Poison Island
Page 23
CHAPTER XXIII.
HOW WE SAILED TO THE ISLAND.
The business of the sale concluded, we had nothing to detain us, andan order was at once sent to Captain Branscome to book our passagesin the next packet for the West Indies. Meanwhile we held longdiscussions on details of outfit, for since our impedimenta includedtwo moderately heavy chests--the one of guns and ammunition, theother of spades, picks, hatchets, and other tools--and since onreaching Jamaica we must take a considerable journey on muleback, itwas important to cut our personal luggage down to the barestnecessities. We did not forget a medicine-chest.
On August 28 we received word from Captain Branscome that he hadtaken berths for us on the _Townshend_ packet, commanded by an oldfriend of his, a Captain Harrison. She was due to sail on the 1st.Accordingly, on August 30 we travelled down by Royal Mail toFalmouth, Mr. Rogers following that same noon by the _Highflyer_;spent a busy day in making some last purchases, and a sleepless nightin the noisiest of hotels; and went on board soon after breakfast, tobe welcomed there by Mr. Goodfellow, who had got over his partingthree days before, at Plymouth, and professed himself to be in thevery jolliest of spirits. At the head of the after-companion CaptainBranscome met us and conducted us below, to introduce us to ourquarters and be complimented on the thought and care he had bestowedin choosing them and fitting them up--for the ladies' comfortespecially. He himself lodged forward, in a small double cabin whichhe shared with Mr. Goodfellow.
I will spare the reader a description of our departure and of thepassage to Jamaica, not only because they were quite uneventful (wedid not even sight a' privateer), but because they have beencelebrated in verse by Plinny, in a descriptive poem of five cantosand some four thousand lines, entitled "The Voyage: with anEnglishwoman's Reflections on her Favourite Element," a few extractsfrom which I am permitted to quote--
"We sailed for Kingston in the _Townshend_ packet. The day auspicious was, and calm the heavens; Not so the scene on board--oh, what a racket! And everything on deck apparently at sixes and sevens. Mail-bags and passengers mixed up in every direction, The latter engaged with their relatives in fond farewells; On the one hand the faltering accents of affection, On the other the unpolisht seamen emitting yells, With criticisms of a Custom House official Whose action for some reason they resented as prejudicial.
"At length the last farewell is said, The anchor tripped, the gangway clear'd; 'Twas five p.m. ere past Pendennis Head Forth to th' unfathomable deep we steer'd. The bo'sun piped (he wore a manly beard); And while th' attentive crew the braces trimm'd (Alluding to the ship's), and while from observation The coast receded, we with eyes be-dimm'd Indulged in feelings natural to the situation.
"Albion! My Albion! So called from the hue Thy cliffs wear by the Straits of Dover-- Though darker in this neighbourhood--still adieu! Albion, adieu! I feel myself a rover. Thy sons instinctively take to the water, And so will I, albeit but a daughter."
A page later, in more tripping metre (which reflects her gaiety ofspirits), she describes the ship--
"The _Townshend_ Packet is a gallant brig Of one hundred and eighty tons; 'Tis the Postmaster-General's favourite rig, And she carries six useful guns. As she sails, as she sails With his Majesty's mails, Hurrah for her long six-pounders! They relieve our fear Of a privateer, But what shall we do if she founders? I prefer not to think of any such contingency: She has excellent sailing qualities, And her captain appears to rule with stringency And to be averse from minor frivolities. With the late Admiral Nelson he may not provoke comparison. But one and all place implicit confidence in Captain Harrison."
While Plinny cultivated the Muse--and with the more zest as, to herpride and delight, she found herself immune from sea-sickness--I keptup, through the long mornings, the pretence of studying mathematicswith Captain Branscome, and regularly at noon received a lesson intaking the ship's bearings. Our fellow-voyagers were mostlymerchants and agents bound for Jamaica, the trade of which hadrevived since the restoration of peace; and among them we passed fora well-to-do family travelling partly for pleasure to visit theisland, but partly also with an idea of buying a plantation andsettling there--which explained the presence of Mr. Goodfellow.
