THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
TO INDIA AND BACK 
 
 BY THE CAPE. 
 
 BY A TRAVELLEK. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS DRAWINGS ON WOOD AND STONE, 
 BY JOHN CORBET ANDERSON, 
 
 FROM SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR AND OTHERS. 
 
 StTBSCBIBEB'S COPY. 
 
 CEOYDON : 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN C. ANDERSON, SUMNER ROAD. 
 
 1859. 
 

 DEDICATED TO THE 
 
 WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF ENGLISH SOLDIERS 
 
 ■WHO HAVE FALLEN, 
 
 IN AVENGING THEIR COUNTRY'S OUTRAGED HONOUR, 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 PLAINS OP HINDOSTAN. 
 
 M372764 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 So 1. 
 
 MADEIRA. 
 
 „ 2. 
 
 TENERIFFE. 
 
 „ 3. 
 
 CROSSING THE LINE. 
 
 ,, *• 
 
 OFF MARTIN VAS, AND TRINIDAD. 
 
 „ 5. 
 
 TRISTAN DA CUNHA. 
 
 „ 5a. 
 
 OFF THE CAPE, IN 40° SOUTH, SIGHTING AN ICEBERG 
 
 „ 6. 
 
 THE MAURITIUS. 
 
 „ 7. 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 „ 8. 
 
 MADRAS. 
 
 „ 9. 
 
 AT THE SAND-HEADS. 
 
 „ 10. 
 
 CALCUTTA. 
 
 „ U. 
 
 BOMBAY. 
 
 „12. 
 
 AFTER A HURRICANE, OFF THE MAURITIUS. 
 
 „ 13. 
 
 OFF THE CAPE. 
 
 „ U. 
 
 TABLE BAY. 
 
 „ 15. 
 
 ST. HELENA. 
 
 „ 16. 
 
 ASCENSION. 
 
 „ 17. 
 
 HOME. 
 
 „ 18. 
 
 Fig. 1. A VIOLET SNAIL. 
 
 
 „ 2. A POUNCE BONE. 
 
 
 „ 3. A CUTTLE FISH. 
 
 
 „ 4. ■ BARNACLES. 
 
 
 „ 5. SEA BLUBBER. 
 
 
 „ 6. A GULF CRAB. 
 
 
 „ 7. A CALAMARY, OR SQUID. 
 
 
 „ 8. A SALLEEMAN. 
 
 
 „ 9. A NAUTILUS. 
 
 
 „ 10, 14, 15, 16, WHALE'S FOOD. 
 
 
 „ 11. AN ARGONAUT. 
 
 
 „ 12. A PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. 
 
 
 „ 13. A PIPE FISH. 
 
mm Bv 
 
 t 
 
 
 INTRODFCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 The absence of any popular Guide-book for Travellers to India, round the Cape, has often been a 
 matter of surprise and regret. With the exception of " Daniell's Picturesque Voyage * * by way 
 of China," published half a century ago, I am not aware of any work which specially describes that 
 route. The "Long Voyage to India," though attended with but little excitement, and hence 
 supposed to be intensely monotonous, has, nevertheless, a certain charm and interest of its own, and 
 opens up to us the pages of a book which can hardly be read without our becoming wiser and better 
 for the perusal. The following work pretends to nothing more than a collection of incidents and 
 facts, familiar to every voyager, together with a very general and summary description, as well of 
 the scientific portions of the book, as of the different places which are either only "sighted" or 
 "touched at" on the journey. For more minute information on the several subjects the reader is 
 referred to those publications which especially treat of them, and to which I am myself deeply 
 indebted. 
 
 B 
 
It may be desirable, in limine, to offer a few prefatory remarks, relative to the respective merits of 
 the two modes of reaching India. The overland route, embracing a sea passage of nearly 8,000 
 miles, involves a continous fowrf-journey of, after all, only some 80 or so (or 200 of broken land and 
 river), across the desert from Cairo to Suez ; and this is effected in about 16 hours. On the com- 
 pletion of the railway, during the present year (1858), even that space of time will be considerably 
 shortened. There are the same marine desagremens in going overland as in rounding the Cape ; but 
 they are, of course, sooner over, — the whole distance being accomplished in 35 days from South- 
 ampton to Bombay, and in from 45 to 48 to Madras and Calcutta. 
 
 Where time is an object, the Overland route must be adopted ; and it is a question whether, in an 
 economical point of view, too, the greater expence, so incurred, is not more than counter-balanced by 
 the earlier attainment of a lucrative Indian appointment ; or of even ordinary Indian allowances. 
 Moreover, as the period of service in India dates from the day of arrival, it is obviously desirable to 
 arrive as soon as possible. There is the further advantage in the Overland route to young Indian 
 officers, in the fact of its being a better introduction to the ivorld than a long voyage at sea.* This 
 route promises to become popular, too, with the Tourist ; but, to enjoy it thoroughly, it must not be 
 travelled at the speed, with which John Bull is too apt to hurry over his continental tours. 
 
 In cases of illnessf requiring a long sea- voyage, — or with a view to avoid a too rapid exodus from 
 a cold country into a hot one, or where there are large families, — the Cape route is the best. The 
 voyage may be accomplished in a screw steamer, or a sailing vessel. The former are calculated to reach 
 Madras in 65 and Calcutta in 70 days ; but, as the accommodation is both contracted and expensive, 
 this curtailment of the voyage, though even by several weeks, may hardly be considered to neutralize 
 such disadvantages. 
 
 For travellers bound only to intermediate ports, or to those where sailing vessels do not touch (or 
 which, when they do, possess very indifferent accommodation), screw steamers are well suited. They 
 show to most advantage, perhaps, in the " Doldrums," a nautical term for those regions of calms, 
 which delight the poet, but distract the sailor. 
 
 But, for passengers the whole way to India by the Cape, nothing can surpass the Indiamen of the 
 day. These may be divided, like railway carriages, into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class ; the former, 
 ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 tons, furnished with large cabins and excellent provisions, manned by 
 gentlemanly officers and an efficient crew, and constituting as splendid a fleet of merchantmen as 
 ever sailed upon the ocean, are well calculated to divest Dr. Johnson's "marine prison" of much of 
 its imaginary horrors. With such an " embarras de richesses" the difficulty is, which ship to select. 
 Where allj are so fine it would be invidious to particularize ; but, as so much of the comfort of the 
 voyage depends upon the character of the captain, the selection should always hinge upon an enquiry 
 into that point ; though it must be admitted that for strangers, who have no Indian connections to 
 guide them, it is almost impossible to ascertain what a captain, may be like. There is no doubt that 
 skippers often obtain a bad name very undeservedly ; for it requires first-rate diplomacy to succeed 
 in avoiding condemnation from at least some of the passengers. Stinginess and tyranny are vices 
 which will, of course, secure for their owner a wide notoriety. 
 
 In the 2nd class ships a passage woidd be cheaper than in a 1st class ; the provisions may be as 
 good and more bountifully supplied ; such ships are quite as sea- worthy as the larger vessels (for size 
 by no means ensures safety) ; and they often sail just as well, sometimes better. The accommodation, 
 however, and the general arrangements for the comfort of passengers cannot, obviously, be so good 
 as in the 1st class ships. 
 
 The 3rd class ships are essentially outsiders. Being chartered almost exclusively for freight, they 
 are, manifestly, less suited for passengers than the regular passenger vessels. As, however, they 
 usually ARE fitted up with a certain amount of cabin, accommodation, passages are sometimes taken 
 in them ; and no doubt a very pleasant one is often made in an " outsider." In the absence of other 
 passengers, the one probably gets a large stern cabin (if he prefers it), all to himself, at comparatively 
 
 * On the other hand, it must be remembered that, for less money, the passenger is lodged and boarded long/er by the Cape route ; 
 and this, in manv instances, may be an object. • 
 
 t It may be observed, in general terms, that whereas this route is desirable for sufferers from " Uvcr complaint," or disorders of 
 the lungs and bowels, it is not at all suited to the nervous or dyspeptic valetudinarian. 
 
 X It would bo a great boon if aU ships were provided with a public bath-room, &c., as are the " Marlborough" and " Blenheim" 
 (sister ships belonging to Messrs. T. & W. Smith). The advantage of such an arrangement is obvious, and fighly appreciated by 
 those who have sailed in those ships. 
 
^' 
 
 little cost. But one must bo prepared, in most cases, for the absence of kindred society ; and — an 
 equal if not greater hardship — not to see very much fresh food during the voyage.* 
 
 Whatever class of ship be chosen, the time of her arrival in India should always be calculated.f 
 Ordinarily speaking, the passage occupies from 90 to 100 days to Bombay, and from 90 to 120 to 
 Madras and Calcutta. 
 
 There is an advantage in flush-decked over-poop ships, in the fact of their enabling one to take a 
 longer walk upon the deck, and in being safer for children. Poop cabins, however, are preferable to 
 corresponding ones in a flush decker, as their ports can be kept longer open in rough weather ; and, 
 for the same reason, the lower-deck cabins in a poop ship are preferable to those of a flush-decked. 
 
 It has been supposed that a cabin on the larboard side, if "outward-bound," and one on the 
 starboard, if coming home, should be selected, — with the view, in either case, of securing the benefit 
 of the " trade winds," which tend to mitigate the great heat on either side of the line. But this 
 advantage (even if real, which many dispute, as occasionally a " trade" blows due aft), is often 
 neutralized by the accompanying rough sea, which is apt to dash into the cabin and derange all its 
 snuggeries. So long as the cabin is on the upper J deck the particular side is of little consequence ; 
 but as there is much less motion in the centre of the vessel than at the stem, persons who sufier from 
 sea sickness should always endeavour to secure a cabin somewhere thereabouts. Doubtless, a fine 
 stem cabin, with its quarter- gallery, its greater airiness, light, and retirement, are no mean 
 attractions ; and one is sorely tempted to run the risk of a little illness to secure them. But, where 
 there is a peculiar susceptibility to the " maladie de la mer" (in such cases it is apt to recur at 
 intervals throughout the entire passage), it is far wiser to take tico adjoining cabins (if much space 
 be required), towards the centre. There is, undoubtedly, more noise heard in the upper than in the 
 lower cabins : — as, of walking overhead, bolts and ropes falling, fowls cackling, and various other 
 little pleasantries preculiar to shipboard, — not to omit holy stoning with a Lascar cretc. But these 
 disadvantages are more than counter-balanced by the greater amount of light and air, and of con- 
 sequent comfort, throughout the voyage.§ 
 
 With regard to cabin furniture, the passengers should not over-do it, in spite of the allegation that, 
 if judiciously selected, it may be useful hereafter in India. Interest often prompts advice. 
 
 While we have been shaking down into our cabins, land has been gradually vanishing from view ; 
 and, now, the departing pilot gathers together our last farewell letters, and bids us " good speed" on 
 our long voyage to India. We are fairly at sea. Home, sweet home, with aU its tenderest ties, is 
 left, — perhaps for ever, — and an unknown world lies before us. The parting blessing of a loving 
 parent still lingers in our ears, and makes us half regret the irrevocable step we have taken. Some 
 have parted from wives, or children, or both ; and now, in that aching void, begin to taste the 
 bitterest drops of the cup of married life in India. Others, complete citizens of the world, readily 
 accommodate themselves to circumstances, and are buoyant with visions, not always realized, of 
 the fabulous dimensions of John Company's "Rupee-tree." Soon, the curtain rises ; and the "dra- 
 matis persmue" prepare to "fret their hour" upon the Indiaman's stage. 
 
 It has been said that, after all, an Indiaman is only an " Hotel at Sea," and that mine host, the 
 
 * Those who take a passage in an " outsider," for the sake of cheapness, would do well to lay in their own stores. 
 + As it ia never, for most European constitutions, safe to make a debut in India during the hot season, it will be wise to select a 
 ship intended to arrive at any time irom October to February, inclusive. It is upon this principle that the 1st class vessels leave 
 England between June and September. 
 
 X Invalids should never engage a lower deck cabin in any ship, at however cheap a rate. What looks all light, and air, and sweetness 
 at anchor in a river, assumes a very different aspect at sea, especially if there be a heavy cargo, or much of it be sugar ; in short, such 
 cabins are often, owing to the combination of heat, want of light and air, and bad smells, quite untenable. An exception may be 
 made in favour of the stern cabins on this deck. These have certainly more light and air than the side ones, and from their privacy 
 and size, are well suited for large families ; but these, too, must have their ports closed in rough weather, which reduces them, in 
 warm latitudes, to the level of their neighbours. 
 
 § The cost of a cabin must depend very much upon circumstances, as the character of the ship, the number of vessels advertized, 
 the number of passengers going out, and the season. The following rates may be taken as the average : — 
 
 One person. Two or more persons. 
 
 £ £ £ £ 
 
 A stem cabin on the poop or upper deck .... 150 to 160 . . . 200 to 210 
 
 A side ditto on ditto ditto HO to 120 . . . ISO to 160 
 
 A stem cabin below 120 to 140 . . 180 to 200 
 
 A side ditto near the stem 100 to 110 . . . 140 to 160 
 
 The prices diminish for cabins forward, which, whether above or below, are more noisy and less private. Young men going out 
 for the first time may readily meet with half a side cabin for from £60 to £80 in a 1st class ship. 
 
 B 3 
 
captain, is its paid landlord. The circumstances of each ship, of course, vary ; and, in some instances, 
 may be such as to justify this statement ; but, in the best ships, it will be found to be a very erroneous 
 view of the case. A captain may be frank and jolly ; but he need not be of the Inn-keeper stamp 
 for all that. Generally well-connected, (though possibly in youth a wild " nmaway to sea,") he may 
 have one brother struggling to support a family upon physic ; another, patiently going through a 
 routine of " Embryo Barrister" dinners ; and a third, an estimable curate, passing rich on an annual 
 income of something imder £100 ; whilst he himself, revelling in £600 or £800 a year, though 
 perhaps less than 40, leads the life of a monarch ; and often combines the skiU of the sailor with the 
 grace of the gentleman. If his cabin is his castle, the cuddy should be regarded as his parlour; and 
 ought not to be devoted, as it too frequently is, to purposes for which private cabins, or the deck 
 alone, are intended. Recognize the captain's temporary sovereignty, conform to the rules of the ship, 
 and the chances are, that all wiU feel more like members of a large private party, and be sorry when 
 it breaks up, than as inmates of a tavern, where the welcome closes with the bill, and where intimacy 
 and the entente cordiale are never known. 
 
 A SHIP'S COURSE. 
 
 The progress of a ship at sea, guided with such unerring precision, and yet leaving no index to her 
 course, cannot but raise our thoughts to Him who thm permits man to typify His own mysterious 
 omnipotence. 
 
 " Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." 
 _ Who that has for the first time witnessed the meeting of two ships at sea has not thrilled at the 
 singular novelty and excitement of the scene ? Coming from opposite hemispheres, — tossed about, it 
 may have been, in some places, by tempestuous gales, or helplessly detained by calms in others, — yet 
 compass and sextant, and " foul winds turned into fair," have, finally, overcome aU difficulties; and, at 
 length, at the appointed rendezvous,* "outward" and " homeward" bound meet, and exchange their 
 friendly salutations. Each at dawn seeming to the other as a white speck in the distant horizon, — 
 developing, at noon, into " long-huUed," " taut-masted," merchantmen, — how, as each approaches the 
 other, do eager eyes watch for the national flag which is to proclaim a stranger or a friend. "English, 
 she's EngKsh," is the cry raised in both, as forth float two British ensigns on the breeze. Both have 
 troops on board. Amidst immense excitement, a few conversational flags are rapidly run up and 
 down, by distracted midshipmen, between the spanker gaS" and the deck. And now they pass within 
 earshot of each other. Loud cheers rise through the air. " Cheer Boys, Cheer ; " aye, cheer away. 
 Cheer "outward-bound;" 'tis the British war cry proclaiming vengeance on the treacherous Sepoy. 
 Cheer " homeward-bound ;" cheer those gallant warriors on, and give them new heart and new 
 courage. Cheer for yourselves that your Indian toils are ended ; cheer in the thought of England 
 and of home. 
 
 The hours pass on ; and with them the ships, bearing away their living freights of throbbing human 
 
 hearts. The day closes. Again two distant specks, — now vanishing in opposite horizons ; and the 
 
 wild waves alone are left to tell of the meeting of England's sons upon England's ocean home. 
 
 " And such is human life, now gliding on, 
 It glimmers like a meteor, and is gone." 
 
 MADEIRA. 
 
 This island, now rarely visited by Indiamen, requires therefore merely a passing allusion. 
 Formerly, as is well known, ships called here on the outward passage, and were freighted with 
 Madeira wine, which was destined to make the voyage to India (East or West), and back. The rich 
 
 • This refers to those parts of the voyage where "outward" and "homeward" bound ships are very likely to fall in with each 
 other._ We may all recoUect the delight experienced in finding ourselves in the track of an " outward bounder," or vice versa ; 
 matenally intensified when the captain has consented to run a little out of his course to ensure a closer meeting. 
 
< 
 
 Q 
 < 
 
UJ 
 
 Ll. 
 
 
 UJ 
 
vineyards, alas, have become the prey of a fungus, — the Oidium Tuckeri — (whether the cause, or effect, 
 of the disease is not known), to which the vines have, since 1852, almost entirely succumbed. It is 
 worth considering, whether the experiment of encouraging the cochineal and the cactus might not 
 answer as well in this island, as it has done in that of Teneriffe, — distant only some 240 miles south. 
 
 As a sanitarium, Madeira retains its pre-eminence over Pau, Pisa, Nice, Malta, Malaga, and even 
 Egypt, for the consumptive and tender lunged ; and has, moreover, this grand advantage, — that an 
 invalid may stay there the whole year round. 
 
