAR CHARACTER. 
 
 no fight during the day, — nothing but a scold- 
 ing match between Prince Paul and Terence 
 McManus, an impetuous young Celt, who man- 
 ifests a purely Irish spirit of independence, 
 advocating strongly every thing opposed to 
 aristocracy, or kindred to it. 
 
 He is in almost daily dispute with the Eng- 
 lishmen. The summit of his aspirations seems 
 to be to marshal a company against the cap- 
 tain or some of his officers ; but his noisy rest- 
 lessness and inconsistent conduct, while they 
 furnish considerable amusement, and no little 
 annoyance, are yet the source of very little 
 alarm. The following poetical description is 
 suggested as an epitome of his character: — 
 
 " Each hour a different face he wears ; 
 Now in fury, now in tears, 
 
 Now laughing, anon in sorrow ; 
 A while commanding, then obeying ; 
 Crying for liberty to-day, 
 
 Calling" for power to-morrow." 
 
 But, evidently, he has a mission, and we 
 have all agreed he was made expressly for the 
 leader of an Irish rebellion ; and consequently 
 
ILL FEELINGS. 75 
 
 we have elaborate schemes in contemplation 
 for sending him thither as a pioneer hero in 
 the cause. 
 
 17th. — 111 humor sometimes seems a certain 
 result of atmospheric conditions. A peculiarly 
 oppressive and gloomy atmosphere through the 
 day has soured every temper on board ; captain, 
 officers, seamen, passengers, and all appeared to 
 be in perfect sympathy with the misanthropic 
 bard, whose productions were of no great 
 weight, but perhaps all we might expect from 
 one so much out of humor with himself and all 
 mankind. 
 
 " Fret away, scold away ; 
 Time is going fast ; 
 Every day is one the less, 
 Scold on till the last." 
 
 Nothing suited any body, unless, indeed, Mrs. 
 Egan was satisfied, as in truth she seemed to 
 be, by wreaking her vengeance upon poor 
 John Newman, the little boasting Englishman. 
 
 He had accused her of stealing water from 
 him — no light charge when we are actually suf- 
 fering from the want of it. This afternoon, as 
 
7 b A SQUABBLE. 
 
 a knot of us were near the hatchway, Newman, 
 all unconscious of his fate, came deliberately 
 up the small ladder. As he stepped on deck, 
 Mrs. E., a stout Irishwoman, with strong right 
 arm, and fearless, violent temper, pounced 
 angrily upon him, jerked him a step forward 
 by the collar, planted him in the midst of the 
 astounded spectators, forthwith instituting the 
 reproachful inquiry, " Stole wather from ye, ye 
 miserable cratur, hey ? " — at the same time giv- 
 ing him two sharp blows with her hand, on 
 either side the head. She gave him no time 
 to recover, but immediately administered, as 
 one of our clerks said, "Ditto, ditto, a size 
 larger," until the poor fellow had endured hard 
 treatment sufficient to shatter his small brains 
 into still more hopelessly small particles. 
 
 For a time he seemed inclined to return the 
 blows ; but a spectator, scarcely able to speak 
 for his risible emotion, called out, u Strike a 
 woman, will you, you scoundrel ! " 
 
 This deterred him from the attempt, and led 
 him to seek his escape from the infuriated 
 dame ; but her wrath not being fully spent, she 
 refused to let him go. When he was permitted 
 
A CONCERT. 77 
 
 to retire at last, three hearty cheers testified 
 the public appreciation of the effort to main- 
 tain the inviolability of female reputation, and 
 also the first article of our admirable code. 
 
 The skies and tempers cleared up togeth- 
 er towards evening, and after supper we had 
 a pleasant concert, chiefly of instrumental 
 music. 
 
 Madam Saintpris, the wife of the French law- 
 yer, w T ho so generously procured us wine, is an 
 accomplished singer, having even appeared 
 with credit at the opera. Several times before 
 she has favored us with solos, which certainly 
 seemed very brilliant to us, and undoubtedly 
 were so. 
 
 It is with some measure of appreciation we 
 regard the saying of him who avowed that 
 "music hath charms to rend a rock." What 
 shall we say then of some of our crew, whose 
 hearts seem utterly impervious to these influ- 
 ences ? 
 
 20th. — We are really in actual suffering. 
 We must inevitably have sickness on board 
 unless we speedily communicate with some 
 
 7* 
 
 
78 INDIGNATION MEETING. 
 
 friendly vessel or with the shore. Claret has 
 been distributed among us by the supercargo, 
 two quarts of which we may have at one dollar 
 a bottle. 
 
 The passengers have been expressing their 
 opinion of the captain's conduct quite freely 
 to-day, even on that ship-master's sanctum, the 
 quarter deck. Becoming somewhat acquainted 
 with the nature of the remarks, he ordered 
 • them from the deck ; but all in vain he will try 
 to silence these abused and starving men. He 
 may be thankful we do not rise and take the 
 vessel into our own hands. We can count 
 enough sufficiently skilled in navigation to 
 take charge of things, even if every one of the 
 present crew were removed. 
 
 Cheese and crackers, and one quart of water 
 a day, is poor cheer after the payments we 
 have made, and the promises we have received ; 
 but what is worse, we are told that a pint only 
 will soon be our portion. What we do have is 
 bad, thick, and slimy ; but poor as it is, we shall 
 be glad to get such soon. 
 
 23d. — Fair breeze, carrying us rapidly to- 
 
PURIFYING THE WATER. 79 
 
 wards the coast of Brazil. " Sail ho ! " electri- 
 fied us all ; and we anticipated a most seasona- 
 ble relief. The ship passed quite near us, but 
 our diabolical captain remained obstinately in 
 his cabin, until she was passed, chuckling to 
 himself, probably, at our disappointment, unless 
 he was spirit-u&Uy unconscious. 
 
 I have conceived some trifling methods to 
 alleviate a little of the discomfort around me, 
 aside from general helpfulness and hopefulness. 
 Having: trained mvself to drink but little, — no 
 very difficult matter, — I am able to lay by a 
 great part of my allowance. This I place in 
 bottles, which are resting quietly under my 
 mattress. Into each, as I fill it, I drop two or 
 three nails, or a bit of iron, which seems to 
 prove a wholesome correction to the turbid 
 mass. From this store I can dispense, quite 
 frequently, a welcome draught, and have there- 
 by become no small favorite, especially with 
 our fat friend, Mrs. Egan, who is enormously 
 and incessantly thirsty. 
 
 In default of a better antiscorbutic, I have 
 likewise contrived, by bottling . up coffee 
 grounds and boiled tea leaves, to produce a 
 
80 A PRACTICAL JOKE. 
 
 remarkably clear and sharp vinegar, which is 
 keenly relished as a condiment. 
 
 25th. — No land yet. All are anxiously 
 watching for it, as our condition is worse daily. 
 Cooked food is but an occasional rarity, and 
 the water is poor enough. Some of us have 
 prepared dried apples, and water caught on 
 deck, producing a miserable, slimy composition, 
 forbidding to both sight and taste under ordi- 
 nary circumstances, but received with great 
 avidity by many now. 
 
 Our comfortless and dangerous situation has 
 not destroyed all our jocularity yet. My ro- 
 guish companion, Harry Yates, persuaded old 
 man Perrin, as we call him, an honest, simple- 
 hearted countryman, that dried apples, cooked 
 in salt water, were exceedingly promotive of 
 health, especially at sea. 
 
 He then charitably volunteered to prepare 
 it for him, and soon had in readiness a nau- 
 seous dose, which he administered to his unsus- 
 pecting victim, who swallowed no small quan- 
 tities before he was undeceived, while we were 
 base enough to consider it a funny operation. 
 
LAND SEEN. 81 
 
 27th. — Forty-eight days out. At two this 
 morning, a German boy, who happened to be 
 alone on the bow, saw a low white streak at 
 no very great distance before him. A second 
 look sufficed to confirm his suspicions, and the 
 shout of u Land ho ! " resounded through the 
 vessel. Instantaneously the deck was alive 
 with eager gazers at the coast, which, it after- 
 wards appeared, was between Pernambuco and 
 Bahia. 
 
 It was scarcely a mile from us, and the ves- 
 sel was proceeding rapidly in the same direc- 
 tion. 
 
 At this moment the captain appeared, and 
 gave orders that the course of the ship be 
 turned as quickly as possible. This quieted 
 the consternation of some of the passengers 
 who were sure of a shipwreck, but scarcely 
 served to cool in any degree the ardor of that 
 tumultuous delight which the welcome sight 
 of land produced in many a heart. 
 
 Soon we were sailing through water of a 
 yellowish color, which proved to be the mouth 
 of the Eiver San Francisco. We filled our 
 casks, and felt an unspeakable relief in having 
 
82 NATIVE BOATS. 
 
 something to quench our burning thirst. We 
 keep near as possible to the coast, and our vis- 
 ion, wearied with the monotonous ocean view, 
 finds a pleasing change in the blue mountain 
 ranges in the distance, and the rich green 
 banks that skirt the shore. 
 
 Poets may sit down in their quiet homes, 
 and write at their ease of the sublimity and 
 grandeur of " Old Ocean," and that it does pre- 
 sent these aspects I do not deny ; but let them 
 float upon its wide waste a few months, and 
 that in a miserable bark like ours, and I ven- 
 ture to say their romance would give way 
 before the superior charms of a " cottage in a 
 shady grove," where life and nature are quiet 
 and peaceful, unmingled with the terrors of the 
 briny element. 
 
 Soon after we came within sight of land, we 
 discovered something floating in the distance, 
 but were unable to make out what they were. 
 
 On approaching nearer, however, we found 
 them to be the a catamarans " of the coast na- 
 tives, consisting of two logs of fifteen or twenty 
 feet in length, and perhaps two in breadth, 
 lashed together with hide or bark, and crossed 
 
HABITS OF THE NATIVES. 83 
 
 in the middle by bars of wood sustaining a 
 basket, in which is kept fishing tackle, bait, 
 and probably the family estate, if they have 
 any. On each of these boats were two natives 
 at least, and sometimes whole families, includ- 
 ing men, women, and children. With these 
 rude constructions they often go considerable 
 distances to sea, especially during the pleasant 
 months, floating out with the tide, and paddling 
 about to meet ships, apparently from mere 
 curiosity, having nothing to sell. 
 
 Some of our company amused themselves 
 by throwing various things overboard, for the 
 purpose of seeing the Indians dive for them. 
 They had very little clothing, none of them, 
 probably, ever wearing more than the " girdle 
 about the loins." 
 
 They live at their ease, find superabundant 
 fruits on shore, catch fish when they desire, 
 and with this simple and plenteous bill of fare, 
 and none for clothing, lodging, or other extras, 
 they live a life free from anxiety and care. 
 
 This evening some alarm was again excited 
 by the captain saying that the ship was going 
 ashore in spite of all he could do to the con- 
 
81 THE SHIP IN DANGER. 
 
 trary. The chief mate, in a rage, stepped in 
 front of his commander, telling him, if it was 
 his intention to run them ashore, to * say so," 
 and he would prepare for it. No notice was 
 taken of this gross act of insubordination, and 
 the ship was soon righted. Many of us cannot 
 avoid the suspicion that the captain has more 
 than once deliberately attempted to wreck the 
 ship. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 LANDING AT BAHIA. — VISIT OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE 
 
 OFFICER. — DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. VISIT INTO 
 
 THE COUNTRY. — ENGLISH CHAPEL. — MARKET- 
 PLACES. 
 
 31st. — At noon to-day, we came in sight of 
 the lighthouse at the entrance of the Bay of 
 All Saints. Nothing could exceed the joy of 
 the passengers upon finding themselves so near 
 a port. The whole vessel was in commotion, 
 hearty cheers ascending from different compa- 
 nies, and every one almost wild with pleasura- 
 ble excitement. The scenery on the coast 
 seemed rather rugged at first, but as we came 
 nearer, it grew picturesque and romantic in 
 the extreme. Hills and valleys, shaded with 
 tropical foliage, and feathered with cocoa-nut 
 and palm, refreshed our sight, while here and 
 there we could discover a cottage embowered 
 in trees, whose quiet inmates we imagined a 
 
 g (85) 
 
 
86 , ARRIVAL AT THE PORT OF BAHIA. 
 
 \ 
 
 happy people while dwelling securely under 
 their own vines and fig trees. 
 
 At 3, P. M., we doubled the cape, and 
 glided into full view of the old Brazilian city 
 of San Salvador, now called Bahia, which lay 
 before us, a " thing of beauty/' to our longing 
 eyes. It is built on rising ground, commencing 
 with the business streets near the shore, and 
 extending in rows of dwellings, gardens, groves, 
 and shrubbery, to the bold brows of the bluffs 
 above, upon whose summits we could see con- 
 vents and cathedrals, hotels and large mansions 
 of more modern style. 
 
 We dropped anchor at 4 o'clock, at a point 
 in front of the city, commanding a full view of 
 it, also of the bay, but were not permitted to 
 land, by the custom-house officer who came on 
 board, until morning. 
 
 As the shades of evening drew about us, and 
 the solemn music of the convent bells floated 
 out to us over the water, we settled into a calm 
 and quiet mood, feeling more at peace with 
 the world, and with each other, than for a long 
 time before. 
 
 We have now accomplished one third of our 
 
POSITION OF THE SHIP. 87 
 
 long voyage, having reached Bahia, counted 
 from fifteen to twenty-five days' sail from New- 
 York, in little less than the sixty days in which it 
 was pretended the whole would be completed. 
 We have, however, endured so much wretched- 
 ness, that without adverting to this delay, we 
 find abundant cause for gratitude and delight 
 that we are in port at all. 
 
 It is only through divine interposition that 
 we have been repeatedly saved from death by 
 shipwreck and thirst. Our provisions, too, have 
 been fast w r asting, and our goods buried in the 
 deep long ago ; lightening the ill-stowed and 
 poorly-ballasted ship, so much and so unevenly 
 that we have come into port at Bahia down 
 by the stern, in such a manner that we can dip 
 our handkerchiefs into the water from over the 
 larboard rail. 
 
 For a week or two it has been impossible 
 to walk about the deck when wet at all, such 
 was its angle of inclination ; thus making our 
 situation one of extreme danger, had we been 
 caught in a heavy blow. Columbus and his 
 crew scarcely felt more joy at the sight of 
 land, than we, poor fellows, at beholding these 
 cliffs before us. 
 
88 TOE CREW ASHORE. 
 
 Friday, April 1st. — The captain found him- 
 self in trouble at once, at the custom house, 
 for having too many passengers on his list, 
 and only escaped penalty by the help of Con- 
 sul Gilman. Some one must have informed 
 this officer of the suspicions and charges pre- 
 ferred against the chief mate, for this morning 
 he gave him liberty to leave the vessel, but 
 none to come back. 
 
 About nine, the announcement was made 
 by the consul that we might go on shore, and 
 accordingly preparations were made to that 
 effect. 
 
 Upon landing we found a few white men ; 
 some English and French, who solicited the 
 honor of our patronage for different hotels; 
 but so great was our delight at treading a 
 portion of this mundane earth, that the blue 
 sky above, and the green carpet underneath, 
 seemed well nigh sufficient for man's wants. 
 
 Almost all in the streets, however, were ne- 
 groes ; many of them laden with flowers and 
 fruits of the choicest varieties, indescribably 
 tempting to us, after our long confinement to 
 salt and miserable food. 
 
AN EXCELLENT DINNER. 89 
 
 We spent the morning in rambling about 
 the city, with no special object but to see 
 whatever was to be seen. Very little "break- 
 fast was eaten on board ship, the proximity of 
 the shore destroying what little appetite re- 
 mained for wormy bread and mahogany beef. 
 The wants of the " inner man" began to 
 be somewhat clamorous, as my comrade and 
 myself neared a respectable-looking, neatly- 
 arranged French restaurant. " Come, Harry," 
 said I, « we'll have one good dinner if it takes 
 all we've got." We entered, and, for the first 
 time after leaving New York, enjoyed a well- 
 cooked and savory meal. 
 
 The table was well set and the bill of fare 
 excellent, — including soup, beef, poultry, sweet 
 potatoes, yams, onions, okra, very good French 
 rolls, claret, and a very fair native wine. 
 
 There was also a great variety of fruit for 
 dessert, among which was the blood-red, seed- 
 less orange, which I tasted for the first time, 
 and compared with which the best oranges in 
 our northern cities are mere cider apples. 
 
 The conclusion of the matter was a bill of 
 three milreas, or nearly two dollars for both, 
 8* 
 
90 BAY OF ALL SAINTS. 
 
 which we paid without grumbling, and resumed 
 our stroll. 
 
 The Bay of All Saints is one of the noblest 
 harbors in the world ; a magnificent sheet of 
 water of an irregular circle, forty miles in 
 length, and nearly the same in width, affording 
 sheltered anchorage sufficient, it would almost 
 seem, for all the ships in the world. It com- 
 municates with the sea by a narrow passage, 
 two miles in length, scarcely one in width, 
 through which we passed. 
 
 Bahia is a name given to a maritime prov- 
 ince of Brazil, on the eastern coast, extending 
 from about 9° to 15° 45' south latitude. The 
 estimate of its area varies with different indi- 
 viduals, some placing it at fifty-four thousand 
 square miles, and others at ninety-seven thou- 
 sand ; the latter, however, mostly credited. 
 
 Statements with regard to population also 
 differ; probably amounts to about seven hun- 
 dred thousand. Bays and inlets abound along 
 the coast, among the most celebrated of which 
 is All-Saints Bay. Numerous rivers traverse 
 the province; the Rio San Francisco, the 
 
STAPLE PRODUCTS. 91 
 
 largest, or one of the largest, of the Brazilian 
 rivers, flowing along its north-west frontier. 
 
 The cultivation of tobacco is peculiar to the 
 province, and its produce much sought after, 
 not only for the market of Portugal, but also 
 for Spain and the whole of Barbary. 
 
 The soil is also admirably adapted to the 
 cultivation of the sugar cane ; and the sugar 
 of this province is considered of superior qual- 
 ity — a circumstance finding sufficient proof 
 in the fact that Bahia alone exports more of 
 this article than all the rest of Brazil. 
 
 An annual increase of the cotton growth 
 shows Bahia to be fast becoming a formidable 
 rival to Pernambuco. Rice of a fine quality 
 is among her productions, and coffee, much 
 excelled, however, by that of Rio de Janeiro. 
 
 This province was one of the first peopled 
 by Europeans, and it is also one of those, it is 
 said, from which they have most effectually 
 removed all traces of the original inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 Bahia, or San Salvador, where we now are, 
 is the capital of the above province, situated 
 immediately within Cape St. Antonio, which 
 
92 POPULATION. 
 
 forms the right or east side of this noble Bay 
 of All Saints. 
 
 It was founded about 1549 by Thomas de 
 Souza, first captain-general of Brazil, and was 
 until 1763 the capital of the colony. Since 
 that period Bio has been acknowledged as the 
 capital. 
 
 It is one of the largest and most important 
 cities of South America, though inferior to its 
 rival in population and commercial importance. 
 
 Its population is estimated from 120,000 
 to 160,000, of which a third are supposed to 
 be whites, the same number mulattoes, and 
 the remainder blacks. 
 
 It is built partly along the ridge, and partly 
 on the declivity of a very high and steep hill, 
 fronting the entrance of the bay ; and in the 
 number and beauty of its public buildings, 
 ranks among the first cities of Brazil. 
 
 Among the most noticeable is the cathedral, 
 once the church of the Jesuits, dedicated to 
 San Salvador, and considered the handsomest 
 ecclesiastical building in the country. It is 
 built of European marble ; its interior richly 
 decorated, containing two portraits — one of 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 93 
 
 Ignatius Loyola and San Francois Xavier — 
 which are regarded as rare specimens of art. 
 
 The theater is built upon a rock, more than 
 a thousand feet above the level of the sea ; 
 but as the slope northward, toward the sub- 
 urbs, is quite gradual, and a greater part of 
 those who patronize the theater come from 
 thence, the inconvenience is not great. In- 
 deed, most of the largest and finest buildings 
 are upon high points quite difficult of access. 
 
 In the lower part of the town is the Ex- 
 change, a massive building of modern date, 
 built in a peculiar style, an attempted imita- 
 tion of the Grecian. The houses are mostly 
 built of stone, and contrary to the usual prac- 
 tice in South America, many consist of three, 
 four, and even five stories. The principal 
 street is the Praya, in which is situated the 
 Church of the Conception, remarkable on ac- 
 count of the stones which compose its struc- 
 ture having been prepared and numbered in 
 Europe, and brought in two frigates ; so that 
 upon their arrival they had merely to be 
 arranged in the order previously allotted to 
 them. 
 
94 MODES OF TRAVELING. 
 
 A public library is shown of some sixty 
 thousand or seventy thousand volumes, among 
 which are a few ancient Portuguese w r orks, 
 and some manuscripts ; but the greater por- 
 tion are in French. 
 
 As a city, however, it can boast of very few 
 institutions devoted to intellectual culture, and 
 these are under the control of bigoted eccle- 
 siastics, who care little, and do less, for the 
 advancement of educational systems. 
 
 Bahia is a place long celebrated for its ship 
 building. As late as 1824, some of the finest 
 ships that graced the seas were built at this 
 port. 
 
 The modes of traveling strike one as novel 
 and peculiar, the vehicle, being a sort of palan- 
 quin, supported by negroes, who make a prac- 
 tice of clustering about the corners of the 
 streets, with the hope of having their services 
 called in requisition in that direction. In car- 
 rying people from one part of the city to 
 another, the u silla " is in general use ; which is 
 nothing more than a stout wooden chair, 
 strapped to the shoulders of a man, in which 
 one seats himself, and is transported whither- 
 
OPPORTUNE KINDNESS. 95 
 
 soever he will, provided suitable inducements 
 are offered. 
 
 Weary of wandering when night began to 
 think, of unfolding her mantle, and feeling 
 some solicitude as to a resting place for the 
 hours of darkness, I turned boldly to the 
 best hotel in the city, where I found several 
 of the ship's company, and among them Mr. 
 Payson. While lounging about in a hesitating 
 manner, he asked what lodgings I had secured, 
 and upon my replying, a none," he invited me 
 to remain, and he would be responsible for my 
 bills. I was truly grateful, and thanked him 
 most sincerely, thinking it a rich reward for 
 small acts of kindness done to a sick ship's 
 officer. 
 
 Verily, — 
 
 " A little word mildly spoken, 
 A little deed kindly done," 
 
 insures its own rich fund of blessing. 
 
 April 7th. — Some of our company engaged 
 a boarding place in the country for the time 
 of our stay in port, necessarily having an eye 
 to economy, and also for the purpose of avoid- 
 ing the unhealthy exposures of the city. 
 
96 ELEGANT COUNTRY SEATS. 
 
 Comfortably settled in their new abode, our 
 little company were invited to visit them. 
 Mules are often used in traveling, especially by 
 the wealthier classes, who have heavy carriages 
 drawn by six or eight of these animals ; but 
 preferring a cheaper and less showy equipage, 
 we availed ourselves of our own powers of 
 locomotion by starting on foot. 
 
 "We left the city by the western road, and 
 followed the shores of the bay for a mile, en- 
 joying the surf, and the vast cabinet of shells, 
 arranged after Nature's own model. We 
 passed the residences of many of the wealthy 
 people of the city, who seemed to be living in 
 luxurious splendor in their fashionable retire- 
 ment. 
 
 Many of the finest were in process of reno- 
 vation, their mosaic walks of shell work being 
 laid in cement ; and marble vases, variegated 
 stone flower pots, statuary, &c, being refitted 
 or replaced by new ; which, with correspond- 
 ing interior decorations, would make palaces 
 worthy of kings. 
 
 We journeyed at leisure over gently undu- 
 lating hills, past fields of sugar cane, and shady 
 
td 
 
 N 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 > 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 tl 
 % 
 
 N 
 
 t> 
 t-3 
 
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 97 
 
 groves of plantain and cocoa nut ; fairly rev- 
 eling in the heavy perfume from fruit and 
 flowers, wafted to us on the morning breeze 
 from over the bay. 
 
 Suddenly emerging from a thicket, we came 
 in full view of a ridge, upon whose summit 
 stood a long row of one-story, white buildings, 
 the country seat of our fellow-voyagers. Their 
 special home was a neat, airy cottage, snugly 
 planted in a grove of orange and lemon trees. 
 
 The scene was one of great magnificence. 
 The front view afforded a near glance of the 
 city ; of rich and smiling valleys ; while in the 
 further distance was the vast expanse of the 
 beautiful bay. 
 
 The slope in the rear was laid out in fine 
 gardens, stretching down to the valley, inter- 
 sected by winding paths, ornamented with 
 shells and stones of various colors, inlaid with 
 innumerable devices, and these still farther 
 embellished with statuary, urns, and flower 
 vases. Farther down were the little hamlets 
 of the natives ; and here and there a fruit or- 
 chard, cocoa grove, or vegetable garden. 
 
 The little fleet of ships in port were motion- 
 9 
 
98 ENCOURAGEMENT TO AGRICULTURISTS. 
 
 less, with furled sails, with the exception of 
 one or two gliding on their course before a 
 light breeze. 
 
 Still discernible in the distance was the 
 small steamer, that had left Bahia for the pur- 
 pose of conveying to their chosen location a 
 company of Massachusetts farmers, who have 
 been induced to come to this country with 
 their wives, children, flocks, herds, and imple- 
 ments, with the professed object of introducing 
 agricultural improvements. 
 
 The Brazilian government, it seems, not only 
 gives land, but money, to those who will enlist 
 in this enterprise of native cultivation. 
 
 This party, we are told, receive quite a hand- 
 some salary, both men and women, the latter 
 being requested to establish a dairy, if possible. 
 
 Perhaps it was the knowledge of this dele- 
 gation that suggested the idea to some of our 
 number of abandoning the voyage to Austra- 
 lia, and seeking employment in the diamond 
 mines of Brazil. 
 
 The insane project, however, proved a fail- 
 ure, fortunately for them ; for, even supposing 
 government would have permitted them to 
 
PLEASANT ENTERTAINMENT. 99 
 
 enter those remote and guarded realms, and 
 they had not perished in the vast wilderness 
 on the way, there would only have remained 
 the splendid contingency of freedom, a cheap 
 suit of clothes, and a few dollars, if they should 
 be successful in finding a stone of so many 
 carats. 
 
 But to return from this digression to the 
 description of our visit ; we sat a long time in 
 front, lost in the beauty of the glorious land- 
 scape, before we were aroused by summons to 
 partake of refreshments on the other side of 
 the house. 
 
 Eepairing to the spot, we found a table 
 spread in the shade, decorated with flowers, 
 and filled with oranges, cocoa nuts, guavas, 
 dates, figs, bananas, mangoes, bread, water, 
 wine, dried fruits, coffee, and cigars. 
 
 Completely embowered in roses, oleanders, 
 and geraniums ; shaded by the rich foliage of 
 the tropical trees; waited on by a bevy of 
 neatly-dressed brown girls, we sat long at the 
 feast, as at one seldom to be enjoyed. After a 
 short siesta of two hours, we awoke to take a 
 stroll through the grounds. Our agreeable host, 
 
100 ATTENDING CHURCH. 
 
 it appeared, had arranged a dance and picnic 
 under the trees by moonlight. Guests from 
 neighboring plantations began to arrive at 
 nine, and at ten the musicians struck up 
 a lively air, that set the pretty senoritas to 
 dancing in earnest. The guitar seems to be 
 their favorite instrument, and its low, sweet 
 tones were particularly pleasing at this time. 
 
 The faint light of morning was visible when 
 the company dispersed ; and thus ended a day 
 and night which many hardships and present 
 pleasures conspired to render so full of pleas- 
 ure, that then and now it were more like an 
 enchanted dream than a thing of reality. 
 
 11th. — Yesterday, some of us attended 
 divine service for the first time since leaving 
 New York. Wishing to make a respectable 
 appearance, and having no other decent gar- 
 ments, we arrayed ourselves in the heavy 
 woolen suits in which we started from home 
 in the middle of winter, but found our coats 
 quite too cumbersome before we had proceed- 
 ed far. 
 
 Our way led us by the Park, situated on the 
 
POLICEMEN. 101 
 
 bluff, commanding a beautiful prospect of the 
 bay and the business streets of the city. As 
 we looked in, and saw the ground strewed with 
 ripe oranges, seats arranged most invitingly 
 under the trees, we felt inclined to take ad- 
 vantage of our early start, in the quiet enjoy- 
 ment of the scene. 
 
 The day was oppressively hot, even for 
 Bahia. We seated ourselves in as comfortable 
 a posture as possible, divesting ourselves of 
 hats, shoes, &c. j but scarcely had we finished 
 our arrangements, ere one of the numerous 
 half soldier, half policemen, — who swarm 
 about the city with hot-looking uniforms of 
 black, red, and green, bearing sword and mus- 
 keg — presented himself, discharging a lot of 
 Brazilian Portuguese, among which was dis- 
 tinguishable, " Bay a ! hay a ! Vamos ! vamos ! 
 Malo ! malo ! " signifying, in general, that we 
 were violating their laws, and must depart. 
 
 Some were ready to go, and others, unwill- 
 ing, pretended not to understand. 
 
 " Bay a ! lay a ! Vamos ! " repeated the officer, 
 pointing to the gate. Finding them still in- 
 corrigible, he hailed a brother official, who 
 9* 
 
1()2 VICTORIA SQUARE. 
 
 came up in an ireful, threatening manner, 
 inspiring the feeling that it were better to 
 leave, since we could not afford to offer bribes, 
 and the stern virtue of the policemen is blind 
 and deaf to every thing else. 
 
 From the Park, a handsome, straight street 
 leads more than a mile back to Victoria Square. 
 Both the street and the square are lined with 
 fine houses, to which are attached large and 
 magnificent gardens, belonging to English and 
 foreign residents, of whom there are two hun- 
 dred and more, mostly engaged in commercial 
 houses and the shipping business. 
 
 The English Chapel, newly erected by the 
 British government, is a small, modest building, 
 in the square, almost lost sight of in the dense 
 foliage of the trees which surround it. We 
 entered its courts gladly, and joined in the 
 responses of the service with great satisfac- 
 tion. Long deprivation prepared us to appre- 
 ciate the sensible discourse of the clergyman — 
 a man of middle size, with kindly expression, 
 pleasing manners, who preached from the text, 
 * And he did it not from the fear of God." 
 
 K., a smart young fellow, whom we call 
 
YELLOW-FEVER DELUSION. 103 
 
 the "ship's lawyer/' complained of his head 
 on his way to the chapel. He continued to 
 grow worse, and on our return to the hotel 
 wished me to call a physician immediately, as 
 he was quite confident he had the yellow 
 fever, and should survive but a short time. 
 Reason evidently was tottering, and I sought 
 medical advice, but received only the informa- 
 tion that it was a sunstroke, and by gratifying 
 his whims he might soon be better. This 
 made no difference with K., who surely thought 
 it his last sickness. He gave me his watch, 
 with the request that I should give it to his 
 father whenever I should reach the United 
 States, made disposition of his remaining ef- 
 fects, and with a serious and resigned coun- 
 tenance, said, u Now I am ready ; the fever 
 will take me away soon." He retained his 
 delusion for some time, constantly imploring to 
 be carried to the hospital, that he might die. 
 
 Such was his earnestness, we went through 
 the usual forms of application, taking care, 
 however, that the actual result should not be 
 secured. This has proved a sad disappoint- 
 ment to the sufferer, but we have thought it 
 
104 DAILY EMPLOYMENTS. 
 
 best, and shall do all we can for his comfort 
 ourselves. No improvement manifest to-day. 
 
 14th. — We spend our days at Bahia, in 
 rambling about ; sometimes along the bay to 
 the westward; sometimes over the north point 
 of the harbor and up the sea coast, and again 
 through the churches and public buildings of 
 the city. 
 
 In case we should feel disinclined to return 
 at evening, we provide ourselves with lunch, 
 expecting to find a luxurious dessert in the 
 tropical fruits which we take from the ground 
 as abundantly and innocently as we should 
 walnuts and chestnuts in West Hartford woods ; 
 w T hile for lodging we seek entrance into some 
 Indian hut. Usually, however, the hotel is 
 the place of rendezvous for the night, where I 
 sleep soundly on the floor, with two newspa- 
 pers for my mattress, and lizards for my at- 
 tendants. 
 
 One who does not see the market place 
 does not see the half of Bahia. A new and 
 spacious edifice of stone is being erected for 
 the accommodation of this portion of the public, 
 
THE MARKET PLACE. 105 
 
 but it is little advanced ; and in the mean 
 while the area of the square is thickly covered 
 with wooden sheds, irregularly set, in which 
 the venders appear — a numerous and motley 
 company of negro slaves, free blacks, and na- 
 tive Brazilians, of every shade of black and 
 brown, offering every conceivable thing ; not 
 only meats, but every variety of flowers, fruit, 
 and vegetables ; dry goods, groceries, hard- 
 ware ; in short, every sort of commodity pro- 
 curable in the city, except, perhaps, some fine 
 cloths. We find inexhaustible amusement in 
 examining the varieties of country produce ; 
 watching the strings of mules and donkeys 
 that bring it in; having thus a fine oppor- 
 tunity to study the manners and national 
 peculiarities of the people. 
 
 Most of us young fellows have struck up a 
 sort of trade acquaintance with one and an- 
 other of the more comely brown girls at the 
 fruit stands. They have acquired from cus- 
 tomers a few English words, which they use 
 promiscuously, spicing freely with a jovial 
 ki-hi style of African laughter. As they per- 
 ceive us coming, each jumps at her special 
 
10 G FEMALE DRESS. 
 
 customer, seizes him unceremoniously by the 
 arm, jokes away her competitors; never releas- 
 ing her hold until all her English and his 
 Portuguese are exhausted, and a dump or two 
 is invested in her special commodities. 
 
 By far the most striking of the market 
 women are the pure negroes, some of whom 
 are native Africans, still bearing the charac- 
 teristics of their tribe. 
 
 The Brazilian negroes almost seem like 
 caricatures of their brethren in the United 
 States, so much more exuberant are they in 
 spirits, and in extravagant and fantastic cos- 
 tumes. 
 
 For dress patterns, the ladies of the market 
 usually select furniture calico, with large red 
 and yellow figures ; adorn them with flounces, 
 edgings of coarse lace a foot in width, or 
 some of those styles of heavy ball or tassel 
 fringe which we use for curtains. 
 
 The head dress is a gaudy Madras handker- 
 chief, when the hair is not carded out and 
 arranged with flowers. 
 
 We have actually seen the last painful 
 operation performed with leather and wooden 
 
 
A SABLE BEAUTY. 107 
 
 cards, not unlike those" used at home, instead 
 of currycombs, on less* sensitive animals. 
 
 My own especial favorite and great admira- 
 tion is a sable Amazon, weighing at least three 
 hundred pounds — a fat and expansive crea- 
 ture, almost as black and shiny as patent leather ; 
 with a round face, almost as radiant, in spite 
 of its color, as a full moon ; clear, white eyes, 
 with large jetty pupils, that may have broken 
 many an Ethiopian heart ; a mouth filled with 
 pearly teeth; and, withal, so invariably and 
 joyously smiling, that she was positively de- 
 lightful in conversation. 
 
 She dresses in the hight of fashion — usu- 
 ally in a dress of white, bordered with a heavy 
 flounce, trimmed with gay flowers and vari- 
 ously-colored ribbons, and an enormous calla 
 and japonica in her hair. 
 
 She sits upon her throne, evidently, with as 
 much satisfaction as the proudest empress, in 
 her coronet of jewels ; rejoicing in the gor- 
 geous display of flowers and fruit around her ; 
 receiving patronage from many merely for the 
 sake of gazing at her gigantic ebony pro- 
 portions. 
 
108 A COMPLIMENT. 
 
 The inhabitants, whether Indians, negroes, or 
 Europeans, have invariably treated us with ex- 
 treme politeness and great hospitality. The 
 policemen often hail us when returning to the 
 city in the evening ; but a little explanation in 
 English, ending with amigo, always suffices to 
 give us undisturbed passage. 
 
 We were soon recognized as law-abiding 
 persons ; but it is true, if we did not fear their 
 unscrupulous perquisitions of all sorts of bun- 
 dles and parcels, we should carry more private 
 stores of fruit with us than we shall now dare 
 to do. 
 
 Among the class of boatmen is John, a 
 smart, good-natured negro, whom we have 
 often employed, and whose heart we have 
 occasionally rejoiced by giving him a dime in- 
 stead of the usual fare — a dump, which is a 
 copper coin, about the size of an English penny. 
 His gratitude always finds expression in a form 
 of acknowledgment learned of the English sail- 
 ors, ignorant of its application, and therefore 
 more sincere than complimentary, we think; 
 viz., * You one fine d — d fool." So much for 
 the tendency of human nature to acquire that 
 which is evil. 
 

CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ROMANCE OF A WALK IN THE TROPICAL REGION. — - 
 DIFFICULTIES IN LEAVING PORT. — HISTORY OF BRA- 
 ZIL. — NARROW ESCAPE FROM FIRE. 
 
