The World of Waters - Mrs. David Osborne
MR. STANLEY. "Well done! You will not then start any objections on
the score of cold, to accompany me to Kerguelan's Land?"
"Oh dear, no!" exclaimed the boys. "We do not mind the cold."
MR. STANLEY. "Kerguelan's land was discovered in 1772 by Monsieur de
Kerguelan, a French navigator, who took it for a continent, and so
reported it to his government. He was sent back the following year
to make critical examination. Three years after this, Captain Cook
fell in with the island, and, not finding it of any importance,
called it Isle of Desolation. But, despite its name, it is not a bad
place by any means. It is a safe and commodious harbor, and
abundance of fresh water. However, considering its latitude, it is
exceedingly bare of vegetation; and there is only one plant which
claims attention, that is the famous cabbage discovered by Captain
Cook. For 130 days his crew enjoyed the luxury of fresh vegetables,
which were served out with their salt beef and pork, and prevented
sickness among them."
GEORGE. "Are there any animals on the island?"
MR. BARRAUD. "Numbers of birds; penguins, albatrosses, gulls, ducks,
cormorants, &c.; and the island is the resort of seals and
sea-elephants."
CHARLES. "It cannot be a very pretty place?"
MR. STANLEY. "Here is an idea of it. The whole island appears to be
deeply indented by bays and inlets, the surface intersected by
numerous small lakes and water-courses. These becoming swollen by
the heavy rains, which alternate with the frost and snow,
accompanied by violent gusts of wind, rush down the sides of the
mountains and along the ravines in countless impetuous torrents,
forming in many places beautiful foaming cascades, wearing away the
rocks, and strewing the valleys below with vast fragments."
CHARLES. "That is _grand_, but decidedly not _comfortable_."
GRANDY. "Sailors need great powers of endurance to undergo such
hardships as they must continually encounter on these voyages of
discovery. How grateful we ought to feel towards the brave men who
hazard life, property, everything to extend our knowledge! for how
many happy hours are we indebted to their researches! how often have
we perused with delight, the voyages, the discoveries, the exciting
descriptions of enterprising sailors! and all, perhaps, without
reflecting that the very adventures which have so much amused us,
may have been the ruin of all their hopes, and the destroyer of all
their happiness in this world. While you are sipping your wine,
preparatory to our last voyage, I will tell you a true
#Story of a Sailor as related by himself.#
"Four years ago I left the port of Boston, the master of a fine ship
bound for China. I was worth ten thousand dollars, and was the
husband of a young and handsome wife, whom I married but six months
before. When I left her, I promised to return to her in less than a
twelvemonth. I took all my money with me, save enough to support my
wife in my absence, for the purpose of trading when in China, on my
own account. For a long time we were favored with prosperous winds;
but when in the China seas a terrible storm came upon us, so that in
a short time I saw the vessel must be lost, for we were drifting on
the rocks of an unknown shore. I ordered the men to provide each for
himself in the best possible manner, and forget the ship, as it was
an impossibility to save her. We struck: a sea laid me upon the
rocks senseless; and the next would have carried me back to a watery
grave, had not one of the sailors dragged me further up the rocks.
