FROM MASTERTON TO LONDON, VIA CAPE HORN.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4124, 28 May 1892, Page 2

FROM MASTERTON TO LONDON, VIA CAPE HORN.

A Passenger's "I'#"

A respected arid well-known resident of Masterton, npi : without journalistic association, recently left our town on a visit to England, The asa voyage, was undertaken unfortunately rather as a method of recuperation than -as-a l,:pleasure trip. Yet that some enjoyment may bo derived under adverse circumstances, the following recital ol experiences on the passage clearly demonstrates. After all, life, with all its drawbacks, is moulded by our own hands and is much what we Hk ß ,to make it. If ever in the;course.of time We, ourselves, are called upon to sacrifice wealth in the search for health we hope our travels may be conducted with the same personal capacity for looking' at' the bright side of people and of things, and extracting pleasure from their incidental lessons of wit, wisdom and experience, which our correspondent enjoys.

This Diary, we might explain, was not written for publication—fortu> nately very few diaries are; for in most cases it is certainly a Merciful Providence whioh rules it so. This is an: exception. But everything is food for the literary maw,, and if a man of the years and experience of our valued friend, and who certainly should know better,:isi# keep a diary, well, then in it must go; although, it should be added, thatit was only in a moment of confidence f, iat the ohatty manuscript was allowed to leave the domestic circle, and now—alas that such a breach of trust should ocour I—its writer-or our readersmust suffer, tJtill, written in the happy vein it follows, the narrative of the delights and sufferings an average traveller may expect to undergo on a voyage to England and back is not without general interest, and in addition will, we are sure, he read with pleasure by the many acquaintances in this district of our absent Iriend,

The oofisD boat was joined at Lyttelton, itshould lie pre-stated. ; DIARY. : OROSSISO THE PACIFIC,' : ;V: Saturday, February 20.—First day at sea, water'smooth and boat goes alongns cheerfully as Mr Fielding,your incomparable "runner," oh his round; Spent most of day in my cabin resting. Two mild lunatics on board, They shbuldhayekepttbeua ; back till fl j makes his trip. Sunday, fybruary 2]. —Koiifih Bea nil day. A few of the passengers sick. I escape, but nm not quite up to concert 1 pitbb—to'!'pitch and toss" I should flay. Food good all round. Spent njost, of !the day.in.niy pabin " alone apd unobserved," as the ma? sayfl jn the opera, , .... .:,•■...'...,. .• Sunday No. 2,-To catch Engliih iiiue, another day has been chucked in as" a Sunday! but as there is no cliurbh'pnd nocbllectioDVrio one is the worso'forthe duplicate Sabbath. My next cabin neighbour is a lunatic, but is a quiet "crank" j still all the same I bolt toy cabin door at ! night. Gold rainy day.

Wonky, 'Firmnj 22,;460t' well down South, " Greatcoat' weather; pleasant only when; tho sub is shining Steerage passesgers got a soaking today waves breaking, over the bows.''' ' ; .?!:■ ;',;';'.■•:: ,

tpriay, ityfuary 33.—-flustering day, •' ■ §pent in my' cabin—excepting hells rang. ~"..' • „ : . tilul 'beer"'off 'bparfl s ai^pepcep bottle, but I dare not drink it, Went on deck j clear sky, braoing a(r, roll, ing; sfafp. , No, passengers about. Paced the deck for an hbuiHbe pleaßanteslhour, ;I had on tlje Buapeliu as yet,' This morning the Q bloods of the saloon killed time „ „ ling npa Calcutta, sweep on. the distance run' by the'ship 1 during twenty'tour' hoiirij; One of them acted as auctioneer,' and it mas a mild excitement for a couple if hours. 1 risked half a crown and drew out five shillings and sixpence. It was a pleasant.day and I wasa good deal on deck, bur. towards evening H got very cold and I look shelter in my cabin, where I can keep myself warm,

Thursday, February 251k. Cold | day, thermometer 45deg;.big sea. My cabin window battened down all day, robbing mo of ray daylight, I wonder what my next experience will be. This is supposed to be about thf most disagreeable part of the voyage. Did not bring cigareitos on board lest I were tempted to smoke too much. I am sampling the ship tobacco. Got a half pound plug for a shilling, .'Friday, Feb 26.—Sea smoother, but to compensate it rained all day. There are halMozen ohildren on board; not very attractive urcbina, who are very .much spoilt by the passengers. If Jimmie ware here he Would be" Captain ol the Ship," ; There is a piano in the Becondoabin saloon,-but ;tha piaEiistsiare"timeless and tuneless.