 The beauty and luxuriance of tropical vege- 
 tation can scarcely be conceived by those ac- 
 customed to the comparatively sterile regions 
 of the temperate zone. The dense foliage of 
 the trees, the almost impenetrable forests, are 
 rather more agreeable in the prospect, however, 
 than while testing their convenience by actual 
 experiment. In order to give the reader a 
 faint idea of these things, I sketch a descrip- 
 tion of a walk, before proceeding to the next 
 date on record, which my companion and my- 
 self proposed, with the intention of making a 
 circuit through the woods, coming out some 
 distance inland, upon the shore of the bay. 
 After leaving the marble-walled or iron-railed 
 enclosures of the great suburban gardens, the 
 country is, to a good extent, of apparently 
 10 ( 109 > 
 
110 A TROPICAL FOREST. 
 
 primeval forest, altogether without fences, yet 
 dotted here and there, at long intervals, with a 
 sugar plantation, or Indian village, with the ac- 
 companying orchards and gardens. Mere foot 
 paths are winding about, not so wide or distinct 
 as those which usually intersect the woods of 
 New England, sometimes leading somewhere, but 
 oftener nowhere. We started long before sun- 
 rise, and plunged into the depths of the forest, 
 pursuing our devious and intricate way through 
 such paths as these, w^orn only by human feet. 
 On and still on we w T ent, looking with wonder 
 at the enormous trees, from which drooped 
 equally large vines, all of which were twined 
 and intertwined with masses of flowers ; re- 
 galed at the same time with the sweet, melo- 
 dious notes of innumerable birds, the better to 
 represent which, were I a naturalist, and de- 
 sirous of celebrity, I should probably define, 
 with a list of certain unpronounceable names, 
 that would look very scientific, to say the least. 
 These heavy vines seemed to extend miles 
 in succession, actually adorning whole forests 
 with festoons of flowers ; realizing the most 
 extravagant pictures of romance, provided we 
 
DIFFICULT TRAVELING. Ill 
 
 say nothing of the lizards, and chattering 
 monkeys that glided and leaped about us. 
 
 The air was thick with the almost suffocat- 
 ing perfumes of flowers, and alive with the 
 hum of numberless insects, so that, in the 
 intoxication of our senses, we lost our way. 
 Hoping to reach the bay at some familiar 
 point, we went forward, pushing our way with 
 difficulty through shrubs, vines, and broad 
 leaves ; often obliged to make a road with our 
 pocket knives ; our Yankee blood telling hand- 
 somely in our favor the while. Finding it an 
 utterly fruitless attempt to beat a path upon 
 the ground, we walked, or rather scrambled, 
 over a sort of u airy " course, formed by stems, 
 vines, and flowers, coming nearer than ever 
 before to the fanciful period of life — "a path 
 with roses strewed." We at last succeeded in 
 forcing our way down a steep hill, over half a 
 mile of swamp, which stretched across the 
 valley, and reached an open space on the 
 opposite side. We regretted our hard-fought 
 passage on one account, as it compelled us to 
 drop many curious flowers, and rare specimens 
 of vegetation, retaining only a few seeds, and 
 
112 RUINED MANSION. 
 
 some pods of wild cotton, apparently of supe- 
 rior quality. 
 
 Feeling now quite at ease by a knowledge 
 of our relation to the points of compass, we 
 made a hearty meal of bread and dried fruit ; 
 after which we enjoyed a most refreshing 
 siesta under the shadow of the broad plantain. 
 
 Awaked from this, w r e pursued our journey 
 over the hill, coming quickly upon a deserted 
 plantation, whose dilapidated walls spoke con- 
 vincingly of the withering touch of Father 
 Time. This we imagined to have been the 
 residence of some wealthy family during the 
 palmy days of San Salvador. Such, indeed, 
 were the indications — as ruined statuary, mar- 
 ble fountains, and bathing places : relics of 
 elaborate carving and massive stone-work, were 
 still visible. 
 
 A few families of natives were living about, 
 possibly the descendants of the former slaves 
 of the establishment ; the proprietor having 
 been compelled by misfortune, or political 
 change, to flee from his charming home. 
 
 These poor people, nevertheless, represented 
 well the ancient hospitalities of the domain, 
 
 
TROUBLE ABOUT THE SHIP. 113 
 
 treated us with even ceremonious politeness, 
 and when we wished to depart, kindly showed 
 us a path to the city, which we were glad to 
 avail ourselves of, being weary with the day's 
 adventure, though prosecuted in the midst of 
 objects of singular beauty and attractiveness. 
 
 We enjoyed keenly this delightful land, with 
 scarcely a thought either for the past or the 
 future, notwithstanding the web of troubles 
 and fatalities woven about our * beautiful clip- 
 per " were as tangled as ever, as will be seen 
 by date of twenty-first April, twenty-one days 
 after our arrival at Bahia. 
 
 No steps being taken to prepare for the con- 
 tinuation of the voyage, and being generally 
 agreed that it should not be broken up if possi- 
 ble, a meeting of the passengers has been called, 
 at which they considered the matter of using 
 the Peytona as the private property of the 
 passengers until our safe arrival in Australia, 
 and full reimbursement of all expenses in- 
 curred on the ship's account. A committee 
 was appointed to represent the state of the 
 ship to the consul, Mr. Gilman, who answered 
 that his strict legal duty was to send the 
 10* 
 
114 THE CONSUL'S ADVICE. 
 
 Peytona back to New York, for the violation of 
 passenger laws, and irregular papers. This, they 
 gave him to understand, was scarcely practica- 
 ble, as they were fixed in their determination 
 to proceed, though they should work the vessel 
 themselves. Upon this the consul advised the 
 captain to advertise for the requisite means, as 
 this is the plea, which he accordingly did ; and 
 some gentlemen were found who were dis- 
 posed to negotiate in the matter, but found, on 
 inquiry, that no responsible owner appeared, 
 which put an end to the plan at once. 
 
 A second effort was made by the captain, in 
 which he proposed to the passengers to raise 
 the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, as the 
 responsibility of getting out from port rested 
 upon them ; but they only gave what Rev. Mr. 
 Abbott says must be given to all street beg- 
 gars — "frowns and flat denials." The money 
 might as well be thrown into the sea. 
 
 In this uncertain condition sickness has be- 
 gun to manifest itself, which has finally as- 
 sumed the fearful type of yellow fever, aided 
 probably by the free use of tropical fruits, and 
 manner of living. 
 
YELLOW FEVER. I 115 
 
 D 
 
 Park, a stalwart man, forty years of age, has 
 died on board. He lay neglected upon the 
 deck nearly a week previous to his death, and 
 although at the time fifty persons were within 
 twenty yards of him, no one knew when the 
 Ci King of Terrors " came. Such is the apathy 
 and indifference to each other's welfare into 
 which the passengers have fallen, though, doubt- 
 less, fear of infection influenced more or less. 
 
 Fowler, the blaspheming Vermonter, who 
 prayed so vehemently in our first gale, was 
 taken the same evening, and died soon after. 
 A Polish count, one of our foreign shipmates, 
 has also fallen a victim. 
 
 With such danger in our midst, the ship's 
 debt daily increasing, and the chances of leav- 
 ing port diminishing in the same ratio, a last 
 and more energetic effort has been made to 
 raise the money ; for bills must be paid, as the 
 authorities are strict in preventing the depart- 
 ure of any vessel in debt. A statement of 
 grievances was made, concluding with a re- 
 quest that the ship might be fitted out and 
 sent to sea, and the same put into the hands of 
 the consul. He seemed anxious to aid us, but 
 
11C * 
 
 AT SEA AGAIN. 
 
 could do nothing till bills were met. Accord- 
 ingly, fifteen hundred dollars were obtained in 
 contributions of from five to two hundred dol- 
 lars, some having sold their watches and other 
 valuables for the purpose of obtaining the 
 desired amount, and the whole appropriated 
 by Mr. Gilman to the cancellation of the ship's 
 demands. This has so incensed the captain 
 that he came on board threatening never to 
 leave port unless three thousand dollars were 
 raised and placed at his own disposal. 
 
 No notice was taken of his senseless threats, 
 but of course it causes detention, and many of 
 us are beginning to feel that our present mode 
 of life is not altogether the thing, however 
 pleasant it may be. 
 
 29th. — After various hinderances we are 
 once more at sea, having been on board some 
 time, with the daily hope and expectation of 
 leaving port. We weighed anchor in the 
 morning, but the afternoon only afforded us 
 sufficient breeze to make any progress. For a 
 time matters appeared dubious indeed. As a 
 British sloop of war, with her schooner consort, 
 
A HAPPY RIDDANCE. > 117 
 
 was seeking to intercept our course, for the 
 obvious reason that we had a deserter from 
 each. Upon nearing us they signified their 
 desire to search the ship, and were given full 
 permission by our commander, who gravely 
 asserted no such men were on board, though 
 at the very hour he knew perfectly well the 
 place of their secretion. After some little 
 hesitation they turned their course, leaving us 
 to pursue our quiet way. And now that we 
 are fairly out, and are rid of some of our worst 
 characters, we have hopes of completing our 
 voyage in comparative comfort. Eleven of 
 our original company are left behind, among 
 whom are the chief mate, our thievish steward, 
 Prince Paul, and several others, who await a 
 fairer opportunity of prosecuting their voyage. 
 
 Grant is our first mate, and " Big George," 
 our first volunteer, the second. 
 
 We have water, and a considerable stock of 
 fresh provisions, which the consul and com- 
 mittee together put on board, and made the 
 captain acknowledge as bought for the vessel, 
 before they were paid for. Many, like myself, 
 have private stores of fruit, and such miscel- 
 
118 
 
 VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 
 
 laneous articles as our means would enable us 
 to procure at Bahia. 
 
 30th. — Rough weather. The captain is evi- 
 dently trying to make himself agreeable ; in- 
 stituting inquiries in different parts of the ship 
 whether all are comfortable j if any thing is want- 
 ing, or wrong; but we, who have endured so much 
 in the past, are little inclined to cordiality. 
 
 A magazine has been discovered below, well 
 stored with fire-arms and various sorts of am- 
 munition ; knowledge of which has called out 
 a vigilance committee, composed of the same 
 men who have hitherto been the most promi- 
 nent in all organized action, and are supported 
 by the most intelligent and reliable of the pas- 
 sengers. Some one or more of these are on 
 deck, night and day, watching the condition 
 and progress of things in general, and ready 
 to rally assistance at once, in case of an out- 
 break. In order to prevent theft, it has like- 
 wise been enacted that thieves, when detected, 
 shall be posted upon the mizzenmast. 
 
 One of our deserters, it appears, is a "ser- 
 geant of marines" from the English sloop of 
 
A DESERTER. 119 
 
 war, and the other a sailor from the schooner ; 
 both strong, large men, and, withal, smart. 
 The former came on board through the influ- 
 ence of one of our men, whom he met in the 
 city; it being considered a point of honor 
 with a common sailor to help on a deserter. 
 The latter, however, had more to encounter. 
 He quietly let himself down from the schooner, 
 with his clothes attached, in a parcel, with the 
 intention of swimming to the ship, a distance 
 of two miles and a half — a feat he would 
 have performed had he not forgotten the ebb 
 tide in his calculations, which carried him in a 
 different direction from that he desired. 
 
 He shouted so loudly, he was heard, taken 
 up, and brought on board the Peytona, at his 
 own request, and is now at work with the men 
 in the forecastle, it being the usual practice to 
 dispose of them thus in such cases. The ser- 
 geant is a waiter in the first cabin. 
 
 May 1st. — I avail myself of the first oppor- 
 tunity to consider the history of Brazil in 
 general, giving its most important features, as 
 I obtained them from authentic sources. Noth- 
 
120 DESCRIPTION OF BRAZIL. 
 
 ing awakens a deeper interest in a country 
 than having visited it. Accounts of travelers 
 then become invested with special interest, 
 since comparisons are instituted, and the truth 
 tested by actual knowledge. Such is my inter- 
 est in the Brazilian empire, though personally 
 acquainted with only a portion of it. This 
 vast tract, second only in extent to the great 
 empires of China and Kussia, stretches along 
 about two thirds of the east coast of South 
 America, while its superficial area occupies 
 nearly half its whole extent. The country 
 formerly included under the name of Brazil 
 appears to have been much more limited in 
 extent ; but the Portuguese, ambitious of new 
 acquisitions, have continually added to their 
 possessions, which have been confirmed to 
 them, from time to time, by treaties with Spain. 
 
 About two thirds of the country is high 
 land and mountains ; the highest range of 
 which traverses the center, and is of an alti- 
 tude of six thousand feet. 
 
 The coast range, or Serra do Mar, is by far 
 the most picturesque of the Brazilian chains, 
 approaching in some parts within sixteen or 
 
SOIL AND CLIMATE. 121 
 
 eighteen miles of the sea, while in others it 
 sweeps inland to a distance of one hundred 
 and twenty to one hundred and forty miles. 
 
 The soil near the coast displays evidences 
 of the richest cultivation, teeming with abun- 
 dance of the choicest productions. The an- 
 cient forests, which have been noticed, whose 
 giant trees, and countless plants and shrubs, 
 so thickly interwoven as almost to defy the 
 attempts of man to force a passage, sufficiently 
 attest the great fertility of the soil on which 
 they grow. 
 
 But the soil as well as the climate exhibits 
 different phases in different parts of the coun- 
 try, being modified, in a great measure, by 
 certain natural conditions. The seasons may 
 very properly be styled " the wet and the 
 dry," though some divide them into four ; the 
 spring commencing in September, the sum- 
 mer in December, the autumn in March, and 
 the winter in June. 
 
 Langsdorff, the former Eussian consul at 
 Eio, remarking upon the seasons of Brazil, 
 says, " Winter, in this country, resembles sum- 
 mer in the north of Europe ; summer appears 
 11 
 
122 DIAMOND MINES. 
 
 one continuous spring, while spring and au- 
 tumn are unconsciously lost in winter and 
 summer." It may therefore be said of this 
 country, with more propriety than of any 
 other, that — 
 
 " Stern winter smiles on this auspicious clime ; 
 The fields are florid in eternal prime ; 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow, 
 Mold the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow ; 
 But from the breezy deep the groves inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the eastern gale." 
 
 The most celebrated, though not the most 
 important, of the natural productions, are dia- 
 monds; the most noted mine being that of 
 Serra do Frio. This district is surrounded by 
 almost inaccessible rocks, and was formerly 
 guarded with so much vigilance that not even 
 the governor of the province had the liberty 
 of entering it without the special permission of 
 the director of the mines. 
 
 The mines are usually wrought during the 
 hot season, at a time when the beds of the 
 rivers and torrents are dry, and the diamond 
 sand can be easily extracted. The operation 
 of washing is deferred till the wet season, and 
 is performed in the open air, or frequently 
 
 
GOLD MINES. 123 
 
 under sheds where the action of the sun is least 
 likely to injure the health of those concerned. 
 It is said to be a rare thing that one discovers 
 more than two or three diamonds of seven- 
 teen or twenty carats weight in the course 
 of a year, arid one may labor twice that 
 period without finding one of thirty carats 
 weight. 
 
 Down to the date of 1771 the right of work- 
 ing the mines was farmed out, but since that 
 time the government have taken it into their 
 own hands, and they are all under the superin- 
 tendence of a board. The crown receive one 
 fifth of the total value. 
 
 Gold also exists, though the greater portion 
 of the supposed mines remain untouched. 
 The most celebrated is that of Congo Loco, 
 situated in a beautiful valley, at the distance 
 of some forty leagues from Villarica. Bethen- 
 court, a Portuguese, was the first person who 
 commenced working these mines with his own 
 hands, in 1740, and soon amassed a splendid 
 fortune. His descendants disposed of them, 
 and finally they came into the possession of a 
 company of Englishmen, known as the " Anglo- 
 
124 PRODUCTS OF BRAZIL. 
 
 Brazilian Mining Company/' for ten thousand 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 The eagerness of all classes to engage in 
 mining pursuits, proved a great obstacle to the 
 improvement of the country, for a long time. 
 This rage having subsided in a great measure, 
 the energies of the people have been directed 
 to the safer and infinitely more productive oc- 
 cupations of the soil, so that the value of gold 
 and diamonds is quite inconsiderable now, com- 
 pared with that of various other articles. 
 
 Sugar and coffee are the staple products of 
 the country, and the culture of these has in- 
 creased with wonderful rapidity; and such is 
 the facility for commercial intercourse, that the 
 development of her resources may be con- 
 stantly and powerfully accelerated. Perhaps 
 no country is more favored by nature, as re- 
 gards the requisites for carrying on an exten- 
 sive commerce, than Brazil. 
 
 All its principal cities are on the coast : its 
 harbors are among the finest in the world, and 
 I are connected with the interior by many large 
 rivers, most of which are navigable for a con- 
 siderable way inland. 
 
EDUCATION, RELIGION, COMMERCE. 125 
 
 One lamentable feature in the history of the 
 country is a great want of schools, there being 
 no means by which even the children of the 
 middle classes can acquire any thing like a 
 really useful education. 
 
 It was not until 1808 that a printing press 
 was introduced, and a newspaper established. 
 Several publications are now issued, but, as 
 may be supposed, literature has few charms, 
 and is likely to find but little improvement 
 among such a people. 
 
 The established religion is the Eoman Catho- 
 lic; all other religions, however, being tol- 
 erated. 
 
 Considering the period during which Brazil 
 has been colonized, its vast extent and fertility, 
 the variety of its productions, and its favorable 
 situation for commerce, its progress in the 
 accumulation of wealth and population has 
 been very slow. Many circumstances combine 
 to bring about such a result; such as, " the 
 principles by which it was governed by the 
 mother country; the oppressive restrictions 
 laid on the trade and industry of the col- 
 onists, and, more than all the rest, the igno- 
 11* 
 
126 A WARNING. 
 
 ranee of the Portuguese, and their inferiority, 
 in respect to science and art, to most other 
 nations of Europe. 
 
 A brighter day is already dawning, and the 
 future may yet witness more rapid strides in 
 civilization than has yet been seen in the 
 history of any other people. 
 
 12th. — A young man, twenty-three years 
 of age, died to-day of delirium tremens. He was 
 an active, healthy fellow on leaving New 
 York, but indulged freely in the intoxicating 
 beverage on the way out, and during his stay 
 at Bahia. Soon after we set sail, he was 
 haunted night and day by the fiendish sights 
 and sounds of his disease, and his terrific 
 groans filled the ship. Last evening seemed 
 to bring an abatement of the delirium, and he 
 appeared on deck, very weak, and fully con- 
 scious that he was dying — a conviction which 
 brought him under the influence of rational 
 but even more appalling fears. He warned 
 all about him to beware of a similar course, 
 and left this world entreating us, with his last 
 breath, to pray for him. This dreadful death, 
 
 
A WET BERTH. 127 
 
 and the solemnity of our first ocean burial, 
 evidently produces a profound impression ; but 
 I fear it will prove transient, and the memory 
 of the dead and his misery be effaced, without 
 any transforming power upon those who so 
 much need to feel it 
 
 June 1st. — Weather warm and calm. The 
 main object of the passengers seems to be to 
 pass away time as comfortably as possible, and 
 for this purpose the most shady places are 
 selected, and retained not only during the day, 
 but till day dawns again. A sudden shower, 
 during the night, occasionally causes great 
 commotion. Most of those on deck follow 
 their first impulse and rush to the companion 
 way to escape a drenching, for a shower in the 
 tropics is a genuine a opening of the flood- 
 gates." Some cool and deliberate individuals, 
 however, like my friend Harman, remain un- 
 moved through it all. While trying to per- 
 suade him to leave his watery bed for one 
 more desirable in the cabin, he gave a faint 
 groan, and without opening his eyes, replied, 
 * 0, don't disturb me, if you please, I'm so com- 
 
128 EFFECTS OF MOONLIGHT. 
 
 Four months ago, nothing but the softest 
 bed would have sufficed for him ; now he can 
 take special comfort on a board, in a heavy rain 
 storm. So much for the power of adaptation 
 to circumstances. 
 
 There is a wonderful fascination in sailing 
 upon the ocean, before a gentle breeze, by the 
 clear moonlight, But beautiful as are the rays 
 of Luna, it is nevertheless dangerous to gaze 
 upon them unveiled, in the tropics. Some of 
 us paid no attention to the warnings of the 
 old sailors, and slept on deck with face and 
 eyes exposed, but have been visited, in conse- 
 quence, with swollen faces and sore eyes, ac- 
 companied with singular nervous irritation, 
 and involuntary twitching of the muscles — a 
 state of things produced, as our oracles say, by 
 being u frost-bitten by the moon." 
 
 So are some of the keenest delights of this 
 sublunary sphere mingled with almost death- 
 fraught evils; reminding us of the folly of 
 placing hopes of happiness on any of the un- 
 true things this side heaven. 
 
 2d. — This morning had a long call from a 
 
OBSTINACY OF THE CAPTAIN. 129 
 
 great right whale, almost as long as the ship. 
 It played about us in the most friendly man- 
 ner, apparently under the impression that we 
 were another whale, and our acquaintance 
 desirable. Had we been the fortunate owners 
 of a harpoon, we might have unpleasantly un- 
 deceived him. 
 
 No signs of land yet, although thirty-five 
 days out from Bahia; the average voyage 
 from this latter port to Cape Town being only 
 twenty-eight days. None seem to know where 
 we are. 
 
 The captain keeps all in ignorance with 
 respect to longitude. He has been navigating 
 in the most perverse manner, actually having 
 steered days at a time north, south, east, and 
 west, and every possible intermediate course, 
 since leaving Brazil, as if sailing all over the 
 Atlantic to find the cape. 
 
 Frivolous reasons are sometimes given for 
 such conduct, and sometimes none at all. 
 Many are confident of an intention to wreck 
 us on the coast of South America, with an eye 
 to securing the insurance of fourteen thousand 
 dollars upon the ship. 
 
130 NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 The captain has issued repeated threats of 
 late that he will destroy us in some way or 
 other, even intimating an intention to set fire 
 to the magazine. This aggravated outrage is 
 doubtless occasioned by our having forced him, 
 as we did, to leave Bahia. 
 
 11th. — This morning, as we were running 
 eastward at the rate of eight miles an hour, in 
 the midst of a dense fog, we were startled by 
 the cry of " Land ho ! Directly ahead." As 
 the mist was dissipated before the rising sun, 
 the rocky coast of Africa loomed up a few 
 miles before us. The ship was immediately 
 put about to the south-west, and thus we were 
 again rescued from imminent peril; or, as I 
 believe, from a diabolical scheme against the 
 ship and all within her. 
 
 For several hours stumps of trees and green 
 branches floated by us on the water, indicating 
 we were off the mouth of some river, probably 
 the Orange. While indulging in the anticipa- 
 tions of seeing land, a cry of a Fire ! — the 
 ship is all on fire in the hold ! " resounded 
 through the ship, which was followed by a 
 
THE SHIP ON FIRE. 131 
 
 general rush for the upper deck. In order to 
 preserve room for action, those above had 
 removed the ladder, which increased the fright 
 to a perfect frenzy, inasmuch as a column of 
 flame came leaping up at the instant, filling 
 the whole hatchway. Mysteriously to myself 
 I gained the deck, in season to hear "Big 
 George," our second mate, exclaim, in a com- 
 manding voice, " Do as I tell you, and 111 save 
 your lives." 
 
 The calm self-possession of the man, in such 
 an emergency, instantly secured him the im- 
 plicit obedience of all. Busy hands were 
 speedily at work passing water, with all the 
 rapidity that mortal fear could inspire ; but 
 nearly an hour elapsed before the flames were 
 sufficiently subdued to think of descending. 
 
 At the end of that time the bold mate went 
 down amid the black smoke and charred 
 freight, creeping about in the confined hold 
 among the cinders, suffocating atmosphere, and 
 struggling fire, distributing here and there 
 buckets of water that were passed to him, 
 until every vestige of a spark disappeared. 
 
 Anson Carrington, the steward, also merits 
 
132 ORIGIN OF THE FIRE. 
 
 particular credit for his intrepidity, in saving 
 us from danger at this fearful crisis. In the 
 midst of the tumult the cry was heard, " The 
 fire will reach the magazine!" While others 
 seemed paralyzed, he darted to the dangerous 
 spot, and in several attempts, succeeded in 
 depositing the ammunition in a place of com- 
 parative safety on a distant part of the deck. 
 
 It was long before quiet was restored, but 
 with it came many speculations as to the origin 
 of the fire. A searching investigation was 
 held, resulting in the revelation that one of 
 the ship's boys had been in the practice of 
 stealing through the place with a lamp, for the 
 purpose of obtaining some liquor ; and being 
 frightened, had dropped it, and thereby occa- 
 sioned our distress. As a sort of penalty, he 
 has been confined ; but the jolly songs that he 
 sings is proof that his imprisonment is any 
 thing but irksome to him. There is indignant 
 talk, but the seamen are under no control, and 
 we dare not meddle with them, neither the 
 captain nor mates; and the only practicable 
 course seems to be, to keep on the right side 
 of them, if possible, and get along as easily as 
 
OUR UNTHANKFULNESS. 133 
 
 we can. Our escape is even more wonderful 
 than our preservation from shipwreck. Had 
 the liquor casks taken fire, no human power 
 could have saved the ship, and scarcely, by any 
 possibility, the lives ; having but two boats, and 
 those in a miserable condition. 
 
 The ship, which was headed toward the land 
 at the first alarm, has once more been laid on 
 her course ; and the confusion of weeping and 
 congratulation, wonder and inquiry, has suc- 
 ceeded to the agonizing screams of the two 
 hours passed on the confines of a fearful 
 death. 
 
 This is another signal interposition of Prov- 
 idence in our favor, yet no one says any thing 
 of thankfulness for our deliverance. The many 
 vicissitudes we have experienced, the hardships 
 and dangers encountered, so far from inciting 
 us to right action, have, as it were, crusted our 
 minds with a sort of insensibility to all consid- 
 erations except those of the present moment. 
 Memory, gratitude, and hope have alike grown 
 dim with us all. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A LUNAR BOW. — TERRIFIC STORM. — LANDING AT CAPE 
 
 TOWN. RAMBLES ABOUT THE CITY. — IMPRISONMENT 
 
 OF THE CAPTAIN. VISIT TO SEYOLA, THE KAFFIR 
 
 CHIEF. — A PRAYER MEETING ON SHIPBOARD. 
 
 15th. — A calm, clear, and beautiful day. 
 Early this morning R F., of New York, a 
 young man of twenty-six, came to his death by 
 disease caused by dissipation at Bahia. He was 
 a merry, lively fellow, with a smile and a joke 
 for every one; and his early, unhappy death 
 has thrown a shade of melancholy over every 
 body. After breakfast, all assembled to pay 
 the last tribute of respect to his mortal remains, 
 and witness his burial in the great cemetery of 
 the deep — the mighty ocean. The usual ser- 
 vice was read, and the corpse, with a fearful 
 plunge, sank into the sea, there to rest till the 
 archangel's trump shall awake the sleeping 
 millions and call them to judgment. 
 
 (134) 
 
SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 135 
 
 17th. — Passengers are disposed to put into 
 Cape Town, and a petition has been drawn up 
 and presented to the captain with this request, 
 at least that it might be done for provisions 
 and water, as we are again placed on a quart 
 allowance, and that so slimy it is scarcely en- 
 durable. We have food of no description suf- 
 ficient to last the voyage through, especially 
 at present rates of sailing ; for we have already 
 been from Bahia long enough to have reached 
 Australia under ordinary circumstances. 
 
 Many felt like saying, " We must and will 
 go to Cape Town, and are prepared, if neces- 
 sary, to rise and take the ship, and carry it 
 through ourselves." The captain objects for 
 no apparent reason but to indulge his ca- 
 pricious and reckless temper. 
 
 How can we expect any thing but ruin with 
 such a captain, an insubordinate crew, and all 
 the dangers which rum can possibly cause, 
 staring us in the face ? 
 
 22d. — At eleven, A. M., the joyful cry of 
 " land " was again heard. It was Table Moun- 
 tain, the three distinct summits of which are 
 
136 A. NEW DANGER. 
 
 visible in clear weather at a distance of forty 
 miles. The heavy fog only permitted us an 
 occasional glimpse, though we were much 
 nearer than this ; yet it was sufficient to cause 
 much excitement. While beating about, a 
 small coasting sloop hailed us, with the infor- 
 mation that we were nearing an extensive 
 reef, and, of course, in new and close proximity 
 to danger. After considerable solicitation; the 
 captain was prevailed upon to take one of her 
 men on board as pilot, though it was a sullen 
 consent. Left to ourselves we should have 
 probably been dashed to pieces in one half 
 hour more, on the horn of a reef across which 
 our course would have taken us. As it was, 
 we quickly made the mouth of the harbor, or 
 rather roadstead, for Cape Town is one of the 
 most dangerous places for anchorage, called a 
 harbor, in the whole world. Not being safe to 
 run in this evening we shall lay off until 
 morning, eagerly wishing for the wasting of 
 the lagging hours. 
 
 23d. — A most magnificent and striking ap- 
 pearance was visible in the heavens last night, 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE HEAVENS. 137 
 
 upon which we gazed with intense interest — 
 a species of lunar bow. The sky was full of 
 small, detached clouds of a threatening and 
 watery aspect. The moon herself was not 
 visible, her place being known only as the 
 center of a circular area of colored light. This 
 was bounded by a large and broad ring of rich 
 and strongly-defined prismatic colors, the space 
 within which was filled with an indescribably 
 gorgeous display of mingled and endlessly- 
 shifting masses of the same color, varying and 
 blending like the forms in a gigantic kaleido- 
 scope, yet with a steady motion, instead of the 
 precipitate changes of that instrument. Even 
 far without the ring, the sullen faces of the 
 clouds were flecked and tinged with the same 
 bright hues. 
 
 There were evidently two distinct strata of 
 these u cirri? and they were racing in opposite 
 directions. The partial openings and inter- 
 lacings of these two across the broad, pale disk 
 of light in the moon's place, formed a strange 
 and startling play, taking to themselves vari- 
 ous intricate combinations, like the wheels 
 within wheels one sometimes sees in brilliant 
 12* 
 
138 A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT. 
 
 fireworks. It was altogether a rich and rare 
 spectacle. 
 
 This morning we had a heavy gale and high 
 sea, making it dangerous to be in the harbor, 
 though anchored. We were utterly weary with 
 the sea, and were all desirous of running in, 
 even at the risk of our lives, hoping we might 
 be fortunate enough to plant our feet once 
 more upon land. The pilot, a weather-beaten 
 old Dutchman, thought it a matter of doubt if 
 we were able to land, but if we said so, he 
 would try. We said so — he put her before the 
 wind, and at a terrific rate we surged along 
 upon the immense seas, under close-reefed top- 
 sails, passed the long line of breakers by the 
 Lion's Rump, and dropped anchor abreast of 
 the town. In less than two hours the cus- 
 tom-house officers and the consul, George S. 
 Holmes, Esq., came on board in a boat. We 
 were told we had performed a most presump- 
 tuous -and hazardous experiment ; that we had 
 been watched from Telegraph Hill, with the 
 most intense anxiety, in the momentary expec- 
 tation that we should be swamped, or dashed 
 to pieces upon the rocks. In a little time, not- 
 
CAPE TOWN. 139 
 
 withstanding the heavy sea, a majority of the 
 passengers went on shore, — preferring the 
 dangerous risk of landing, and a bath in the 
 surf, rather than to wait on board a day or two 
 longer. On landing, our eyes were greeted 
 with the sight of a familiar thing — the schooner 
 Euphrasia, of New York, bound for Australia, 
 which we had left at Bahia, but was now in 
 the harbor before us. 
 
 29th. — Our first inclination upon landing at 
 Cape Town was to ramble about the place, and 
 feast our eyes with such land luxuries as we 
 could find. We found the town to be regu- 
 larly laid out, containing several good squares ; 
 broad and straight streets, crossing each other 
 at right angles, many of them watered by 
 canals, planted on either side with trees, in the 
 Dutch fashion. The houses are mostly built 
 of brick or granite, flat-roofed, and chiefly white, 
 with green windows; being large and airy, 
 w T ith an elevated terrace in front, and small 
 gardens in the rear. British residents in India 
 frequently resort hither for their health; so the 
 town has generally the appearance of bustle 
 
140 POPULATION OF CAPE TOWN. 
 
 and gayety. The environs are picturesque, 
 and many beautiful gardens, laid out between 
 it and the surrounding mountains, add very 
 much to the pleasing effect. 
 
 The population is said to be thirty thousand, 
 made up, as we thought, of every conceivable 
 nation on earth ; for we were not long in dis- 
 covering Dutch, Hottentots, Malays, Abyssini- 
 ans, Chinese, and English. We also noticed 
 liveried persons, hanging on to the back of ele- 
 gant carriages, and coachmen in the same garb 
 of servitude ; so there is evidently aristocracy 
 in Cape Town. 
 
 The pronunciation of this place, as I learned 
 it at school, I find to be erroneous, the people 
 here pronouncing it as a word of two syllables, 
 with the accent on the first instead of the last, 
 as we are accustomed to make it. It looks out 
 west and north upon the open sea, from a level 
 plain between the shore and Table Mountain, 
 which stretches behind it, and continues south 
 and west in an irregular curve, until it ends at 
 the southern point of the bay, in the disjoint- 
 ed, rounded summit, called the Lion's Rump. 
 The town has a pervadingly English aspect, 
 
ARISTOCRACY, CA! 
 
THE MALAYS OF CAPE TOWN. 141 
 
 though very much modified by the people and 
 accessories of the numerous other races that 
 inhabit it. Being a military station, its streets 
 seem, to us Americans, literally to swarm with 
 officers and sentinels on duty. 
 
 Of the ten thousand slender, swarthy Malays, 
 some few are intelligent and wealthy; most, 
 however, are an exceedingly stupid set, retain- 
 ing all their slothful orientalisms, and taking 
 no thought for the morrow. They, as well as 
 the Hottentots, and other races not of Euro- 
 pean blood, generally called " coolies," are 
 governed by a special class of enactments, 
 copies of which are posted conspicuously over 
 the town, on large sign-boards, six feet square, 
 like the rates on a toll bridge or turnpike gate ; 
 prescribing their wages, hours of daily labor, 
 weight of burdens to be carried, &c. Any one 
 desirous of having a piece of work performed, 
 may call upon any of these not otherwise ac- 
 tively employed, and set them at work for the 
 legal time, at legal rates, and in case of refusal 
 they are imprisoned. 
 
 Our second day in town was spent mostly in 
 the Botanic Garden, really a "scientific para- 
 
142 THE BOTANIC GARDEN. 
 
 dise," — if there is such a place, — perhaps tin- 
 equaled in interest by any of its size in the 
 •^orld. It covers an area of twenty acres, on 
 one side of the magnificent avenue, so called, 
 and directly opposite the stately Government 
 House, the official residence of the governor 
 of Cape Colony. The garden is in bloom the 
 year round ; and coming in the middle of it 
 we find the camellias (the size of thrifty peach 
 trees) perfect masses of blossoms ; the walks 
 bordered with monthly roses, orange and 
 lemon trees, filling the air with perfume ; Cape 
 jessamines, lilies, and innumerable varieties of 
 geraniums, in full flower. If such is mid-win- 
 ter, what must the splendor of summer be ? 
 
 Our first Sabbath, we attended service at 
 St. George's Cathedral, which stands within 
 the gate of the avenue, adjoining the grounds 
 of the Government House. The music was, 
 perhaps, the most impressive part of the ser- 
 vice to us, the chanting being performed by a 
 choir of boys, with sweet and well-trained 
 voices. The sacred quiet of the place, to- 
 gether with the delicious music, deeply affected 
 our hearts, and awakened within us many 
 
 
AN ACQUAINTANCE FORMED. 143 
 
 thoughts and feelings which had become tor- 
 pid, in the foul and unwholesome atmosphere 
 of our godless ship. Souls, like steel, rust 
 under certain corroding circumstances. 
 
 Good fortune, I find, has not wholly forsaken 
 me. Through the influence of one of our 
 shipmates I have formed a pleasant and profit- 
 able acquaintance with a young English officer 
 but lately returned from an expedition, with 
 his regiment, into the Kaffir country. Being 
 one of two or three invited to his home, we 
 found it a cottage, three miles from the town, on 
 the Wynberg road, literally covered with roses, 
 geraniums, and jessamines; situated upon a 
 small eminence, overlooking the town and the 
 limitless Atlantic beyond. His pretty young 
 wife and children met us at the door, and wel- 
 comed us cordially to the hospitalities of their 
 home. After a luxurious dinner we related 
 to him the story of our sufferings and hair- 
 breadth escapes, receiving in return narratives 
 of adventures in the field, for ours upon the 
 flood. A bunch of assegais and arrows, tipped 
 with virulent poison, a stout Kaffir bow, a war 
 club with a round head, set with sharp knobs, 
 
144 KAFFIR WARFARE. 
 
 like the old German u morgenstern," hung 
 upon the wall. 
 
 Sitting beneath these pagan trophies, he dis- 
 played to us the complete suit of stout leather 
 in which he made the campaign against the 
 Kaffirs, and told us the occurrences of the war, 
 in which we were much interested. The troops 
 had notice at one time, it seems, of a body of 
 Kaffirs concealed in the depths of a vast forest, 
 and immediately marched against them. 
 
 Advancing as far as possible with horses, 
 they left them guarded, and went forward 
 through the dense " chapparal," as they call it, 
 having borrowed a word from Mexico, seem- 
 ingly, to serve their purpose. The low trees 
 and underbrush becoming at last too thick to 
 be penetrated, they actually scrambled a mile 
 or two over their tops, as we had done through 
 the masses of undergrowth in the forests of 
 Brazil, came by surprise upon the enemy, and 
 routed them with considerable loss. It is gen- 
 erally found, however, to be useless to operate 
 against these hardy and athletic foemen with 
 any thing less rapid and efficient than cav- 
 alry. 
 
