About the 19th of December, we left the dock, with a cargo mostly of lead and calico. Our crew consisted of the following persons: Frederick Moore, commander; Robert Clare, chief mate; William Major, second mate, Messrs. Ching and Perry, midshipmen; Mr. Grant, surgeon: Mr. Williams, sail-maker; William Montgomery, steward; Lawrence Constantyne, carpenter; Thomas Everitt, boatswain; John Barry, George Lawn, James Millar, James Moore, John Carr, Francis Hower, William Jefferies, Samuel Baylett, Charles Robertson, and Francis Quill, seamen; and John Sexton, and myself, boys. The passengers were, Mr. Armstrong, a native of Ireland, and twenty-five male and female children from the Emigration Society, with some other steerage passengers.
We had a favorable passage down the river to Gravesend, where we took leave of our pilot. A pilot is a person who takes charge of the ships in those parts of rivers where they are dangerous. On the 23d of December we went on our voyage, passing Deal on the 25th, and arrived at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, on the 27th.
The wind here proved contrary, and we were detained in the harbor until the 4th of January, 1834; when, as we were attempting to quit, a schooner ran against our vessel and broke off our bowsprit and jib-boom, and did other damage to her. The bowsprit is the mast that sticks out in front of the ship, and the jib-boom is the top joint of the bowsprit. We were therefore obliged to remain there until the repairing of the ship was completed; and on the 1st of February left Cowes.
Manner in which the Murray Islanders spearfish—a female assisting.
See Page [41].
This accident caused great alarm among the passengers, and more especially among the children; indeed it was well that we escaped as we did; for even in our own harbors in England, ships are often in great danger.
We arrived at Falmouth, near Land’s-end in Cornwall, on the 5th of February; and having on the 8th completed our cargo, left England with a good wind, and every prospect of a happy voyage.
About the latter end of March, we crossed the Equator; that is, that part of the world where the sun is over head and makes no shadow; here we went through the usual ceremony of paying tribute to Neptune, to the great amusement of the passengers.
We came to the Cape of Good Hope, which is in Africa, on the 1st of May, and here we landed several of our passengers; we again set sail, on the 4th, for Hobart’s Town, in Australia, upwards of twenty thousand miles from England, where we arrived on the 16th of June; at this place we bade farewell to our young emigrants, and some of the passengers.
On the 8th of July, Captain and Mrs. Doyley, with their two sons, George and William, the one about seven or eight years old, and the other about fourteen months, came on board as passengers to Sourabaya, intending to go from thence to Calcutta, in the East Indies. William, the youngest, was my unfortunate companion.