There were only four of us alive; and when morning came, we found
that we were on a small uninhabited island, with nothing to eat but
the wild fruit common to that portion of the earth; and there we
remained sixty days before we could make ourselves known to any
ship. We were at length taken to Canton; and there I had to beg, for
my money was at the bottom of the sea, and I had not taken the
precaution to have it insured. It was nearly a year before I had an
opportunity of coming home; and then I, _a captain_, was obliged to
ship as a common sailor. It was two years from the time I left
America that I landed in Boston. I was walking in a hurried manner
up one of its streets, when I met my brother-in-law. He could not
speak nor move, but he grasped my hand, and tears gushed from his
eyes. 'Is my wife alive?' I asked. He said nothing. Then I wished
that I had perished with my ship, for I thought my wife was dead;
but he very soon said, 'She is alive.' Then it was my turn to cry
for joy. He clung to me and said, 'Your funeral sermon has been
preached, for we have thought you dead for a long time.' He said
that my wife was living in our little cottage in the interior of the
state. It was then three o'clock in the afternoon, and I took a
train of cars that would carry me within twenty-five miles of my
wife. Upon leaving the cars I hired a boy, though it was night, to
drive me home. It was about two o'clock in the morning when that
sweet little cottage of mine appeared in sight. It was a warm
moonlight night, and I remember how like a heaven it looked to me. I
got out of the carriage and went to the window of the room where the
servant girl slept, and gently knocked. She opened the window and
asked, 'Who is there?' 'Sarah, do you not know me?' said I. She
screamed with fright, for she thought me a ghost; but I told her to
unfasten the door and let me in, for I wished to see my wife. She
let me in and gave me a light, and I went up stairs to my wife's
room. She lay sleeping quietly. Upon her bosom lay her child, whom I
had never seen. She was as beautiful as when I left her; but I could
see a mournful expression upon her face. Perhaps she was dreaming of
me. I gazed for a long time; I did not make any noise, for I dared
not wake her. At length I imprinted a soft kiss upon the cheek of my
little child. While doing it a tear dropped from my eye and fell
upon her cheek. Her eyes opened as clearly as though she had not
been sleeping. I saw that she began to be frightened, and I said,
'Mary, it is your husband!' and she clasped me about my neck, and
fainted. But I will not describe that scene. She is now the happy
wife of a poor man. I am endeavoring to accumulate a little
property, and then I will leave the sea forever."
MR. WILTON. "A vote of thanks for Grandy. That little narrative has
agreeably refreshed our minds, while the wine and cake has had the
like effect on our bodies. Now, voyage the last!"
GEORGE. "Oh, papa! that sounds so strangely. I cannot bear the last
of anything; and now particularly, it reminds us how soon our happy
evening meetings will be at an end, and naught left but the bare
recollection of them."
MRS. WILTON. "Well, my dear, I will not distress you by repeating
the obnoxious word. We will start anew, and sail round the coast of
Africa. We are a goodly party, and I dare venture to say, shall not
lack for amusement during the voyage."
MR. STANLEY. "Then we are not to go so far south as Victoria Land,
and see all the wonderful things Sir James Ross saw?"
MR. WILTON. "No: we have been in the cold long enough, and I am
rejoiced that we have no more enormous icebergs to encounter--no
more still ice-fields stretching away in every direction, or
clashing and grinding under the influence of mighty storms--no more
mountains cased in eternal ice; but we have really bid adieu to the
wintry desolation of those frozen regions that
'Lie dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms.'"
MR. STANLEY. "I am glad to get into a more genial climate, and I
perceive our next voyage commences in the Mediterranean; that is, if
it be the intention of our young discoverers to call at the bays on
the north of Africa."
DORA. "It is our intention, sir; and the first gulf, called
Malillih, is on the coast of Morocco. Mrs. Wilton has kindly
undertaken the land survey."
MRS. WILTON. "Morocco is now only the remains of a state, although
at one period, when the Moors were in the zenith of their power, it
was a splendid country. Still, however, the inhabitants entertain
the loftiest ideas of themselves and their native land, and
half-naked creatures as they are, they style the Europeans 'agein,'
or barbarians, and hold them in contempt."
GRANDY. "But the Moors, although Mohammedans, are not destitute of
virtues; and, as a peculiarly good trait in their character, a Moor
never abandons himself to despair; neither sufferings nor losses can
extort from him a single murmur; to every event he submits as
decreed by the will of God, and habitually hopes for better times.
We might learn something even from the Moors."
