All things considered, the privations experienced by passengers to India are by no means so numerous, nor so severe in their operation, as might at first view be apprehended. In many ships, ladies and gentlemen skilled in music are adventitiously assembled, and, by their united talents, afford a most pleasing recreation to all on board: few vessels are totally destitute of some means to attract the parties towards the quarter-deck; where, in the cool of the evening, during fair weather, the merry dance for a while banishes ennui, and contributes to give a wholesome impetus to the circulation.
Those ladies who are partial to music should be particularly careful that the piano-fortes they may take with them, be constructed in such manner as may exempt them from those wondrous effects produced by the climate of India. I have had the pleasure of aiding several friends in this instance, and found that the instruments made for exportation could never be depended upon, unless clamped at every joint with plates of brass, and secured, in the more delicate parts, by means of battens well screwed and cemented to the sounding board. Experience has fully satisfied me, that the pianos most appropriate for hot climates are made by Clementi, Kirkman, and Tomkinson, at their respective manufactories in London.
Ladies will derive considerable convenience and gratification from having an exterior case made to enclose the piano-forte, leaving a space of about an inch all around. This outward safe-guard should be of planed deal, stained of a mahogany color, or painted; and it should open in front, so as to admit of playing the instrument, while its lid should be fixed upon hinges, that it may be thrown back at pleasure. The lower part of the frame may be packed, and laid by; a spare frame of deal being substituted during the voyage, with a set of shelves below to contain music, books, &c.; all locked up by means of folding doors. Both the exterior case, and the frame, ought to be furnished with lacquered iron handles, whereby to lift them occasionally; but particularly intended to secure them to the side of the ship, and to the deck: without such a precaution the whole would be tumbled about, and shivered to atoms, by the vessel’s motion.
Gentlemen who perform on stringed instruments, should be careful to provide an ample supply of strings, firsts and fourths especially; they being not only very dear, and perhaps damaged, when procurable, but at times not procurable, in any part of India, for love or money! Reeds for oboes, clarionets, bassoons, &c. are similarly circumstanced. Nor would it be superfluous for a lady to take with her several sets of wires for her piano; they being very scarce. At all events, she ought to qualify herself to tune the instrument; which may be effected in the course of a month, or six weeks, by attention to the instructions of a regular tuner, who would feel himself well satisfied under a moderate compensation. This is a point whereon I dwell rather particularly; knowing that, even in Calcutta, Madras, or Bombay, a good tuner is not always to be had; and that, in all other situations, throughout the interior scarce a professional person can be found. Besides, in a country whose climate deranges the most skilful adjustment of the wires, often in a few minutes, merely by a slight exposure to heat, or to damp, the expence attendant upon such frequent tunings, as are indispensably requisite, would speedily absorb the full value of the instrument itself; the ordinary rates being a guinea for a grand-piano, and twelve shillings for a square one. Therefore, whether considered as a convenience, or as a matter of economy, too much cannot be said in recommendation of every lady’s learning to tune her piano before she embarks.
It being impossible to say how soon rough weather may be experienced after leaving port, (indeed, sometimes ships get under weigh while it is blowing very fresh,) it is usual to lash the dinner tables to the deck, placing their feet in mortices cut into small blocks, called cleats, which, being firmly nailed down, generally keep the whole sufficiently firm. It is not easy to render the chairs equally secure; but they are tolerably steadied by nailing two rows of battens on each side of the table, so as to embrace the legs of the chairs, which, in this mode of securing them, ought all to be of equal compass from front to rear. It requires, after all, some management to preserve an equilibrium when a ship rolls much; which it does chiefly in a calm, or in a gale of wind. In the former instance, the transitions of reclination from starboard to larboard, and vice versâ, are often very great, owing to the heavy swell which alternately raises the ship, and again sinks her into the trough made by two successive waves. However curious it may seem to persons unacquainted with sea affairs, it is nevertheless certain, that more masts are lost by rolling in a calm, than by stress of weather.
