On the 22d we saw sperm whales going off to windward at a tangent. We lowered, but found it useless. Two days afterward we squared away for Bunbury. In the afternoon we doubled Cape Naturaliste at a slashing pace, knocking twelve knots an hour out of the old ship. That night we came to, with our head-yards aback; and the following morning cast anchor off the town. Our first job, after anchoring, was to heave our maintopmast up, and substitute a new fid for the old one. This was but little trouble. On extracting the old fid, we were at a loss to account for the mast having so long remained upright, with such a miserable support: the weight of the topmast having crushed the stout oak fid almost completely through—but a few inches of solid wood remaining to sustain it.
Almost as soon as the boat could convey them to us, fresh beef and vegetables were brought aboard; proving that, when inclined to purchase it, meat was no article of scarcity in this market.
After adjusting our topmast, we went ashore to fill our casks with fresh water. A well had been constructed since we were here a year ago; the captains of the different whaleships touching at the port having subscribed to a fund for its erection. It was larger and much more convenient than those at Vasse; and, as the distance to the beach was not so great as at that place, we had little fault to find with it, and soon conveyed on board over three hundred barrels of water.
On the 28th the brig Lochinvar arrived from Freemantle, in ballast, for the purpose of loading lumber, and conveying passengers to Adelaide. The lumber consisted altogether of the native mahogany, and was intended for sleepers to the railway there. The passengers were charged ten pounds sterling per head for their passage—a distance of fifteen hundred miles. Rather a contrast to our own cheap steam-conveyances, where comfort to the traveller can be procured at so moderate a rate.
On boarding the Lochinvar we found a former foremast hand, belonging to the Pamelia, acting as her second mate. Her crew consisted of several hands on wages of six pounds sterling per month; the balance was composed of sailors and landsmen, the former of whom were on mere nominal pay—their compensation being but one shilling per month—while the latter were obliged to pay down seven pounds, and agree to assist in loading the brig. These men were actuated in thus shipping, at such a trifling rate, by a desire to get away from this section of the country: they viewing Adelaide and its vicinity as a land of promise.
Soon after the Lochinvar came to anchor a derrick was rigged, a cart conveyed ashore, and they at once proceeded to get off timber—engaging all the unemployed ones in the place (and they were not a few) to assist in the operation. Their plan was, to take one of their boats, which was broad in the beam, and furnished with lockers, containing air-tight cylinders; then they would lash around it, and over it, as much mahogany as she would be buoyant under; and as this wood is extremely heavy, and sinks like a stone, their load was not a large one. Then they would pull off to the brig, where it was soon hove in by the aid of the derricks. One stick escaped from its lashing when alongside the brig, and a boy, who belonged ashore, dove down, and attached a rope to it in four and a half fathoms of water, which is equal to twenty-seven feet; hence this was somewhat of an exploit.
One day when the workmen employed on the beach had lashed the timber to the boat, and had pushed her off—several of them wading a short distance to give her an impetus—two of the men were observed struggling, as if to keep themselves afloat. Both disappeared; but one rose again in an instant, and grasped the boat. The other was not seen for some minutes. On searching, his lifeless body was discovered. He was a good swimmer, and a few strokes would have saved his life; but he had been drinking to excess a short time before the accident, and to this was attributed his inability to help himself. His body was conveyed to the jail, cast into a rude mahogany box, and buried within a few hours afterwards: the climate here forbidding the keeping of a corpse more than twenty-four hours.
Two days’ liberty was allowed to each watch, and as, after we left the year previous, two whale-ships, on the recommendation of our captain, had visited the port, our advent created no surprise. Ships and sailors had become familiar sights, and the inhabitants were not as ready to spend their money, or listen to our yarns, as they were on our former visit. In the town things had changed but little—no improvements, no marriages, and no deaths during our absence. Therefore, as there was little either to interest or divert us, a number of our crew who, during the previous visit were enjoying themselves with rational pleasures, in the absence of former novelties, flocked to the groggeries and passed their time there. Apart from the general jokes and antics of seamen, one circumstance only, worthy of note, occurred; that was the mulcting of one of the publicans for allowing two of our men to play cards in his house; their laws prohibiting card playing even for amusement.
On the 1st of February the barque Iowa came in and gave liberty, so that there was quite a number of us ashore for several days; but after that we became tired of listlessly walking through the sand, and preferred remaining aboard the ship.