CUMBROUS TEAMS. 145 
 
 An invitation to protract our stay as we 
 chose was gladly accepted, and the next morn- 
 ing found us on an excursion before breakfast, 
 in company with our host. The first thino- 
 that attracted our attention was the huge 
 wagons of the Cape, the dimensions of which 
 may be imagined by the size of the largest 
 wheels, which are sometimes ten feet high, 
 with a hub like a hogshead, and an enormous 
 iron tire a foot in width. These gigantic ve- 
 hicles are drawn by twelve, twenty, and even 
 thirty cattle, guided by two or three men, who 
 make long journeys to and from the country 
 with produce, finding particular convenience 
 in their wide wheels, which enable them to 
 pass over the loose, shifting sands, which they 
 sometimes find on their return, in hills of ten 
 feet, where they had before found a hard and 
 level road. 
 
 The oxen are longer limbed than ours, with 
 narrow, wild-looking faces, and immense horns 
 bending upwards and outwards with a para- 
 bolic curve ; sometimes five and six feet in 
 length, and spreading so as to measure more 
 than ten feet, 
 
 13 
 
146 AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 After an hour or two of rambling we returned 
 to breakfast. These pleasant social meals at 
 table are a wonderful luxury to us, after our 
 long condemnation to the vulgar method of 
 carrying our food to a corner to eat. We sat 
 a long time enjoying it, though we had in 
 prospect an excursion to Table Mountain, reck- 
 oned a good day's jaunt. We started rather 
 late, and strolled leisurely up the slopes toward 
 the mountain, passing ponds overgrow r n with 
 calla ^Ethiopia, as thick and weed-like as pond 
 lilies at home. 
 
 As we passed through a grove of African 
 pine we met two seafaring men, rambling 
 about like ourselves, in one of whom, to my 
 surprise, I recognized Captain McDowell, of the 
 schooner Euphrasia. We had a long inter- 
 view, conversing upon various matters, during 
 which he informed me of his. intention to open 
 business in Australia, having a full, assorted 
 cargo of goods, groceries, and liquors for that 
 purpose, and concluded by offering to furnish 
 me a stock of merchandise on excellent terms, 
 if I wished to enlist in that direction. But 
 finding that the sale of the " fiery element" 
 
VISIT TO TABLE MOUNTAIN. 147 
 
 would be a necessary department of the busi- 
 ness, I declined the undertaking. 
 
 Only two of the company ascended the 
 mountain, as it began to grow foggy, and the 
 precipitous and rugged character of it render 
 it exceedingly dangerous at such times, beside 
 shutting out the prospect. 
 
 They wandered about till they found them- 
 selves in the u table cloth," a heavy, dense fog, 
 which often envelops the summit. They had 
 discretion, however, to follow the rules for such 
 cases ; sat quietly down, and remained folded 
 in their cool blanket through the night, and 
 returned in the morning chilled, weary, and 
 hungry ; glad to escape the fate of one who 
 had some time before been dashed to pieces 
 upon the rugged rocks below, by attempting 
 to find his way down. 
 
 Wynberg road is a favorite walk with us, 
 being the most perfect I have ever seen — 
 built in the thorough, macadamized manner of 
 the English — well-graded, even, smooth, hard, 
 with very little dust, and a surface almost inky 
 black. 
 
 It is lined on both sides, a distance of almost 
 
148 INTERVIEW WITH THE KAFFIR CHIEF. 
 
 eight miles, with cottages and country seats, 
 gardens, vineyards, and parks, all very neatly 
 kept and in high cultivation. 
 
 In the Wynberg prison is confined Seyolo, 
 the Kaffir chief, long the most powerful ruler 
 in that part of Africa, and the worst enemy of 
 the English colony. About five months since, 
 he voluntarily surrendered himself to govern- 
 ment, and has since been kept in confinement. 
 Gaining permission to visit him, we entered 
 his cell, when he arose, extended his hand, 
 and gave us a cordial greeting. He appears 
 about twenty-seven years of age, being six feet 
 and one inch in height, and of the most per- 
 fect proportions. His skin is quite dark, his 
 head well-formed and high, his eye full, mild, 
 and expressive ; his mouth really beautiful, and 
 his teeth of pure whiteness. Altogether, his 
 countenance expresses fine and manly feelings, 
 and much intelligence ; not any thing of the 
 savage nature and habits we had expected to 
 read in it. 
 
 He has several wives, one of whom is with 
 him — a shy little creature of sixteen, with a 
 beautiful hand and full, dark eyes. She gazed 
 
INDEPENDENCE DAY. 149 
 
 » 
 
 upon us a moment, and then coiling herself, 
 like a serpent, in her blanket, remained out 
 of sight, silent and motionless, until we de- 
 parted. 
 
 Various are the places we have visited, 
 and the excursions we have made, while with 
 this pleasant family; but such detentions are 
 not what we desire, provided we could have 
 tolerable arrangements in a direct voyage to 
 Australia — the place of our destination. 
 
 July 4th was ushered in by a glorious anni- 
 versary sunrise. Although in a foreign port, 
 and a military station, the Americans and lov- 
 ers of liberty were wide awake for a celebra- 
 tion. The port regulations would not permit 
 a salute to be fired ; consequently their enthu- 
 siasm was spent in a dinner, spiced with music, 
 speeches, &c. 
 
 We had intended to sail this afternoon ; 
 indeed, we were ready to sail four days after 
 entering this port, and should have done so, 
 but the French passengers lodged a protest 
 against the captain, with the consul, charging 
 him with trying to run the ship ashore twice, 
 13* 
 
150 HEAVY SEAS. 
 
 * 
 
 as well as several other violations of duty. 
 Upon this he was imprisoned, and was only 
 liberated by the intervention of passengers 
 who desired to be on their way, and not from 
 any good will to him. 
 
 He is determined to revenge, in some way 
 or other ; and of course it is an obstacle to our 
 progress. 
 
 10th. — We were, through much difficulty, 
 able to go out to sea on the 5th. The seas, in 
 this part of the ocean, are the heaviest in the 
 world ; and w r ithin a few moments there will 
 arise around us such billows as I never dreamed 
 of before. At seven, last evening, the wind 
 began to rise, the clouds to wear a lurid aspect, 
 which was soon followed by rolling thunder 
 and flashing lightning. The vessel was thrown 
 upon her beam ends, and a leak forced its way 
 through ; but this was soon remedied, and we 
 are still alive, through the infinite mercy of 
 Him who rules the winds and waves. 
 
 17th. — We have passed through a storm 
 fearful indeed. The heavens grew dark, filled 
 
TERRIFIC STORM. 151 
 
 with clouds like the lurid masses from which 
 the first heavy burst of rain sometimes falls 
 in our summer thunder storms at home, but 
 beyond measure more vast and threatening in 
 aspect, and rapid in movement. It appeared 
 as if each were a reservoir of a hideous tem- 
 pest, discharging their streams upon us, and 
 the water about us, with such power as to 
 send us careering upon the bounding waves 
 in utter confusion. I saw repeatedly two of 
 these precipitous waves sweeping toward us at 
 once, curling high above our low bulwarks 
 from opposite sides, apparently ready to break 
 upon our heads, when we would slide beyond 
 them, or rise nearly to their summit upon some 
 third billow, that lifted us from below like some 
 gigantic hand. 
 
 Sometimes, from the top of a mountain wave, 
 I could look for miles over the vast ocean 
 desert, and the next moment would find us 
 buried in the depths beneath. 
 
 Night closed around us, and the storm 
 abated not in the least. The black heavens 
 were above us, and the angry seas beneath, 
 while around us on every side swept the furi- 
 
152 the captain's despair. 
 
 ous wind. The situation of two hundred souls, 
 — men, women, and children, — shut up in a 
 little space below, thrown helplessly hither 
 and thither for so many desperate hours, was 
 painful in the extreme. 
 
 While endeavoring to administer some com- 
 fort to some of the feebler victims, I heard a 
 crash on deck, followed by the sound of rush- 
 ing water through the thick planking on deck. 
 Repairing to the spot, I found the jib-boom 
 and fore-topmast had been carried away, the 
 former gone overboard; the latter, tangled with 
 rigging and shattered spars, lay across the bul- 
 warks. The captain appeared with a face 
 w T hiter than I ever supposed his red visage 
 could ever be, and exclaimed, "0 God, all is 
 lost!" 
 
 He ordered the main spencer to be set, and 
 went into the cabin, making an effort to con- 
 dole with the passengers, the extremity of the 
 danger having, for once, made him really hu- 
 man. Our condition was now known to all, 
 and the scene in the crowded cabin was solemn 
 indeed ; for the expectation was universal that 
 the gigantic seas would soon finish what the 
 
A SOLEMN SCENE. 153 
 
 wind had' begun. A short consultation among 
 those who held the sustaining hopes of the 
 gospel, and w r ere therefore free from the abject 
 fears and lamentations of others, resulted in a 
 decision to hold a meeting for prayer in our 
 extremity. The suggestion was eagerly re- 
 ceived, and an Englishman named Croke, a 
 local Methodist preacher, together with Buck- 
 ley and myself, conducted a service brief and 
 simple, but earnest enough, being made im- 
 pressive by its dreadful reality. 
 
 Vfe reminded the groaning and weeping 
 company of their loose, ungodly lives, and 
 great wickedness, even on this voyage, and 
 urged the duty of immediate repentance, and 
 looking to God for mercy. 
 
 It was also said, — and it was my own firm 
 belief, — that we had not been brought so far on 
 our way, through such imminent perils, to be 
 destroyed now. 
 
 We reminded them of the two escapes from 
 shipwreck on the coast ; of the third on the 
 South African reef; the fourth, in, entering Table 
 Bay ; the fifth, in the calm after we had left it ; 
 of our providential supplies of water north of 
 
154 PRAYERS FOR DELIVERANCE. 
 
 the line ; of the still more wonderful salvation 
 from death by fire ; and by thus presenting 
 the hopes which animated us, we calmed, in 
 some measure, the general fright. 
 
 The captain himself summoned all hands to 
 a second meeting of the same kind afterward, 
 and was one of the most attentive hearers. 
 The evening witnessed a third no less earnest 
 and serious. The homely prayers and ill-sung 
 psalms could not but have a solemn meaning, 
 when the starving, drenched, weary, and dis- 
 pirited congregation were thrown every mo- 
 ment hither and thither by the tempests of 
 Him whom they addressed — when they asked 
 preservation from danger against which human 
 effort w r as utterly powerless — which threat- 
 ened to bury them speedily in the depths of 
 the sea. The women wept quietly ; the men 
 prayed and groaned, and even the weather- 
 beaten face of our wicked old commander was 
 wet with unaccustomed tears. 
 
 At the close of the service the hurricane 
 was still at its height, and the same enormous 
 seas still breaking over our dismantled ship. 
 At midnight, however, there was a sudden 
 
THANKS FOR PRESERVATION. 155 
 
 change. The clouds were dissipated and scat- 
 tered ; the wind and the sea fell with a strange 
 rapidity, the whole appearing no less than a 
 signal answer to prayer, which called forth a 
 service of thanksgiving this morning — the 
 first Sabbath observance among the ship's com- 
 pany for nearly six months. 
 
 20th. — Various expedients have been re- 
 sorted to, for the purpose of repairing the 
 damage done to the ship ; but most of the ex- 
 periments prove insufficient as yet. By means 
 of a floating spar, we are heading toward the 
 tsle of France — have made about fifty miles. 
 
 24th. — Fine weather. The captain himself 
 made arrangements for "church service," and 
 tolled the bell as the summons to divine wor- 
 ship. Croke gave us a short and sensible dis- 
 course, from Eev. xxii. 1 and 2 verses. 
 
 The dangers so recently escaped, our present 
 disabled condition on a vessel little better than 
 a wreck, the unknown perils to be met before 
 we reach our anticipated port, the chances that 
 we never reach it, or any other, are ample 
 
156 LAND SEEN. 
 
 reasons for seriousness in our audience. Yet I 
 cannot avoid the painful conviction that most 
 of them are frightened into solemnity for the 
 time being. 
 
 28th. — Surely no one ever penned a truer 
 line, than that "joy and sorrow meet together." 
 It is verily so, we thought, as a thrill of joy 
 went through every heart, at the cry of " land," 
 this morning, and almost a moment after saw 
 the assembled company on deck witnessing 
 themselves slowly drifting toward the shore of 
 Madagascar, upon a heavy swell. 
 
 The captain ordered another effort to be 
 made to get the first jury rudder into efficient 
 operation. After an hour or two of cutting, 
 carving, and hoisting, the attempt succeeded, 
 amid tears and cheers of the whole ship's com- 
 pany. Through the day, however, we gradu- 
 ally approached the land, and at evening could 
 plainly see the rugged outlines and green 
 forests of the hills near the coast, and the suc- 
 cessive ranges that rose one behind another 
 toward the interior. 
 
 A light breeze, springing up, has carried us 
 
SICKNESS. 157 
 
 out to sea again, saving us, in all human proba- 
 bility, not only from shipwreck, but from the 
 weapons and teeth of the cannibals who in- 
 habit this part of the coast. 
 
 August 5th. — This monotony and suspense, 
 together with the scarcity of water and pro- 
 visions, are producing an unfavorable effect 
 upon many minds and bodies. Nervous com- 
 plaints are becoming frequent among men, 
 women, and children. Moreover, we have de- 
 tected the terrible signs of scurvy, but have 
 agreed to keep this startling news to ourselves, 
 at least for the present, confining our efforts to 
 the maintenance of good spirits, and some 
 degree of healthful activity among our sickly 
 and discouraged passengers. 
 
 6th. — A strange apathy and indifference 
 has settled down upon nearly all. Our long 
 series of disappointments and hardships has 
 seemed to render hearts callous, and deaden 
 the sensibilities of many. Nearly half are sick 
 with a slow kind of ship fever, the result of 
 general exhaustion from mental suffering and 
 14 
 
158 NEW MODE OF TREATING THE DYING. 
 
 physical debility. Thin, yellow, haggard faces, 
 wearing the most woe-begone looks, are plenty. 
 Some neither wash nor go for their daily 
 rations — one quart of water, the same quan- 
 tity of rice, a little miserable bread, and salt 
 junk. One poor fellow really set himself about 
 dying. He has lain in his bunk, obstinately 
 refusing to go on deck, or even move about 
 for any purpose whatever. This excited con- 
 siderable feeling, as, in the general unhealthi- 
 ness, one such case might prove disastrous 
 indeed. Having a brother-in-law of more 
 cheerfulness than himself, who saw what was 
 needed, he took a friend or two, and proceeded 
 to the couch of Bob, saluting him in a strong 
 and hopeful voice — "Halloa ! What's all this ? 
 H'ist out there, Bob ! " A groan accompanied 
 the feeble answer, "I can't — I'm dying." 
 
 His visitors, considering that no unnecessary 
 dying could be allowed on the ship, actually 
 laid hands upon him, forced him upon deck, 
 where they subjected him to a thorough bath, 
 which he very much needed. Although the 
 operation was any thing but agreeable, it has 
 produced a favorable result, and he is now 
 
THE ISLE OF BOURBON. 159 
 
 doing well. This day we sighted Bourbon, but 
 with a head wind. The view, however, gives 
 us a gleam of hope that we may succeed in 
 reaching the Isle of France. 
 
 9th. — Yesterday we could discover trees 
 and houses on the Bourbon Island, and the 
 Picton de Nevis rising majestically above the 
 other hills, furrowed throughout the whole 
 ascent with many deep ravines and gorges, 
 while here and there we could see small streams 
 wandering down its sides. The sight really 
 revived our spirits ; but to-day we are blown off 
 to sea again, and shall therefore have more 
 difficulty in making the Isle of France. Our 
 rudder chains have corroded rapidly upon the 
 ship's copper, and have had to be successively 
 replaced with such as could be spared from the 
 rigging. Our last one from the main rigging 
 has been put on, and in case of a heavy gale, 
 our situation would be truly appalling. We 
 can only trust in God. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ENTER THE HARBOR OF PORT LOUIS. — VISIT AT THE 
 ISLE OP FRANCE. — GRAVE OF HARRIET NEWELL. — 
 A MALABAR FUNERAL. — ENTER THE BRIG NAUTILUS. 
 — LAND AT MELBOURNE. 
 
 " O, who can tell save he whose heart hath tried, 
 And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide, 
 The exulting sense — the pulse's maddening play — 
 That thrills the wanderer of the trackless way." 
 
 Thus sang Byron; but methinks he would 
 never have written of the u deep and dark-blue 
 ocean" with as much serenity and enthusiasm 
 had he been tossed upon the " bounding waste/' 
 in a miserable bark like ours, with the ever- 
 recurring expectation of sinking in the depths, 
 without a grave — "unknelled, uncoffined, and 
 unknown." 
 
 The "triumph" and the "exultation" were 
 more certainly ours on sight of land, when a 
 near view of the much-wished-for isle greeted 
 us on the 15th, as will be seen from this date. 
 
 (160) 
 
ATTRACTIVE VIEW. 161 
 
 Its whole outline is singular and striking, 
 being broken with many jagged, pointed peaks, 
 among which Peter Botte, with his straight 
 shaft and high-capped summit, is king. The 
 winter rains have left the island clothed in a 
 mantle of fresh green. 
 
 To us half-starved, sea-worn wretches, the 
 scene is as lovely as the Delectable Hills to 
 Bunyan's poor pilgrims; and we gaze with 
 profound delight upon the mountain tops ; the 
 misty clouds above them, and their sloping 
 sides, dotted with plantations and villas, varie- 
 gated with the bright colors of growing crops. 
 
 16th. — No sleep last night, for anxiety, 
 hope, and fear. All hands were watching for 
 the dawn; an incessant lookout being main- 
 tained for fear of reefs, as no one on board is 
 acquainted with this part of the Indian Ocean. 
 We were all night within a few miles of port, 
 and at dawn, the breeze being very light and 
 not favorable, we hoisted a signal of distress, 
 and fired guns for any steamer that might be 
 inside, this being one of the English mail 
 stations. 
 
 14* 
 
1(12 ARRIVAL IN PORT. 
 
 In an hour or two a black steamship, from 
 the Red Sea, came to our assistance, and towed 
 us into the harbor of Port Louis, — -a rusty, 
 ragged, dirty set of us, — with our fair propor- 
 tions sadly disfigured by the rickety little jury 
 spars forward — an ungainly and w 7 oful spec- 
 tacle. 
 
 A crowd, attracted by the sound of our guns, 
 were gathered upon the mole to witness our 
 arrival. The French, English, and American 
 consuls came on board soon after we reached 
 our anchorage, and more astonishment was 
 never visible in human countenances than in 
 theirs, as they beheld the wan faces and tat- 
 tered costumes of the passengers, the stripped 
 and sea-beaten aspect of our shattered bul- 
 warks and maimed spars, and the unheard-of 
 number stowed away in our small quarters. 
 
 A brief examination drew from them the 
 remark that we ought to be thankful to God 
 that we had ever reached any port at all, in 
 such a miserable condition. Their sympathies 
 were so effectually excited, they offered to 
 provide houses for our convenience and coin- 
 fort on shore, each for his own nation. Some 
 
SYMPATHY OF THE PEOPLE. 163 
 
 left the ship at once, but most of us have re- 
 mained till sent for, being entirely destitute of 
 money. 
 
 We are anchored near a Scotch vessel, which 
 arrived two weeks before us, having been out 
 in the same gale in which we lost our rudder. 
 She was swept clean from stem to stern of 
 bulwarks, deck houses, sails, and every thing 
 except her bare spars, and the same time lost 
 a passenger and sailor. She too is bound for 
 Australia, and is in for repairs. 
 
 All day we have received visits from the 
 citizens of the place, and from neighboring 
 vessels. Many friendly people, hearing of our 
 destitution, have brought and distributed among 
 us quantities of delicious fruit — a most wel- 
 come gift. 
 
 Early in the evening, some, desirous of en- 
 joying themselves at every possible opportunity, 
 commenced an entertainment of vocal and in- 
 strumental music ; and with songs, speeches, 
 and cheering, the moonlight jubilee has lasted 
 long. It is almost like a transition from pur- 
 gatory to paradise. The dreary experiences of 
 the past are forgotten ; and so, alas ! is the 
 
164 OUR MISERABLE CONDITION. 
 
 hand of God who brought us through them. 
 Once safe in port, and sure of going ashore 
 to-morrow, nothing is heard or remembered of 
 prayers or thanksgivings. Such is man's in- 
 gratitude. 
 
 25th. — Early on the 17th, the captain came 
 with two scows, one for us and another for our 
 baggage. In a few moments we were landed 
 upon the stone steps leading into the cus- 
 tom house. Here our beggarly chattels were 
 drawn up and submitted to the inspection of 
 the government officials, who lumped them all 
 together as a parcel of trash, not worth im- 
 posing a duty on. Poor as they were, they 
 w r ere, nevertheless, indispensable to us; and 
 securing them as best we could, we marched 
 through the heart of the crowded and curious 
 city to our allotted abodes, presenting an ap- 
 pearance, it must be acknowledged, somewhat 
 like prison birds, with our negligent sea clothes, 
 and despairing expressions, induced by our 
 long train of suffering, and graven so deeply 
 as not to be effaced by even twenty hours of 
 physical comfort and safety. 
 
GOOD ACCOMMODATIONS. 165 
 
 Indeed, reflection brought but little gladness, 
 for most of us were absolutely penniless, hav- 
 ing spent all our funds in outfit, passage 
 money, subscribing to pay the ship's bills, or 
 current expenses. 
 
 We were directed to a large stone store- 
 house, one hundred and twenty-five feet in 
 length, nearly full of goods, with an airy gar- 
 ret, loosely floored, which was to be our home 
 for a little time. We at once "located" upon 
 separate portions of the floor, arranged our 
 small property, and commenced housekeeping 
 in good earnest. Fresh provisions and fruit 
 were served out to us every morning, and 
 each mess cooked in turn, having but one 
 place for the operation. We luxuriated in the 
 unbounded supply of fresh water, and lost no 
 time in effecting thorough purification of our 
 persons and clothing, realizing the truth of 
 Thomson's sentiment, that — 
 
 " Even from the body's purity the mind 
 Receives a secret, sympathetic aid." 
 
 Thus being rendered little more human, by 
 Nature's own element, we turned our atten- 
 
166 DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. 
 
 tion to things about us, and to the history of 
 the place. 
 
 Port Louis, it seems, was originally settled 
 by the French, and most of its buildings are 
 in a French style, but now mainly occupied by 
 the English ; although the population, number- 
 ing about twenty thousand, includes represen- 
 tatives from at least eighteen different nations. 
 It is almost encircled by a range of mountains, 
 which, with the sea, enclose as delightful a 
 garden as can be found on earth, filled with all 
 the luxury and magnificence of the tropics. 
 
 The city contains many fine buildings, has 
 wide, handsome streets, with gas, abundance 
 of water, and is a busy commercial place. 
 
 The real founder of this important settle- 
 ment was the justly celebrated M. de la Bour- 
 donnaye, who was made governor in 1734. 
 Perceiving the importance of the island, which 
 its two excellent harbors rendered of the great- 
 est consequence to any European power hav- 
 ing, or wishing to have, possessions in India, 
 he set about its improvement with a zeal, 
 sagacity, and success, that have rarely been 
 equaled, never surpassed. 
 
A PUBLIC BENEFACTOR. 167 
 
 He constructed numerous roads, aqueducts, 
 and other public works, and fixed the seat 
 of government here, which he may be said 
 to have created as well as fortified. For the 
 space of eleven years only his administra- 
 tion continued ; but it was sufficient for him to 
 change the whole aspect of the country, and 
 render it a prosperous and valuable colony. 
 
 Sad though it seem, these signal services 
 met with a most ungrateful return. On his 
 return to France, in 1748, he was thrown into 
 the Bastile, where he was immured more than 
 three years, and as the sequel proved, without 
 the smallest foundation for any of the charges 
 made against him. He died the victim of this 
 disgraceful treatment in 1755. 
 
 This island, it is well known, is the scene 
 of St. Pierre's inimitable tale of Paul and 
 Virginia. The wreck of the St. Geran, so 
 striking and affecting an incident in the story, 
 is a real event, which took place on the 18 th 
 of August, 1744. 
 
 The whole island is full of delightful scenery. 
 The climate is faultless, and it is already a 
 place of considerable resort for invalids. When 
 
168 THE CEMETERY. 
 
 steam navigation shall become more general, 
 the place will, undoubtedly, become a strong 
 attraction to thousands of health seekers, as 
 well as those in pursuit of pleasure. At pres- 
 ent there is only the arrival of the monthly 
 English mail steamer from Suez, and depart- 
 ures for Calcutta and Australia. 
 
 We noticed in the auction marts numbers 
 of Arabian merchants ; the noblest specimens 
 of physical development I have ever seen — 
 stately, dignified, and well proportioned, with 
 noble faces, olive complexions, large black 
 eyes, and magnificent beards. Some of them 
 were mounted on beautiful Arab horses, and 
 others made use of carriages of English manu- 
 facture. One of the most attractive spots in 
 the neighborhood is the cemetery, on the sea 
 shore, about a mile and a half from the city, 
 where many travelers, health-seeking invalids, 
 and missionaries have been buried; among 
 whom is Mrs. Harriet Newell, who reposes in a 
 spot lovely enough for the last resting place 
 even of one as heavenly as she. 
 
 In striking contrast with this Christian buri- 
 al, as I imagined it, was a Malabar funeral, 
 
A FUNERAL. 169 
 
 which came under my observation in the im- 
 mediate vicinity. The corpse was carried in a 
 crescent-shaped car, ten feet in length, made of 
 reeds and light wicker, and gayly decorated 
 with bits of ribbon, flowers, brass ornaments, 
 bells, and any thing whatever, to make a show 
 and a noise. 
 
 This was supported by four men, before 
 whom went a procession of natives, dancing, 
 sparring, shouting, and blowing horns till they 
 arrived at the grave, when the corpse was fed 
 with a mixture of rice and sand, and some 
 pennies given it to pay its passage to heaven. 
 They ended their ceremony by the washing of 
 hands in a pond in the cemetery, smoking a 
 funeral pipe together on a grass plat, and divid- 
 ing the effects of the deceased, which by their 
 custom are distributed among the whole circle 
 of friends. Alas for these deluded victims of a 
 miserable superstition ! How much they need 
 the civilizing and enlightening influences of a 
 holier religion! 
 
 The Malabar women wear all manner of 
 ornaments in their ears and nostrils, and on 
 their arms and ankles j some of them having 
 15 
 
170 THE MAGIC FLAT-IRON. 
 
 considerable capital thus invested, and look 
 like walking jewelry shops. 
 
 During my stay on the island, I have made 
 several new acquaintances ; some by chance, 
 and some by means of a flat-iron. When first 
 settled in our attic, we did a great business in 
 washing and smoothing our clothes ; and as the 
 above instrument w r as owned by my friend, 
 John Harman, he became as much of a ben- 
 efactor and favorite by lending it to one and 
 another, both men and women, as if he could 
 have "touched" successfully "for the king's 
 evil.' , Its fame spread even beyond the pre- 
 cincts, for it seemed it was almost unheard-of 
 on the island. By loaning it to one family and 
 another he secured the most flattering invita- 
 tions for himself and a friend or two to dinner 
 and tea, in many of which I participated. The 
 inestimable treasure has, I believe, been finally 
 presented to some favored damsel. 
 
 From a merchant, with whom I have become 
 acquainted, I have received an offer of employ- 
 ment upon favorable terms, and with good 
 prospects for the future ; but the spirit of wan- 
 dering is upon me, and I decline. Already I 
 
A GOOD OFFER. 171 
 
 am tired of delaying upon the Isle of France, 
 and am anxiously looking for an opportunity 
 to pursue the voyage to Australia. 
 
 26 th. — My anticipations are realized, and 
 that in the most unexpected manner. Mr. 
 Werihe, of the house of Francis and Co., on 
 the island, is found to be a relative of Clark, 
 and the knowledge has called forth his sympa- 
 thy and benevolence on our behalf. He offers 
 to pay for the passage to Australia for two or 
 three of us, and we gladly accept the offer, and 
 shall therefore leave forever our ship Peytona, 
 and embark on the brig Nautilus, Captain 
 Scott, of two hundred tuns, bound for Mel- 
 bourne with a cargo of sugar. 
 
 28th. — Once more on the waters. We did 
 not look at our accommodations in advance, 
 considering the trip as merely the fulfillment 
 of our "manifest destiny;" and it may not be 
 surprising, perhaps, that we find it a rickety, 
 dilapidated "sugar box/' filled to its utmost 
 capacity. Twenty-four of us are stowed in 
 the hold, where a room has been arranged, 
 
172 ACCOMMODATIONS OF THE BRIG. 
 
 availed up to the deck with bags of sugar and 
 casks of liquor cases, having no entrance ex- 
 cept through the main hatch. Here we are to 
 sit all day, if we choose, and lie all night, hav- 
 ing particularly sweet rest, if the material of 
 the bed has any thing to do with it. 
 
 We are to cook for ourselves, taking turns 
 with the little Creole boy, who is waiter, stew^- 
 ard, and cabin boy, for captain and officers, 
 beside being cook for the vessel's crew. 
 
 September 18th. — It is generally agreed by 
 us, that this voyage is more dangerous, if possi- 
 ble, than that on the Peytona ; perhaps a 
 trifle less disagreeable. We have, thus far, had 
 a succession of gales, that have kept us nearly 
 all the time under double-reefed and close- 
 reefed top-sails, and, together with our cramped 
 and comfortless situation, have quite put an 
 end to my writing for a time. 
 
 Drunkenness is the order of things here 
 also. The captain, suspecting the sailors of 
 furnishing themselves from the wrong source, 
 held an investigation of the matter, whereupon 
 the u dumb mouths " of his empty bottles told 
 
JOHN BULL. 173 
 
 a conclusive story. Upon this he summoned 
 all hands upon the quarter-deck, read to the 
 culprits the severe provisions of the English 
 law relative to stealing on shipboard, and 
 briefly proposed the alternative of settling the 
 matter by paying for the missing brandy at 
 retail rates, or awaiting the course of the law. 
 
 Upon consultation they paid the amount 
 demanded ; but these seamen are a jovial, 
 shrewd company — constantly leaguing to- 
 gether in the accomplishment of some act of 
 roguery. They know enough to avoid dissen- 
 sion among themselves ; are friendly and help- 
 ful ; have plenty of money, and abound beyond 
 measure in songs and anecdotes, with which 
 they beguile many an idle hour. The Eng- 
 lishman with us is one of those who was con- 
 tinually irritating our national pride on the 
 Peytona with the most odious kind of com- 
 parisons; constantly referring to the superior 
 accommodations, provisions, and regulations on 
 "Henglish vessels;" daily vexing our hearts 
 with remarks upon the innumerable evils of 
 our lot, as if they were not sufficient of them- 
 selves, without being magnified. 
 15* 
 
174: UNPALATABLE FOOD. 
 
 But here we are on an English vessel. We 
 had no very definite expectations, perhaps, but 
 certainly some indistinct ideas of good treat- 
 ment and decent food; but our "grub" on the 
 Peytona was really almost " first-class-hotel" 
 fare, compared with this. Our bread is the 
 worst sort of " English tile/' that might be 
 worked into boiler plates for hardness. The 
 worst of the Peytona's beef, ill-smelling as it 
 was, and requiring diligent and faithful masti- 
 cation, could yet be eaten ; but here it is soft 
 and sickening, from miserable putrefaction. 
 
 Our tea, as the seamen say, — and they are 
 competent judges, — is not a Chinese, but an 
 Australian product; a bogus article, manufac- 
 tured from the leaves of some of the fragrant 
 shrubs there, and the taste is such as to con- 
 vince me of the truth of the story. 
 
 Our water is kept in a large iron tank, and 
 is as yellow as gold with iron-rust, besides being 
 strongly impregnated with coal tar. 
 
 The mixture of pain and joy which Perrin, 
 u the old man," extracts from this u bill of fare," 
 is exceedingly comical. Holding up a soft lump 
 of the putrefying substance, he exclaims with 
 
THE ENGLISHMAN TAUNTED. 175 
 
 a doleful groan, a dear, boys, have we got to 
 eat such stuff as this?" "Yes," I reply; "no 
 other way ; down with it ! " at the same time 
 disposing of a piece of the same by the help 
 of a morsel of bread, like a scrap of a cast-iron 
 kettle, or next to it. With another look of 
 utter misery, he turns with bitter irony to the 
 unlucky Englishman, and continues, "0, no, 
 this ain't bad beef! We're aboard an English 
 vessel now, where they do things up in good 
 style, serving out the best meat, and first-quality 
 of bread, always. It's done accordin' to law." 
 
 Thus he torments the poor fellow, who is 
 silent with shame, taking special delight in 
 gratifying his revenge upon this reviler of 
 American laws and customs. 
 
 These incessant taunts have driven him to 
 the captain, to whom he has cited the text of 
 the English statutes, frightening him into so 
 much improvement that he has weighed out to 
 us a comparatively fair week's allowance of 
 endurable food. I have one secret source of 
 consolation myself, which I take the liberty of 
 keeping private ; since discovery must neces- 
 sarily deprive me of it. 
 
176 A LUCKY FELLOW. 
 
 It has availed to lighten somewhat the hor- 
 rors of my individual lot ; while my comrades 
 innocently wonder at the patience with which 
 I possess my soul, under our unjust treatment. 
 This consolation is derived from a confidential 
 and not wholly disinterested friendship, which 
 I have managed to form with the over-worked 
 little Creole cook. He is wanted all day long 
 in, at least, two places at once, and finds a hard 
 time in running of errands for the officers, 
 cooking for passengers, and preparing the vi- 
 ands of the cabin mess in a manner satisfactory 
 to the palates of the commander and his mates. 
 
 I have installed myself as " cook-substitute " 
 to this young dignitary, and while watching 
 the savory messes of meats, vegetables, &c, I 
 abstract now and then some "unconsidered 
 trifle," which, of course, is only wages for work 
 done, but an unspeakable comfort to me. 
 
 October 3d. — Gales and cold weather have 
 been the characteristics of our voyage. Yes- 
 terday, at 8 A. M., we made Cape Otway, and 
 at 7 P. M. saw the lighthouse at the Heads. 
 This morning we passed between the bold and 
 
AT ANCHOR. 177 
 
 lofty points called the Heads of Port Philip 
 Bay, and are now anchored at its upper ex- 
 tremity, opposite Sandridge, a miserable vil- 
 lage near the shore, two miles from Melbourne 
 by a direct road through swamps and heavy 
 sands. It is nine miles to the city by the Eiver 
 Yarra Yarra, on which it is situated, and 
 which sweeps around in a semicircle, from the 
 city to the bay. Many ships are constantly 
 arriving and departing to and from all parts 
 of the world. Nearly a thousand sail are now 
 anchored in the bay. 
 
 4th. — This morning no breakfast was served 
 out to us ; the ship having brought us to Mel- 
 bourne, according to the spirit of the nautical 
 contract, and owed us a living no longer. We 
 took the hint, paid a boatman one pound to 
 put us ashore — a true-gold-country price for a 
 few rods of boating ; but we did not grudge 
 it, although it took almost our last farthing to 
 place our feet on land once more. We packed 
 our portable property, hired a dray for the 
 heavy baggage, to transport us to the borders 
 of Canvas-town, a distance of two miles, 
 
178 CAMPING OUT. 
 
 where poor or transient persons are permitted 
 to erect tents on a piece of land belonging to 
 government, for small rents. 
 
 We have arrived just at the close of the 
 rainy season, and find the weather exceedingly 
 unpleasant. We have erected a temporary 
 shelter, on sloping ground, close under the 
 wall of the Park, having no fuel but such as 
 we can pick up about us. We have bought a 
 little flour and a little mutton, purposing only 
 to stay until we can obtain direct and relia- 
 ble information concerning mining operations, 
 which we are anxious to commence. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 STAY AT CANVAS-TOWN. JOURNEY TO BALLERAT. — 
 
 PURCHASE OF A CLAIM. — EXPERIENCE IN THE MINES. 
 — DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE WARDY-ALLOCK EXPE- 
 DITION. — RETURN TO BALLERAT. 
 
 25th. — Having spent about two weeks in 
 Canvas-town gaining information from differ- 
 ent individuals, which was a contradictory 
 mass of advice, as might be supposed, and 
 having disposed of nearly all our scanty jew- 
 elry and hardware in the purchase of pro- 
 visions, we decided to proceed to Ballerat, as 
 being the deepest and richest mines, and 
 therefore likely to afford us the more abun- 
 dant remuneration. I sold my watch for 
 seven pounds, and, with one or two trifling 
 additions which we succeeded in raising, we 
 obtained the needed outfit for miners, and 
 had a few dollars remaining. 
 
 We left our place of abode early in the 
 
 (179) 
 
ISO JOURNEYING TO THE MINES. 
 
 morning, taking care that no one should be 
 acquainted with our intention before the time, 
 as we had often seen the tax-gathering gentry 
 pacing up and down for the revenues of the 
 British crown, and our lank purses feared their 
 visits. 
 
 Ballerat is about a hundred miles from 
 Melbourne, west of north ; and Geelong, on 
 an arm of the bay, forty miles ; but the road 
 from the latter being much the best, and the 
 usual route to the * diggings/' w 7 e decided to 
 take it, and embarked, on a steamer, which 
 we found to be none other than the identical 
 Duncan Hoyle, which w T e had spoken seven 
 months before while crossing the line, in the 
 Atlantic, and whose half-wrecked appearance 
 had created some solicitude in the minds of 
 many. She had been dismantled and refitted, 
 and was now plying regularly between Mel- 
 bourne and Geelong. 
 
 Upon arriving at the latter place, no drays 
 were ready, and w r e prepared to encamp out- 
 side the town on the wet ground. A Scotch 
 family, whose residence was but a few rods 
 distant, sent us some hot tea, and an invita- 
 
YANKEE GIRLS. 181 
 
 tion to spend the night with them, which we 
 accepted most thankfully. Here we had a 
 sumptuous repast of various savory viands, 
 especially those pleasant, fragile cakes, which 
 an old friend of mine in New England, 
 significantly, if not sanctimoniously, calls 
 " Vanity." 
 
