Journals Of Two Expeditions Of Discovery In North West And Western Australia Volume 1 (Of 2) - George Grey (best free e book reader txt) 📗
- Author: George Grey
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This Country Are By No Means Deficient Either In Mental Powers Or
Personal Courage.
The Brazilians Themselves Are Aware Of The Danger Which Threatens Them,
And Yet Evince An Extraordinary Degree Of Supineness With Regard To It.
They Have Indeed Framed Certain Regulations As To The Slaves Being All
Within Their Houses At An Early Hour Of The Evening, Etc. Etc., And These
They Deem Sufficient For Their Protection; Yet To An Unprejudiced
Observer It Would Appear That, Unless Some Much More Effective Measures
Are Adopted, Within A Few Years From The Present Time The Whole Of This
Fine Country Will Be In The Hands Of The Blacks: And Indeed I Think One
Would Be Justified In Concluding That The Moment Which Produces A Person
Sufficiently Intriguing Again To Stir Up The Slaves, And Endowed With The
Firmness And Talent Necessary To Conduct An Emeute Of This Nature, Will
Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 19Be The Last Of The Brazilian Empire.
Political Condition Of The State.
It Is Evident From What I Have Before Stated That The Only Hope The White
Population Can Reasonably Entertain Of Retaining Their Present Position
Must Be In The Most Perfect Union And Concord Amongst Themselves, And
That, When A Unity Of Design And Action Ceases To Exist Between The
Different Provinces, Their Fate Is Sealed. Yet This Circumstance Never
Appears To Enter Into Their Calculations; And At This Instant Each State
Is Plotting Its Separation From The Empire. The Inhabitants Here Openly
State Their Intention Of Revolting And Declaring Their Independence, And
Sunday Next Is Even Mentioned As The Day For The Commencement Of The
Rising.*
(*Footnote. The Revolt Broke Out On The 7th November 1837 But Was
Suppressed The Following Month. Great Alarm Existed Lest The Negro Slaves
Should Be Induced To Take Their Part Likewise In The Conflict Between The
Contending Factions. Annual Register For 1837.)
It Is Really Strange To One Who Stands By, A Calm Unconcerned Spectator,
To Observe Men Hurried On By The Violence Of Faction To Their Own Certain
Destruction, And To Behold Them So Entirely Blinded By Party Spirit As
Not To See That Danger Which Stares Them So Openly In The Face, That A
Child Could Scarcely Fail To Detect It.
The Slave Trade, Though Nominally Abolished, Is Actively Pursued Here,
Eighty-Three Slaves Having Been Landed Just Before My Arrival, And
Another Cargo During My Stay.
The Slaves Are Not Only A Very Superior Race Of Men In Point Of Physical
Powers, But, As Far As My Experience Of Their Habits Went, I Found Them
Very Moral And Honest. Their Notions Of Religion Were However Curious.
Several Were Christians Nominally, But Their Christianity Consisted In
Wearing A String Of Beads Round The Neck; And They Seriously Assured Me
That Those Who Wore Beads Went Up To Heaven After Death, And That Those
Who Did Not Went Down Under The Waters.
I Talked To Many Of Them About Their Own Land. None Had Forgotten It, But
They All Expressed The Most Ardent Desire To See It Again. They Call
Themselves Captives, Not Slaves, And Are Very Punctilious Upon This
Point. They Labour Very Hard Here, Generally In The Town, Paying Their
Masters Eighteen-Pence A Day, And Keeping The Rest Of Their Earnings For
Themselves. The Rate Of Labour Must Therefore Be High; But They Wear
Scarcely Any Clothes, And Their Subsistence, Which Is Jerked Beef And
Beans, Costs But Little. The Slaves In The Country Are However All
Obliged To Work On Their Owners' Plantations.
All The Principal People In The Town Are Concerned In The Slave Trade,
And Their Chief Wealth Consists In The Number Of Slaves They Possess;
Therefore There Is Little Chance Of The Trade Being, For Many Years,
Totally Abolished.
Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 20With Regard To The Execution Of The Laws This Country Is Much In The Same
State As Certain Parts Of Ireland. Homicide, And Attempts At Homicide, By
Shooting, Are Frequent; But It Is Difficult, If Not Impossible, To
Convict The Offenders, For He Who Renders Himself Conspicuous In
Prosecuting Parties Concerned In A Murder Assuredly Gets Shot At In His
Turn.
Impressions And Observations At Sea. Remarks On Voyage From Bahia To The
Cape.
August 25.
Re-Embarked In The Beagle And Sailed For The Cape Of Good Hope.
September 10.
We Had Yesterday And All Last Night A Gale Of Wind, Succeeded This Day By
A Heavy Fall Of Rain. The Wind Had Raised A Very High Sea, But When The
Rain Began To Fall I Heard The Captain And Several Of The Officers Remark
That The Rain Would Lay The Sea; For The Result Of Their Experience Was,
"That A Fall Of Rain Always Beats The Sea Down." What They Had Stated
Would Occur Took Place In This Instance Within Two Or Three Hours. This
Shows Forcibly What Great Results A Slight Force, Continued For A Long
Time, Will Produce.
