The next thing to be done was to get in the jib-boom, in order to ease the bowsprit. In effecting this rather troublesome operation, one of the primest seamen we had fell overboard. He was second captain of the forecastle, the steadiness of whose admirable skill as a steersman had, one day, elicited the complimentary remark from the captain, that he must surely have nailed the compass card to the binnacle. On this, and other accounts, he was so much esteemed in the ship, that more than the usual degree of regret was felt for his melancholy fate. I saw the poor fellow pitch into the water, and watched him as he floated past, buoyant as a cork, and breasting the waves most gallantly, with an imploring look towards us, which I shall never forget. In less than a minute he was out of sight. A boat could hardly have lived in such weather, and no further attempt was made, or could have been made, to save him, than to throw over ropes, which all fell short of their mark. Although we soon lost all traces of him, it is probable he may have kept sight of us, as we drifted quickly to leeward under our bare poles, long after we had ceased to distinguish his figure in the yest of waves.
This gale, the first I ever saw, was also, I can recollect, one of the fiercest. It lasted for three days, totally dispersed our little squadron, well nigh foundered one of them, the Cambrian, and sent her hobbling into Bermuda some days after us, with the loss of her main-mast and all three top-masts.
Bermuda seemed to us mids a very barren place, as it produced few articles of any great utility—at least such as we required. There were then so few bullocks or sheep reared on the island, that I remember it was rather a wonder to see fresh meat on any table; and amongst the lower classes such a luxury was never known in those days. What may be the case now, I know not. The ships did get fresh meat now and then, but only very seldom; whereas in all other places, we were supplied regularly with fresh grub, as we called it, every day.
The Bermudas consist of upwards of a hundred little islands, clustered round two or three large ones. The seat of government is in St. George’s Island, which is about four or five miles long, by two broad, and very low. The town is built on the south-east side, on a gentle and very pretty declivity which fronts the harbour. None of the houses have more than two stories, and they are all built of the soft freestone, of which all these islands are composed. Most of these dwellings have but one chimney. In walking through the streets in hot days, such is the extreme whiteness of the walls, that the glare is most painful to the eyes. But as many of the buildings are surrounded by bananas, calabashes, orange trees, and by various members of the palm tribe, the disagreeable effect of the light is not felt, except in the open streets. This pretty town is about half a mile each way, and is mostly inhabited by blacks; but a great many of these possess houses, and have gained their freedom by some means or other. What is curious enough, all these manumitted negroes hold slaves as black as themselves; of course the whites own them in still greater numbers. The slaves are never allowed to have firearms in their hands, for fear of revolt; indeed it is said they are considerably more numerous than the freemen in the island; and no slave is allowed to go about the streets after nine o’clock at night.
We found the black people, generally speaking, gentle, docile, and kind. If we entered any of their houses, though they had but little to offer us, that little was always given with much simple hospitality. To say the truth, we saw much less reserve amongst the blacks than amongst those of our own colour. It is true, the means of entertaining strangers are but scanty; for the inhabitants, even of the better class, we were told, live mostly upon salt meat, brought from America in vessels which pass, like market boats, backwards and forwards during all the year.
We had read somewhere in fanciful tales, of countries in which the forests were of cedar; but, until we visited Bermuda, we hardly believed in such stories. At that fairy island, however, this tree constitutes the chief wood; so that every ship and boat built there is made of cedar: the beams also, and the furniture of the houses, are likewise constructed out of this fragrant timber. It is not the cedar of Lebanon, but resembles in appearance the yew of England, though it seldom grows to the same height. It has an agreeable smell, and bears a little blue berry, about the size of a pea, which, though sweet to the taste, is very dry. The wood, after it is cut up and planed, looks well for a little while, but it soon turns pale and chalky; nor is it capable of receiving a good polish. For ship-building, it is much esteemed on account of its durability. We saw orange and lemon-trees growing, also, in such abundance, that at first we were enchanted to see the fruit thickly clustered upon all the branches. But when we climbed up and picked them off, in hopes of a grand feast, we found them all of that bitter kind which, though very excellent for making marmalade, are good for nothing else.
Except a few wild pigeons, hardly any birds are to be seen, the most common being of blue and red colours, about the size of a fieldfare. The blue kind is pretty enough, but they do not sing any more than the red birds; so that, in the midshipman’s birth, we had no scruple of conscience about baking many a score of them in our pies.
Besides St. George’s, there are numerous lesser islands, and a large district, called the Continent, from its being by far the most extensive in the cluster, no less, I believe, than twelve or fifteen miles from end to end! At the north-western end of the group lies Ireland Island, on which an extensive naval establishment has of late years been erected; close to that spot is now the anchorage for ships of war. The population of those islands was calculated, at the time I speak of, at near twenty thousand, the greater part of whom were blacks, and principally slaves.
The rock of the islands of Bermuda is of a very soft coarse freestone, full of pores; so soft, indeed, that if it be required to make an additional window in a house, there is nothing to be done, we were told, but to hire a black fellow, who, with a saw, could speedily cut an opening in any part of the wall.
How far this sketch of Bermuda, taken from old scanty notes and faint recollections, may now be true, I cannot say. The cedar-trees and oranges, the blue birds, the rocks, the negroes, and the islands, I dare say, all remain just as before; but I think I have heard that the seat of government has been changed to the western end of the island; and now the men-of-war, instead of lying in Murray’s anchorage, on the north side of St. George’s, find, as I have said before, a far more secure roadstead.