SECOND VOYAGE.
After remaining at home about two months, he again sailed in the same ship, and with Captain Prince. On the 26th of the following March, they prepared to sail from Salem harbor; but, being prevented by contrary winds from getting out of the bay, the anchor was dropped during the night, and on the following morning, under fair but strong breezes, Mr. Bowditch was again on his way across the wide Atlantic. His course was towards Lisbon, situated at the mouth of the River Tagus, in Portugal. The first part of the voyage was unpleasant, because cloudy and stormy weather prevailed most of the time; but during the latter part, under pleasant and mild breezes from the south, the ship rode gayly onwards, and, on the morning of April 24, the vessel was within sight of Lisbon, with its beautiful and romantic country behind it. Lisbon is the chief city of Portugal, and presents a very superb appearance when viewed from a vessel which is entering the harbor. It is the principal commercial place in the kingdom. Its inhabitants are among the richest. In consequence of its being the place of residence of the kings of Portugal, many magnificent country-seats, or villas, are seen on all the vine-covered hills of the adjacent country.
The stay at this city was short, and the opportunities for visiting the interesting places in it very limited. Mr. Bowditch seems not to have been particularly pleased with its appearance. At the time he was there, probably, much less attention was paid to the cleanliness of the streets than there is now. But he spent the 28th and 29th of April in walking about the city, and says in his Journal, that he “found nothing remarkable.”
LISBON, INCIDENT.
It was at Lisbon that Mr. Bowditch discovered the advantage of having learned to speak French, to which I alluded at the close of the second chapter. Though a Portuguese port, the custom-house officers understood French; and no one on board but he could speak any other language than the English. The consequence was, that he acted as interpreter, which was, of course, a great help to the captain. This incident made a deep impression upon his mind; and in after-life, when a person in conversation expressed a doubt about the importance of any kind of knowledge, because for the time it seemed useless, he would reply, “O, study everything, and your learning will, some time or other, be of service. I once said that I would not learn to speak French, because I thought that I should never leave my native town; yet, within a few years afterwards, I was in a foreign port, and I became sole interpreter of the ship’s crew, in consequence of my power to speak this language.”
MADEIRA.
GAMES.
On the 30th, having taken on board a quantity of wine, they again were ready for sea; but, owing to bad weather, they did not sail until the 6th of May, when the ship dropped down the river. On the 6th it was on its way to the Island of Madeira, which is a small island, situated about three hundred and sixty miles from the northern part of Africa. At eleven o’clock, May 15, the island was discovered; and, under full sail, the ship swept along the shore until nine in the evening, when they hailed a pilot, who came on board, from the town of Funchal. Mr. Pintard, the American consul of the place, greeted them very cordially. The ship spent six days there, taking in more wine,—for which the country is famous,—and sailed from it on Thursday morning, May 26, 1796. During this residence at Mr. Pintard’s, Mr. Bowditch saw some feats of horsemanship, about which you may like to hear. They are thus described in his Journal: “A ring being suspended by a small wire, about ten feet from the ground, at the entrance of the gate of the public garden, a horseman attempted to strike it, and carry it off, while upon full gallop. If he gained the prize, he was attended by the master of ceremonies, mounted on a small colt fantastically adorned with ribbons, &c., with a most deformed mask, who generally gave him a reward fully proportioned to the merit of the action; perhaps a whistle, a small flower, or some little image. During the next day, no business was done by the inhabitants; but the whole of it was devoted to amusements similar to those of the preceding. Again there were masquerades, and some of the richest men in the place joined with the crowd, masked like the people. Others were very richly dressed, like Turks, East Indians, &c. One of them wore a head-dress worth, it was said, forty or fifty thousand dollars.” From this description, slight as it is, we may see the difference in the customs between these inhabitants of Madeira and the Americans.
ANECDOTE.