 Of volcanic origin, — its central back-bone ridge cresting up into a cluster of peaks (the highest, 
 Pico Ruivo, being 6,050 feet, and visible, in a clear atmosphere, some 90 miles off), up to which 
 deep ravines penetrate from both coasts, giving shelter, in their snuggeries, to the several villages 
 whose patches of green cultivation so delight the passing voyager ; its rugged basaltic cliffs (blue 
 with shrubs of the " Pride of Madeira)," and dark red soil, facing the sea with a bold perpendicular 
 front, reaching sometimes to a height, as at Cabo Girao, of 2,000 feet ; its growths of heath, broom, 
 and laurels, enhancing the romantic beauty of the spot ; with its deliciously blue sky and transparent 
 atmosphere, and a mean average temperature of from 65° to 75° Fahrenheit ; with an excellent 
 supply of never failing springs, found everywhere, and fed by the mountain mists ; with gardens 
 where the vegetation of colder climes mingles with that of the tropics ; with its Quintas and 
 Curral; without a local fever, a venomous reptile, or even an English gnat; Madeira may well be 
 called the "Paradise of the Atlantic." 
 
 Notes. — ^Madeira, in length 30, in breadth 12§, and in circumference 72 miles, with an area about l-4th greater than that of the 
 Isle of Wight, and a physical configuration similiar to that of Jamaica, is situated between the parallels of 32° 49' 44" and 32° 37' 18" 
 N.L., and between 16° 39' 30" and 17° 16' 38" W.L., and Ftmchal, represented in the sketch lying on the S.W. side, is its chief town. 
 It is 1,332 mUes from Southampton. 
 
 Quintas. — Country houses. 
 
 Curral. — A beautiful smUing valley in the interior, frowned over by an amphitheatre of bare and rugged rocks. 
 
 See Whites Madeira, by Johnstone, as the best published guide to the Island. 
 
 PEAK OF TENERIFFE. 
 
 ThiH, rrif aignesi land between the Andes and Himalayas, has been shown, by Professor Smj'th's 
 photographic views, not to be a veritable peak (as hitherto supposed, and as it appears to be from a 
 distance), but one which, though sharp pointed, is yet obtuse angled. Indiamen very rarely touch 
 at Teneriffe ; nor is it always even " sighted." In clear weather the Peak, — that is the summit of 
 Piton, which is the Peak of the Peak, and 12,198 feet above the level of the sea, — may be seen at a 
 distance of 200 miles ! It is only, however, either before or after rain, when the refraction of the 
 atmosphere is greatest, that the Peak is visible so far off. On sailing along the coast, from North to 
 South, the island appears to have been once a "complete cinder; and presents to view * * the 
 brokenness and irregularity of half- consumed coke. This resemblance * * becomes less perfect as 
 we approach the Peak, the great chimney of the fiery cauldrons boiling beneath." 
 
 Santa Cruz, on the S.E., interesting to Englishmen as being the spot where Nelson lost his arm, — 
 and Oratava, on the W. side, where, in the days of the vineyards, the wine was made, — are the two 
 chief towns. Neither are tempting ; but Santa Cruz is the worst, — ^being " badly built, and worse 
 governed, with squalid wretchedness meeting the eye in every direction." 
 
 Teneriffe is a Berber word, derived from Thener, mountain, and ife, white ; and it is supposed to 
 have formed, with the other Canaries, the Elysian fields of antiquity, or fortunate islands of Ptolemy. 
 The aborigines were Berbers (syn. Guanchas and Vincherri), a brave able-bodied race, fairer than the 
 Spaniards to whom the island now belongs. They clothed themselves in goat skins ; and had a 
 singular set of punishments attached to their criminal code, one of which was to pound a mm-derer's 
 or adulterer's head on aflat stone with a round one till he died. A remnant of this singular race still 
 exists on the island. 
 
 Notes.— For 300 years the vine flourished in Teneriffe ; it then failed. Enterprising individuals, backed by the government, 
 but opposed by the agrarian population, introduced cochineal from the Honduras, and with so much success that an acre of the driest 
 ground will now yield SOOlbs. (max. SOOlbs.) of cochineal, equal to £75 in money. The male cochineal is like a gnat, and soon 
 dies. The female, shaped like a bug, is white ; but whilst feeding on the cactus, which is indigenous, gradually becomes purple, 
 and, when purple enough, is swept off, baked, and becomes the cochineal of commerce. 
 
CROSSING THE LINE. 
 
 CORYPHENE AND TROPIC BIRD IN PURSUIT OF FLYING FISH. 
 
 And now we approach the equator. Cats'-paws and squalls have hitherto, since we lost the N.E. 
 trade (with the exciting chase of the flying fish by the tropic bird and eoryphene), been the only 
 break to the wearisome monotony of the doldrums. It is evening. The sun has set, after such 
 a scorching day as the tropics only know, behind a bank of very wind-promising clouds ; with 
 his face "set" to the West, the oificer of the watch is "whistling" for the wished for breeze ; 
 whilst nought relieves the stillness of the heavy atmosphere save the flapping of the suffering sails 
 against the masts and rigging. Suddenly a stentorian roar sounds through the ship. The 
 captain has been hailed by Neptune. After certain formal preliminaries a conversation ensues 
 between them ; and this, in true English style, commences, of course, with the weather. The captain 
 complains of the " trades," observing that they don't approach his Majesty's boundary line so freely 
 as they used to. The god listens, humphs and ha's, whispers something about steam as a remedy, 
 and finally proposes to come in state next day and receive the tribute of those who, for the 
 first time, have entered his dominions. Neptune's element then comes streaming down from every 
 yard arm, and his Majesty departs in his car, — for, presently, a barrel filled with burning tar floats 
 past the stern of the ship ; and the god is supposed to be ensconced therein. 
 
 The following day, Neptune appears again ; and, this time, with Amphitrite, (usually pronoimced 
 Amphitritty by the sailors). Crowned with Atlantic flowers, or a paper crown, and bearing in his 
 hand a trident (a grange is made to do duty), — ^his Queen (a clean-shaved, and red and yellow ochred, 
 fore-top-man, dressed up in a white bedgown and frilled night cap), seated with her two children by 
 his side, — ^his Majesty rides triumphantly in his car of state, drawn by "blue, yellow, black, and red 
 painted Tritons, naked to the waist, wearing high caps or swabs for hair," and driven by a coach- 
 man with wig and top boots. A winged Mercury (with his scroll and wand), whose office appears 
 to be to direct admiration to the hamiahle Amphitritty ; a Piper (who heads the procession), with a 
 bear (whose island of ice melted long ago in 50° S.), as body guard, and more Tritons to bring up 
 the rear, complete the component parts of this grotesque cavalcade. Presently it stops, when 
 Neptime's cocked hatted secretary produces a book and reads out the names of those destined to be 
 initiated into the mysteries of "crossing the line." The perusal over, the procession moves 
 " for'ard;" and, whilst Neptune himself may be said to preside as master, his attendants severally 
 prepare to assist at the great ceremony of the day. A sail, filled with water, is first drawn across 
 the deck, the duty of guarding which is especially assigned to the bear ; the spectacled doctor, duly 
 armed with pill box and Eau de Cologne bottle (the latter filled with salt water and closed by a cork 
 
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 T¥if\iit-WfrTf^ 'li'T -.^j; 
 
spiked with three or four needles), stands prepared in his place ; the barber, ready with his notched 
 razor a yard in length, calmly awaits his victim ; and, whilst the initiated long in " sportive 
 earnestness" to witness the coming fun, "skulkers" and "youngsters" behold with dread the awful 
 disclosures in store for them. Surely no Freemasonry ever involved such initiation as this. How 
 many would gladly pay rather than be dragged through the disgusting ordeal ? But, however 
 leniently the majority may be dealt with, for the "skulker" there is no hope. The doctor feels his 
 pulse, and declares that a pill and a sudorific draught are indicated ; if the unlucky wight refuse to 
 open his mouth, this is enforced by a pair of tweezers being brought to bear upon his nose, when a 
 tar brush is rudely thrust in ; his teeth are roughly scraped with a butcher's knife ; blisters are 
 suggested, by the doctor, for a variety of disorders from which that skilful allopathist suddenly 
 discovers his patient to be suffering ; and, if symptoms of exhaustion supervene, the Eau de Cologne 
 bottle, above described, is first applied to his nose, and the contents then poured down his throat. 
 His head is covered with a plaister of tar to make the hair grow ; and he is finally consigned to the 
 tender embraces of the bear, who, hitherto ensconced in the bottom of the sail, now springs up and, 
 dallying with his victim, hugs him to within an inch of his Hfe. 
 
 Many, however, are not shaved ; but are merely thrown into the sail and soused, — whilst a hose 
 with water is made to play upon them. In the humorous language of Nelson Coleridge these are 
 refreshed with 
 
 " The duck courteous, the duck oblique, 
 
 The duck direct, the duck upright, 
 
 The duck downright, the bucket duck, 
 
 The tub duck, the shower duck, and 
 
 The duck and drake." 
 
 Notes. — The above description refers rather to the past than to the present time. The "Neptune scene" is now-a-days rarely 
 acted in all its features ; which have here been aggregated together, from different sources, more to give as complete a view as 
 possible of this singular and (so far as I can learn) peculiarly English and fast waning custom, than to produce a picture which is 
 realized at every first crossing of the line. 
 
 In many ships, from its obvious oflensiveness, it is not allowed at all ; and in those where it is the performances are generally, — 
 at least in 1st class vessels,— of a comparatively mild character. Passengers may escape altogether on payment of a small 
 gratuity, — regarded as a fine. Very serious consequences have sometimes resulted in connection with the Neptune ceremony ; on 
 one occasion a youngster threw himself overboard and was drowned rather than encounter it ; and a Mr. Maw once obtained 400 
 rupees (£40) damages on arrival at Bombay. A blue book order has forbidden its further practice in the Navy. 
 
 The Coryphene (which, like the ohamelion, assumes various hues), is not a dolphin, as frequently supposed. The dolphin, indeed 
 (which is a species of whale and not a fish at all), vrill eat flying fish as soon as anything else ; but the normal aquatic enemy of 
 these helpless creatures is the coryphene, as represented in the wood cut. They are very tolerable eating. 
 
 Flying Fish (Exocetus Volitans), propel themselves with great force out of the water, leaping through a curve, which they describe 
 in their rise and fall. They only skim as it were, and do not fly; though it is very difficult to persuade one's-self of this. They 
 feed upon mollusks and other smaller fish. Their own flesh is very fail- eating. Flying fish are attracted by light ; and thus are 
 sometimes caught in the fore-chains of a ship. 
 
 The Tropic Bird, or Phaeton, (so called, because from their habit of being confined to tie tropics they were supposed to be attached 
 to the chariot of tlie sun), flies hundreds of leagues out to sea ; and yet, fliough apparently trembling and worn out, it will " drop 
 down from a considerable height, abandoning itself to its weight, and seize the fish without diving." In pursuing the flying fish, 
 however, upon which they chiefly prey, tropic birds shave the surface of the water. Having webbed feet it is supposed that they 
 can repose on the ocean when far from land. They make their nests in the holes of precipitous rocks and in hollows of trees ; and 
 the young "yet in the nest gathered up in a ball, and covered with a down of the most brilliant white, have a resemblance to powder 
 puffs. * * Of the long tail feathers (sometimes 24 inches), the Otahetians make plumes for their warriors." The tropic bird, on 
 seeing a ship from the distance, wUl come and hover over it to reconnoitre. It is said that they are attracted, too, by the waving 
 of glaring colours, — as of a red handkerchief at the mast head. 
 
 THE PILOT FISH. THE SUCKING FISH. 
 
 The Pilot Fish (Naucrates DuctorJ, — the sacred Pompilius of antiquity, and companion to modem sharks, — is a mackerel; and a 
 very excellent eating one too. It has been known to attend ships during their course at sea "for weeks and even months together." 
 The association of the pilot fish with the shark has been variously interpreted ; but the more common belief is that it guides the 
 shark in that monster's choice of food, — leading it where the morsels are good and " worthy of its steel," and turning it from those 
 which have a hook in them. Even sharks, however, sometimes despise warnings, and get caught. 
 
 The Sucking Fish (Eeheneis Pernor aj, is remarkable for the flattened, oval, adJbesive, vacuum-forming disc, on the top of its head, 
 by means of which it can attach itself to the bottoms of vessels, or to other fish ; but whether for protection or conveyance, or both, 
 is not known. Mr. Gosse thinks it may acquire a leverage in this way, whilst detaching its parasitical prey from the sides of the ship. 
 
MARTIN VAS, AND TRINIDAD. 
 
 THE SOUTHERN CROSS.* 
 
 The next excitement offered to the outward- 
 bound, after getting the S.E. trade, consists in 
 a transient view of some hazy looking objects 
 in the "far west," which turn out to be the 
 barren rocks of Martin Vas. They are three in 
 number, but a few miles apart from each other, 
 and the central and largest is situated in 
 20° 27' 40" S. Lat., and in 28° 52' 38" W. Long. 
 Trinidad (not the West India island), another 
 barren rock bearing S.W., is about 26 miles 
 distant from the rocks of Martin Vas. 
 
 The history of these islands is simple enough. 
 In April, 1700, Captain Halley (afterwards 
 Astronomer Royal), landed on Trinidad; took 
 possession in the King's name ; and left the 
 Union Jack flying. In 1781 it was visited by 
 English speculators to ascertain if a settlement 
 was practicable. Their report was unfavourable. 
 Various roots, planted by Capt. Johnstone on 
 the different heights, perished for want of water. 
 
 Indeed Trinidad is, " at best, no more than a cluster of rocks, with some shrubs in the valleys." On 
 the West side there " stands a stupendous arch or hole in the rock, like that of Fernando Noronha, 
 and two very remarkable rocks, one called the Monument and the other the Sugar Loaf. * * The 
 arch is a natural passage, made by the sea, through a bluff about 800 feet high ; it is 40 feet in 
 breadth, nearly 50 feet in height, and 420 feet in length ; the depth of water about three fathoms. 
 When the sea is moderate, you may see through the arch into the only bay in the island, and have 
 a view of a distant rock covered with trees, which renders the prospect extremely picturesque." If 
 ships are very hard pressed for water, they may get it at Trinidad ; but " the whole is so iron-bound 
 a shore, and such a swell surging against it, that it is almost impossible to land a boat without 
 danger of staving it." 
 
 The Portuguese seem to have tried to make something of Trinidad ; but they, too, like the English, 
 subsequently abandoned it. Nothing appears to flourish there, save wild hogs, cats, and goats. 
 There is, however, one redeeming point about Trinidad ; it is an " excellent place to recruit the crew 
 of a ship suffering from scurvy, as there is abundance of fine purslain and several other kinds of greens 
 on the S.E. part of the island ; with plenty of sweet water." 
 
 * It consists of four bright stars, the three lower of which are immersed in the milky way. The upper and lower are the 
 pointers to the South Pole. 
 
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TRISTAN DA CUNHA. 
 
 AN ICEBERG. 
 
 This Island (one of a triangular group) 
 situated in 37° 2' 48" S.L., and 12° 18' 39" 
 W.L., is sometimes visited by " outward- 
 bound" Indiamen (of which it has been 
 termed the St. Helena, inaptly so, how- 
 ever, as the weather is too squally and 
 uncertain), to take in water; which is 
 exceedingly good, and abundant enough 
 to satisfy a fleet. The approach may 
 generally be known by the sea weed, 
 Fucus CHganteus (sea serpent ) ? which often floats far out to sea. This volcanic island is nine miles 
 only in diameter ; with a peak resembling somewhat that at Teneriffe, 8,326 feet high. Wild hogs 
 and goats abound in the interior ; and sword fish, sea lions, whales, seals, albatrosses, penguins, gan- 
 nets, cape cocks and hens, &c., frequent the coast. 
 
 Americans appear to have first settled here ; and, in 1811, one Jonathan Lambert declared himself 
 sovereign proprietor. They cleared about 500 acres ; sowed several kinds of seeds ; and prepared 
 seal skins and oil for vessels that might touch at the island. It was eventually abandoned by them ; 
 and possession formally taken, in the name of the British, in 1817. It was, however, again evacuated. 
 Finally, in 1824, one Glass, an artillery corporal, who had been previously quartered here, occupied 
 the island with his own family and a few others ; he himself being constituted chief. Emigrants 
 from the Cape, and stragglers from the South Sea whalers, have so added to the little colony, that it 
 now musters, after a growth of about 30 years, upwards of 100 souls, — consisting of whites, and a 
 mixed race between the white and the Hottentot. The commodities ofiered by the colonists are fish, 
 an abimdance of every kind of English farm production, with, may be, a Cape sheep or bidlock, in 
 return for tea, sugar, cofiee, wine, spirits (Americans give them bread), needles and thread, tape, &c. 
 They prefer this system of barter to taking money ; and their apparent simplicity and contentment 
 forcibly remind one of the people of Pitcaim Island. They are all Church of England Protestants ; 
 and have, for years, evinced a desire for a schoolmaster to settle amongst them. In 1849 the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel sent them a clergyman, to be paid out of funds provided by a 
 benevolent, but anonymous, individual who had touched at the island. Prior to this, old Glass, a 
 patriarch with seven sons and eight daughters, had been minister as well as chief. When I visited 
 Tristan Da Cunha, in 1844, in the Sophia (an old tub which has since foundered with every soul on 
 board), the inhabitants were very anxious for a medical opinion on certain cases which they feared 
 were scrofulous. Their fears were too true ; malignant disease was amongst them ; and poor Glass 
 has since, himself, become a victim to cancer of the lip. Tristan Da Cunha, however, is said to have 
 a very healthy climate. 
 
 Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands complete the triangle. Both are volcanic ; and uninhabited. 
 The former is famous from the Blenden Hall having been totally wrecked upon it in 1821. The 
 captain wished to make the island to correct his reckoning ; a fog came on ; and the first intimation 
 he received (after the sea weed), of having succeeded in his wish, was when he saw the island 
 towering above the ship's head ! Some ten persons were lost ; and the remainder, after living for 
 eight months on penguin's eggs, were transported, first to Tristan Da Cunha, and eventually to 
 Bombay. 
 