MR. STANLEY. "Ay! but we must keep at a distance if we wish the
ladies of our party to learn; for the Moors would altogether object
to teach them, as women are there regarded merely as tools
--creatures without souls. They would not admire our ladies
either, for their idea of female loveliness is most singular. Beauty
and corpulence are synonymous. A perfect Moorish beauty is a load
for a camel; and a woman of moderate pretensions to beauty requires
a slave on each side to support her. In consequence of this depraved
taste for unwieldy bulk, the Moorish ladies take great pains to
acquire it early in life; and for this purpose, the young girls are
compelled by their mothers to devour a great quantity of kous-kous
and to drink a large portion of camel's milk every morning. It is no
matter whether the girl has an appetite or not, the kous-kous and
milk _must_ be swallowed, and obedience is frequently enforced by
blows."
DORA. "How very disagreeable! I scarcely know which is the worst
stage of the affair, the cause or the effect."
EMMA. "I should say the _cause_; for the fat comes by degrees, and
cannot inconvenience them so much as swallowing quantities of food
and drink when they require it not."
MR. WILTON. "They have other quaint notions. Among the points of
etiquette which prevail at the court of Morocco, the following is
mentioned:--The word _death_ is never uttered in presence of the
Sultan. When it is unavoidable to mention the death of any person,
it is expressed by such words as, 'He has fulfilled his destiny;' on
which the monarch gravely remarks, 'God be merciful to him!' Another
point of whimsical superstition is, that the numbers _five_ and
_fifteen_ must not be mentioned in presence of the sovereign."
GEORGE. "I should be continually saying forbidden words if I were
there; so we will go on, if you please, pilot."
EMMA. "I have the bays. They are Boujanyah, and Storah, on the coast
of Algiers. This state is inferior to Morocco, both in extent and
fertility; but the city has a grand harbor, is itself very populous,
and contains some splendid ruins."
DORA. "I have the gulfs. They are Tunis, Hammamet, and Khabs, on
the coast of Tunis, which was once the seat of Carthaginian power,
but like the other states, is now reduced to a tithe of its former
greatness, although it is still one of the finest cities in Africa.
It has a good harbor and fortifications. The manufactures are silks,
velvets, cloth, and red bonnets, which are worn by the people."
MR. WILTON. "There is yet another Barbary state to pass: who has a
word for Tripoli?"
CHARLES. "I have, madam. Tripoli is the most easterly, and the most
wretched of the Barbary states. It extends straggling along a great
extent of coast, where may be seen the enormous Gulf of Sidra or
Sert, called by the natives 'Djou al Kabit,' or Gulf of Sulphur, and
the Gulf of Bombah. Tripoli received its name from once containing
three cities of considerable importance, which are now little else
than ruins."
MRS. WILTON. "The 'Research' has not tarried long on that coast, at
any rate. We must now suppose ourselves _authors_ instead of
_travellers_; and without thinking of impossibilities, straightway
carry our ship overland, across the Isthmus of Suez, and launch
quietly on the waters of the Red Sea."
MR. BARRAUD. "It is scarcely fair to pass Egypt without a
recognition: the Egyptians would sympathize with us in our
partiality for the _ancient element_. They are special lovers of two
things--gardens and water. Even stagnant water, if sweet, they
consider a luxury; running water, however dirty, they hold to be
extremely luxurious; when during the inundation, the canal of Cairo
is full, all the houses on its banks are occupied by persons, who
sit in their leisure hours, smoking by its muddy waters; but the
height of their enjoyment consists in sitting by a fountain--this
they esteem equal to paradise."
MRS. WILTON. "In the Red Sea there are eleven gulfs of moderate
dimensions, and some small bays: we will not wait to examine them,
as they are not important; but how are we to sail out of this sea?
George, will you undertake to pilot us?"
GEORGE. "I know no other way out than through the Straits of
Babelmandeb, by Abyssinia, of which country I should like to have a
description."
MRS. WILTON. "The country consists of a succession of hills and
valleys, the former for the most part well-wooded, and the latter
fertile; with the climate mild upon the whole for so tropical a
latitude. For the people and customs I must refer you to some other
more intelligent member."