In regard to that most distressing malady, sea-sickness, it is not possible to lay down any specific mode of precaution, or of remedy: it ordinarily commences with that agitation occasioned in the vessel’s motion, by either the wind’s force, or the water’s undulation. Few experience more than a few qualms, while the water is smooth; such as is the case in going through the Needles with a leading wind, in fine weather; but when upon a wind, with a chopping sea, and sudden, or forcible, gusts, all who are not accustomed to the motion, become most oppressively sick. However much they may be affected by this customary derangement, those suffering under its influence are more frequently objects of derisive merriment, than of compassion. The prevalent opinion is, that, in a few days, the complaint will disappear; hence it is regarded as a matter of course, and as a seasoning, which, by its mode of operation, rather conduces to health, than to a dangerous issue. That such is the usual result, cannot be denied; but there are some constitutions which cannot stand so forcible an attack: women, in general, are most severely oppressed by it, and some few fall victims thereto.
It would be endless to enumerate all the recipes, which those who fancy themselves qualified to prescribe, tender on this occasion to the unhappy sufferers. I believe that acids and laudanum, in repeated small doses, are most successfully administered; though I have seen them fail. That unfeeling advice given to the unwary, ‘to drink a glass of spirits,’ invariably tends to aggravate all the symptoms, and, with those not habituated to such strong remedies, produces all those inconveniences attendant upon super-added irritation. The fresh air upon deck will be found considerably to diminish the force of the complaint; but the eyes should be kept shut, and the attention be withdrawn from the sea, and from the rigging; of both which the motion is peculiarly calculated to increase that swimming in the head inseparably attendant on sea-sickness. If, notwithstanding these precautions, the nausea and derangement should continue, it will be proper to retire to bed; observing the precaution of lying on one side, and keeping the eyes closed.
There may, perhaps, be no harm in taking a small case of spirits on board; but such is by no means indispensable: they do not come within the scope of a gentleman’s expenditure; and, unless preserved with uncommon vigilance, will probably be drawn off by some adventuring fellow, provided with a pick-lock, while the owner is either asleep or absent. I cannot too strongly inculcate, that every thing should be under lock and key: ships, of every description, are infested with petty pilferers, and sometimes with more expert and daring thieves; who will not fail to purloin whatever can be turned to use, in such manner as may not lead to discovery. The effects of passengers, especially, are considered to be fair booty. Blankets, sheets, &c. will all disappear towards the close of a voyage, or when in a port where they can be sold, or bartered away, if their owners confide too much in the honesty of their neighbours.
The third mate generally has a mess, in the expences of which the fourth, fifth, and sixth mates sometimes partake; the purser and surgeon being invariably at the captain’s table. The captain’s clerk, who is usually a midshipman, the surgeon’s mate, when there is one, and the second class of passengers, all mess with the third mate, who is allowed a certain space before the officers’ cabins; which, being enclosed with canvas, makes a very tolerable berth, wherein the table is laid. Those of the mess who belong to the ship, subscribe to lay in such articles of provision, chandlery, &c. as may suffice for their own consumption; the sums paid by passengers, who associate with them, being applied in due proportion towards the maintenance of the latter; any balances arising therein becoming the perquisite of the third mate. I have heard, that, with the exception of so large a proportion of live stock as is destined for the captain’s table, the mate’s mess, in some ships, claims the palm in many respects. When so many passengers are ordered on board, as to render it impracticable for the captain to accommodate the whole at his table, the later applicants are consigned to the mate’s mess during meals; but are admitted, so far as convenience can be extended, to a participation of the amusements and society of the round-house. On some occasions the mate’s mess has, from the above cause, been able to boast of rather eminent characters.
Those who are fond of fishing, may sometimes derive much amusement from the possession of a stock of tackle suited to the occasion. In warm weather, especially towards the Line, when moderate weather and calms prevail, many sharks may be taken. The hook for this purpose ought to be about a foot long in the shank (the other parts bearing a just proportion) which should be firmly attached to a stout piece of chain, from two to four feet in length, having at its other extremity a loop and swivel, to which the rope (such as is called inch and half rope, and ought to be full a hundred yards long) is tied; the bait, a piece of fat pork, of about three or four pounds weight. The weight of the chain and hook will suffice to sink the bait to about thirty feet below the surface, where it will soon be discerned by the sharks, which generally keep under the vessel’s bottom, or play around her at a considerable depth; though they will occasionally range along the ship’s side, or bask under the stern, so as to be easily shot with a musquet ball, or struck with a harpoon.