As soon as our dispatches were in readiness, we proceeded on our passage for England; the morning was beautiful, and as the men were heaving up the anchor, my heart felt an inward sensation of joy and gratitude to our Creator, that he had been pleased to bring us so far safe on our voyage; we made sail with a steady breeze, and soon lost sight of land. After we had been at sea about two days, close on our weather-bow we observed a water-spout; when we first saw it, it was whole and entire, and was in shape like a speaking trumpet, the small end downwards, and reaching to the sea, and the large end terminating in a black thick cloud: the spout itself was very black, and the more so the higher up; it seemed to be exactly perpendicular to the horizon, and its sides perfectly smooth, without the least ruggedness where it fell. The spray of the sea rose to a considerable height, which had somewhat the appearance of smoke; from the first time we saw it, it continued whole about a minute, and till it was quite dissipated three minutes; it began to waste from below, and gradually up, while the upper part remained entire, without any visible alteration, till at last it ended in black clouds, upon which a heavy rain fell in the neighbourhood. There was but little wind, and the sky was otherwise serene.
On our rounding the Cape we experienced a very heavy gale, which continued for the space of ten days. We arrived at St. Helena in about ten days after clearing the Cape of Good Hope.
The approach to this Island is tremendous, it being an immense large rock in the midst of the sea, on which there is not the least appearance of verdure, houses, or indeed any sign of inhabitants, till you arrive at the anchorage, which is to leeward of the Island; and in turning round the corner of the rock is a fort, close to the water's edge, from whence they make all ship's heave to, till they have sent a boat on board from the Admiral; and in case no attention is paid to their signal, they fire a shot. After proceeding a little way, the town is discovered in the midst of a valley, and has a very picturesque appearance.
The produce of the Island is potatoes and yams. The yams are used in time of great scarcity of wheat, for bread; the inhabitants are under the necessity of boiling them 12 hours and baking them, before they can eat them; and in fact, many of the Islanders prefer them to bread. The coast produces an amazing quantity of fish, particularly mackarel, which are in great abundance, and run in shoals about six fathom under water. At this time Napoleon resided at Longwood.
After staying here 12 days, we proceeded on our passage to England, and arrived there in six weeks and two days.—The distressed state of England, and scarcity of employment determined me again to try my fortune abroad, and for that purpose I made several applications to the different owners, but for some time was very unsuccessful. At length I was engaged by Messrs. Robinson, to join his Majesty's Ship Tottenham, bound to New South Wales with 200 convicts. On June the 8th I joined her. After receiving all the ship's and government stores on board, we proceeded to Woolwich, and received on board 50 of our number, and in the afternoon of the same day we made sail, and on a sudden struck on a reef at low water; we were lying high and dry; every means was used to get her off, but without success, till we sent our convicts up to the hulks, and discharged our stores into the different crafts sent for that purpose, and by that means lightened her so, that at the flood she drifted; she was so materially damaged, it was deemed necessary she should return back to Deptford to Dock.
I had not waited long in London, before another vacancy occurred on board His Majesty's Transport Ship Lady Castlereagh, lying at Deptford, bound to the same Port. Shortly after I had joined her, we sailed to Woolwich, and received on board our guard, which was composed of a detachment of his Majesty's 46th regiment of foot, and after receiving a portion of our convicts, we proceeded on our passage to Portsmouth: we received another portion from Sheerness, and in two days arrived at Portsmouth. The remainder of our prisoners not being in readiness, we were forced to bring up and moor ship a cable each way.
Spithead is a spacious road for shipping, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and where they in general lie after they are in readiness for sea. I went on shore to see the town of Portsmouth. It is situated inland of Portsea; the streets are generally narrow, and rather dirty, owing to their not being properly paved.
The Dock-yards, as there are several, resemble distinct towns, and are under a government separate from the garrison. Here is a commodious arsenal for laying up cannon, and the fortress may be justly considered as the most regular one in Great Britain. The number of men employed in the different rope-yards generally is considered to be between eight or nine hundred, and the garrison is very large. The town of Portsmouth contains about 40,000 inhabitants, and the harbour is reckoned one of the finest in the world, as there is water sufficient for the largest ships, and is so very capacious that the whole of the British navy may ride in safety. The principal branch run up to Fareham, a second to Pouchester and a third to Portsea Bridge; besides these channels there are several rithes, or channels, where the small men of war lie at their moorings. Opposite the town is the spacious road of Spithead. On the 20th of December we received our convicts, and the following day we made sail and passed through the Needles, which are two sharp-pointed rocks at the N. W. end of the Isle of Wight, so called from their sharp extremities.
The prisoners, during their voyage, behaved themselves with great propriety, considering the variety of characters which we had on board. We arrived at New South Wales on the 26th of April, 1818, after a pleasant passage.