MR. STANLEY. "The present Bishop of Jerusalem[18] went to Abyssinia
some years ago; and he has sketched a few interesting particulars
concerning the people. 'As soon as a child is born, it is
immediately taught to drink lukewarm butter, with a little honey.
After the age of six or seven years, the children are considered
servants. The boys are shepherds, till the age of fourteen or
fifteen, and reside with their parents; but if their parents are
poor, they leave them, by their own choice at the age of eight or
nine years, in order to get their livelihood by keeping cattle
elsewhere. The girls are occupied in managing the little affairs of
the house; and begin to fetch water, which is always at a distance,
as soon as they can walk steadily. At the age of eight or nine years
they begin to fetch wood from the mountains. There are some fathers
who send their children into convents to have them instructed; but
there are many who will not do this, lest their children should
become monks: on this account many boys desert their parents, in
order to seek instruction for themselves. Some enter the house of a
priest as servants during the day, and they receive instruction at
night. Others go, after the lessons are over, to get food by
begging. There are also many persons in easy circumstances who
support those children who seek for instruction without the help of
their parents. Nearly all the great men send their children into
convents to learn reading, and to repeat the psalms from memory;
this is all the instruction they receive. The daughters of the
higher class learn nothing but spinning and managing the affairs of
the house; there are, however, a _few_ ladies who can read.'"
[Footnote 18: Right Rev. Samuel Gobat.]
MR. BARRAUD. "They seem early accustomed to habits of industry; but
in other respects, the training of the children is not very rigid:
almost the only crime they punish them for, is stealing. Mr.
Stanley's author, Bishop Gobat, says, he saw a mother, usually of a
very meek temper, and who would not see a man cause suffering to the
smallest reptile, burn the skin off both the hands and lips of her
daughter, only nine years of age, for having dipped her finger into
a jar of honey!"
EMMA. "Oh! how extremely cruel! they surely are not Christians."
GRANDY. "They are--and differ very little from the Roman Catholics
of more civilized countries. Some of the points of variation in
their doctrine are as follow:--They believe in no separate
purgatory; but that almost all men go to hell at their death, and
that from time to time, the Archangel Michael descends into that
place of torment, in order to deliver men's souls, and to introduce
them to paradise, sometimes for the sake of the prayers and
meritorious works of their relatives and their priests. They have a
great number of tales in support of this doctrine; the one they most
frequently make use of, is the story of a man who had done nothing
but evil when on earth, except that he had always observed the
_fast_ on Wednesday and Friday. When he died, he descended into
hell, to a dark place; but had always two lights surrounding him, by
the assistance of which he could go to the gate which separated hell
from paradise. The Archangel Michael then went to receive him;
saying, that the two lamps which had saved him, were the _fasts_
which he had observed on Wednesdays and Fridays."
MR. STANLEY. "That is one of the fallacies of the Romish Church. But
I am not surprised that popery acquires such power over the
ignorant; for it assails the mind through every sense; through the
sight by its pageantry, the hearing by its splendid music, the
smell by the delicious odor of the incense, and thus gratifies and
soothes its votaries by the application of forms destitute of power.
But enough of this; if we venture on such a subject, we are
continually reminded, that to speak evil of other sects is
malicious, and that we cannot disapprove of a man's doctrine without
having an uncharitable feeling towards the individual. _I_ most
strenuously deny the truth of that assertion; for I reckon many
amongst my dearest connections, whose friendship I value extremely,
but whose religious tenets I utterly repudiate. But I fear this is
incomprehensible to the youngsters; we will return to business.
"The coast of Africa, from the Red Sea to the River Juba, which is
as far as the equator, is inhabited by a tribe called Somauli, who
are reckoned to be descendants from the aborigines of the country,
and were early subjected to the laws of the Koran, by the Arab
merchants trading with them. They are a mild people, of pastoral
habits, and confined entirely to the coast; the whole of the
interior of this portion being occupied by an untamable tribe of
savages, called Galla, perhaps the most uncultivated and ferocious
people in existence."