 THE SPERM WHALE. 
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10 
 
 Note.— The Cachalot, or Sperm Whale, with a head sometimes half the length of the entire body, and often exceeding it in bulk,— 
 the most powerful animal in the ocean, — is chased for the spermaceti which, mixed with oil, is found in a series of cells arranged 
 within the skull. Ambergris, too, — valued by some for its scent, — is found ia the intestines, where it exists as a product of diseased 
 action, in connection, it is supposed, with indigestible food. 
 
 This group of islands was known to the early Portuguese navigators, who named it. It was known to the Dutch in 1643 ; and 
 to the French in 1767. The exemplary young clergyman — the Rev. W. F. Taylor — provided by the munificence of the 
 anonymous individual referred to, left the island about two years, or more, ago, together with a majority of the inhabitants, who 
 migrated, with him, to the Cape. This information has been kindly placed at my disposal by the Eev. Ernest Hawkins, Secretary 
 to the Society. It was not considered advisable to continue a missionary in an island unsuited for general colonization. However, 
 there it is, with some inhabitants upon it stUl; and a very useful "oasis" it proves sometimes to the "outward bounder." 
 
 THE MAURITIUS. 
 
 This island, tte scene of St. Pierre's delightful tale of Paul and Virginia, and of a French 
 governor's unrequited energy and vigour, of an irregular oval shape, about 200 miles N.E. of 
 Bourbon, and 500 E. of Madagascar, is situated between 19° 58' and 20° 32' S.L., and 57° 17' and 
 57° 46' E.L. ; and within the influence of the S.E. trade. It is some 36 miles long, its breadth vary- 
 ing from 18 to 27 miles, and has an area estimated at nearly 500,000 acres. The coast is surrounded 
 by reefs of coral (said to be 80 fathoms wide, and 10 feet above the level of the sea), through the few 
 openings between which vessels can approach the shore ; and, at these points, the military defences 
 have been established. Port Louis, situated on the N.W. side of the island, at the bottom of a 
 triangular bay, with a narrow and difficult entrance (twenty strokes will puU a small boat across), 
 occupies the greater part of an extensive valley, surmounted by lofty basaltic hills, — ^the chief of 
 which are the Pouce and the Pieter Botte. It is the capital, — and the seat of government ; which 
 is vested in a governor and a colonial legislative councU. The port, though a good one at other 
 times, is not safe in January, February, and March, — called, par excellence, the hurricane months. 
 Port Louis has little to boast of; with its low wooden houses (waxed and polished as in Paris) ; and 
 filthy suburbs. And yet, in spite of defective drainage, uncleanHness, bad ventilation, and a high 
 temperature, the town is pretty free from sickness, — a fact which, it is alleged, speaks well for the 
 general salubrity of the air. Nam verrons. Absurdly stringent quarantine laws, often the cause of 
 great misery to immigrant coolies from India, are enforced to keep out disease ; wheras the self-pro- 
 duced seeds of a pestilence are already in the town, and only await, as in plague, the focussing of 
 the necessary elements to take vigorous root, and decimate the population. 
 
 The sword of Damocles hangs over Port Louis. 
 
 The charms of the Mauritius are to be found in the interior ; where " the land forms three chains 
 of mountains, from 1,800 to 2,000 feet high, intersecting the country in diiferent directions, except 
 towards the summit," where rugged peaks rise abruptly, like the sharp pointed steeples of modem 
 English churches. These mountains are, in many parts, cleft into deep ravines, through which 
 numerous rivulets find their way to the low grounds, and terminate in about twenty small rivers, by 
 which the whole line of coast is well watered, and which might be indented upon to facilitate the 
 drainage of the town. There are several small lakes in the centre of the island. Many of the 
 ravines are the very " perfection of romantic retreats," disclosing " the most picturesque scenery, 
 where the forest, the water-fall, the cane-covered slope, and the craggy mist-shrouded mountain, 
 mingle in happiest combination." Most of the higher public functionaries and the merchants live 
 in delightful country residences, and drive into town in the morning. The mean temperature of the 
 highest lands is about 70°, and this is 7° or 8° lower than at Port Louis. The climate, which varies 
 with the side of the island, is, without being bracing, very pleasant and healthy ; and has, moreover, 
 this " grand advantage * * that when the weather is hottest in India it is coolest" in tJie Mauritius. 
 Formerly, prior to the new furlough regulations, and the rapid communication efiected by steam 
 (advantages which, now-a-days, induce sick officers to go to England at once, instead of elsewhere, 
 for health), a six months' leave to the Mauritius was considered a very desirable change, — involving 
 about two months of sea air, and four of a cool climate. Many, however, may still go there. Those, 
 who do, should take their own servants (they are best who think least about caste), their own camp 
 equipage, and four months' supplies ; and engage a small house in the environs of Port Louis ; or 
 board and lodging may be obtained with a family in the interior. The island being dependent on 
 
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 India, Bourbon, and the Cape for provisions, everj^thing is enormously expensive. The soil is 
 exceedingly rich, and mixed occasionally with iron ore (a chalybeate exists), and the dihris of 
 volcanic rock. On the equalization of the sugar duties, in 1825, an immense impetus was given to 
 the cultivation of this luxury, to the almost total exclusion of coffee, cotton, and indigo, which had 
 formerly been cultivated in considerable quantities. Sugar is now the chief article of export, and 
 nine-tenths of it comes to England. Ebony and tortoise shell are the next principal exports. 
 
 The population, estimated at some 200,000, consists of whites, Creoles, emancipated slaves, and 
 coolies from India. The common language is a Patois, in which French prevails ; indeed there is 
 a leaning to that tongue in the island, in preference to any other. The creole society is of a buoyant 
 mercurial material, which pinches itself nine months in the year to indulge in finery and gaiety the 
 other three. There is, nevertheless, a strong tendency to cultivate the arts and sciences ; and some 
 of the internal regulations (not the sanitary ones), are worthy of imitation. The French always 
 retain their habits wherever they are ; but the Mauritius is not a modem Capua ; liberty has had its 
 chastening influence. 
 
 The Mauritius was discovered by the Portuguese in 1505 ; seized by the Dutch (who called it after 
 Prince Maurice), in 1598 ; gradually colonized by occasional French settlers from 1657 to 1721 ; and 
 finally ceded to the British in 1815. 
 
 Note. — Pouce and Pieter Sotte. Both of these hilla are perfectly bare, and very accessible ; except the head of Fieter Botte. The 
 view from the top of Pouce, embracing both the windward and lee sides of the island, extending to the sea on either side, is 
 exceedingly picturesque ; its beauty being much enhanced by the transparency of the atmosphere. 
 
 See "McCosh's Advice to Officers in India;" " McOtelloch' s Geographical Dictionary ;" " Mouatfs Sough Notes," SjC. 
 
 CEYLON. 
 
 To attempt to give a sufiiciently worthy description of so interesting an island as Ceylon, — the 
 Lanka of the Hindoos, and head quarters of Buddhism, — in a work which deals only with outlines, 
 would be impossible. Whilst referring the reader, therefore, to the many elaborate publications which 
 treat of this " terrestrial paradise," it may merely be remarked here that all the beautiful scenery is 
 confined to the interior ; that Point de Galle, the halting place for all the steamers, lies at the south 
 extremity of the island (which, 270 miles long by 150 broad, is itself like a pear cut in two down 
 the middle) ; that it is at all times a hot, steamy, and oppressive place, with frequent deluges of rain, 
 and must not be stopped at by invalids ; that Colombo, 80 miles off, the seat of government (which 
 is vested in a governor and council, with a supreme court of final appeal), is very little better ; that 
 at Eandy, the old kingdom of Ceylon, 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, there is a cantonment for 
 European troops ; that Newr Ellia, 6,200 feet high, has a convalescent depot (with a thermometer 
 averaging from 35° to 75°), where a short residence in fine weather is much prized by the residents, 
 but little appreciated by Europeans from India ; that a stage coach, ninning on alternate days, 
 communicates between the three places ; that wild elephants, though small, abound, and seem to 
 supersede the royal tiger, of which there are none ; that rice, cinnamon (which has no smell, save in 
 the bark, and the plantations of which are not attractive), coffee, and cocoa nut palms are the chief 
 vegetable products of Ceylon ; that various ores (of which plumbago is the principal), and all precious 
 stones, except diamonds, are met with ; that there are numerous rivers, but few navigable many 
 miles from the mouth ; that there is a valuable fishery of the pearl oyster on the N.W. coast ; that 
 the population, estimated at 1,130,000, is composed of Cingalese, Malabar Indians, Veddahs (wild 
 aborigines confined to the mountains)', and Christians ; that Ceylon has been now a Portuguese, then 
 a Dutch, and eventually, since 1815, an English colony ; that the interior is divided into low country, 
 hills, and mountains, from which last Adam's peak rises up 6,300 feet high, and where pilgrims go 
 to see the supposed impress of Buddha's foot ; that the geology displays a primitive formation of rock ; 
 that the Gulf of Manaar, studded with the sand banks so dangeroxis to navigation, and called Adam's 
 bridge, separates, — with Palk's Straits, — Ceylon from India; and, lastly, that, though British 
 enterprize has done much for this colony, its resources are stiU far from being thoroughly developed ; 
 and that, it is hoped, every branch of industry will receive an additional stimulus when the proposed 
 electric telegraph shall have connected the island with Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta. 
 
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12 
 
 Notes.— CS)«oa nut trees. These trees, which are often 60 feet high, are grown in topes,— in the proportion of 80 trees to an 
 acre,— of sometimes 300 acres in extent. Each tree wUl yield from 25 to 50 nuts (the former if under native, and the latter if under 
 European cultivation),— gathered in alternate months,— a year; and it will bear for 80 or 90 years. As many as 200 nuts have 
 been gathered at one time from a prolific palm. The cocoa nut is calculated to yield a full crop in 10 years. It will flourish 
 without any renoration of soU ; dependent only on accidental and occasional manure. It has its enemies, however,— as the squirrel, 
 which loves to nibble off the tender bud of the flower,— the cooroominya, or cocoa nut beetle,— and a peculiar worm,— to say nothing 
 of monkeys, elephants, wUd hogs, jackals, white ants, and porcupines. The account to which the Cingalese villager turns this 
 invaluable tree is astonishing. He makes his hut and bullock staU of the wood, and thatches the roof with the leaves. His bolts 
 and bars are made with slips from the bark, with which he also suspends his shelf. He plaits its green loaves together, and calls 
 them dishes. He makes his fishing net of the fibre, and his canoe of the stem. If he is thirsty he drinks the milk from the nut; or 
 appeases his hunger with the cocoa nut jaggery,— a kind of coarse sugar resembling inspissated treacle. A bunch of cocoa nut 
 blossoms is hung over the couch of his new-bom infant (which swings in a net of coir-string made from the husk of the fruit) ; and 
 the same blossoms are suspended, to keep off evil spirits, over the graves of the dead. 
 
 The dried fruit, or coppereh, yields the well known oil (which promises to vie with cod's liver oil), and the refuse dry cake, or 
 poonac, is an excellent food for poultry and cattle ; and a good manure for the palm trees themselves. The manufacture of arrack 
 is in the hands of the natives, who pay £60,000 annually, or Jth of the revenue, for the monopoly. 
 
 See " Capper's Pictures from the East" &c. 
 
 CALCUTTA, MADRAS, AND BOMBAY. 
 
 The three presidency towns of India are too well known to require any lengthened description 
 here ; and, if not, they soon will be, within a week of his landing, by the passenger, for whose especial 
 use this work is intended. Whilst Madras and Bombay have each their governor and council, with 
 a supreme court, a commander-in-chief, and a bishop, whose functions are limited to their respective 
 and comparatively small presidencies, Calcutta boasts of an omnipotent Governor-General, who, with 
 the aid of the same machinery, controuls them all, and over-rules a quarter of the habitable globe ; 
 of a metropolitan whose diocese is 3,000 miles long (!) ; and of palatial residences, which have earned 
 for it the name of the very city of palaces itself. Whilst Bombay has its magnificent harbour capable 
 of containing 1,000 sail at once ; and Calcutta its capacious river, which can give safe anchorage to 
 a perfect forest of shipping, but which is, nevertheless, quite unsuited to receive the Leviathan of 
 Mr. Brunei ; Madras can boast only of an open roadstead, with a low and unapproachable shore, 
 which, on account of the heavy surf, can only be reached by musooUah boats and catamarans. 
 Whilst Bombay and Calcutta vie with each other in the variety of their population, — men of all 
 creeds and colours jostKng with each other in every street, and presenting, when turned out for their 
 evening drives, an array of picturesque confusion unparallelled in any city in the world, — whilst the 
 former boasts of its execrable Bummalo and enlightened Parsee, and the latter of its exquisite mango 
 fish and polished Hindoo (who never looks so innocent as when contemplating the most atrocious 
 villaiay), Madras can furnish capital curries and excellent servants, to whom caste, — happy those 
 they serve, — is no great object ; and, above all, an alternating land and sea breeze which go far to 
 raise this " benighted presidency," in a feeling point of view, high above its fellows. All are 
 occasionally visited with terrific gales. Those at Bombay and Madras are generally attendant on 
 the S.W. monsoon ; but Calcutta is more noted for its Nor' Westers ; which, like the S.E. at the 
 Cape, may be called the Doctors of the Town. 
 
 Notes.— ^ammaio, a fish called also Bombay duck. The Europeans in Bombay, from their fondness for this fish, are styled 
 " Ducks." The Bummalo is very good when fresh, but it is often brought to table in a dried state, when the smell from it is far 
 from savory. Such an " argumentum ad nasum," at the close, too, of an excellent meal, I could never understand. In Madras the 
 Europeans are called Mulls, from their love of fiery food, — of Mulligatawny particularly ; and, in Calcutta, they are nicknamed 
 "Qui Hyes," because, instead of using a bell, they call out, or should do, "koee hy," meaning "is anybody there." 
 
 The Catamaran is nothing more than a plank on which a couple of fish-like natives, dressed like Adam after the fall, paddle 
 themselves between the ships and the shore, taking and bringing letters, &c., in their conical mat hats. Years ago, before India 
 was so well known, one of these Catamarans was descried off Madras, rather far out at sea, and the apparition was gravely entered 
 in the ship's log, as one of two black imps having been distinctly seen playing at single stick ! ! 
 
 The MusooUah Mat, which somewhat resembles the half of an egg-shell divided length- wise, consists of planks sewn together 
 with threads made from the cocoa nut fibre. No nails are used in its construction ; a fact which accounts for the elasticity of the 
 boat, as it rides, unharmed, through the surging waters. But, occasionally, even these boats can't live in the surf; and then 
 Catamarans only are used. " Who can stand on the beach at Madras," writes Dr. McCosh, " with the rail on one side and the 
 roadstead on the other, and not see the diflSculties of transporting the enormous traffic that must soon pass between them ? Who 
 can look at the present barbarous mode of transit through the surf and not feel humUated that • » » Britannia does not rule the 
 wave at Madras, but is glad to give up her trident to primitive bare-bottomed natives, and place herself under their command.'" 
 
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 Upon the principle that " as the wave rolls inward, the lowest stratum of water is retarded by friction against the bottom ; • • 
 and the upper one, not so retarded, outstrips the lower stratum, topples over, and breaks into a surf," Dr. McCosh proposes to 
 establish "an artificial floating breakwater" (ho adduces instances of natural ones to prove his point), composed of Indian-rubber 
 or gutta percha filaments, " made to resemble cocoa nut leaves, and equally flotile," to be connected togeUier along the shore, as 
 broad and as long as may be necessary, and kept in their places by a system of cables and buoys. Now that India is so much in 
 the English public mind, it is to be hoped that this suggestion will be considered. — Vide McCosh' s Advice to Officers in India. 
 
 A CHAPTER ON WIND. 
 
 Winds are divided into perennial, or trade winds ; periodical, — as land and sea breezes and mon- 
 soons ; and variable, or erratic, winds. The trades especially illustrate the saying, that the " wind 
 follows the sun." Between the tropics the sun is ever present. The air there is, therefore, being 
 constantly heated ; is in consequence constantly ascending ; and, as constantly, leads to the flow of 
 colder winds from the two poles to supply its place. These are the trades. Beginning from the two 
 extremities of the globe, as due North and due South, they generally become deflected, so as to 
 become N.E. and S.E. Why? Because the earth, towards, and at, the equator, revolves more 
 quickly than at the poles ; consequently the trades lag, hang back, and " drag upon " the surface in the 
 direction opposite to the earth's rotation, viz., from East to West. Thus, from " simple Northerly 
 and Southerly winds, they become permanent North-Easterly and South-Easterly trades. What 
 becomes of the heated equatorial air ? Rising and flowing towards the poles, it carries with it a 
 rotary velocity much greater than that of the surface over which it passes in its northward and 
 southward progress. Hence it will gain more and more on the surface of the earth, and assume more 
 and more a westerly relative direction ; and when, at length, it necessarily returns to the surface in 
 its circulation, which it must do, more or less, in all its course, it wiU act on it by its friction as a 
 powerful S.W. wind in the northern hemisphere, and a N.W. wind in the southern, and thus restore 
 the equilibrium. This is the origin of the S.W. and westerly gales so prevalent in our latitudes, and 
 of the almost universal westerly winds in the North Atlantic." 
 
 The trade winds are liable to great variation. They will even "haul" towards a point contrary to 
 their normal direction, — influenced, in such instances, very much by season, proximity to land, and 
 other causes. 
 
 The equatorial limits of the trades will, obviously, vary with the time of year. " The N.E. prevails 
 at a mean between 8° and 28° N.L. The limits of the S.E. are, at a mean, the parallels of 3° N. 
 and 28° S." 
 