 Our host was young, intelligent, full of 
 spirit and good nature, and evidently enjoyed 
 life with a keen zest. He had made consider- 
 able money in « smuggling," under the absurd 
 English system of high duties and a protective 
 force, but, a year or two before our visit, had 
 been detected, imprisoned, tried, and con- 
 demned 3 paid his fine of two thousand pounds, 
 and was living comfortably on the remainder. 
 
 We joined ourselves to a party of fifteen 
 Americans, or, as the English call every body 
 from Anglo-Saxon America, "Yankees," who 
 had overtaken us on their way to the mines. 
 Two of the men were accompanied by their 
 wives, Boston girls, one not twenty years of 
 age, who were too spirited to let their hus- 
 bands go even to Australia without them. 
 
 Being disappointed in finding conveyances, 
 16 
 
1S2 HARD TRAVELING. 
 
 as they had expected, they resolutely prepared 
 to walk. Two drays, whose drivers were ac- 
 quainted with the route, and could serve as 
 guides, were employed to transport the pro- 
 visions and baggage of the party. The first 
 day we traveled eighteen miles over hills and 
 through valleys, in mud and water for miles 
 together. The ladies endured the fatigue 
 wonderfully, although one of them had her 
 feet so blistered as to make it doubtful wheth- 
 er she could proceed. We camped on the 
 brow of a high hill, on a spot of dry ground, 
 and thought ourselves too much exhausted to 
 eat. After a little rest, however, we made a 
 large fire, boiled our tea, and cooked our mut- 
 ton, and with dry bread made a meal that 
 would have satisfied an epicure, — if he had 
 done our day's work. 
 
 Clark, who seemed to think that in Aus- 
 tralia there must needs be gold in every 
 stream, would not be dissuaded from surveying 
 the wet valley below. With shovel in hand, 
 he repaired to the bank of a small river, and 
 spent an hour in the mud, with as much 
 chance of success as he would have had in a 
 
CONTRADICTORY OPINIONS OF THE MINERS. 183 
 
 bushel of Connecticut clay, and came up again 
 to find himself the subject of ridicule. 
 
 At sunset the next day we were twenty- 
 five miles further on our way, having come 
 through open Australian forests, many trees 
 of which were covered with blossoms, and 
 vocal with the everlasting chatter of numer- 
 ous parrots of a variety of colors. We saw 
 also several of the beautiful " birds of para- 
 dise " and mocking birds. 
 
 No man can ever know the perfect relish 
 of food and drink, or the perfect sweetness of 
 sleep, until he takes them after a day's weary 
 walking, in the open air, by the light and 
 warmth of the blazing camp-fire. 
 
 Toward the close of our journey we met 
 several returning from the mines. The inva- 
 riable greeting here is, " Well ! mate ! " and 
 a chat commences at once, by an exchange 
 of data as to destination, starting place, &c. 
 Those who have been unfortunate speak dis- 
 couragingly of matters in the mines ; others 
 give a glowing account, and are strong in the 
 assurance one may be rich if he will — a state- 
 ment pleasant to believe, by those walking in 
 the vale of poverty. 
 
184 DISCOURAGING PROSPECTS. 
 
 We entered the " city of Ballerat " through 
 a valley running northward between two hills, 
 called u Yankee Gully/' which opens out into 
 a comparatively level space, called the " Flat." 
 This and the hills around are dotted with the 
 homes of miners. We came to Ballerat for 
 the very reason the mines were the deepest ; 
 but on the very first sight of the shafts, into 
 which we looked with anxious curiosity, we 
 felt it to be a most discouraging spectacle. 
 Some of the pits are a hundred and fifty feet 
 deep, stretching down into impenetrable dark- 
 ness. A clumsy wooden frame carries an axle 
 and two cranks, at which a couple of weary, 
 forbidding-looking creatures slowly turn to 
 raise the bucket of earth, water, or mud from 
 w T hich they hope to extract the shining parti- 
 cles w^hich will compensate for their hard la- 
 bor. Meanwhile their comrades are at work 
 by lamplight below. 
 
 "Have we got to work in such places?" 
 groaned Perrin, with a most disconsolate look. 
 " Why, how did you suppose it was done ? " 
 I inquired. * Well, by sorting over the gravel, 
 and picking out the lumps of gold." So far 
 
SEVERE LAWS. 185 
 
 from such a prospect, I think it will be real- 
 izing the truth of the old proverb to its fullest 
 extent — " Whosoever will find gold must dig!' 
 
 28th. — There are said to be about twenty 
 thousand souls in this place or about it, all 
 striving and hoping to amass a handsome pile 
 of the golden ore. 
 
 Our first object was to proceed to the camp 
 of the English commissioner for license, hav- 
 ing been informed that the regulations were 
 very severe ; so much so, that any one remain- 
 ing in Ballerat over a certain length of time, 
 without a license, was liable to a heavy fine, 
 imprisonment, or to be put to work on the 
 public roads. We found him a middle aged, 
 good-natured man, but not deficient in the 
 inexorable rigidity seemingly requisite for an 
 English official. To our statement that we 
 had hardly sufficient in our pockets to provide 
 food for our daily necessities, he listened civil- 
 ly, and replied briefly, that any modification 
 of the law was impossible. Finding that nei- 
 ther argument nor entreaty availed any thing, 
 we promised ten dollars each for a printed 
 16 * 
 
186 CAMP GROUND. 
 
 license, which would give us permission to 
 work fifteen days in one month, and the whole 
 of another. 
 
 Having passed this disagreeable ordeal, the 
 next thought was a place of residence. From 
 the commissioner's camp ground we had a view 
 of nearly all the Flat and the slopes around it. 
 Below was the " city/' a collection of white 
 tents, over which were waving flags of various 
 nations — the signs of the merchants in many 
 instances. These are displayed upon tall 
 poles, and make a brilliant display, some of 
 them being quite magnificent in proportion 
 and design. 
 
 We were surprised to see the " stars and 
 stripes" outnumbering the banners of any 
 other nation ; indeed, Ballerat may almost be 
 called an American settlement, so numerous 
 are the Yankees. We have decided to en- 
 camp somewhere in the suburbs, rather than 
 in the business neighborhood, and accordingly 
 turned our attention to the brow of Black 
 Hill, where the trees offer their grateful shade, 
 and the crest of the hill will defend us from 
 the wind, at least in one quarter. 
 
BALLERAT BASK. 187 
 
 29th. — We have planted ourselves, unmo- 
 lested, upon the proposed spot ; have stretched 
 a tent-pole between two trees, thrown a cloth 
 over it, and deposited within our scanty chak 
 tels, thus establishing ourselves in house-keep- 
 ing in our own private mansion. Finding 
 advice from miners of little account, we de- 
 termined to proceed to operations in our own 
 way. Clark and Perrin were bent upon sinking 
 a shaft near our tent ; but, thinking them fool- 
 ish, I shouldered my tools and went to the 
 top of the hill, known as " Ballerat Bank," as 
 an industrious miner is almost always sure 
 of moderate wages from its vault of dust. 
 Things I must confess, appear rather dubious, 
 for it seems like working only to be tantalized 
 with the sight of immovable rock, that has 
 stood, strata underlying strata, since the world 
 began, and with a fair prospect of remaining 
 till the end of time, despite the efforts of puny 
 man, who would fain turn them over to see 
 if gold lies at the bottom. * 
 
 November 5th. — Having labored upon the 
 hill two or three days with no success, I aban- 
 
188 OUR SUCCESS. 
 
 cloned the project as hopeless, and turned to 
 a deserted pit at some distance. Around the 
 sides and bottom of this I did better, being 
 able, at the close of the first day, to show sev- 
 eral dollars of the dull-yellow grains, which I 
 had extracted from earth almost as hard as 
 stone. Upon this my two partners deserted 
 their shaft, now about twenty feet deep, and 
 entered the cave with me; where we made 
 fair wages, accumulating several ounces in a 
 little time. Some Yankees from below, hear- 
 ing of our success, and supposing we were 
 among the "lucky ones," bound to succeed, 
 invited us to come among the aristocracy of 
 the Flat ; that is, those who had sufficient capi- 
 tal to enable them to sink a shaft. 
 
 Being somewhat elated by our recent gains, 
 we yielded to their solicitations, and organized 
 a party, staking out a claim of legal dimen- 
 sions, — twelve feet square, — among the dig- 
 gings on Ballerat Flat. 
 
 The gold lies in a very crooked gutter, ap- 
 parently the bed of an ancient stream, from 
 fifty to a hundred feet below the present level. 
 Thus, by a vast expenditure of labor, as uncer- 
 
JEALOUSY OF THE MINERS. 189 
 
 tain of reward as a lottery, the course of the 
 gold has been traced upward until particles 
 were no longer found grouped together, but 
 scattered too thinly to pay for mining. The 
 same has been done in the opposite direction. 
 The gold is usually found in a thin stratum of 
 gravel, below the white layer, called the " pipe 
 clay," lying upon the living rock. 
 
 Some, in commencing the year with a for- 
 tune, have lost it before its close in sinking 
 pits to no purpose. If a claim is successful, 
 every inch of ground around it is instantly 
 taken up, and a ring of shafts sunk, in the 
 hope of obtaining vast quantities of the ore. 
 As these go down, the jealous miners quarrel 
 and fight over fancied encroachments, and the 
 commissioner — the authority in all such cases 
 — has to measure the precious earth over and 
 over again. No one group of shafts can be 
 carried down faster than another without drain- 
 ing them ; and as most are too selfish to aid 
 others, they have to proceed with about the 
 same degree of rapidity. Probably not more 
 than one shaft in four, certainly, pays any 
 thing at all. 
 
190 FATAL ACCIDENTS. 
 
 December 23d. — The life I have led for 
 some time past being unfavorable to journal- 
 izing, I have dispensed with it altogether ; and 
 now, in a season of comparative quiet, I pro- 
 pose to review these past scenes and varied 
 experiences. 
 
 The claim which we opened proving very 
 wet, we gave it up after sinking it a few feet, 
 and selected another in a dry spot, further 
 down the valley. Having carried this down as 
 far as practicable, without siding, we made an 
 expedition into the woods for the purpose of 
 obtaining material requisite for the purpose. 
 This is necessary for the safety of the miners, 
 as well as for excluding water. The Flat 
 abounds in quicksands and singular subterra- 
 nean collections of water, which often burst 
 suddenly upon the workmen while under 
 ground, and in spite of all their efforts at pro- 
 tection are almost certainly fatal. Many such 
 accidents occurred to our knowledge, by one 
 of which seven men lost their lives at once. 
 Some of the bodies were never recovered, 
 remaining buried near the treasures they had 
 sought. Others rose to the surface of the 
 
OPERATIONS SUDDENLY STOPPED. 191 
 
 blue-pit water, and were wrapped either in 
 their tent cloth or bed clothes, and buried in 
 the " Potter's Field/' a place serving as a rude 
 cemetery for the city. 
 
 The woods near Ballerat have been so 
 thoroughly searched for suitable trees, that we 
 traveled two miles before finding one. The 
 gum trees, of which there are several varieties, 
 are the principal timber trees of Australia. 
 Almost all the trees of the country are trav- 
 ersed throughout their substance by irregular 
 knots and veins of gum; most plentiful and 
 troublesome, however, in the gum trees proper, 
 which are sometimes so hard as almost to 
 blunt iron instruments. When we had nearly 
 completed our operations, Clark, our chief reli- 
 ance in the mechanical department, struck an 
 unlucky blow with his ax ; the heavy blade 
 glanced, and struck deep into his foot. 
 
 We bandaged it with handkerchiefs ; formed 
 a rough litter, and transported our unlucky 
 mate to our tent on the brow of the hill ; sent 
 for a physician, who gave us very little conso- 
 lation in saying that he would be laid aside, at 
 least, three months. We could not prosecute 
 
192 GOLD HILL. 
 
 our efforts further, as neither of us could fill 
 his place, and we therefore concluded to retreat 
 and make another attempt, as no time was to 
 be lost. We went up and down the neighbor- 
 hood, in wet places and in dry ; sometimes in 
 our old cavern in Ballerat Bank, and sometimes 
 in old claims on the Flat. 
 
 I spent several profitable and exceedingly 
 perilous days in Gold Hill, so called, where I 
 descended some fifteen or twenty feet through 
 an old shaft, and found myself amid darkness 
 so profound that I could do nothing, till my 
 eyes became accustomed to the fearful gloom. 
 Then, with such a scanty light as I could strike 
 up, I went creeping about, hither and thither, 
 in the vast cavernous regions, sometimes twenty- 
 five feet in hight, and again so low, one could 
 only work his way with great difficulty. It 
 has been gradually worked out above the gold- 
 bearing strata, and is supported by earthy pil- 
 lars, cut away to a size as slender as fear of 
 instant death would allow. Here and there, 
 as I dared I broke pieces from the portion 
 of earth w T hich formed the basis of these pil- 
 lars, crushed them in my hands, extracting 
 
ANOTHER JOURNEY. 193 
 
 the precious grains as the rich reward of my 
 courage. 
 
 While at work afterward in the yellow, 
 muddy water of Ballerat Creek, washing the 
 gravelly portion which the miners had washed 
 before me, I fell in with a young fellow named 
 Fessenden, pursuing the same elegant occupa- 
 tion as myself In the course of conversation 
 he told me of his desire to visit certain new 
 openings on the Wardy-allock stream, about 
 twenty miles distant. Before we parted, we 
 entered into an agreement to start together in 
 quest of a richer mine. 
 
 Providing myself with provisions and tools, 
 and having notified Perrin of my intention, 
 and placed Clark and the household under his 
 charge until my return, we set off next morn- 
 ing on foot. After a toilsome march over a 
 very mountainous and difficult road, we found 
 ourselves at the creek, in a small ravine or 
 "canon" among the mountain defiles, not far 
 from the great, unexplored, interior desert, and 
 full sixty-five miles from Ballerat, instead of 
 twenty. About a hundred persons were gath- 
 ered there, but to our inexpressible chagrin, 
 17 
 
194 EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 we found there was no gold worth gathering. 
 A few shepherds, who had remained there 
 through the rainy season, had found a scanty 
 deposit in a ravine, the exaggerated fame of 
 which had drawn many to the spot only to be 
 deceived. Such reports are purposely circu- 
 lated by the traders, who make a good specula- 
 tion from the needs of the improvident and 
 humbugged people whom they cheat into their 
 neighborhood. As a general thing, provisions 
 are only provided for the journey, and this 
 being three times as long as is expected, they 
 are compelled to repair to the shops to obtain 
 necessities, on their arrival. 
 
 Having no particular engagement, Fessenden 
 and myself agreed to take advantage of the 
 trip into the remote and almost unexplored 
 neighborhood, to ramble about in the solitudes 
 of the Australian forests. Among these wild 
 ranges of rough and wooded hills there are no 
 inhabitants, not even " natives," and the kanga- 
 roos sport at pleasure. Of these there are 
 different species, some being no larger than a 
 dog ; others as large in size as a man. 
 
 After some days of this desultory wandering, 
 
FRUITLESS EXPEDITION. 195 
 
 we bethought ourselves of the land we had left, 
 and sought to regain it in the same manner 
 we had come — on foot We had seen the 
 country, but made no money, and contracted 
 severe colds, which made us well nigh sick ; 
 having had no covering except the rude boughs 
 which constituted our wigwam, and through 
 which the rain poured more copiously than 
 we could have wished. We started at early 
 morn, and followed a route of our own selec- 
 tion, which we judged would bring us over the 
 skirts of Mount Mercy into a direct path. 
 
 The sun was not visible; we had no com- 
 pass ; and the result of our experiment was, 
 that after crossing an infinite variety of hills, 
 ravines, swamps, thickets, and woods, we met 
 two men, whom we recognized as friends in 
 the place from whence we had escaped. We 
 inquired, with surprise, how they came to be 
 traveling from the direction of Ballerat, and 
 in reply found, to our greater astonishment, 
 that it was ourselves in that course, being 
 only two miles from Wardy-allock diggings, 
 with a prospect of reaching them. We had 
 been turned about in the woods, and made 
 
196 RETURN TO BALLERAT. 
 
 almost a complete circle. Desirous of avoid- 
 ing the awkward inquiries we knew must 
 await us if we went forward, we at once 
 turned our steps, and late at night encamped 
 on the verge of the Australian desert, under 
 a gum tree. In the distance we discerned the 
 ungainly mass of Mount Elephant, and the stock 
 road to Adelaide, leading across the plain. 
 
 On the morning of the fourth day we 
 reached Ballerat, in no wise richer than when 
 we went ; but I found, to my pleasurable sur- 
 prise, that Clark's foot had entirely healed in 
 my absence, and that he was able to walk 
 nearly as well as ever. Perrin had paid ex- 
 penses by collecting grains of gold, and by 
 adventures in his profession of peddling, and 
 besides had done considerable business as a 
 sort of commission agent, by procuring for his 
 customers any commodity they might desire. 
 His stock consisted usually of silk dresses and 
 ladies' shoes — articles that, it would seem, 
 would find rather a dull market in a community 
 of miners; but there were thousands of women, 
 a large proportion of whom were profuse in ex- 
 penditures for dress. Our party of three being 
 
PLEASANT SURPRISE. 197 
 
 now reunited, it again became a matter of 
 serious consultation as to the best method of 
 pushing our fortunes. Thus far we had done 
 but little more than to gain our bare subsist- 
 ence. While wandering rather disconsolately 
 about Ballerat Flat, considering the question, 
 I saw, at a little distance before me, a tall 
 figure, which I thought I recognized as a 
 fellow-townsman ; and, upon approaching near- 
 er, discovered, to my delight, that the well- 
 proportioned figure and fine features were 
 none other than those of Captain W., who 
 had come out to Australia with a heavy in- 
 voice of Colt's revolvers. He had tried in 
 vain to effect sales in Melbourne, and had 
 come to the mines hoping to find private sales, 
 but was disappointed at every point, the mar- 
 ket being forestalled by clumsy English arms. 
 
 I forgot for a time my distress, in the 
 pleasure of hearing of matters and things at 
 home ; but once again alone, necessity pressed 
 itself upon me ; and we determined to put up 
 a canvas house, obtain a stock of goods, and 
 try the mercantile business. As we were 
 about negotiating for the same, down came 
 17* 
 
198 GOING INTO THE COFFIN BUSINESS. 
 
 the * fifty-pound license law " upon us, effectu- 
 ally dampening our ardor in this direction, for 
 we had scarcely this sum among us all. At 
 this juncture, I suddenly recollected there was 
 not in the whole city of Ballerat, to my knowl- 
 edge, a single undertaker or coffin maker, 
 while deaths were of daily occurrence. The 
 thing was decided at once. Undertakers would 
 have no license to pay ; and we immediately 
 sent for lumber from Melbourne; threw out 
 a sepulchral-looking white flag to the breeze, 
 upon which was displayed a black coffin, form- 
 ing a striking contrast to the gay streamers all 
 about it. The day after this we had an order 
 from the friends of a New England man, but 
 could only meet it by buying some old shelves 
 of a dry goods store at half a dollar the run- 
 ning foot. Not long after, the lumber came 
 from Melbourne, at twenty-five cents a foot, 
 and twenty-five dollars cartage for a dray load. 
 We have averaged one coffin a day at prices 
 from eight pounds to seventeen, which latter 
 were finished in English style. 
 
 Deaths in Ballerat are almost all from acci- 
 dent or dysentery. Fevers are almost un- 
 
HOUSEKEEPING. 199 
 
 known in the pure and bracing air of Australia. 
 The former disease is doubtless induced by the 
 bad water which all are obliged to use. The 
 majority are in the habit of supplying them- 
 selves from the yellow, muddy creek, or the 
 blue water of the old shafts. The more par- 
 ticular bring what they use from the singular 
 "lagoons," as they are called, that are fre- 
 quently found in the vicinity on the tops of 
 high hills, about a mile from our abode. 
 
 How refreshing would be a draught of our 
 good old New England streams, that come 
 trickling down the mountain sides, mirroring 
 the trees and flowers on their banks in their 
 transparent bosoms ! 
 
 The duties of housekeeping, which devolve 
 mainly upon me, together with those of my 
 business, keep my time occupied through the 
 day. I think I shall be prepared to appreciate, 
 very sensibly, the labors of faithful housewives, 
 though the well-appointed machinery, the full 
 storeroom and larders which they deem so ne- 
 cessary to their comfort and convenience, make 
 it vastly easier than the rude implements of 
 our wigwam, and scanty materials for cooking. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN BALLERAT. VISIT CRESWICK CREEK. 
 
 POWER OF KINDNESS OVER CONVICTS. WALKING 
 
 LEAVES. — LEAVE BALLERAT FOR CALLAO. — HISTORY 
 OF AUSTRALIA. 
 
 The great desideratum of all travelers who 
 are wealthy enough to pay large prices every 
 where, both by land and sea, is fresh pro- 
 visions. We had not the " available substance/' 
 and besides, we had seen the time when money 
 could not have procured for us the u nutritious 
 elements " as we desired, had we been able to 
 offer it ever so lavishly. In default of these 
 things, we found vinegar, or any thing made 
 with it, was eaten with a relish almost like that 
 induced by famine, and was invaluable as op- 
 posing the evil effects of long-continued salt diet. 
 Having gathered some experience on this point, 
 one of my first undertakings, upon establish- 
 ing myself at Ballerat, was to set up a vinegar 
 
 (200) 
 
HOP BEER. 201 
 
 yard — not a large piece of ground, with long 
 rows of casks, but merely and singly an old 
 bottle, into which I put tea leaves and coffee 
 grounds, filled it with sweetened water, and 
 hung it upon one of the trees about our home, 
 w T here it might be exposed to the sun. In 
 three or four days I had a bottle of clear and 
 sharp vinegar, which was used with the great- 
 est appreciation, not only at our own table, but 
 at those of others, whom I occasionally favored 
 with a sour gift. Another successful enterprise 
 was the making of hop beer. Perrin, in some 
 of his wanderings or commission errands, dis- 
 covered a small quantity of hops, sent up on 
 commission, and for which there seemed no 
 possible use. These I eagerly procured — - boiled 
 them, " using my judgment," as women say, in 
 the quantity of water, &c, but was utterly at 
 a loss for appropriate flavor. As an experi- 
 ment, I threw in a quantity of ginger and 
 cayenne pepper ; dissolved separately two 
 ounces of soda, and one of cream tartar, stir- 
 ring in first the alkali and then the acid ; and 
 strange as it may seem, in a day or two it be- 
 came a perfect nectar, for excellence. The 
 
202 AN ACQUISITION. 
 
 pepper, about which I had many misgivings, 
 was the perfect "arcanum" of its glory. We 
 drank moderately ourselves, and now and then 
 presented a bottle to some lady, or particular 
 friend, with a feeling of generosity such as 
 Prince Metternich might experience in sending 
 a dozen of real Johannisbergs to an intimate 
 autocrat. In truth, it was even more choice, 
 for the water at Ballerat could scarcely be 
 drank at all, without being boiled into tea or 
 coffee, and even then it was poor enough. 
 
 The keen, Yankee inquisitiveness of Perrin 
 was often of great service to me. " Grand news 
 I have brought to you," said he, one day, which 
 turned out to be, that a quarter cask of Indian 
 meal was to be found at a certain grocery. All 
 my New England remembrances came upon 
 me, from the dear delights of hearthstone and 
 friends, down to Johnny cake and Indian pud- 
 ding. Chiefly stimulated by animal considera- 
 tions, however, I repaired at once to the spot, 
 saw the treasure as it had been described, in- 
 quired about it, carelessly and in an indifferent 
 manner, bought it for a mere song, and bore it 
 home in triumph. 
 
HIGH PRICES. 203 
 
 It had come thither no one knew exactly 
 how, had stood no one knew how long, having 
 escaped the eyes of the Yankees, and no one 
 else knew how to use it. It was, indeed, some- 
 what mingled with moth webs, but it was, 
 nevertheless, a magnificent discovery to us, 
 and a most welcome change. 
 
 Provisions of every description are at * gold 
 prices" at Ballerat — flour, sixty dollars a bar- 
 rel ; pies, one dollar each ; eggs, half a dollar 
 singly, and other things in proportion ; vegeta- 
 bles are particularly scarce and costly. 
 
 Longing one day for something that came 
 from the earth, I went in search of some greens. 
 I succeeded to my great satisfaction, bringing 
 home a good bag of common dock- which I 
 boiled, salted, buttered, vinegared, and pep- 
 pered, — producing a dish, as we thought, wor- 
 thy a king. Clark, however, like an obstinate 
 fellow, insisted that the "royal mess" might be 
 poisonous, and therefore refused to taste it; 
 but knowing that his scruples would only be 
 our gain, we exhorted him but little. I at 
 once communicated the knowledge to my 
 neighbors ; from which time, the dock-digging 
 
204 CHRISTxMAS REJOICINGS. 
 
 business was so strenuously prosecuted as en- 
 tirely to extirpate the weed for a considerable 
 distance round. 
 
 29th. Christmas day was observed as one . 
 of general jubilee, especially by the English, 
 whom I have every where observed to enjoy 
 their national holidays to the utmost, wherever 
 they may be, especially if the rough side of 
 life be their daily lot For two whole days 
 work was superseded, and low and uproarious 
 proceedings, by way of rejoicing, were seen in 
 every part of the city. There is no lack of 
 places of amusement, many of the largest tents 
 being exclusively ball and concert rooms. My 
 own part of the " celebration " consisted of a 
 pleasant interview with Mrs. Haynes, a particu- 
 lar friend, and a dinner of the combined na- 
 tionalities of baked beans and plum pudding. 
 I attended divine service, and while rambling 
 through the streets afterward, I was hailed 
 from one of the tents with " Well, mate !" in a 
 sharp, decided voice. 
 
 On looking around me, I discovered that I 
 had been addressed by an Australian magpie, 
 
VIOLENT HURRICANE. 205 
 
 a black and white bird very nearly resembling 
 a bobolink, and having a capacity for distinct 
 articulation far surpassing the parrot. "Well 
 mate/' cried the saucy bird again, as I turned 
 and approached its cage, adding, with profane 
 
 emphasis, a 0, you d d fool !" I left, but he 
 
 shouted after me in triumph, with the same pro- 
 fane expressions, till I was quite out of hearing. 
 A fearful hurricane of hot wind has swept over 
 us, so strong and stifling as entirely to prevent 
 work in the open air for a time. I was sitting 
 at my tent door when the heavy black clouds 
 arose. They swept down from the mountains, 
 coming near the earth, seemingly encircled 
 with a wreath of fire, that looked more like a 
 conflagration than electricity ; so hot and load- 
 ed with sand, we were forced to cover our 
 faces in our bed clothes till the strength of the 
 blast was spent. All day long this state of 
 things continued, though with intervals of 
 calm, making breathing almost misery. A few 
 days of such burning sirocco would destroy 
 the whole city. As it is, many of the frail 
 edifices of the miners are among the things 
 that were, but are not. Nearly fifty tents were 
 18 
 
206 SPECULATIONS ON THE SIROCCO. 
 
 torn up and blown away during the day ; some 
 of them so suddenly that the surprised inmates 
 were left seated at their tables in the open air. 
 
 Our own was only preserved stationary by 
 means of ropes thrown over and attached to 
 piles of lumber on either side. The storm has 
 swept wide, leaving a broad path of desolate 
 blackness behind it. No one is able to speak 
 satisfactorily of the origin and nature of these 
 destructive tornadoes. Some affirm that it 
 comes, bearing heat and fire from some burn- 
 ing forest at a distance. 
 
 Others say the qualities are electrical only, 
 and that the storm was generated somewhere 
 within the unknown depths of the great inte- 
 rior desert; but the mysterious and w 7 isely- 
 regulated laws of the great forces of nature 
 are poorly understood by us in our ignorance. 
 
 Man may create ingenious theories, specu- 
 late and wonder, and only come at last to see 
 that it is pitiable folly. 
 
 January 6th, 1854. — Times growing rather 
 dull, and Clark and myself being weary of such 
 a monotonous life in one place, we started for 
 
TREES OF AUSTRALIA. 207 
 
 Creswick Creek, about fourteen miles distant 
 from Yankee Hill. The walk was exceedingly 
 pleasant over gently-undulating ground, and 
 through forests, most of which are compara- 
 tively open and pleasant. All the Australian 
 trees are evergreen ; a large proportion, how- 
 ever, undergoing a sort of equivalent annual 
 change in shedding their bark. Nearly all the 
 leaves are lanceolated with slight variations, 
 and although, in general, they are set very 
 thickly upon the tree, they yet offer little 
 shade, as they stand edgewise, and therefore 
 oppose only the thickness of the leaf to the 
 rays of the sun. 
 
 A singular and frequent shrub in swamps 
 and low grounds is the grass tree, which con- 
 sists of a radiating bunch of leaves like a 
 coarse grass, from the midst of which rises a 
 straight, woody stem, five or six feet in height, 
 surmounted with a hard, close head, resembling 
 the New England u cat-tail." 
 
 We arrived at Creswick about sunset, and 
 camped in sight of the diggings. At a small 
 trading stand where I went to purchase some 
 provisions, I met an old man, who, with some 
 
208 THE CONVICTS. 
 
 of his boon companions, was sipping the in- 
 toxicating cup. I fell into conversation with 
 him, and found him to be a * lag/' or convict 
 transported from England. Although some- 
 what elevated with drink, he yet conversed 
 shrewdly, and I soon became interested in him 
 and his fortunes. He offered me a home in 
 his tent, and freedom to draw from his well- 
 filled purse, as I might need. This confidence, 
 touching and unlimited, was gained simply by 
 the power of kindness, by treating him as a 
 friend, instead of showing contempt for the 
 convict. I doubt not there are many, among 
 the numerous convict population, who, by kind 
 and humane treatment, might be reformed, 
 and become useful citizens. 
 
 They possess many good qualities, are open- 
 hearted, boundlessly generous among them- 
 selves and those whom they recognize as 
 friends, but hopeless, reckless, and dangerous 
 while treated continually as criminals and out- 
 casts. Eeturning to my tent one evening, I 
 found, under one of the trees near, a woman 
 apparently about forty years of age, smoking. 
 I gave her a civil salutation, conversed with her 
 
TOUCHING INSTANCE OF GRATITUDE. 209 
 
 a few moments, and went my way. About mid- 
 night she came to the tent, put her head in- 
 side, and asked, u Is the laddie here who spoke 
 so kindly to me to-night ? " " Yes," I replied. 
 " Well ! bless his kind heart," said she, a I have 
 come here to thank him for the kind words he 
 spoke. They were the first I have heard for 
 many a long year. I came in the night for 
 fear the police w r ould take me. I'm a poor 
 creature. Once I was a happy woman; but I 
 did wrong, and they sent me away with the 
 worst of rogues, and now I am as bad as any 
 of them. God bless you, my sweet laddie, and 
 keep you from leading such a miserable life." 
 I scarcely knew what reply to make to this 
 outpouring of thankfulness from the unhappy 
 being, but offered a few words more to cheer 
 her troubled spirit. At two o'clock the next 
 night she came again, with a bottle of brandy 
 as a present to her u laddie." I conversed with 
 her for a short time, when she departed for 
 fear of recognition by the police, and I never 
 saw her more. Scarcely any thing is more 
 powerful among men than kindness and sym- 
 pathy. They subdue a heart into gentleness 
 18* 
 
210 ABORIGINES. 
 
 when sterner means would only harden into 
 insensibility, or, what is worse, give the rein 
 to unbridled passion. 
 
 Near the mines at Creswick were encamped 
 a small party of Australian natives — lank, 
 " walnut-headed," almost black, and the most 
 brazen and insatiable beggars imaginable. 
 They were extravagantly fond of our tea, 
 coffee, tobacco, and sugar, and knew English 
 sufficiently to make known their wants. Any 
 thing that was given was instantly secured 
 in their mouths or girdles, and the same im- 
 portunity manifested the second time, and so 
 on till our patience was exhausted. The na- 
 tives up the coast, in the neighborhood of 
 Sidney and further, are said to be much more 
 dangerous, revenging upon every white for 
 the wrongs they have suffered from the early 
 emigrants into that region. The race, howev- 
 er, is nearly extinct. 
 
 The mines in Creswick are either in very 
 wet, low land, in shafts from ten to thirty feet 
 deep, or in chalk hills of greater depth, where 
 the fine, white dust is intolerable, almost suf- 
 focating, and exceedingly unhealthy. The 
 
RETURN TO BALLERAT. 211 
 
 miners come from their work at night, like a 
 regiment of ghosts, perfectly white, and indis- 
 tinguishable as to features or garments. We 
 spent one day in pecking away at a half- 
 melted conglomeration, where every blow 
 jarred our systems in a manner not altogether 
 agreeable. Thinking such efforts quite too 
 severe for mere speculation, I determined to 
 go back to Ballerat. Clark, who had enough 
 of wilful perseverance to keep him pecking 
 on Mount Washington for gold till the day of 
 his death, was somewhat enraged at this de- 
 cision, but finally acquiesced, being more in- 
 clined to go than to remain alone. Next 
 morning we returned with the reflection up- 
 permost in our minds that a "rolling stone 
 gathers no moss." 
 
 It was during this return from the Creek, 
 we saw the celebrated "walking leaves," so 
 called. While sitting under the shade of some 
 gum trees, a slight breeze passed by, which 
 brought to the ground a little shower of leaves. 
 After lying still a moment, they started, and 
 seemed to walk upon their stems toward the 
 trunk of the tree. It is said that some years 
 
212 WALKING LEAVES. 
 
 ago, before Australia was much settled, a party 
 of sailors obtained a few days of liberty to 
 make explorations upon the islands. The 
 first day of their adventure, while sitting in a 
 grove for rest, one of them suddenly cried out, 
 "Let's leave this place at once, or the trees 
 and the land will make off with us. See those 
 leaves marching off on their stems ! " 
 
 The evidence of their senses seemed suf- 
 ficient, and there could be no doubt of the in- 
 ference. They hastened on board the ship, 
 preferring to lose their liberty rather than 
 stay in a region of such doubtful foundation. 
 How full of enigmas is nature to the igno- 
 rant and superstitious, making them fear even 
 her happiest and richest manifestations! 
 
 16th. — Ballerat is filled with rumors of 
 newly-discovered treasures in Peru, at the head 
 waters of the Amazon, where twenty-five 
 pound " acquisitions " are of every-day occur- 
 rence. The Americans are very much ex- 
 cited, and hundreds are daily starting for Mel- 
 bourne, bound for Callao. They have long 
 been dissatisfied with the extortionate regu- 
 
A MASS MEETING, 213 
 
 lations of the English government here. Some 
 of the English sympathize with this restive 
 feeling, though in general they are unani- 
 mously arrayed against every thing and every 
 body they call * Yankee j" and this title is given 
 to every one that comes from any part of 
 North America. 
 
 We have had a mass meeting of the f lovers 
 of freedom and just legislation/' at which were 
 enthusiastic speeches, — some for immediate 
 action, not very plainly indicated, — resulting 
 mainly in the adoption of several fiery resolu- 
 tions concerning "fair representation" &c. ; and 
 breaking up with the prevailing sentiment, 
 that "Britons never, never will be slaves." 
 One object, evidently, of the meeting was 
 to retain, if possible, the great numbers that 
 are leaving ; but the cry has gone forth, * On 
 for Callao !" and hundreds are rushing, and 
 will still continue to rush, to the new land of 
 golden fame. 
 
 We are not uninfluenced by the pervading 
 spirit; beside a coffin-bearing flag, on a tall 
 pole, in a distant part of the city, the escutch- 
 eon of an opposition establishment, started 
 
214 DECISION TO LEAVE BALLERAT. 
 
 during our last absence, relieves us of all ap- 
 prehensions that our departure would be in- 
 convenient to the community. 
 
 Distant and unknown regions have a pecu- 
 liar charm ; and who would not see as much as 
 possible of this wide world ? Yes, we will go. 
 Houses and claims are a drug in the market — 
 worth absolutely nothing; but what we have 
 shall be disposed of to the best advantage, and 
 we will start for Melbourne, though it seems, 
 from our original party, I have not a single 
 companion to accompany me on my wander- 
 ings. Clark, for a trifling difference, concludes 
 to remain behind. A letter from Yates and 
 Harman, whom we left at the Isle of France, 
 informs us of their arrival at Bendigo, Austra- 
 lia, where they have established themselves in 
 business, as partners in a cookie stand, clearing 
 a net profit of five dollars a day. 
 
 We have, after all, done better than the ma- 
 jority in Ballerat, having paid our expenses, 
 and gained some real estate, — at least, by 
 miner's title, — and have enough to carry us 
 to Callao, with a prospect of a little remainder. 
 Probably not more than ten per cent, of the 
 
ON THE WAVE AGAIN. 215 
 
 miners obtain a competency, or more ; half the 
 remainder collect sufficient to get away with, 
 while twenty-five per cent, of the whole die 
 there, at home, or on the way thither, of dis- 
 eases contracted here, not so much by reason 
 of climate as the manner of living, which is 
 usually reckless. 
 
 20th. — The step is taken, and we are on 
 board the bark Sacusa, bound for Callao, where 
 I have plenty of leisure to review the past, and 
 consider the history of the island we have left. 
 
 We started from Ballerat on a route differ- 
 ent from that which carried us there ; proceed- 
 ing directly across the country instead of going 
 by Geelong. 
 
