 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
years after Waterloo. The albatross (its wing-span could be 11 feet) would be hauled on board
by two men, and killed and eaten by its captors. Trophies might be made of Its head and feet.
Let us return to John Mereweather's diary.
'Sunday, 10 March: In 28DN Latitude. As the sky was cloudless and the sea tranquil, I had
morning service on deck for the first time. A reading desk, covered with the union jack, was
rigged out for me on the poop, so that I faced the emigrants, who were sitting beneath me on
the deck. The Captain, officers, and crew sat behind me on the poop. Read the morning
prayers and preached a sermon. The litany was omitted. The service, altogether, lasted an hour.
Nearly al! the emigrants, excepting a few depraved young men, who sat on the forecastle
smoking, were present, and behaved with great decorum. Soon after service the emigrants
dined, and after dinner they sat in groups round the deck, some few conversing quietly, but most
reading books of a religious nature.
'14 March: At about six this morning we got into the trade winds, commonly called "the trades,"
which blow without cessation from the NE. They will take us to within five or ten degrees of the
line. A bird of the perroquet species dropped exhausted on the awning. It has come probably
from Ferral [?]. Ordered my boys to learn the church catechism perfectly by heart; also the two
Collects for Grace in the morning and evening prayer; the Collect for Peace, and the Collect for
Aid against all Perils; also the morning and evening hymn. This task they are to perform
gradually. They are already accustomed to say the collect on each Sunday; as also the Saints
Days' collects.
56
'15 March: In N Latitude 24". Thermometer 72° in the cuddy. The trade wind wafting us
steadily onward. Spoke seriously to a young man, a steerage passenger, on account of some
gross language which I heard him make use of last night. He expressed great contrition, and said
that before he left London he would have shuddered even to have heard such language; but that
constant communication with a vile set of young men on board the vessel had inured him to it...
Saw a petrel, a small, black or dark grey bird about the size of a thrush, skimming the waves
like a swallow. Saw also shoals of flying fish sparkling in the sun as they bounded into the air.
They cannot fly more than twice the length of the ship at a time: as soon as the moisture is dried
from the wings they fall into the sea. At night the sea round the ship seemed a mass of fire,
presenting a spectacle most wonderful to see. The cause of this phosphoric phenomenon does
not seem to be exactly known. Some attribute it to masses of animacules of the jelly-fish
species; others to decomposed animal and vegetable matter; whatever be the cause, the effect is
wondrous. We seemed floating over an abyss of liquid flame in never ceasing motion, whilst the
monsters of the deep, as they rushed past the ship, had the appearance of being garbed with
fire, and left behind them a brilliant and a sparkling light: "every track was a flash of golden fire."
'Sunday, 17 March: In about 16° N Latitude. The people assembled to divine service at eleven
am. Said the litany, and read a short sermon. The whole did not take up more than half an hour.
As the weather was hot, I did not wish to fatigue the people by keeping them too long. It is
better to pronounce the "ite, missa esf to a longing than a loathing congregation. Nearly all the
emigrants were present. Had service on the quarter-deck, and not on the poop.
'18 March: Remonstrated with a female emigrant, an unmarried person, on her flirting
propensities. She draws the young men round her towards evening, and converses with them till
 |