 Between the point where the trade winds cease and the "variables" begin, there is a space 
 remarkable for its "changes of wind," accompanied by "sudden gusts and calms, rain, thunder 
 and lightning." All of us are famiKar with the doldrums, — or the intra- tropical zone between 
 the trades. 
 
 A periodical wind, or "land" and "sea" breezes, which alternate with each other in the 24 hours, 
 is thus produced. During the day, the parched land is infinitely hotter than the adjoining ocean. 
 Heated air rises, therefore, from it ; and the cooler sea breeze flows into its place. At night the 
 earth cools by radiation, whilst the sea retains most of its heat. Hotter air then rises from the 
 latter, and the land breeze blows over the waters. 
 
 Monsoons. This is a term derived from the Malay Moussin, signifying a season. " From November 
 to March a N.E. wind reigns north of the equator, making its appearance sooner in the Arabian than 
 in the Bengal Sea ; while at the same time a N.W. wind blows south of it. * * From the middle of 
 April to the end of September * * a S.W. wind blows north, and a S.E. south of the line." From 
 the " middle of March to the middle of April, and from the middle of September to the middle of 
 October," there is a lull, in which " the changes of the monsoons are efiected, * * and calms and 
 light breezes, alternating with gales, hurricanes, and thunder storms. It is a remarkable fact, that 
 as soon as one monsoon ceases, though a month elapses before the succeeding one appears, the clouds 
 at once take the direction of the approaching monsoon, and herald its coming to the regions below. 
 
 * The monsoons (though produced on the same principle as trade winds), are much stronger, and 
 often amount to gales." 
 
 * 
 
14 
 
 A gale is a somewhat compreliensive term, applicable alike to a fresh trade as to a prolonged 
 squall, or a strong ordinary wind. But hurricane implies an atmospheric meteor of a very different 
 nature. Thanks to the labours of a Redfield and a Reid in the western, and of a Piddington and a 
 Thom in the eastern hemispheres, hurricanes are now known to have a definite, and, to some extent, 
 an avoidable course. The "Law of Storms" has supplied the sailor with a guide, by the assistance of 
 which he may now encounter, with comparative indifference, the most tempestuous hurricanes, and 
 the deadliest tornadoes. Many sailors, unhappily for themselves, will not beKeve in the law, and so 
 lose, or seriously injure, their ships. The old-school mariner, when overtaken by a tempest, bares his 
 poles and scuds before the blast. Round and round he goes, until at length his damaged vessel, 
 either luckily gets edged out of the circle, and so escapes, or wheels helplessly to the centre of it, and 
 there foimders, — a sinking victim to incredulity and folly. 
 
 We are all familiar, even in England, with the little circular currents and eddies, — miniature 
 whirlwinds, — ^which, suddenly encountered on tumiug a corner, so seriously disturb the equilibrium 
 of ladies' dresses. The dust storms of India (ably described by Dr. Baddeley), though on a much 
 larger scale, have precisely the same character ; and so have the great hurricanes of the tropics. 
 
 But, whilst the dimensions of the former may be told in yards, those of the latter must be estimated 
 by miles and hundreds of miles. From their spiral formation the term cyclone has been given to these 
 storms, and this is the generic name applied in the present day to all tempests having a rotary 
 character. What used to be thought a straight wind, blowing with hurricane force from one point of 
 the compass to another, is now known to be a revolving circular wind, — a wind having not only a 
 revolution on its own axis, but moving in a huge curve, and destined either, if uninterrupted, to 
 continue its course round the world ; or, where resisted by elevations of land, to degenerate into a 
 snow storm, or become disorganized into " variable," or erratic winds. Sir J. HerscheU attributes 
 their origin to a casual intersection of two or more of those atmospheric undulations, or barome- 
 tric waves, which, like the waters of the earth, have their " ebb and flow," as it were, in the heavens. 
 Two or more of these, he thinks, coming together from different directions, may, "from their 
 opposing forces, cause the phenomena of hurricanes and rotary storms." With a diameter ranging 
 from 40 even to 1,000 miles, they travel at a rate varying from that of ordinary walking to the speed 
 of an express train ! Moving in a known direction, depending on the side of the equator, it is a 
 great object with the navigator to avoid "the centre of rotation, where the greatest danger is to 
 be apprehended." The centre of the storm has, however, not always the same character. Sometimes 
 a perfect calm prevails ; and that, too, of considerable extent. More commonly, however, as the 
 strength of wind concentrates towards this point, " sudden shifts take place, heavy and confused seas 
 break," and a ship is very liable to be taken aback. Where a ship has been overtaken by a hurricane, 
 and nobody knows how it is travelling, one of two things must be done, viz., heave-to or run. Both, 
 under such circumstances, are desperate measures. Under the first alternative, the storm is defied, 
 and the chance taken of being blown directly into the middle of it. Under the second, with an equal 
 chance of gyrating into the centre, the ship may be blown round and round, lose her masts, and 
 eventually founder ; or, more happily, be driven out of the vortex altogether. It is impossible to 
 over-estimate the value of indications of the barometer in the hurricane latitudes ; for, often, nothing 
 else gives any sign. 
 
 The day has been fine ; light airs only have disturbed the glassy surface of the deep. It is sun- 
 set ; and half the Indiaman's world is on deck. Passengers are distributed into groups, discussing, — 
 here the fragrant weed, — there tea, — everywhere each other. Middies, at the lee gangway, listen to 
 the nautical old doctor's yams, or spin their own. Fiddling and dancing for'ard proclaim the 
 innocent merriment of Jack. The officer of the watch whistles for a wind. The majestic ship, with 
 every stitch of canvas set, absolutely rolls for want of some, however little, to steady her. Is there 
 none coming ? Mark the captain; see him leave and return to the deck; observe how he peers into 
 every quarter of the heavens ; and be sure that there is. His barometer has fallen considerably. True, 
 the sky is clear ; but the latitude is a hurricane one, and caution is requisite. Forth goes the order, 
 penetrating to the depths of the ship, " watch, shorten sail." Everybody is roused. Passengers 
 wonder, whilst the sailors work. The smaller sails are taken in; an hoxir passes; but still the 
 heavens make no sign. Another hour ; the barometer descends yet lower ; and now the eastern 
 horizon has assumed a dark cinereous hue. " All hands, shorten sail," sounds through the ship, and 
 fifty gallant seamen turn out to " make snug" for the coming tempest. Amid the squaring of yards, 
 

15 
 
 reefing of topsails, closing of ports, &c. &c., the captain calculates its course. The wind rises, fitful 
 and gusty at first; but soon blows a steady gale. The sky becomes more overcast. The crisis 
 approaches. Eight bells have hardly tolled the midnight hour, when a sound, as of a "rushing 
 mighty wind," drowns that of every human voice in the ship. The crisis has arrived. The huge 
 vessel groans imder close reefed fore and main topsails, like a "gigantic skeleton in its agony;" 
 "top- gallant masts quiver like reeds;" and shrouds give forth their music as of "^olian harps 
 played upon by a tempest." " Let go the topsail haul-yards," roars the ofiicer of the watch, — " down 
 with the helm," — " let her come up," — " hard down," — " aye, aye. Sir ; down it is," — and 
 bravely is the storm defied by the well-built Indiaman and her skilful chief. The crisis has passed. 
 During the " heeling over," some have, perhaps, been roUed out of bed ; badly secured property has 
 
 gone crashing about the cabins ; and a general alarm has manifested itself imder many a night cap. 
 ut the ship is safe; and a strong sail blown into shreds is the only evidence left of the strength and 
 fury of the storm. Morning dawns, and the wind abates. Again the sails are set; " lay aloft," — 
 "trice up," — "lay out," — "cast ofi" your points," — "call the fiddler," — "sheet home," and away 
 we go, with a steady breeze, into fine weather again. 
 
 The " Marlborough," homeward-bound, encountered a terrific squall, from the N.W. on the night 
 of the 6th April, 1847, about 800 miles S. of the Mauritius. Two mornings afterwards, in latitude 
 30° 22' S.L., and 37° 55' E.L., we fell in with an unfortunate brig, the " lone," which, on the night 
 in question, had been dismasted ; and was then under jury masts, as represented in the sketch. The 
 Dutch ship "Nassau" was helping her with ropes and spars to get into the Cape with; so the 
 " Marlborough," after sending an ofiicer on board the brig to ofier assistance, not being required to 
 stay by her, too, filled her sails and proceeded on her voyage. The "lone" got safe to port ; and 
 was eventually turned into a schooner. [See " Captain Methven's account of tlie Bknlieim's Hurricane," 
 and " Purdy's Sailing Directory," &c.] 
 
 Note. — As eddies and whirlpools are formed by the meeting of two currents 
 at an oblique angle, so are whirlwinds produced by the meeting of two opposite 
 winds, which, struggling for mastery, usually form into a double hollow cone. 
 In passing over seas, rivers, or lakes, the water rises in the lower cone, and 
 meeting the clouds brought down by the upper, constitutes a water spout. 
 
 
16 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 The southern promontory of Africa, a peninsula from 30 to 40 miles in length, composed of a vast 
 mass of mountainous and rocky land (chiefly granite, gneiss, clay, slate, and green stone, — with some 
 sandstone), separated into two portions, and from the main, hy a narrow isthmus of low sandy plains 
 (10 miles long), has been generally designated as the Cape of Good Hope. The actual Cape, however, 
 is at the southern-most extremity, — where a precipitous cliff, with a peak, rises 1,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea. A mile eastward of this, and about a cable's length from the shore, is the Diaz 
 Rock. It is the land in this neighbourhood which is seen in the moonlight view "off the Cape." 
 The "Alfred" (Captain W. H. Pope), is there represented as bound by a westerly gale, and unable 
 to get round. May 17, 1857. 
 
 Cape Town,* in Table Bay, so familiar to all Indiamen, lies at the north end of the promontory, on 
 the western side ; whilst Simon's Town, in False Bay (a harbour of refuge when Talk Bay is unsafe), 
 is situated on the eastern. There is easy land communication across the peninsula between the two. 
 Cape Town, the capital of the colony, is surmounted by a series of heights, which have been oddly 
 *named the "Devil's Berg,"f " Table Mountain" (so celebrated for its Table Cloth),X and the "Lion's 
 Rump." From the peak of the Berg to the Rump of the Lion is an amphitheatre of 5 or 6 miles 
 in diameter. 
 
 The streets are straight and spacious ; and the stone-built houses, — generally two-storied and flat 
 roofed (on account of the violent winds), — have large, lofty, and airy rooms, with naked joists for 
 ceiling (as in some Indian houses), and varnished floors. The absence (in most cases) of chimneys 
 gives a very un-English look to the town ; which is hot and dusty in summer, and always disagree- 
 able. There are few gardens ; but some houses boast of a terraced walk in front, shaded with firs ; 
 and here the family! lounges in the evening, or during the heat of the day. Hemmed in by 
 momitain, sea, and a wide expanse of dreary sands, the neighbourhood of Cape Town boasts neither 
 of pleasant walks nor fine scenery ; nor of a fruitful and profitable country. Very pleasant excursions 
 may be made into the interior; that to Constantia,|| a distance of seven miles, has been one of the 
 most popular. A carriage and pair cost 15s., and a spring cart, or saddle horse, 7s. 6d. a day. Cabs 
 may be hired off the stand in the town at 2s. 6d. an hour. The Cape, though a valuable sanitarium 
 
 • The town is badly drained ; but the evil effects of this arc overcome by the " doctor," or " Cape scavenger," names given to the 
 south east wind, which blows for eight months in the year. Invalids should live away from Cape Town, and move about. 
 Furnished houses and boarding houses abound in Rondebush and Wynherg, — the former four and the latter eight miles from Cape 
 Town ; and " omnibuses run in and out every hour of the day, — charging a shilling the trip. Wynherg is the principal residence of 
 visitors from India, * * and may be called the Auburn of the Cape. * * The most picturesque walks wind in every direction 
 over flowery flats, through densest forests, on upland heaths, even to the summit of Table Mountain." But, though the flora is 
 gorgeous, the trees generally are stunted. Green Point, with its glaring heat, and (in summer) dangerous surf, about three miles 
 from Cape Town, — Camp's Bay, two miles from Green Point, equally hot, but having a nice " sandy bay fit for bathing," — and Xalk 
 Bay, the principal watering place at the Cape ; with Stillenbosch, the Parle, and the "hot and chalybeate springs of Caledon," — not 
 to omit a shooting excursion, if strong enough, to Cape L'Agullas, or towards the Orange River, — may be mentioned as adjuncts to 
 the South African sanitarium ; which, under the new furlough regulations, will probably now, with all its flowery attractions, be 
 much less frequented than it has been. 
 
 t This is the first land, reckoning from left to right, in the sketch. The centre is Table Mountain, which, composed chiefly of 
 a white granular quartz, has a capping, 1,500 feet thick, of many-coloured sandstone. A species of saurian is the only fossil yet 
 discovered. Whilst the general range of elevation of the mountains is from 1,000 to 4,000 feet, there are some in the interior as 
 high as 7,000 ; and occasionally capped with snow. 
 
 J This singular phenomenon is caused by the arrest and condensation into white vapour of the S.E. wind upon the summit of the 
 mountain. About an hour or so before noon, fragments of mist float over the surface, and, towards one o'clock, coalesce into the Table 
 Cloth ; which is then said to be completely spread. Soon, the arrested wind makes its escape through sundry gaps, and pours down 
 the mountain with terrific violence and noise, threatening destruction to aU vessels which have not shortened sail in time. About 
 five, p.m., the cloth cleai-s and begins to roll up; by nine, p.m., every vestige of it has disappeared; and "twinkling stars and an 
 ethereal sky" proclaim the peaceful termination of the strife. 
 
 § " The population, though principally Dutch, is much Anglicized ; and English, chiefly, is spoken. The aborigines, the 
 Hottentots, are, in many parts, extinct ; or so crossed with other tribes as to have lost their identity. The Mozambique race 
 (emancipated slaves or their descendants), perform most agricultural and domestic labour; while a large and thriving colony of 
 Malay extraction exercise the mechanical arts. Want of hands and labour is the universal complaint ; wages are very high, and 
 all articles of colonial produce very expensive." Beef and mutton, parenthetically, are only 3Jd. and 4id. a lb. And the three 
 principal kinds of fish, the snook, the hottentot, and the silver fish, are all reasonable and good. 
 
 II The soil here is composed of clay and quartz, so favourable to the retention of moisture from the Cape winter rains, well 
 suited for the growth of the vine (though at Madeira the poor vines never drooped for lack of water) ; about 33 pipes of Constantia, 
 the best of the eight varities of Cape wine, are made annually ; its price is from 24s. to 368. a dozen. Wine (and next to it wheat 
 and wool), are the chief exports from the colony. 90,000 gallons of Cape Madeira are annually brought into the town ; and South 
 African wines, in general, bid fair to have a run in England since the disease of the vines in Madeira. 
 
UJ 
 < 
 
 UJ 
 
 CO 
 
17 
 
 (the eastern part of the colony and the frontier districts are preferable), is hardly suited for dyspeptic 
 or nervous invalids. The climate is essentially mild and variable. No diseases are peculiar to the 
 place, if we except the zinkim, a severe form of influenza. The hottest months are January, February, 
 and March ; and the coldest, June and August. The thermometer averages 89° 6' (in the shade it 
 is sometimes 98°) in March ; and 38° in August. In the sun it will rise as high as 130° and 140° in 
 the summer. Twice as much rain falls as at Greenwich, and half as much as at St. Helena. It is 
 confined chiefly to the winter months ; and the average is 23.05 inches. Changes of wind are very 
 common, in spring and winter. 
 
 The Albatross, the most massive of palmated birds, called, also, Cape sheep, by 
 sailors (Diomeda ExulansJ, sometimes, with outspread wings, measures 14 feet in 
 breadth; and weighs 201bs. It is not a courageous bird, being frequently 
 compelled to abandon its prey, even by gulls. Its voracity is enormous ; and it 
 will, often, swallow a fish, weighing 4 or 61bs. It is a great enemy to flying fish. 
 Vulture like, the albatross, when gorged, is apt to vomit forth a very oifensive oily 
 secretion from its stomach. Its eggs are excellent. 
 
 \\\ 
 
 THE ALBATROSS. 
 