EMMA. "We shall cross the equator before we enter another bay; then,
in the parallel of 3 deg. south, lies the Bay of Formosa, on the coast
of Zanguebar; and 4 deg. nearer south, is the little island of Zanzibar.
I am a stranger here."
MRS. WILTON. "Zanzibar is a most valuable possession of the Imaun
of Muscat, on account of its abundant produce of grain and sugar.
The climate is particularly fatal to Europeans, so that the crews of
vessels trading there are never allowed to sleep on shore. But there
is perhaps no place, where refreshments are so cheap as in this
island: fowls may be had for two shillings the dozen, sugar
twopence, and rice one penny a pound; and a large bullock is sold
for one sovereign."
CHARLES. "No great advantage to get food cheap in a country so
unhealthy that you lack the appetite to eat it."
MR. BARRAUD. "No; we will not go there to victual _our_ ship. Here
are the Seychelle Isles almost in the latitude of Formosa Bay;
suppose we ''bout ship' and look in upon them. There appear to be
fifteen, and navigators say they are composed of granite rocks.
Their chief inhabitants are French Roman Catholics, who have very
little of either religion or morality, but spend the greater portion
of their time in dancing and gambling. All the blacks resident on
these isles are unhappy slaves, although their owners live in
luxurious indolence."
GEORGE. "They are such small islands, and some of them so close
that, if I lived there, I would build bridges to go from one island
to another."
MR. BARRAUD. "The inhabitants do that without a bridge. They have
numerous canoes, built and fitted with much skill and neatness. In
these they pay their visits, and at the close of a party a stranger
would be surprised at hearing the announcement--'Madame le Jeune's
_canoe_ is waiting!' instead of Madame le Jeune's _carriage_ stops
the way.' But that is the fashion in the Seychelle Isles. Torches
are at hand; the ladies and gentlemen are lighted to the water,
where some stout negroes almost in a state of nudity, await to
transport them to their own island."
DORA. "That may be very delightful when you are accustomed to it,
but I should prefer a carriage.
"There are no more indentations until we enter Mozambique Channel,
where we shall find Pemba Bay and Sofala Bay."
MRS. WILTON. "Pemba Bay is on the coast of Mozambique, which belongs
to the Portuguese. The harbor of Mozambique is formed by a deep
inlet of the sea. At the entrance are three small islets, which,
together with reefs and shoals, render the anchorage perfectly safe
in the worst weather. The city stands on an island of the same name,
formed of coral, very low and narrow, and scarcely one mile and a
half in length. The streets in the city are narrow, although the
houses are mostly lofty and well constructed; but the place in
itself is fast sinking into insignificance, and its finest buildings
falling rapidly into decay. Mozambique, like many other cities of
the world, is now reduced from its ancient wealth and vice-regal
splendor, to the almost forgotten seat of desolation and poverty."
MR. WILTON. "Between this island and Sofala Bay is the slave town
Quillimane. It is in a commodious situation and one of the finest
countries in the world; but is continually in a state of turmoil,
from the different tribes striving by mutual conflict to obtain
prisoners for sale to the Portuguese, who wickedly excite the wars
and fatten and grow wealthy on the blood and wretchedness they
produce."
GRANDY. "The port of Sofala, its castle, its town; in short
everything relating to it, is most interesting; for in olden time
this was the Ophir of King Solomon, whence his fleets returned laden
with gold, algum-trees, and precious stones."
GEORGE. "Then the Ophir of Sumatra is not the real Ophir, but only
named after the place in Africa, because it was rich in gold?"
MR. WILTON. "Exactly so, George. I did not then explain it, as I
wish you to feel sufficient interest in the subject to inquire into
the truth yourself."