 At one of our halting places, on the banks 
 of a river, a fine bridge was being built, and 
 near by the grading for a railroad was com- 
 menced. From this place to Melbourne was a 
 handsome stone road, built chiefly by convict 
 labor, and constructed after the thorough Eng- 
 lish fashion ; being a layer of rocks of consid- 
 erable size, carefully laid, firm and close, a sec- 
 ond above it of smaller size, and so on until 
 
216 FARMING SETTLEMENT. 
 
 the road is several feet thick, and finally com- 
 pleted with a thick stratum of hard gravel. 
 Among the crowds of workmen who were 
 engaged in continuing or repairing it, were 
 many respectable, intelligent-looking men, per- 
 haps voluntary workmen. Every one at work 
 on the road claims two dollars fifty cents per 
 day and rations, from government ; and num- 
 bers of unsuccessful miners have resorted to 
 this method as a surer way of obtaining gold, 
 though it be not very rapid. 
 
 In one instance, we passed through a settle- 
 ment of English emigrants, who live by farming 
 and providing for the wants of miners, who 
 pass through the district on their way. There 
 was neither church, school house, nor store; 
 and a general appearance of indifference and 
 sloth about the whole place — arising, doubtless, 
 from the fact, that none owned their land, it 
 being held in large grants by noble or wealthy 
 persons, who will not sell, and who lease only 
 on terms which render the tenant little better 
 than a serf. A similar state of things is ob- 
 structing the growth of almost all the Austra- 
 lian cities. 
 
HIGH PRICE OP LAND. 217 
 
 Building lots in Melbourne are often held at 
 from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars 
 each, and rented at ten thousand a year. Land 
 for a garden, three miles out of the city, has 
 sold recently for eighty thousand dollars an 
 acre. Prices in Adelaide are generally high. 
 
 Even at Ballerat building lots were sold at 
 auction, some distance from the mines, for 
 fifteen hundred dollars each. The idea of an 
 emigrant settling upon land within a hundred 
 miles of any city, is out of the question. All 
 good land within that distance, if not beyond 
 it, is granted out in "runs," or large grazing 
 farms, which cover a space five to twenty 
 miles in length, including not only all the 
 running water, but all the "lagoons," ponds, 
 and springs, of any value. Without unfailing 
 sources of water, land in Australia would be 
 valueless. 
 
 This land monopoly is the source of much 
 trouble; for many intelligent men who have 
 entered the country, with their families, have 
 found the only alternative to be, to hire out to 
 keep stock under these wealthy holders, who, 
 19 
 
218 A PLEASANT CHANGE. 
 
 of course, take advantage of the necessity to 
 enhance their own benefit. 
 
 The wide streets of Melbourne were a most 
 welcome sight to us, after our confinement to 
 wild forests and muddy or dusty hills or plains. 
 We spent the time allowed us in visiting places 
 of interest, one of the most noticeable of which 
 was the " Emigrant's Home." This was estab- 
 lished, with the aid of government, by a few 
 benevolent men, for the relief and assistance 
 of the poor and suffering among this class. 
 There are several large buildings, divided into 
 tenements for different families, with a phy- 
 sician and dispensary attached. Here the sick 
 and the indigent may find a home until recov- 
 ered from disease, or find employment. A sim- 
 ilar, but smaller, institution is sustained by the 
 Wesleyans, and devoted exclusively to that sect. 
 
 We also found great pleasure in the quiet 
 solitudes on the banks of the Yarra Yarra, and 
 in visiting the splendid public gardens, wander- 
 ing about the walks, admiring the graceful 
 swans in the pools, and the spacious green- 
 houses, with their brilliant and valuable con- 
 tents. 
 
NATURAL FEATURE. 219 
 
 Australia, as a whole, may be well styled a 
 "land of anomalies." In the words of another 
 w r riter, " The whole form, character, and compo- 
 sition of this country are so singular, that a 
 conjecture is hardly hazarded before it is over- 
 turned ; every thing seems to run counter to 
 the ordinary course of nature in other coun- 
 tries. In other lands, the rocks and reefs that 
 run into the sea determine, in many cases, the 
 direction and continuity, or otherwise, of the 
 mountain systems ; but the rocks and reefs of 
 Australia afford no such key to the inquirer — 
 they belong not to geology — they are the 
 work of the coral insect, rising perpendicularly 
 from the depths of the ocean till they form 
 ridges and islands above its surface, which have 
 nothing in common with any thing but them- 
 selves." 
 
 The most remarkable feature in the Austra- 
 lian coast is, the total absence of outlets for 
 any large rivers, thus making the freshness 
 and fertility which usually attend the course 
 of these "great fertilizers," almost unknown. 
 Productive soil is found mostly on the sides 
 and summits of considerable elevations, and 
 
220 PECULIARITIES. 
 
 those engaged in exploring tours to the inte- 
 rior look for these indications of mountain 
 land, with a longing anxiety, which it is diffi- 
 cult for those to understand who dwell in more 
 favored lands. Another fact, that cannot, fail 
 of being observed, is, that these spots, con- 
 fined to the higher regions, are as effectually 
 separated from each other by apparently irre- 
 deemable deserts, as though the ocean flowed 
 between them. 
 
 It appears probable, however, that both the 
 land and water are still in a course of forma- 
 tion; that the various anomalies, in each, 
 which fill the minds of so many with wonder 
 and amazement, are only the natural appear- 
 ances of an imperfect, or rather of an un- 
 finished work, and that they will vanish when 
 the causes now in operation shall have pro- 
 duced their full effect. 
 
 Writers profess to hazard these conjectures 
 with much caution, and only because they 
 appear to result from the facts collected by 
 actual observers. 
 
 Botany Bay, at its south-eastern point, has 
 received its name, it is well known, from the 
 
BOTANY BAY. 221 
 
 abundant vegetation which the early discov- 
 erers found along its coast. It is scarcely less 
 well known, that the first attempt at coloniza- 
 tion was made at this bay, and almost im- 
 mediately abandoned, under the conviction 
 that its soil was unprofitable and sterile. Such 
 conflicting statements, by able men, seem 
 strange at first sight ; but investigation shows 
 them to grow naturally out of the character 
 of the Australian botany, which is as peculiar 
 as most other things in this region of pecu- 
 liarities. « Picturesque and pleasing," said the 
 considerate pioneer, but "something more than 
 beauty must be sought in a place where the 
 permanent residence of multitudes is to be 
 established." 
 
 The physical character of the Australian 
 himself is not more marked by a general in- 
 feriority than are his moral and intellectual 
 attainments. He ranges through the fields, 
 like man in his primitive state, unclothed; 
 possessing not the smallest knowledge of agri- 
 culture, even in its rudest form ; has scarcely 
 an idea of arts or manufacture j indeed he may 
 rather be considered as a gregarious than a 
 19* 
 
222 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 social animal; for, although some personal 
 respect is sometimes paid to a kind of chief 
 among a tribe, it would seem that it is alto- 
 gether personal, and independent of any right, 
 either hereditary or elective. 
 
 The stupidity of their nature and the inert- 
 ness of their faculties are evinced by their 
 thoughtlessness and neglect in obtaining food, 
 or to obviate those incessantly recurring at- 
 tacks of famine to which he has always been 
 exposed. 
 
 Though it be going too far, probably, to 
 say that the native is incapable of improve- 
 ment, the fair presumption seems to be, that 
 he is destined to remain forever in the lowest 
 scale of civilization, and to be inferior in point 
 of comfort, as he has hardly been superior in 
 contrivance hitherto, to many of the lower 
 animals. 
 
 Although the Island of Australia, naturally 
 and artificially, presents many jagged and 
 rough points, yet, like every part of God's 
 dominions, it has its features of beauty and 
 interest, and its part to serve in the world's 
 history. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MONOTONY OF SEA LIFE. — CHANGE IN TIME BY THE 
 OMISSION OF ONE DAY. — LANDING AT SOUTH AMER- 
 ICA. — DISAPPOINTED HOPES. — STAY AT LIMA. — 
 ROMAN FESTIVAL. 
 
 22d. — Yesterday we sighted Van Diemen's 
 Land. We are making south, for the purpose 
 of rounding the southern point of New Zea- 
 land and gain some advantage of wind. 
 
 Our passengers number about a hundred, 
 and as a whole, are a most agreeable class of 
 men with whom to travel. They are chiefly 
 Americans, English, and Scotch — experienced 
 travelers, many of them having already been 
 to California in search of gold, and still pur- 
 suing the phantom of wealth untiringly, al- 
 though the frosts of many winters have settled 
 upon them, reminding others, if not them- 
 selves, that the time draws near when earthly 
 treasures will avail them nothing. 
 
 (223) 
 
224 MONOTONY OF SEA LIFE. 
 
 Life on shipboard has in it much of sensu- 
 ality. Eating becomes a matter of primary 
 and absorbing importance. Monotony and lack 
 of occupation conspire with sharp sea appe- 
 tites to make the daily meals absolutely the 
 chief points of interest during the day, and 
 these present arrangements bid fair to furnish 
 something more worthy of rational thought 
 than the miserable food and still more mis- 
 erable conduct on the Peytona, which was in- 
 deed a disgrace to humanity. 
 
 February 10th. — Since my last record, we 
 have had a comfortless and even dangerous 
 time, by reason of a long-continued gale, which 
 tossed our small vessel more fearfully than 
 we could wish. So violent was the ship's mo- 
 tion, it was impossible to leave our bunks; 
 beside, sundry trunks were loosened from their 
 hold, and were sliding about the cabin in 
 wild confusion. An immense retinue of small 
 articles almost immediately followed — things 
 which their owners had unsuspectingly secreted 
 under their bunks, or laid unfastened upon 
 shelves above. Plates, demijohns, jugs, knives 
 
 
GAMBLING. 225 
 
 and forks, boots and shoes, cups and bottles — 
 miscellaneous messes of beans, rice, &c, saved 
 for lunch — rolled and danced over the floor in 
 the most indescribable manner, for the space 
 of twenty-four hours, while the gale was at its 
 hight. 
 
 For myself, I feel a positive pleasure in 
 traveling with decent people, upon a re- 
 spectably managed ship. We are not over- 
 crowded; things in the main are satisfactory, 
 and all things go on harmoniously from day 
 to day, without those soul-discomforting events 
 that have hitherto tried us. 
 
 We have, however, a set of gamblers on 
 board ; seemingly professional gentlemen in 
 that line, who play with scarcely an inter- 
 mission, except for their meals; keeping it up 
 not only during the day, but through the 
 night also. 
 
 Happily, the captain will not allow it on 
 the Sabbath, neither any other amusement; 
 and we have the grateful intermission of at 
 least one day. 
 
 Since the return of fair weather our ship's 
 reckoning has been altered, according to the 
 custom of mariners, by omitting one day. 
 
226 DROPPING A DAY. 
 
 By passing around the world eastward, we 
 should, of course, for each thousand miles of 
 the whole twenty-four of the earth's circum- 
 ference, come one hour sooner to sunrise, and 
 at our return home by the same route, one 
 day having as it were slipped backward upon 
 the stationary time at home, would have passed 
 over twenty-four full hours, and would be co- 
 inciding again with home time, but with this 
 difference : we should be calling it by the name 
 which our friends had used for the day before. 
 Leaving, then, for example, on Sunday, we 
 might reach home on that day, which to us 
 would be Saturday, obliging us to omit one 
 day in our date. This omission is made for 
 general convenience at the meridian of one 
 hundred and eighty degrees longitude, opposite 
 the initial meridian of Greenwich, and there- 
 fore the most proper point. 
 
 The mysterious extinction of a day caused 
 no little merriment and much speculation. 
 The captain, being able to drop any day he 
 chose, concluded to extinguish the seventh; 
 whether from professional or individual en- 
 mity to religion, or to gratify his avaricious 
 
CHARACTER OF OUR SECOND MATE. 227 
 
 disposition by keeping the crew at work, is 
 unknown. 
 
 The change was made upon the log-book 
 without any public intimation of it; and we, 
 who were strenuously observing it, by extra 
 ablutions, careful dress, and abstaining from 
 amusements, were suddenly taken aback by 
 seeing things proceed in the usual manner. 
 
 The murmuring at this movement of the 
 captain's was so general and so loud, he was 
 glad to ordain the observance of the next day, 
 Tuesday of the new style, as a substituted 
 Sabbath, at least so far as regarded rest from 
 labor, and some other trifling, though to us in- 
 dispensable ceremonies, according to our own 
 views. 
 
 12th. — Our second mate is thoroughly ig- 
 norant of every thing except working ship, 
 and, like many others who are profound in a 
 narrow circle of knowledge, and supreme in a 
 small sphere of power, is abundantly vain of 
 his acquirements, and ostentatious of his au- 
 thority. He is six feet in hight, broad and 
 muscular, with a full, red face, bushy hair, 
 
228 STOPPING THE MATES NOISE. 
 
 large, dark eyes, with no meaning whatever, 
 and a voice that rings through the ship in 
 a manner that almost makes her tremble. 
 Having exhausted the difficulty naturally at- 
 tendant upon the commencement of a voyage 
 with a crew out of practice by a year or two 
 of mining, he seems to have concentrated his 
 dislike upon our cabin boy, who has, at best, a 
 temper fiery in the extreme. " Boy Bill," as 
 he is called, is invariably aroused at half past 
 three o'clock, and in such a boisterous manner 
 as to dissipate the slumbers of the passengers 
 for the rest of the night. 
 
 The nuisance grew so unbearable, a scheme 
 was formed to prevent it if possible. The 
 morning following its formation, as the mate 
 appeared at the door of the saloon, a forward 
 passenger shouted " Boy Bill," and immediately 
 the same was reiterated to the farther end of 
 the cabin, by seventy-five different voices, with 
 as much power as they could command. The 
 uproar was terrible and deafening, but highly 
 effective, as it has given to us the peaceable 
 hours of rest, undisturbed by the stentorian 
 tones of this * son of thunder." 
 
THE LOST BECKONING. 229 
 
 20th. — We have been forty days out, the 
 average voyage being much less, and have not 
 yet seen any thing of the coast of South 
 America. Some begin to be afraid that our 
 reckoning is wrong; but the captain refuses 
 information, taking it as an insult that any 
 one disbelieves his daily bulletin of latitude 
 and longitude. For the last two or three days 
 there has been much dissatisfaction, which 
 found definite utterance this morning in an 
 anonymous despatch upon the bulletin board, 
 in the form of an advertisement on this wise : — 
 
 "LOST, STRAYED, OR STOLEN. 
 
 " The American ship Sacusa, Captain Scott, zvhich 
 left Port Philip for Callao, with one hundred passen- 
 gers, January 20th. When last heard from, she tvas 
 near the antipodes ; supposed noiv to be somewhere 
 in the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and America. 
 A very handsome reward will be paid to any who 
 will correctly state her whereabouts, and a still great- 
 er one to those who tvill pilot her into the port of 
 Callao. 
 
 " In behalf of one hundred sickened passengers!' 
 20 
 
230 A LONG VOYAGE. 
 
 It has excited the ire of the commander, 
 but being impossible to find the instigator of 
 such a movement, nothing will be done. 
 
 During the whole of our long voyage, we 
 have not spoken one vessel, nor sighted land 
 since the antipodes — a somewhat uncommon 
 instance of a solitary passage. It has some- 
 how come to the knowledge of the captain 
 that Perrin and myself were passengers in the 
 Peytona, famous through this part of the 
 world as an unlucky ship. 
 
 To-day he sent us a polite invitation to visit 
 him; and, thinking such attention not to be 
 declined, we went; gave him an account of 
 our wanderings, much to his surprise and 
 gratification. 
 
 " Well ! " said he, good-naturedly, at the 
 close of the tale, "I've had a pretty long 
 voyage this time, and no wonder, since I've 
 got two Peytona Jonahs on board. I don't 
 expect to make any port at all now." 
 
 March 29th. — Full two days before the 
 coast of South America was visible, those very 
 discerning ones, of whom there are usually a 
 
PLEASANTRIES. 231 
 
 goodly number on board ship, could see dis- 
 tinctly u the loom of the land/' and even the 
 very peaks of the long-looked-for Andes. These 
 airy visions kept up considerable excitement, 
 both among the credulous and those who made 
 sport of it. Whenever any one has been 
 specially confident of seeing the shadow in the 
 eastern horizon, or the faint outlines of some 
 snowy peak, some one has stood ready to cor- 
 roborate his statement, and even give it a 
 more tangible form. " Certainly! I see 'em," 
 has been the reply. "Don't you see that 
 mountain covered with trees, and the birds and 
 monkeys in their branches ? " and, " Can you 
 not perceive that rock at the foot of the moun- 
 tain, and a frog upon the top of it ? " 
 
 Thus the jokers joked ; the anxious gazed 
 so sick with suspense they could neither eat 
 nor sleep, while the cooler and more philo- 
 sophic quietly waited for a solid foundation to 
 their hopes. At last the land was clearly to 
 be seen before us, this morning, in a line of 
 snow-covered peaks, distant and dim, like a 
 dream, and the darker range of highlands 
 below, stretching out of sight on either hand. 
 
232 CALLAO IN SIGHT. 
 
 Every body was on deck, — officers, crew, and 
 passengers, — for the morning was perfect and 
 the sight lovely. About noon, to the confusion 
 of all the unbelieving despisers of the captain's 
 skill as a navigator, the roadstead of Callao 
 came in sight directly before us, into which he 
 brought the ship as accurately and fairly, as if 
 he had drawn her thither by a line ; but the 
 critics, like all mistaken ones, insisted upon it 
 that the success was pure accident, and no 
 credit to the captain. 
 
 It was a strange and eager crowd that cov- 
 ered the deck as we ranged slowly up toward 
 the anchorage. There stood the gamblers, some 
 of them penniless, and others correspondingly 
 rich with their gains. By their side were men 
 with gray hairs and wrinkled faces, who had 
 been first to California, afterward to Austra- 
 lia, in unsuccessful search after gold, leaving 
 families in narrow circumstances at home — 
 their lives thus far a failure, and their one re- 
 maining hope, that of making up for all in the 
 new diggings of Peru. No small number had 
 laid out every dollar they possessed in the 
 world for this passage, and a meager outfit for 
 the journey to the mines on the Amazon. 
 
FILIAL AFFECTION. 233 
 
 There, too, was Williams, a young man who 
 had been brought on board apparently far 
 gone with the consumption, but who has re- 
 covered a considerable share of health and 
 strength in the balmy air of the Pacific; look- 
 ing forward with a dim and half-painful hope 
 of being at last able to realize the fondest wish 
 of his heart — that of affording material assist- 
 ance to his father. He was the son of a wealthy 
 Englishman, and was educated with the design 
 of succeeding his father in business; but the 
 latter, becoming bankrupt, removed to a distant 
 country, and he was obliged to abandon school 
 and engage in some effort that would afford 
 some remuneration. His health failed, and 
 to reestablish it he made the voyage to Austra- 
 lia. Proving favorable, he commenced business 
 there, but was again arrested by symptoms of 
 pulmonary disease, which compelled him to 
 leave, and incidentally brought him on board 
 our ship, still retaining the absorbing desire to 
 aid his father ; exhibiting an admirable spirit 
 of filial devotion, seldom witnessed. 
 
 The position which I occupied upon the fore- 
 castle gave me an opportunity of studying the 
 20* 
 
234 DIS APPOINTxMENT. 
 
 countenances of the passengers, most of which 
 betokened a vague, uneasy excitement, some- 
 times of painful intensity. Not a word was 
 said, except in an occasional low whisper, for 
 every man was absorbed with his own indi- 
 vidual hopes and fears ; but the impatience of 
 the silent throng was manifested more clearly 
 than words could have shown it, by the steady, 
 bent brows, the restless movements, and quiet 
 sighs that unconsciously escaped from nearly all. 
 The custom-house officer came on board, and 
 the established etiquette barely restrained us 
 from infringing upon his business interview with 
 the captain. This over, the storm of questions 
 was instant and tremendous. " Gentlemen," re- 
 plied the official, " there is nothing in it ; you 
 have all been humbugged." At this brief and 
 unexpected answer a change came over the 
 faces of the crowd, almost like blotting the sun 
 from the heavens in appearance. I saw tears 
 in the eyes of strong men, and an agony of 
 bitter and hopeless disappointment in many 
 more. Some silently went below to weep; 
 some flew into a rage, and swore revenge upon 
 the man who had originated such reports; a 
 
ORIGIN OF THE DECEPTION. 235 
 
 few looked merely sullen, and still fewer indif- 
 ferent. 
 
 As for myself and Perrin, we had talked 
 over the prospect many times, and had come 
 to the conclusion that the probabilities of ob- 
 taining gold were against us ; and our hopes, in 
 consequence, had not become very strong. Be- 
 side, it was not so much the hope of gain that 
 had brought us thither, as the love of wander- 
 ing ; which, I confess, was so powerful a prin- 
 ciple with me, as to make me comparatively 
 indifferent to poverty or riches. 
 
 Upon further inquiry it was ascertained, that 
 the original report was, undoubtedly, founded 
 on assertions of Lieutenant Herndon, of gold 
 to be found upon the head waters of the Ama- 
 zon, and elsewhere, east of the Andes. The 
 fellow who had spread the news in Melbourne 
 was probably associated with some unprin- 
 cipled captains or owners, who were desirous 
 of contriving paying voyages for their ves- 
 sels, then lying unemployed in Port Philip 
 harbor; and letters which he presented, pur- 
 porting to be from a brother in Peru, con- 
 taining glowing accounts of the mines, were 
 
236 NUMBER OF THE DUPED. 
 
 a base fabrication. We are told that this same 
 man, while coming across upon another ves- 
 sel, has been caught in robbing a passenger, 
 and is now imprisoned in Callao, to answer to 
 the charge — an item of information that seems 
 a real consolation to many of our unfortunate 
 men, especially considering the misery of 
 Spanish prisons, and the dilatoriness of their 
 tribunals. 
 
 The whole number of men thus caught in 
 this net is over two thousand. Callao is full 
 to overflowing of those who are waiting for a 
 steamer to take them to Panama, or staying 
 because they have no money wherewith to 
 take them to a new destination. And worse 
 than all, as I learn from an acquaintance that 
 has come on board, the yellow fever is among 
 them, and hundreds are dying. 
 
 Gold, he says, may probably be found in 
 some places near the upper waters of the 
 Amazon, several hundred miles distant ; but the 
 journey is, perhaps, as perilous as could be 
 made in South America. It lies across the 
 Andes, through large tracts of the low-land 
 forests; through territories of hostile tribes, 
 
DISCOURAGING PROSPECTS. 237 
 
 whose secret assaults and poisoned weapons 
 are sure destruction for small parties. It is 
 certain the trip can not be made at all, except 
 by strong companies, every man completely 
 equipped with arms and provisions for a long 
 expedition — requisites out of the reach of the 
 vast majority of those here. 
 
 30th. — After the disheartening news of yes- 
 terday, we thought best to remain on board for 
 the night ; and this morning we went on shore, 
 to see who of our Australian acquaintances 
 might be found. Three of the passengers have 
 joined Perrin and myself, and despite our 
 cloudy prospects we are quite cheerful, and 
 determined to keep together and make the 
 best of it. We were met at every turn by 
 scores of those who had arrived before us, and 
 on the principle that " misery loves company," 
 were delighted to see us. Doleful were the 
 details that we heard from each and all ; living 
 was expensive, board exorbitant, houses were 
 full ; no one dared venture for the mines ; no 
 ships were up for California, or the Isthmus ; 
 no steamer would leave for Panama for two or 
 three weeks. 
 
238 . CALLAO. 
 
 This was truly a melancholy story for us ; 
 but considering despondency a sure road to the 
 fever, and not being quite penniless, we re- 
 solved to look about Callao, and inquire for 
 lodgings. In wandering about the different 
 hotels, I found a letter from Mrs. Haynes, one 
 of our party from Geelong to Ballerat, who 
 had preceded me, and was already on her way 
 to San Francisco. She advises me to go at 
 once to Lima, and remain until an oppor- 
 tunity is offered to sail for Panama, and I am 
 inclined to do so. 
 
 Callao is low, flat, and sickly; the streets 
 narrow and intolerably filthy; the houses mean 
 and poor, with mud walls and flat roofs. One 
 of the first and most remarkable things that 
 attracted our attention, was the immense pile 
 of wheat that was to be seen in the open air. 
 Thousands of bushels are piled together in 
 this situation, remaining an almost incredible 
 time without injury, there being no rain on 
 this coast, and consequently a dry atmosphere. 
 
 The present town is of comparatively mod- 
 ern origin ; the former having been wholly 
 submerged and destroyed in a terrible earth- 
 
LIMA. 239 
 
 quake in 1746, which also laid waste a part 
 of Lima. 
 
 It is said that many portions of buildings 
 still standing can yet be seen at low water. 
 Immense treasures were buried in private 
 dwellings, and more in the large churches 
 which still lie among the ruins "in the bot- 
 tom of the sea." Various applications have 
 been made for permission to seek for them, 
 but for some unknown reason the Peruvian 
 government has invariably refused. 
 
 April 13th. — The excitement consequent 
 upon life in Lima has left me neither time nor 
 inclination for daily journalizing. Two weeks 
 have been spent in rambling about the city ; 
 and from this stand-point I can speak of that 
 which my eyes have seen and my ears have 
 heard, with more satisfaction to myself, and 
 perhaps greater benefit to others. 
 
 With several of our ship's company we came 
 to Lima, a distance of ten miles, being an 
 ascending grade of fifty feet to the mile, in 
 about one hour. 
 
 The cars here are mere open carriages — no 
 
240 BANDITTI. 
 
 protection from the rain or cold being neces- 
 sary. The sun sent down upon us his scorch- 
 ing rays ; but the road is in immediate prox- 
 imity to the old government road, which 
 is shaded on either side with magnificent 
 trees, whose broad branches afford an agreea- 
 ble shade. 
 
 Upon our arrival, we found that our ex- 
 penses would not vary much from six dollars 
 a week — a sum altogether too large for our 
 limited resources, especially as we had a long 
 journey yet before us. After a night of rest, 
 we sallied forth, satisfied our wants with ba- 
 nanas from the market place, and finally suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining cheap lodging rooms of 
 a German landlord, where we established our- 
 selves, and very soon felt at home. We 
 thought of encamping somew 7 here in the neigh- 
 borhood, but found the country entirely in- 
 closed; beside, the vicinity swarms with robbers, 
 and straggling soldiers, identical with them, 
 who rob and murder at their pleasure. A 
 large number of American and English people 
 are here, and their affinity of blood and lan- 
 guage seems to bring them together as breth- 
 
ASPECT OF LIMA. 241 
 
 ren of one family, laying aside the distinction 
 that existed in Australia, or forgetting differ- 
 ences by being in a common condition of 
 poverty in a strange land. 
 
 Lima looks somewhat imposing as ap- 
 proached from the ocean; standing out prom- 
 inently upon an elevated table-land, and this 
 upon the dark background of the Andes. The 
 
 mountains in this region are quite barren 
 
 all thejipper portion of the first range, a mile 
 or two from the city, being a mere mass of 
 lava, while the land at their base is a garden 
 of tropical vegetation. Scores of churches, 
 convents, and cathedrals tower above the low- 
 er buildings, and give a powerful impression 
 of massive grandeur at the first view. Ordi- 
 narily, the houses are but one story, with flat 
 roofs, so constructed by reason of frequent 
 earthquakes, which render them liable to be 
 thrown down; and they are incomparably less 
 dangerous under these circumstances, than if 
 they were more elevated and of solid ma- 
 terial. Sun-dried bricks, made of clay and 
 chopped straw, form the bulk of their building 
 stuff Lima contains about seventy churches, 
 21 
 
242 CHURCHES, ETC. 
 
 besides the grand cathedral which stands in 
 the plaza, and was built by Pizarro, being one 
 hundred and eighty-six feet in front by three 
 hundred and twenty deep. It is considered a 
 fine specimen of architecture, but much dilap- 
 idated ; and indeed, in its best estate, was sadly 
 injured by gaudy coloring and grotesque orna- 
 ments — a plain indication of the want of civ- 
 ilization and refinement in the vain architects. 
 It possesses, at present, no other attractions 
 but a quantity of relics, and some old paint- 
 ings and statuary. In 1746 its towers were 
 thrown down by an earthquake, but were re- 
 built in 1800. It has several fine toned bells, 
 and the wealth which has at different times 
 been lavished upon its interior is scarcely to 
 be credited, except in a city which once paved 
 a street with ingots of silver to do honor to 
 a new viceroy. As a proof of the abundance 
 of silver ornaments, it is said that in 1821, 
 a tun and a half of silver was taken from 
 the various churches in Lima, without being 
 missed, to meet the exigencies of the state. 
 
 The Church of San Francisco contains an 
 altar, also built by Pizarro, purporting to stand 
 
5> 
 
 PROMENADES. 243 
 
 upon columns of solid silver, beside being 
 decorated with profuse ornaments of silver 
 and gold, and the whole surmounted with a 
 golden statue of himself The forms of these 
 things are certainly to be seen, but the real 
 substances were stolen during the revolution, 
 leaving nothing but base metal gilded over. 
 This church was once the richest in the world 
 and still retains enough of ornament, painting 
 and statuary, to render it interesting. There 
 are two large theatres, only one of which is 
 assisted by government, and this is now closed 
 on account of political troubles. 
 
 Beside the festivals and dramatic amuse- 
 ments, a favorite evening pleasure of the peo- 
 ple of the city consists in promenading upon 
 the grand plaza, which is a spacious, handsome 
 square, lined with all the principal shops, and 
 therefore quite lively. Its sidewalks are 
 handsomely paved with mosaic, while those 
 opposite the cathedral present the novel and 
 startling appearance of being inlaid here and 
 there with human bones, though no one, as I 
 could find, is able to tell whence they came, or 
 why they were there. About a mile distant 
 
244 CLIMATE. INHABITANTS. 
 
 from this place, across the River Rimac, there 
 is another public square, usually called the 
 Alameda; situated between a range of fine 
 residences on one side and a low wall along 
 the river on the other side, shaded through- 
 out by the choicest tropical trees, thus form- 
 ing an exceedingly pleasant resort for the 
 lovers of pleasure. 
 
 The climate is pleasant, the extremes of 
 heat and cold being never experienced. The 
 thermometer in the city, and in the shade, 
 never falls in winter under sixty degrees Fahr- 
 enheit, nor rises in summer above eighty-two 
 degrees, its usual station being about eighty 
 degrees in well-aired apartments. 
 
 There are about seventy-five thousand in- 
 habitants in Lima; Spanish and Peruvian by 
 blood, with a small intermixture from other 
 nations. A larger part of the lower classes 
 are Peruvians, mostly indolent and stupid, 
 caring little or nothing for society ; even re- 
 maining unmoved at the extravagant stories 
 of the gold fields, or the general rumor of a 
 movement upon the city, by rebels of some 
 kind. Their wants are merely sensual, and a 
 
SPANISH FAMILIES. 245 
 
 bare living suffices. Fruit, which is excessive- 
 ly cheap j a little corn or manioc-root flour : 
 a fine outside garment, in addition to their 
 usual scanty dress, will satisfy all their worldly 
 desires. 
 
 There is in the city a small circle of proud 
 and exclusive families of old Spanish blood, 
 who are very wealthy, owning, as we are told, 
 a great part of the city, and large estates in 
 the country, as well as interests in the silver 
 mines. They are seldom out alone after dark, 
 for fear of assassination, as the common people 
 regard them with only malicious feelings. 
 
 Many of them are well educated for this 
 country, in a college established at this place, 
 and chiefly patronized by them. They are 
 very tenacious of their old customs, and stran- 
 gers find it almost impossible to gain access 
 to their circles. 
 
 The best portion of the citizens, and, as I 
 believe, of the Peruvians in general, is the 
 large middle class of tradesmen, mechanics, 
 and small land-holders. These people have 
 some spirit; do something for their country; 
 but are excessively fond of dress and amuse- 
 21* 
 
246 PRIESTS OF LIMA. 
 
 ments ; yet hospitable, courteous in manner, 
 and especially polite and attentive to strangers. 
 Detachments of troops are almost daily to be 
 met, drilling on the public grounds. They are 
 the tamest looking soldiers imaginable, with 
 not nearly as much uniformity in size or skill 
 as is usually seen in our volunteer school-boy 
 companies; nerveless and stupid beyond de- 
 scription. This excites but little surprise, when 
 we consider that they are poor, lower-class 
 natives, pressed into the service, neither 
 knowing nor caring for whom or what they 
 fight. 
 
 There are said to be about three thousand 
 priests in Lima, and nuns not less in number. 
 The churches are generally open for mass in 
 the morning, and we have several times at- 
 tended the service for the purpose of enjoying 
 the music and the coolness of the large, dim 
 buildings. The priests were exceedingly civil, 
 and appeared to court the presence of stran- 
 gers, more probably for the sake of their con- 
 tributions than from any other motive. One 
 of the fathers always stands at the door with a 
 plate, and no one can resist giving him at 
 
CHARACTER OF THE PRIESTHOOD. 247 
 
 least " a real/' if it is only to witness the ex- 
 treme politeness of the cunning fellows. They 
 are vehement in the affirmation that all such 
 collections go into the church treasury for re- 
 pairs, replacing images, &c; but charity hardly 
 forbids the suspicion that a large proportion of 
 it goes for the support of the clergy them- 
 selves. The priests are by no means prepos- 
 sessing in appearance; have neither respecta- 
 bility nor dignity. They may be seen lounging 
 at church doors, even during divine service, chat- 
 ting, laughing, smoking; and, in spite of all 
 this, continue to exert great influence on the 
 lower classes, which constitute the great body 
 of the community. The wealthy and aristo- 
 cratic occasionally pay some regard to the 
 forms and ceremonies of exterior religion, for 
 fashion's sake, or to avoid dangerous collisions 
 with the priests and their flocks ; but at heart 
 they are chiefly infidels. 
 
 On the Saturday previous to Palm Sunday 
 we were accidentally present at a curious re- 
 hearsal of the exercises for the festival. We 
 had attended service in the morning, and were 
 examining some paintings and statuary in a 
 
248 RIDICULOUS CEREMONIES. 
 
 distant part of the gallery, when the small 
 congregation quietly dispersed, while we were 
 made aware of being locked in by the shutting 
 of the doors. We would have applied for lib- 
 erty, but observing that preparations were 
 being made in the body of the church for 
 some ceremony, we at once determined to be 
 silent spectators. 
 
 Quietly creeping to a front corner of the 
 gallery, we looked and listened, while the farce 
 below proceeded. It proved to be the pre- 
 paratory drill of one detachment for the grand 
 procession of the following day. 
 
 The music and the chanting were solemn 
 and beautiful, and the whole procession, filing 
 about through the vast, dim aisles, and un- 
 der the lofty roof, with splendid costumes, 
 glittering silvered palm-branches, censers, and 
 all the paraphernalia of a Catholic festival, 
 might have been profoundly impressive. But 
 the actors, numbering fifty, were of all ages, 
 from gray-haired men down to mere boys, 
 and went through their parts with silly laugh- 
 ter, ridiculous grimaces, and tricks, as if they 
 had been a company of monkeys, instead of 
 
A PROCESSION. 249 
 
 professedly Christian people commemorating 
 a solemn incident in the life of Christ, their 
 Master. 
 
 They pulled each other slyly by the gown, 
 smote each other about the ears and on the 
 shaven crown with the dry, rattling palm- 
 branches, joked and laughed until every thing 
 sacred and impressive had disappeared in the 
 display of levity, folly, and blasphemy. 
 
 The procession on the following day was 
 one exceedingly imposing. It was headed by 
 a detachment of several thousand troops, after 
 whom came the bishop and his long train of 
 splendidly arrayed acolytes and clergy, and 
 concluded by an army of citizens. Full a 
 hundred thousand people must have been here 
 on that day, including troops and country 
 people. The long line was gay with banners, 
 military music and uniforms, crosiers, staves, 
 censers, and the waving and flashing of gilt 
 and silvered palm leaves which both men 
 and images bore in their hands. Towering 
 high above all were the images of Christ and 
 the twelve apostles, in fine ruffled shirts and 
 modern outer garments, and in front the rep- 
 
250 A GRAND DISPLAY. 
 
 resentation of the Virgin Mary, dressed in 
 embroidered satin, fancy crape shawl, ribbons, 
 and diamonds. The whole display was cer- 
 tainly very imposing, and the aspect of the 
 whole city exceedingly lively and gay — a state 
 of things which doubtless serves an important 
 purpose in keeping the people quiet and con- 
 tented under the yoke, both of their priestly 
 and political rulers. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE YELLOW FEVER. — VOYAGE TO PANAMA. — ARRIVE 
 AT SAN FRANCISCO. — SCENES AT THE POST OFFICE. 
 — SITUATION OF THE CITY. — IMPRESSIONS OF DIF- 
 FERENT MEN. 
 
 If * variety is the spice of life," as some 
 affirm, then the portion of existence which fell 
 to us in Lima was well seasoned. Days and 
 weeks passed while we were strolling about 
 the city, making little expeditions here and 
 there, taking an occasional trip to Callao by 
 railroad, and enjoying social intercourse with 
 our fellows in misfortune. For myself, I fell 
 in with a Swiss gentleman of much intelligence, 
 who kindly invited me to his house, affording 
 me pleasurable seasons, that will ever remain 
 among the pleasantest reminiscences of my 
 stay in the city. That joy and sorrow, pain 
 and pleasure, are closely allied in this world, is 
 not only a theory, but an actual fact, and so 
 
 (251) 
 
252 YELLOW FEVER PREVALENT. 
 
 felt, as we reviewed scenes and events while on 
 the steamer, bound for Panama. 
 