Saturday, Feb. 27.—The morning broke fine ; with a' palm sea and the

passengers swarmed like flies on the decbAbutn this did not last, Wo are now midway between, New Zea-, land and On'pe Horn. If' Bess finds on her" Map of the. World" .latitude 56, and East longitude 181, she will hit;the exact spot. I eat well, but 1 one must dp.thiß to -keep warm, It is colder than the, coldest winter's day in 'When I shut myself up.in my cabin I .keep comfortably warm. [My bill of.fare to-day was as follows—Breakfast, 8 a,m: porridge, curry and rice^fisb,, roll and butter, tea. DiNNEK'i ip.in: soup, roast mutton;and vegetablo marrow, plum (garden fruit) pudding, oheeie, water. Tea, 6.80 p;m : cold' mution, bread, butter,.marmalade, 1 take nothing between meals. Somoof the young fellows eat twice as much as I'do. All sorts of meats are supplied, include ing 'ducks, rabbits, pork Bausages, etc, Thebiitcher'B shop on board beats Perry's hollow. There are over 150 hungry people to bes'atisfied on the Buapehu— not one out of the crowd have 1 1-' ever met'' before : !'■>■'■;•■■'.■

Sunday, Feb. 28.—1t is a comfort to get the first week through atsea :oneis settled down, knows the run of the ship and the people id it and is able to make the best of the conditions of marine existence; .Everybody on board ia civil-4_there'are absolutely no offensive people'.' My next door neighbour—a lunatic' ia oliarge of a keeper—is perhaps depressing, but ho is quiet and inoffensive*

■'■■•'"■' ' ANICEBEROI ' ■- i Jt does not do to blow about Cape Hbrn; Just passed.our first iqeberg —a big.crystal-lion rising, out of the sea; half a mile away, with waves breaking over its back. Got out ray opera glass to look at it. ~; * ■'"■■''',

A gaunt young man sits near, me at table -whose voracity- is marvellous. Afcbtenltfaat this morning the steward said, " 'Am and eggs I Fried fish I Stewed steak I" The gaunt young man replied,'! 'Am and ef,ga I". As 1 a rule he sends his' plate for• a second serving of every, dish, but on this occasion he restricted himself to one diet. Every now. and : again I heard him say to the' steward, " A little more.'ara and, eggs please I" and when I left the table I was under the impression; that in the'matter :of eggs he had laid Himself out to cover a Bitting. ;r ,

'THE DEAR LITTLE DOCTOR, ' ' ' The ship's doctor is a cherub—a medical Robin' .Redbreast; so smalli so pert, so p*luinp,.and so pretty..,. He haß a little surgery, with four rows of little bottles, and two.,little rows.of books; but no one seems to take any of his medicine! He'has been sick himself and the officers arid passengers have implored, the little .medico to take'some'of his own'stuff,; but' he shakes his little bead sadly, for in the way of physic it is moro blessed to give than to receive. The gem of the surgery, however, is a wonderful pair of top boots so hung that every passer-by can see and. admire them. They quite throw into the shade the four rows of medicine bottles and the two rows of medicinp'books. Every morning the little Doctor goes round and when he returns to the surgery with no orders for medioine he sighs and looks sad. Than bis eye lights on the top boots and lie brightens up, and pulling out his little pipe says, "I will stnokfl the calumet of peace" .'One can baldly imagine the dear little Doctor, wielding . a knife .'or.; a lancet I If called • upon to conduct a serious operation I am sure' the stewardesses would have to come to his aid and pat himi on the back and apply smelling salts to his little nose. " THE YOUNO MEN OF THE PERIOD."

There are in the first saloon, hall a dozen young men of the period whose solace on board ship lies in getting up "sweeps." When the weather is against "business" they pine mi mope, but when the Bun tomes out they oanvas the. ship from stem to stern for half-crown investors. When theygeta. subscriber:they.are as chippy as a Masterton Insurance Agent is when he gets a victim to borrow money from him to ; pay a first premium on a life policy. Tbey purr and Say "Thank you I So much obliged I Hope you will win I" This helps to pass the. morning away, does'ntit ? " ...