On the 5th our men proceeded some ten miles up the river to the village of Australind. On our way up we passed several grazing farms stocked with noble cattle. Along the river thousands of birds were to be seen, amongst which our pilot pointed out, as peculiarly worthy of notice, the black and white swan. Arriving at Australind we found ourselves in a beautiful country, excellently cultivated, appearing as an oasis in the sandy district that surrounded it. We had received, or understood that we had received (and certainly such was the gist of the message conveyed to us), an invitation from the proprietor of a handsome garden in the vicinity to visit him, and help him to eat some of his abundant fruit, partake of dinner with him, and generally enjoy ourselves at his expense; he wishing no other return than the pleasure of playing the host to an assemblage of Neptune’s sons. This, even to our unsophisticated ears, sounded almost too disinterested for the inhabitants of Australia. Nevertheless, having little else to do, we determined to face the music, providing ourselves with plenty of biscuit in case of disappointment. We landed and went up to milord’s house, which proved to be a neat and substantial brick edifice, and, with the assurance of invited guests who had come ten miles to please their host, we approached the door. We found that the individual who was so liberal in his promises was absent, and in his stead his home was garrisoned by a party of women, the young and pretty of whom were kept in the background by the high shoulders and higher cap of an old dame, whom I afterwards understood was a genuine specimen of the English titled lady; but I doubt it—as I have always understood that the matrons of England were distinguished for their hospitality, and this lady certainly possessed no such quality; as, with a vinegar aspect, she informed us of the absence of her spouse, looking at us meanwhile as if she thought us a party of marauders come to storm her vineyard. She indulged in remarks which, without misconstruing, easily made known to us her desire for us to begone; but we were of too turgid a composition to comply with her wishes. We had come for a day’s pleasure, and we were bound to have it whether my lady was desirous or not; and we did have it too, for the butler, and several others, finding that we were in no hurry to decamp, to relieve the old lady from the infliction of looking on such barbarians as we, made a virtue of necessity and asked us down into the vineyard. Here the gardener, as if to make amends for the churlishness of the others, took considerable pains to show us over the grounds, and gave us full permission to regale ourselves with as much fruit as we could eat. We took him at his word, and soon were deep in the discussion of splendid grapes, water and musk-melons, mulberries, bananas, and peaches. There were acres of grape vines—the proprietor cultivating them for the manufacture of wines. They were splendid specimens; and as they were a novel dish to us, we were not the most moderate consumers of them, as the skins that strewed our paths testified. The mulberries were larger, but much tarter than ours at home. The bananas were not of so good a flavor or such a size as those we had seen at Balli. The gardener informed me that the banana plant bore the whole year round. The fruit is preceded by a splendid flower resembling the dahlia in color, but treble its size. Besides these fruits the usual garden vegetables were growing, amongst which I noticed the tomato, and, strange to say, the taste of its raw fruit was pleasanter and more refreshing than that of the more valued kinds I had been eating. Deeming this a freak of my palate, I mentioned it to my companions as singular: several of them said that such was precisely the case with them, and they preferred it to the other fruit. After several hours spent in rambling, we returned to the house for the purpose of procuring a draught of water, which was drawn from a well by means of a hydraulic pump, and which, by the way, was the only spot where I procured a good, cool drink of water in New Holland. We were again attacked by the old lady, who, to some extent, apologizing for her brusqueness in the morning, very plainly intimated that, for a suitable return, she could supply us with a repast. Like most sailors, having receptacles capable of and requiring more substantial food than fruit after our exercise, we closed with her very liberal offer, and were soon seated at a table furnished with excellent edibles, bread and butter, milk, jam, and other articles, making together a first rate supper. On our taking leave we gave to each of the underlings who had been attentive to us some tobacco. They informed us that their master had been unavoidably called away from home on business, and stated that had he been present we should have passed a very pleasant day. Giving the gentleman the benefit of this assertion, we took leave of his estate, embarked in our boat, and directed her head towards Bunbury. We reached the ship at nightfall and were pretty well wearied with our jaunt. Those of our shipmates who had remained aboard, had prophesied in the morning the miscarriage of our proposed pleasure; but as we kept our own counsel, they were none the wiser of our experience of old English hospitality, and they expressed some chagrin that they had not formed part of our expedition.