N.B.—Mr. Crouch, Mate, R.N., served on board as gunnery-mate, from the Wellesley, by permission of Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer, at Chuenpee, at First Bar Action, and Inner Passage, &c. Promoted Lieutenant, 8th June, 1841; Commander, 25th October, 1843. Wounded at Chin-keang-foo.
[CHAPTER II.]
On the evening of the 8th April, the steamer was again standing out of the Bay of Funchal, after being detained there only three days. It has been already stated that the vessel was not under the articles of war; this was well known to all the crew, although the majority of her officers belonged to Her Majesty's navy. Even in this early part of her career the difficulty had been seriously felt; and none but those who have been placed in similar circumstances, as commanding officers, can form any notion of the great forbearance, tact, and judgment which are daily required on their part, in the management of their men.
On the 11th, she passed quietly through the Canary Islands, between Palma and Teneriffe, the high peak of the latter, however, not being visible, owing to the hazy weather. The Nemesis was now entirely under canvass, and the steam was not got up for twelve or thirteen days after her departure from Madeira. The north-east trade-wind soon carried her smoothly along, as she passed about midway between the Cape de Verd Islands and the coast of Africa, and it was only in a calm, not far from Sierra Leone, that she had occasion to use her engines. She was found to sail remarkably well without steam, although so flat-bottomed.
Thus she proceeded quietly along the coast, until she reached the neighbourhood of Cape Formoso, towards which she was set by strong and unusual southerly winds and a lee-current. She was, however, not long in reaching Princes' Island, situated near the coast of Africa. This is a settlement belonging to the Portuguese, and the principal place of resort for our cruisers in that quarter, not very far from Fernando Po. She cast anchor in West Bay, Princes' Island, on the evening of the 14th May, forty-four days from England, principally under sail. Here she remained, undergoing a necessary refit, cutting wood for fuel, and preparing for sea, until the evening of the 23rd.
It is the practice here for every English man-of-war, of those stationed on the coast, which resort to the island, to leave a Krooman[3] in her pay, for the purpose of cutting wood for the ship, in readiness for her return. As there are generally several vessels on the coast, so are there also several Kroomen belonging to them, who join together, and go out to cut wood, lending each other mutual assistance. The wood is then brought down to the coast, and stacked in piles, one for each ship, the name of the particular ship being written on it.
As the Nemesis was furnished with a letter from the Admiralty, requiring all Her Majesty's ships to give her every assistance in their power, she was not long in taking on board the whole stock of wood already laid up for the little squadron. Captain Tucker, then commanding the Wolverine, was most active in lending his aid, and even gave up the supply of wood he already had on board. In this way about seventy tons of good hard wood were at last taken on board the Nemesis, and, as plenty of coal still remained, there could be little doubt that, with this reinforcement, she would be able to reach the Cape of Good Hope without difficulty. Water is easily procured in the immediate neighbourhood of the landing-place, of excellent quality; and thus two very important items for the recruiting of a ship are to be found in abundance in Princes' Island. Pigs, poultry, and goats are to be had in any quantity, as well as yams, Indian corn, coffee, bananas, pineapples, and limes. Above all, the anchorage at Princes' Island is good in all seasons, and of easy access, either by day or night. It is consequently a very valuable place of call for vessels going by the eastern passage to the Cape, which in some seasons is to be preferred to the western route, particularly for steamers.