Monday, Feb.' 29—A chilly, but pleasant day, .Played a game at draughts to-day with a: young fellow fiom Fiji and beat him. First time I have played with a passenger—a sian that I am piokingup a little..', : Tuesday, Mqrckl —Pleasant weather all day, though about twenty minutes spell of the. keen anyondepk is enough for me. Showed a little boy and gjrl here the portraits of tho children today. ''": '■: Wednesday, ,Marchi— Have man-. aged to : patch' ; puisance in' these chill latitudes, . 'Thursday, March- 3- Cockroaches' have oommenced to eat my boots. Saturday, March s,—Have got into a sort of ocean highway. Six vessels sighted during the past t\yenty-four hours, none of them very near.Wea» tier .splendid, but chilly, < iPlayed cfibbage with the Colonel to-day. Used to play it *hen I was a boy, It is a favourito game in the smoke room.',""'. .' "i . •

" ROUNMKG THE HORN," Sunday, Manhf).— Finesunnyday. Sighted land early this morning and haVe been coasting alonfc 'Terradel Fuego'till night fajl-blenkhills covered yyfth scrub apd patches of 'show, Had ff, good ;djnper ; .; t ateVujv jboile'd to jjitpp apd papers, dupk anjf green ppas,, plppi puddi'pg, pbepse'and an apple, and drank aglasspf peer, We are now steaming, north, apd shall soon leaye the ppld weather behind Monday, Match, 7,—Borae,of : tfie passengers saw.a whale spouting .near the ship to-day. I was-iV my cabin and miesec- the sight; My neighbour, llie; lunatic, has a dull time. His keeper is a g*y young fellow, who amuses hiniself 7 about the ship,' He locks-'liis "charge up both'day anc| j night and occasionally, takes a look at [him' saying, "How,is', my illustrious frioridtoday.!'' and.then goes back to hißown.littlelreoreations. • ■ - : i-, . THE CORNER lURKED. Tuesday, March B.—Leaving cold

weather- behind ;us. Woke this I morning by, my iron boxes sliding] about the cabin,'floor,. Bhip rolling heavily all day,' otherwise splendid ■veathor. Bead every evening in my cabin. Electric lamp there is turned on at six and off at eleven, Wednesday, MarchQ.— Amstronger 'ban when I came on board and slightly better, but not quite as well 1181 hoped to to. 1 can Bit down and pley cribbage pith the Colonel for half an hour at a time.

Thursday, March 10.—To-day we ar> half way on our voyage and opposite the mouth,of the big River Plate. It is pleasantly warm now, - Friday,, March, 11.-The warm weather suits me better than the cold, Have been move in the open air today, >-, 'Saturday, March i 2.—Getting a little top w t arEq.;:-,.. • ;,,;,:<■ i Alii.' Sunday March 13,—Had a wretohed night, oabin too hot, .Must- try and fix up things better to-night. Last Siinday was colder than the coldest winter'sdayin Masterton, ThiaSunday hotter than, tho hottest summer's day,' We reach Rid 10-inonow end expect a scorcher in harbour. Intended this morning to attend-- church iirth'e saloon in nijr new^suit— adjourned the performance for cooler weather, lam picjring;'iip .a, little, though,,;! do not makefile: progress I hoped,] The change from severe cold to'greal heat-has been trying,, I get; a fair supply of books one way. or, another, aud do a lot of reading. Don't-care much for the passengers. 'Some are fools, others are liars, andoneor two are' rather rough. Still I get on with them, and there,aire'one or two! even of the rough ones who offer to lend meianything they have or do anything they can for' ine. ; It is reoognis'ed that I am a sort of invalid who is not to be worried but is to be permitted io do exaotlywhat.he |ikes.. ■ >„ ::-: " TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OPRIO.":

Wednesday; March Uth.— The past twenty-four hours, spent in the Bio. Harbour, have ■ been very interesting and exceedingly uncomfortable, Monday morning was a bright warm day, and as we approached the coast I aat by the hour iu a deck chair and gently perspired in a shay nook. After.lunch-we entered thesplendid harbour vand dropped anchor about three miles from the shore. :: When the vessel was motionless it smelt, and even the. grand harbour smelt, ;and : admiration of the'wonderful scenery i was tempered by the heat and by the stench. The old saying ". See Naples and then die" could be adapted to the capital of Brazil -as " Smell Rio and die;"' '■»'' : ■■] ■

