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been almost in sight of Cape Town. But the barque did not anchor there to replenish supplies,
effect repairs and give all on board a respite form the crowded, creaking, unsteady and smeily
existence of a sailing ship at sea.
Cape Town had been in existence for nearly 200 years, having been founded in 1652, when Jan
van Riebeeck led a Dutch East India Company expedition of three ships to Table Bay, to set up
a supply base and trading-post. In time, Cape Town became known as the Tavern of the Seas,
and in 1850 was one of the prettiest, cleanest, greenest and most spectacular sea-ports in the
world.
The South African township and the country thereabouts would have seemed like a paradise to
those on board the Lady McNaghten. But the barque sailed on eastwards and into the southern
and stormy Indian Ocean. The passengers were now some 6,000 miles away from England and
more than half way through her voyage.
recollections become a fond reality, which we can meditate on, but not enjoy. Talked at great
length to a young and pretty girl whom a gang of unprincipled fellows on board are trying to
seduce into infidelity, by telling her that the Bible is untrue and the deluge a fable. The poor girl is
in the same mess with some of them, so she has difficulty in escaping from their importunities.
'14 May: In Longitude 51° 37° E. My boys said the first eight Articles perfectly. Began having
evening prayers at naif-past seven instead of eight.
'15 May: Longitude 54° 46" E. Thermometer 54°. Did not go my usua! matutinal rounds. The
sea about the ship is swarming with porpoises.
'16 May: After breakfast I went down into the hold to see the second mate weigh out the
stores. They seemed to be very good.
'17 May: Heard ail the schoolchildren their catechism.
'18 May: A sailor caught three albatrosses in about 15 minutes. They are so greedy that they
will seize a hook baited with a bit of red rag.
'19 May (Whit Sunday): A very calm and lovely day. The sky is blue, clear, and the climate
delicious. The track of the barque through the smooth waters is hardly perceptible. Had the
service on deck at half-past ten, at which all the decent people attended. At night the stars
shone with much brilliancy, and the moon seemed suspended in a black vault.
'20 May: One of the emigrants recounted to me his past life. He had been an underservant in the
stables of a gentleman in Ireland, and there he acquired dissipated habits which led him to the
commission of some crime for which he was discharged. After many wanderings in the labyrinth
of sin, he was at last reduced to such destitution as to be forced to beg his bread in the streets
of London. One evening hungry and tired, without any money in his pocket, and unable to get
any work, he applied for a night's lodging in one of the Refuges for the Destitute, and was
admitted. In the morning, as he was leaving, he attracted the notice of two gentlemen, who were
carefully scrutinizing the poor people as they were departing from the Refuge. They called him
to them, heard his story, felt an interest in his case, appealed to the public in his behalf through
the medium of a Morning Paper; and by that means raised funds sufficient to fit him out and pay
£15 for his passage to Australia. He expressed himseff most gratefully with regard to these two
kind persons who had rescued him from impending ruin (they belonged, I believe, to the staff of
the Morning Chronicle) and said that whereas on his first leaving London he was emaciated,
weak, and almost blind, he was now stout and strong, and had quite recovered his sight. He
requested me to write to his deliverers, and assure them that his future conduct more than his
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