Our captain justified the confidence so poetically expressed above.He sailed his ship along steadily, taking no risks, and after apleasant passage of thirty-six days brought her to anchor in CarlisleBay, Barbadoes, where we were due to deliver some bags of mails.I have said that the trip was uneventful; it was even withoutincident save for some fooleries on reaching the Line, and suchtrifling distractions as an unsuccessful attempt to shoot analbatross, and the sighting of some flying-fish and sundrylong-tailed birds which the sailors called boatswains. But, asPlinny wrote--
"Life at sea has a natural monotony Of which 'twere irrational to complain: You cannot, for instance, study botany As in an English country lane. But the mind is superior to distance With its own reminiscences stored, Not to mention the spiritual assistance We derived from a clergyman on board."
(He was a sallow young man of delicate constitution, and, partly forhis health's sake, had accepted the pastorate of a Genevan church inKingston.)
From Barbadoes we beat up for Jamaica, and anchored in KingstonHarbour just forty-five days from home. The next morning we saidfarewell to the ship, and were rowed ashore to a good hotel, where wespent a lazy week in email excursions, while Captain Branscome busiedhimself in hiring a mule-train and holding consultations with a firmof merchants, Messrs. Cox and Roebuck, to whom Miss Belcher camerecommended with a letter of credit. These gentlemen, understandingthat we desired to cross over to the Main to visit some relations ofMiss Belcher resident in Virginia (for that was our pretence), opinedthat the matter was not difficult of management, but that we mustneeds travel to the extreme west of the island if we would hire avessel for the purpose, and they mentioned an agent of theirs atSavannah-la-Mar--Jacob Paz by name--as the likeliest man for ourpurpose.
Armed with a letter of introduction to this man, in the early morningof October 22 we started on muleback, and, travelling without hastethrough the exquisite scenery of Jamaica (the main roads of which putours of Cornwall to shame), arrived at Savannah-la-Mar on the 27th, agreat part of the way having been occupied by Miss Belcher (who hatedthe sight of a negro) in rebuking Plinny's sentimental objections toslavery, and by Mr. Rogers in begging a collection of humming-birds.
It took (I believe) some time at Savannah-la-Mar to convince Mr Paz,a subtle half-breed, that we were actually fools enough to wish topurchase one of his vessels, and mad enough to propose workingher alone. He had three boats idle, including a pretty littlefore-and-aft schooner of thirty tons, the _Espriella_, which CaptainBranscome had no sooner set eyes upon than he decided to be the verything for our purpose. She was fitted with a large ladies' cabin aftof the companion, a saloon, and a small single-berth cabin between itand the fo'c's'le, which would house three men comfortably. We endedby purchasing her for three hundred and seventy pounds; and into thefo'c's'le I went with Mr. Goodfellow and Mr. Jack Rogers, whoinsisted on resigning the spare cabin to Captain Branscome--henceforward, or until we should reach the island, by consent theleader of the expedition.
So on October 30, at six in the morning, after being commended to Godby Mr. Paz, we worked out of Savannah-la-Mar, and, having gained anoffing with a light breeze, hoisted all her bits of canvas, even to alight jib-topsail we found on board--chiefly, I think, to impressher late owner, whom we could descry on the shore, watching us.He had steadfastly refused to believe us capable of handling a boat,whereas of our party Plinny and Mr. Goodfellow were the onlylandlubbers. Miss Belcher could take the helm with the best of us,and indeed it was reported of her that sh
e had on more than oneoccasion played helmswoman to a run of goods upon her own Cornishestate. Mr. Jack Rogers had once owned a yacht and sufferedfrom tedium; now, as a foremast hand, he was enjoying himselfamazingly.
But the pride above all prides was Captain Branscome's. After manyyears he trod a deck again, commander of his own ship; and thebearing of the man was that of a prince restored after long exileto his kingdom. Courteous as ever to the ladies, to the rest of ushe behaved as a master, noble but severe, unwearied in explaining theleast minutiae of seamanship, inexorable in seeing that his smallestinstruction was obeyed. Mr. Rogers at the end of the first dayconfided to me that he had much ado to refrain from touching hisforelock whenever he heard the skipper's voice.
I shall not be believed if I say that in all the five days ofour voyage Captain Branscome never snatched a wink of sleep.Doubtless he did sleep, between whiles; but doubtless also no one sawhim do it.
It was daybreak or thereabouts on the morning of November 5--and afaint light coming through the decklight over the fo'c's'le--when I,that had kept the middle watch and was now snoring in my bunk, sat upat a touch on my shoulder, and stared, rubbing my eyes, into the dimface of Mr. Goodfellow.
"Skipper wants you on deck," he announced. "We've lifted somethingon the starboard bow, and he swears 'tis the Island."