 May 5th. — The agreeable excitement, con- 
 sequent upon rambling and sight-seeing in 
 Lima, almost prevented us from taking note 
 of the continued ravages of the yellow fever 
 among the foreigners. At last it began to 
 invade our own circle of acquaintance. More 
 than once, when we had passed a delightful 
 evening with a small party, upon inquiring 
 next day of some member for the health of 
 another, we were met with the reply, " He is 
 buried." Not many such shocks were needed 
 to cast gloomy shadows around us, awaking 
 feelings that may perhaps have tended to pre- 
 pare us for an attack of the same deadly dis- 
 ease. One after another of our circle were at 
 length taken down, myself the last — induced 
 probably by fatigue and watching with my 
 companions. It may have been sheer insensi- 
 bility that made me confident I was not near 
 death, though a victim of the dreadful fever ; 
 but I am inclined to ascribe the calmness and 
 freedom which I felt to a higher than human 
 
THE FEVER BAFFLED. 253 
 
 power or agency; even to that grace which 
 "soothes the troubled mind" under the most 
 adverse circumstances of life. My first greet- 
 ing to the physician, a clever young German, 
 upon his first visit, was, " Well, doctor, I'm not 
 going to die yet ! " — positiveness that provoked 
 a smile, and the remark that, " With that dispo- 
 sition you will do well enough." His treat- 
 ment in all cases was invariably the same — a 
 moderate dose of calomel, blue pill afterward, 
 and citric acid as a cooling drink whenever 
 needed. I swallowed the first, received each 
 installment of the second with great respect, 
 and threw it under my bed in his absence, and 
 drank the refreshing solution of acid with 
 much pleasure. A few days sufficed to com- 
 plete the work of recovery ; and so pleased was 
 my physician with my apparent good behavior, 
 he only presented a bill of the mere cost of 
 the drugs, and declared more than half of the 
 fatal cases would have recovered if they had 
 done the like. I had remained here nearly a 
 month before the expected steamer came up 
 the coast. In company with my friend Wil- 
 liams, from whom the fever seemed to have 
 22 
 
254 DEPARTURE. 
 
 driven away all consumptive symptoms, but 
 who had lost rather in the struggle between 
 two such foes, I engaged passage for Panama. 
 Perrin, my faithful friend and constant com- 
 panion and partner from the Isle of France to 
 Australia, thence to Lima, remained behind in 
 order to negotiate, in some way, for a passage 
 home. One of our party was hopelessly ill of 
 the fever; indeed, could not have been more 
 than an hour or two from his death when we 
 were forced to leave him, to reach the steamer. 
 
 In spite of the discouraging accounts of the 
 Peruvian mines, and of the route thither, sev- 
 eral parties were organized to reach them. 
 During our stay three bands started, each 
 person with a mule, and all the arms and outfit 
 required. Of these, as I learn, one has disap- 
 peared forever, in the frightful mountains and 
 forests, having never been heard from after 
 leaving Lima. The second made considerable 
 distance, losing more than half their number, 
 when they were overtaken by about as many 
 of the third party, being all that were left 
 alive. 
 
 The two forlorn detachments joined, and for 
 
FAILURE OF THE ENTERPRISE. 255 
 
 fear of hostile Indians avoided all human habita- 
 tions, living during many days of toilsome jour- 
 neying only upon monkeys and wild oranges. 
 This unhealthy diet, together with swamp 
 atmosphere, bad water, discouragement, and 
 excessive fatigue, obliged them to halt in the 
 depths of the forest. It was then agreed that 
 those who felt able and desirous of doing so, 
 should push on, and that the rest should recruit 
 and return. Some twenty or more proceeded ; 
 twelve turned back, eight only reaching Lima, 
 in a wretched condition, — bareheaded, bare- 
 footed, tattered, emaciated, penniless, almost 
 starved, — with barely enough of life left to 
 try to preserve it. 
 
 This whole emigration from Australia is one 
 vast failure. Probably, of the four thousand 
 men who have come across, not one fifth ever 
 started for the mines, and nearly one third died 
 of fever. The rest gradually scattered, some 
 to Australia, some to California, and others else- 
 where. It may be imagined that the threats 
 against the author of this wide-spread sorrow 
 and misery were deep and frequent. No at- 
 tempts were made, however, to fulfil them, and 
 
25 G A DELIGHTFUL VOYAGE. 
 
 the miserable man, no doubt, found a sufficient 
 punishment in the squalid rigor of his impris- 
 onment. He was released before we left, and 
 we saw him more than once sneaking about 
 alone, pale and sickly, and with every appear- 
 ance of shame and sorrow. 
 
 Our steamer is the Santiago, the English 
 mail vessel between Valparaiso and Panama — 
 an iron boat, long, narrow, and so low that, 
 sitting over the edge of the guards, our feet 
 nearly touch the water. The accommodations 
 are excellent, and the table luxurious. Having 
 the curiosity, a day or two since, to count the 
 different articles of food at dinner, I found 
 them to be seventy-two, independent of fruit. 
 These quiet days are exceedingly delightful; 
 this portion of the Pacific is as smooth as any 
 inland lake ; even a skiff might make a voyage 
 between Lima and Panama. The air is balmy 
 and spring-like ; the steamer glides steadily 
 and quietly; and the easy, pleasurable life 
 soothes our very hearts, wearied and worn with 
 such long-continued toils and wanderings. 
 
 I find quite a number of English families 
 on board, apparently making the trip for 
 
PANAMA. 257 
 
 pleasure; and surely they could not have made 
 a better choice. 
 
 If American pleasure-seekers would find the 
 object for which they search, they can most as- 
 suredly realize it in this region. A summer 
 excursion from New York to Panama, down 
 the coast to Lima or Valparaiso and back, and 
 then to San Francisco home again, would be 
 indeed a trip full of delightful interest. 
 
 Panama, May 30th. — Upon reaching Pan- 
 ama, we went first to a hotel, and having seen 
 poor Williams comfortably settled, went out 
 to search for cheaper lodgings ourselves. 
 While in a bar room, my eye was attracted by 
 a card bearing the name of Eev. Mr. Eowell, 
 the American missionary chaplain stationed 
 here. I at once conceived the idea of con- 
 sulting with him both in regard to our stay 
 and the means of reaching San Francisco, 
 whither we intended to go. After some search, 
 I discovered his residence — a pleasant home 
 in the suburbs of the city, where we were 
 hospitably received, in Mr. B.'s absence, by 
 his wife. While conversing with her, the mis- 
 22* 
 
258 A SELECT RESTAURANT. 
 
 sionary himself came in, and upon our stating 
 our errand, we received the unwelcome intel- 
 ligence that the steamer had just left, and we 
 should be under the necessity of remaining in 
 Panama two or three weeks. He kindly of- 
 fered to lodge us during our stay, in such 
 style as his narrow means would permit, afford- 
 ing nothing but a cool matted floor, on which 
 to rest ; but this was at once luxury and econ- 
 omy, and we accepted the offer very gratefully. 
 
 In our wanderings about the city, we dis- 
 covered a " restaurant" very fortunately; and 
 from this time we have invariably taken our 
 meals there. We have carefully avoided speak- 
 ing of the place to others, lest we make diffi- 
 culty for the hostess; for we have not been 
 slow in perceiving that it is a select place, 
 even for the better class of priests — an infalli- 
 ble sign of its professional merits. 
 
 We met unfriendly looks and words from 
 these fathers at first, a little significant, seem- 
 ingly, causing us to note them ; for they are 
 doubly inimical to foreigners of heretical be- 
 lief, and in this country the sentiments of the 
 priests are the sentiments of the people. My 
 
THE AMERICAN DIME. 259 
 
 friend and myself are far from being rich, and 
 our meals are consequently frugal indeed — 
 a fortunate necessity for us, however, as the 
 diseases of northern men in tropical climates 
 are almost invariably the result of intemper- 
 ance in eating or drinking, or both. We each 
 pay a dime for breakfast, which consists of a 
 cup of excellent coffee, and a nice French roll; 
 two or three dimes for dinner, which is made 
 up of some light dishes, with an abundance of 
 delicious fruit. 
 
 The American dime has quite supplanted 
 the "real" as the chief small-change coin on 
 the Isthmus and in California. As for cents, 
 instead of being objects of contempt and aver- 
 sion, as in the Southern and Western United 
 States, they are objects of curiosity. I have 
 seen a young man carry one on his watch- 
 chain, as " charms " and trinkets are worn at 
 the East, and it has commanded universal 
 attention. " What's that ? " is a frequent ques- 
 tion. " Why, that must be a cent!" and it is 
 inspected with as much curiosity as if it had 
 been coined by Tubal-Cain, in the original 
 antediluvian mint. 
 
260 INHABITANTS OF THE RESTAURANT. 
 
 But to return to the restaurant, which is 
 delicately neat, considering the variety and 
 number of its occupants. They seem to 
 constitute a " happy family/' much more re- 
 markable than the incongruous animal assem- 
 blage sometimes so called. According to our 
 careful and repeated census, there are ducks, 
 hens, turkeys, cats, dogs, goats, pigs, girls, boys, 
 women, and numberless withered Spaniards, 
 all running in and out, at work, play, or sleep, 
 on the ground floor of the low, large room. 
 Among this strange and heterogeneous crowd, 
 cool, and undismayed by the indescribable mix- 
 ture of voices of beasts and birds, human 
 conversation, calls of customers, the complex 
 responsibilities of the cooking department, 
 which steamed at the further side of the room, 
 and the current calls of the household, this 
 managing partner of the concern goes to and 
 fro upon her innumerable errands ; never hur- 
 ried nor worried — a very pearl of native 
 women. She is immensely fat, with a clear 
 olive skin, fine features, splendid black eyes, 
 pearly teeth, and no small quantum of good 
 nature and dignity. 
 
STATE OF MORALS. 261 
 
 Old Panama, the ancient Spanish city, is 
 quite ruined, and indeed the new place, by the 
 same name, is scarcely less so. Many of the 
 churches show signs of vast wealth in the past, 
 but only a very few families of wealth are in 
 the place now, and neither enterprise nor thrift 
 exists but what is planted here by means 
 of the transit travel to and from California, 
 and down the coast. Americans who estab- 
 lish themselves in business at this point show 
 their characteristic energy, but the natives are 
 never stimulated to follow their example ; but, 
 on the contrary, they dislike them and their 
 ways, and if they dared, the intrusive, restless, 
 and monopolizing foreigners w r ould quickly be 
 expelled from the country. 
 
 The people in general, numbering some- 
 where about ten thousand, are mostly low 
 Spanish half-breeds, who live in old ruined 
 houses and bamboo huts, appearing more igno- 
 rant, indolent, and vicious than any of their 
 race I have ever seen. The moral and social 
 atmosphere of the place speaks strongly of 
 " barbarism ; " even the marriage relation is 
 hardly respected or formally observed. 
 
262 RELIGION. 
 
 Mr. Howell is making great and praise- 
 worthy efforts at reform in this respect, as well 
 as others, and he has, to some extent, suc- 
 ceeded in introducing the practice of the mar- 
 riage rite, and of conjugal faithfulness, while 
 there are some indications that public opinion 
 will eventually support him. 
 
 The religion of Panama is the lowest phase 
 of Romanism. There are a few of the higher 
 ranks who are infidels, associating not at all 
 with the commonalty or the priests, either in 
 society or religious services. Their absence 
 from church ceremonies may, perhaps, be plau- 
 sibly excused, on the ground of danger ; for the 
 few church edifices that continue to be opened 
 for use are so ruinous that they seem ready 
 to fall, at any moment, upon the heads of the 
 deluded worshipers. 
 
 There is reason to hope that this clashing 
 of material interests, and the exhibition of 
 superior activity, will rouse the inactive Span- 
 ish population to efforts worthy their noble 
 blood, and of the ancient fame of their grand 
 old nation. 
 
 The ghastly specters remaining from Lieu- 
 
DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 263 
 
 tenant Strain's frightful expedition across the 
 Isthmus, have arrived at this place. Such bent 
 and feeble frames, such deadly-looking coun- 
 tenances, I have never associated with living 
 men before. One of the number has died, and 
 was followed to his grave in the cemetery by 
 a large number. This burial place is a dreary, 
 unattractive spot, overrun with briers and 
 almost impenetrable thickets of tropical shrubs 
 and vines. We have spent considerable time 
 in searching out and reading inscriptions upon 
 the monuments which affection has sent from 
 the United States, to mark the last resting 
 place of friends in this remote region. Almost 
 all those who have died here are young men, 
 in the prime of life, seized and cut off on their 
 way to California by the dreaded Isthmus 
 fever. 
 
 The native inhabitants, as in Italy, destroy 
 the bodies of their dead with quick-lime, cast- 
 ing the slender relics into a pit, when the work 
 of the caustic is complete. While wandering 
 in a solitary and remote spot, I discovered a 
 small, blackened, and barren area, which seemed 
 to have been used for this purpose. Upon it 
 
264 ARRIVAL AT SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 was a small pile of human remains, like moist 
 cinders and gray ashes, with here and there a 
 fragment of bone — relics of existing bar- 
 barism. Notwithstanding so much darkness 
 and ignorance, the hope of gain will still influ- 
 ence many to come hither, losing sight of 
 these forbidding features in the eagerness of 
 accumulating wealth, thus confirming the sen- 
 timent of the great poet of nature, "How 
 quickly the human heart falls to revolt when 
 gold becomes its object !" 
 
 June 15th. — In San Francisco at last. It 
 was only till the last moment that we were 
 able to negotiate for a passage at a rate within 
 our means. About seventy-five of our fellow 
 Australian voyagers came with us, some of 
 whom had money, which they freely dispensed 
 to their poorer companions. Such traits of 
 noble generosity are more common among the 
 large class of roving travelers that have sprung 
 up since the gold discoveries, than many are apt 
 to imagine. It affords pleasant confirmation 
 for the belief that in the lowest class of men, 
 that is, in the least intelligent and cultivated, 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE PLACE. 265 
 
 there are yet redeeming qualities, that speak a 
 certain native goodness of heart. The voyage 
 to San Francisco (usually known, " for short," 
 in California and on the coast, as " Frisco,") oc- 
 cupied twelve days and a half, void of incident 
 worth noting. The excitement of the passen- 
 gers, as we passed within the Golden Gate, 
 was intense. Cheer after cheer was given from 
 one party and another, evidently prompted by 
 pure exultation at reaching the land of gold, 
 or at being able to tread American soil once 
 more. Many of our company had left Califor- 
 nia three years before, to do better in Aus- 
 tralia. To such the change in the city must 
 have been startling; for where they had left 
 long lines and groups of sand hills and barren 
 hights, the ground was now leveled and 
 graded, streets laid out and crowded with 
 houses, churches, and stores. So great was 
 the change, so striking the improvement, they 
 professed it to be more like an enchanted 
 dream than a reality. A range of handsome 
 private residences . has been shown to me on 
 Rincon Point, on both sides of a level and com- 
 modious plank road, and surrounded with beau- 
 23 
 
266 MEETING OF FRIENDS. 
 
 tiful gardens, rich in verdure, whose site had 
 been sand hills within three months ; so rapid 
 are the works of man, and the operations of 
 nature in this region of vivid life and tremen- 
 dous energy ! 
 
 We sailed slowly through a forest of masts, 
 past a long succession of thronged and busy 
 wharves to the steam-ship landing ; and as we 
 approached the spot, the immediate vicinity, 
 and all the adjacent streets, as far as we could 
 see, were one compact mass of men and wo- 
 men, eagerly watching, and impatiently wait- 
 ing to welcome friends whom they expected. 
 Such a host of anxious countenances are sel- 
 dom seen; and as soon as we were within 
 hailing distance, handkerchiefs were waving in 
 the air from both ship and shore, and innumer- 
 able voices were calling each to some friend 
 whom they recognized in the crowd. 
 
 Numbers were overcome at the sight of 
 loved ones, from whom they had been long 
 absent; and when the gang-way was laid down, 
 the rush into arms, the tempest of joy and 
 grief, laughter and tears, was affecting in a 
 high degree, beside being inconvenient almost 
 
SCENE AT THE POST OFFICE. 267 
 
 to danger. The arrival of the Isthmus steam- 
 ers, with their burden of joyous and heavy 
 hearts, with their " silent messengers/' bearing 
 gladness or heaviness to so many more, are 
 great events in California. The scene at the 
 post office, on these occasions, is almost without 
 a parallel in the world. The mail arrange- 
 ments are not yet perfected throughout the 
 interior, and for this reason, coupled with the 
 fact of their wandering, uncertain life, num- 
 bers of miners have their letters sent to the 
 city, and come thither for them when they are 
 due. All the business correspondence also 
 comes through these mails, and the result is 
 such a pressure at the delivery office as can 
 scarcely be conceived. There are several win- 
 dows arranged by an alphabetical series of 
 initials, and from each of these, by daylight of 
 the morning of " steamer days," the line of ex- 
 pectants begins to form, and grows continually, 
 stretching around for a hundred and fifty rods 
 in every conceivable direction, insomuch that a 
 bird's-eye view of San Francisco post office, on 
 steamer days, would afford no unfair represen- 
 tation of California people and their manners. 
 
268 DELIVERY OF LETTERS. 
 
 Some speculating geniuses take advantage of 
 this tedious process to earn money, as Fabius 
 saved Italy, by the delay. The rule " first come, 
 first served," is rigidly enforced, and they come 
 early to the ground, secure a station near the 
 window, pretty certain of an opportunity to 
 sell their right of succession to some hurried 
 or anxious merchant for five or ten dollars. 
 Often the purchaser can much better afford 
 this payment than to waste a whole day, per- 
 haps more, in hanging round the office, or 
 u standing on a string." A less direct and hon- 
 orable mode of evading the difficulty is often 
 practiced, which has been the cause of much 
 reasonable complaint and annoyance. In Cali- 
 fornia women are treated with marked distinc- 
 tion and deference, more so than in any other 
 country in the world, without exception. Of 
 course there is a particular window for them 
 at the office, and especially obliging and ac- 
 tive clerks ; and in order to avail themselves 
 of the advantage, numbers of merchants are 
 in the habit of having their letters directed 
 to their wives, instead of themselves. Thus 
 many a fair agent — sometimes really a wife, 
 
REFLECTIONS. 269 
 
 and sometimes only a hired substitute for the 
 occasion — enables her lord to read his letters 
 and act accordingly, many hours before his 
 wifeless, less enterprising, or more fair-minded 
 competitors. 
 
 What a study is human nature ! How every 
 phase of it appears to the traveler — sometimes 
 in a manner that elicits profound admiration, 
 and again exciting scarcely less than disgust ! 
 Nothing very strange if Young had similar 
 experience, ere he penned the line, — 
 
 " How abject, how august is man ! " 
 
 Here to this famed and youthful city I have 
 come, with what design I can scarcely tell, — 
 not to dig in the bowels of the earth for golden 
 treasures merely, nor to engage in any other 
 branch of business in particular, but rather to 
 gratify a love of wandering, — hardly any thing 
 more definite than to see what there is to be 
 seen, and, perchance, become a * doer," provided 
 a congenial situation presents itself. 
 
 My money is nearly gone, but I find a wel- 
 come home with my brother-in-law, already 
 established in this place, and propose to remain 
 23* 
 
270 SAN FRANCISCO BAY. 
 
 to look about the city, and then take a look at 
 the northern mines of gold, up the valley of 
 the Sacramento, in the skirts of the Sierra 
 Nevada. 
 
 20th. — I have been so particularly fortunate 
 as to meet in the city an old friend and fellow- 
 townsman, who has very kindly acted as my 
 guide and conductor to all points of interest in 
 and about the city; but these have been so 
 generally described by travelers, I shall omit 
 extended individual notices, and remark only 
 the general features of the city and its loca- 
 tion. From Telegraph Hill, the highest point 
 in San Francisco, we command a view of the 
 whole city and suburbs ; the wharves and ship- 
 ping of the whole bay, its islands and shores. 
 The city occupies the inner slope of the south- 
 ern of those two points, between which is that 
 magnificent entrance to the bay, called the 
 Golden Gate. To the westward rises the low 
 chain of hills which shut out the view of the 
 Pacific ; while close beneath us, to the north- 
 east, east, and south-east, spread the streets and 
 squares of the city, with their gardens crowning 
 
EDIFICES. 271 
 
 the whole with peculiar and rare beauty. The 
 bay shore is lined with docks, and a great 
 crowd of shipping — vessels of all forms and 
 sizes, on whose tall masts hundreds of flags, of 
 all nations are gently waving in the breeze. 
 We can look directly down to Eincon Point, 
 through Montgomery Street, while from others 
 comes a distinct view of the bay. All the 
 grades are easy and even; the streets wide 
 and straight ; but it must be confessed the chief 
 and characteristic feature of the whole is the 
 large number of comfortable houses, surrounded 
 with green and pleasant gardens. Among the 
 prominent buildings is the substantial and orna- 
 mental custom house ; the Romish cathedral, 
 conspicuously erected upon the very best lo- 
 cation in the city, and several Presbyterian 
 churches. Numerous others, smaller and of 
 less moment, appear ; but the whole view im- 
 presses the observer with an idea of life, vigor, 
 and busy enterprise — comparatively in its in- 
 fancy, to be sure, but not less decided, inspirit- 
 ing, and hopeful for the future, than New York 
 with its bay and suburbs. Steamers are con- 
 stantly leaving the docks, laden to their utmost 
 
272 DIFFERING VIEWS OF MEN. 
 
 capacity with freight and passengers, for the 
 Sacramento, Stockton, Petaluma, Napa, Sono- 
 ma, San Jose, and the Contra-Costa settle- 
 ments, in the latter of which farms and country 
 houses form an agreeable feature of the land- 
 scape. The power of well-directed energy to 
 transform the wild places of the earth into a 
 garden of beauty, — even a terrestrial para- 
 dise, — is fully manifest here. The superficial 
 gazer looks upon what human achievement 
 hath wrought, and is lost in amazement; the 
 man of calculation looks abroad, and revolves 
 in his mind some successful scheme by which 
 his own name will be identified with the in- 
 creasing glory ; while the thoughtful, serious 
 observer witnesses the scene, and wonders if 
 the regenerating influence of truth and right 
 will come soon enough, and powerful enough, 
 to save it from the doom of proud, imperial 
 Eome, in other times. 
 
 Thus, according to the constitution of differ- 
 ent minds, are different emotions awakened in 
 the beholders of every scene. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE AT SACRAMENTO CITY. — STAY 
 
 AT CAPTAIN PIKE'S HOME. MUD AND DIAMOND 
 
 SPRINGS. — SCHOOL HOUSES. — MAMMOTH TREES. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF CURIOSITY. 
 
 Sacramento, June 28th. — While rambling 
 about the streets of San Francisco, gathering 
 information of the mines, I fell in with an old 
 shipmate from the Sacusa, Captain Pike, a 
 man even more impatient and roving than 
 myself. Having become tired of city life, he 
 proposed to me to join our forces in an excur- 
 sion to the northern mines ; and consenting to 
 the arrangement, our small preparations were 
 speedily made, and we embarked together on 
 the steamer for Sacramento City. The travel 
 between the city and the mining districts is 
 always large. We had on board several hun- 
 dred passengers, and a large quantity of freight. 
 On our way across the bay, to the mouth of 
 
 (273) 
 
274 ASPECT OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 the river, we passed several desolate-looking 
 islands and high rocks, rendering the appear- 
 ance of the coast barren in the extreme. A 
 few miles further distant, the banks were lined 
 with low shrubbery and a few trees, while still 
 higher the banks were lower and the river 
 valley spread out into magnificent meadows 
 and low upland, skirted with fine trees of heavy 
 timber, and stretching miles away before any 
 slope or table-land appeared. Beyond this 
 valley, on the west, are the high hills belong- 
 ing to the coast range, while far away in the 
 opposite direction loomed the distant, snow- 
 capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, limiting 
 the view. 
 
 Between the opposite towns of Benicia and 
 Martinez, near the mouth of the river, and 
 Sacramento City, there are no settlements, ex- 
 cept a few already deserted, an occasional 
 " ranch," or farm house, and a few huts of the 
 wood-cutters. The whole distance from San 
 Francisco to this place is one hundred and 
 twenty-five miles, only a small matter in this 
 " state of magnificent distances." 
 
 As we approached the city, the country 
 
SACRAMENTO CITY. 275 
 
 grew even more attractive, being higher and 
 more diversified. The river reminded me of 
 the Upper Mississippi, near St. Paul's, although 
 the banks are hardly of sufficient hight to be 
 called bluffs. The situation is more inviting, 
 at least I fancied I could see this in the de- 
 meanor of the heterogeneous crowd of several 
 steamers that discharged their living freight 
 about the same time. Many of them seemed 
 to step on shore with a sort of satisfied air, as 
 if they owned the land; with something of 
 the pride of proprietorship in the air of in- 
 dependence with which they sallied up the 
 streets to obtain breakfast before leaving for 
 the mines. We landed about sunrise, with the 
 intention of making the tour of the city be- 
 fore breakfast, but after wandering a mile or 
 two, found it not to be in exact accordance 
 with the clamorous voice of the physical man. 
 The city is laid out on a level plain, with wide, 
 straight streets, at right angles, lettered alpha- 
 betically one way, and numbered ordinarily 
 the other, making it very convenient for find- 
 ing strange places. The streets are already 
 laid out to distances almost incredible for so 
 
276 FUTURE GREATNESS. 
 
 young a city, and can be extended, if neces- 
 sary, many miles each way, over the level 
 ground of the vast natural park which lies 
 around its site at the confluence of the Sacra- 
 mento Eiver and the American Fork. There 
 are not wanting men who imagine themselves 
 endowed with prophetic vision, who are for- 
 ward in predicting that Sacramento will soon 
 be the second city in California, and one of 
 the handsomest in the United States — predic- 
 tions that seem quite probable, considering the 
 extreme beauty of its locality, the judicious 
 plan upon which it has been commenced, and 
 its great commercial advantages as the chief 
 depot for the mining districts. It seems to 
 me a place of much less show and excitement ; 
 society resting upon a more permanent basis 
 than in San Francisco. The people seem more 
 like fixed inhabitants of an old city, having 
 established churches, schools, markets, and 
 places of amusement. I am surprised to find 
 no small number of enterprising young men, 
 emigrants from my own native town, settled 
 in or near the city, doing a flourishing business, 
 or engaged in the grand, primeval art of agri- 
 
VISIT TO THE RANCH. 277 
 
 culture. I have also had a pleasing surprise 
 in meeting Mrs. Haynes, my Australian friend, 
 who came on before me, and is now settled 
 and happy at home in Sacramento, fully pre- 
 pared to appreciate the comparative comforts 
 and luxuries of this adopted home, after the 
 hardships and privations of life in Australia. 
 
 29th. — After a few days of enjoyment pecu- 
 liar to Sacramento, we were ready for a pedes- 
 trian excursion to French Creek, thence across 
 the Sierra Nevada to Gold Canon in Carson Val- 
 ley, the last named and furthest point being 
 nearly four hundred miles from San Francisco. 
 On the second day, at evening, we reached 
 Captain Pike's own homestead, a ranch in the 
 neighborhood of French Creek, which is a 
 branch of the American Fork of Sacramento 
 Eiver, and about fifty miles from the city of 
 the same name. The captain found his ten- 
 ants still occupying his house and farm, but 
 was a good deal chagrined at finding much of 
 his good, arable land turned upside down; 
 disfigured with holes and ditches by the mi- 
 ners. Proprietorship is no defense in Califor- 
 24 
 
278 MINING. 
 
 nia against this class of men. Where there is 
 gold, a mining claim is paramount to every 
 other, and each man may stake out and work 
 his twenty feet square, if it destroys growing 
 crops, orchards, or undermines the very hearth- 
 stone at your feet 5 — at least, he will, and it 
 makes very little difference whether he may. 
 Stopping here a little time, we went up and 
 down the creek, with an eye to the u yellow " 
 discoveries, but found little to encourage us, 
 although we usually obtained our twelve and 
 a half cents per pan, which is generally reck- 
 oned the minimum rate at which w r orking is 
 profitable. Here we formed an acquaintance 
 with a young man, who owned a horse, and 
 upon learning our intention of pursuing the 
 journey further, he proposed to join us — an 
 offer which we w r ere glad to accept, as thus our 
 packs might be transported and our progress 
 much facilitated. Our route lay up the valley 
 of French Creek, where the scenery was inter- 
 esting and beautiful, beside being much more 
 cultivated than we expected. We saw nice 
 farms, large, substantial-looking farm houses, 
 fields frequently of many acres in extent, and 
 
VALLEY OF FRENCH CREEK. 279 
 
 fertile gardens here and there between groves 
 of oak or pine. As we passed onward up the 
 valley, the cultivated fields, the gently sloping 
 hills, with their groves of oak, and occasional 
 patches of manzanita or hazel shrubbery, grad- 
 ually disappeared. Our path was constantly 
 ascending from the time we left Sacramento. 
 The mountains of the Sierra were directly be- 
 fore us, and with every mile the deep canons ; 
 dark and rugged ravines grew more numer- 
 ous, and all the scenery assumed more of the 
 wild and picturesque beauty which is so char- 
 acteristic of the country. Nevertheless, along 
 the banks of the many small and rapid streams 
 of pure water which here flow down from the 
 mountains, excellent situations for towns and 
 villages are abundant. The narrow valleys 
 and mountain slopes are rich both in vegetable 
 and mineral productions ; and the few ranches 
 scattered about here and there have already 
 fully proved the unsurpassed productiveness 
 of the soil, and its fitness for agriculture. If 
 nature has any thing to do with bodily and 
 mental development, these mountain sides 
 may, at no distant day, be peopled with a 
 
280 SPANISH FLAT. 
 
 numerous and mighty race. Some few miles 
 from our starting place, we came out upon 
 Spanish Flat, a secluded, level valley, hemmed 
 in on all sides by lofty mountains, except 
 where its natural drainage flowed out through 
 a narrow gorge, forming the head waters of 
 French Creek. 
 
 This isolated and beautiful spot takes its 
 name from a small number of old Spanish 
 families, who have occupied it for many years, 
 living peacefully and contentedly in their pas- 
 toral simplicity and wealth. Their descendants 
 would have remained upon the soil in like 
 manner, had not the gold-hunting excitement, 
 with its reckless adventurers, forced a way into 
 this distant retreat. Now the Spaniards have 
 joined the invaders in digging and trading; 
 the banks of their pleasant little forest stream 
 are torn up and dug down, and its channel 
 turned into a new bed ; most of the trees and 
 shrubbery have been cut down; houses and 
 stores have been erected upon the mountain 
 sides ; a busy thoroughfare winds onward into 
 the mountains, through narrow passes and steep 
 cliffs ; and the white tents of the miners, under 
 

SLY DIGGINGS. 281 
 
 oaks and pines, dot all the neighborhood. I 
 have found much pleasure in wandering alone 
 about these forests and mountains, more in de- 
 lighting myself with the wild grandeur of the 
 scenery than in canvassing for gold, which was 
 my ostensible errand. 
 
 I have strolled up and down the place, peer- 
 ing into every canon and valley, finding every 
 where the marks of those who had made unsuc- 
 cessful experiments and passed onward. Sev- 
 eral times I have come upon secret places com- 
 pletely hidden among the mountains, that were 
 occupied by two or three miners, and some- 
 times by a single, solitary man. These places 
 are technically styled " sly diggings," and their 
 locality is concealed with extreme care by 
 their occupants, who hold them for years to- 
 gether, patiently working from one end to the 
 other, and venturing out for supplies only by 
 night, or by circuitous and concealed routes, 
 for fear others might discover their hiding 
 place, and share their good fortune. Some of 
 these I judged to be making four or five dol- 
 lars a day. Their professed object is to remain 
 till they have accumulated a "certain pile." 
 24* 
 
282 MUD SPRINGS SETTLEMENT. 
 
 But in all probability some of them will find 
 their graves in these remote regions. 
 
 Mud Springs, a little further on, is a large 
 mining town of perhaps twenty-five hundred 
 souls, near to which many thousands of 
 miners are at work, scattered for miles in all 
 directions at the shallow diggings. There is a 
 fair prospect of employment in these mines for 
 a number of years, and it operates as an in- 
 ducement to the erection of substantial build- 
 ings and to general improvement. Most of 
 the inhabitants seem to have made their money 
 moderately, and are quietly and permanently 
 settled, with their families. There are one or 
 two fine churches, and several good school 
 houses; the latter being erected usually by 
 the young men of the vicinity — partly from 
 the disinterested motive of doing good to those 
 who have families, and partly from the desire 
 of having a place for singing schools, evening 
 meetings, political assemblies, or any gathering 
 or occasion of interest which might tend to 
 vary the monotony of the miner's life. 
 
 At several points upon our route we had 
 noticed, perched upon the top of some specially 
 
SCHOOL-HOUSE CHURCHES. 283 
 
 prominent hill, like the Temple of Science in the 
 frontispiece of Webster's spelling-book, one of 
 these old-fashioned school houses. On one oc- 
 casion our attention was arrested by a shouting 
 from one of these hills, and looking up, we saw 
 twenty or thirty boys and girls rushing from 
 their prison, in such a tumult of noisy glee, 
 that our momentary impression was, that some- 
 thing extraordinary had happened. The next 
 moment assured us it was noon, and we passed 
 on, full of the recollections of youth, and the 
 glorious liberty of school-boy days. 
 
 Throughout a great part of the mining coun- 
 try the school houses are the only churches. 
 In them the itinerant preachers, from one and 
 another denomination, fulfil an occasional ap- 
 pointment, preaching to closely-attentive and 
 keenly-appreciative audiences, though not vast 
 in numbers or magnificent in dress. The 
 young men, who usually form the congrega- 
 tion, have nothing but their mining apparel ; 
 but they are scrupulously clean. No custom 
 on earth is more rigorously observed than the 
 sailor's and miner's weekly ablutions and clean 
 shirt, even if the wearer has had to wash it him- 
 
284 DIAMOND SPRINGS. 
 
 self, and go without any until it was dry. Thus 
 cleansed and clad, the miner feels at once 
 good-natured and independent, and prepared to 
 give a preacher a cordial and respectful wel- 
 come, beside paying him bountifully for his 
 labor. These occasional ministrations are en- 
 joyed with the double zest of home associations 
 refreshed, and monotonous drudgery relieved, 
 over and above the pleasure coming from their 
 sympathy in the solemn services, as Christian 
 men. 
 
 Two miles beyond Mud Springs is Diamond 
 Springs — a town of similar character and some- 
 what larger size. Between the two places 
 there exists a rivalry and jealousy of consider- 
 able bitterness and activity, made evident to 
 us even in our transient stay, by sneering and 
 depreciating remarks in each at the expense of 
 the other. The result of our observations in 
 this part of our route is, that the miners are a 
 jovial and happy class, living carelessly and at 
 their ease, although at times they know some- 
 thing of hard labor. 
 
 The roads here are rough and rather diffi- 
 cult, but pass through a portion of country 
 
SNAKES ABUNDANT. 285 
 
 thick set with lovely mountain scenery. Our 
 path is beset with snakes, which are extremely 
 numerous in California. We sometimes see a 
 dozen rattlesnakes in the course of a day, be- 
 side a plenty of a species of adder with a horn 
 in their tail, that are said to sting instead of 
 bite; also a thick-bodied, large-headed snake, 
 here ridiculously called " bulbuls ." These, how- 
 ever, seem to be harmless, and we have accus- 
 tomed ourselves to them. From these springs 
 we proceeded in a straightforward direction, 
 and camped the same night under some tall 
 red-wood pines, the beginning of the celebrated 
 forests of mammoth trees, that stretch through 
 El Dorado and Calaveras counties. Close at 
 hand was a spring of clear water, and abun- 
 dance of good grass for our invaluable, silent 
 partner — the old gray horse. The next day we 
 journeyed in the shade of these gigantic trees. 
 The day was exceedingly fine, and the moun- 
 tain scenery magnificent and ever-varying, but 
 the trees absorbed our whole attention. We 
 were prepared to see a few of these leviathan 
 cedars, but to travel miles through forests of 
 them was a perfect wonder and surprise to us. 
 
286 GIGANTIC TREES. 
 
 We had traveled through many forests before, 
 and seen much that was impressive, and even 
 indescribable; but a grove of their trees, though 
 of uncommon size, placed by these monsters, 
 would be like shrubs and bushes in compari- 
 son ; even their topmost boughs would not 
 reach half way to the lowest branches of these. 
 These vast and silent forms oppressed and 
 awed us, and we walked on in their broad 
 shadows in reverential silence. It was as if 
 we were transplanted into another world, and 
 another language than ours was necessary to 
 describe the place or its impressions. The 
 trunk of one by which we sat down to rest 
 ourselves was quite smooth and free from 
 limbs, knots, or blemishes of any kind. It 
 rose in one fair, gigantic column, about two 
 hundred feet, and from that hight its enormous 
 cone-shaped head towered away aloft until it 
 seemed to reach the clouds. Such descriptions 
 — in fact, any description — must fail entirely 
 of giving any idea of the truth. It may serve 
 a somewhat better purpose in assisting the 
 imagination to remind the reader that no 
 church spire in the United States would nearly 
 
A SECRET VALLEY. 287 
 
 equal these trees in hight — that there are very 
 few whose " weather-cock " would even reach 
 the lowest branches. 
 
 One night we spent in " Sly Park/' another 
 of the characteristic secret valleys of this 
 region, far beyond any human habitation, sur- 
 rounded by lofty mountains, seemingly without 
 an opening. The level space within, and the 
 slopes around, were carpeted with bright, wild 
 flowers, of nature's own planting, while here 
 and there stood a group or single tree of the 
 famous red-wood; and at their feet a limpid 
 stream of pure, cold, mountain water. As we 
 relieved our weary horse of his burden, and 
 prepared our meal with the keen appetites of 
 wandering men, the solitude seemed § almost 
 sacred, and thought went back to the days of 
 primeval innocence, when earth was arrayed 
 in its early brightness and glory, uncursed by 
 sin, giving neither signs nor sounds of woe. 
 Such reflections were broken, however, by the 
 consideration of necessary precautions against 
 the wild beasts that swarm throughout the 
 California mountains ; and, kindling a large 
 fire against the huge dry trunk of a fallen 
 
288 A NATURAL PARK. 
 
 cedar, and another a few rods distant, we laid 
 ourselves down in the space between, lulled to 
 sleep by the low music of the wind through 
 the tops of the trees, and the distant howling 
 of the wild denizens of the forest. 
 
