We had, upon the whole, a favourable passage across to the Cape; but on the 17th of September, when distant from it about 500 miles, we encountered a moderate gale from the north. As this was the first heavy weather we had experienced since our departure from England, I was curious to see what effect such a strange scene would have on our passengers. Wrapt in mute astonishment, they stood gazing with admiration and awe on the huge waves as they rolled past, occasionally immersing our little vessel in their white crests--and listening, with emotions not wholly devoid of fear, to the wild screams of the seabirds as they skimmed o'er the steep acclivities of these moving masses. The landsmen were evidently deeply impressed with the grandeur of a storm at sea; nor can the hardiest seaman look with unconcern on such an exhibition of the majesty of Him, whose will the winds and waves obey. Not more poetically beautiful than literally true are the words of the Psalmist, so appropriately introduced into the Form of Prayers at Sea--"They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters: these men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep: for at his word the stormy wind ariseth, which lifteth up the waves thereof." My own experience has over and over again satisfied me, that, mingled with many a dim superstition, a deep religious sentiment--a conviction of the might and mercy of Heaven--often rests on the heart of the most reckless seaman, himself all unconscious of its existence, yet strangely influenced by its operations!
ANCHOR AT SIMON'S BAY.
We sighted land on the evening of the 20th of September, rounded the Cape the next morning, and in the afternoon anchored in Simon's Bay. We found here H.M.S. Thalia, bearing the flag of Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell, Commander-in-chief of the Cape station: and during our subsequent stay received every attention which kindness and courtesy could suggest, from himself and his officers.
We were glad to ascertain that our chronometers had been performing admirably. They gave the longitude of Simon's Bay, within a few seconds of our homeward determination during the last voyage. Mr. Maclear, of the Royal Observatory, and Captain Wauchope, of the flagship, had been measuring the difference of longitude between Simon's Bay dockyard and Cape Town Observatory, by flashing lights upon the summit of a mountain midway between those two places. Their trials gave a greater difference, by a half second, between the two meridians, than we had obtained on a former visit by carrying chronometers to and fro. The results stand as follow:
Mr. Maclear and Captain Wauchope: 11.5 seconds South.
H.M. Sloop Beagle: 11.0 seconds South.
ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HARRIS.
We found at the Cape the renowned Captain Harris, H.E.I. Company's Bombay Engineers, who had just returned from his sporting expedition into the interior of Southern Africa, having made his way through every obstacle, from the frontier of the Cape Colony, through the territories of the chief Moselekatse, to the Tropic of Capricorn. With his spirit-stirring accounts of hunting adventure and savage manners we were all most highly gratified. What he had seen, where he had been, and what he had performed "by flood and field," have since been told to the world by himself, and therefore need not be repeated here: but it would be unpardonable not to do justice to his energy, his perseverance, and his success. He had collected quite a museum of the Natural History of the wild beasts against whom his crusade had been directed; while his collection of drawings, both as regarded the animals delineated, and the appearance of the country in which they were found, was really most beautiful: and many a pleasant hour was spent in viewing the various specimens and illustrations, each one of which testified the intrepidity and skill of himself or his no less adventurous companion, William Richardson, Esquire, B.C.S. It will readily be believed that these two gentlemen were then, themselves, the great Lions of that part of Africa.
SAIL FOR SWAN RIVER.
Having completed our observations, and crammed every available square inch of the Beagle with various stores--a proceeding rendered absolutely necessary by the unsatisfactory accounts we received of the state of affairs at Swan River--we sailed for that place on the morning of the 12th of October.