The ship was all decked with flags,
and altogether there was le diable a quatre.
The consequence was,
that three signals went adrift in the scuffle; and when a Frenchman
signalled us, we had to pass for brutaux Anglais, because we could
not reply. I found means to supply the deficiency by the lining of
that very ancient anonymous cloak, which did the red, while a
bandanna handkerchief of the Captain's furnished the yellow, to the
sailmaker's immense amusement. On him I bestowed the blue outside
of the cloak for a pair of dungaree trowsers, and in signalling now
it is, 'up go 2.41, and my lady's cloak, which is 7.'
We have had lovely weather, and on Sunday such a glorious farewell
sight of Table Mountain and my dear old Hottentot Hills, and of
Kaap Goed Hoop itself. There was little enough wind till
yesterday, when a fair southerly breeze sprang up, and we are
rolling along merrily; and the fat old Camperdown DOES roll like an
honest old 'wholesome' tub as she is. It is quite a bonne fortune
for me to have been forced to wait for her, for we have had a
wonderful spell of fine weather, and the ship is the ne plus ultra
of comfort. We are only twelve first-class upper-deck passengers.
The captain is a delightful fellow, with a very charming young
wife. There is only one child (a great comfort), a capital cook,
and universal civility and quietness. It is like a private house
compared to a railway hotel. Six of the passengers are invalids,
more or less. Mr. Porter, over-worked, going home for health to
Ireland; two men, both with delicate chests, and one poor young
fellow from Capetown in a consumption, who, I fear, will not
outlive the voyage. The doctor is very civil, and very kind to the
sick; but I stick to the cook, and am quite greedy over the good
fare, after the atrocious food of the Cape. Said cook is a
Portuguese, a distinguished artist, and a great bird-fancier. One
can wander all over the ship here, instead of being a prisoner on
the poop; and I even have paid my footing on the forecastle. S-
clambers up like a lively youngster. You may fancy what the
weather is, that I have only closed my cabin-window once during
half of a very damp night; but no one else is so airy. The little
goat was as rejoiced to be afloat again as her mistress, and is a
regular pet on board, with the run of the quarter-deck. She still
gives milk - a perfect Amalthaea. The butcher, who has the care of
her, cockers her up with dainties, and she begs biscuit of the
cook. I pay nothing for her fare. M-'s tortoises are in my cabin,
and seem very happy. Poor Mr. Porter is very sick, and so are the
two or three coloured passengers, who won't 'make an effort' at
all. Mrs. H- (the captain's wife), a young Cape lady, and I are
the only 'female ladies' of the party. The other day we saw a
shoal of porpoises, amounting to many hundreds, if not some
thousands, who came frisking round the ship. When we first saw
them they looked like a line of breakers; they made such a splash,
and they jumped right out of the water three feet in height, and
ten or twelve in distance, glittering green and bronze in the sun.
Such a pretty, merry set of fellows!
We shall touch at St. Helena, where I shall leave this letter to go
by the mail steamer, that you may know a few weeks before I arrive
how comfortably my voyage has begun.
We see no Cape pigeons; they only visit outward ships - is not that
strange? - but, en revanche, many more albatrosses than in coming;
and we also enjoy the advantage of seeing all the homeward-bound
ships, as they all PASS us - a humiliating fact. The captain
laughed heartily because I said, 'Oh, all right; I shall have the
more sea for my money', - when the prospect of a slow voyage was
discussed. It is very provoking to be so much longer separated
from you all than I had hoped, but I really believe that the bad
air and discomfort of the other ships would have done me serious
injury; while here I have every chance of benefiting to the utmost,
and having mild weather the whole way, besides the utmost amount of
comfort possible on board ship. There are some cockroaches,
indeed, but that is the only drawback. The Camperdown is fourteen
years old, and was the crack ship to India in her day. Now she
takes cargo and poop-passengers only, and, of course, only gets
invalids and people who care more for comfort than speed.
Monday Evening, May 26th. - Here we are, working away still to reach
St. Helena. We got the tail of a terrific gale and a tremendous
sea all night in our teeth, which broke up the south-east trades
for a week. Now it is all smooth and fair, with a light breeze
again right aft; the old trade again. Yesterday a large shark paid
us a visit, with his suite of three pretty little pilot-fish,
striped like zebras, who swam just over his back. He tried on a
sailor's cap which fell overboard, tossed it away contemptuously,
snuffed at the fat pork with which a hook was baited, and would
none of it, and finally ate the fresh sheep-skin which the butcher
had in tow to clean it, previous to putting it away as a
perquisite. It is a beautiful fish in shape and very graceful in
motion.
To-day a barque from Algoa Bay came close to us, and talked with
the speaking trumpet. She was a pretty, clipper-built, sharp-
looking craft, but had made a slower run even than ourselves.
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