•; i ; 'A HUNDRED DAY, ■ "Thefirst message,'horn, the shore was that yellow fever was, bad* in the t6ivn,;and that a hundred deaths, were registered each day, the unregistered count being very' considerable, also that.passengers by ships recently passing tbrough had caught the trouble in the harbour and had received firstclass ocean funerals, TfiiawHScheerful, as wo.hadto put iu a night there getting coal, Wo were warned not togo on shore and not to sleep out on deck, I decided to smoke as many cigars; as possible, which at Bio cost twopence each for best brands; and to take an occasional sip; of. brandy. ;1 '."." "--^

'FIFIY.pAZILUN FIENDS. :■;';.':. • Towards', night. a steam• : laanoh brought us l\vo; coal lighters.and half a* hundred Brazilian fiends to put:lbe fuel on board. .Each one ; waß blacker than the blackest Christy, Minstrel, and they were as much like monkeys as men,; After .''nightfall they commencedl;wo,rkingi carrying little lqadsof coal in little,baskets,on . their heads. They did.not Jhurry I■• Two of them when basketed would' get,in each others road and then two more would lift their baskets down for' thehi and another couple would again : raise the. loads on some other fellows'.heads anil another pair would givo the. last a little friendly lift under the shoulder —everybody politely ■■ assisting his neighbour to do as little as possible, chattering like magpies, smoking endless' cigarettes, drinking frequent cups 'of wine, and eating an occasional banana. By 'daybreak they were übbut half through, their work and the Captain'wisely decided to make the best of.what he. had got and clear. The, noble army of Brazilian coalers Has been;'thinned by sickness, and death, and these gallant survivors can do just what they like and earn big wages with very little exertion. That night was quite enough for Eio. We were forbidden to Bleep on dock and in the Cabins every aperture was closed to keep the coal dust out, I found my cabin red hot and decided to repose in the saloon. When other fellows saw me lying there they oarae too, and then the saloon was red hot. Next I got up and paced the. decks and sat down, on a lounge chair till morn, occasionally smoking and : taking a sip of brandy at intervals and perspiring in a way that would make the fortune of a Turkish Bathkeeper. Strange to say, I was fairly hungry throughout the following day and though Iwas very weary I ate well and bad little ur no headache, GKAND, WEIRD AND BEAUTIFUL.

"Thescune,at..night was a fine one, distant mountain' ranges came out clear in the moonlight, and tbe formation of the harbour could be'traced for any number of miles by the lamps which line its shores. On the.left were the suburban districts where the elect live, and on tho right the infernal city itself with its foi tresses and bnghtlamps, shining like galnxies of stars up thp bill sjdiis.' Jsej,wepn .the town and the mountain hung a thick blacji cloud jybich every now and again eniifted a sullen, silent flash of lightning m jbffeadedatthe full moop' jyhjch rode in a clear sky jPn.the pther side of the' water. The WelliDgton dftibsur 1 ie.a baby' compared with Bio, and the surroundings of the latter are inexpressibly grander. But the smell I It would, as some one suggested, " stop a clook." There was a brilliant sun rise and then we got; a fine view of the city. Its buildings are magnificent, hut the exiept of cultivation round theiii jb disgracefully small. Everybody reported to be lazy and dirty, the only sign of briskness' being the' eriorey with which sharks dart through tho ! water, poFsibly acting as undertakers for the unregistereditVictitns of the 'jjitli and slime of' the place. Early' in fuesoay uiprhilig boats came alongside with' cocoanutsi bananas and limes, ut One of them had on board a couple'pf mpukevß playing all sortgof tricfes.' \ "wouljl h«|ve ijked Alice, Jim andTqtio \\m(M theiii. ' fni the afternoon BiQ, : all dejighted to get jpto the ppe'n sea and inhale a healthy hree?e again,- ; ' [Qontinued in next iasue. |

■ By the last boafc;from San . Fcanoiebo the Wellington Acclimatisation Society received a parcel containing the siins of various gauiu audiuseotivbrous birds ;pf' AmeruM; After the various merits aiid 'demerits of the different birds were eons sidered; the Oounil: determined to ex« pend'£26 as a preliminary experiment ip endeavouring to introduce to New Zealand the prairie hen and the mountain quail; also that immediate steps be taken to procure consiginentß of Hieaarjie, : ■■'