“A Portuguese who had shipped with us as cook was kept in the fort, and allowed greater latitude than any of us who were sent on board the cutter. He was allowed to walk in and out of the fort at pleasure, and to dispose of a number of articles which, with the assistance of the Portuguese guard, he had stolen from the cargo of the ‘Herald.’
“Why this Portuguese should be allowed to remain in the vessel when all were ordered on shore, he being one of the crew, seems strange, and more so that he should be kept in the fort when we were ordered back to the ‘Herald;’ except it is, as I have since imagined, to make him an instrument to effect some purpose for which he is very capable; for a more unmitigated scoundrel never could exist. I said that he is an instrument to effect some purpose; for, on our embarking on board the brig ‘Clara,’ all the officers belonging to Lourenço Marques were on board; and on their leaving the vessel I heard the Commandant-Lieutenant Silva say, ‘You know what has been said to you, take care!’ To which he replied that he would.
“On Monday, the 21st December, 1857, we set sail for Mozambique, on board of a Portuguese brig, called ‘Clara,’ commanded by Señhor José Antonio de Olliveira. Their object in sending us is as yet a mystery, nothing having been said to us by any of the authorities. Nor was I summoned to appear before any one to answer for myself, except before the Collector of Customs, to whose office I was marched under a guard of four soldiers and a corporal, armed with muskets and fixed bayonets,—treated more like a brigand than a man endeavouring to establish friendly and peaceable commercial relations among that portion of the uncivilized inhabitants dwelling on the banks of the river King George.
“Our passage to Mozambique was more than persons in our circumstances could possibly expect. Strange to say, after the barbarous treatment I had received during my stay of nine days, a close prisoner on board the cutter, with a guard of four soldiers over me, that a cabin passage should have been provided for me, with everything necessary for my support and comfort at discretion. Those of the crew, five in number, were not so comfortable as I should have wished, there being no other accommodation for them than the longboat, with a tarpaulin for an awning. Two of them were very ill from the effects of marsh fever, one especially being, as I considered, in a dangerous state; but who has up to the present gradually improved, by taking the medicines that I had fortunately provided, their properties being very efficacious.
“With respect to the kindness of Captain José Antonio Olliveira, his officers and crew, to assist in promoting the comfort of our party while on board the ‘Clara,’ too much cannot be said; more especially the captain, who was a perfect gentleman, and worthy of that name in its purest sense, the very opposite, indeed, of almost all of his countrymen at Lourenço Marques, Governor Mochado included. I had, indeed, many fears, on embarking, that ill-treatment would have been continued during our passage; but happy am I to state that, amidst many troubles, the passage to Mozambique was an interval of ease and plenty, added to which was the pleasure derived from delightful weather. Nothing could have proved a greater relief and change (except that of being homeward-bound in our little craft), from what we had suffered under the Russian despotism of the Portuguese Governor Mochado, at Lourenço Marques.
“The care of those of our party who were sick, and the fear that they would not survive the passage, caused me great anxiety; but when in that I was favoured, having the daily pleasure of seeing them rapidly improving, nothing, at last, seemed to burden my mind, excepting a strong desire of arriving at Mozambique, buoyed with the hope that through the official interposition of H.B.M.’s Consul, Mr. M’Leod, we would meet with a speedy settlement of the affair, and thereby enable me the sooner to return to Natal.
“This composure and satisfaction for myself, and for those who were with me, was not continued to me long, for on the 31st December I had the pain of reading the burial-service over the remains of one of my crew, John Fysh, a young man, aged nineteen years, who not many days previous enjoyed perfect health, and who was remarked by all on board as a fine, healthy young man. On the 23rd December, about ten o’clock in the evening, I was pacing the deck, when the deceased appeared coming from the forepart of the ship; I seriously reproved him for his imprudence in being on deck so late in a heavy cold dew, after an excessively hot day, with nothing on but light trousers and a very thin flannel. The following day he did not appear well, but did not complain; the day after I went to see him, found him very feverish, and gave searching medicine.
“On Sunday, the 27th, according to his own statement, feeling as well as he ever did, he dressed himself, and in the hottest part of the forenoon I saw him under the port-bow of the longboat, on his knees, cutting out a pair of trousers for one of the ship’s company. I reproved him, telling him that it was the Sabbath-day, and that the scorching heat of the sun under the lee of the boat might affect him more than the dew had a few days previous. On Monday he complained of not being well, but did not seem much indisposed. On Tuesday he was very bad. I gave him medicine, and blistered him on the back of the head, kept him on low diet, &c., but the treatment adopted had no effect.”
On the 3rd January, 1858, the Portuguese brig “Clara” arrived at Mozambique, when Mr. Duncan and his unfortunate companions claimed the protection of the British consul, and the next day they were provided for by me.