 We woke early, refreshed and invigorated 
 by our " siesta " in the pure, mountain air, and 
 by sunrise were pursuing our journey through 
 this valley, which is probably the finest natu- 
 ral park in the world; being very extensive, 
 including within its circuit of many miles a 
 complete system of gentle hills and valleys of 
 its own. These vales are broad and open, of 
 easy slant, and covered with flowers, one va- 
 riety standing in a bed by itself, and another 
 in like manner further on. Except the tower- 
 ing cedars, there are scarcely any trees, and 
 the view of these kings of the wood is perfect, 
 there being no obstruction from undergrowth 
 or shrubbery. It is almost impossible to es- 
 cape a humiliating and painful impression of 
 our own utter insignificance in the presence 
 of these ancient giants, by whose side the 
 chestnut of Mount Etna, the cypress of Lom- 
 bardy, and the great Baobab of Teneriffe are 
 
CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. 289 
 
 infants in age; and even the ruins of the 
 monuments of the elder races of men are but 
 youthful. It is even affirmed by some that the 
 largest of them have stood for a period dating 
 further back than the creation of man. Some- 
 times we would meet a group of these trees 
 standing like a family — the tall and graceful 
 form of the parent surrounded by a cluster of 
 half a dozen children growing up symmetrically 
 around her; and again would appear a little 
 dell formed by three or four flowery slopes, 
 and occupied by one solitary and majestic tree. 
 We have met some fallen ruins, that have 
 either been uprooted by mighty tempests or 
 destroyed by fires, probably built by the In- 
 dians, who take great delight in this secluded 
 valley. We have met none of them thus far, 
 they being shy and unfriendly mountain tribes 
 of Pah-Utahs and Wah-satch, (usually called 
 Waw-shaws.) The only Indians in the lower 
 country are the few and scattered families of 
 the filthy and unsightly " Diggers," who seem 
 to me even below the Australian natives in 
 intelligence and ability. That they are not re- 
 markable for either high spirit or intelligence 
 25 
 
290 MOUNTAIN PASSES. 
 
 is manifest from the fact, that a certain Mis- 
 sourian emigrant, settled in the valley of the 
 Sacramento, actually enslaved quite a number 
 of them; not, indeed, subjecting them to the 
 rough field-hand discipline and severe labor of 
 the plantation, but giving them "quarters" 
 around his mansion, requiring their services, 
 with no reward but some scanty stipend in 
 such manner as he chose. But this probably 
 was far superior to their native, squalid filth, 
 grub- eating, rootrdigging bill of fare. 
 
 The Sierra Nevada ranges, north and south, 
 form the boundary line, in this region, between 
 California and Utah. Upon its eastern side, 
 and separated from us by its whole width, is 
 Carson Valley, extending along under the Si- 
 erra a hundred miles or more. 
 
 The great emigrant road across the plains 
 comes in at the northern, widest and lowest 
 end of this valley, proceeds south to its ex- 
 tremity among the mountains, and then turn- 
 ing westward, leads over the Sierra into Cali- 
 fornia. Not far from the point where this 
 road comes in from the desert, a trail called 
 the " Johnson Cut-off" turns west, crosses the 
 
c 
 
 GRAND SCENERY. 291 
 
 mountain, and reaches the valley of the Sacra- 
 mento by a route shorter than the main road, 
 but more difficult. From this there diverges 
 a still more obscure and difficult path, called 
 the Georgetown Trail, which our desire for 
 adventure, and determination to realize the 
 whole of mountain experience, inclined us to 
 follow. As we ascended higher, the scenery 
 grew wild and grand at every step, with steep 
 and rugged mountain slopes — fantastic and 
 endlessly varied forms of crag and pinnacle, 
 interspersed with a growth of trees so thick 
 and strong we wondered they could find room 
 and nutriment. Vestiges of the hardships of 
 a former company, who traveled in this diffi- 
 cult place, are still observed, consisting of ax- 
 marks and branches hewn off at a hight of 
 about forty feet from the ground in some 
 large trees. The condition of these was de- 
 scribed to us by a judge in El Dorado, himself 
 one of the company. 
 
 The party, numbering nearly a hundred per- 
 sons, had come across the plain in the season 
 of 1849, rather late, but still in time to cross 
 the Sierra before the fall of the deep, impass- 
 
292 SUFFERINGS OF THE EMIGRANTS. 
 
 able snows in any ordinary season. The snow 
 suddenly set in, however, with uncommon 
 severity, just before they reached Carson Val- 
 ley. Supposing it would not impede their 
 march, and beside, being unprepared to win- 
 ter in the valley, if it had been thought ne- 
 cessary, they proceeded, taking the Johnson 
 Cutoff to save time. They found the trail 
 nearly impassable, and a succession of fearful 
 storms continued to assail them on their way. 
 By dint of almost superhuman effort, and after 
 several days of dreadful suffering, they suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the crest of the Sierra, but 
 were yet involved in the labyrinth of ravines 
 and precipices in its upper western portion, 
 when another storm of snow put an end to 
 their march. Here they burrowed holes for 
 lodging, and remained for weeks, helpless and 
 starving, until forty of their number were dead. 
 At this juncture the living gathered strength 
 even from desperation, and succeeded in break- 
 ing through to the settlements, and rallying 
 an expedition to rescue the ghastly remainder;! 
 The marks of the ax in various . trees were 
 made in cutting their fire-wood, creeping about 
 upon the snow. 
 
 
PERILOUS SITUATION. 293 
 
 Our circuitous path led here and there over 
 a saddle-like notch between a tree and the 
 steep hill side ; sometimes along a sharp, nar- 
 row crest of rock, forming a kind of table to 
 some loftier mass, and again along the face of 
 smooth, bare slopes of granite. Often it was 
 marked only by faintly worn footsteps in the 
 rock ; sometimes it was deep with slippery 
 stone dust, w r hile we could hear, faintly, the 
 roaring of the mountain torrent, rushing thou- 
 sands of feet beneath us, where it was hidden 
 in the dense shrubbery that bordered the dark 
 and narrow chasm. For long distances to- 
 gether it would have been an utter impossi- 
 bility for another beast to have passed ours. 
 Necessity compelled us to keep a constant 
 watch over each step of our own, for the 
 slightest stumble, or even a dizzy or doubtful 
 movement, would have consigned us to certain 
 destruction. We speculated much as to what 
 could have induced any human being to at- 
 tempt such a route ; much more to undertake 
 the first passage over it with a laden beast. 
 It must undoubtedly have been traversed by 
 the wild animals of the forest at first ; then, 
 25* 
 
294 ASCENDING THE PEAK. 
 
 perhaps, by observant and agile Indians ; by 
 venturesome, athletic, and light-armed moun- 
 tain men; and last of all, by foolish, reckless 
 Yankees, like ourselves. After much difficulty 
 we landed upon a wild spot directly upon the 
 breast of the mountain, where we could see 
 the highest peak towering above our heads, 
 partly hidden by the fleecy clouds that went 
 floating past it. I proposed to my compan- 
 ions to ascend the peak, which we did, with 
 much less difficulty than we had anticipated, 
 over boulders, ledges, and shelving rocks, till 
 we stood upon an eminence nearly twenty thou- 
 sand feet high, commanding an almost bound- 
 less view of valleys, mountains, forests, lakes, 
 and streams, with a perpendicular descent on 
 one side of several thousand feet. It required 
 strong and steady nerves to look down, or 
 even to stand upon the place. 
 
 After descending from the mountain, we dis- 
 covered some small ponds and hot springs of 
 alkaline water, apparently proceeding from 
 sources within a high mountain of volcanic 
 formation in the vicinity, whose substance, 
 upon examination, clearly seemed a very hard 
 
POWER OF CURIOSITY. 295 
 
 species of lava. By way of experiment, I 
 plunged my hand into one of these springs, 
 and found, as a reward of my scientific zeal, 
 the burning of my fingers and ridicule of my 
 companions. 
 
 Scarcely is there a stronger principle in the 
 mind of man than cwiosity. For this he will 
 endure the burning heat of equatorial regions, 
 brave the rigors of the polar seas, and trav- 
 erse the wildest land in uninhabited parts, and 
 that in a most uncomfortable manner, with a 
 little commingling of pride, perhaps, that he 
 may have the satisfaction of proclaiming to 
 others the fact of having placed his foot on 
 soil that mortal man beside had never trod. 
 Such tireless energy enlisted in moral reforms, 
 and how soon this world would "bloom as 
 the rose." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MORMON REFUGEES. — VISIT TO GOLD CANON. — EX- 
 PERIENCE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. — NIGHT IN THE 
 HERMIT'S CAVE. RETURN TO FRENCH CREEK. 
 
 Our wild, rugged, and winding path, that 
 led us to the Mormon trading post, was not an 
 unapt emblem of the dangerous, deceitful, and 
 wily stratagems of this deluded people. We 
 found a large emigrant train from Salt Lake 
 City — about a hundred large, covered wagons, 
 with an average of five yoke of cattle to 
 each. They had halted for a day's rest on 
 their way to California, this being the first 
 spot this side the Desert where they could 
 obtain supplies of grass and water. Many of 
 them were Mormons, who had forsaken their 
 earthly Canaan, tired, disgusted, and robbed 
 of all their worldly possessions ; having man- 
 aged to escape in company with a Western 
 emigrant train, thankful to get away alive. 
 
 (296) 
 
MORMON REFUGEES. 297 
 
 Were they to return to the land they had left, 
 they would doubtless be murdered, for the 
 chief axiom of their paradisiac polity is, that 
 " dead men tell no tales." 
 
 We heard from the lips of these refugees 
 many sickening details of their Mormon 
 experience. Some of them had repeatedly 
 endeavored to escape from the dominions of 
 their tyrannical rulers, but without success, for 
 the dissatisfied are closely watched, and not 
 permitted to leave the premises at all. Making 
 due allowance for exaggeration, arising from 
 excitement and anger, these stories, which fully 
 agreed in all general respects, indicated a state 
 of things forbidding and terrible in the ex- 
 treme, in their community, especially in regard 
 to the abject mental servitude which they 
 were obliged to render while they remained. 
 How human beings can be made to believe 
 the absurd articles of the Mormon creed, and 
 to submit to the rule of such miserable, un- 
 principled leaders, it passes my understanding 
 to conceive. These poor fellows seemed to 
 contemplate with peculiar satisfaction the 
 prospect of speedily entering a land of peace 
 
298 THE SEASONS. CROPS. 
 
 and plenty, where they could have the right 
 of securing to themselves quiet and pleasant 
 homes, to be enjoyed without the fear of being 
 molested by a brutal tyrant. 
 
 30th. — After our wearisome march, we are 
 glad to rest a little at the station. It is now 
 the last of June, and the gardens about here 
 are just beginning to look well. Corn and 
 potatoes are just breaking through the ground, 
 and wheat and other grain are about a foot 
 high. The seasons in this valley are so 
 changeable, that no dependence can be placed 
 upon having a full crop of any kind. In gen- 
 eral, however, a sufficient quantity of grain 
 and vegetables are raised to supply the wants 
 of the few scattered traders who alone in- 
 habit the valley, beside having a small surplus 
 to sell to emigrants. The water is miserable 
 throughout the valley, with the exception of 
 one or two small streams, that flow down from 
 the mountains; and even these grow warm 
 and alkaline before they proceed far from the 
 heated alkaline sands through which they pass. 
 During the whole time we were on the main 
 
SPURIOUS VISITORS. 299 
 
 emigrant trail, we were never out of sight of 
 dead cattle, poisoned by the water, which has 
 no very strong taste, and which they drink as 
 eagerly as any other. 
 
 Beside the creature comforts of grass and 
 water, we have found company in two hard- 
 looking young men, who have been here sev- 
 eral days, waiting, as they say, for some train 
 from Horse-town. This latter place, and an- 
 other similar to it, called Rag-town, are stations 
 eighty or a hundred miles distant from this 
 place, just on the edge of the Desert — rendez- 
 vous, both of them, for thieves and all manner 
 of frontier vagabonds, who hang about hoping 
 to find treasures in robbing those who pass 
 their way. The business of our two young 
 friends is doubtless of the same character. 
 The meager willows along the brook not af- 
 fording us sufficient shelter to camp under, we 
 have been obliged, as often before in Australia, 
 to sleep with the earth for a bed, and the 
 starry heavens for a canopy, and without a 
 fire, notwithstanding the danger of wild beasts' 
 company is still imminent. The weather is 
 excessively hot. To this we are particularly 
 
300 CARSON VALLEY SINK. 
 
 sensitive, so great is the contrast between the 
 deep, sandy roads, open to the burning rays of 
 the sun, and our preceding journey among 
 lofty mountains, frequently under the shade of 
 trees, varied with an occasional snow bank. 
 Yesterday, soon after sunset, it began to grow 
 cold ; the wind changed, and instead of blow- 
 ing from the eastward, across the heated sands 
 of the desert, it came down from the chilly 
 mountain tops, changing the atmosphere sud- 
 denly, and rendering us very uncomfortable. 
 Upon rising this morning we found the water 
 frozen in our tin cups — a curious instance of 
 the rapid and extreme variation of tempera- 
 ture, to which the peculiar nature and position 
 of this valley, close beneath the snowy Sierra 
 on one side, and the hot desert on the other, 
 subject it. 
 
 Large portions of the northern part of the 
 valley consist of low, marshy tracts, often called 
 " Carson Valley Sink," in which the river of the 
 same name spreads and loses itself. In the 
 summer these dry up, and become, as it were, 
 sheets of white alkali, — soda or nitre, — as hard 
 and smooth as ceiling. The former of these sub- 
 
GOLD CANON. 301 
 
 stances is quite extensively used in California 
 for cooking, and various domestic purposes, and 
 serves very well. 
 
 We have visited Gold Canon, some miles 
 distant down the river, where we expected to 
 find many miners at work, but were disap- 
 pointed in learning that nearly all of them had 
 left for California the year before, water having 
 failed them. About fifty, of more daring spirit 
 than the rest, remained, but were finally frozen 
 in and compelled to stay through the winter. 
 They established themselves in houses of slabs, 
 procured a quantity of fuel, and made them- 
 selves as comfortable as possible without any 
 communication across the mountains ; early in 
 the spring recommenced digging, and had only 
 recently left for California, at the commence- 
 ment of the present dry season. Only two or 
 three were left; one an aged man, gleaning 
 about on old claims, scarcely making more than 
 a living, and ready to leave at any time. This 
 canon is a narrow ravine, fifteen or twenty 
 miles in length, stretching up westward from 
 Carson Valley, among the lower hills that skirt 
 the range. No canvassing had been done fur- 
 26 
 
302 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 ther up than three miles, for fear of the Wah- 
 satch or Wau-shaw Indians, and we dared 
 venture a little further ourselves. It is a 
 strange rift, often not more than twenty yards 
 wide at the bottom, and frequently overhung 
 on both sides with projecting masses of lava, 
 in many curious forms, apparently thus con- 
 gealed while in motion from some volcanic 
 crater. In the distance these black, bulging 
 masses appeared like solidified thunder clouds, 
 on the point of closing over the chasm. Of 
 such extreme hardness is the rock, we had 
 great difficulty in breaking off a few of the 
 small cubes, into which its substance seems to 
 have crystallized. 
 
 I have made some excursions, in company 
 with a young German, with whom I have be- 
 come acquainted, who has been at work in the 
 mines — a smart, active fellow, formerly em- 
 ployed in the adventurous business of carrying 
 the United States' mail through the enemy's 
 country during the Mexican war. In one in- 
 stance, we met some traders who gave us such 
 a desperate account of the place we intended 
 to visit, and of the wretches who gathered 
 
RUBIES. 303 
 
 there, we concluded it was best to abandon the 
 undertaking and return. In a small hollow, 
 out of sight except on very near approach, we 
 found some deserted Indian huts, though hav- 
 ing the appearance of being occupied until 
 quite recently. We also discovered a solitary 
 Yankee established in a little "shanty," near 
 the emigrant trail, where he was dispensing 
 manna in the wilderness from a stand, in the 
 shape of ginger cakes, small beer, and sarsa- 
 parilla. Business in his line, however, seems 
 not very brisk, and he appeared anxious to 
 sell out. 
 
 A young man employed as clerk at a trading 
 post, near us, has shown me quite a quantity of 
 small rubies, procured at a canon sixty miles 
 down the valley. He proposes to unite in an 
 expedition for the purpose of enriching our- 
 selves with more of these sparkling treasures, 
 but as the neighborhood is remote from any 
 w r hite settlement or trading post, and is, more- 
 over, dangerously infested with hostile tribes 
 of Indians, I decline. Beside, I am weary with 
 this desultory exploration. I have seen enough 
 of this barren and inhospitable region, and am 
 
301 DEPARTURE FROM CARSON VALLEY. 
 
 disposed, yea, more, determined, to go back to 
 Sacramento, let others do as they may. 
 
 July 15th. — The use of the pen has been 
 an entirely impracticable thing during the 
 lonely and protracted wanderings in which I 
 have recently been engaged j therefore the lei- 
 sure that follows must atone for all. When our 
 little company came together among the moun- 
 tains, to consult upon the matter of returning 
 to civilized society, they promised to be ready 
 on the next day ; but feeling disinclined at the 
 appointed time, I expressed my intention of 
 going at any rate ; at which a council was 
 called, and an equitable division of our scanty 
 stock of tea and flour made for the emergency. 
 
 To this my German friend added a grateful 
 memorial of his friendship in the shape of a 
 piece of ham and a small quantity of tea. 
 Thus supplied, I shook hands with my com- 
 panions, bade them adieu, and set out to return 
 to Sacramento alone, across the mountains, by 
 the tremendous Georgetown trail — a danger- 
 ous trip, not only from the difficulties of the 
 route, but also from the risk of meeting blood- 
 
A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING. 305 
 
 thirsty Indians. But I had seen enough and to 
 spare of Carson Valley, and longed to get back 
 into the embrace of friends, and a less moun- 
 tainous country, though I had not been with- 
 out enjoyment of Nature in her most wild and 
 rugged aspects. So, with the perfect reckless- 
 ness of a genuine mountain man, I hazarded 
 my life to gratify my desire, beside failing 
 somewhat in consistency; for all three of us 
 had avowed most strenuously, a short time 
 before, that no possible consideration could 
 induce us to travel over the road again. In 
 like manner seamen in a storm, or peculiarly 
 rough voyage, often declare nothing will ever 
 tempt them to make another voyage, and then 
 ship again almost the moment they get home. 
 Indeed, I have heard it urged, with some 
 plausibility, that men are very likely to do 
 precisely that which they agree and determine 
 within themselves not to do, and that this 
 is the practical statement of the doctrine of 
 an "overriding providence" Having journeyed 
 twelve miles on my homeward way, I over- 
 took a man traveling in the same direction, 
 evidently of the Anglo-Saxon race, wiry and 
 26* 
 
306 ESCAPE FROM RATTLESNAKES. 
 
 tall, with brown hair, blue eyes, leathern gar- 
 ments throughout, and a rifle. As we were con- 
 versing together on the way, he told me that he 
 had lived two years in the valley, and was now 
 on his way to his place of abode, a few miles 
 from the trail, up a canon in the mountains. 
 He gave me a pressing invitation to spend the 
 night with him, promising that I should lose 
 nothing by leaving the route, as he would take 
 me to it in the morning by a shorter cut. 
 Upon these terms I accepted, and after walk- 
 ing on the road an hour or two, we turned off 
 toward the Sierra, gradually ascending through 
 a rolling country, covered with sage-bush, and 
 swarming with rattlesnakes. 
 
 Once, as I stooped to gather some bright- 
 yellow " everlasting," I put my face within six 
 inches of one of these venomous creatures, 
 and only sprang backward at the sound of the 
 rattles in season to save myself from its poi- 
 sonous fangs. A little further on, as I was 
 earnestly engaged in conversation, my stalwart 
 companion suddenly seized me by the shoulder, 
 and threw me very unceremoniously some dis- 
 tance into the bushes. A thought instantly 
 
MOUNTAIN PRECIPICES. 307 
 
 flashed across my mind that he had enticed me 
 into these wilds to murder me, but I was soon 
 assured it was only a friendly rudeness, to save 
 me from the unfortunate step I was about to 
 take, which would have planted me directly 
 on one of these unwelcome foes. Kattlesnakes, 
 in my opinion, are like many human beings — 
 " handsome, bat hateful? 
 
 After a little time, we entered a dark and 
 narrow ravine, through which ran a stream 
 of pure ice-water from the top of the moun- 
 tain, which here towered almost perpendicu- 
 larly over our heads. The scenery was of a 
 peculiar character, somewhat new to me ; the 
 rocks being exceedingly steep and craggy, 
 often forming large, overhanging cliffs and 
 precipices, from whose crevices grew trees and 
 dense shrubbery. The path grew more steep 
 and rugged at every step. For a full half 
 mile we climbed a gigantic natural staircase 
 of shelving rocks, whose foundations were laid 
 in the bottom of the chasm, and so steep and 
 slippery as to require great care and exertion 
 to prevent one's self from falling over back- 
 ward. At this point the pathway beyond 
 
308 A ROMANTIC CAVE. 
 
 seemed to lose all appearance of regularity, and 
 disappear entirely among the huge rocks and 
 cliffs by the side of the dashing torrent. Still 
 we toiled on, a distance that seemed to me, in 
 my exhausted state, not less than ten miles, 
 but probably not more than two or three. 
 
 At last I pleaded for rest, for strength and 
 breath seemed well nigh gone, and further 
 effort seemed vain and useless. He revived 
 my drooping spirits by assuring me it was 
 only a few rods ahead, or rather overhead, for, 
 upon looking up, it was evident we could pro- 
 ceed but a little distance, for we were entering 
 a vast cave, whose rocky roof met over us. 
 With one more earnest effort we were at the 
 vestibule of my friend's mansion — a strange 
 and wild abode in truth. 
 
 It was walled and roofed with the living 
 rock, while its exterior was gracefully and 
 elaborately adorned with festoons and pen- 
 dants of thick-trailing plants, growing from 
 every crevice. Within, the smooth stone floor 
 supported natural divans, of the same solid 
 material, which served for store rooms, seats, 
 and bed. In one side was a recess, which 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE CAVE. 309 
 
 served for a fireplace, above which a natural 
 outlet formed a commodious chimney. Close 
 beside the grand arched door-way, a waterfall 
 poured over a cliff, almost hidden by thick 
 foliage, furnishing a perennial fountain of pure, 
 cold water. On either side of the stream, and 
 above us as far as I could see in the shades of 
 the evening, the sharp, craggy rocks projected 
 in such wise as to render it an evident impos- 
 sibility for man or beast to reach us in any 
 other way but by the path we came. While 
 my host was busy in household matters, I 
 bathed my heated head, neck, and hands in 
 the cool, dashing stream, and sat down outside 
 to indulge in a few moments of repose and ro- 
 mance. The evening was clear and warm, 
 the scene almost one of enchantment for wild- 
 ness and beauty. As I sat gazing out into 
 the darkness at the dim rocks, I could hear 
 the chirping of crickets, and the voice of a 
 whip-poor-will, mingled with the incessant dash 
 of the roaring waterfall. The moon rose upon 
 me at length with its clear, silvery light, dis- 
 playing with considerable distinctness the long 
 vista of the rugged gorge through which we 
 
310 WILD BEASTS. 
 
 had ascended, and further on a portion of 
 the plain below. 
 
 All at once I was aroused from my reverie 
 by the howling of wild beasts, seemingly close 
 at hand. "Don't be alarmed/' said my host, 
 perceiving my trepidation ; " the beasts could 
 not reach us, if they wished to, without going 
 all the way to the plain, and coming up the 
 canon ; and they are not likely to take all that 
 trouble for us. Beside, I should not have 
 brought you so far up the mountain just to 
 expose you to wild beasts." Conjecture was 
 busy as to what could have induced him to 
 select such a remote and inaccessible home, so 
 far from any human being, without even a 
 dog for a companion, in absolute solitude, ex- 
 cept the invisible animals, whose dismal yells 
 kept up a constant serenade. Something of 
 his history, and the reasons of such conduct, 
 were finally divulged in the course of conver- 
 sation. He had discovered the cave a year and 
 a half before, while rambling in the mountains, 
 and had occupied it ever since. He was 
 originally from an eastern city, formerly held 
 a good social position, was a man of consider- 
 
THE SOLITAIRE. 311 
 
 able cultivation, unmistakable marks of which 
 were apparent, and his conversation showed 
 much familiarity with books. He had a few 
 with him, his favorite being * Pope's Essay on 
 Man/' and a Zimmerman on Solitude." Trouble 
 and disappointment had driven him from his 
 early home. The tender affections of his heart 
 had been blighted, and he sought relief only 
 in the silent sympathy of nature. A poor 
 antidote, methought, for sorrow, to flee into 
 deserts and caves, existing without human so- 
 ciety; and indeed, my host showed that soli- 
 tude has not its full sweetness without some- 
 body to whom to say that it is sweet. He 
 urged me to remain with him, and share with 
 him his occupations and his castle ; but think- 
 ing it unfavorable to the development of true 
 character in any sense, I could not think of it. 
 I felt more like saying, with all the earnest- 
 ness of the captive exile, — 
 
 " O Solitude ! where are the charms 
 That sages have seen in thy face ? " 
 
 Said sages, however, might have seen but few 
 charms, had the sharp eyes of grizzly bears 
 peered at them over rocks, and disturbed them 
 in their slumbers by their howling cries. 
 
312 the hermit's entertainment. 
 
 We lay down to rest, for the night, upon a 
 bed of buffalo robes, soothed to sleep by the 
 voice of the waterfall, and early next morning 
 the hermit prepared his breakfast of tea, hard 
 bread, and fried ham. The mountain air was 
 clear, cool, and delightfully bracing. As the 
 bright beams of the morning sun shone direct- 
 ly upon and into the long and rocky gorge, 
 lighting up, and reflected from stone, foliage, 
 and dashing water, the dreary place was in- 
 deed invested with something of beauty ; and 
 I was inclined to consider it a delightful abode, 
 had there only been society, that essential 
 thing to meet the demands of almost every 
 human heart. According to agreement, my 
 new companion directed me on my way, by a 
 path that saved several miles, conducting me 
 safely for a good distance, when he left me, 
 with many regrets and good wishes, to con- 
 tinue my journey alone. At night I camped 
 on the very spot where I with my two asso- 
 ciates had spent the night a short time before ; 
 kindled my fire on some logs that burned 
 briskly and bright ; boiled water for my tea in 
 the same tin cup which I had carried and used 
 
THE SABBATH. 313 
 
 daily on the Peytona, the Nautilus, and the 
 Sacusa, in Brazil, Africa, the Isle of France, 
 Australia, and Peru. During the day I had 
 looked forward with no little apprehension to 
 this hour, for I was miles from any human 
 being, in mountain forests, noted for abun- 
 dance of wild beasts, and haunted in certain 
 portions by hostile Indians. But by the time 
 I had finished my supper, prepared my resting 
 place, replenished my fires, I was quite too 
 weary to allow fear its indulgence, and calmly 
 rolled myself in my blanket, and went in- 
 stantly to sleep. 
 
 Refreshed and invigorated by eight or nine 
 hours of sweet repose, I awoke on the morning 
 of the Sabbath — the sun already high enough 
 to enlighten all the landscape. I sat for a 
 time quietly enjoying the scene; and never 
 have I experienced an hour of more perfect 
 and sacred stillness than then. Not a breeze 
 — not a leaf, was stirring. The mountains, 
 the valley, and the woods were in still repose, 
 save the occasional chirp or twitter of a bird, 
 and the faint gurgle of the brook. All over 
 the vast mountain that towered above me; 
 27 
 
314 BEGUILING THE WAY. 
 
 the broad, green valley stretching far away 
 below ; the groups of trees that crowned the 
 rounded hill on which I sat ; the green slopes 
 that curved away to the ravine on either side, 
 and at the end, like the sides of a vast bastion, 
 and even in the pure, motionless air, there 
 seemed to be a pervading spirit of peace and 
 love. I could not have avoided the feeling, 
 even had I wished it, that it was the Sabbath 
 of God that made this lovely Sabbath of nature. 
 My provisions were scanty, however, and I 
 could not remain. Slowly I resumed my toil- 
 some march among the mountain defiles, some- 
 times talking and singing to myself as I went, 
 and enjoying the echo of my own voice; for 
 what I repeated in an ordinary tone was often 
 echoed with so much distinctness I involun- 
 tarily looked around me to discern some quiet 
 traveler as yet unperceived. Sometimes I 
 sang old songs ; sometimes a psalm tune ; and 
 often some of the noble chants of the Episco- 
 pal church service. This homely music had a 
 curious effect upon my pace, for I repeatedly 
 caught myself walking not so much according 
 to the measure and rhythm of the tune, as to 
 
LONELINESS. 315 
 
 the spirit and life of the words. If I sang a 
 plaintive song or chanted a solemn chorus, I 
 proceeded slowly, and more than once I found 
 myself upon a full run, under the inspiriting 
 influence of some gay and lively ditty. These 
 varied and irregular changes in my speed 
 would doubtless have presented a highly ab- 
 surd appearance to a spectator knowing noth- 
 ing of the cause. A habit of self-questioning 
 is very prevalent among mountain men and 
 miners — a very natural one ; for having but 
 few companions, they would otherwise speak 
 but little ; and the defining power of speech, 
 except to those carefully trained, or unusually 
 gifted with mental clearness, is absolutely es- 
 sential to connected, satisfactory thinking. 
 
 I had so long been accustomed to company 
 in traveling, I began to think my situation 
 dreary in the extreme. The night after the 
 Sabbath found me in the heart of the Sierra 
 Nevada, fenced in with lofty mountains, tipped 
 with snow, while the twinkling stars looked 
 down from the vault of heaven, as if in mourn- 
 ful sympathy with the lonely wanderer. Sud- 
 denly a Waw-shaw Indian appeared, with a 
 
316 AN UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHT. 
 
 great fish in his hand, which he had caught 
 in the lake. We exchanged a few words of 
 mountain salutation, and he passed on to his 
 encampment, leaving me with no additional 
 sense of security. The sun went down, the 
 wind began to rise, and soon increased to a 
 gale, sweeping down, in furious, sudden blasts, 
 from the snowy peaks, wailing and whistling, 
 while the trees creaked and murmured. Cold 
 and weary, with only the dim starlight, and 
 ignorant of what perils might be near me, 
 my mind became agitated with uncomfortable 
 fancies. I could see strange shadows moving 
 upon the ground under the trees around me, 
 and hear occasional low cries and sounds, like 
 groans — probably from some beasts in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 Welcome indeed was the first corning of 
 dawn ; and as soon as I could distinguish 
 the trail I was again on my way. Knowing 
 that I was to cross a high ridge some five 
 miles distant, I determined to try a shorter 
 path, which I fancied would save me a crooked 
 journey around and over the intervening hills. 
 I wandered over ridges and across canons, 
 
DOUBT AND ANXIETY. 317 
 
 through woods and streams, until at the end of 
 two or three miles I was entirely bewildered 
 by the endless changes of the scenery, and 
 had quite lost my way. I turned about, and 
 very humbly sought my way to the spot from 
 whence I had diverged, but not without much 
 perplexity. This hour or two of anxiety, while 
 my route was doubtful, afforded me more of 
 mental torture than I had experiened for a 
 long time before. It taught me a lesson, and 
 one that I might have learned in Australia — 
 that it is exceedingly unsafe, especially for one 
 that is alone, to leave the route selected by the 
 combined judgment of preceding travelers, for 
 the sake of any presumed short path or other 
 conveniences. Great was my delight at reach- 
 ing Diamond Springs, where I could hear the 
 sound of familiar voices. I found them cele- 
 brating a public anniversary ; the place alive, 
 as it were, with preparations for the gay and 
 joyful occasion. I only delayed to call upon 
 a few friends, and passed on to French Creek, 
 where I have established myself at the ranch 
 of Captain Pike, where I purpose to spend 
 some days in gold-hunting in the vicinity. 
 27* 
 
318 GOLD DIGGING. 
 
 Hard labor, however, is out of the question ; 
 for I am more desirous of quiet rest than 
 great pecuniary gain. Here, in a secluded 
 canon, quite alone, I shall have opportunity for 
 much solitary meditation, beside the prospect 
 of making about five dollars a week, free of 
 expense. The proportion of those who really 
 earn any large amount is quite as small in 
 California as in Australia. 
 
 If any one would have a sample of gold 
 digging, no more satisfactory experiment could 
 be made than to take some street where the 
 ground is very hard, dig a drain in it, perhaps 
 six feet in depth, three in width, and of any 
 desirable length. While working at the low- 
 er foot of this, all the earth, more especially 
 the lumps and harder pieces, should be rubbed 
 to fine powder between the hands, closely in- 
 spected, and then thrown away. Such is the 
 actual experience of the miners, and that with 
 continual disappointment and " hope deferred." 
 
 Thus looking at these things, the admonition 
 of the wise man to search for " wisdom " as for 
 hid treasures, becomes invested with a ten- 
 fold deeper meaning to one at all inclined to 
 spiritualize ordinary things and events. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RESIDENCE AT SAN FRANCISCO. — LIFE ON STEAMER 
 CORTES. — MISSIONARY TOUR. — SCHOOL TEACHING, 
 — CAMP MEETING. 
 
 So infrequent were my journalizing entries 
 during a great portion of my life in California, 
 by reason of busy occupation or busy wander- 
 ing, I propose to give in the present chapter a 
 review of the whole, or mainly, with incidents 
 connected thereto, as I contemplated them De- 
 cember, 1855, a short time before leaving for 
 New England. 
 
 After returning from the mountains, and 
 spending some time at French Creek, I took 
 up my residence at San Francisco for two 
 months, not engaged in any fixed occupation, 
 but rendered somewhat uneasy by idly living 
 in one place so long. In California, partic- 
 ularly, " labor is honorable;" and professing 
 
 (319) 
 
320 POP CORN. 
 
 a hearty sympathy with this healthy tone of 
 public opinion, I at length established myself 
 in business, by gathering quite a number of 
 subscribers to various weekly and monthly 
 periodicals, purchasing at a fair rate from im- 
 porters by wholesale, and delivering at retail 
 prices immediately upon their arrival. During 
 this time I gained many pleasant and profitable 
 acquaintances, among whom was a gentleman 
 in the u pop-corn " business, who was quite u an 
 institution" in the city, receiving a net profit 
 of something like ten dollars a day by his 
 operations. He was a shrewd Massachusetts 
 Yankee, had fully matured his plans before 
 coming out, and was ready for action on his 
 arrival. His corn was shipped to him from 
 New England, around the Horn ; he parched it 
 himself at night, and with not less than eighty 
 or a hundred quarts, modestly promenaded the 
 streets with an enormous basket on each arm, 
 waiting on chance or regular customers in a 
 very quiet way, in no wise detracting from his 
 dignity. Indeed, he filled the office just as a 
 dignified republican ought to fill any office, 
 being a valuable member of society, and at the 
 same time consulted his own best interests. 
 
NEW EMPLOYMENT. 321 
 
 Having laid up some money, and being able 
 to command a little credit and influence, my 
 views began somewhat to enlarge, and I con- 
 ceived a plan for establishing a bookstore, in 
 company with a young man of my acquaint- 
 ance. Ere the thing was decided in the mind 
 of my proposed partner, another opportunity 
 presented itself of employment in another 
 direction. Another acquaintance, who had 
 been storekeeper on the steamship Cortes, 
 running betw r een San Francisco and San Juan 
 del Sur, on the Nicaragua route, was about to 
 give up his place, and offered to aid me in 
 securing the position if I wished. Prompti- 
 tude is the first of practical virtues, especially 
 in California ; and acting on this, the bookstore 
 scheme was dropped, the kind offer of my 
 friend accepted, and I was speedily installed 
 in my new post, once more floating on salt 
 water. 
 
 The position of storekeeper on one of these 
 large ocean steamers is one of no small respon- 
 sibility and influence. The steamer itself, with 
 its multitude of passengers, constitutes a kind 
 of floating city, with great interests and great 
 
322 THE OCEAN STEAMER. 
 
 revenues. We were accustomed to carry about 
 three hundred first-cabin passengers, at three 
 hundred dollars each, making ninety thousand 
 dollars ; and five hundred in the second cabin, 
 at one hundred and fifty dollars; which, together 
 with what was realized from freight, often 
 amounted to the handsome sum of one hundred 
 and eighty-five thousand dollars the single trip. 
 Including passengers, officers, and crew, the 
 whole number of souls on board was usually 
 about a thousand ; and by virtue of my of- 
 fice, I was in charge of all the provisions and 
 groceries for this large number, which it was 
 my duty to serve out daily, according to the 
 written demands made upon me by the steward. 
 I found myself at once a universal favorite 
 among the ship's company, treated by all (ex- 
 cept, of course, the superior officers) with a 
 degree of attention which I was scarcely con- 
 scious of deserving, and which I could scarcely 
 account for, until I learned that my position 
 enabled me, even without violating any obliga- 
 tion, to show many trifling favors, in matters 
 of gastronomy. Then the reason of the flat- 
 tering regard was clear ; and had I chosen to 
 
THE ILL-FATED YANKEE BLADI. 323 
 
 be a little less virtuous, it is difficult to tell 
 what the limits of my influence might have 
 been. It was on boaLrd this ship I first knew 
 the unfortunate steamship Yankee Blade. She 
 lay upon the other side of the dock we occu- 
 pied, and left the city at the same time with 
 us. She was an immense vessel, crowded be- 
 yond all description. I gazed in perfect aston- 
 ishment at the mass of human beings that 
 crowded her every part as she glided away 
 from the wharf into the bay. She could not 
 have had less than fifteen hundred souls on 
 board, more than a thousand of whom were 
 lost this same trip, in the fearful wreck it ex- 
 perienced. Suspicions of foul play were in the 
 minds of many, for she carried an immense 
 treasure beside what was in the hands of the 
 passengers, and ran upon the beach in a clear 
 night, in calm weather, in a manner that has 
 always remained a mystery. 
 