DORA. "Delagoa Bay. This coast is a continued tract of land and
sand-hills from fifty to five or six hundred feet high, with a few
straggling black rocks."
MR. WILTON. "The inhabitants of this coast are a harmless race, but
have their own little peculiarities; and one of the greatest
luxuries in life in the opinion of a Delagoan is smoking the
'hubble-bubble.' A long hollow reed, or cane, ending in two branches
the lower one immersed in a horn of water, and the upper one capped
by a piece of earthenware, forming a bowl, is held in the hand; they
cover its top, with the exception of a small aperture, through
which by a peculiar action of the mouth, they draw the smoke through
the water below; they fill the mouth, and after having kept it there
some time, they eject it with violence from the ears and nostrils.
It makes them giddy, half stifles them, and produces a violent
coughing, accompanied by profuse perspiration, and yet these people
consider it highly strengthening and beneficial."
CHARLES. "Is not Caffraria near here?"
MR. STANLEY. "Yes: but you must go a few miles inland to see them;
for the Caffres have an extraordinary dislike to water, and will
never trust themselves on it, but from extreme necessity."
MR. BARRAUD. "The Caffres (Kaffirs) are worth looking at, for they
are a fine, handsome race of men, nearly black, with very good and
pleasing features. Their dress, male and female, is composed
principally of softened hides; but the women are so fond of
ornaments as often to wear fifty necklaces at one time. Their huts
are constructed in the form of a beehive, and are perfectly
water-tight and warm. In times of peace the men tend the cattle, the
women cultivate the land. The elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo,
hippopotamus, lion, and various others are hunted in Caffraria with
great spirit by the natives. Of a Divine Being whom they call
'Uhlanger,' or 'Supreme,' they have some idea; but as to a state of
future rewards or punishments they are altogether in ignorance.
Sorcery and witchcraft in various forms most extensively prevail,
and are the causes of much cruelty."
GRANDY. "To hundreds of the Caffres, however, the preaching of the
everlasting Gospel has been productive of much temporal and eternal
benefit; and an interesting illustration of this occurs in some of
the missionary records, which also exemplifies the character of the
unconverted Caffre.
#Story of the little Caffre.#
"A little girl about eight years of age, was reclining on the
ground, in the cool of the day, when four wolves rushed upon the
place. One of them seized the child by the head, a second by the
shoulder, and the other two by her legs. The people of the kraal
with all possible speed flew to her help, and succeeded in releasing
her, but apparently too late. They tried for a few days to help her
with their medicines; but finding all hope fail, and as from the
heat and flies she had now become loathsome, they gave her her
choice, either to be put to death by the youths of the place, or go
to the woods to die or be farther devoured as might happen. The
little girl chose the woods. In this forlorn condition she
determined to cast herself on the mercy of the missionaries; and
although she had never been at the station, she believed from what
she had heard, that could she reach the place, she should receive
that protection and help which her unnatural relatives refused to
give. With this resolution she set out; and although she had to
travel several miles through deep glens, she succeeded in reaching
the station, an awful picture of deformity and suffering, all but
in a state of nudity, covered with large wounds to the number of
fourteen, among the most ghastly of which was that of the head and
face, where the wolf having endeavored to grasp the whole head, had
torn the mouth open to the ear, stripping the head of the upper part
of its covering and making a ghastly wound of eight inches. Through
the mercy of God she recovered, and was scarcely at all deformed;
but she refused ever to return to the cruel people who forced her
into the woods to die. She became a Christian, and the Rev. Mr.
Shaw, who relates the incident, says, that one day, as he was
walking a little distance from his house, he heard some one engaged
in fervent prayer; he listened, it was the voice of a child; and
going towards the place, he beheld in a secluded spot among the
weeds, the young Caffre girl who had been rescued from the jaws of
death, earnestly pouring out her soul to the God of her mercies,
when she thought no eye saw, and no ear heard her, but God."