To render the living more palatable, especially on a long voyage,
passengers would do well to take with them a few additions to the
ship's fare. The most suitable are: portable soup and captain's
biscuit - both of which should be kept in tin canisters to preserve
them from mouldiness and insects - a good quantity of eggs, which,
when the vessel is bound for a southern climate, should first be
dipped in strong lime-water or packed in coal-dust; rice, potatoes,
sugar, butter, and all the ingredients for making sangaree and
potato-salad, the former being very strengthening and the latter
very cooling. I would strongly recommend those who have children
with them to take a goat as well.
As regards wine, passengers should take especial care to ask the
captain whether this is included in the passage-money, otherwise it
will have to be purchased from him at a very high rate.
There are also other objects which must not be forgotten, and above
all a mattress, bolster, and counterpane, as the berths are
generally unfurnished. These can be purchased very cheaply in any
seaport town.
Besides this, it is likewise advisable to take a stock of coloured
linen. The office of washerwoman is filled by a sailor, so that it
may easily be imagined that the linen does not return from the wash
in the best possible condition.
When the sailors are employed in shifting the sails, great care must
be taken to avoid injury by the falling of any of the ropes. But
all these inconveniences are comparatively trifling; the greatest
amount of annoyance begins towards the end of the voyage. The
captain's mistress is his ship. At sea he allows her to wear an
easy neglige, but in port she must appear in full dress. Not a sign
of the long voyage, of the storms, of the glowing heat she has
suffered, must be visible. Then begins an incessant hammering,
planing, and sawing; every flaw, every crack or injury is made good,
and, to wind up, the whole vessel is painted afresh. The worst of
all, however, is the hammering when the cracks in the deck are being
repaired and filled up with pitch. This is almost unbearable.
But enough of annoyances. I have described them merely to prepare,
in some degree, those who have never been to sea. Persons residing
in sea-port towns do not, perhaps, stand in need of this, for they
hear these matters mentioned every day; but such is not the case
with us poor souls, who have lived all our lives in inland cities.
Very often we hardly know how a steamer or a sailing vessel looks,
much less the mode of life on board them. I speak from experience,
and know too well what I myself suffered on my first voyage, simply
because, not having been warned beforehand, I took nothing with me
save a small stock of linen and clothes.
At present I will proceed with the progress of my voyage. We
embarked on the evening of the 28th of June, and weighed anchor
before daybreak of the 29th. The voyage did not commence in any
very encouraging manner; we had very little, in fact almost no wind
at all, and compared to us every pedestrian appeared to be running a
race: we made the nine miles to Blankenese in seven hours.
Luckily the slow rate at which we proceeded was not so disagreeable,
as, at first, for a considerable period we beheld the magnificent
port, and afterwards could admire, on the Holstein side, the
beautiful country houses of the rich Hamburghers, situated upon
charming eminences and surrounded by lovely gardens. The opposite
side, belonging to Hanover, is as flat and monotonous as the other
is beautiful. About here the Elbe, in many places, is from three to
four miles broad.
Before reaching Blankenese the ships take in their stock of water
from the Elbe. This water, although of a dirty and thick
appearance, is said to possess the valuable quality of resisting
putridity for years.
We did not reach Gluckstadt (37 miles from Hamburgh) before the
morning of the 30th. As there was not now a breath of wind, we were
entirely at the mercy of the stream, and began drifting back. The
captain, therefore, ordered the men to cast anchor, and profited by
the leisure thus forced upon him to have the chests and boxes made
fast on the deck and in the hold. We idlers had permission granted
us to land and visit the town, in which, however, we found but
little to admire.
There were eight passengers on board. The four cabin places were
taken by Count B - , myself, and two young people who hoped to make
their fortune sooner in the Brazils than in Europe. The price of a
passage in the first cabin was 100 dollars (20 pounds 16s. 8d.), and
in the steerage 50 dollars (10 pounds 8s. 4d.).
In the steerage, besides two worthy tradesmen, was a poor old woman
who was going, in compliance with the wish of her only son, who had
settled in the Brazils, to join him there, and a married woman whose
husband had been working as a tailor for the last six years in Rio
Janeiro. People soon become acquainted on board ship, and generally
endeavour to agree as well as possible, in order to render the
monotony of a long voyage at all supportable.
On the 1st of July we again set sail in rather stormy weather. We
made a few miles, but were soon obliged to cast anchor once more.
The Elbe is here so wide, that we could hardly see its banks, and
the swell so strong, that sea-sickness began to manifest itself
among our company. On the 2nd of July, we again attempted to weigh
anchor, but with no better success than the day before.