 The Sea Serpent. — The amazing discovery of the stratified structure of the earth, the layers in 
 some instances reaching to a thickness of ten miles, and the disclosure of fossils in each layer 
 (evidently iadicating a pre- Adamite period of life and death), had well-nigh revolutionized the 
 thinking world. Science was shaken to her foundations ; and the Bible put to its severest test. The 
 press thundered forth its incredulity against the former ; and the sceptic found another argument in 
 support of his disbelief in the latter. To reconcile geology and Genesis was the one yearning desire 
 of the "gentle and the good." Then, the champions of "religion and science united" stood forth; 
 and the writings of Chalmers, Hitchcock, and Pye Smith, like oil upon the troubled waters, calmed 
 the unsettled minds of men ; who, now convinced that there was no want of harmony between God's 
 Word and the revelations of the earth, admitted the new science, and prepared to receive its 
 disclosures, even to the most fabulous extent. So, when Captain McQuhae, of H.M.S. "Daedalus," 
 announced that, on the 6th of August, 1849, in 24° 44' South Latitude, and 9° 22' East Longitude 
 (between the Cape and St. Helena), he and his officers had seen the great myth of former voyagers, 
 " moving rapidly along, 10 miles an hour, against a cross sea, and within five points of a stifi' breeze," 
 his statement was received with readiness and respect ; and the public at once concluded that the 
 existence of a veritable sea serpent had been proved. In vain did Professor Owen attempt to explain 
 away the apparition. Science was carrying the credulous so far, that they were unwiUing to be held 
 back, even by its chief. Stop, said the naturalist ; if your serpent is really an animal, he must possess, 
 " by prescriptive right of serpent life, several hundred vertebrae, and he has doubtless had countless 
 father and mother serpent progenitors. Of these many generations the innumerable bones must be 
 studded over the ocean's bed, and can you not of these give me one little item ?" Do this, and I will 
 rightly name your monster, and assign to him his proper place in the animal kingdom. But no, 
 there was notlung to shew ; and so, arguing from the apparent anatomical data, the Professor advanced 
 the ingenious notion that the so-caUed serpent was nothing more than an imhappy seal(!), whose 
 island of ice, floating into warmer latitudes, had melted ; and which was now swimming for its life, — 
 leaving, as seals by their conformation would do, a long trail in the water, that might very readily, by 
 pre-conceiving eyes, be construed into an actual corporeal length. The man of science talked in vain ; 
 and so, failing to exorcise the monster as completely as Faraday had failed to convince the table- 
 turners, he was obliged to lay him " zoologically quiet once again in his ocean depths." The public 
 would have its sea serpent ; and gathered in defence round Captain McQuhae. An able writer in 
 the Westminster Review argued, " who shall say that a tribe of animals is extinct ? Crocodiles, 
 Elephants, and Hyaenas, are fossU and recent. * * Why may not this serpent turn out to be an 
 Enaliosaurian? It is perfectly consistent with the profoundest discoveries of the geologist to imagine 
 
18 
 
 such monsters existing in all their pristine glory." And so, in this unsatisfactory state of hypothesis 
 and discussion, the vexata questio remained for ten years ; at the end of which period, like some 
 "decennial prodigy," the serpent re-appeared. Not that "he had ever fairly vanished from the 
 scene of controversial life ; " but it is only now that he has again " bared his great huge stretching 
 form full to the eager gaze of the nautical." His appearance was announced, early in the year, by 
 Captain Harrington, of the " Castilian," very much in the same locality as that in which Captain 
 McQuhae had seen him. Other observers corroborated this statement ; and so, it seemed as if a point 
 had been gained, in the monster's favourite haunt having been thus clearly indicated. He evidently 
 had a penchant for the waters ranging between Tristan da Cunha, the Cape, and St. Helena. 
 Professor Owen was silent ; and former sceptics, drawing a wrong inference, perhaps, from this fact, 
 wavered in their unbelief But alas for the " pristine glory" of the monster ! His career, this time, 
 was interrupted, not by the pitiless 2^Jtoca of the antiquary, but by the tangible "open sesame" of 
 Captain Frederick Smith, of the "Pekin." Hear him apply his "key to the mystery." "On 
 December the 28th, 1848, being then in latitude 26° S., longitude 6° E., nearly calm, * * I saw, about 
 half a mile on the port beam, a very extraordinary looking thing in the water, of considerable length. 
 With the telescope we could plainly discern a huge head and neck, covered with a long shaggy-looking kind 
 of mane, which it kept If ting at intervals out of the water. This was seen by all hands, and declared to 
 be the great sea serpent. I determined on knowing something about it, and accordingly lowered a 
 boat, in which my chief officer and four men went, taking with them a long small line in case it 
 should be required. I watched them very anxiously * * * the monster all the time ducking its 
 head, and shewing its great length." Eventually it was got on board, and then came the denouement. 
 " It was so completely covered with snaky-looking barnacles, about 18 inches long, that we had it 
 * * some time before it was discovered to be a piece of gigantic sea-weed (!), 20 feet long, and 3 feet 
 in diameter. * * The root end appeared, when in the water, like the head of the animal, and the 
 motion given by the sea caused it to seem alive. In a few days it dried up to a hollow tube ; and, 
 as it had a rather offensive smeU, was thrown overboard." Sic transit gloria serpentis marini ! 
 Captain Smith had cruelly kept his confounding secret for 10 years; for though, indeed, Mr. 
 Herriman, commander of the ship " Brazilian," had previously announced that he, too, had seen ^ 
 sea serpent, which turned out to be " sea- weed going with the current," his statement was not 
 accompanied by those crushing details which tend to establish Captain Smith's positive evidence, not 
 only as the best yet recorded, but as likely to establish a decided identity between the sea serpent 
 and fragments of those " subaqueous forests in the ocean, which emulate, in their gigantic dimensions, 
 the boundless element that enfolds them." For, as Captain Smith very aptly remarks, " Sea-weeds 
 of gigantic growth abound near the islands of the group of Tristan da Cuiiha. From decay, or other 
 causes, these will, from time to time, become detached at the roots ; and, with their living attach- 
 ments, win then, floating horizontally, he carried hy the well-known currents into the very positions where 
 the sea serpent delights in exhibiting itself." Then there is, after all, no such animal, says the reader. 
 Inasmuch as evidence, derived from the sense of touch (and of smell), must carry a weight superior 
 to that of vision (imder the circumstances of the observers and observed moving rapidly away from 
 each other, as in the case of the " Bcedalus"), uncorroborated, too, by the production of any disjecta 
 membra, recent or fossil, probability is opposed to the existence of any such monster. But possibility, 
 arguing for some unknown form of enaliosaurians, admits that " geology offers no impediment to the 
 supposition." Meanwhile the sea- weed carries the day ! Will future generations class the stories of 
 the sea serpent of the 19th century with those of the barnacle geese of our ancestors ? The monster 
 of Norwegian seas is, probably, capable of as satisfactory a solution as that of the South Atlantic ocean. 
 
 Note.— The Observatory at the Cape, about four miles east of Cape Town, is situated in 33° 56' 3" S.L., and 18° 28' 45" E.L. 
 See "M'Cosh's Adoice," &c. ; "Purdy'a Sailing Directory;" "Dr. Martin's Article in the Indian Annals," &c. 
 
19 
 
 ST. 
 
 HELENA. 
 
 The Fetrel fThal<uaidroma PelagicaJ, our light and buoyant, 
 and never-tiring companion off the Cape, — called Mother Carei^t 
 Chicken, in memory, probably, of some true or ideal hag, and 
 PetrU (Petrel is a French corruption from the Italian Peter, 
 referring to the Apostle's walking on the water), — is a little 
 web-footed bird, which has, very unjustly, been looked upon 
 as the sure harbinger of a storm. The truth is, these birds, 
 like every other animal, have their station, which sometimes 
 may be, and often is, swept over by a tempest ; but, they are 
 seen just as frequently in calm weather; and are, in reality, 
 in their small way, — picking up the garbage of ships, — the 
 scavengers of the deep. Though sailors are beginning to take 
 this view of the Petrel, they are very unwilling to kill it! 
 [Vide Notes and Queries, July 17, 1858.] 
 
 THE PETKEL. 
 
 In latitude 15° 15' S., and longitude 5° 46' W., — 10^ miles long by 6J broad, with an area of 
 30,300 acres, and a population of 5,000 souls (nearly half of whom are whites), — its rugged and 
 almost perpendicular cliffs, diversified here and there with deep narrow ravines (at the bottom of the 
 broadest of which stands James Totm* the capital of the colony), — lying within the limit and in the 
 strength of the S.E. trade, — rises the volcanic island of St. Helena, Napoleon's cheerless prison, and 
 the "home- ward bound" Indiaman's welcome and long looked for haven. St. Helena is the first 
 indication we have, ia our homeward voyage, of the approach to England ; for, here, the beggars 
 beg for half-pence ! f 
 
 In its association with one from whom " the whirlwind had stripped the branches, as of a once 
 goodly tree, and whose aspiring head had been blasted by the lightning," the island must ever be 
 a spot full of attractive interest. Expensive though it be, all, who can, shoxild land, and visit Long- 
 tcoodjX and Plantation House ;% ascend Diana's Pea!k ; and linger over the grave|| where, for 19 years, 
 
 • James Town lies on the N.W. or lee side of the island. The roadstead off the town is an admirable refuge for ships ; which, in 
 coming in, "must keep close under the land, by which means their decks are entirely exposed" to Munden's Battery. This, in 
 addition to " eddy winds, calms, and violent gusts, which lay ships almost on their broadsides," constitutes the natural strength of St. 
 Helena. The anchoring ground, extending to IJ miles westward from the shore, gives soundings of from 7 to 35 fathoms, "when 
 it suddenly deepens to 60 fathoms," after which there are no soundings at all. " Although the anchorage is well sheltered and easy 
 of access, the surf is at times (mostly in January and February), so high that no boat can land for several days together. More will 
 be said on this head in the chapter on Ascension. 
 
 In looking towards James Town from the deck of a ship (as in the sketch), we observe a valley between two prominent mountains. 
 That on the left hand, or eastern side, is terminated by Munden Point ; whilst the steep perpendicular hill on the opposite side is 
 called Ladder Sill (about 800 feet high), and on the summit of which stands the Observatory. 
 
 The Alarm House (often erroneously thought to be Zongwood), 1,960 feet high, is seen in the distant back ground amongst the firs. 
 
 The hiJls of dismantled slavers may often be seen anchored in the roadstead. Up to 1800, slavery was rife in the island itself; 
 
 but none were imported after that date ; and in 1832 the E.I. Company began to emancipate them. Each slave — paying an average 
 
 price of £40 — was to work out his own freedom ; and 1837 was to find the emancipation effected. AU children bom after Christmas 
 
 day, 1818, were declared to be free at once. 
 
 t All the coins of the world are current in St. Helena, — finm the Spanish doubloon, and Bengal gold mohur, to an English brass 
 farthing and a Dutch guilder ! Sovereigns, being in such demand for homeward-bound ships, generally command a premium. 
 
 J Utilitarian England, on the Emperor's death, immediately let his abode for farming purposes, to which it is yet devoted. An 
 avenue of gum trees, witb their thick tallowy leaves and umbrella-shaped tops, leads to the spot ; a short distance from which is 
 situated the new house (made of English materials, with broad galleries and lofty rooms), buUt expressly for Napoleon ; but which 
 he never lived to occupy. It is tenanted by a Mr. Moss. 
 
 § The residence of the Governor. From the days of Button, in 1657, to those of General Dallas, who reigned 6 years, St. Helena 
 has been ruled by 43 governors (including the acting ones). The island is said to have been discovered, in 1602, by a Portuguese; 
 but the Dutch first settled on it, about the middle of the 16th century. In 1673 it was taken from them by Captain Munden, and 
 soon afterwards given to the E.I. Company by Charles the 2nd. This now extinct hberal corporation made several efforts to add to 
 the resources of the island. One of tiieir acts was to expend £20,000 in the endeavour to introduce the sUk worm ; but, so indif- 
 ferently did it succeed, that the profit amoimted to no more than £300 upon the whole ! ! 
 
 II The old soldier who, until lately, kept the book of visitors to the spot, declared that the behavioiu- of the French visitors made 
 him a Christian ! The sacred atmosphere which they felt on approaching the grave gave rise to the deepest reverence, and most 
 energetic weeping ; and some of the earth was always carefully packed up and taken away. Though the two willows, beneath the 
 shade of which (surroimded by geraniums, lilies, and roses, and enclosed by an iron railing), the Emperor's grave was made, have 
 long been decaying, yet handsome cypresses have grown up, and enhance tiie gloomy interest of the scene. An excellent spring of 
 water, flowing amidst the bright verdure of the bank, is close at hand ; and here Napoleon loved to retire, and contemplate, down 
 the vista of rocks, — partly screened by the green and waving boughs, — the sea which bound him to his island prison. 
 
20 
 
 reposed the ashes of the self-styled prototype of Themistocles. Under the liheral rule of the E.I. 
 Company, the administration of which was conducted by a goYomor and council, St. Helena was a 
 palmy retreat for its high-salaried servants.* Those halcyon days, however, terminated in 1834, 
 when the island was transferred to the Crown. St. Helena has been termed a second Gibraltar. 
 "Excellent water "f and an insular position (approachable only at a disadvantage in war time), 
 combiae in constituting St. Helena as impregnable as a fortress, as it is useful as an harbour. 
 
 Its supplies, however, must come from without ; as the indigenous^ products are not sufficient, 
 to meet any heavy and contiuued demands. 
 
 Note. — Argemone Mexieana, — a plant which, covered with prickles, abounds in a milky gelatinous juice, which turns in air to 
 a fine yellow, like gamboge, and bears a fig-like fruit, — is the commonest weed in the island, and is often mi:>takcn for a cactus ! 
 It is used, by Spaniards, in ophthalmia. 
 
 ASCENSION. 
 
 DOLPHIN. 
 
 This elliptical volcanic island, 22 miles in circumference, and situated in 7° 55' 22" S.L., and 
 14° 20' W.L., — originally taken possession of for a military station, during the confinement of 
 Napoleon at St. Helena, — was, subsequently, retaiaed as a suitable rendezvous and depot for the 
 "West African squadron ; and, accordingly, garrisoned by a detachment from the Royal Marine Corps. 
 Georgetown, the improving capital of the island, and boasting of an admirable jetty, or pier 
 (terminated by a rock), which forms the landing place, lies on the lee side ; along a portion of which, 
 extending from the S. poiut of S. W. Bay, as far as English Bay, is an excellent anchorage, in from 
 10 to 12 fathoms, sufficient for 300 saU at once. The contiguous rocks and reefs are indicated by 
 buoys. Green Mountain, nearly in the centre of the island, and the highest point of it, rises as 
 a " graceful oasis," out of an entire field, as it were, of lava. From its summit may be seen between 
 30 and 40 craters of extiaguished volcanoes, projecting in awful and desolate grandeur in all 
 directions over the island. All is rugged, cheerless, and barren, save Green Mountain itself, which, — 
 2,818 feet high, — covered with indigenous rock roses, ferns, and mosses, — and having a temperature 
 
 * In former days a governor received £1,800 a year, besides table expences, servants, and horses. The Company consolidated 
 these allowances, eventually, to an annual income of £5,000, which was to include table allowance ; but still, coals, candles, and 
 forage for 16 horses, with a number of gardeners, were provided besides. A Lieut.-Colonel received £700, a Captain £450, a 
 Lieutenant £300, and an Ensign £250, a year. The military establishment at that time (and it is very much the same now), 
 consisted of some 400 Infantry, and 300 Artillery, who were dressed like the royal troops ; besides a small force of Island Militia, 
 dressed in green jackets ; some 1,200 men in all. 
 
 t St. Helena is invaluable to " homeward-boimd" Indiamen, as being always accessible, even in seasons when the Cape is not. 
 Beautiful water is conveyed in leaden pipes down to the shore, whence it is transported in boats to the ships. Some twelve years 
 ago a good deal of sickness prevailed in two or three "homeward-bound" vessels off the island; and it was alleged that this arose 
 from the water with which they had been supplied. The " Times" published a letter on the subject, highly condemnatory of Mr. 
 Solomons, to whom the pipes belonged ; and who, it was urged, had neglected to have them properly cleaned. The Thunderer, how- 
 ever, was declared by a jury to have been misinformed; for, Mr. Solomons recovered £500 damages from the editor in an action 
 for libel ! The libel had been got up, I heard, from party motives, to withdraw ships, from St. Helena, elsewhere. 
 
 J Beef, veal, and pork are exceedingly dear, being often lOd. or Is. a lb. With such an abundance of bullocks on the opposite 
 west coast of Africa, it is remarkable that no buUock transport company has ever been formed, to buy (they may be got for 6d. a 
 piece !), and convey beeves to St. Helena, where the pasture is, on the high lands particularly, excellent and plentiful. A contrary 
 wind, and currents, would act as impedimenta in the outward passage ; but powerful steamers would overcome such difiiculties. 
 The soil is well suited for good gardens. Yams, cabbages, peas, and beans, are generally plentiful ; but the potatoe is the chief 
 agricultural produce. "In favourable seasons 6,000 bushels are sold annually, at Ss. a bushel. * * There are <Ar«c crops annually; 
 but the joint produce of the whole is not eq^ual to one in England I " The grain crops can't be depended upon ; and it is cheaper to 
 import com. 
 
CO 
 UJ 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
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21 
 
 20° cooler than that of the town below, whence an invalid can be transported up in two hours, the 
 distance being only 7 miles, — with a soil consistiug of the rich dSris of various decomposing lavas, — 
 is the site of the principal cultivation in Ascension. The lofty ridge of Green Mountain is, moreover, 
 useful in arresting and condensing the watery vapours that would, otherwise, pass over it. A valuable 
 stream of water is, thence, conducted through iron pipes into the town ; which is, likewise, provided 
 with a further supply from Dampier's Springs, — named after the celebrated navigator, who, when 
 wrecked near Ascension, in 1701, discovered them by watching a flock of goats. Ascension is chiefly 
 remarkable for the rollers, which sometimes sweep away thousands of tons of sand from the beach 
 into deep water ; and for its turtle. The former are thus accounted for : — when the sun is in the 
 northern hemisphere, strong gales are apt to prevail in the South Atlantic, in the neighbourhood of 
 Cape Horn, without the limits of the 8.E. trade. The long heavy swell which follows, rolls towards 
 the N.E. against this mnd, and " meeting with shoal water, and the uneven rocky bottom of the reef" 
 (the first land impediment yet encountered), " breaks high and with violence" over the beach. It is 
 probable that this is the true explanation of the cause of these tremendous rollers. Unluckily for the 
 correctness of the theory which ascribed the rollers of 1846, at St. Helena, to a short suspension of 
 the S.E. trade, and the re-flow of the pent up waters from the equator, the very same phenomenon 
 took place at Ascension six hours after, whereas, according to the theory, it should have done so six 
 hours before its occurrence at St.. Helena. I am indebted for a knowledge of this fact to Captain 
 Smith, of the " Roxburgh Castle ; " and it certainly rather favours the Cape Horn " gale and swell" 
 theory, than the other. The turtle, testudo mydas (called also green turtle from its fat, the colour 
 being probably derived from the green fuci on which the animal feeds), is the staple commodity of 
 Ascension. Between December and Jime (after that it is too cold), and chiefly on moonlight nights, 
 fine full-grown females {young turtle never come, nor any imder-sized), weighing from 6001bs. to 
 SOOlbs. (though their flesh, — resembling young beef, or veal, and capital in pies and steaks^ — often 
 amounts to no more than 1501bs.), may be seen scooping large holes in the sand with their flippers, 
 for the reception of the 70 or 80 eggs, which they lay there, — ^wonderful fecundity(!), — sometimes 
 thrice in a season ! In a few weeks the young break through their shells, and the sand with which 
 their mothers have covered the holes. Lucky for them if the birth occurs at night ; for, then, they 
 can escape readily to sea. But, if in daylight, down pounces the ever watchful Frigate Bird, and 
 commits sad havoc amongst the young brood. Twenty years ago. Government fixed the price of 
 turtle at 50s. each ; from which may be calculated the cost of a basin of real turtle soup in London. 
 Though so near the equator. Ascension is always cool and pleasant, at least to a Bengalee, owing to 
 the S.E. trade. The thermometer averages, in the low lands 83°, — and in the high 70°, — throughout 
 the year. The climate is healthy ; there is no lack of good fresh water ; excellent fish abound ; a 
 variety of vegetable products now flourish ; horses, cows, sheep, &c., are stocked and sold (though at 
 extravagant rates), to ships requiring them ; so that Ascension, — considering, too, its inaccessibility, 
 like St. Helena, except on one side, — may be regarded as a valuable British possession. It will not, 
 obviously, stand much pressure ; and, hence, colonists are not allowed to be too numerous ; nor are 
 supplies, either of water or anything else, granted to merchantmen, except they be in urgent need 
 of them. 
 