September 15.
Whilst Standing On The Deck Of The Beagle This Evening We Remarked Large
Luminous Spots In The Water. They Appeared To Be About 12 Inches In
Circumference, Were Very Numerous, And Perfectly Stationary. The Light
They Emitted Was Phosphorescent, But Far Brighter Than I Had Ever Before
Witnessed; It Was So Vivid As To Be Distinctly Visible For Nearly A
Quarter Of A Mile.
September 16.
We Saw This Morning An Immense Number Of Fin-Backed Whales, Some Of Which
Were Quite Close To The Vessel. In The Course Of Half An Hour I Counted
Thirty Of Them. Could They Have Been Feeding On The Phosphorescent
Animals We Saw Last Night?
We Are Today About 600 Miles From The Cape, And There Is A Strange
Discordance Amongst The Elements. From The South-West Comes A Long And
Heavy Swell; A Strong Breeze Is Blowing From The East, And Threatening
Clouds Spring Upwards From The North. These Omens Have A Meaning. Down To
The Southward, Somewhere Off Cape Horn, There Blows A Furious Gale. The
Wind Will Draw Round Shortly To The Northward. That Is The Interpretation
And The Reading.
A Swell Like This One Can Only Witness Off The Cape Of Good Hope. It Was
Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 21To Me A Novel And Magnificent Sight. Uniform And Lofty Ridges Of Waves
Advancing In Rapid Succession, And Yet With So Regular And Undisturbed A
Motion That One Might Easily Fancy These Great Walls Of Water To Be
Stationary: Yet Onward They Moved In Uniform And Martial Order; Whilst As
The Ship Rose Upon Their Crests She Seemed To Hover For A Moment Over The
Ocean In Mid Air. And Now The Wind Drew Round To The Northward And It
Blew Almost A Gale. The Vessel Felt Its Power And Bent Before It. It Was
Beautiful To Watch The Process Of Hand-Reefing Topsails And Making The
Vessel Snug--The Ready Obedience To The Word Of Command And The Noiseless
Discipline With Which Each Duty Was Fulfilled. First Had The Men
Clustered On The Rigging Like Bees; Then At The Word To Lay Out They
Fearlessly Extended Themselves Along The Yard-Arm, And Whilst They Took
In The Reefs The Ship Pitched And Rolled So Heavily That One Felt Anxious
For Their Safety: But There They Swung Securely Between High Heaven And
The Sea.
Sea-Birds.
The Sea-Birds Held Their Holiday In The Stormy Gale. The Lordly And
Graceful Albatross, Whose Motion Is A Very Melody, Swept Screaming By
Upon The Blast. The Smaller Cape Pigeons Followed Us Fast, Passing And
Repassing Across The Vessel's Track. At Last One Of Them Spies A Fragment
On The Waters, Which Has Been Thrown Overboard: A Moment It Hovers Above,
Then Plunges Down. But The Other Birds Have Seen It Too; And All,
Pouncing On The Spot, Move Their Wings Confusedly And Seem To Run Along
The Waters With A Rapid And Eager Motion. Now Is There Discord Wild
Amongst Them. A Screaming And Diving, Swimming And Running, Mingled With
A Chattering Noise. No Sooner Does One Gain The Morsel Than Another Tears
It From Him. Who Will Be The Victor Here? The Albatross; For He Sweeps
Triumphantly Over All, Swoops Down, And With A Scream Scares Off The
Timid Little Multitude; Whilst High Above His Head He Holds His Arching
Wings; And Now In Pride And Beauty He Sits Upon The Waters And, Drifting
Fast Astern, Gradually Fades In The Twilight.
What Wonder That A Sailor Is Superstitious! Separated In Early Youth From
His Home Ere He Has Forgotten The Ghost Stories Of Childhood, And Whilst
The Young And Simple Heart Still Loves To Dwell Upon The Marvellous, He
Is Placed In Such Scenes As These: In The Dark Night, Amidst The Din Of
Waves And Storms, He Hears Wild Shrieks Upon The Air, And By Him Float
Huge Forms, Dim And Mysterious, From Which Fancy Is Prone To Build
Strange Phantoms; And Oft From Aged Sailors He Gathers Legends And
Wondrous Tales Suited To His Calling; Whilst The Narrator's Mysterious
Tone And Earnest Voice And Manner Attest How Firmly He Himself Believes
The Story.
Arrival At The Cape. Hire The Lynher.
September 21.
We Came In Sight Of Land Yesterday Evening, And Spent The Greater Part Of
The Day In Beating Up False Bay To Simonstown, Where We Arrived About
Volume 1 Chapter 2 (To Bahia And The Cape Of Good Hope) Pg 22Half-Past Six P.M. I Instantly Landed In A Shore-Boat With Lieutenant
Lushington And Mr. Walker; And, Having First Hurried To Admiral Sir P.
Campbell With Some Letters I Had To Him, We Forthwith Started To Ride To
Cape Town. Finding That A Vessel For Our Expedition Could Be Procured
Here More Readily And Economically Than At
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