A Locker With A Hinged Shelf, Which Opened Like
A Shutter, And Thus Afforded Space For One Mattress To Be
Placed upon
it, ran along one side of the cabin, under the port-hole, but the
floor was the only
Visible means of accommodation for the second
person crammed by Government regulation into this den. There was not
a place in which a wash-hand basin could be put, so awkwardly were
the doors arranged, to one of which there was no fastening whatsoever.
Altogether, the case seemed hopeless, and as cock-roaches were walking
about the vessel by dozens, the prospect of sleeping on the ground
was anything but agreeable, especially with the feeling that we were
paying at the rate of four pounds a day for our accommodation.
We were, however, compelled to postpone our arrangements, by a summons
to dinner; and in the evening, when repairing again to the cabin, I
found my mattress placed upon two portmanteaus and a box. Of course,
no attention was paid to the inequalities of the surface, and I
endeavoured, by folding my fur cloak and a thick dressing-gown
under my sheet, to render this miserable apology for a bed tenable.
Hitherto, our berth-places in the Government-steamers had been very
comfortable; though small, they answered the purpose of sleeping and
of washing, while the larger cabin into which they opened, and which
was set apart for the ladies, enabled us all to complete our toilets
without inconvenience. A sail had been hung before the door by way of
curtain, but the heat was still difficult to bear, and we found that
we had adventured upon the Red Sea at least a month too soon. The next
morning, the captain, hearing that I had, as might have been
expected, passed a wretched night, kindly sent his cot for my future
accommodation; after the second night, however, the servants thinking
it too much trouble to attend to it properly, the ropes gave way, and
it came down. The cabin being much too small to allow it to remain
hanging all day, I at first trusted to the servants to put it up at
night; but, after this accident, and finding them to be incorrigibly
stupid, lazy, and disobliging, I contented myself with placing the cot
upon two portmanteaus, and thus forming a bed-place. Subsequently, one
of the passengers having kindly adjusted the ropes, Miss E. and myself
contrived to sling it; a fatiguing operation, which added much to the
discomforts of the voyage. The idea of going upon the quarter-deck, or
writing a letter, which might perhaps be handed up to Government, to
make a formal complaint to the captain, was not to be thought of, and
seeing the impossibility of getting any thing properly done by the
tribe of uncouth barbarians dignified by the name of servants, the
only plan was to render myself quite independent of them, and much did
we miss the activity, good humour, and readiness to oblige manifested
by our Egyptian attendant, Mohammed. Where a wish to please is
evinced, though wholly unattended by efficiency in the duties
undertaken by a servant, I can very easily excuse awkwardness,
forgetfulness, or any other fault; but the wretched half-castes, who
take service on board the Government steamers, have not even common
civility to recommend them; there was not a passenger in the vessel
who did not complain of the insults to which all were more or less
subjected.
Where the blame lay, it is difficult to state exactly; no one could be
more kind and obliging than the captain, and it was this disposition
upon his part which rendered us all unwilling to worry him with
complaints. The charge of a steamer in the Red Sea seems quite enough
to occupy the commandant's time and attention, without having the
comforts of seven or eight-and-twenty passengers to look after; but
these duties might have been performed by a clever and active steward.
Whether there was a personage on board of that designation, I never
could learn; I asked several times to speak with him, but he never in
a single instance attended the summons.
We had no reason to complain of want of liberality on the part of the
captain, for the table was plentifully supplied, though the cooks,
being unfortunately most worthy of the patronage of that potentate who
is said to send them to our kitchens, generally contrived to render
the greater portion uneatable. The advantage of rising from table with
an appetite is one which I have usually tried on board ship, having
only in few instances, during my numerous voyages, been fortunate
enough to find food upon which I dared to venture.
The more I have seen of government ships, the more certain I feel that
they are not adapted to carry passengers. The authorities appear to
think that people ought to be too thankful to pay an enormous price
for the worst species of accommodation. The commandants have not
been accustomed to attend to the minutiae which can alone secure the
comfort of those who sail with them, while the officers, generally
speaking, endeavour to show their contempt of the service in which
they are sent, against their inclination, by neglect and even rudeness
towards the passengers.
While on board the Berenice, the following paragraph in a Bombay
newspaper struck my eye, and as it is a corroboration of the
statements which I deem it to be a duty to make, I insert it in this
place. "The voyager (from Agra) must not think his troubles at an
end on reaching Bombay, or that the steam-packets are equal to the
passenger Indiaman in accommodation. In fact, I cannot conceive how a
lady manages; we have, however, five. There are only seven very small
cabins, into each of which two people are crammed; no room to swing
cats. Eight other deluded individuals, of whom I am one, are given to
understand that a cabin-passage is included in permission to sleep on
the benches and table of the cuddy.
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