 Tlie Booby fSulaJ — thus named on account of its stupidity in 
 suffering other birds, especially the Frigate, to strike its prey out of 
 its mouth — has webbed feet ; and so, from its inability to grasp, is 
 soon entangled amongst the shrouds of a ship (against which it often 
 flies), and readily caught by the sailors, who think it a still greater 
 booby on this account. 
 
 THE BOOBY. 
 
22 
 
 The Frigate (TrachypeUs) , or Man-of-war bird, may be called the palmated 
 falcon of the ocean. " Their wings are so powerful that they fly to immense 
 distances everywhere, but principally between the tropics, pouncing on the flying 
 fish," and compelling the boobies to give up their food. 
 
 THE FRIGATE BIRD. 
 
 The gulf iceed, so constantly encountered by homeward bound ships (which are often a week in 
 sailing through it), occupies a tract* of the North Atlantic Ocean, some 1,200 mUes in length, with 
 a breadth varying from 50 to 150, and comprised between the parallels of 18° and 37° N., and the 
 meridians of 33° and 43° W. This vast space was called the Sargagao, or Sargasso Sea, by the early 
 Portuguese navigators, from the form of the air vesicles (mis-named seed-vessels), of the gulf-weed, 
 which floats in it. This sea is looked upon as a kind of eddy, being situated between two important 
 currents, and as being the recipient of the great Gulf Stream. 
 
 " There is a river in the ocean. In the severest drought it never fails ; and in the mightiest floods 
 it never overflows. Its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm. The 
 Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Seas. It is the Gulf Stream."t 
 Originating from the " superior level of the waters of the Colombian and Mexican Seas, and, like an 
 immense river, wending its course eastward between Cuba and Florida ; northward between Florida 
 and the Bahamas, occupying nearly the whole breadth of the channel ; and, thence, setting nearly 
 parallel to the American coast, in a N.N.E., N.E., and easterly direction, finally diminishing in 
 impetus, and falling southward on the meridians to the west of the Azores, is eventually lost in the 
 Sargosso, or Weedy Sea," above described. Its ordinary length " may be estimated at more than 3,000 
 miles from the Mexican Sea;" but, occasionally overflowing, "its waters have, at times, extended 
 eastward beyond the Azores, and even to the coast of Portugal and Bay of Biscay." Its breadth, 
 in its narrowest part, is " in the Strait of Florida, between the point named Cape Florida on the west, 
 and the groat Bank of Bahama on the east, a distance of 35 or 36 miles ; * * off Cape Hatteras, about 
 700 miles more to the northward, its breadth is computed as generally about 75 miles ; but, it soon 
 afterwards expands to an indefinite extent northward and eastward ; extending, in the meridians of 
 60°, even to 350 miles. This singular stream is accompanied by certain counter-currents and eddies; 
 but, the most remarkable of all is one, which is now supposed to be a sluggish prolongation of the 
 Arctic current, constituting a cold in-shore flow, and running nearly parallel with the warmer Gulf 
 Stream, though in a contrary direction ; both preserving the same relative positions even to the 
 " utmost depths reached by the sounding apparatus, to the points where there seems to be a tendency 
 to a common and low temperature of the deep water of the ocean." Off Cape Hatteras, it is probable 
 that the " cold in-shore wall is cut off, the hot water of the Grulf Stream extending quite into 
 soimdings." The velocity of the GuK Stream is presumed to range from 1| to 3J miles an hour ; 
 
 * The weed does not appear to have varied its position, " in any great degree," during the last 50 years ; and it, probably, has 
 been stationary for ages ; ever since the days of Columbus, " who first noticed it." The Fuem is met with, also, in detached and 
 small bunches, in localities bordering upon, and even distant from, its normal abode, — having been probably drifted by currents 
 and winds. It has been seen as low as 6° N". The theory that the gulf- weed grows on the rocks in the Gulf of Florida, whence it 
 is up-rooted, and then carried into the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream, is not supported by any facts. The probability is, that it grows 
 on fathomless rocks immediately beneath the surface where it is found ; and that fragments, becoming detached, float upwards by 
 the buoyancy of the air vesicles. These, together with many of the stems, are coated with a thin net- work (JlustraJ of a coralline 
 appearance, which effervesces in acids. A section of the berry-like air vesicles presents a beautiful cellular arrangement under the 
 microscope. Groups of little barnacles, whose elegant cirri never seems to tire ; nimble little crabs, with two oar-like claws (figure 
 7, plate 18) (which hurriedly take to the water, — and so are distinguished from ordinary land crabs, — on attempting to catch them 
 with the weed); with pipe fishes (sygnathus) (figure 11, plate 18), and sometimes toad fishes (AnUnnariasJ are, besides various 
 crustaceans, the chief forms of animal life found on the gulf weed. 
 
 + See " Maury's physical Geography of the Sea." 
 
23 
 
 though it has been encountered, as flowing at even a greater speed, by some vessels. The average velo- 
 city, m its greatest strength, exceeds 40 miles a day. Its temperature and density are, by no means, two 
 of the least noticeable facts connected with this ocean-river. Its course may actually be traced by a 
 thermometer, which invariably indicates a greater heat than in the water on either side of it. And 
 the density is thus, in part, accounted for. " In the trade-wind regions, at sea, evaporation is * * in 
 excess of precipitation, * * and these are the regions in which the Gulf Stream enters the Atlantic." 
 The salts, so left behind, enter the Caribbean Sea ; and the Gulf Stream thence carries them into the 
 Baltic and North Sea, where, owing to precipitation being in excess of evaporation, they are deficient. 
 Marvellous economy of the ocean. " God, how manifold are thy works. In wisdom hast thou 
 made them all ! " The dampness of the climate of England is, partly, attributable to the warm and 
 soaking waters of the Gulf Stream ; which, carrying " the temperature of summer, even in the dead 
 of winter, as far north as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, * * has probably much to do with the 
 storms that rage, with such fury, on the left side of the stream." It has been called the " Storm 
 King of the Atlantic." 
 
 Cause of the G-ulf Stream. Whilst very justly ridiculing the idea of the rise and fall of the floods 
 in the Mississippi as having anything to do with it (for, — on one occasion when this river was un- 
 commonly low, — the Gidf Stream happened to be running with unusual velocity!). Captain 
 Livingstone, more reasonably, attributes it to the fact of the trade winds raising the level of the Gulf 
 of Mexico. 
 
 The value of the Gulf Stream is appreciated by every navigator between America and Europe. By 
 taking advantage of, and keeping in, it, when going eastward, the voyage is materially shortened ; 
 by avoiding it, when coming westward, it is " inconceivably facilitated." The following fact will 
 illustrate this. In the summer of 1798, a mail packet, boimd for Charlestown, was 25 days in 
 getting there. The captain accounted for the delay by saying that he had nothing but calms, or very 
 light airs, with a northerly current. He was right. The fact is, that he was " in the middle of the 
 stream, where there are calms or light winds ; the edges, only, which come in contact with colder 
 regions, being tempestuous." "On the return voyage, the captain steered the same course back, and, 
 with the same light airs, performed the voyage in 7 days," — or in one-fourth of the time occupied 
 in going ! 
 
 Note. — The effects of some currents upon ships is very remarkable. In 1822, the " Pheasant" (in her voyage from Sierra Leone 
 to New York, a passage of 9,000 miles), was indebted to their aid for 1,600 geographical miles of the distance ! A "ship becalmed, 
 with her sails furled for 48 hours, was, in that time, carried by Rennell's current 46 miles to the northward;" and vessels are 
 continually set, by the same stream, towards the rocks of Scilly. The easterly current, which flows round Cape Ortegal and the 
 land of Finistcrre would, were it not that "the latter is discernible at a great distance, and has an offing clear of rocks and shallows, 
 besides being situated in a finer climate," lead to the destruction of many a vessel. Bottle experiments are always valuable in the 
 long run, and should be encouraged in every ship. 
 
 Lieutenant Walsh, of the U.S. brig Taney, when employed in the hydrographio department of the TTnited States' Coast Survey, 
 speaking of M«<fer-current3, writes, " it was wonderful, indeed, to see this barrega, or float, move off against wind, and sea, and 
 surface currents, at the rate of over 1 knot an hour, as was generally the case, and on one occasion as much as 1| knots. The men 
 in the boat could not repress exclamations of surprise, for it really appeared as if some monster of the deep had hold of the weight 
 below, and was walking off with it." The surface current, at a depth of 80 fathoms, was moving at the rate of one-third of a knot an 
 hour, and setting "W. The under-current, tested at a depth of 126 fathoms, had a W.S.S. set. Further experiments led to sinuliar 
 results. Currents sometimes produce a long line of breakers in their course ; startling the uninitiated with visions of rocks and a 
 wreck, which are dissipated, only, when the ship has fairly sailed through the advancing waters. 
 
24 
 
 SPARKS OF LIGHT AND GRAINS OF SCIENCE. 
 
 Amongst the countless wonders which, have been revealed to us in the voyage 
 to India, none have, probably, riveted our attention more than the luminosity of 
 the sea. Revolving hurricanes, burstiag water-spouts, towering icebergs, resplen- 
 dent meteors, and new constellations, in the physical, — with showers of flying 
 fish, stately albatrosses, voracious cephalopoda, violet snails, Portuguese men-of- 
 war, and sea serpents (!) in the animal, — world, may each have excited our 
 curiosity and admiration. But, how are our conceptions of mysterious Omnipo- 
 tence raised, when we contemplate the humble, mushroom-like, medusa ! View 
 THE NOCTiLUCA it moviug about by a progressive series of alternate contractions and expansions ; 
 MiLiAKis. destitute of blood vessels, muscles, nerves, or glands ; covered with a blistering 
 
 secretion which feeds the microscopic myriads of the deep ; the " apathetic mur- 
 derer of the strongest and most active races ; " an undulating globe of phosphorescent brightness ; 
 weighing, it may be, several pounds ; and yet, on the draining away of its contained sea water, (and 
 there is nothing else), becoming a lifeless and disorganized cobweb! "Be still, and know that I 
 am God." 
 
 A variety of animals give rise to the luminous appearance of the sea, — a phenomenon which, though 
 the brilliance of it is intensified in tropical climes, is not confined to any ocean ; and is, as every one 
 knows, often to be seen on our own shores. There, it is chiefly produced by the restless little noctiluca 
 miliaris, — a transparent, pulsating, globe, 1-lOOOth of an inch only (!) in diameter, and filled with 
 nimierous branching vessels, which shoot forth the luminous property like " twinkling stars." The 
 salpm (singular creatures whose individuality is restored in every alternate generation, — the inter- 
 mediate races being irrevocably connected together by a "Siamese twin-like" bond of union), are 
 another family, which give rise to ribands, whilst the medusae produce globes, of phosphorescent light. 
 There are many others ; and, " as the night reveals the stars of heaven, so does the darkness * * 
 these living luminaries," which, scattered broad-cast over the waters, and intermingled with the 
 " ocean milky way," " mark the pathway of the stately vessel ploughing up from fathoms deep her 
 radiant furrow," and tell us, in glowing language, of the magnificent " grandeur, and the unimagin- 
 able immensity of the creation of God." 
 
 On the African side of the Atlantic, and especially in the neighbourhood of the Cape Verd 
 Archipelago, a fine reddish dust, producing an impenetrable haze, which, occasionally, amounts to a 
 dangerous fog, is deposited on the spars and rigging of ships. Although this dust invariably prevails 
 with a N.E., E., or S.E., wind, and at seasons when the Harmattan is blowing, it has been concluded 
 that it comes from Africa, near the continent of which it is so systematically deposited ; more 
 particularly, too, as the coarser grains fall first. But, the microscope reveals, in this dust, certain 
 forms of infusorial life, which, amongst others from Africa, are peculiar to South America ! 
 
 Lieutenant Maury imagines, that these are blown up into the air with the whirlwinds which prevail 
 about the beds of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, carried over the equator, northwards, by upper- 
 currents of air ; and, eventually, brought back by the N.E. trade, and deposited on the surface over 
 which it flows. An ingenious solution ; and, if true, supplies a singular " tally on the winds," whose 
 course the miscroscope thus, so beautifully, reveals to us. 
 
 Note. — The milky appearance of the sea is, likewise, caused by animal Ufe. It has been estimated that, at some seasons of the 
 year, certain phosphorescent acalephe cover the surface, in the proportion of thirty or forty thousand to every cubic foot ! All these 
 luminous creatures evolve a bright light when touched ; a gentle breeze, with its attendant ripple, is often enough 5 and, all are 
 familiar with the sparkling gems, which the stroke of an oar will, sometimes, unveil. It has been, incorrectly, supposed that a species 
 of medusa yielded the Tyrian purple. That was produced from a murex (the shell of which is well known), one of the mollusca, and 
 common to the Mediterranean. 
 
25 
 
 AZORES, OR WESTERN ISLANDS. 
 
 PICO. 
 
 Of these volcanic islands, St. Mary's, St. Michael's, Terceira, St. George's, Graciosa, Fayal, Pico, 
 Flores, and Corvo, remarkable, chiefly, for sub-marine volcanoes, and a variety of other volcanic 
 phenomena, — for the weU-known oranges of one of the group, — for the medusae, which are brought, 
 thousands of miles, from the Gulf of Mexico, to feed the whales, by the Gulf Stream (which, from its 
 high temperature, the whales wiU not cross), — and for heavy gales of wind, — one, at least, is generally 
 sighted by Indiamen on the passage home. 
 
 Pico, 80 called from the volcanic sugar-loaf, (snow-capped), peak, — nearly 7,000 feet high, — which 
 stands upon it, boasts of 22,000 inhabitants, who live in three towns and eleven villages, and make 
 the best wine in the Azores. 
 
 The sunjish fOrthagoriseus MolaJ, so called from its bright skin and round shape, 
 though known sometimes to " lie, and perhaps to sleep, with the head out of water," 
 is yet very fond of the bottom, and keeps close to the sea weeds, on which it feeds. 
 One has been taken, off our own coast, four feet in length, and weighiag 4001bs. 
 Its movements are sideways. 
 
 SUN FISH. 
 
 TXoTB.— Azores was a term applied to these islands by their Portuguese owners, in consequence of the numerous hawks and 
 falcons found upon them. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The cut at top of page 9 represents an iceberg seen south of the Cape, from the " Thomas GrenviUo," outward bound, on the 
 17th December, 1840, and supposed to bo 200 feet high. The sketch was taken by a Lady, who did not record the latitude. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 18. 
 
 The calamary (fig. 1), or squid, — a very active and voracious cephalopod, — is remarkable for the chameleon-like property of 
 changing colour. This is due to the alternate contraction and expansion of a " certain complicated system of globules * * red, 
 brown, and yellow, placed under the first layer of the epidermis." This property had been supposed to reside in live calamaries 
 only ; but, Mr. Lewes (in his recent delightful volume of Sea-side Studies), states, that he has seen it developed in a dead one. 
 
 The cuttlefish (fig. 3), — the food of the sperm whale, — is a fair type of the voracious family of cephalopods (from KifaKtj bead, and 
 irovQ a foot, the so called feet being congregated around the head), which, — essentially aquatic in their habits, — possess large eyes, 
 parrot like jaws, a superior nervous system, salivary glands, several stomachs, and a voluminous liver. Armed with powerful 
 suckers at tte extremities of their arms (one species, — the poulp, — has 120 pairs on each of its eight arms, which are six times 
 the length of the body), their powers of prehension are perfectly irresistible. The largest Crustacea become the cephalopod's prey. 
 
 £ 
 
26 
 
 Like leeches, these fasten on their shell-cased Tictims (whose attempts to escape are utterly useless), and coolly proceed to the -work 
 of destruction with their beak-like jaws. In some seas cephalopods attain an enormous size, and are objects of terror, even to man. 
 The cuttle fish, as is well known, produces the sepia of commerce ; and the potmce, fig. 2, which, — formerly used in medicine as 
 an astringent, and now in the arts as a cleansing absorbent, — serves as a kind of skeleton about which the mantle of the cuttle fish 
 is folded. 
 
 Barnacles (fig. 4), are, essentially, crustacean ; and pass through a series of metamorphoses before arriving at maturity. A pair of 
 eirrhi spring from each of the six segments of the body, fringed at their extremities with cilia, or hair-like threads. Attached by 
 the peduncle (which was once an antenna), to a ship's keel, to floating timber, or to a root of sea weed — sea serpent? the barnacle 
 gives a vibrating motion to these ciliated organs, and "produces currents in the water which serve to bring the prey within its reach, 
 and a fresh supply of fluid for the aeration of the blood." Barnacles are, mostly, hermaphrodite, with, sometimes, a wretched 
 " complementaiy male," leading an inglorious parasitic life on the surface. Even where the sexes are separate, this is the character 
 of the male ; clearly the " worse half" of the two. Barnacles are common to all seas, and exceedingly numerous. Old ships are 
 often much impeded in their course, owing to the numbers attached to the keel. The barnacle-goose, — gravely described by the older 
 philosophers as originating from these creatures, — is familiar to all. 
 