 During the second voyage in the steamer 
 Cortes, I made an excursion to the Pearl 
 Islands, which are scarcely more than a group 
 of low rocks and reefs in the sea, the largest 
 only being inhabited, and that by a sort of old 
 
324 EEARL ISLANDS. 
 
 patriarch, and fifteen or twenty Indians, who 
 have to bring their water from the main land, 
 and who live by fishing. Here we obtained 
 about twenty varieties of pearl oysters, cypreae, 
 &e., some quite rare and valuable. We gath- 
 ered many that yet contained the living in- 
 habitants, quaintly formed molluscs, fantasti- 
 cally mottled, striped and speckled with bright 
 colors, giving a very different impression of the 
 natural history of the class from that derived 
 only from the study of the dry shell. My life 
 on shipboard, during these two voyages, was 
 not marked with any incidents of special in- 
 terest. The duties of my occupation kept me 
 closely confined to the store room most of the 
 time, and leisure at command was employed in 
 assisting the purser in w r riting. The confine- 
 ment in such hot, oppressive atmosphere telling 
 sensibly upon my health, I availed myself of 
 the first suitable occasion to resign, and w r ent 
 on shore again. The mate left at the same 
 time, purchased a vessel, and made a propo- 
 sition which I conditionally accepted, to accom- 
 pany him as a sort of supercargo in a trading 
 voyage to China and the seas adjacent; but 
 
PETALUMA. 325 
 
 this, it seems, was not " to be my destined end 
 and way." While determining and securing 
 the necessary outfit, I fell in with Rev. Mr. 
 Richardson, who was about making a tour of 
 exploration, in behalf of a missionary body, 
 through Petaluma and Santa Rosa valleys and 
 the country thereabout. I at first declined 
 his invitation to join him in this excursion, on 
 account of sailing for China ; but finding that I 
 could return in season, I concluded to accom- 
 pany him, and we took the steamer together 
 for Petaluma. We crossed the bay, and en- 
 tered the creek, to which a spur of the coast 
 range extends, skirting its valley with a mar- 
 gin of low, conical hills ; some rugged and wild 
 in outline, and others rounded and smooth ; 
 some thickly wooded with oak and mansanita 
 bushes, and others quite bare, except for a 
 thick coat of "wild oats," which were just 
 springing up fresh and green, it being the 
 growing month of January. The creek is the 
 most crooked stream I have ever navigated, 
 winding about in the most extravagant man- 
 ner, as if anxious to detain all comers as long 
 as possible. Upon reaching the town, we found 
 28 
 
326 VISIT TO FATHER GUERNSEY. 
 
 it to be a scattered collection, mostly of wooden 
 houses. We proceeded to the tavern, where, 
 in looking over some pictures, I was startled 
 to behold the face of a friend, whose location 
 in the wide world I had not known for years, 
 but who, my hostess informed me, was not 
 more than ten rods distant — the principal of 
 a flourishing school of one hundred and fifty 
 students. We immediately repaired to his 
 school house — a roomy and convenient build- 
 ing, well fitted, and furnished with modern 
 desks, maps, globes, and other apparatus, giving 
 to it a character and solidity that quite sur- 
 prised and pleased us, and at once produced 
 favorable impressions of the progress of this 
 rural district in education and general intel- 
 ligence. 
 
 From this place we proceeded to Petaluma 
 Flat, or rather across it, to the dwelling of 
 u Father Guernsey," which we found with little 
 difficulty, as every one knew the home of the 
 venerable man. We found him working at his 
 trade of chair making, and understood that 
 both himself and chairs were known in the 
 vicinity, there being no other one of the pro- 
 
ATTENDANCE ON A PRAYER MEETING. 327 
 
 fession in the place, and none other who, like 
 him, devotes all the time and strength which 
 he can spare from business to the spiritual 
 wants of the population. 
 
 Upon learning our errand, he received us 
 with cordial hospitality, and laying aside his 
 tools, proceeded to give Mr. R. much and ju- 
 dicious information relative to the purpose of 
 his trip. 
 
 He was a man of commanding presence, 
 with fine head and features, full of kindness 
 and intelligence ; had resided in the place three 
 years, and was able to speak of the moral and 
 intellectual condition of the people with some 
 degree of accuracy. After spending a social 
 hour with him at his table, he spoke of an ap- 
 pointment to hold a prayer meeting, and in- 
 vited us to accompany him thither, adding, in a 
 rather significant way, that the Home Mission- 
 ary Society had sent out a man to help him, 
 and that he would conduct the exercises of the 
 hour. The place of assembly was a log school 
 house, a mile or two away on the Petaluma 
 side of the creek. The gathered worshipers 
 were thirty or forty plain men and women, 
 
328 SINGULAR SERVICES. 
 
 some of them rough emigrants, mostly from the 
 Western States, yet of warm hearts, and sin- 
 cere, though blunt, in speaking of things divine 
 as well as temporal. They seemed to have 
 come together for earnest and affectionate com- 
 munion with each other, and to pour out their 
 hearts unitedly before God. 
 
 The missionary entered, — a spruce, dignified 
 young graduate from an eastern theological 
 seminary, — clad in garments of spotless black. 
 There were a few moments of silence, when 
 the young brother rose and offered a short but 
 earnest prayer, after which he read a hymn, 
 which was sung by the little company. A 
 pause of full ten minutes ensued, in no wise 
 disturbing the gravity or dignity of the young 
 divine, and then the benediction was pro- 
 nounced, and the assembly was dismissed. 
 There was something so irresistibly comic in 
 the utter helplessness and complete frustration 
 of the divine, that few faces were without a 
 smile, giving rise to the apprehension that 
 many had more of fun in their hearts than 
 religious consolation as the effect of the 
 meeting. 
 
EXCURSION UP COUNTRY. 329 
 
 I realized at once the difference, not between 
 the religions, but the religious exercises of 
 the eastern seminary and the western heart, 
 This young clergyman would doubtless have 
 done well at home, with a few active Christian 
 men to sustain him, where every thing is done 
 by a kind of rule ; but here, where there is 
 no particular rule, where all denominations are 
 fused together, and where very little is said, or 
 can be said, except from the overflowings of 
 rude but honest hearts, the poor man was as 
 helpless with his theology and his ways, as if 
 he had come to swim in the ocean with fet- 
 ters on. 
 
 Next morning, Mr. E. and myself made a 
 little excursion some twenty miles up the 
 country, in the direction of Santa Rosa, stop- 
 ping at almost every house in the prosecution 
 of our inquiries. Nearly all the inhabitants 
 are Pikes, or from the region adjacent to that 
 famous county of Missouri which is commonly 
 called a the State of Pike/' and which has con- 
 tributed a very large and distinctly marked 
 element to the population of California. 
 
 We found a very few Bibles, and scarcely 
 28* 
 
330 ARRIVAL AT SANTA ROSA. 
 
 any books, or printed matter of any kind, ex- 
 cept a portion of the miserable " yellow-covered 
 literature" which has had so immense a sale 
 in this state as well as most others. In spite 
 of ignorance and uncultivation, however, there 
 was a hearty, overflowing hospitality and good 
 feeling about the people that really delighted 
 us. Every one was glad to see us, pleased at 
 our errand, and as anxious as any apostle could 
 have desired for the establishment of schools 
 and churches in the land. 
 
 Thus exploring and inquiring, we reached 
 Santa Rosa, a thriving place, and the county 
 seat, situated in the midst of a vast natural 
 park not quite as large as Petaluma. Here I 
 left Mr. Richardson, in order to return, but not 
 without strong and repeated solicitations that 
 I would abandon my intention of foreign 
 travel, and engage in teaching school in the 
 valleys of Sonoma county. My own inclina- 
 tions were at once in favor of so doing, for I 
 felt myself exceedingly charmed with the 
 lovely landscape, the perfect climate and rich 
 soil of the region, as well as the free and open- 
 hearted character of the people. Not wishing 
 
REJOICINGS. 331 
 
 to be hasty, however, I avoided giving any 
 answer, and returned to Petaluma, where I 
 found my friends anxious for the same thing. 
 Indeed, the eagerness of the Petaluma people, 
 men, women, and speculators, for the growth 
 and improvement of their place, passed all my 
 conceptions, though, doubtless, the ambition of 
 the latter was strongly tinctured with self- 
 ishness. The place numbered some five hun- 
 dred souls, and was still increasing. We were 
 wont to say the town grew with every arrival 
 of the boat. Especially did the crowd at the 
 landing place rejoice if they could discern the 
 face of a woman on deck. For every bonnet 
 they could count, the real-estate proprietors 
 said to themselves, "So many building lots 
 sold at paying prices." I have actually seen 
 tears in the eyes of these earnest watchmen at 
 an unusually large feminine immigration, evi- 
 dently from pure joy at the prospect of their 
 remunerative sales. * Every tear is a dollar," 
 remarked a friend of mine one day, as he 
 pointed out one of these lachrymose rejoicers. 
 
 Having consulted with my friends at San 
 Francisco, and finding their advice to coin- 
 
332 TAKING A RANCH. 
 
 cide with my own preference, I notified my 
 friend, the captain, of a change of plans ; fully 
 determined to cast in my lot among the free- 
 hearted and stirring people of the valley of 
 Petaluma. I took a ranch near the centre, 
 which consisted of a few acres fenced in, a 
 small but comfortable house, of redwood slabs, 
 and " all creation " back of me, to the Pacific 
 Ocean, for a grazing range. A friendly house- 
 wife offered to supply me with milk ; different 
 farmers allowed me the free use of their horses, 
 and thus I was installed landholder, house- 
 keeper, and citizen of the town of Petaluma. 
 I soon had the pleasure of receiving my sister 
 and her family to my home, which now as- 
 sumed the more dignified cognomen of a coun- 
 try seat," in connection with, and in distinction 
 from, their city residence. During the whole 
 warm season, it was gladdened by the city 
 people, who took great satisfaction in the clear, 
 country air, and the rude but healthful country 
 regimen. 
 
 The chosen location for my school was 
 Vallejo township, not far from my ranch. 
 Father Waugh, the chairman of the committee, 
 
SCHOOL EXAMINATION. 333 
 
 was an excellent and much-respected citizen, 
 a pioneer settler of the region, having been 
 obliged to leave Missouri, his native state, on 
 account of anti-slavery sentiments. 
 
 The examination was brief, the most diffi- 
 cult question being " Do you keep loud or still 
 school ?" I had not known the distinction, 
 and, after a moment's reflection, answered at 
 hazard, — reasoning, * a priori," that the most 
 quiet school is the best, — that I kept still 
 school, by all means. The demeanor of the 
 committee assured me I had given the right 
 answer ; the certificate was granted, due no- 
 tice given, and I met my pupils in the school 
 house — a set of hearty, good-natured boys 
 and girls, the majority of them Missourians 
 by birth or parentage. Ignorant of their pre- 
 vious discipline and present attainments, and 
 desirous of gaining some acquaintance with 
 their ways, I simply announced that they 
 might take their books and proceed in the 
 usual manner. It was then I learned the full 
 significance of a loud school." Opening their 
 well-used books, every one, at the full stretch 
 of their voices, began studying their various 
 
334 PECUNIARY LOSSES. 
 
 lessons aloud; some standing, some sitting, 
 others summoning assistance from the further 
 side of the room, and still others leaving the 
 house and coming back at pleasure. One day 
 of such experience was amply sufficient, and 
 the second I proceeded to classify and ar- 
 range more according to my mind, and speedily 
 had the satisfaction of seeing my little king- 
 dom upon a footing more consistent with the 
 character of a good school. I succeeded in 
 varying the regular succession of ordinary 
 school exercises, much to the acceptance of 
 the young people, by a singing and spelling 
 school, which was held in the evening, and 
 passed off with great enthusiasm. 
 
 All parties expressed entire satisfaction, and 
 I was fain to console myself with this glory, 
 in the loss of wealth which accrued to me by 
 reason of the failure of many of my employ- 
 ers to pay me my dues. They were good 
 friends ; unvaryingly kind and hospitable ; 
 but they were by nature careless, by habit 
 more so in pecuniary matters; and in this 
 purely agricultural community of new settlers, 
 many of them really had not the money at 
 
THE SLEW. 335 
 
 command. They were ready to turn out what- 
 ever they had — one man a lot of hogs ; one 
 a quantity of growing trees from his nursery ; 
 and another some summer butter- but being 
 quite disinclined to the bartering business, I 
 preferred to let the balance, some hundred and 
 fifty dollars, remain uncollected. The trip I 
 made to the school superintendent's residence, 
 to obtain his authority in enabling me to 
 draw my share of public money, was very 
 characteristic of California life. He lived — 
 nobody knew exactly where — somewhere up 
 in the woods beyond Santa Eosa. I could 
 scarcely afford to wait his uncertain coming; 
 so, obtaining a horse, I started in pursuit of 
 him. Coming within four or five miles of 
 the neighborhood where I expected to find 
 him, my path was interrupted by a broad 
 "slew" of black mud, of uncommonly sticky 
 appearance. It must be tried; and on we 
 went, and in two jumps my gray horse was 
 saddle deep, and still sinking. I grasped the 
 end of the long tether, and by a violent ef- 
 fort, succeeded in throwing myself upon firm 
 ground, on the further side. By sharp disci- 
 
336 VISIT TO DR. B. 
 
 pline then extricated my horse, but in such 
 a condition as to make further riding out of 
 the question. I therefore led him the rest 
 of the way, and toward dusk arrived at the 
 residence of Dr. B. in a woeful plight. Mrs. 
 B. appeared at the door of her slab man- 
 sion, holding up her hands in astonishment, 
 and exclaimed, "Here, doctor, go get a hoe 
 and scrape this man before he comes into 
 my house ! " Her obedient lord obeyed, and 
 then brought me before a vast fire of logs, in 
 an enormous chimney place, before which I 
 stood, turning round and round, like a turkey 
 dangling by a string to roast, until I was com- 
 pletely dried. With due brushing and a re- 
 freshing supper, I was metamorphosed into a 
 new man, spent the evening in pleasant con- 
 versation, transacted my business, and next 
 day returned to Petaluma by a different and 
 less muddy route. 
 
 During my term of teaching, which occu- 
 pied some six months, I made many pleasant 
 and valuable acquaintances; was also able to 
 make myself of some service by rendering 
 occasional assistance at the , few religious ser- 
 
CAMP MEETING, 337 
 
 vices of the neighborhood, which were the 
 only substitute, in these remote valleys, for 
 the stated Sabbath meetings of older eastern 
 communities. Much the most striking reli- 
 gious solemnity, however, at which I was pres- 
 ent, was the yearly camp meeting attended 
 in the woods. 
 
 This institution is the natural and appropriate 
 outgrowth of the weeds and peculiarities of 
 the western mind. In the Eastern States, 
 where the regularly organized assemblies for 
 worship are sufficient for all, these forest gath- 
 ings are superfluous, unnatural, and out of 
 place, and by necessary consequence, almost 
 absurd and harmful, being little better than 
 occasion for riot and frivolity. 
 
 In the thinly-settled and poor communities 
 of the new Western States, among a people 
 who can but rarely support settled ministers, 
 and whose whole mental and moral nature is 
 of a type, out of all comparison more spon- 
 taneous, fervid, and sympathetic than that of 
 their deliberate and cautious brethren at the 
 east, these great gatherings are a true and 
 proper expression of religious sentiment, con- 
 29 
 
338 HARMONY OF THE WORSHIPERS. 
 
 sistent, and agreeing with the enthusiasm of 
 their political mass meetings, and the thorough- 
 going energy of their business enterprise. 
 
 Every year, in August, it is usual, in Sonoma 
 county and elsewhere, to hold these general 
 jubilees. Christians of all denominations meet 
 in some open grove, near a stream of water, 
 and remain, according to circumstances, a' few 
 days or longer. The worshipers gather some- 
 times from a circle a hundred miles in diame- 
 ter, and remain in tents during the continuance 
 of the meeting. Denominational differences are 
 laid aside, and the entire proceedings conducted 
 in the broadest and most harmonious spirit of 
 universal Christianity. At the single meeting 
 I attended, I was astonished at the depth and 
 evident truthfulness of religious feeling which 
 was manifested. It was here I witnessed one 
 of those impressive and extraordinary spec- 
 tacles sometimes peculiar to these occasions. 
 At the close of a long and fervid season of 
 prayer, exhortation, and singing, came a short 
 pause, which was interrupted by a woman, who 
 stepped in front of the desk. She was crip- 
 pled and bent by disease, but possessed high 
 
AN INTERESTING SCENE. 339 
 
 and striking features, dark, expressive eyes, 
 and every appearance of strong and elevated 
 character. In a clear, musical voice, and in 
 natural and appropriate words, she narrated to 
 the hushed and startled audience a short story 
 of suffering and sorrow, and described the con- 
 solation she had found in religion amid it all j 
 adding, that the only thing remaining for her 
 to ask was, that her only children, a son and a 
 daughter of adult age, then and there present, 
 might share with her in the hopes of Christian- 
 ity ; and she called upon all to join their prayers 
 with hers that this crowning blessing might be 
 granted to a widow, and a woman of many 
 sorrows. Then kneeling at once upon the 
 place, she poured out her soul in a prayer of 
 such passionate fervor, such beseeching earnest- 
 ness, as melted the hearts of all. It is impos- 
 sible to describe the emotion visible upon every 
 countenance; but when the two children, in 
 very truth, did issue from the crowd and knelt 
 beside their aged mother, their eyes streaming 
 with tears of repentance and gratitude, mingled 
 together, — when it appeared that the blessing 
 had descended even while they sought it, — there 
 
340 EFFECT UPON THOSE PRESENT. 
 
 was an almost overwhelming outburst of sym- 
 pathetic joy. Scarcely a face within the tent, 
 crowded as it was with wandering, toil-hard- 
 ened, weather-beaten men and women, inured 
 to hardship and suffering, but streamed with 
 tears ; indeed, so strong was the tempest of 
 feeling, it was impossible, for some considerable 
 time, for either ministers or hearers to resume 
 the regular order of exercises. It must be a 
 shallow soul — one-sided, ignorant, scant of hu- 
 man instincts, and of just thought, or, at least, 
 wofully hampered with fetters of precedent 
 and habit — that would refuse to recognize 
 the suitableness and power of such gatherings, 
 especially in these new places. Nor is it any 
 argument against them that their more grave 
 and impressive features are occasionally varied 
 by others even of a ludicrous character. 
 
 It was during this same meeting I entered 
 one of the tents in the midst of an enthusi- 
 astic hymn, which was sung, as usual, by the 
 entire congregation. I took the only vacant 
 seat, which brought me in close proximity to a 
 good old colored woman of large proportions, 
 well known in the vicinity as " Aunt Peggy." 
 
AUNT PEGGY. 341 
 
 She bore her part in the singing with all the 
 enthusiasm of the African character — shutting 
 her eyes, and rocking to and fro with great 
 quickness of motion. Opening her eyes, she 
 suddenly caught a glimpse of me j and with 
 a face perfectly radiant with joy and true 
 benevolence, she cried out, forgetting every 
 thing except the glories of heaven, and the 
 hopes of reaching them herself, and meeting 
 her friends there, "Bress de Lord, broder 
 Welles, I didn't know you was so near me ! 
 We'll go to heaven togeder — won't we ? " and 
 therewith threw her arms about my neck in a 
 most fervent embrace. The dismay and staring 
 confusion of certain young ministers who were 
 present, and, like him of Petaluma, fresh from 
 an eastern theological seminary, may be im- 
 agined. They sat in silent amazement, unable 
 to speak or sing. They had intended to assist 
 in the exercises of the meeting, but had no 
 power to do it, even in spirit. One of them, 
 meeting me at the close of the evening, whis- 
 pered cautiously in my ear, "I don't understand 
 this, brother Welles ; I never saw any thing of 
 this kind before. I don't know what to make 
 29* 
 
342 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 of it. You think it all correct and expedient 
 — do you?" I comforted the good man as well 
 as I could; but nothing short of a thorough 
 putting off of all his preconceived opinions 
 about forms and observances, and an assimila- 
 tion to these new ways of thinking and acting, 
 can reconcile him to the scenes of a California 
 camp meeting ; and such a change is not the 
 work of a day, especially for the graduate of 
 an eastern seminary. In proportion to one's 
 adaptation to circumstances is his power to 
 enjoy a new country, with its customs and 
 manners more or less strange, and his ability 
 to do good. My quota of enjoyment has been 
 realized in this delightful portion of the world. 
 In after years memory will revert to these 
 scenes with peculiar pleasure. I go now to 
 my native land, to the scenes of my early 
 youth, the friends I love ; and if life is spared 
 to recount to them the adventures of my re- 
 cent history, I shall have occasion to say on 
 every hand, — 
 
 " Thus far the Lord hath led me on." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 VOYAGE HOME. — ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE. — NATURAL 
 FEATURES OF CALIFORNIA. — REFLECTIONS UPON MEN 
 AND MANNERS. — SUPERIORITY OF AMERICAN CHAR- 
 ACTER. 
 
 My residence in Petaluma might have lasted 
 a lifetime, perhaps, had not a combination of 
 circumstances rendered it seemingly necessary 
 for me to return to New England. My voyage 
 across the Isthmus was without any special 
 interest, unless it was an attempt at suicide 
 which was made as we were entering Panama 
 Bay. It was a young girl, disappointed, and 
 for the time nearly crazed, by not meeting 
 friends whom she had expected on her way. 
 She jumped overboard from the steamer, in- 
 tending to escape from such a troublesome 
 world by drowning. The sea water, and the 
 tremendous idea of death which came from 
 the sense of its absolute nearness, worked an 
 
 (343) 
 
344 RETURN HOME. 
 
 instantaneous revulsion in her feelings, and 
 she implored them to rescue her. Being float- 
 ed by means of her dress, the boat of the 
 steamer was sent out, and she was brought on 
 board mortified, and apparently satisfied to 
 live as long as she could. A fair opportunity 
 to see how it would seem would probably pre- 
 vent a vast majority from prosecuting their 
 suicidal folly. 
 
 I reached my native land after about three 
 years of absence, most of it consumed in the 
 wanderings of the desultory circumnavigation, 
 the adventures of which I have related, not with 
 any particular ecstasies of patriotism or joy, 
 but, as in regard to most other human events, 
 with mingled emotions of pain and pleasure. A 
 large portion of my time was spent in Califor- 
 nia, and therefore impressions of life in this 
 place are more vivid and distinct than those 
 of any other. California is, indeed, a splendid 
 country to live in. Its atmosphere, not only 
 natural, but social and mental, has a strangely 
 invigorating and pleasing effect upon those is- 
 suing from the comparatively conventional and 
 humdrum life of the old states at the east. 
 
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE. 345 
 
 There is a free, truthful, and sincere activity, 
 strength, and decision, in the society exceed- 
 ingly attractive to most minds. Both men 
 and women are deeply interested in whatever 
 relates to the welfare and prosperity of the 
 Pacific state. The Vigilance Committee, and 
 various other organizations of the kind out- 
 side San Francisco, are to be reckoned not 
 lawless or rebellious, but simply as spontaneous 
 combinations for suppressing wrong and up- 
 holding the purity of the republic — such as 
 would be impossible in an eastern state or 
 city, solely for the lack of the requisite union 
 of honesty and vigor in political and moral 
 character. 
 
 The broad, clear vigor of mind shown so 
 early in the existence of the state is to be ac- 
 counted for partly in the natural action of strong 
 and right-minded men, thrown together under 
 circumstances which render them at once inde- 
 pendent in courses of individual life, thought, 
 and action ; and singularly inter-dependent in 
 all the purposes of action as a united people. 
 
 Another cause, perhaps hardly less efficient, 
 is the stimulating power of this region. There 
 
346 A ROVING SCOTCHMAN. 
 
 is a strange and peculiar exhilaration in the 
 very air of California, which belongs also to 
 the whole vast range of the Pacific basin. 
 Many seem equally content to settle or to 
 roam about the lands or the waters of this 
 enchanted realm. 
 
 A story was told me of a wealthy young 
 Scotchman, — a baronet it was said, — who 
 owned a swift and beautiful schooner, and con- 
 stantly lived in her — the life, as it were, of a 
 proud sea-king. His little craft now and then 
 entered the harbor of San Francisco, or was 
 heard of at Honolulu, or some other distant 
 port, having put in for supplies. At other 
 times he was cruising to and fro, or delaying 
 at his pleasure at some beautiful island harbor, 
 enjoying the delights of sun and air, earth and 
 ocean, in the paradise of the South Pacific — as 
 nearly a perfect life as the world can furnish 
 for physical pleasure. 
 
 I have known more than one instance where 
 emigrants from the east have resided for a 
 while in California, grown homesick, and re- 
 turned only to find themselves, after a short 
 stay, pining still more strongly for the balmy 
 
CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA. 347 
 
 air and magnificent climate, the fruit and flow- 
 ers they had left, than for the old associations, 
 conveniences, and privileges of their eastern 
 home. 
 
 There is no winter except a rainy season, 
 which lasts from October to April, during which 
 frost is unknown. The temperature of the first 
 January of my stay ranged from fifty to sev- 
 enty degrees ; scarcely a day when one might 
 not take a pleasant and healthful walk in the 
 open air. 
 
 The climate is without either extreme ; be- 
 ing no frost in winter or dog-days in summer. 
 There is always a sea breeze at night along 
 the coast, and an occasional morning fog is dis- 
 persed by the sun at about ten o'clock, A. M., 
 in season for a day warm, but not oppressive. 
 The harsh, dry heat, the raw Atlantic fogs, the 
 piercing cold of north-east storms, are un- 
 known. It is doubtless the healthiest country 
 in the world. 
 
 Farming and gardening are a wonder to the 
 eastern man, with his long winter, hot and 
 hurrying summer, hard and meager soil, and his 
 severe labor. No stores of winter fodder are 
 
348 UNPARALELED VEGETATION. 
 
 needed ; there is not one day in the year when 
 he cannot work in the ground. One Bodega 
 potato has been known to suffice two or three 
 men at dinner. Grains of different kinds more 
 than double the Atlantic crops. Fruit is yield- 
 ed from seed or cuttings a full year sooner 
 than at the east. Fresh vegetables and fruit 
 are in the market at San Francisco every 
 month in the year; and to the whole circle of 
 productions of the Northern States are added 
 many more of almost tropical character. Figs 
 grow and prosper in the open air, and the nut- 
 meg is a native production of one portion of 
 the state. In favorable exposures there is 
 little doubt that a large class of the distinctive 
 tropical fruits could be produced with slight 
 protection, if not actually naturalized. 
 
 Petaluma and its neighborhood, where I 
 spent a greater part of my time, is a very 
 paradise for the farmer. Almost the whole of 
 Sonoma county, which is as large as the entire 
 State of Connecticut, lies in a broad and fertile 
 valley of rich meadows and grassy uplands, a 
 hundred and fifty miles in length, and from forty 
 to eighty broad, whose natural riches and capa- 
 
MINERAL WEALTH. 349 
 
 bilities are but little known even in San Fran- 
 cisco. Many of the farmers entered this region 
 ten years since, purchased land of the Spanish 
 proprietors, and entered at once upon the 
 business of cattle raising, killing them chiefly 
 for the hides, at a profit perhaps of two dollars 
 a head. The gold discoveries, and the cities 
 that have consequently grown up around them, 
 have put a stop to these wasteful operations, 
 and many large fortunes have been made by 
 the sale of meat and produce to the mountain 
 miners and city markets. These opportuni- 
 ties for certain and regular profits from agri- 
 culture increase every year with the growth 
 of city and country. 
 
 With these advantages, and the valuable 
 resources of gold, quicksilver, and other metals 
 and minerals ; with a population already nu- 
 merous and ever increasing, and a territory 
 capable of supporting twenty millions, at the 
 rate of population per square mile of the State 
 of New York; and with the present prospects 
 for moral and intellectual improvement from 
 the educational, benevolent, and religious in- 
 fluences and institutions already established 
 30 
 
350 FRUITS OF MY TRAVELS. 
 
 and operating, — it is impossible to limit the 
 splendor of the future for California. 
 
 The chief inquiries that have been pro- 
 pounded to me by those to whom I have re- 
 hearsed the reminiscences of my travels, are 
 such as these : " What were you driving at ? 
 What were you trying to do? What is the 
 result of it all ? " In the first place, at the 
 point of departure, I was a discouraged man, 
 unhappy in mind, weak in body, and not with- 
 out symptoms of pulmonary disease. With a 
 substantially rebuilt constitution, it has given 
 me contentment and an equability of mind 
 altogether above valuation. It is true I can 
 not lay down any plan upon which I pro- 
 ceeded, covering the entire time and space of 
 my travels. I did not go with a settled pur- 
 pose of obtaining information, nor gold, nor 
 " specimens," nor after any thing else that I 
 could tell, although I returned with more or 
 less of all these. I could boast a collection of 
 shells numbering five thousand or more, and 
 of no small value for scientific purposes ; a 
 good, though less extensive collection of min- 
 erals, including gold and silver ore, agates, 
 
VALUE OF TRAVEL. 351 
 
 cornelians, bloodstones, pearls, and many mis- 
 cellaneous curiosities ; beside an inexhaustible 
 store of recollections of persons, places, and 
 things ; of manners and customs ; observations 
 upon human nature, which are continually do- 
 ing good service by furnishing material for 
 comparison and reflection. 
 
 In spite of the lack of any abstract unity of 
 purpose, or any elaborate plan, — even though 
 I can only say that an instinct for wander- 
 ing carried me along, — I apprehend most men 
 will count these three years as far from mis- 
 spent. In what other way the fruits of travel 
 can be gained I have yet to learn ; and I am 
 further ignorant of any experience so rich and 
 available as sources of knowledge of men and 
 minds. During the latter part of my stay 
 abroad, and since my return home, I have met 
 with some few of the various companions of 
 my wanderings; and the intelligence I have 
 been able to gather respecting the unlucky 
 Peytona may not be uninteresting to those 
 who have followed her through a disastrous, 
 shifting, and " shiftless" voyage. She was con- 
 demned and sold at Port Louis, on account 
 
352 THE PEYTONA. 
 
 of her passengers remaining there ; bringing 
 about nine thousand dollars, which gave to 
 each person about fifty dollars to enable them 
 to leave the island. The price was given for 
 the beauty of her model, which was one of 
 the first and best of Donald M'Kay's long line 
 of triumphs in clipper ship building, rather 
 than for any great value in her strained and 
 weather-beaten hulk. She was thoroughly re- 
 built, christened again by a name I do not 
 know, and is probably at this moment plying 
 about the Indian Ocean, or China Sea, laden 
 with sugar or opium, swarming with centi- 
 pedes and scorpions, and manned by rice- 
 eating, inefficient Lascars. What became of 
 the captain, his swearing mate, and mutinous 
 crew, I know not. The fortunes and mis- 
 fortunes of the hapless company would doubt- 
 less be a curious chapter in the history of 
 human affairs, were they known. 
 
 Advice which I can give to travelers is of 
 trifling moment, and can of course be applied 
 only to those whose journeyings are similar to 
 my own. Seasickness — that frightful thing, 
 concerning which so many speculate, and which 
 
HINTS TO TRAVELERS. 353 
 
 many know by a meaning deeper than specu- 
 lation — is one of those things to be considered 
 on a long voyage. My belief is, that no pre- 
 caution whatever can be relied upon; that 
 some persons will never feel it; that some may 
 escape it, by attention to diet before embark- 
 ing ; by being much in the open air, or pre- 
 serving a horizontal position on board ; and 
 that others will have it under any circum- 
 stances whatever. Persons of a sanguine and 
 nervous temperament are most subject to it. 
 The resolute maintenance of good temper, 
 cheerful endurance of whatever befalls, and 
 above all, a continual endeavor to be helpful 
 and encouraging to others, are points of cardi- 
 nal importance to the traveler; for the mind 
 occupied in alleviating the miseries of others 
 is certain to forget its own. By practicing 
 some such hints, with others suggested by 
 wiser travelers, and such as every one's own 
 foresight or experience may dictate, the va- 
 rious difficulties and hardships incident to 
 " second-class " style of traveling, which neces- 
 sity compelled me to adopt, may be much 
 lightened. Yet, after all, this mode cannot 
 30* 
 
354 THE EFFECTS OF TRAVELING. 
 
 be recommended, if by any possible means it 
 can be avoided, as its influence upon charac- 
 ter is far from being desirable. One is thus 
 thrown, usually, among the vulgar and igno- 
 rant, where he must absolutely practice a 
 sharp system of self-defending circumspection, 
 and assertion of his own rights, nearly border- 
 ing upon selfishness and dishonesty ; and very 
 naturally slides into the opinion that whatever 
 wrong doing he is tempted to commit, will 
 remain unknown to the circle of his friends 
 and home neighbors, among whom his repu- 
 tation chiefly exists. The steady operation of 
 these influences, so dilapidating to the strength 
 and perfection of the moral sense, is hardly 
 ever counteracted, even for a little time, by 
 the society of the good. 
 
 The decided tendency of traveling any way, 
 is to develop into a master-passion the innate 
 disposition in the human mind to lead a rest- 
 less, roving life. Too many of the great army 
 of men who have left the United States within 
 the past few years, have either become ir- 
 reclaimable wanderers, or returned to their 
 homes discontented, unhappy, aimless and use- 
 
CURIOSITY. 355 
 
 less. In that large class who are driven away 
 from home, or fancy they are, by domestic or 
 other troubles, we find these effects very nat- 
 urally intensified. Thus the man who left 
 home a very respectable member of society, 
 with good intentions and habits, a perception 
 of right and wrong, a sense of obligation to 
 God and man, and in the habitual practice of 
 some effort at improvement of mind and soul, 
 often becomes, if nothing worse, improvident, 
 reckless, careless of every thing except the 
 comfort and pleasure of the present day, sink- 
 ing in every respect far below the dignity of 
 his nature. My own countrymen I invaria- 
 bly found to be superior, in most respects, to 
 those of other countries and nations. 
 
 Their most unseemly trait is inquisitiveness, 
 which they gratify without regard to things 
 divine or human, in a manner often insufferably 
 impertinent. Curiosity is no less apparent. 
 This characteristic shone forth with wonderful 
 power during our stay at Bahia, where our 
 fellow-passengers visited every church, han- 
 dling pictures, images, and every thing within 
 reach. Many a dark stain was left upon white 
 
356 PECULIAR TRAITS. 
 
 marble statues, gilded picture frames, and other 
 ornamental fixtures, all over the city, to attest 
 the rigid investigation of these peering visitors. 
 When they had seen the building, they applied 
 themselves to the worshipers. I have seen 
 devotees kneeling before an image, praying 
 with the absorbing fervor of a sincere Koman- 
 ist, apparently unconscious that they were 
 quite surrounded by the curious faces of a 
 dozen strangers, watching to see "how they 
 did it." 
 
 Many more were those who wrote or carved 
 their names, with dates or strange devices, in 
 all manner of places — a custom of erect- 
 ing monuments to one's self, which, however, 
 is no more common among Americans, who 
 have no other way of becoming celebrated, 
 than among cockneys, or any other class of 
 wanderers. 
 
 These demonstrations were a cause of won- 
 dering disgust to the inhabitants, who will not 
 even mind their own business, if they can help 
 it, much less any body's else. Their quiet, 
 listless ways were a constant surprise to us. 
 Nobody gazed at us in the churches or in the 
 
SUPERIORITY OF AMERICANS. 357 
 
 streets. Under circumstances that would have 
 drawn the attention of every eye in a New- 
 England church, we might have entered a 
 Romish cathedral without receiving even a 
 look from the listless or earnest devotees. 
 
 Having said this, the worst is said. In all 
 other respects whatever, Americans abroad are 
 beyond measure superior to all other nations 
 in morality, good manners, good nature, good 
 companionship, friendliness, and generosity ; 
 this, however, not urged in competition with 
 the remarkable, thorough-going, and almost 
 universal display of the last three qualities 
 among English seamen. In business, shrewd- 
 ness, energy, tact, invention, and success, they 
 far exceed all others. All improvements at 
 Ballerat in the process of mining had been 
 made by Yankees, and the same may be said 
 in other directions. 
 
 One, however, prosecuting any enterprise, is 
 obliged to encounter the whole strength of a 
 bitter and ignorant national dislike, by reason 
 of much prejudice against foreigners, which is 
 more or less strong in all places. 
 
 The homely rhymes of the poet will finally 
 
358 REFLECTIONS. 
 
 serve to express a yet more comprehensive 
 summary of my experiences : — 
 
 " This world is not so bad a world 
 As some would choose to make it ; 
 But whether good or whether bad, 
 Depends on how you take it." 
 
 There is good in the world, and about almost 
 every body in the world ; and he who looks out 
 keenly and good naturedly, not only for him- 
 self, but for others, will be sure to succeed. 
 
 He will, in a certain sense, be a friend of 
 " God and Mammon" — two effective allies ; for 
 men help him who helps them, and " God helps 
 him who helps himself." 
 
 V 
 
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