 Fig. f represents the violet snail, which floats, in large nxmibers, in the Indian Ocean; and is remarkable for the raft, — to which 
 the creature's eggs are attached, — corresponding, apparently, to the operculum, or lid, in land snails. 
 
 The salleeman, or velella scaphoidea (fig. 8). This delicate little ship in miniature, which sails along ("braced sharp up" on a 
 wind), in company with the great blundering, but elegantly coloured, ^'Portuguese man-of-war," occupies a very low place in the 
 scale of animal life. And, yet, it is one of those interesting instances of " progressive development" by which nature ordinarily marks 
 her upward course. The velella is a little acaleph (one of the hydrozoa), as are the bero'e, the cydippe, and the cestum veneris, or 
 Venus' s ffirdle ; but, whilst these are furnished with oars only (in the shape of ciliary appendages), to propel themselves along, the 
 salleeman dispenses with such instruments ; and hoists, instead, a sail. In the soft disc, which forms the body of the animal, is 
 imbedded a light, porous, cartilaginous plate, fiUod with air, which acts as a float. The sail is a delicate crest of a sub-cartilaginous 
 character, very thin and light throughout, except in the centre, where il is somewhat more substantial, and this serves /or a mast ! 
 How about ballast ? From the disc hang certain tentacular appendages, like a fringe, which can seize upon small stones and shells, 
 and, so, give stability to the little vessel. Can the salleeman ever furl its sail ? No ! it is always set ; but, in some species, " fine 
 contractile bands are interwoven with the spreading saU," which enable it to take in a reef (!) if necessary. Salleeman is, appa- 
 rently, a corruption of " sailor-man," a term doubtless derived from the navigating habits of the animal. Its chief enemy is the 
 violet snail ; and, probably, it is from this delicate food that the latter acquires its peculiar blue secretion, and colour. 
 
 The Portuguese man-of-war, or p/iysalus pelagica, (fig. 12), is also an acaleph (a general term derived from aKa\ri(firi — a nettle, as 
 nearly aU this class of animals have more or less stinging properties), in the class hydrozoa, which corresponds with the hydroid 
 polypes of Cuvier. The body of the man-of-war is the large pear-shaped bladder (surmounted by a splendid, purple coloured, crest 
 of firmer consistence), which floats, fllled with air, upon the surface of the sea. At either extremity of this bladder is an orifice, 
 duly supplied with a muscle, which, by contracting, drives out the air, and so enables the animal to sink ; which it does, with great 
 rapidity, on the approach of rough weather. Beneath the air-sac (which is, sometimes, six inches long), is a mass of short flask- 
 shaped stinging appendages (these float down occasionaUy to a length of 16 or 18 feet!), terminated by suckers, with an orifice in 
 each. The suckers are retractile, and, so, can draw the prey upwards. Some of the tentaciJar appendages appear intended to bear 
 the eggs, whilst others are " formed for sucking nutriment." Digestion, in acalephs, is a very simple process. There is a sort of 
 apology for a stomach, an excavation in the central mass, into which food is brought by the stinging tentacles, and, there, dissolved. 
 When the Portuguese man-of-war wishes to rise to the surface, it fills its bladder with air, which it forms, it is supposed, in the 
 same way that fishes do the air for their air bladder ; viz., secretes it from its own person. 
 
 Fig. 9 represents the true, and fig. 11 the paper, nautilus (or argonaut), which have been occasionally confounded by sailors with 
 the salleeman and Portuguese man-of-war ; and with each other. 
 
 The Argonaut has been represented in the sketch, as in full sail ; and, so, verifying the poetic notion of Pope, 
 
 " Learn of the little nautilus to sail. 
 Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." 
 It is not very certain, however, that the Argonaut does so use these appendages, which. Professor Owen considers, fix)m the nature 
 of their structure, to be unsuited for such a purpose. There is, however, a passage in the brochure of Mdme. Power, (that lady 
 confined argonauts in cages in the Bay of Messina, and daily watched their movements,) which, certainly, favours the idea, — 
 " II nage avec tout son corps et ses huit bras dans sa coquiUe, des bras en dehors, ou les membranes etendues dessus, avec I'extremite 
 de ses membranes appliquee a droite et a gauche pour s'en servir comme de petites voiles, etant a la surface de I'eau ; les six autres sent 
 allonges en dehors de la grande ouverture," &c., &c. Still, Mr. Owen would require other testimony than the evidence afibrded by 
 this passage, before believing in the actual sailing of the argonaut. Mdme. Power's experiments were, more particularly, valuable, 
 as they demonstrated the position and use of the membranous arms of the argonaut. She has shown that these form the shell, 
 repair it, and maintain it in connection with the body, for, there is no muscular attachment, as in the true nautilus. Like all cepha- 
 lopods, the argonaut is extremely voracious ; and their kind mistress frequently had her fingers bitten when distributing the daily 
 food of her ocean pets ! 
 
 Fig. 14 (limacina), fig. 15 (cleodora), fig. 10 (clio), and fig. 16 hyalcea, (syn. glass shell), constitute, with cuttle fish, the principal 
 food of the whale. 
 
 Fig. 17 represents the carinaria, an elegant animal, upon which the argonaut was supposed, (till vindicated from the calumny by 
 Madame Power), to be dependent for its shell. It swims upside down, tlie globe on the surface being its foot, and the fringed disc 
 below, its gUls. 
 
 CABIN FURNITURE AND WARDROBE. 
 
 Cabin Floor. — A flooring of oilcloth, as being more easily kept clean than the bare boards, — with a carpet, or coir rug, for the 
 side of the couch, — is far better than ordinary mats and carpets, which are apt to retain wet, and spoU. A small hand broom, and a 
 dustpan, are very desirable. One of the sailors, or cuddy servants (y'clept idlers!), or a soldier, will always be found willing to 
 " do" for a passenger for the voyage. 
 
 Roof. — Hooks must be screwed into the roof, for the suspension of the stcinging tray and lamp (the Italian lamp is the best) ; 
 and for a carpet, or canvas, bag (better than a cane basket), in which to stow away the dirty clothes. 
 
 Walls. — A small looking glass, a bookslielf, a brown Holland or American drill shaving case, one or two leather straps, studded 
 with brass hooks and pegs, — with a few pictures of " dear home and kindred," — and a light blind in front of the Yenetians, to ensure 
 privacy, — and the walls are fitted up. 
 
27 
 
 A couch, with its capacious drawers, not only saves the necessity for a chest of drawers, or of several boxes, in the cahin ; but, 
 also, that of having to get things up so frequently from the hold, — a luxury appreciated, as well by the passenger himself, after one 
 or two experiences, as by the unfortunate officer who looks upon " baggage day" with the same aversion that returning school boys 
 do upon " black Monday." It may, moreover, be converted into a very decent sofa on shore. There is, I believe, after all, no kind of 
 mattress better than one stuffed with horsehair; but, it is expensive. Bitehie' s patent granulated cork mattresses (to be procured at 
 66, Watfield Street, Blackfriars), as opposed to the comfort of vermin, and being non-conductors of heat, are admirable substitutes. 
 So are the cocoa nut fibre mattresses, made at Troloar's (42, Ludgate Hill.) These are very durable, light, cool, and, likewise, 
 obnoxious to vermin ; but they should be well stuffed. The objection to the coir is its excessive dryness, and consequent tendency 
 to become dusty. Two or three good English blankets, with a counterpane, and three or four featlier, or coir, pillows, will be useful 
 in India ; and off the Cape. Iron bedsteads, with a sheet of canvas stretched across for a bedding, are advocated by some ; but, they 
 are apt to get rusty, particularly at the joints, at sea. It is better (with a view to avoid not only sea-sickness, but also the see-saw 
 of now the head, and then the heels, up in the air, on every alternate rolling of the vessel), to fix the couch " fore and aft," and not 
 athwart ships. It is very desirable to have a siting cot, besides a couch, for rough weather. Many take, only, a cot ; and, where 
 economy must be closely studied, it really may be quite enough. In that case, one or two more boxes mtist be brought into the 
 cabin ; but, as cushions and chintz covers wiU convert these into so many additional seats, which may be so arranged as to form a 
 couch for the day, a point is, perhaps, rather gained than lost. One good strong cane-bottomed chair (not a folding one, which, 
 with every plausible show about it, is, too often, of ephemeral stability), and an easy Derby chair, — with a table washing-stand (from 
 Benetfink and Jones's, in Cheapside, comprising, as there made, the advantage of having foot-tub, can, and other essentials, stowed 
 away in one and the same cleverly contrived space), — will be the only additional requisites for the cabia. 
 
 The amount of soap for fresh, and of marine soap for salt, water must depend upon the passenger's habits. Wax candles and 
 lucifers may be laid ia freely ; as a scarcity of cither wiU lead to fabulous prices being asked for them on board by the steward, and 
 others, who, generally, have a stock ready for such emergencies. "With regard to private stores, beyond a few dozen of soda water 
 (for sea-sickness), — a few bottles oi essence of coffee (with some patent inspissated milk, that made at the Harrow farm is the best), 
 for use in the early morning, or after dinner, — some of Sainsbury's fruit juices, with a glass Gazogene, and a few packets of 
 Gazogene powders, — and some tobacco, wherewith to remunerate the sailors for doing little odd offices in the cabin, — nothing, with 
 a liberal captain, is required. 
 
 A lamp, for heating water, and Afilterer, always render a passenger comparatively independent. The system of keeping lamps 
 burning at night, however, cannot be too strongly deprecated. Ships are set on fixe quite readily enough, without multiplying 
 the risks. 
 
 A large supply of screw hooks, naUs, cleets, and line, — together with a hammer, and a staple or two, will be absolutely necessary. 
 
 The passenger should always go to the ship with a carpenter, a day or two before she drops down the river, and see everything 
 fixed and elected into its place, himself; and, on no account, leave it till he gets to sea, depending upon the ship's carpenter. _ That 
 official is always too fuUy occupied with his public duties to be able to attend, at once, to private wants, — to say nothing of 
 occasional incapacity, induced by too frequent libations at the altar of the rosy god ! 
 
 The Wardbobe. — ^The necessity for having this so well filled constitutes one of the disadvantages of the long voyage to India. 
 No calculation should be made for washing at any intermediate port, — as this is not, always, feasible ; and laundresses are indifferent, 
 and expensive. 
 
 X'ine dozen day shirts, made of long cloth, with Irish linen fronts and wristbands. The number may seem a large one ; but ships 
 are, sometimes, detained a long time by calms, leading to heavy indents on the linen. 
 
 Twelve dozen collars. 
 
 Two dozen night shirts. 
 
 Six dozen pairs of socks. 
 
 Twelve white jean jackets. — These should be made (with round collars), by an English tailor, as patterns for the Durzees in India. 
 Officers, too, will do well to have a few jackets with a military cut, for the same reason. But, the fewer of either kind the better ; 
 as they can be made, quite as well, in India, of a lighter and more suitable material ; and much cheaper than the London outfitters 
 will supply them. 
 
 Alpaca coats.— One, or two, of these, made to look well on both sides, with trowsers (double-seated), and waistcoats, of the same 
 material,— with a suit of Rassell cord for moderately cold latitudes (broad cloths are necessary off the Cape),— and a few English 
 made pairs of American drill white trowsers, — not to omit twelve night drawers, or pae-jamehs (made of long cloth, if of Indian 
 silk so much the better),— /omj- dczen towels, six pairs of bed sheets, six dozen pillow cases, and flannel waistcoats (laid in, and 
 expenditure regulated, according to habits), besides boots, shoes, and slippers, are the chief of the remainmg requirements for a com- 
 pact wardrobe. Very good boots and shoes are made in India; and it is, therefore, unwise to take more than may be absolutely 
 required for the passage. The Chinamen, too, are capital shoe-makers ; but they excel, chiefly, in ladie^ shoes. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 Sea water, as is well known, contains a variety of salts in solution, of which the chloride of sodium, or common salt, is the 
 principal. It has been estimated that this ingredient, in all the oceans of the world, if aggregated together, would equal 3,051,342 
 cubic geographical miles, or five times the entire mass of the Alps ! All the marine salts, collected, would double that of the 
 
 Himalayahs! ,. ■, z ■ i. 3 • 1 n 
 
 Waves mountains high are a poetical delusion. The sea, in motion, resembles a rough country, divided mto deep irregular valleys, 
 and lofty hills, without any level ground. But, actual measurement proves that, although a wave may reach as high as 22 feet above 
 its own base, its maximum height, above the general sea level, amounts to only 11 feet. In the experiments made from the deck 
 of the " Venus," the longest wave was estimated at 492 feet. Sir J. C. Ross, in his visit to the southern seas, estimated the velocity 
 of the undulations at 89 miles an hour ; and, that there existed an interval of 1,910 feet between each wave. The term " mountains 
 high," after such facts as these, is clearly a popular fallacy. It should rather be "valleys broad." 
 
 The greatest depth of the sea, yet ascertained. Captain James Koss obtained soundings (900 miles west of St. Helena), at 5,000 
 fathoms, or 30,000 feet; and Captain Denham of H.M.S. "Herald," obtained them, in a passage from Eio de Janeiro to the Cape 
 of Good Hope, at 7,706 fathoms, in 36° 49' S.L., and 37° 6' W.L., on the 30th October, 1852. The Une was nearly 9| hours in 
 reaching the bottom ; and the depth, thus attained, a distance of more than 7J mUes from the surface, was greater than the height 
 of the highest peaks ! . , , ,™ . • i rr,. . 
 
 Density of the sea. The amount of atmospheric pressure, as we all know, is, at the sea's level, 151bs. to every square inch. Ihat 
 of the sea, at 16 fathoms, amounts to 601bs. ; at 60 fathoms, to ISOlbs. ; at 100 fathoms, to 2851bs. ; at 700 fathoms, to l,8301b8. ; 
 and, at 1,000 fathoms, to a ton ! [See Bear Admiral Smyth on the Mediterranean.'] 
 
28 
 
 Whales, it is well known, will descend perpendicularly to 4,800 feet, sustaining, at that deptli, a pressure of 211,200 tons over 
 their entire surface ! 
 
 Colour of the sea varies with the locality. Whilst soundinga are always indicated by a green colour, a deep indigo blue shows that 
 the depth is a profound one. 
 
 Porpoises, — the great devourers of herrings, and other small fishes, on our coasts, and varying from four to eight feet iu length,— 
 have long, when seen traveUiag in shoals, been regarded as sure fore-runners of wind. But, this popular fallacy is as great as that, 
 which declares that the stormy petrel is the harbinger of a tempest. 
 
 Dolphins differ from porpoises in having the muzzle prolonged into a beak. They are very agile ; and wiU follow ships in herds. 
 Their length varies from six, or eight, to ten feet. Dolphins and porpoises were, formerly, much eaten ; but their rank and oily flesh 
 saves them from human consumption, at least with Englishmen, in the present day. 
 
 Grampuses, nearly allied to porpoises, but distinguished from them by their high dorsal fin, are powerful, and voracious enemies 
 to the smaller cetacea. Though not generally gregarious, they are sometimes seen in shoals of six or eight. A grampus will 
 accompany a ship, easily, at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour. 
 
 Neither porpoises, dolphins, nor grampuses are fish ; aU are cetaceous. 
 
 Saul fishes, a kind of mixed ray and shark, sometimes bring their weapon to bear with great force against whales, other fish, or 
 even ships. A portion of a saw was once found in the perforated copper-bottom of the steamer " Enterprize." It had, evidently, 
 been snapped off; and, fortunately, served as a stopper to the, otherwise, inevitable leak. 
 
 Cockroaches. As, with the shades of evening, this Orthopterous army sends forth its battalions of black bobs to commit 
 depredations and annoyances between the decks of an Indiaman, we may, to some extent, realize the feelings of the Egyptians when 
 visited by their vexatious plague of flies. Indeed, an ingenious bishop, arguing from the meaning of an Hebrew word, signifying 
 evening, has suggested (as quoted in Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise), that this particular plague was actually a flight of cockroaches. 
 But the Rev. F. W. Hope, more recently, in a paper published in the Entomological Society's transactions, very satisfactorily proves 
 that it consisted of dog files. There are several species of cockroaches. That, best known on board-ship, is the blatta Americana, the 
 largo brown variety, where the female is winged as well as the male. In the blatta Orientalis, or veritable black bob, the male, 
 only, has wings. Cockroaches, Hke all the terrestrial Orthoptera, are wonderfully destructive to man; although, inter se, they are 
 not very pugilistic. Their voracity may be estimated by the fact of then- eating corks as freely as anything else ! As nuisances 
 are lightened, however, by comparison with greater ones, so let us be thankful that our plague is mtly the blatta Americana, and not 
 the B. gigantea, a prickly-legged monster, which stinks, and drums, and, biting largely, drives away all sleep, — a very Goliath 
 amongst the Philistines ! Cockroaches undergo a setni-metamorphosis only, of which all the mutations are reduced to the growth 
 and development of the elytra and wings, which are always visible, in a rudimentary state, in the nymph. In moulting, they come 
 out with a white suit, which gradually darkens on exposure to air ; though I observed this change to be only partially developed in 
 a fresh killed white cockroach. The egg cases of blattae have toothed edges, fitted accurately together, which the young (contained 
 within in cellular septa), when old enough, moisten, and so open, with a glutinous fluid secreted from their own persons. It is 
 supposed that the cockroaches, peculiar to Indiamen, were originally shipped from the warmer parts of America, whence they have 
 been transported to the E. Indies and elsewhere. They were unknown in England 50 years ago. Short of a hedgehog (!) the best 
 antidotes are to bait a deep hand-basin with port wine and water; or with beer; or bread; but the iassT* should be deep. Probably, 
 phosphorus-impregnated baits would be the most efiicacious of all. The antenna of cockroaches are factors chiefly ; acting as ears, 
 and not as noses. 
 
 A man overboard. It is a calm Sabbath afternoon. A gentle fair wind plays over the waters ; and hearts are happy as the stately 
 vessel gUdes onward on her homeward course. Suddenly, the startling cry is raised, and echoed through the ship, of " a man over- 
 board." "Hard a port," "down, down with the helm," "cut away the life buoy there," "let fly the head sheets," "square the 
 main yard," " clear away that port quarter boat," and all is bustle and apparent confusion, as the above orders are given and obeyed 
 in rapid succession. The life buoy passes close to the man, but he heeds it not. He swims, but the effort is mechanical. Good 
 heavens! he \& drunk! Mad with grog, he has yM»»^;e(? overboard! Five seconds more, and the waters will close over him. With 
 
 a loud shriek, he throws his arms up in the air, and . But, at that instant, the boat dashes alongside, and the drowning 
 
 drunkard is saved ! The above scene will be familiar to all who were on board the " Alfred," homeward bound, from Calcutta, in 
 1857. The successful issue was owing, mainly, to the way in which the boat was lowered, reflecting the highest credit on the chief 
 oflicer (now Captain Smith, of the " Roxburgh Castle"), and on Mr. WeigaU, (the 3rd ofiicer), who led the party to the rescue. 
 
 HOW TO RESTORE AJST APPARENTLY DROWNED MAN. 
 
 1. Treat the patient instantly, on the spot (at sea, on the deck, or even in the boat, — a doctor should always accompany the rescuing 
 
 party), in tJie open air,^exposing the face and chest to the breeze (except in severe weather). 
 
 2. Place the patient gently on the face, with one wrist under the forehead. This clears the throat. 
 
 3. Turn him well and instantly, but very gently, on his side (exciting the nostrils with snuff, the throat with a feather, &e., and 
 
 dashing cold water on the face previously rubbed warm), and then briskly back again, fifteen times in the minute. In 
 these half-revolutions the chest and abdomen should be well raised and supported, on a folded coat, or other article of 
 dress. When the patient lies on his face make equable, but efficient, pressure, with brisk movement, along the back of the 
 chest ; retrieving it gently immediately before rotation on the side. 
 
 4. Rub the limbs upwards, with_;Sr»i grasping pressure, and with energy, using handkerchiefs, &c. (By this means the blood is 
 
 propelled along the veins towards the heart.) Let the limbs be thus dried and warmed, and then clothed, the bystanders 
 
 supplying coats, &c. 
 6. Avoid the continoiis warm bath and the position on or inclined to the back. 
 
 The above is an epitome of the " ready method," of Dr. Marshall Hall, who, amid the glorious band of philanthropists, — ^Jenner, 
 Cook, and Howard, — ^of whom England is justly proud, well deserves a foremost place. It is one of the startling anomalies of an 
 enlightened age, that the Royal Humane Society, of whose committee Marshall Hall was an honoured member, persists, in spite of 
 evidence continually afforded of their comparative inefficacy, — in propagating the same rules for restoring the apparently drowned, 
 which were in operation 80 years ago ! The Life Boat Institution, however, whilst its brother remains in a state of " suspended 
 animation," is actively promulgating Marshall Hall's method, and, so, ensuring the recovery of many a life. Who can tell (as the 
 "Lancet" justly observes), if Watt, Jcnnor, or Newton, had been drowned in early life, when it would have pleased Providence to 
 furnish us again with such leviathans of science as they were .' The humblest life, however, is valuable in its sphere ; and a know- 
 ledge of this, the best method of restoring it, cannot be too widely circulated. 
 
 PRINTED BY W. H. CBOCKFORD, BLACKHEATH BOAD, GREENWICH. 
 
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3ni xif ^nh^aihtXL 
 
 H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CAMBEIDGE. 
 
 Allsop, Mr. G., 1 and 2, Hungerford Street, London. 
 
 Aitken, Eev. James, Carshalton Park. 
 
 Atkinson, Robert, Esq., Somerset House. 
 
 Bamford, Captain R. C., Selhurst Lodge, Norwood. 
 
 Barber, Joseph, Esq. (Joseph Barber and Co.) 
 
 Barnes, Mrs. Pemberton, Havering-Atte-Bower, Essex. 
 
 Bartlett, Mr. Christopher, Croydon. 
 
 Basilioo, A., Esq., Hampstead. 
 
 Bayly, Rev. H. E., Cambray Pavilion, Cheltenham. 
 
 Belli, C, Esq., B.C.S., Kensington. 
 
 Bennett, Mr. B. J., Croydon. 
 
 Benson, Captain, 33, Union Grove, Wandsworth Road. 
 
 Best, Mrs., Netting Hill. 
 
 Blackader, C. G., Esq., 8, Painswick Lawn, Cheltenham. 
 
 Blyth, Jas., Esq., Philpot Lane. 
 
 Bohun, R., Esq., Beecles, Suffolk. 
 
 Bowers, E. A., Esq., Surgeon, Romford, Essex. 
 
 Bowring, Mr. Francis, 42, High Street, Croydon. 
 
 Budd, Mr. Joshua T., 102, High Street, Croydon. 
 
 Bunbury, Rev. T. H., Great Warley. 
 
 Burroughes, W., Esq., Coltishall Hall, Norfolk. 
 
 Burrup, 'William, Esq., 12, Royal Exchange. 
 
 Brown, John, Esq., F.R.G.S., Lend., et F.R.S.N.A. of 
 
 Copenhagen, etc. 
 Brown, W., Esq., Solicitor, Cfoydon. 
 Canterbury, His Grace the Archbishop of. 
 Campart, Mr. W. H., 23, High Street, Croydon. 
 Campbell, Mr. Joseph, Croydon. 
 
 Cattaneo, Mr. P., Carver & Gilder, 100, High Street, Croydon. 
 Cautley, Sir Proby T., K.C.B. 
 Caven, Mr. Robert, Croydon. 
 
 Chard, Mr. Thomas, Gunmaker, 88, High Street, Croydon. 
 Champion, Captain W., 170, Fenchurch Street, London. 
 Chuter, Mr. W., West Street, Croydon. 
 Clouter, Mr. Samuel, Printer, High Street, Croydon. 
 Cottingham, Mrs., Lewisham, Kent. 
 Crabbe, Mrs., Beecles. 
 
 Cressingham, Jonah, Esq., Carshalton, Surrey. 
 Crowfoot, W. Edward, Esq. 
 Darby, Rev. M. B., Rector of Haokford, Norfolk. 
 Dartnell, Mr. John, Croydon. 
 
 Dartnell, Mr. T., Plumber, etc., Thornton Heath, Croydon. 
 Davison, Captain John, Homsey. 
 Dhulleep Singh, H. H., the Maharajah. 
 Dixon, William, Esq., Chancery Jjane (5 copies). 
 Dobson, Rev. W., Principal of Cheltenham College. 
 Drummond, William, Esq., Croydon. 
 Duka, Mrs. A. J., Ebury Street, Eaton Square. 
 Dymond, Miss, St. James's Road, Croydon. 
 Ebury, the Right Hon. Lord. 
 Field, Mr. William, Richmond. 
 Francis, Rev. Edward, Shottisham Rectory, Suffolk. 
 Francis, Frederick, Esq., Warley Place, Brentwood. 
 GUlingham, Mr. Joseph M., Croydon. 
 Green, R., Esq. (Green and Co.) 
 Green, Mr. W., 14, Surrey Street, Croydon. 
 Grindlay and Co. 
 
 Gumey, Mrs. S., the Culvers, Carshalton. 
 Hall, Charles, Esq., Brickwood Villa, Croydon. 
 Hanse, H. G., Esq., Cranham. 
 
 Hanson, Mrs., Bexley, Kent (2 copies). 
 
 Harding, John, Esq., Ludlow, Salop. 
 
 Hargreaves, Mrs. Oliver, Sydenham, Kent. 
 
 Harmer, Mr. George, 66, Parsons Mead, Croydon. 
 
 Hay, Gen., Warley Depot. 
 
 Heath, Robert A., Esq., Croydon. 
 
 Henbrey, Mr. R., Com Merchant, 62, Southend, Croydon. 
 
 Henderson, Lieut.-Col., Sec. to the Bengal Military Fund. 
 
 Henley, Thomas L., Esq., M.R.C.S., Croydon. 
 
 Hill, Thomas, Esq., Great Warley, 
 
 HUl, Mr. T., Statuary Mason, Croydon Common. 
 
 Hodgson, Rev. J. G., Vicar of Croydon. 
 
 Homer, John J., Esq., 2, Royal Exchange Buildings. 
 
 Hooper, George, Esq., Cambridge Square, Hyde Park. 
 
 Huntley, Mr. E., Perfumer, 31, George Street, Croydon. 
 
 Hutchens, Mr. James Henry, jun., Croydon. 
 
 Hyslop, Mr. William, George Street, Croydon. 
 
 Ind, Edmund Vipan, Esq., Romford, Essex. 
 
 Jamieson, Dr., Retired, Madras, Bath. 
 
 Jenkins, Captain J., 170, Fenchurch Street, London. 
 
 Johnson, Mr. William E., lo. High Street, Croydon. 
 
 Jones, Mrs. Northmore, Llanelly, South Wales. 
 
 Keen, Thomas, Esq., Croydon. 
 
 Keir, Dr. Adam, H.E.I.C.S., Cheltenham. 
 
 King, Mr. James, Builder, 21, George Street, Croydon. 
 
 Knight, A. Halley, Esq., Broad Green, Croydon. 
 
 Knights, Mr. Hammond, Croydon. 
 
 Lake, C. H., Esq., Caun Hall, Wanstead. 
 
 Lancaster, Mr. H., Pharmaceutical Chemist, 143, High Street, 
 
 Croydon. 
 Lash, Captain John, Norwood. 
 Lashmar, Charles M., Esq., M.D., Croydon. 
 Laurence, Rev. Frederick Ross, Little Warley. 
 Lawrence, Hugh M., Esq., Lee Grove, Blackheath. 
 Lillywhite, Mr. F., 2, New Coventry Street, Leicester Square. 
 Lindsay, W. S,, Esq., M.P., 8, Austin Friars, City. 
 Llewellyn, J. Dillwyn, Esq., Penllergare, Glamorganshire. 
 Locke, Capt., H.E.I.C, Netting Hill. 
 Lockyer, Mr. Thomas, Croydon. 
 London, the Right Hon. and Eight Rev. the Bishop of. 
 Long, Mr. Giles, Croydon. 
 Loveland, Mr. Robert, Croydon Common. 
 Low, S. P., Esq. (Grindlay and Co.) 
 Lowther, R., Esq., B.C.S. 
 Loyd, Edward, Esq., Coombe, Croydon. 
 Luokley, G., Esq. 
 
 Matthew, John, Esq., Burford Lodge, Box Hill, Surrey. 
 McCarthy, James, Esq., late Surgeon of ship " Marlboro' ". 
 McLean, Mr. Donald, Croydon. 
 McLean, Mr. Alexander, Croydon. 
 McLeod, Allport, and Morgan, Messrs. 
 Maun,. Miss S., 39, Surrey Street, Croydon. 
 Marshman, John, Esq., late Editor of "Friend of India," 
 
 Kensington Palace Gardens. 
 Martin, Capt. K. B., Harbour Master, Ramsgate. 
 Masterman, W. S., Esq., WeUesley Road, Croydon. 
 Mattheson, Sir Jas., M.P., Stomoway, N.B. 
 Meredith, Mr. W., Coal Merchant, Croydon. 
 Mildred, Frederick, Esq., Park Lane, Croydon. 
 Mills, Mr. George W., 12, Surrey Street, Croydon. 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS— (CoNTiNxm)). 
 
 Moffatt, Major J. Douglas, Retired, Bengal Cavalry (4 copies). 
 
 Moor, G., Esq., 'Woodbridgc, Suffolk. 
 
 Murton, John, Esq., Shirley, Croydon. 
 
 Nalder, H., Esq., Croydon. 
 
 Nicholson, Sir Chas., late Speaker of the Legislative House of 
 
 Assembly, Sydney. 
 Nickolds, Mr. F. C, General Fancy Warehouse, 103, North 
 
 End, Croydon. 
 Norton, Mr. William, Dalston. 
 Ottley, Major, Norwood. 
 Oldfield, John, Esq., Derwent Lodge, Tamworth Road, 
 
 Croydon. 
 Page, Mr. William, 14, High Street, Croydon. 
 Parker, W. B., Esq., Dingwall Road, Croydon. 
 Payne, Mr. W., Bootmaker, 104, North End, Croydon. 
 Pelton, Mr. John, 130, High Street, Croydon. 
 Penn, John, Esq., C.E., the Cedars, Lee, Kent. 
 Petre, the Right Hon, Lord. 
 
 Phayre, Rev. Richard, West Raynham Rectory, Norfolk. 
 PUcher, W. H., Esq., New Broad Street. 
 Pollard, Mr. W., Timber Merchant, Addiscombe Road, 
 
 Croydon. 
 Pollock, Gen. Sir George, G.C.B. 
 Pontardent, Miss, Carshalton. 
 Pott, Edward, Esq., Nine Elms. 
 Pughe, Rev. K. M., Liverpool. 
 Purdie, Captain, 3, Canterbury Villas, Croydon. 
 Ramadge, F. H., Esq., M.D., 40, Clarges Street. 
 Reeves, W., Esq., Wobum Square. 
 Reynolds, Richard, Esq., Romford, Essex. 
 Richmond, Mr. John, Croydon. 
 Ringham, Mr. William, 116, Church Street, Croydon. 
 R. R., Esq. 
 
 Roupell, W., Esq., M.P., Roupell Park, Surrey. 
 Rowlandson, Lieutenant-Colonel, Addiscombe College. 
 Roxburgh, Lieut.-Col., Retired, Bengal, Rostrevor, County 
 
 Down, Ireland. 
 Rymer, Samuel Lee, Esq., Croydon. 
 Sale, Major H., Bengal Engineers. 
 Sandilands, Rev. P., Beaufort House, Cheltenham. 
 Seaton, Mr. Robert, Croydon. 
 Seymour, R. Danby, Esq., M.P. 
 Shaftesbury, the Right Hon. the Earl of 
 Shepherdson, Miss E., Ramsgate. 
 Shonfield, Mr. Thomas, 26, High Street, Croydon. 
 Silver, William, Esq., Carshalton. 
 Simpson, A., Esq., New Cross, Deptford. 
 Smith, the Right Hon. R. Vernon, M.P. 
 Smith, F., Esq. (Smith and Co.) 
 Smith, John, Esq,, Royal Crescent, Netting Hill, 
 
 Smith, Brooke, Esq., Boyne House, Cheltenham. 
 
 Smith, Messrs. T. and W. 
 
 Smith, Mr. G. W., 114, Church Street, Croydon. 
 
 Smith, George Robert, Esq., Selsdon, Croydon. 
 
 Smith, Mrs. Andrew. 
 
 Southwood, Rev. T. A., Head Master of Military and Civil 
 
 Department, Cheltenham College. 
 Southern, James, Esq., 3, Royal Exchange Buildings. 
 Stannard and Dixon, Messrs., Lithographic Printers, 7, Poland 
 
 Street, Oxford Street, printers of the plates of this work. 
 Stevenson, Mr. William, 124, High Street, Croydon. 
 Stewart, Dr., Staff Surgeon, Warley Depot. 
 Stone, James, Esq., Bexley Heath. 
 Stow, John, Esq., Crooms Hill, Greenwich. 
 Sutherland, J. W., Esq., Coombe, Croydon. 
 Suckling, Mr. W., 24, West Street, Cnjydon. 
 Tate, Captain W. A., Addiscombe College. 
 Tatham, M., Esq., Highgate. 
 Thomson, Mr. James, Croydon. 
 Tidy, Mr. William, Croydon. 
 Tilson, Thomas, Esq., Brixton Hill. 
 Townend, Arthur P., Esq., Lime Street. 
 Townly, Mr. E. W., Music Warehouse, 99, High St., Croydon. 
 Turner, Miss Finnella, Bayswater. 
 T. R. B., Esq., Croydon. 
 
 Wareham, Mr. George, 20, Broad Green, Croydon. 
 Waters, Mr., Carriage Builder, George Street, Croydon. 
 Waters, Mr. W., Builder, Church Road, Croydon. 
 Webb, Capt. T. S., Trinity House (3 copies). 
 Weeding, Mrs'., Mecklenburgh Square. 
 Weller, Mr. Timothy, Croydon. 
 Weller, Mr. J. G., Addiscombe Road, Croydon. 
 Westall, Edward, Esq., Surgeon, Croydon. 
 Wescombe, Thomas, Esq., Burton Cottage, Finchley. 
 Wharncliffe, the Right Hon. Lord. 
 White, Mrs., " The Limes," Hadley, near Bamet. 
 White, W. R., Esq., Croydon. 
 
 Whittaker, Mr. Ebonezer, 3, Waddon Road, Croydon. 
 Wilder, Edmond, Esq., Union Club, Trafalgar Square (2 copies). 
 Williamson, Ninian, Esq., Croydon. 
 Williamson, Mr. Alexander, Croydon. 
 Willoughby, the Hon. A. D., Caen Lodge, Twickenham (2 
 
 copies). 
 Wilson, Col. George, Bombay Army. 
 Wilson, Miss, Pembridge Villas, Bayswater. 
 Wright, W. N., Esq., Croydon. 
 Wright, Mr. Walter Norton, Croydon. 
 Young, Gen. F., Fairy Hill, Bray, Ireland. 
 Young, Henry, Esq., Essex Street, Strand. 
 
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